"You're right, but the transactions in Canada really bother me. If Bob's in jail here, in California, how can he spend money in Canada? I did another trace on that one bank, and the same account was accessed there several more times. Somebody’s spending Ralph Maddox's money, and I don't know who."
"Who do you think it could be?" Genevieve looked over the financial reports.
I flipped the case file open and turned to a list of active suspects. "Well, we can rule Ava out; she’s in town. We can rule Bob out; he’s in jail. Bob told me that the expense account's accessible by him and his brother. As far as he knew, there were no other authorized signers."
Genevieve shuddered and pulled her sweater around her. "Sounds like a nice little case of identity theft, if you ask me."
I stifled a laugh. "It sounds like a case of the dumb crook news. Who'd be stupid enough to steal a dead billionaire's identity?"
"You're right about that. Sometimes criminals do some epically stupid things." Genevieve yawned.
I yawned, too. "So, here's the thing: I'm thinking of heading up to Toronto to see if the bank will let me see the security footage. If I knew who used the bank I might have enough of a lead to know where to look next."
"I can't authorize that. There'll be a ton of red tape on that one. You'd need to contact the embassy, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg."
"If I go as law enforcement, yes, but what if I just go on a nice vacation?"
Genevieve shook her head slowly. "Vacation? Avery, I'm warning you: if you go up to Canada by yourself and get into trouble, there’s nothing I can do to help you. It's that far out of our jurisdiction."
"You make it sound like Canada's a wild and crazy place." I leaned against the table. For some reason, I felt tired. I had a good night's sleep, but my eyelids felt heavy.
A loud thump in the hallway made me jump. What was I talking about? I tried to clear my thoughts, but something felt wrong. Genevieve sat down in one of the rolling chairs.
"Did you hear that?" I mumbled. I fought a wave of dizziness and nausea.
Genevieve nodded and held her head. "We need to go," she said. She tried to stand but wobbled back to the chair. "The emergency exit." Genevieve pointed.
I couldn't waste any time. I grabbed the back of the chair and ran toward the door. My legs felt a million miles below me and barely responded as I tried to move. We made it into the hall where an officer lay on the ground at the end of the hallway. The emergency exit was only a few yards from the conference room. I propelled myself at the doorway, pushing Genevieve out first. The chair caught on the threshold, dumping Genevieve on the ground. I fell on top of her and the chair. We lay there in an undignified pile, the wheels of the chair wedging the door partway open.
I listened to myself breathe. A pounding in my head sounded louder than the world around me. Genevieve didn't move. I knew I had to get help.
I reached for my pocket, found my cell phone, pushed the button, and hoped the voice recognition feature would work. "Call nine-one-one," I slurred as if I were drunk.
"Calling nine-eleven," the robot voice quipped.
A moment later, I heard a voice that sounded a million miles away. "Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?"
"The police department..."
My world went black. The next thing I knew, somebody was holding something to my face. I tried to push whatever it was away.
"Leave it there, ma’am. You need oxygen."
I tried to sit up to look around. I was still outside of the police department's emergency exit. Genevieve was a few feet away, lying on her back, an oxygen mask over her face. Another EMT was by her side.
"You sure were lucky to get out that door when you did. I bet if the door wasn't wedged open, everybody in there would be dead."
I pulled the mask up. "Did everyone make it out?"
"Yes, ma’am. Lucky for us, the door let some of the carbon monoxide out, and there weren't that many people in the building."
I let the mask cover my mouth and nose and took a few slow, deep breaths in before pushing the mask up again. "What caused it?"
"Maybe something in the HVAC system. They’re trying to figure that out now. You two ladies were lucky. Wherever you were in the building must not have had as much gas. Everyone else blacked out inside."
My mind raced. The heat hadn't been working in the conference room. That had have been why we hadn't breathed as much gas in. What could possibly have caused something like that to happen?
"Avery?" Jesse Moreno ran up the sidewalk toward me. "Are you all right?"
I nodded, aware of the fact that my current state was anything but flattering.
Jesse turned to the EMT and asked him what happened. They gave him the same answers as they had me before the EMT decided it was time to load me onto the stretcher.
I pulled off the mask. "No, I'm okay. I feel much better now."
"You should go get checked out," Jesse insisted.
"No, I needed fresh air. I'm sure I'll be fine as long as I don't breathe any more gas in."
"Will she be fine?" Jesse asked the EMT.
"That’s a question for a doctor. We’ll bring her in to make sure."
"No, thanks. I’ll be just fine."
"I'm not going in either." Genevieve sat up nearby. "It’s possible this was no accident."
"If somebody tried to kill anyone who happened to be in the police department, we need to know who and why," I added. "Glad to see you’re back in action."
"Thanks for the lift," Genevieve said.
I grinned. "I was headed that way, anyway."
Chapter 18
Jesse insisted on giving me a ride to my dad's house in his patrol car. We left Dad's car at the station—I'd figure that part out later. My head had begun to throb sharply, and I wondered if I should’ve just gone to the hospital.
"Are you all right?" Jesse asked.
"I'm fine. It's just a headache."
"You were lucky to make it out of there. Imagine if it had been before shift change."
I nodded.
"Everyone was talking about how the heat wasn't working in the back of the building this morning. I guess they must've called maintenance. I didn’t realize that something like that could be so dangerous."
"I’m surprised it was that extreme. How old is that system?"
"The city had just put it in when I was a new hire. It’s not that old."
Something was strange about it, but I was thankful to be alive. I wanted to go to bed and not think about what might kill me next.
Jesse stopped in front of the house. "I know this isn't the time, but I've been thinking about the other night."
"Yes?" The bongos in my head intensified the beat.
"It was nice. I know me being blunt like that can run people off, but you didn't seem all that shaken by it."
"I guess we all have things we need to work through. I don't expect you to be any different."
Jesse laughed nervously. "I guess I'd better get back to patrol."
I shook my head and grabbed my purse. The swimmy feeling hadn't completely gone away. "Thank you for bringing me here." I grabbed the door handle, hoping I'd make it to the door.
Jesse blushed. "I'm glad, too. Can I check on you later?"
I nodded and forced a smile before devoting my remaining energy to putting one foot in front of the other without falling over.
***
Dad looked up from his crossword puzzle when I staggered through the door. "You're back early," he smiled. "I hope that means good news."
"The police department’s building's closed. There was a gas leak."
"Oh, no. I hope no one was hurt."
"I think everyone will be fine." I plopped down on the couch and covered my eyes with the crook of my elbow.
"Avery, you look green. Are you okay?"
"I'll be okay if this headache will just let up."
Dad went to the kitchen cabinet and poured me a glass of water. A moment la
ter, he tapped my elbow to hand me the glass and two aspirins. I took the pills without protest and handed the glass back to Dad.
"You were in that building, weren't you?" Dad said.
"Yes,"
"And you breathed in whatever was in the air?"
"Yes."
He looked at me over his glasses with his best stern expression. "Then, you should be in a hospital getting checked out instead of on the couch."
"I'll be fine. They said I breathed less of the carbon monoxide, or whatever it was because I was in the part of the building where the heat wasn't circulating."
"The or whatever it was part bothers me. How do you know if the heating system's to blame or what was in the air if you don't get checked out?"
"I'll be fine, Dad."
"Avery Rich: I know you’re an adult now, but I'm going on record saying this is a poor decision. How did you even drive here?"
"I didn't drive. Your car's safe at the station. Jesse dropped me off."
"Well, at least one of you used some kind of judgment." Dad's protests were making my headache worse.
"I think I'll take a nap." I headed down the hallway toward the spare bedroom. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
***
The clomp of my heels on the marble hallway of the Smithville Police Department echoed endlessly into the distance. The basement offices were dark and cool around me. I had to reach my broom closet of an office up ahead, but the hallway seemed to extend into forever, and I made little progress no matter how much I clomped forward. There was something in the office I needed. I couldn't think of what it was, but a part of me felt a looming sense of urgency. I needed to hurry. I had to get there to find whatever it was I needed to put the case together. I started to run. The clacking of my heels grew louder as I charged toward my office space.
I glanced behind me. A fog covered the hallway behind me, creeping silently toward me. It would overtake me if I let it, so I pushed myself harder. As I reached the office where Genevieve Richards had once served as commander, a red laser dot from a scope appeared on the wall in front of me. I had to cross the mark to escape the fog. A wave of panic came over me, and I froze. Either way could mean death.
I took a deep breath and charged forward. An explosive gunshot rang out, and the bullet whizzed by, just behind me. I couldn't see who had tried to kill me, but I knew they weren’t done. My head throbbed in time with my steps, but I kept sprinting. The sound of my footsteps left no doubt as to where I was heading.
The hallway retracted, and I finally reached the door to my office. I turned the doorknob and shoved it, but something was blocking my way, and I couldn't get in. The fog was overtaking me, and I was out of time. I pushed the door again. Somebody inside pushed back.
"Please, I need to come in!" I screamed, but the door clapped shut and locked just as the fog reached me.
I screamed again.
"Avery, what’s wrong?" My dad shook me by the shoulder. "You keep screaming in your sleep."
***
I sat on the couch, wishing I could go back to sleep but more afraid of what would happen if I closed my eyes. My panic and fear were more intense than it had been during my entire visit. The fear of being hunted was back. I knew I could've died right there in that conference room.
I thought to myself, shake it off, Avery. You’re alive. It was a fluke. It had to be a fluke.
Dad put the bookmark in the book he'd been reading and looked at me silently.
“Yes?” I asked. I petted Milly as she curled up next to me.
“I was wondering if you'd tell me what’s going on with you.”
“Nothing. Today was just unexpected,” I grumbled. I tried to focus on Milly.
“Right. Scrapes with death are usually unexpected, but I don’t think that’s it. I know you, Avery. You’ve changed. You’re jumpier than usual. That nightmare you were having earlier was intense. I can remember guys I served with having dreams like that. They were the ones who had been to hell in back in the war, but you never went to war. What is going on?”
I hesitated. Letting my dad know about what had happened would put us both at risk. “Look, I had a couple of tough cases. I think you already know that.”
“Tough as in you feared for your life.” Dad sat up straighter and gave me the same look he used to give me when I was a kid, the one that told me I’d better tell the truth or I'd be in trouble. But I wasn’t a little girl anymore, and telling my dad about the corruption I'd uncovered would land him in trouble more than me.
“I’m all right; I promise, I am.” I attempted to look my father in the eye. I'd be all right. That was the truth I needed to live. Things had been better. I felt freer than I'd felt in over a year, but this was too close for comfort. I wanted to believe it was an accident, but something was telling me it wasn’t.
The doorbell interrupted my train of thought.
“Were you expecting someone?” Dad asked.
“Oh, no. I forgot Jesse was coming by to check on me.”
“Well, if you two are going out, I sure hope you change first.” Dad nodded at my flannel pajamas.
I looked down. More awkward. We had plenty of awkward these days. I considered pretending to be asleep, but the thought hadn’t fully formed before my dad had made it to the door and was showing Jesse into the living room.
Jesse came in, scanning the room for me. When he spotted me, his face lit up with a huge grin. I smiled back despite myself.
“You must be feeling better.” Jesse sat on the other side of Milly on the couch.
“I am.” Somehow, admitting I was stressed to Dad had made me feel a little better. It was as though I'd put down just a bit of the burden I'd been carrying.
“I see you have your color back. You were so pale when I got to the station today. You had me worried.”
“It was a freak thing. Have they figured out what happened?”
Jesse shook his head. “I think they’re still working on it. It took some time to ventilate the place and make it safe enough to investigate. The gas level was high. It’s amazing you made it out. The building is still closed down.”
I adjusted the messy bun that held my hair out of my face. “I think I was just lucky to be in the part of the building where the heat wasn’t working. It sure didn’t seem lucky when I was in there, shivering to begin with.”
“It does seem lucky.” Jesse’s brow creased as he considered it. “I don’t know, Avery. Something just seems strange about it.”
I pulled my knees up to my chest, trying to shut down the renewed surge of adrenaline. “I know what you mean. I haven’t heard about that happening with an HVAC system before, have you?” Milly whined and pushed her nose under my hand. She must've been reacting to my stress.
“No. I’ve heard of people with fireplaces or cars running engines having trouble but never an electric system.” Jesse pulled out his phone and typed something in. I didn’t ask what.
“You don’t think somebody did this on purpose do you?” I asked, willing him to say no.
“I’m trying to figure out if this is a common thing.” He worked away at his phone.
I turned my attention to Milly.
Jesse looked up from his phone. “Well, it looks like it can be a legitimate thing. I sure hope it’s just a fluke. It’s creepy to think somebody was trying to hurt anybody at the department.”
“Let’s hope it’s just a malfunction, but let me know when you hear something about the investigation.”
“Sure, Avery. No trouble. I sure am glad you’re feeling better.”
“Knowing it was probably an accident makes me feel a lot better.” I reached over Milly and gave Jesse’s hand a squeeze.
He smiled, showing off his single dimple. “I have some bad news," he said. "When I was looking at my phone, I realized I have to go. The daycare closes in fifteen minutes, and I can’t be late to pick Amelia up.”
“Oh, I understand. You need to go.”
&nbs
p; Jesse stood up and stretched. He leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “Goodbye, Avery. I hope you get some rest and feel like yourself again.”
“Goodbye. Thanks again. For everything.”
Jesse headed for the door. I grabbed the afghan off the back of the couch and covered Milly and I. Rest sounded like a great plan, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to feel like myself if that meant being afraid.
Chapter19
The morning sun streamed through the widow with newfound intensity. I pulled the blanket over my eyes and hoped for the darkness to hide me and block out the jitters that had kept me awake for most of the night. After tossing and turning for a while, I gave up and dragged myself out of bed. I made it to the kitchen, but Dad was gone. I reached for the coffee, but it was cold.
I sighed and set about making a fresh pot. Where was Dad? I called out to the empty house. “Dad?” I yelled a little louder, but there was no answer. My heart thudded in my ears as I rushed to my dad’s bedroom. If anything had happened to him while I was in bed, feeling sorry for myself...
The door to Dad’s room was open. His bed had been made to his military-like standard. I headed back to the kitchen and spotted something on the refrigerator I hadn’t noticed before—a note.
I snatched the paper off the fridge, causing the magnet to drop to the floor, but I didn’t care. I read the note:
Dear Avery,
I know you weren’t feeling your best, so I let you sleep. I’m headed out to take care of a few things. I know you’ve been busy, but tonight is New Year’s Eve. I’d love it if you came with me to the club. I know the guys I golf with would love to meet you. Invite Jesse, if you’d like. I’ll be back after lunch time.
Dad
I took a deep breath to steady myself. Dad was fine. I was fine. I had to get it together. Milly leaned against my leg. “Good morning, girl. Did Dad already take you out?” She pranced around in a circle. “All right, let’s go.” I took Milly out to the backyard. The cold breeze cut right through my robe, and I shivered
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