The Saint Paddy's Promise

by Kathi Daley

  “So, now that we know we are looking for photos, that should help us focus. We didn’t find any photos in the safe or on Brick’s desk. He was standing at the bar looking at them when Dover came in, so maybe he stashed them somewhere near the bar.”

  “Makes sense.” Mike walked in that direction. He bent down and began opening and closing drawers.

  “I wonder if Brick had a cash drop.”

  Mike paused and looked at me. “You mean somewhere he could drop large bills without having to leave his position behind the bar?”

  “Yeah. He’d want to be able to drop large bills rather than leaving them in the cash register.” I stood in front of the register now, then looked carefully at the drawers and cabinets around me. Just beneath the register, in one cabinet, I found a faux panel that led to an opening that looked a lot like a mail slot. “I think I found it.” I ran my hand down the cabinet. “If I had to guess, the panel on the bottom opens to a locked drawer.” I pulled the panel aside to confirm my theory. “Of course it’s locked.”

  Mike knelt down next to me. He studied the lock for a moment, then went into the office. I followed him and watched him open the safe we’d broken into previously and take out a ring with keys on it. I then followed him back out to the bar, where he began trying keys one after another. Eventually, the drawer opened, and sure enough, we found a pile of hundred-dollar bills piled atop a stack of photos. Mike picked up the photos and laid them out on the bar.

  “These look like they were taken at a concert,” I said. “I was just telling Frank we needed to look for photos of the concert Darlene went to the night she died. I have Tony working on it.”

  Mike picked up the photos one at a time, taking a moment to study them.

  “This looks like a Satan’s Sin concert.” He pointed to a man standing on the stage arranging a microphone. “This looks like Lucifer. The rest of the band isn’t in the photo, so I am guessing this was taken prior to the music starting.”

  “The place is packed,” I said. It seemed a band like this one could pack in what looked to be an arena-size crowd. “I wonder what Brick was looking for.”

  Mike set the photo he had been looking at on the bar and pointed to one of the fans in the audience. “That’s Darlene Brannigan.”

  I felt my heart constrict as I glanced at the young girl with the huge grin on her face. To know that she would die soon afterward was almost more than I could take. “Brick must have been looking for the killer in the crowd.”

  Mike frowned. “Yeah. He must have had a hunch, because he sent out the DNA samples long before he would have sent for these photos. I wonder who sent them to him.”

  “Hard to say without a return address on the box.” I paused to think about it. Chances were, Brick had requested the photos after he sent the DNA samples to Genocom but before he had received the results. Maybe he was trying to cover all his bases. “I wonder if he was looking for someone in particular.”

  Mike continued to look at the photos. “Two of the four samples belonged to the band manager and publicist. Brick must have had reason to suspect them. Maybe Darlene had been hanging around the band even before that day. Maybe whoever she was there to see was someone she had met before.”

  “Okay, say Brick knew that his sister had been to other Satan’s Sin concerts, or maybe she had been to a party attended by band members. Maybe even on more than one occasion. He put together the fact that she was killed while attending the concert with the fact that she had been following someone associated with the band. It could have been a musician, but it could also have been someone connected with the band, like the manager. Maybe he wasn’t sure who she had been planning to meet, so he’d been narrowing it down over time.”

  “The murder occurred twenty years ago,” Mike pointed out. “For Brick to be actively researching it now, something must have occurred recently to cause him to gather the DNA samples.”

  Mike had a point. There must have been a fairly recent event that instigated the whole thing. Something within the past year or two, if I had to guess. I supposed it was possible he had simply stumbled upon some piece of previously undiscovered evidence.

  “Look at this,” Mike said, setting the photo he had been looking at on the bar and pointing to a man in the crowd.

  “He looks familiar.”

  “I’m almost certain that is Luke Warner. He is twenty years younger and he has long blond hair rather than the short brown hair he does now, but I’m sure that is him.”

  I squinted more closely at the photo. “Yeah, I think you are right.” I looked up at Mike. “I remember that he was friends with Brick and dating Darlene when she died, but she went to the concert with friends, not him.”

  “According to the police report, he claimed that he was nowhere near the concert when Darlene was murdered. He provided an alibi, and the police were able to verify it.”

  “It appears he lied. Maybe whoever was his alibi lied as well.” My eyes grew wide. “Luke starts with an L, and L’s DNA matched the killer’s. Do you think Luke could have murdered Darlene?”

  “Maybe,” Mike said. “If he was in love with Darlene and she was messing around behind his back, he could have followed her to the concert, waited for her to hook up with whoever she was there to meet, confronted her, and killed her. He might have been drunk or stoned or both at the time.”

  “And because he supposedly was not at the concert, he wasn’t a suspect. Then, all these years later, he moved to White Eagle and resurrected his friendship with Brick. At some point, maybe he said something, or Brick saw something at his home to cause him to take another look at the case. Maybe Luke was even the one to put him on to the band manager and publicist.”

  “It seems I’m going to need to have a chat with Luke.” Mike gathered up the photos. “Thanks for your help.”

  “No problem. I need to finish up my route now, but call me after you’ve had a chance to follow up with him.”

  Chapter 17

  I still hadn’t heard from Mike when I got home that evening. I’d called him a dozen times, but the calls went straight to voice mail. I supposed if Luke had revealed his guilt, Mike could be bogged down in arrest paperwork. Still, I hoped he’d call me. I thought about calling Bree, but if she didn’t know what was going on and Mike hadn’t called her to check in, she’d just worry.

  “Have you heard from Mike?” I asked Tony the minute Tilly and I came through the kitchen door.

  “No. Were you expecting him to call?”

  I explained our trip to the bar, the concert photo, and Mike’s plan to have a chat with Luke. “I’ve called a bunch of times, but I just get his voice mail.”

  “Are you worried that he ran into problems with Luke?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. He is a cop and he has a gun, and I’m pretty sure he planned to bring Frank with him, but I will admit I’ll feel better after I hear from him.”

  “Have you tried calling Frank?” Tony asked.

  “No. I’ll do that right now.”

  Like Mike, Frank didn’t answer.

  “Let’s head over to the station. If they aren’t there, we’ll head to Luke’s to see what is going on. I’ll grab my jacket if you can let Titan out real fast.”

  The drive back into town seemed the longest in my life. A quick glance at the police station informed us that neither Frank nor Mike were there. We drove to Luke’s house, but it was dark and seemed deserted as well.

  “What now?” Tony asked.

  “I wonder if we can find out where Luke was working today. It was the middle of the workday when Mike and I met at the bar, so I would be willing to bet that Mike just drove to the worksite to speak with him there.”

  Tony pulled up his phone. I watched as he did a search for Warner Construction, found the number, and called it. The phone rang, and eventually, the line was picked up by voice mail. “He’s not answering.” Tony drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “If Mike took his squad car to talk to Luke and it is st
ill there, we should be able to track it. Let’s go back to the station.”

  I wasn’t sure what the penalty was for breaking into a police station, but in that moment I didn’t much care. The doors were all locked, but the alarm had not been set, meaning that the last person to leave hadn’t planned to be gone long. Tony logged on to Mike’s computer, but it was password protected.

  “Maybe you should call the rookie.”

  “Gage,” I said.

  “See if he can come in.”

  I nodded and looked for the number. Thankfully, he answered after the third ring. He told me that Mike and Frank had both left the station a couple of hours earlier and had asked him to keep an eye on Leonard. He’d gotten hungry, so he’d packed the puppy in his car and run down the street for a burger. He promised to come right back and help us locate Mike’s cruiser. As soon as he arrived, he was able to use his own computer to access the tracker on Mike’s car.

  “He’s at that new housing development outside of town,” Tony said, looking over Gage’s shoulder.

  I looked at Gage. “Do you have your gun?”

  He nodded.

  “Ever use it?”

  “At the shooting range.”

  “Grab it.” I looked at Leonard, and then at Tony. “We’ll bring him with us.” I turned back to Gage. “You know where we are going?”

  He nodded.

  “Okay, you take point. We’ll want to sneak up on the place really quietly until we can assess the situation. Tony and I will be in his car right behind you. When you arrive at the road that leads to the development, pull over to the side. If for some reason things went south and Mike and Frank are in trouble, we won’t want to alert Luke that we’re there until we can come up with a plan.”

  “Okay. You can count on me.”

  I sure hoped so. The kid was as nice as nice could be, and he seemed sincere in his desire to be a cop, but as far as I knew, the only training he’d had was the little bit he’d received from Mike in the past few weeks. From what I’d heard, all he’d done so far was follow Mike around, answer phones, and do some filing.

  As instructed, Gage pulled over to the side when we arrived at the road leading to the new development. It was almost dark, so Tony grabbed a couple of flashlights from his glove box.

  “Tess and I are going to sneak around and approach from the back. Once we get our eyes on the situation, we’ll call you and let you know what to do,” Tony said to Gage. “You have your phone?”

  Gage held it up.

  “What’s the number?” Tony typed it into his phone as Gage recited it. Tony looked him in the eye. “If you don’t hear from me in ten minutes, come on down the road with lights and siren blazing.”

  Gage looked like he might pass out.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “Just watch your phone for a text. Hopefully, we’ll find the situation is under control and you will be told to stand down.”

  The kid, who I’d heard had just turned nineteen, took a deep breath and stood up straighter. “Okay. I’m ready to do whatever I have to do.”

  Tony and I walked through the forest as quickly and quietly as we could. Suddenly, I found myself wishing I’d taken the time to change out of my uniform. It was going to be filthy by the time we completed our mission. As we neared the houses on the first street, we saw the rear of Mike’s car, which had been pulled around to the side of a house. I didn’t see anyone or hear anything, and there was no sight of any lights. You would think if the men had been talking, they would have turned on their flashlights by now.

  Tony continued forward with determined confidence and I followed. As we rounded the corner to the half-completed house where Mike’s car was parked, Tony stopped suddenly.

  “What is it?”

  Tony looked around but didn’t respond or move. I glance around Tony’s body to see Frank on the ground in a pool of blood. I wanted to run toward him, but Tony grabbed my arm. He indicated wordlessly that we needed to continue to move with caution. Tony slowly moved forward until he was kneeling next to Frank. He put two fingers on his neck. I let out a sigh of relief when Tony nodded to let me know that he was alive. After checking Frank’s pulse, we retreated back toward the woods. Tony took out his phone and called Gage. “Call for backup. Frank is down but alive. We are going to try to locate Mike before you come into the complex.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Tony squatted down low and then moved toward the house that Frank was lying in front of. He slowly opened the back door and stepped inside. I followed closely. We crawled slowly through the framed-in room that would be the kitchen to the front of the house. When we arrived in the large room that would be the living area, we found both Mike and Luke on the floor, each in their own pools of blood.

  Chapter 18

  Saturday, April 7

  “Mrs. Thomas.” A man in green scrubs approached the waiting area where Mom, Aunt Ruthie, Bree, Tony, and I had been camping out, waiting for word on Mike’s condition.

  “Yes. I’m Lucy Thomas,” Mom responded.

  “I’m Dr. Brown. Your son is out of surgery and should be just fine.”

  Everyone let out a long breath.

  “Can I see him?” Bree asked.

  “Are you the fiancée?” Dr. Brown asked.

  Bree nodded.

  “Officer Thomas is still out, but I don’t suppose it would hurt to let you peek in on him for a few minutes.”

  “I’m coming as well,” Mom said.

  The doctor waved over a nurse and instructed her to show Mom and Bree to Mike’s room.

  “What about the others?” I asked.

  “Officer Hudson is still in surgery. I anticipate that we will know more in a couple of hours. Mr. Warner didn’t make it.”

  I bowed my head. “Can you tell what happened?”

  The doctor frowned. “It’s hard to tell exactly, but based on the fact that all three men were shot, and from the description of the crime scene as told to me by my nurse, who seems to manage to get all the scoop, I would say that Mr. Warner shot Officer Hudson and then turned on Officer Thomas, who fired back at the same time.”

  “So Luke and my brother shot each other?”

  “It would appear that way. Officer Thomas should be able to confirm or deny that theory when he wakes up.”

  “When will that be?” I asked.

  “Not for quite a while. You should take your mother and your friend and head home to get some rest when they return.”

  “Thanks, but I think we’ll wait here until we know Frank is going to be okay.”

  The doctor nodded. “I’ll be sure that someone keeps you updated.”

  I turned to Ruthie. “I think it might be best for Mom to go home and get some rest. If we can convince her to go, will you drive her?”

  “Of course, dear. Bree too, if you can convince her to leave. The poor dear looks like she is about to collapse.”

  “Yeah. The past few hours have been hard on her. Tony and I will stay until we hear about Frank. We’ll text everyone.”

  I didn’t expect that either Mom or Bree would leave, but somehow, Aunt Ruthie convinced them both to do so after promising to bring them back after they’d had a few hours of sleep. Once they left, I settled in with Tony to wait for news on Frank.

  “This whole thing is so surreal,” I said to Tony as I lay my head on his shoulder. “I suspect that the doctor was right in his theory that Luke shot Frank and Mike and Mike shot Luke, but it still feels sort of off.”

  “I’m sure once Gage and the crime scene guys finish their investigation, we will know more. Besides, as the doctor said, Mike should be able to fill in some of the blanks when he wakes up.”

  “I guess it was a good thing that we went looking for Mike. He and Frank would have bled out for sure if we hadn’t found them. That housing development is pretty isolated. I doubt anyone would have found them until the work crew showed up on Monday.”

  “It seems like the crew should still have been there when
Mike first arrived,” Tony said.

  “Maybe they got off early, it being Friday and all.” I glanced toward the double doors leading into the surgical and intensive care units. “I hope we hear soon. The waiting is really getting to me.”

  Tony kissed me on the top of the head. “Yeah. Me too.”

  Just over two hours later, the doctor came out to let us know that Frank’s condition was stable. He, like Mike, was still under, so Tony and I left to drive to his place. If nothing else, I was sure the dogs would need to go out.

  Chapter 19

  By Saturday afternoon, Mike and Frank were both alert and able to see visitors for a short period of time. Frank didn’t remember anything after he arrived on the property, but Mike was able to confirm that they’d spoken to Luke about his presence at the concert twenty years before, and then showed him the photo they had as proof. Initially, he admitted that he was there but hadn’t run into Darlene in the crowd, but when Mike informed him that he had her killer’s DNA and would need to get a sample from him, he’d pulled out a gun and shot Frank. Mike had followed Luke after he began to run, but then Luke turned and fired at Mike just as he, noticing the gun pointed at him, fired at Luke. Luckily, Mike was able to deliver a fatal blow while the bullet from Luke’s gun missed Mike’s vital organs. He’d lost a lot of blood but would be able to go home in a few days.

  I asked Mike if Luke had admitted to killing Brick, and he said he hadn’t, though the fact that Brick knew that Luke had killed his sister and must have confronted him indicated to all of us that Luke most likely had killed Brick to protect his secret. It would be better for everyone concerned if Mike was able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Luke had killed Brick, but without a confession or additional evidence, doing so was unlikely.

  Tony and I were on our way out of the hospital when we ran into Gage coming in. We stopped to chat for a moment. “How is the investigation going?” I asked.