“I think someone should be with him round the clock,” he said quietly. “Until whoever did this is found.”
“I’ll arrange for officers to watch him,” Mark said.
“Thank you, both,” Rebecca said, turning paler.
“What happened at your shop?” Jeremiah asked.
She dropped her eyes. “Things had been moved around, but it doesn’t seem like anything was stolen.”
“That’s odd,” Jeremiah said.
She shrugged.
There was more to it than that. She was holding something back. Jeremiah was about to press her when Mark reached out and touched his arm.
“We should get going. I’ll touch base with the officers on the scene, see what they found.”
Jeremiah nodded slowly, but kept his eyes on Rebecca, willing her to look up at him. She didn’t. Her eyes still on the ground, she mumbled, “I’ll see you later.”
She turned and disappeared inside Liam’s room.
Mark headed for the parking lot and Jeremiah followed reluctantly. Once they were in the car he turned to the detective. “She’s hiding something.”
“Everyone hides something,” Mark said absently.
“I mean, about her shop. I think there was more to what happened there than someone rifling through her stuff.”
“Maybe and maybe she’s just too stressed out to focus on anything but Liam at the moment,” Mark said.
“I don’t know, I think-”
“Do you think he’s going to die?” Mark blurted out suddenly.
Jeremiah blinked in surprise at the sudden shift in conversation.
“I think he’s strong, and he’s got the best care possible with doctors and nurses who will be watching him like a hawk.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Jeremiah hesitated. He’d seen men die from a lot less. He’d also seen men survive a lot worse. “He wants to live. That’s one of the most important factors. And it looks like he has someone to live for. I think he’ll pull through.”
“Okay.”
“What’s wrong?”
“My partner’s in the hospital and he could still die and I hate waiting to figure out if he’s truly going to be okay,” Mark snapped.
“And, just like Rebecca, you’re not saying the whole truth.”
Mark slammed his fist into the dashboard.
The violent outburst was uncharacteristic of him. Jeremiah waited a few seconds and then said, “I don’t think the car is the source of your problems.”
“I can’t lose another partner,” Mark said, his voice tight.
Jeremiah had suspected as much. Paul had been taken in sudden, horrific fashion in a way that couldn’t have been anticipated by Mark, not really. The same could end up being true for Liam.
“You won’t,” Jeremiah said. It might be a lie, but hopefully not. Even if it was, it was the lie the other man needed to hear to get through the moment.
“Partners are supposed to be there for each other, have each other’s backs. I wanted to be there for him. I should have been there for him. How can I be, though, when he keeps me in the dark and doesn’t tell me everything?”
“I don’t think he’s intentionally kept you in the dark. I mean, there are things people don’t like to talk about, and what happened to him may or may not have any connection to that. Either way, though, you’ll find the man who did this,” Jeremiah said reassuringly.
Mark was silent for a long minute. Then he said, “What happened to him, I don’t understand. It makes no sense.”
Jeremiah glanced at Mark who was staring fixedly out the window. He had the look of a man haunted by something. Jeremiah had seen that look in men’s eyes before. Usually before they did something stupid.
Jeremiah hesitated for a moment. “Are we still talking about Liam?”
Mark punched the dashboard again.
~
Cindy stared at the photo of Rose and Santa Claus. She shifted her attention from the young woman in the photo to the man in the Santa Claus suit. She wondered who he was. The fake beard covered most of his face and his hat was pulled down low on his forehead. All that she could really make out were the eyes, and there was nothing truly remarkable about them. They looked brown in color.
She pulled the photo out and turned it over to look at the back, wondering if there was anything written on it. There wasn’t, as it turned out.
She put the photo back and then put the picture of Rose and her grandmother over it. Why had she chosen to cover the first photo? If she and the man in it had been dating and broken up wouldn’t she have gotten rid of the photo instead of just hiding it? Cindy put the frame in the box. Whatever the mystery there, it was not hers to solve.
After she’d done that there were still a lot of things on the desk, but they all seemed work related. With a sigh she opened the large, bottom drawer that was crammed full of stuff. She pulled out the top stack of papers, wondering what kind of filing system, if any, Rose had used.
She dropped the papers on the desk and discovered that underneath there was yet another sweater. Rose apparently had a habit of leaving clothes at work. She dumped it in the box as well. Below it she discovered a tin box and she pulled it up onto the desk and opened the lid.
There were an assortment of things in the tin. There were some cardboard drink coasters bearing the logos of various restaurants and bars. There was an oyster shell, a flyer for an upcoming tour of Phantom of the Opera which would be opening in Los Angeles on Friday, and a pen with the name of a hotel in Los Angeles.
She looked at the flyer with interest. She wondered if Joseph and Geanie were going, given their love for Phantom of the Opera. She’d have to ask them since Geanie hadn’t mentioned anything about it yet.
She turned the flyer over and on the back it said G34, G36. Seat numbers maybe? Little hearts had been hand drawn around them.
She dropped the flyer back in the box and picked up an envelope. There was a handwritten note inside.
Rose,
Thank you for organizing the amazing Christmas party. You are a treasure. I don’t know what the company would ever do without you. And I still don’t know how you managed to talk him into being Santa Claus! Truly a woman of astonishing talents!! Thank you again. From all of us.
Always yours,
- Beau
She read the note a second time. Christmas again. And whoever Beau was, he clearly knew who the man in the Santa suit was. She couldn’t help but wonder if Beau always signed his letters Always yours or if he really liked Rose. She shook her head. Office drama. The last thing she needed to do was get sucked into it.
She folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. Clearly this was a box of mementos that Rose was holding onto. She only half-heartedly looked through the rest just to make sure that nothing else had gotten mixed in. It didn’t seem to.
She put the lid back on the tin and added it to the box which was close to full. She rifled through the rest of the things in the bottom drawer and found three letters from an insurance company addressed to Rose. They seemed to deal with her health insurance and so she dumped them in the box as well.
She moved the box up onto the desk behind her. She then returned her attention to the drawers. Everything else in the bottom one seemed strictly work related, so she closed it. She had just opened the drawer above it when she suddenly had a sense that someone was behind her.
She spun around and stared up at the face of the guy she’d seen earlier in the lunchroom. His features were contorted in rage. In his hand was the red stapler from the box. He was gripping it so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
He opened his mouth in a snarl. “Where is she?”
10
“Excuse me?” Cindy asked, shaken.
She glanced over and noticed that Leo wasn’t at his desk. She forced herself to her feet and took a couple of swift steps to put distance between h
erself and the man glaring at her.
“You heard me. Where is Rose?” he asked, waving the stapler threateningly in his fist.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m a temp. I just got here today.”
“What are you doing with her things?” he asked, getting red in the face.
“I was told to box them up,” she said, taking another step back and eyeing the stapler warily.
“Why? Where has she gone?”
“How should I know?” she snapped, still freaked out.
She took another step backward and ran into the wall of another cubicle. She felt trapped and she glanced around for a way out or a weapon she could use to defend herself.
He stood there, fuming, the fist holding the stapler shaking. Then, suddenly, he seemed to slump over and it was as though all the fight left him.
“I just want to know how to find her,” he said, so softly she almost didn’t hear him.
“You should ask Mr. Cartwright. He’s the one who’s going to be mailing the box,” Cindy said, dropping her defenses slightly.
The man looked beaten, weary, and her heart suddenly went out to him. As much as she just wanted to get away from him she was surprised to hear herself ask, “Are you okay?”
His features suddenly crumpled. He collapsed into her chair and stared idly at the desk for a moment.
“We’re friends. At least, I thought we were. She didn’t tell me she was quitting. I don’t think she told anyone. I don’t know how to get hold of her outside work.”
“How do you know she quit?” Cindy asked.
He looked up sharply. “What do you mean?”
“How do you know she wasn’t fired?”
He shook his head. “They make a big deal about that kind of thing around here. If she’d been fired the whole building would have known.”
Cindy thought about the fence and the security guard in the parking lot. What he said didn’t surprise her. This seemed like the kind of place that would take security very seriously.
“She was here last Friday. I walked her to her car and she said she’d see me Monday. Yesterday she never showed up and now you’re here.”
“Maybe she called in and quit,” Cindy suggested.
“What could have happened over the weekend to make that happen?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe she got another job offer or had a parent fall ill in another state. Maybe she eloped, who knows,” she said, starting to grasp at straws.
He jerked when she suggested the last possibility.
He had a crush on Rose, she realized.
“Are you Beau by any chance?” she asked.
“Yes, how did you know?” he asked.
“I was told to clean out the desk and I’ve been trying to sort the business papers from the personal ones. I found a note you sent her.”
“What did it say?” he asked, face turning suddenly pale.
“A thank you for a Christmas party was all,” she said, again regarding him with suspicion.
“Oh, that,” he said.
She paused. The whole situation was weird. Maybe years of stumbling into mysteries was making her paranoid. Maybe there really was more here than met the eye. She cleared her throat. “What do you think happened to Rose?”
He stood up abruptly and made as if to go. He was several feet away before he turned and looked back. His eyes were haunted. “Nothing good,” he whispered.
~
Mark picked up his car at the shop and headed back to the police station. He had thanked Jeremiah briefly for driving him all over and the rabbi had told him not to worry about it. Still, he was glad to be away from the man and his questions. He was sick to death of questions for the day.
Unfortunately nothing but questions waited for him back at the station. When he pulled into the parking lot he briefly considered driving right back out again. If he left, though, he’d head home and questions waited for him there, too.
He sighed and pulled into a parking space. The ones that awaited him here might be easier to answer. Moments like this he wished he could actually pray to some higher power for strength or patience or whatever it was people prayed for.
He got out of the car and marched into the station. He made it to his desk and picked up the stack of messages that were on it. At that moment he felt the loss of a partner even more keenly. Panic knifed through him and he forced himself to take several deep, slow breaths.
This is all doable. I’ve been without a partner before. I can do it again. Besides, it’s just for a few days, he told himself.
Maybe he could talk Traci into trying to get Geanie and Joseph to take the twins overnight so he could get some decent sleep. Maybe take them for a couple of nights.
He shook himself hard and dropped the messages on his desk. He went and found one of the officers who had been at the crime scene earlier. The man told him that Officer Taylor had gone home for the day. Mark was glad that he had. Hopefully he’d calm down once he’d had a chance to get some distance from the events. He also told Mark that Casey was in an interrogation room with his doctor and an attorney who had just arrived.
Mark headed over to the interrogation room and winced. It was the same one he’d been busy torturing a guy in while Paul was off being killed. He took another deep breath trying to calm the new burst of panic that threatened to tear him apart.
Get a grip on yourself, he ordered.
He turned around and went to the kitchen area. He made himself a cup of coffee and made a cup of hot chocolate as well. He’d read somewhere that chocolate could help calm a person down. Why he never remembered that when Traci was in a cranky mood he didn’t for the life of him know.
He walked back over to the interrogation room and sat down at the table across from the others. Casey was sitting, his eyes fixed on the table. The lawyer was sitting on one side of Casey and the doctor was sitting on the other side. He addressed the latter, “I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to stay here with us.”
The man nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“I brought Casey some hot chocolate, is that okay?” he asked.
Casey looked up at that and began nodding at the same time the doctor did.
“Here you go,” Mark said, smiling and pushing the Styrofoam cup across the table to him.
“Coffee?” he asked the doctor, lifting the second cup.
“Yes, please,” the man said.
Mark handed it to him. As much as he wanted coffee at that moment he was also pretty sure the caffeine would just give him the jitters right then. Which would be bad.
The lawyer, an older woman with her grey hair pulled into a severe bun, leaned forward. “I represent the family and we are interested in getting this over with in the least stressful way. To that end we are prepared to make a deal. Casey will make a formal confession in exchange for confinement in a… hospital… with visitation rights from his sister.”
Mark held up a hand and cut her off. “I appreciate that you are trying to make this as painless as possible. However, I believe you’re jumping the gun here.”
“In what way?” the lawyer asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
Mark took a deep breath. “I’m not convinced that Casey here is our man.”
“What are you talking about?” the lawyer demanded, eyes narrowing even further.
“Despite appearances, I don’t think Casey did it. We are going to be expanding our investigation to try and locate other suspects.”
“What other evidence do you need?” the lawyer demanded.
Mark stared at her intently and he noticed that the doctor looked as surprised as he felt.
“Why are you so intent to close the book on this?” he asked.
“Because, obviously, the longer this gets drawn out the harder it is on everyone in the family”
“On Casey and Ruth you mean?”
She nodded.
“An
d how much harder will a wrongful imprisonment be on them both?” Mark challenged. “Isn’t them being together worth fighting for?”
“Yes,” the doctor said.
“Thank you, Doctor,” Mark said. “You told me earlier that you were convinced that Casey wasn’t capable of…what happened this morning.”
“And I stand by that,” the man said.
“So, why are you the one person in the room not on Casey’s side?” Mark asked the lawyer pointedly.
“I am not the one who needs to be answering questions,” she said tartly.
“Perhaps you should be,” Mark snapped. “You are the family’s lawyer?”
“I am,” she bristled.
“How long?”
“The last few years.”
“So, you had a relationship with the deceased. Can you account for your whereabouts this morning?”
“Why you, son of a-”
“Language, counselor,” Mark interrupted with a smirk. It wasn’t often he rattled an attorney like he had just rattled this one. He was surprised at her attitude, though. It only served to further convince him that everything wasn’t what it appeared.
“We are done here,” the woman said, shoving her notepad into her briefcase.
“One of us is, at least,” he said, unable to keep himself from goading her more.
He glanced at Casey and hesitated. There was the question of what to do with the young man for the moment. Before he could express his thoughts the doctor spoke up.
“If you release Casey into his sister’s custody I can arrange for a nurse to come and stay with them for the next few days while everything gets sorted out,” he said.
“That would be my first choice,” Mark admitted even as the lawyer stormed from the room.
“I’ll call her and arrange it,” he said. He hesitated a moment then asked, “What do you have to do on your end?”
“I’ll put in a call to Protective Services just to be on the safe side. They shouldn’t have a problem releasing Casey into his sister’s custody especially for the next few days while everyone figures out what to do next. As far as the department, there’s nothing to do since there were never any charges brought against Casey today,” Mark said. “He’s free to go as soon as I can make that call and his sister can come and pick him up.”
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