Deadly Reckoning

by Robin Mahle

  The chief put her at ease with the mention of her daughter’s name, something Kate hadn’t thought to do. Guess he was the chief of police for a reason.

  Lynn pulled open the door farther and peered at Kate and Quinn. “Y’all think Jenny’s death got something do to with what’s been going on here in town? Cause she died some thirteen months ago.”

  “I know it’s getting late, Mrs. Floyd,” Quinn started. “But we really would like to just talk to you and your husband.”

  Lynn looked again at Kate. “Well, that’s fine, I reckon. Come on in. You’ll have to excuse the state of my house. We don’t have no maid or nothing. It’s just me and John and he’s disabled.”

  “It’s fine, ma’am.” Kate stepped forward but waited for the chief to enter first.

  Tate removed his hat and bent down slightly to pass through the door’s threshold. His six feet four-inch frame generally towered over everyone around him.

  “John, it’s good to see you. Thank you for coming out tonight.” Tate offered his hand.

  “Don’t know why we did. Sure didn’t get much out of it ‘cept a bunch of bureaucratic nonsense.”

  “I’m sure that’s how it seemed to you, Mr. Floyd. But we are working very hard on this investigation. Which is why we’re here tonight.” Quinn turned to the chief. “Chief Tate mentioned you lost your daughter about a year ago to addiction.”

  “That’s right.”

  Lynn closed the front door and walked toward her husband. “Now, John, we’re not heathens. Show these kind people to the sofa so they can have a seat.”

  “Fine.” He extended his hand to present the small living room. “Have a seat.”

  The agents and Chief Tate sat down.

  “Can I get y’all something to drink? I was fixin’ to make some tea before.”

  “Thank you, that’s very kind,” Kate replied.

  “I’ll take you up on that offer,” the chief said.

  “I’ll have some too, thank you, Mrs. Floyd,” Quinn added.

  She began to walk away. “No need for formalities. You can call me Lynn. I’ll be right back. Go on with your questions.”

  “So your daughter suffered from opioid addiction and passed away,” Quinn began again.

  “Did you not hear me right, son? I said she did,” John replied.

  “Of course. I guess I’d just like to know, well, at the meeting tonight, Agent Reid noticed the two of you.” He looked at Kate to continue.

  “Yes. It seemed as though you were concerned about something our supervisor said. About the drugs being pushed here in Crown Pointe.”

  “Of course we’re concerned. There’s some kind of crazy killer on the loose and we got this man telling us if we see any drugs coming through, we should say something. Pardon, but that don’t make no sense to me. So, I looked at Lynnie and she shook her head too. Like we ain’t been looking out for drug dealers here or something. I mean, what’s that got to do with the price of bread anyway?”

  “I can understand that,” Kate added. “But the reason being is that we think the killer could be selling or forcing his victims to take a very toxic synthetic drug and that’s what we’re trying to track down.”

  Lynn Floyd returned with a tray of glasses and iced tea in a pitcher, placing it down on the coffee table. “Here you are.” She handed each of them a glass.

  The chief took a long drink. “That hits the spot. Thank you, Lynn.”

  Kate sipped on her tea, or rather the sugar water that contained a small amount of tea. She cleared her throat before continuing. “At the meeting tonight, I noticed you both showed great concern. Is there anything you can tell us about your daughter?”

  “You mean, do we know who gave her the drugs?” Lynn sat down next to her husband.

  “That could be useful to us.”

  “Even after all this time?”

  “I think so, ma’am. Any leads we can get. Anyone we can talk to who might be acquainted with other dealers would be helpful.”

  John peered at his wife and returned his attention to Kate. “Look, we don’t know who sold Jenny the drugs. If we did, I guaran-damn-tee you, he’d be dead, you understand me?”

  “Yes, sir. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.”

  “Darlin’, you didn’t offend us,” Lynn said. “He’s just sensitive to the issue, as I’m sure you can understand. Look, I wish we could help you. John and me are doing the best we can just to survive this. You have any little ones?”

  “No. I don’t.”

  “Just as well. This world isn’t what it used to be.”

  “If that’s all the agents needed, I suppose we should mosey on out and leave you two be.” The chief began to rise. “I’m sorry if we wasted your time.”

  Kate knew she wouldn’t get anywhere with the Floyds and especially with Tate here, and that wasn’t the only reason why she wanted to talk to them anyway. “Yes. I’m very sorry, but we certainly do appreciate your time. Oh, I was wondering, did you drive to the school tonight?”

  “We did,” Lynn replied.

  “I didn’t see a car in your driveway. We thought maybe you weren’t home.”

  “Oh. A neighbor borrowed it. Had to run to the store for something or other.”

  They headed toward the door.

  “Well that was nice of you. Thank you again for your time and I hope you manage to get some rest.”

  “That’s a tall order, miss, considering you ain’t found the killer yet. I doubt anyone’s getting any rest till you do,” John replied.

  14

  There was something to be said for living in a small town, despite the current and terrifying circumstances in which the residents now found themselves. But now, at night, Crown Pointe appeared serene and beautiful. The sky was filled with stars, not obstructed by light pollution. The air was clean and smelled of earth and trees. But what lay beneath this outward beauty was a tragic secret of poverty, addiction, and a people who suffered at the hands of both.

  The chief arrived back at the station. “Looks like your compadres are still hard at work.” He killed the lights and cut the engine. “Best go see if they have any news. And let them know our visit appears to have been for naught.”

  Kate eyed Quinn as the two emerged from the vehicle and started toward the entrance, behind Chief Tate.

  Kate lowered her voice. “It wasn’t for naught.”

  “I know. We’ll wait until we’re alone with the team. I wouldn’t mention anything with these guys still here.”

  “Understood.”

  Inside, Lazaro, Slocum, and the agents appeared to be hard at work, which led Kate to wonder if it had bore any fruit.

  “You’re back,” Nick began. “How’d it go?”

  “Well, like I was saying to your cohorts, what we got was a big fat goose egg from the Floyds. Whatever Agent Reid here thought she saw, seems to have amounted to nothing more than concern on the part of Lynn and John Floyd.”

  “Oh. I see. That’s too bad.” Nick eyed Kate and seemed to pick up on the fact that the chief might not be fully informed. “We did make contact with Agent Ness. He’s still waiting on the labs from the sample. So, at his request, I put in a call to the lab and begged for their prompt attention. We’ll have to see if that carries any weight.”

  Agent Walsh emerged from the hall, holding a paper cup with steam rising from it. “Nothing on your end?”

  “Not really, no,” Quinn replied.

  “Seems like we’re back at Square One, then,” Slocum replied. “Guess we just keep doing what we’re doing.”

  “You boys should head on home. It’s late and you both have put in enough hours. We’ll reconvene here in the morning,” the chief said.

  “Okay, boss.” Lazaro shut down his computer and grabbed his keys from his desk. “Anything turns up, you’ll let us know?”

  “You bet. Say goodnight to the missus for me, Shane, and Eric, say goodnight to Gunner.”

  “Will do. He’ll be missing his dinn
er by now. Night, y’all,” Slocum replied.

  After the deputies left, Agent Fisher looked to Tate. “Is Gunner his kid?”

  “Nope. His dog.”

  “Ah. You know, Chief, we can head out so you can call it a night. There’s plenty we can do from our hotel rooms.”

  “All right, then. I’ll lock up behind you.”

  The only place still open was the bar across the street from the motel where the team stayed. Late nights and early mornings weren’t usually the norm for them. However, once or twice a year, a case would come across their desks that brought them out of their Quantico shell and into the heart of an investigation.

  Each and every one on the team had done their time in the field and so the adjustment period was short lived. In fact, some relished the chance to get back into the thick of things. Kate hadn’t that luxury yet. She hadn’t been office-bound long enough to experience the desire to escape it. Nick had. And she sensed, despite all he’d said in the past, that he was invigorated by it.

  However, sitting here, almost like old times, with the team eating wings and drinking beer, Kate wondered if Nick could handle it. Not the field work. The drink. He was still attending the AA meetings and this was, to her knowledge, the first time he would face temptation in a social setting—with his subordinates. No one knew about his battle with alcohol. They couldn’t know. It could mean the end of his career.

  Fisher tipped the bottle of beer to his lips before beginning, “So, what was your impression of the Floyds, Quinn?”

  “I’ll let Reid tell you. This was her call. And it was the right one.”

  “All right,” Kate replied. “When I first spotted them, and the way they reacted to one another at the meeting, something didn’t feel right. It was as if they were worried.”

  “Wasn’t everyone worried?” Walsh asked.

  “Yes, but this was different.” Kate glanced at Duncan for affirmation.

  “I was there. It seemed odd to me too. She ran with it.”

  “Worried not because of what Scarborough said early on, about the killer and the tainted drugs. It was when he mentioned the dealers. Warning the people off them. Which struck me as odd. Duncan had her phone out, so I asked her to take a picture of them.”

  “What was your end game in going to talk to them at their house?” Nick asked.

  “The purpose of the visit was to, first of all, gauge their reaction to our presence. Were they going to be nervous, like they had something to hide?”

  “And were they?” Fisher asked.

  “No,” Quinn interrupted. “Not from my point of view.”

  “Mine either. So that’s when I started taking notice of their home. It hadn’t been touched in a long time.”

  “Yeah. It looked like Archie Bunker’s house,” Quinn replied.

  “Something like that. But what I did notice,” Kate continued, “was a couple of things. There was a bus schedule on the coffee table—Greyhound. And a highlighted destination was Tallahassee.”

  “Strike one.” Quinn took a swig of his beer.

  “We all know what that could mean,” she added.

  “The Oxy Express,” Duncan replied.

  “That’s right. And then I noticed that while the house was in desperate need of updating, there were items dotted around that clearly cost some money and appeared to have been recently purchased.”

  “Such as?” Fisher asked.

  “A newer-looking television. I’d say at least a fifty-inch. For a couple with barely one income and some disability, that would have been a big expense. And a box, a locked case, that sat on the kitchen table. Both of us noticed it as we walked in. Which is the reason, I bet, why Lynn Floyd excused herself to get the drinks.”

  “A gun. They own a gun and she wanted to hide it,” Walsh replied. “But I don’t know why, unless…”

  “It was illegally purchased,” Kate added.

  “And the chief said nothing about any of this?” Nick continued.

  “To be honest, I’m not sure he picked up on it. Then again, he might know something we don’t. They could’ve saved for the television and maybe they got a gun after their daughter died.” Kate looked at Quinn. “But to me, it seemed more than that. Would you agree?”

  “I would. The husband’s demeanor.” He shook his head. “He seemed almost unconcerned about the fact that a murderer was wandering the streets of his town.”

  “Like he had nothing to worry about,” Kate added. “And I felt her response to the question of her car seemed odd. It was late and I didn’t see any neighbors close enough that would’ve asked to borrow it. Oh, and I have to say, and this is completely off-topic.” She again turned to Quinn. “What the hell was that tea? It was almost pure sugar.” At this, they both laughed.

  “Okay, okay. So how do we want to handle this?” Fisher appeared ready to get back to business. “Do we tail the Floyds? See if they take any trips on the Oxy Express?”

  “Hang on,” Nick said. “They could be dealers. Hell, I suspect a lot of people in this town are, but that doesn’t mean they’re the ones pushing the bad drugs and killing people. We need more than this. Kate, what else you got?”

  She seemed slightly embarrassed he’d just referred to her by her first name. They were working. And on this team, that just wasn’t how they spoke to each other. The last thing she wanted to do right now was to remind everyone that she and Nick had a personal relationship. “I believe these people fit our profile. We considered the idea there could be two assailants. Or one killer and the other cleans up the mess. They lost their daughter to drugs. They have reason to be angry and seek revenge.”

  “I have to say that I agree with Reid. What we saw there tonight, their behavior, the few things that really didn’t seem to fit, and the profile. I say it’s worth checking into this couple a little bit more. At least until we get something back from Ness and his forensics team.”

  “Okay, then. We’ll go with that.” Nick tossed back his tonic water. “We’ll get back at it again in the morning.” He approached the bartender and handed him a credit card.

  “Are we meeting up first thing?” Duncan asked.

  “Yep. I hope to hell no one else dies tonight.” Walsh stood from the table.

  “Let’s remain positive, yeah?” Fisher added. As Nick returned, he continued. “Thanks, boss. And, if we haven’t said it already, it’s good to have you here. You and Duncan.”

  “It’s good to be here.”

  The team approached the motel and each headed to their own rooms. Quantico was only slightly more generous than the WFO in its lodging allowance, so at least no one had to share rooms. Except when Nick followed Kate to hers, she noticed Quinn watching them. “Night, Quinn.”

  “Night, Reid, Scarborough.” He continued toward the adjacent room and walked inside.

  Kate opened the door and stepped in while Nick followed.

  “This doesn’t feel right,” she said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean us, together in this room.”

  “Kate, they all know we live together. Sharing a room should come as no surprise.”

  “I know. It’s just, I don’t want to remind them of the fact that we’re together. I mean, Nick, come on. You called me Kate. No one here calls each other by their first name.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize I’d done it. It won’t happen again, okay? I’m sure no one else picked up on it.”

  “Quinn did. I saw it in his eyes.”

  Nick stepped closer to her and placed his hands on her arms. “I am sorry, Kate. I truly meant nothing by it. It was a slip of the tongue. At the WFO…”

  “I know what we did there. I remember. But this isn’t the WFO. It’s not just you, me, Dwight, and Alicia anymore. But I do want to say that I’m proud of you for, you know.”

  “Skipping out on the booze?” He smiled. “You think anyone noticed?”

  “Everyone else was drinking beer, so maybe. I don’t know. But n
o one seemed to care.”

  “No. They didn’t. And the fewer questions we raise on that whole issue, the better.”

  “I know. Come on, we should get some sleep. Who knows what we’ll be dealing with tomorrow. Like you always used to say, get sleep when you can…”

  “It might be days before you’ll get it again.”

  “Yep.”

  He began to unbutton her shirt. “You’re not too tired for, you know…”

  “Not a chance. These thin walls and my boss on the other side? No way.”

  Nick sighed. “Fine. Your loss.” He unbuttoned his own shirt and pulled it open like a Chippendale dancer.

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “It is my loss. Most definitely.” She placed her hands on his bare chest and kissed his lips. “Good night.”

  Kate stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her before returning to see Nick sitting up in bed, on his phone.

  “Thanks. I’ll let everyone know. Appreciate your help.” He ended the call. “That was Ness.”

  “And?” Her heart began to race in anticipation of the break they so desperately needed.

  “He got the DNA back on the wood shard, but there’s no match. Whoever it belongs to isn’t in the system.”

  Kate dropped her head to her chest. “Damn it. We’ve been pinning all our hopes on those results.”

  “Look, you know the drill as well as anyone. This is still good news. We have DNA on someone. So when we bring in a suspect, we’ll get a swab and see if there’s a match.”

  “We don’t have a suspect.”

  “The Floyds?”

  “Yeah. I suppose so. Although I really don’t want Tate to get wind we’re tailing them.”

  “He won’t.” Nick stood from the bed and approached her. “I’ll get cleaned up and we’ll head out and let the rest of the team know.”

  Lynn Floyd grabbed her oversized handbag from the kitchen chair. “We’re going to have to lay low for a while.”

  “We can’t afford to lay low.”

  “It’s either that or we go to prison. Your call.”