DEATH ON THE NEW MOON (A Troubled Waters Suspense Thriller Book 6)

by Michael Lindley

  Hayes offered his hand, "Asa, nice to see you again. Thank you for the invitation on this beautiful evening."

  Holloway stood to the side and said, "Hello Asa."

  Ignoring the greeting from the lawyer, Asa D said, "Senator, could we have a moment?"

  "Of course."

  Holloway took the obvious slight without protest and excused himself.

  Asa D looked around to make sure they could speak confidentially. "Senator, I'm sure you're aware we have complications in Columbia with the proposed bill. Our friend in the State House decided she had other interests in conflict with our plans... not a wise decision I have to say."

  "Yes, Asa, I'm well aware. Please tell me her sudden disappearance has nothing to do with this."

  Dellahousaye's face remained impassive. "That's none of your affair, but where the honorable representative is at this point is beyond me."

  Hayes scowled, trying to remain calm in the intimidating glare of the gangster.

  "I need your help, Senator. We need to reassert our control in the State House to make sure this bill gets to the floor and gets passed. I don't need to tell you the financial gains at stake here... for all of us."

  Hayes hesitated, thinking through how best to navigate these dangerous waters. "Asa, give me a day or so to make some discreet contacts. I think we can get this back under control."

  "I want you to call me tomorrow with an update," Asa D demanded.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Alex had spent time with all the Smith boys. It was one of the most difficult experiences of his life. As he looked into each of their eyes, he couldn't help but think it was his responsibility to protect their father and he had failed. He'd left the house with a final hug for Ginny and assurances he would be available to help her with anything, though he knew he was going to have more than he could handle trying to get his head straight and at the same time, get back on the street and find this killer.

  As he drove back across town, he knew he was supposed to meet Hannah for dinner at her apartment. He had hesitated to call but couldn't put his finger on why. The pain in his neck was growing unbearable. He remembered some painkillers from a past prescription back at his house. He turned at the next corner and headed home.

  Rifling through a cluttered cabinet next to his bathroom sink, Alex finally found the prescription for Vicodin. He had been prescribed the drug by his doctor for the bullet wound in his arm during the episode with Beau Richards back in Dugganville. The bottle still had a dozen pills. He went to the kitchen for a glass of water. He noticed his hand shaking when he lifted the glass to wash down the pill.

  His cell buzzed and he looked at the screen, expecting to see that Hanna was calling again. It was his captain down at the department. "Hello, Jim."

  "Alex, where in hell are you?"

  Alex cringed and sat in one of the kitchen chairs, his legs a bit unsteady. "I'm home."

  "You should be in the hospital! You trying to kill yourself?" the captain admonished.

  "I'll be okay," Alex responded. "I just couldn't lie there anymore. I need to get back to work.

  There was a pause on the other end of the call before Captain Guinness said, "Alex, I'm going to ask you to step back. I'm putting you on a medical leave of absence. You need to take time to get well."

  "Captain...!"

  Guinness continued, "You know as well as I do in a case like this, we need to put you on the sidelines until we get everything sorted out."

  "Captain, you need every person available to track down this Caine killer."

  "I'm well aware of that, Alex, but as of now, you are on paid leave until further notice."

  Alex felt his heart sink and a deep fury begin to build as he thought about the assassin and the havoc he was causing in people's lives.

  Guinness said, "And you need to get some rest and let that wound heal. Do you hear me?"

  Alex didn't answer. The painkiller he had taken was already beginning to dull his thinking. He placed the phone on "speaker" and set it on the table in front of him. Holding his head in his hands, he said, "Jim, I can't sit by on this."

  "You will damn well stay out of it until I tell you otherwise! Are we clear?" Alex didn't answer. "Alex!"

  Finally, "Yes sir, I hear you."

  "The IA team may have some more questions for you tomorrow. Keep your phone handy."

  "Yessir."

  Alex ended the call and sat looking out the window of the kitchen. This wasn't the first time he'd been placed on leave from the department but this time, he knew he couldn't sit back and let someone else do his job. He would find Lonnie's killer or at least do all he could to stop this guy from killing again.

  When he stood, he stumbled and had to reach for the chair to keep from falling. The drug was really kicking in now and he felt some relief from the pain and the old familiar buzz of contentment these damn pills gave him. He pushed thoughts of past dependencies aside.

  He held the walls as he made it back to his bedroom and lay down on the bed. He thought of Hanna and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Rather than call, he decided to send a quick text... Sorry, really need to get some rest back here at the apartment. See you tomorrow. Love, A.

  He was in a deep drug-induced sleep within minutes.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Hanna was starting to pour her second glass of wine when her phone chimed indicating a text. As she read the message from Alex, she was relieved that he was home safe and getting some rest. But why couldn't he call?

  A stack of files stared back at her on the small kitchen table. At least she would be able to get caught up on some of the backlog at the office, she thought, deciding that she'd had enough to drink and needed to get some work done.

  The top file was for Calley Barbour and she thought again of the young pregnant girl facing one of life's most difficult decisions. She had Molly send a formal request to the Office of the Court for a judicial hearing on Calley's case. They were told to expect a call back within the week as well as a request from the clerk to send over the relevant background information for the judge to review before the hearing. Hanna needed to prepare that brief this evening;

  She began by looking through her notes again from the first two meetings with Calley. Then, she re-read the legal summary that Molly had prepared. As she went over the legal ramifications and requirements for the judge to consider in granting this waiver of parental consent, Hanna was concerned about the rape allegation that had not been reported by Calley. Would the judge require formal charges to be filed before he would consider that stipulation? Calley claimed to not even know the boy or where to find him. She decided to call a friend in the Public Defender's office in the morning who dealt with a lot of sexual assault cases.

  In her mind, Hanna had come to terms with the fact she would be helping a sixteen-year-old girl obtain a legal abortion without her parent's knowledge or consent. The law provided for this type of situation, although she still had some concerns about Calley's claims about the rape and her parent's reaction if they were to discover she had been drinking, doing drugs and got pregnant by someone she didn't know and couldn't identify. She tried to think about how to get more background on the parents without violating client privilege. It seemed a gray area, but as Hanna thought about it more, she decided she needed to know more about the Barbour family. She would talk to Molly about it in the morning.

  For a moment, memories of her time in college came back to her; long sleepless nights with Sam having gone off to Europe, probably never to return, his baby growing inside her. She was legal age for an abortion at the time and worked through the haunting decision alone, uncertain who to bring into her confidence for guidance and advice. She often found herself rationalizing her ultimate choice as the best decision at the time. The abortion had been in the sixth week of her pregnancy. The recovery was physically difficult, but emotionally, a roller coaster of depression and doubt. Ultimately, she had turne
d to her closest friend at school and together they worked through Hanna's recovery in the coming weeks until a time when the emotions began to dull. The rationalizations seemed more justified, and her life simply moved on. The demands of school were very difficult. She lost herself in her studies and tried not to dwell on her decision.

  There had been an opportunity some years later when Sam did come back to the U.S. for a short visit. He contacted her in Durham, and they met for coffee. Throughout that brief reunion, she could barely hear him tell of his travels and work. She had been too preoccupied with how or whether to tell him about the baby. In the end, he left without knowing and still didn't know.

  She started in on the next file on the stack and soon found herself nodding off, partly from the wine and partly from lack of sleep over the weekend out at Pawleys Island. When she and Alex were out there most weekends, they tended to stay up too late, drink too much wine and wake far too early each morning.

  She went to the counter and put on a pot of coffee to try to rally for another hour or so on the work files. Then she thought about Alex, hopefully in a restful and recuperative sleep. What he had endured in the past two days was unimaginable. She scolded herself for being impatient and upset with him earlier. I'll call him in the morning and offer to help with whatever he needs... Ginny Smith and her kids, whatever.

  Caine watched as the police cruiser finally pulled away in front of the legal clinic in downtown Charleston. He had driven by several times through the day to check. It was now just past 9:00 pm. He wasn't sure why they would suddenly decide now was a good time to leave their post watching the cop's girlfriend. Maybe they were off for a quick cup of coffee, or maybe they'd been called off permanently. He kept driving past, watching the cop car in his rear-view mirror. When they were out of sight, he turned around and pulled up to the curb two houses down from the law offices of Hanna Walsh.

  He had all the latest background on Hanna Moss Walsh... schools, degrees, work history, and now her free clinic here now in Charleston, her other home out on Pawleys Island and legal work with a firm up there. His background investigators were exceptionally thorough, but he paid them well to be. His business and survival depended on it.

  There was a light on over the front porch of the old converted house, but the office windows were dark. Upstairs, light showed through two windows with closed blinds.

  Caine sat and thought about how best to close out this particular chapter with the police detective who had luckily survived yesterday's gunfight. He had received an encrypted message from his employer to clean up the mess quickly and leave no loose ends. He was a man who followed orders from his clients diligently, particularly from Asa Dellahousaye.

  He certainly knew where Alex Frank lived and also knew he had left the hospital later in the day. It was quite likely, however, that he was here with the lovely girlfriend, Hanna, having her help nurse his wounds. He quickly formulated a plan, thinking that even if the cop wasn't here, he could take the woman as bait for their ultimate reunion.

  Just when he reached to open the car door, headlights in his mirrors caught his attention. He slumped down as the police cruiser pulled past and parked in front of the house. There were two cars now between them. Caine waited five minutes, then put his car in gear, pulled out and drove slowly away past the cruiser and down the block. Another time, Ms. Hanna and Detective Frank.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Despite the Vicodin, Alex woke with a splitting headache and when he tried to sit up in bed, his neck flared with a fresh assault of deep tissue pain. He fell back into the pillow and cursed, closing his eyes and trying to focus on anything but the pain coursing through his neck and head.

  He managed to get up and to the bathroom and shook another pill from the prescription bottle. He washed it down, drinking from the faucet and then slowly made it out to the kitchen, his right hand up on the wall along the way to steady himself.

  With coffee brewing, he looked through the messages on his phone. His father had called again, but his voice mail was full and not accepting any more messages. He started clearing and deleting some of the calls and making mental notes to return some of them. The phone buzzed in his hand and his father's number flared up on the screen.

  "Morning, Pop."

  "Hey Alex," Skipper Frank said, the sounds of Maggie Mae's diesel pounding in the background. "You get your ass up here today, you hear me."

  "Pop, I told you, I got work to do."

  "I know you're on leave, son. Had Pepper check with your office." He was referring to County Sheriff Pepper Stokes, their friend who ran the Dugganville Sheriff's Office.

  "All you had to do is call me," Alex said in frustration, then remembered his father had tried to call.

  "You're gonna need some rest, son. Get on up here. I'll be back in port by noon. I'll meet you up at the house. You can get some rest and we'll fry up some fish tonight, maybe get a nightcap down at Gilly’s."

  Alex's doorbell rang from the box downstairs. "Let me call you back, Pop. Somebody's at the door."

  "Just get your ass up here. See you this afternoon."

  Alex passed the front windows of his condo and saw the patrol car parked down in the lot. He looked through the security hole in the front door and saw Hanna standing there, talking on her phone. He opened the door and she quickly ended the conversation and came gently into his arms, not wanting to aggravate his wound.

  He felt the warm comfort of her holding him close. She pulled back and said, "You get any rest last night?"

  He stepped aside to let her come in. "Enough."

  Hanna stopped and looked at his face. "I'm sorry, but you look like hell!"

  He remembered what had stared back at him from the bathroom mirror earlier... pale skin, dark circles and bags under the eyes, hair going in all directions and a bandage the size of a softball on his neck. "Thank you... I feel like hell, too. These pain meds aren't making a dent and my head's splitting apart."

  "What are you taking?"

  "An old prescription of Vicodin."

  "What did your doctor say?"

  "I didn't ask before I left," Alex said, walking back toward the kitchen. "He wasn't exactly in favor of my departure."

  Hanna shook her head and followed. Alex poured coffee for both of them and they sat at the dining table.

  "You should know," Alex began, "I'm officially on paid leave until they've completed their investigation of the shootings and the doctor thinks I'm healthy enough to go back to work."

  "Well, I'm pleased to hear they want you to rest," Hanna said.

  Alex squeezed his eyes tight, trying to ward off another surge of pain in his forehead. "I thought I could get back out there and help find this guy, but I can barely walk from one room to the next."

  "I noticed," Hanna said. "Why don't I drive you up to the island. You can stay as long as you want until you feel strong enough to get back on the job."

  Alex thought about her invitation for a moment, then said, "Skipper asked me to come home for a few days. I think I should take him up on it. If I'm laid up, I really should spend some time with the old coot and see just how bad he's getting along."

  "That sounds like a good idea. I don't think you should drive with those meds in your system, though," she offered. "I can drive you up there later this morning. Shouldn't take more than an hour round trip if we let the morning traffic clear. I do need to get back to the office. It's a little crazy down there."

  She stood and kissed him on the cheek. "What if I come by around ten?"

  He nodded. "You sure you have time?"

  "Just be ready at ten."

  Caine watched from a parking lot across the street next to another building as Hanna Walsh came down from Frank's condo. She waved to the two officers in the police cruiser and then got in her own car and drove off.

  He thought for a moment about going after her but thought better of raising suspicion with her police escort. There will be
the right time and place.

  Hanna picked up Alex as scheduled at ten and they were soon out of town and headed up Highway 17 to his hometown of Dugganville. Their police escort followed with two officers assigned to continue to watch their backs.

  Alex looked over at her from the passenger seat. She noticed his stare.

  "What are you looking at?" she said, smiling back at him.

  "Why do you put up with me?" he said, seriously wondering again why this woman had the patience and fortitude to deal with his work, his ex-wife and all the other craziness in his life.

  Hanna drove for a while without answering, then turned again and asked, "Are you serious?"

  Actually, he was, he thought to himself. Other women in his life had endured far less and decided he was not worth the effort. "I feel badly about putting you in danger like this."

  She smiled and tried to make light of the situation by saying, "I'm not particularly wild about an insane assassin on the loose but, for some reason, I still think you're worth it."

  Alex started to respond when she changed the subject. "I wanted to share something with you, something from work that's been bothering me."

  He was somewhat relieved she had squelched his invitation to dump him, but his doubts about the danger he had placed her in were still eating at him. "What's going on?"

  Alex listened as she told him about a client who needed her help with an abortion. As he listened to her explain the situation without revealing who the girl was, he found himself shocked that Hanna would agree to help this underage girl go behind her parents’ back for something so serious.

  "There is certainly legal precedent for a case like this," he heard her continue. "We're waiting on scheduling for a hearing before a judge to rule on this girl's request."

  Alex looked over at her as she drove and tried to understand her position, but he was struggling with her decision to proceed with this. Finally, he said, "I have to tell you, I'm really surprised you're agreeing to help with this."