The Final Flashpoint

by Iona Morrison

  Matt’s answer was brisk. “It wasn’t for me.”

  “Why is that? You were on your way up and well-liked in the division.”

  “Two years was enough for me. It was too stressful. The threat level to our country is high and continuous. The Intel kept me awake at night.” Matt leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest.

  “I get it and so does anyone who works there. It’s a damn pressure cooker. I had to ask because reading your file made me wonder.”

  “I guess that makes us even. From now on, I’ll tell you what I learn, and I expect no less from you.” Matt opened the door.

  “Fair enough. Oliver Kaufman walked out the door with Matt. “I haven’t kept anything from you on purpose, nor will I.”

  “That’s all I ask.” Matt walked into his office. Could those days at the agency tie into this somehow? Not good. He paced until he could finally sit down and then picked up his phone. He needed to hear her voice. “Hi, Jess, how’s your day?”

  “It’s moving fast. I had a bus tour this morning, and the book club women are meeting here again. I’m happy to have them. It makes the store bubble with conversation, which I love.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “I don’t mind being busy.” Matt heard the hum of people talking in the background.

  “When can you go to the college to meet with Darsha?” Matt asked.

  “Will Wednesday work for you? I talked to Darsha’s aunt today, and she said Wednesday or Thursday would work for them. Kaufman thought an agent should bring her to the station. They don’t want her aunt to be followed either.”

  “Damn Kaufman,” Matt said under his breath. “What about the college student interviews?”

  “Thursday morning would work for me. Reba said she could answer the phone at the church both days so Audrey could work for me.”

  “Perfect. How about dinner at Patterson’s? Frank will meet us there at five-thirty.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  ****

  Jessie loved listening to the book club women arguing their points about the book they were reading. It was especially nice to have them there since the strange man was sitting in Joe’s and watching her shop again. She wrote down what she noticed about him on a scrap of paper. Later she would check the police photos to see if she could find him in among the criminals. His eyes were blue. Stormy might be a good description. He was considerably shorter than she was, maybe five feet four inches or thereabouts. His mousy brown hair had a few streaks of gray running through it. It was fine and wispy. Did he have any scars or visible marks? Not any that she could see right off. He did have a piercing glare. Jessie held up her phone, pretending to scroll through the texts. She took a quick photo, hoping he wouldn’t see what she was doing. She caught him at the perfect moment when he wasn’t paying attention. Jessie glanced into the coffee shop again. Sitting at a table in the front was Amir—or rather his ghost.

  Chapter 11

  Amir’s ghost followed the man who’d been watching her as she closed the doors into the coffee shop. Her eyes narrowed when she glanced toward them. Did Amir know this man? How were they connected? A cold, calculating man, he wasn’t someone she wanted to turn her back on. What he lacked in size he made up for in anger. Not a nice man, if her feelings were correct. The cold clammy sensation took her by surprise. She pulled her sweater tight around her and blew on her hands. It was time to close up the store. Locking the front door, she shut off the lights. Movement by the cemetery caught her attention. Shara’s ghost and Ryan’s were flittering back and forth between headstones in the cemetery as if playing a game of tag. “And that makes three for the day,” she whispered.

  Grabbing her purse, she slipped her jacket on and locked the front door as she left. Patterson’s was only three buildings down from her store; she could walk there. A brisk cool breeze swept past one side and then the other. She wasn’t alone. The flurry of ghostly activity around her sent a cold chill through her body. Picking up her pace, she looked behind her. “I’ll help you,” she said softly. “We will find those who did this to you. I hope you’re willing to help us too.”

  Jessie walked into Patterson’s, and Joe, the owner, greeted her. “I have the perfect table waiting for you and your friends. Matt called and reserved it.” Patterson led the way. “I’m glad you decided to make Blue Cove your home, Jessie. You have brightened our town by being here.” Joe smiled and handed her a menu.

  “I’m glad I moved here, too.” She sat as he pulled out her chair for her. “How’s your wife?”

  “She’s doing well and still tolerates me. I’d say after all these years, that’s a good thing. I’m a lucky man.” Patterson grinned.

  “You sure are, but so is she.” She took the menu he handed her.

  “You do my old heart good; enjoy your meal.” Patterson placed his hand across his chest.

  Jessie glanced over the menu. She should know it by heart; she had been here to eat many times. If Patterson only knew what she had brought to Blue Cove, he might help her pack her bag and escort her out of town. She fiddled with the napkin, finally placing in on her lap. Thank heavens for Reba. What would she have done without her? Speaking of Reba… Jessie frowned. She hadn’t seen her for a few days. It was about time she showed up with some kind of new thoughts for her. A tap on the window startled her. Reba’s smiling face was looking in at her. Jessie shook her head. She should have known. If she thought of Reba, Reba was thinking of her.

  “Add another chair to Jessie’s table, Joe; there will be five of us for dinner,” Reba directed as she and her striking husband, Lawrence, made their way to the table where she was. The staff moved to add a chair.

  Jessie adored Lawrence’s loving glance at Reba as he pulled out her chair. She sighed inwardly. He must have been a heartthrob when he was younger. He still was a handsome man. His silver-gray hair made him look distinguished. “You could teach a few of the young men around town a thing or two about romance.” She beamed at him.

  “He sure could.” Reba placed her hand on his as he sat. “He’s a keeper.”

  Joe handed Reba and Lawrence their menus. “You folks enjoy your evening. Be sure to check out the dinner specials. The pork roast is especially good tonight, and so is the prime rib.”

  “What brings you here tonight?” Jessie glanced at the menu to see what came with the special.

  “You know how this works by now, Jessie.” Lawrence smiled as he picked up his menu. “Reba told me we had to eat at Patterson’s tonight. So here we are.” Lawrence’s eyes twinkled when he looked at her. “I could no more say no to this dear wife of mine than to the man in the moon if he were to talk.” Lawrence patted Reba’s hand. “When it comes to my sweet wife, I’m never sure where her ideas will lead us. I’ve learned to go with it since she seems to be right every time. My guess is that she wanted to come to Patterson’s for dinner tonight knowing she would run into you.”

  “Yes, I know she’s always right. The funny thing is, I was sitting here thinking about her too.” The fact Reba always showed up at the right moment didn’t surprise her anymore.

  “We are kindred spirits, Jessie girl. I hope your nice Mr. Parker will soon be here, too.”

  “I expect him any minute.” Jessie watched for Matt out the window.

  “The past few days, I’ve run into a few new friends. It has me wondering what is going on in our lovely little town.”

  “I have no idea.” Jessie scrunched her face. “How about you, Lawrence? Do you have any theories?”

  “None whatsoever. I’m only an observer in my wife’s adventures. All I can say is that I know enough to take her seriously.”

  “Reba, let’s talk about the menu or weather until Matt gets here. I want him to hear firsthand what you have to say. Speaking of Matt, he’s here.” She motioned him over when he walked in the door.

  Matt brushed her shoulder as he slipped into the chair beside her. “Hi, sweetheart.”

  “Hi back at you.” She s
miled. “I thought you said Frank was coming. I guess we won’t need the extra chair after all.” Jessie moved the chair to the end of the table, so they had more room.

  “He was, but he wanted to watch the game more. He picked up something to eat on his way to my place. Hi, Lawrence.” Matt shook his hand. “Reba, to what do we owe the honor?”

  “To be blunt, I wanted to see you, and that’s why we’re here.”

  “Why do you want to see me?” Matt’s brows rose, a puzzled expression his face.

  “I always talk to Jessie, but this time what I have to say concerns you more than her. I’ll tell you as soon as we place our order.” The waiter stood beside the table with his pen and pad.

  Jessie leaned toward Matt after she gave her order. “How was your day?”

  “I’ve had better.” He grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers.

  “Are you making any headway on the murders yet? I heard about them on the news. Who would want to kill three young people?” Lawrence frowned as he asked the question.

  “I’ve asked the same question myself.” Matt took a sip of water. “We are getting tips to the FBI hotline, which is good. One of them should pan out. We also have a partial fingerprint on one of the bodies. The coroner is working on an ID.”

  Reba shuddered. “Murder is such a depressing topic. I can’t figure out why anyone would want to hurt another person. Unless of course, they are pure evil, and as you know, there are some folks like that around.” Reba placed her napkin on her lap.

  Matt took a roll and put it on his bread plate. “In this case, I think we’re dealing with bad folks.”

  “I know you are. I thought it was all about the kids at first, but now I’m sure that it is not.” Reba reached for Lawrence’s hand.

  “What you do mean?” Matt’s eyebrows rose as he frowned at her. “There are three dead and another one missing. I think it’s all about the kids.”

  “Yes, of course, it is about them, but there is another dark shadow when I think about them, and it involves you, Mr. Parker.” She paused, and Lawrence squeezed her hand.

  “You may as well tell him, dear. We’re here because of it, although I think the roast sounds good to me.” He glanced at his wife.

  “Your life is in jeopardy and so are the lives of others near you.” Reba blurted the words out. “The hate, in this case, is two-pronged, and one of them is aimed at you. The other has marked our way of life as its enemy. It will take all your skill and strength for you to come out of this alive. I believe you will, and you must believe it, too, for there might be moments when you will doubt it.” Reba took a tissue from her purse.

  “I don’t know what to say.” He squeezed Jessie’s hand tightly. She clung to it, her stomach sinking. She wanted to be shocked at Reba’s words, to deny them, but…Reba was right. She knew it.

  “I know you don’t know me well.” Reba’s eyes were on her. “But I believe Jessie was warned, too. Weren’t you, girl?” Jessie nodded at her, biting her lip.

  “Chief, I’ve learned to take my wife’s offbeat ideas seriously. She’s not here to scare you but to warn you. You’re no stranger to this stuff.” He gave Matt a gentle smile. “Jessie has helped you solve some cases using unconventional means. These ladies,” he pointed at Jessie and Reba, “are two peas in a pod. I never thought I’d meet another woman like my Reba in my lifetime, but here she is, living right in our town.”

  “I’ve always approached things logically. I admit that I don’t have answers for everything, and Jessie has thrown me a curve with the stuff she’s seen. I don’t get it, but I trust her. I’ll take what you say seriously.” His expression was grave, and he didn’t let go of Jessie’s hand. “I’m not sure what I can do with the knowledge until I find myself in the situation.” Matt glanced at Jessie, who was watching him.

  “Your training will be enough. It will kick in at the precise moment you need it the most. I believe you will find out you’re a much stronger man than you realize.” Reba thanked the server when he placed her salad in front of her. “Blue Cove is lucky to have you as our chief of police.”

  Jessie had wondered what Reba was going to tell Matt. She was stunned and more than a little worried after the dream she’d had of him. The rest of the evening was pleasant enough. Reba always managed to deliver her words and move on as if she had said nothing out of the ordinary, but she knew Reba felt it deeply. More than once, she had seen how much the knowledge she was given had affected Reba’s life. Would she ever be free from seeing ghosts and premonitions, or would this be a lifetime burden like Reba’s? Only time would tell.

  Chapter 12

  When Reba and Lawrence left, Matt turned to Jessie. “How am I supposed to handle what she said to me?”

  “I always ask myself the same question.” She placed her hand on his. “Can you come over for a while?”

  “Yes, I was planning on it. I’ll take the time whenever I can get it.” He stood and held her jacket for her. “Did you walk?”

  “Yes.” She preceded him out the door.

  “I’ll drop you off at your car and follow you home.”

  “Thanks.” She scrolled through her photos on her phone and pulled up the one she wanted. “Before I forget, here’s a picture of the man who’s casing my place.” She handed him the phone.

  “Good job.” He peered at it. “E-mail me a copy, would you? I’ll have Tom run a face recognition scan on him. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find him in the system.”

  “I also wrote down a few things I observed about him.” She handed Matt a scrap of paper with the description she had written earlier. “I noticed Amir’s ghost was watching him. When the man left so did Amir.”

  Once she was safely in her car, he followed her, checking his review mirror. No one was behind him. Waiting for a break in the case set him on edge. Hell, Reba’s words didn’t help either. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. What the hell had Reba meant? It didn’t sound promising. He wasn’t about to wait for something to happen. Damn, he hated all the suspense. “I won’t be a sitting target,” he muttered. He saw Jessie step out of the car and reach for something on the seat. He breathed deeply and pulled into the space beside her car. “Wait up,” he called out as he got out of the car. “I want to walk with you.”

  “I was waiting.” She fluttered her eyes him. “It seems I’ve been doing a lot of it lately.” She tapped her foot playfully.

  “Are you feeling neglected?” He watched her nod as she held back a smile. “I have the perfect remedy.” He took her hand, and they strolled toward her cottage. He stopped to kiss her along the way.

  “The weather has been perfect.” She looked at the night sky filled with stars. “I can run outside again, which I love. The treadmill at the gym isn’t the same as seeing the beauty of the ocean and woods when I run.” She stopped on the path.

  He took his time to stop and kiss her before they walked on. “I get it. Outdoors is better than being inside any day.” Matt took the key from her hand. He unlocked the door and pushed it open. “We need to talk.” He walked in after her and closed the door.

  “About what?” She slipped off her shoes and sat on the sofa, curling legs her under her.

  Matt drew a deep breath. She was as pretty as a picture sitting there. For the moment, he sat across from her in his favorite chair. “Tell me again about your dream.”

  She told him again what she had seen. “I’m not sure what it all means, but Reba seemed to have a similar warning, didn’t she?” Jessie watched his facial expression change with her question. It passed from puzzled, to angry, to a stubborn resolve.

  “Yes, and to add to the mystery, Maxwell arrived in town an hour ago. He’s giving me a space of time to be with you tonight, but he’s here to protect me. I have no idea why. I’ve had no threats, no strange calls, or anything.”

  “That small car has been following you, which isn’t good.” Jessie twisted the fringe on the throw pillow around her finger. “I saw all
three of the ghosts in town today, so I guess they’re still around, and Reba told me she has seen some of our old friends. I’m not sure what that means.” She scrunched her face. “What’s your take on the case, Matt? I trust how you work through it.”

  “We don’t have a whole lot to go on yet. There’s a fingerprint. We know the weapon that was used, but we have no motive. Tom seems to think they’re a foreign group of some sort, a gang who enjoys torturing their victims. What are they doing here? It makes very little sense if you ask me. Why are they active on a college campus? I’m not connected to the students in any way.” Matt rubbed his temple. “I need a toxicology report or at the least a confirmed cause of death.”

  Jessie patted the space beside her, moving her legs so he could sit. “Let’s talk about something happy for a moment. The case will still be here tomorrow.”

  Matt moved over to sit beside her and laid his head on her shoulder. This was home. “You’re right, I need to learn to shut if off for a while.” He shuddered and then relaxed against her side.

  She handed him the remote. “Check the score; you know you want to.” She grinned.

  “Oh, yeah.” He chuckled. “You know me well.” He turned on the game.

  “Do you want a beer or something else to drink?” She walked to the kitchen.

  “Water would be great. Hurry back,” he called after her. “It’s not the same without you next to me.”

  Matt drove home a while later. He hadn’t been good company. Even the game couldn’t hold his attention tonight. Once his mind zeroed in on the photo Jessie had given him, it was all over for him. She never failed to surprise him with how astute she was in getting the details right; quick thinking on her part. Tom should have his copy by now. He would send it on to the Bureau for a facial scan. With luck, within a few days, they should know who he was.