The Protector

by Dee Henderson

  Cole nodded. “The suggestion was made that it’s not the fire that he’s impassioned about as much as the message in the words he is leaving.”

  The sun was rising on the horizon and shining through the side windows of the car with a gold cast. Rachel had retreated to talking about the arson cases and Cole had accepted it. She needed time to think about what she had asked him, and he knew the value of time to let questions settle and to let God work on her heart. He was relieved the tears had ended.

  He knew she had a headache, but she was doing her best now to turn her focus to what he was dealing with. Rae’s sense of fairness wouldn’t let her talk about her situation without talking about his.

  “Why did he go after you?” Rachel asked.

  “If I had some idea of a suspect maybe I could figure it out. Murderer. Cowards. Liar. Possibly chicken although that’s suspect. He’s being extremely blunt.”

  “He’s going after authorities.”

  “Fair conclusion.”

  “Any idea on why he changed to vandalism?”

  “An arson fire in an arson investigator’s home—there is not enough sting to it, I imagine.” He finished his coffee. “Give me your opinion. He goes after the man responsible for public safety and calls him a murderer. He goes after the men responsible for facing down fires and calls them cowards. Finally, he goes after the man, me, whose essential job is to discover the truth and he calls me a liar.”

  “Questioning integrity,” Rachel concluded.

  Cole nodded his agreement.

  “You also know he’s setting fires at the edge of the district,” Rachel added. “He doesn’t want you to be able to respond in a timely fashion to what he is doing. You know he’s watching the scene. So he feels some responsibility for the results of his actions. You’ve got a contradiction in front of you. Cassie said she saw a thoughtful man. Trashing your place—that’s the action of a man in a rage and out of control. For those to be two sides of the same coin…it’s a man who has snapped and is fluctuating like a pendulum between two extremes.”

  “How do I stop him?”

  She didn’t give him an immediate answer. He looked over at her.

  “Cole, you’ve got one slim hope. He’s escalating. That’s being caused by something. Everything revolves around this district so the trigger is probably here as well. If that can be removed you’ve got a chance to change his behavior, slow down his escalation in time and type of fires. That might give you the time you need for the investigation to give you enough information to identify him.”

  “How are the holidays going to affect him? Christmas, New Year’s?”

  “The season is a stressor even for people who otherwise have happy lives—the pace, the financial pressure, the people pressure. And I doubt this is a man with a stable family with whom he spends the holidays. He’s probably alone. If you haven’t found him by Christmas—” She shook her head. “He’ll hurt someone, Cole. There will come a point where he doesn’t care.”

  Thirty-three

  Jack paced the terminal waiting for Jennifer and Tom’s flight to arrive. The O’Malley family was assembling from all corners of the country and he was the designated chauffeur. For the fifth time he glanced at his watch. This was going to be tight. He had an errand to run after he took Jennifer and Tom to the hotel, and then he had to get back here to meet his brother Marcus and his fiancée Shari.

  Since the family gathering had grown from seven to fifteen with the addition of spouses, fiancées, and dates, they had decided to make it easier on Jennifer and arrange the whole event to be at the hotel where she and Tom would be staying. They had been able to reserve a block of hotel rooms and had hired the hotel to cater the gathering.

  Jack knew it was the best compromise. They’d hopefully be able to keep Jennifer from overextending her energy and get her to agree to call it an early night if she knew everyone would still be at the hotel and around for breakfast.

  The relief that she was able to come was intense. That decision hadn’t been made until early yesterday morning, the twenty-second. Jennifer hadn’t wanted to leave her puppy behind, but other than that, when he talked to her yesterday she’d been eager to get here.

  The family had taken her fall as a warning of what was coming. They were eager to have this weekend as a full family celebration of not only Christmas but also New Year’s. All of them realized that the next time the family gathered as a group it might be around a hospital visit. Jennifer was going back on chemotherapy in January. She’d pleaded for the extra week before it began. She had been so wiped out last time that her doctors had agreed a few more days of recovery before she was hit again with toxic drugs would mean she’d have a better chance of success.

  Jack checked the wall clock to confirm his wristwatch time was correct. If this flight was late, he would have to track down Stephen and see if he could handle meeting Marcus and Shari. Jack did not want to be late picking up Cassie. She was nervous enough about the idea of coming with him to the family gathering that he didn’t want to give her any excuse to back out.

  Jack knew Cassie had to be tired. They had spent most of yesterday and part of this Saturday morning at Cole’s helping him deal with the mess the vandalism had created. They had rebuilt the back door yesterday, then replaced the last windowpanes this morning. Cole had hired a professional painter to come in because it would take a blackout paint to cover the glowing spray paint and not have it show through the next coat of white paint. Jack knew he’d have to make it an early night for both of them. He didn’t want Cassie walking away from tonight with anything but fond memories.

  The flight finally arrived. Ten minutes later people began to flow from the gateway. Jennifer and her husband Tom appeared at the end of the first group.

  Jack had been braced to see her looking ill, to have lost weight, to look tired, as she had during the hospital stay. Instead she looked wonderful—her color was good and she’d gained a little weight since being released from the hospital. She dropped her bag at Tom’s feet and raced toward him. Jack caught her.

  “Jennifer.” He took care with his hug knowing how injured her back was. “Hi.”

  She hugged him back. “Oh, it’s good to see you.” She’d turned into a bubbly blonde with the choice of the wig to deal with the loss of her hair. She caught his tie and tugged it as she laughed. “You dressed up for me?”

  “Cassie actually, but you get the benefit of it.” A suit jacket and dress slacks were not what he would normally wear to an O’Malley gathering but he knew Cassie. She was going to be dressed up, and he wanted something that at least felt like a comfortable middle ground.

  “Did she pick out the tie?”

  “An early Christmas gift.”

  “I thought so.”

  “I like this tie.”

  “You hate ties.”

  “I hate ties, plural. I love this specific tie.”

  She giggled. “In that case, I’m buying you a tie for Christmas.”

  “Jen, while I’m not opposed to wearing two ties to this O’Malley family gathering and recreating my clown costume, on basic principle it will look kind of bad if I don’t wear just Cassie’s tie this time.”

  “Very good save. So shall I buy you cuff links instead?”

  “I really don’t want to dress up that much.”

  “Unless Cassie gives them to you.”

  He conceded that point with a sheepish nod.

  “I can’t wait to meet her.”

  “She’s coming. Would you look after her tonight for me? She’s not used to large, boisterous families.”

  “I’d love to.” She slid her hand through his arm. “Where are we heading first?”

  “How much luggage do we have to deal with?”

  Jennifer smiled.

  “That bad?”

  “I’d hate to ruin my reputation.”

  He glanced over at her husband Tom. “Let’s go to baggage claim. If needed I can bring the car to the lower level
. Then I’ll take you over to the hotel. The party gets under way at seven.”

  Jack glanced at his watch and sprinted up the steps. He was late and Cassie was a stickler for punctuality. This was not the impression he wanted to leave with her.

  She had buzzed him into the building so he wasn’t surprised when she immediately answered his knock on her door. Her coat was over her arm and her keys in her hand.

  “Sorry I’m late.” And then what she wore registered. “Wow.”

  Her smile was immediate.

  She was wearing a pink cardigan and a black pleated skirt with an explosion of color along the bottom four inches. She looked absolutely gorgeous. He spun his finger.

  She swirled to show it off.

  “Beautiful.”

  “Thank you.”

  She was blushing and her voice wasn’t quite steady. He tilted his head, surprised at that. He hadn’t expected the nervousness before they got to the party. “Jennifer can’t wait to meet you,” he offered. He took her coat and held it for her as she slipped it on.

  “It’s mutual.”

  He squeezed her shoulders. “You’ll have a great time. I promise.”

  She smiled as she pulled on her gloves. “Nice tie.”

  He glanced down and ran his finger across it. “It’s quite grown-up.”

  She slipped her hand under his arm and companionably walked the stairs with him. “I also bought you a much less grown-up one.” She leaned over against him to admit.

  “Did you?”

  Jack opened the apartment building door and the snow swirled in. She was wearing flats that looked like they had smooth soles. “The walkway is slick,” he cautioned. She clenched his arm as she took the first couple steps, slipped, then got her footing.

  “The tie was a joke, you know. Cole dared me to give you one.”

  “I know. But never let it be said I can’t take a gift in the spirit it was intended.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “What’s this?” A small, gold chain glinted in the cold evening air and tumbled from his hand to dangle by a finger. He lowered it into her palm.

  “I do wish you would quit doing that,” she said, and then she looked at what he had pressed into her hand. It was a gold heart with the flowing word Cassie across it. Jack saw unexpected tears get blinked away. He’d had it made for her thinking it would look good with whatever outfit she chose for tonight.

  He tugged her toward him and pressed a kiss against her hair. “Merry Christmas.”

  Rachel had brought Gage. Jack drew up short when he saw the man across the room talking with his brother Marcus. Rachel stood beside him.

  The hotel meeting room was set up with casual, adjoining groups of sofas, a faux fireplace providing a focal point on one wall, and floor to ceiling windows on another wall, giving a spectacular view of the city skyline. From the thirty-fourth floor the skyline was a sparkling set of lights spread out like a blanket. A buffet table was on the east wall.

  It looked like he and Cassie were the last to arrive.

  Jack was surprised Gage had agreed to come. But knowing how difficult the last few weeks had been on Rachel, Jack suspected the man would have found it next to impossible to tell her no when she made the invitation.

  “Call a truce.”

  Jack glanced at Cassie. “I wasn’t the one who started it.” He was more than willing to bury the hatchet, but he wasn’t the one keeping it alive. Gage had reason to hold on to his anger. Christmas for him without his wife Tabitha had to be unbearable.

  “Jack.” Cassie pulled on his arm. “We’re going over to say Merry Christmas and to shake hands.”

  “Later, Cassie.” Jack didn’t want to intensify that grief by interjecting himself into the man’s Christmas. But Cassie was heading that way, and it didn’t matter that he wanted to wait. There was nothing he could say that would eliminate the unease that the entire group would feel. Beyond Merry Christmas there was little safe territory and Rachel would land all over him later should he say the wrong thing. Cassie had no idea what she was asking of him.

  Gage spotted them coming and leaned over to say something to

  Rachel. Moments later he came across the room to meet them, surprising Jack. “Cassie, Merry Christmas.” He leaned down to hug her.

  “It’s good to see you, Gage.”

  He looked over at Jack and his smile faded. Jack flinched at the coolness. “Can I talk to you a minute in private?”

  Jack glanced at Cassie, loath to leave her before she’d been introduced around. Abandoning her in the midst of his large family was not the way to ease her into meeting them. The O’Malleys as a full group could feel overwhelming; Jack was under no illusions about that. His family was great, but you had a cop, a U.S. Marshal, a paramedic, and a doctor, to name just a few of their jobs, and the conversations were not going to be about the latest television comedy. Shari was here and there was a good chance Marcus’s fiancée had the title congresswoman in her future.

  Rachel was coming toward them. At Cassie’s slight nod toward Gage, Jack reluctantly accepted he had no choice and agreed to Gage’s request. “Of course.”

  “Cassie, I’m so glad you could come.” Rachel greeted her with a smile, grasping her hands. “The guys had us outnumbered. Come with me. Let me get you a glass of punch and I’ll introduce you around to all of these O’Malleys.”

  “I’ve worked with Stephen many times in the past,” Cassie offered.

  Rachel seized on it as Jack knew she would. Rachel was a natural hostess. She would do what she could to ensure Cassie was comfortable. “Since he was the only one who dared show up alone, we’ll start by pestering him about why that happened,” Rachel said.

  “I told him he should invite someone,” Jack protested when Rachel looked pointedly at him. He offered Stephen more than one suggestion about whom to bring. Jack looked to Cassie to back him up.

  Cassie glanced up at him once again to offer him a distinctly amused smile. “He tried.”

  Since Cassie didn’t have a big family, Jack had been forced to deal with her laughter at the idea he was working to play matchmaker for his brother. Jack figured it wouldn’t take long for her to figure out just how involved the topic was in his family. The questions directed to Cassie regarding him would be subtle but they would come. Before the night was over Cassie would catch the drift.

  The ladies headed toward the punch bowl. Gage gestured toward the hallway. With some reluctance, Jack nodded and headed that direction. Gage closed the door behind him, and they walked in silence to where there was an open area near the stairway.

  Gage had requested this conversation, so he was the first one to speak. “Popcorn.”

  Jack waited for the rest of it.

  “It’s appeared at all of the arson fires.”

  Since Gage was not a man to allege facts, Jack confirmed it just to find out where this was going. “Yes.”

  “That signature has leaked. It will hit the papers tomorrow or the next day.”

  “Who has it?”

  “The Daily Times and the ABC news affiliate. Do you want to go on record?”

  “No.”

  “Jack, I suggest either you or Cole do so because you’ve got a problem. I’ve been sitting on the words used in the fire station arson and at Cole’s home, but it’s only a matter of time before someone else gets those. Once that happens I’ll have no choice but to lay out the connection with all the fires.”

  “No one else has the words?”

  “Not that I’ve been able to ferret out.”

  “Gage, we don’t need public panic, not over the holidays.”

  “Reporter’s discretion only goes so far. You can duck the news becoming public and react once it does, or you can intervene to shape it before it comes out.”

  Jack understood the man’s position, respected the way in which he worked to get the details confirmed even if Jack didn’t often like the specifics of what Gage wrote. “Talk to Cole. And if you can, sit on it a while
longer.”

  “Do you even have an unofficial suspect?”

  Jack didn’t reply.

  “That’s what I thought.” Gage nodded back down the hall toward the room. “I’m glad you brought Cassie. She needs a good Christmas.”

  It was a generous statement from a man who understood just what it meant for Cassie to be here. “I’m glad you came with Rachel,” Jack replied, meaning it. He looked down and studied the pattern in the carpet. He wanted to say he was sorry for what had happened in the past but didn’t know how. Straightforward was still the best approach. He looked up and locked his attention on Gage. “I’m sorry about Tabitha. We tried, Gage. We couldn’t get to her.”

  “My son would be celebrating his first Christmas this year,” Gage said softly.

  Jack knew how deep that grief went. He’d watched Rachel be the one to reach out to Gage and listen to that pain. Had the situation been reversed, Jack wasn’t sure he would have handled it as well. For Gage to face this Christmas without his wife and son had to be a shattering thing to handle. “I know.”

  “You were late.”

  “We were late. It wasn’t in our control, but it happened.” Jack held Gage’s gaze. “You want to take another swing at me?” he asked, hopeful. If a black eye would help, he’d give Gage a free shot.

  “Yes, but then Rae would take one at me.”

  The two men looked at each other.

  “It’s history.”

  Jack’s relief was intense, for he hadn’t expected Gage to give at all. “Good. Are you going to date my sister?”

  The question rocked Gage back on his heels. “You don’t waste any time in shifting to brother mode.”

  Jack simply held up four fingers.

  “I hear you. Marcus already gave me the elder brother look.” Gage laughed. “No wonder Rachel wasn’t worried about how her family would react to my coming along. She already knew.”

  “She’s an O’Malley.”

  Gage conceded the point with a nod. “We’re friends. And as her brother, you’ve got a right to know if that changes.” He gave a glimmer of a smile. “That said, I might tell Marcus first.” Gage gestured down the hall to where the gathering was under way. “Anything else you want to say before we go back in?”