The Witness

by Dee Henderson

  “Don’t take too many chances,” Luke requested. “I like my friends living long enough to bug me.”

  Sam laughed and disappeared out the backyard gate.

  Luke sighed. Nothing about this case set well right now, from the thought of the New York shooter prowling around his town to the idea Marsh had brought him earlier in the evening. It didn’t particularly matter which theory was right; trouble was here. Figuring out how to stand in front of it was the challenge.

  He’d go see Amy once dark fell—he owed her that.

  Amy settled into the couch across from the blazing fire, holding a mug of hot chocolate between her hands and staying too calm for Luke’s tastes; he’d rather see fear than a quiet resolve that said Amy was deciding something he might not like.

  “Do you have a sense of where this man might stay in town, if he has arrived?”

  Luke shook his head and just watched her think.

  “I’d like Caroline to see the scenes and the photographs of the victims,” Amy said. “You said her loyalties would be to me first, then you. I need a firsthand sense of what this guy did and how he did it. I’ll trust her perspective.”

  “Everything but the photos,” Luke agreed. “Both guys were stabbed; it was vicious. I’d like her opinion on this guy’s behavior too, but the rawest stuff can be skipped. Marsh and Connor dealing with the images is enough.” Luke hesitated. “You’re surprised he used a knife.”

  “The man I remember seeing occasionally around Greg, doing business with him, was one of the calmest, coldest guys I ever met. If you’re right that this was the man who shot Greg, then I’m not going to dispute it. I didn’t see who shot him that night. But the man I remember meeting briefly with Greg wouldn’t use a knife, not if the situation allowed him to use a gun.”

  She sounded very certain of that conclusion, and Luke wasn’t going to dismiss that impression easily. But if it wasn’t the guy from New York who had done the crimes, they were after a freelance killer who struck twice in one night for a reason entirely of his own creation. “The family secret being the fact you are alive, the demand he be paid to go away—it makes sense given what you feared would occur.”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you want me to arrange more security out here? Do you want me to move you somewhere else farther away?”

  “No. You were right. The harder I am to approach, the more my sisters become the easier targets. Daniel isn’t thinking of paying this guy, is he?”

  Luke had hoped she wouldn’t ask that question. “Daniel cares a great deal about the three of you,” he replied carefully.

  “You know you feed money to a madman, he eventually comes back for more. It won’t change anything about this situation for the better.”

  “I’ve conveyed that too.”

  Amy pushed a pillow behind her back, her attention shifting more into her thoughts than on the present. She finally sighed. “When do you think his next message arrives? How much he wants and where he wants it delivered?”

  “I don’t know. He could be waiting for us to use the press to send him a message that we agree to his conditions. He could be just sitting back considering striking again to drive his point home. We’ve warned those we think might be at risk, improved their security, put more people on the streets in the vicinity of the gallery block.”

  “Defense is hard.”

  He nodded. “Offense is always the easier way to run a case. I’ve got feelers out on the street for where this guy might have landed. That car of his is a vulnerability we should be able to exploit.”

  “It will have been dumped by now; it simply helped set his ID in your head. He’d need to do that if he’s trying to make sure you knew it was a message coming from Richard Wise without actually tipping his hand that it was Richard behind this. Who’s been to see Richard recently?”

  “His lawyers, two from his family, and one guy you may remember, Lewis O’Dell.”

  “Yeah, I remember O’Dell. He’d be the one holding the door for Richard Wise.”

  “He’s still doing basically that, as best the New York cops can tell. Still loyal and probably the one carrying the messages from Richard out to the old crew.”

  “For a price loyalty is not that hard to achieve. So what do you think happens next?”

  “I need something from the forensics at the scenes to point us solidly at an imported talent being the killer, or I need to figure out what killer grew up in my own backyard. That’s the priority right now. And hopefully preventing the next message from arriving at the end of a knife.”

  “Tell Daniel from me that he can’t pay; no matter the pressure of what is happening. Money is not going to solve this.”

  “Is there anything in that oldest ledger that might help us put this suspected shooter behind bars? anything that would make another case against him if we can’t make this one stick?”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m not opposed to turning in the last ledger, Luke. It will likely put Greg’s father behind bars, but I’ve accepted that fact. I just don’t think we need another front opening right now. There were two men on my trail before I arrived in this town, and there is no indication they have gone away either. I’m worried about them sitting out there too, watching my sisters, trying to trail them to locate me. Don’t focus on New York as the only threat.”

  “Connor and Marsh aren’t going to let a tail stay on them when they come out this way. It drives your sisters up a wall to go all around the county before actually coming here, but it’s working. They’ll make sure it keeps working.”

  “One slip and someone has this location.”

  “I know.” He smiled. “I’ve gotten accustomed to seeing you comfortable and somewhere I can find you; I’m not going to let events change that if it’s something we can control. If you want Caroline to see the scenes, we’ll need to set something else up for a period of time while she’s gone.”

  “Jonathan’s guy can babysit me for a few hours, and I promise to not duck out on him.”

  “Good. Where is Caroline?”

  Amy nodded to the window. “See that small hill beyond the fence? She spotted quail out there. You arrived and she headed out to take advantage of the window of time while you were the one babysitting me to watch them.”

  “Somehow her impression of our relationship isn’t exactly how it tends to run, but I get your point.” He walked over to the window and followed Amy’s directions to study the land. “I never did figure out how Caroline survived in the city. She’s in her element when the land is open and the sky expanse is above her.”

  “She enjoys the city too, but in a different way.” Amy got up from the couch to join him. “You look tired, Luke.”

  “I am. The press has been intense as they look for facts. They think these killings are related to the will, Henry’s past, and your sisters’ new money.”

  “I know. There’s some security in the fact they aren’t yet focused on the idea I might be alive. You’re keeping the press far from Marie and Tracey?”

  “Yes.”

  “They know they can’t try to come out for a while? that it’s best we stay apart for now?”

  “Yes.” He reached out a hand to rub her arm, reassuring with a touch. “Your sisters need your phone number; it’s hard on them, not being able to talk with you.”

  “Not yet.”

  “You could call them when they are at Marsh’s place. We can arrange it so it’s a step removed from where people might normally be probing.”

  “I’ll think about it; that’s the best I can offer. Phones worry me, Luke; too many conversations go farther than you hoped.” She forced a smile. “You’ll have a long day tomorrow. You’d best be getting home to get some sleep.”

  “I should.” He considered her. “You want a hug?”

  She slid into his arms. “I do.”

  It felt good to hold her, to know that somewhere in this she was at least beginning to trust him. “I hate leaving you out here, way t
oo far away for my tastes.”

  “It’s going to end one day.”

  It was the first time she sounded confident about that fact in her own mind. Luke noted the change and tightened his arms for a moment before stepping back. “I’m not kissing you today either; I’ll never get out of here if I do.”

  She laughed. “True. I’m walking you to your car.”

  He settled his arm across her shoulders. “I’d like that.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “IT’S TOO QUIET.” Connor dropped the stir stick for his coffee into the trash bag at his feet and thought about calling it a night.

  “The report was solid. It’s a tan Lincoln, nine years old,” Marsh replied, shifting the notebook he was updating into his briefcase and glancing back at the parked vehicle they were watching.

  “A car that hasn’t moved in the last three days.” They had spotted it Sunday night, and now it was Wednesday. The initial hope that their killer would return to his car had so far proven a dead end. He could be sleeping off a bad couple days drinking in one of the rooms around this depressed block and thus not venturing out into the world. He could but after three days he was either drunk enough to kill himself or not planning to come back for the car. “Our guy left it for us to watch.”

  “Probably.”

  “I vote we have it pulled in tomorrow morning for parking violations or something.”

  “I doubt our knife was left in the vehicle, or the next note we’re waiting for him to drop on us.”

  “You still think this is the red herring, that it’s a local guy doing the killings, not some imported talent from New York?”

  “I do.”

  “Why?”

  “An absurd hunch,” Marsh replied. “I told the chief the idea. No offense, but I don’t want to be looking stupid twice in as many days. I’ll tell you if I find something that makes me right.”

  “That’s a lot of partner trust for you when it doesn’t extend to so much as an explanation.”

  Marsh smiled. “How did last night go?”

  Connor frowned. “Why are women so hard to figure out?”

  “I’ll take that as a ‘not so well.’”

  “Marie was beautiful, chatty, engaged, her normal perfect self.”

  “You haven’t dated long enough; that’s for sure. No lady is perfect.”

  “Okay, so she has this annoying habit of worrying, but on the whole I’m not knocking that as such a bad thing, given she’s in the middle of two sisters whose lives are turning in circles. Tracey marrying you is a big deal, as is Amy in hiding. No, last night Marie was perplexing.”

  “How so?”

  “Haven’t I made it perfectly clear in a thousand ways I like her?”

  “I got the message.”

  Connor shoved his coffee back into the holder. “She hasn’t. She was trying too hard to be likable last night. It’s been driving me crazy the more I think about it. What is it about women and the fact they never figure out how to relax around a guy? I felt like I was seeing the polite-behavior Marie when I just wanted to hang out with her for the evening.”

  “On an official date, dressed up, and a nice restaurant. Bad territory when you want relaxed.”

  “Well, I’m not likely to invite her to my new place—it’s barely above a rattrap right now with the walls being prepped to re-plaster—and I’m not going to get invited to her place above the gallery as long as getting there is a wall of reporters to wade through. She doesn’t mind chatting on the phone, but she doesn’t really like it for personal conversations, and the job hasn’t exactly been kind on the work hours.”

  “You’ve got a problem.”

  “I already know I’ve got a problem, thank you. Let’s not talk about women; the subject frustrates me.”

  “I’m not talking,” Marsh agreed, smiling.

  “You’re engaged. What do you remember about dating, anyway?” Connor muttered, reaching back for his jacket. “I’m walking the block again. You want a sandwich this time?”

  “Get me something that was shipped from the manufacturer already sealed. It’s not that dark that I can’t tell from here the cleanliness, or lack of it, in that shop.”

  “The coffee was hot,” Connor replied, “and I doubt the rest kills me. Five minutes.”

  Marsh nodded and shifted to pick up the binoculars, watching the shadows for signs there was actually someone willing to move on a cold night like this.

  “You look busy.”

  Luke turned to see his sister in the doorway to his office Thursday morning, and his concentration on the report in his hands turned into a smile of welcome. “Never too busy for you. What brings you downtown?”

  “You haven’t been home for a few days it seems, so I thought I’d bring over the tickets to the concert next Tuesday night. You mentioned taking the kids.”

  He smiled. “I haven’t forgotten; Margaret has it written on my calendar with block letters, meaning I change it at risk of her resigning. I gather they are looking forward to the evening?”

  “It’s all they’ve talked about lately.” Susan set down her purse and jacket on the chair and studied him. “Too many work hours lately, I think; you look exhausted. I saw the newspaper.”

  Luke grimaced. “Sykes is getting inside information from somewhere. It’s making it difficult, defending against the press while trying to work an investigation.”

  Susan reached back and closed the door behind her. “Sam bumped into me at the grocery store, while I was picking out strawberries for the fruit plate tonight, of all things. The guy looks very much out of place with a mango in his hand, like he’s not sure what exactly it is.”

  Luke walked around his desk. “This isn’t good.”

  “I guess he figured I would be seeing you in a reasonable time. His office got broken into, nothing displaced, just skimmed, he said. But he’ll assume he’s being followed now, and he knows his phone has been tapped; he thought you should hear it sooner versus later.”

  “We were expecting something of the sort. I didn’t put Sam on using you as the messenger though; I’m sorry about that.”

  She smiled. “I haven’t been your sister for such a short time that I haven’t figured out the extra duties which come with being the police chief’s closest relative. This is not the first message passed to you via me, and it won’t be the last.” Her smiled faded. “This is still three-year-ago stuff reappearing, isn’t it? You’ve been … absent … more than usual recently.”

  “I know. Yes, it’s the same problem.”

  “She came back.”

  He merely lifted an eyebrow.

  “Give me some common sense, please. You don’t hire Sam to find you information; you hire him to find someone. And lately you’ve had a lady’s jacket in your car and haven’t mentioned you were seeing someone. You always mention when you date, because it keeps me off your back about if and when you’re ever going to see someone and settle down. Sam working for you three years ago, being back in your life now in a serious way on something unrelated to your official job—it’s personal, Luke. Give me the common sense to figure that out.”

  Luke had begun to smile partway through her words, and as she finished, he just relaxed in a chair and let his smile broaden. “Since you’ve already shut the door, you want to have a seat for a few minutes. You’ll like her, Sis; she’s a nice lady.”

  “I figured that much out on my own. She’s got trouble?”

  “Yes. The Griffin sisters in the news lately? Amy is the oldest that everyone talks about as having been murdered in New York years before. She’s still alive.”

  Susan sank down in a seat and a few moments later closed her mouth. “All right, I got my shell-shock moment in. She’s okay? Safe, I mean?”

  “As best we can arrange. Someone wants her dead so she’s not coming out of the shadows for a while as this plays out.”

  “Why tell me?”

  “Because I like her more than a little,” Luke finally repl
ied. “And I promised a long time ago that there was one person I wouldn’t keep secrets from when it became really personal.”

  “You could have bent that promise to me and I would have understood. Still … you really like her?”

  “I do.”

  “And it’s going to be forever and an age before I get to meet her.”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  Susan smiled at him. “I’ll grow into that idea. It explains why you’ve been disappearing.”

  “And if Sam is getting followed, I may soon be as well. So if I’m more paranoid in the next few weeks, driving in circles, ignore it. We’ll get this guy sooner or later.”

  “The killings …”

  “I don’t know, Sis. Probably related, but it’s just hunches all around for what is going on.”

  “You know I like Daniel a lot; I always have, and the sister I met, Marie—I hope you can resolve it soon. I’d hate to think of more trouble showing up in their lives.”

  “I do too.” He got up and offered his hand. “Come on; you have to meet Marsh for a minute while you are here and tease him about getting engaged. The man turns positively embarrassed in the nicest kind of way.”

  She slid her hand into his. “You’re enjoying that part of it, aren’t you? Seeing him finally settling down.”

  “As proud as a chief could get. I’ve seen all the relationships that didn’t pan out, so it’s nice to watch one working for a change,” he admitted. He walked with her back through the bull pen, and spotting Marsh perched on the corner of Connor’s desk in a serious exchange, he cleared his throat to give his guys two seconds to shift gears before Susan reached them.

  “So tell me what you two were debating,” Luke suggested to Marsh, finding the copy of the report he had been reading when Susan appeared and passing it to Connor for his attention. The two cops looked somewhat ill at ease being back in his office again, but Luke figured they would grow out of the problem eventually. One day he expected one of them to be sitting in his chair and running this place.