Cassie McGraw Box Set: Books 1-3

by David Archer

  “Hey, I don’t suppose he might have mentioned exactly how I could do that, did he?” I had a smile on my face as I asked, but it didn’t seem to be doing anything to relieve her fears.

  “No. He just told me to say that and…” She stopped talking for a moment, and her eyes glazed over as she listened to some new instruction through the headset. “He says if you look closely, you’ll figure out how to disarm the bomb and get this off me.” She sobbed. “He says you’ve only got fifteen minutes from right now, or it’s going to blow.”

  TWENTY-TWO

  I nodded. “Okay, then let me see what I can figure out.” I finished crossing the distance to her, and knelt down right in front of where she was sitting.

  This bomb didn’t look like anything I had ever seen in movies, or anything I expected a bomb to look like. There were a lot of what looked like rectangular sticks, about two inches wide and maybe a foot long. There were probably a dozen of them attached to this vest-like thing she was wearing, and a lot of wires attached to all of them.

  Right in the front, right on top of those things, was a box made of plastic. It had an LED display on it that was counting down from fifteen minutes. Apparently, I had already wasted thirty seconds.

  There was also a cell phone attached to it, the kind with an actual little keyboard that slides out the back. It was open, and its display said, “ENTER PASSWORD.” I stared at it for another thirty seconds, trying to figure out just what the password might be, but I didn’t have a clue. The headset Toni was wearing was wired into it.

  I looked at Toni. “Ask him if I can talk to him directly,” I said.

  She started to ask, but then she stopped and listened. A second later, she nodded, and I reached up to take the headset off her ear. It was on a cord that was attached to the cell phone, so I had to lean close to get it onto my own ear.

  “Danny? It’s Cassie.”

  “I’m watching the countdown,” he said. “You got thirteen and a half minutes left. You sure you want to waste it talking to me?”

  “Well, I’m kinda hoping you might give me some kind of clue about this password. I’m guessing that if I enter it right, it will turn off the bomb?”

  “That’s right. But I don’t think you need my help; everything you need to figure out that password is right there with you.”

  I thought about what he said. Everything I needed was right there with me? I thought about what was there with me, but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t have any clue what was in my pockets, so I didn’t think he was talking about anything I brought with me.

  So what else was there? Well, we were in the emergency room lobby, but it only held a lot of chairs, some tables with magazines, this kids area, all the usual stuff. Somehow, I didn’t think any of that had anything to do with figuring out this password.

  The only other thing was the bomb itself. I looked it over again, trying to see something about it that might trigger an idea, but absolutely nothing on it looked familiar in any way.

  I glanced at the countdown display, and it was down to eleven minutes and twenty seconds.

  “Hey, how about just a single hint? One little hint, okay?”

  “Oh, no way,” he said. “You’re the great Cassie McGraw. You’re a private investigator, it seems to me that figuring out clues ought to be right down your alley.”

  I gritted my teeth to keep from telling him exactly what I thought of him. I was pretty sure he really could set off the bomb, so I didn’t want to set him off. I went back to looking it over, thinking again about what was there with me. Other than the bomb and the typical ER fixtures, though, I just couldn’t see anything else.

  Nine minutes, thirty-six seconds. Time was running out, and I was getting pretty frustrated. Still, I just couldn’t see anything that gave me ideas about a password.

  I had assumed he wouldn’t know what I had in my pockets, but I decided to think about that, anyway. My phone, of course, but that didn’t make me think about passwords. I had a case on my phone that held my ID, credit cards, that sort of thing. I had the little badge case that held my PI identification card. I had some money, but I don’t usually carry a lot of cash, so I didn’t think that would have any connection.

  Seven minutes, twenty-nine seconds. Half my time was already up, and I didn’t have a single clue.

  What was it Dex always said? He claimed that what made me a good investigator was the fact that I looked at things from a different perspective, that I asked different questions. I thought about how to apply that to the situation, and suddenly imagined that I was out of my body, standing back by Dex and watching myself as I tried to figure out what to do.

  What could I see from this new perspective? Well, I could see myself, and of course myself is something that is always with me. Could it be that simple? Was the password my own name? I started to try it, but I decided I ought to finish asking myself the questions, first.

  What else could I see that was with me? I saw the chair Toni was sitting in, I saw the bomb wrapped around her, I saw all the signs and posters and the mural on the walls, I saw all the chairs and tables and magazines.

  Four minutes, forty seconds. I softly growled in frustration, because I already looked at all of those things. I was just about to go ahead and try putting my own name in, but Abby suddenly spoke up.

  What else is with you? He said everything you need is with you, so what else is with you right now?

  I looked at the bomb once more, and then my eyes raised up to meet Toni’s. I started to tell her I was going to try something, when it suddenly dawned on me that I had missed the obvious. I had gone over and over everything around me, but I had missed the fact that the main thing that was with me at that moment was Toni, herself.

  Was it her name? Was that the password? No, that would be way too obvious. Danny wanted to be devious, and he wanted me to make a genuine deduction to solve this dilemma. I was certain I was on the right track, that it was the fact that Toni Denham was there with me that was the most important clue.

  How the hell had he chosen her? Oh my gosh, the son of a bitch was able to get into my client files! Of course, he could have forced Angie to give him my password, to get into my files…

  My password for my client files on the cloud server was 4Abby43v3r.

  One minute, nine seconds. I looked Toni in the eye and smiled, then entered my own cloud password.

  The timer went blank.

  “Damn, you did it,” Danny said. “You had me going for a minute there, Cassie, I wasn’t sure you were going to make it. Would’ve been a shame if that thing had gone off, we couldn’t have finished off this little game we’re playing.”

  I swallowed hard, and reached up to touch Toni’s face. “How do I get this thing off her?”

  “Well, now that you disarmed it, you can just unbuckle it. There are two buckles on her left side. If you had tried to take them off before it was disarmed, it would’ve set off the bomb, but now it’s perfectly safe.”

  “Okay.” I wasn’t sure that I believed him, but I leaned around her and found the buckles, quickly undid them and lifted the bomb off her. Once it was free, I jerked my head to tell her to get up and run, and she was off like a shot. “So you think this is a game? I’m not sure I really feel that way about it, but whatever. Have I learned whatever it was you wanted me to learn from this particular incident?”

  “We shall see,” he said. The line went dead, and I set the bomb on the chair and laid the headset down with it.

  The bomb squad guys were there a second later, while Dex and Pennington grabbed my arms and dragged me out the door. Pennington demanded to know everything that had happened, so I had to explain it all.

  “I knew you could do it,” Dex said. “But I’ll confess I was getting a little nervous, there, as time was running out.”

  I looked at him, my eye wide and bright. “You think you were getting nervous? I’m surprised my pants aren’t wet. I’m pretty sure I darn near peed myself a couple of times.�
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  The bomb squad picked up the vest and carried it out, not even being careful. They had done a more thorough job of disarming it than I had done, removing the plastic box, the phone, and the wires. Pennington waved at them, and one of them came over to talk to us.

  “What did you find?” he asked.

  “C4, enough to have done some serious damage to this part of the hospital. The whole thing was wired into that phone, programmed to go off on a timer or with a signal that could be entered from a remote phone. Once she put in the password, it turned off the countdown completely, but the phone was still on. He still could have set it off by sending a signal, probably a numeric code, from the phone he was on.”

  I understood completely. Danny Kendall could have killed me even after Toni ran away.

  The only reason he hadn’t was because he wanted to finish the game.

  Pennington said that Toni seemed to be okay, other than being terrified. He asked me if I thought she was in any further danger, and I shook my head.

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “He used her to make a point he wanted me to learn. I’m not real sure what it was, yet, but he got all the mileage out of her he needs. I’m pretty sure he won’t bother her again.”

  He nodded. He told one of the uniformed officers to get her full statement, then go ahead and drive her home. She broke loose from the cops that were talking to her for a minute, and came running over to me. She almost knocked me down when she threw both arms around my neck, but Dex put a hand on my back and helped me stay on my feet.

  “I don’t how to thank you,” she said, still crying. “Oh, Cassie, I was so scared.”

  “Shhh,” I said, squeezing her in a hug. “It’s okay, now. You’ll be all right. You’ve got my number, you can call me anytime you need to. Okay?”

  She nodded her head, and I could feel it against the side of my own. I hugged her again and let her go, and she started to pull away, but then she stopped and kissed me on my cheek. On the burned side.

  She let go, then, and walked away. The officers took her somewhere to sit down and talk, and Pennington told me that I could leave anytime I wanted.

  “I’m already here at the hospital,” I said. “I might as well go up and see Marsha.”

  Dex went with me, and we rode the elevator up to her floor. There were different police officers on duty, but I think most of the Tulsa cops know my face. One of them nodded to me and opened the door to let us in.

  Marsha was sitting up in the bed, and her eyes lit up when she saw me. The IV was out of her arm, and she held both hands out to me with her fingers beckoning me closer. I stepped up to the bed and she grabbed me and pulled me into a hug.

  “I’m sorry,” she said through her clenched teeth. “I didn’t mean it, Cassie, I didn’t mean it.”

  “It’s okay, Marsha,” I said. “Believe me, I understood completely. How are you feeling?”

  “My stinking jaw hurts, and I’m still pretty sore, but I’m getting better. Hey, what’s this I hear about you opening your own office?”

  I smiled. “I just felt like it was time, like it was the right thing to do.”

  “I’m proud of you,” she said. “I got a visit from Bishop McGuire, and he said we’re not going to reopen. He said the Outreach has been good, but there are too many other places in the city, now.”

  “That figures,” I said. “It’s probably too much of a financial burden on the church. What are you going to do now?”

  She shrugged, but it looked a little painful. “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure one of the other places would take me on, but I might want to just go part-time. After this, I suddenly feel the need to spend more time with my children and grandkids.”

  I smiled. “I’m sure I can understand that,” I said. “And if you’re only interested in part-time, give me a call. Nicole is planning to work with me a couple days a week, so I’m setting up an extra office. I’d be happy to hire you.”

  We talked for a few more minutes, and I could tell she was getting tired. I gave her another hug and a promise to visit again soon, and then she surprised me by holding out her arms to Dex. He leaned down and let her hug him, being gentle so that he wouldn’t accidentally lean any weight on her, and I heard her say to him, “You’re one of the best things that could ever have happened to Cassie.”

  He grinned and looked up at me. “I’m glad you think so,” he said, “but I think I got the better end of the deal.”

  We started to walk away, but I suddenly turned and looked at Marsha. “Marsha, one more thing. We are pretty sure the guy who did this has somebody working with him. When he had you, did you see anyone else?”

  She narrowed her eyes and looked at me for a moment, started to shake her head, and then stopped. “I didn’t actually see anyone,” she said. “But I heard somebody. He was outside our room at one point, and I heard him talking to someone. I never saw them, but it was a woman’s voice.”

  “A woman’s voice? Have the police asked you about this yet?”

  “No. They asked me if there was another man with him, but I had forgotten about hearing the woman until just now.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “I think that might be a very big help.”

  We left Marsha’s room, and I went to check on Angie. Unfortunately, she was still not responding. I spoke to a nurse who said that the doctor was becoming concerned. They were already talking about the possibility of long-term coma care, but they hadn’t quite given up hope yet.

  Dex and I left the room and made our way out of the hospital. Neither one of us really had any plans for that day, but we didn’t particularly want to go back home.

  “How would you feel,” Dex asked, “about just escaping for a day or two? Let’s just go somewhere, put all of this behind us for a little while.”

  I looked at him, and a part of me wanted to say that we couldn’t do that, that I needed to stay close in case Danny were to strike again. I almost said it, but then a flash of anger made me refuse to let Danny rule my life.

  “Let me ask you a question,” I said. “How would you feel about a trip to Illinois?”

  “Illinois? Are you talking about meeting your parents?” He was grinning from ear to ear.

  I nodded. “Yeah. I think it’s about time.”

  TWENTY-THREE

  We went back home and packed a couple of overnight bags, put down extra food and water for Critter, and got back into my car. I let Dex drive as we headed out, and I called Pennington.

  “Jim,” I said, “I’ve got to get away for a day or so. I think maybe I can think a little better if I put some distance between myself and what’s going on. I don’t think Danny is going to try another stunt like the one today in the next forty-eight hours, so we’re taking an overnight trip to visit my folks back in Illinois.”

  He let out a sigh. “I don’t know that the timing is great,” he said, “but I don’t blame you. Keep your phone handy, in case I need you, okay?”

  “I’ve got it charging now, so it’ll be ready and working all the time. If something happens, give me a call.”

  Google Maps says it’s a seven hour drive, but Dex and I are both the kind who like to push the speed limit, so we made it in five and a half, arriving at just after two. We followed I-44 to St. Louis, then took I-64 over to US 51. I didn’t bother to call ahead until we were just getting off the interstate, and Mom went into happy fits when I told her we were only ten minutes away.

  I had told them about Dex several months earlier, but I had described him as just a good friend that I could hang out with sometimes. When we decided just before Christmas to move in together, I had been a little too chicken to tell them until the middle of January. They were both nervously supportive, remembering what happened the last time I moved in with a guy, but they also knew I was never going to let myself get into that kind of a situation again. I was the girl who campaigned against any kind of abusive relationship; Daddy said once that he pitied any man who ever tried to abuse me again
.

  They knew that I was a private investigator, and it was actually Daddy who gave me my first gun and convinced me to get my concealed carry permit. He knew darn well that I could handle a gun, and he said he hadn’t been a bit surprised when he heard that I had shot Roger McCoy. Of course, I had explained the circumstances around the shooting, but Daddy said he was proud that I didn’t hesitate when the time came.

  We pulled up in front of the house and both of my parents came running out the front door. I was driving at that point, so they hurried around to my side to give me welcoming hugs and kisses, and then we all walked around the car together so I could introduce them to Dex.

  That was a moment of revelation. Seeing Dex and my dad standing face-to-face, it suddenly hit me that my boyfriend bore a strong resemblance to my father. I couldn’t believe that I had never noticed that before, but I’ve read many articles about how a girl will tend to be attracted to men that remind them of dear old dad. Maybe there was some truth to it, after all.

  “Dex,” Daddy said as he shook hands. “Cassie has told us quite a bit about you. I understand you are a veteran, sir.”

  “I am,” Dex said. “I was an Army mechanic, which was really just a cheap way to get an education in automotive repair and maintenance.”

  “Don’t let him snow you, Dad,” I said. “Dex got two medals for bravery while he was in Afghanistan.”

  “Cassie,” Dex whined, but I saw the look of respect he suddenly got from my father.

  “I served in Desert Storm,” Daddy said. “I was with the Corps of Engineers, but I only got to take care of building maintenance at one of our bases. It isn’t just the infantry that serves, because without the engineers and the mechanics, the infantry can’t do what they have to do.”

  “I agree with you, sir,” Dex said. “I just hate it when she brags about it.”