“You might ask some of the agents he worked with about a storage unit or locker or something, but if they’re in on the illegal activities Kurt was in on, then …” She shrugged.
“Yeah. I thought about that too. I’m also checking into any property he or your in-laws might have owned where he could store things.” He sighed. “I’ll get someone to pull his bank records and credit card statements to see if he was making regular payments on any storage facilities.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“For now, though, is there anyone you met that Kurt worked with that you believe was a straight arrow?”
Dani tilted her head and stared off into the distance. “Maybe Ralph Thorn?”
“Why him?”
“He just seems like a good man. I met him several times. At a family cookout one time. He was at all of the holiday dinners and parties held at the office. Last year at the Christmas party, he came over and talked to me before Kurt interrupted.” She shook her head. “I got the feeling Kurt didn’t like him.”
“And that’s enough for you to trust him?”
She felt a flush creep into her cheeks. “It sounds stupid, I know, but …” She shook her head. “After Kurt was killed, there were so many people who came by my house. It seemed like swarms of people stopped by. I vaguely remember a few of them, but Ralph and his wife stand out in my mind.”
“Why’s that?”
“He and his wife came by the house the day after Kurt was killed. They asked me if I needed anything and were very kind. They prayed with me. Being in their company just gave me a sense of … comfort. A sense of peace.”
Adam nodded. “Okay, I’ll check him out.” He looked at Tori. “What’s your partner doing these days?”
“Working just like the rest of us.”
“Would he have some time to come over and keep you company?”
“I can ask him.”
“If you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” Tori pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans and stepped aside to make the call.
Dani frowned. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to see Ralph Thorn.” He paused. “And my mother. She’s having surgery today.”
“Oh! I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”
He gave her a slight smile. “I didn’t tell you. I’m still processing the information myself. My sister told me that Mom has breast cancer. She’s having a mastectomy.”
“And you should be there with her. If you don’t go, this may be one bridge you’ll never be able to rebuild.”
Adam swallowed and looked away, but not before she thought she saw a sheen of tears in his eyes. He cleared his throat. “I won’t leave you unprotected.”
“And I won’t let you throw away your family,” she whispered. “Go.”
He nodded. “I’ll go, but first I need to make some phone calls to make it happen.”
While Adam made arrangements, Tori finished her call to her partner. “Nate says he can be here within the hour.”
“Good.” Adam tucked his phone into his pocket. “Kade said he could take me. I’m going to meet him now.”
“Who’s Kade?” Dani asked.
“Kade Garrison,” he said. “Tori’s boyfriend and owner of Garrison Flight Services. Kade provides transportation for anyone who needs it.” He paused. “And right now, I need it.”
Leaving Dani and Simon in Tori’s and her partner’s capable hands made Adam feel a bit better as he walked to his car. He was grateful for friends he could call on when he needed them, but he wanted to make this trip as quick as possible. The flight would only be about thirty minutes. Basically up then down as opposed to a three-hour drive each way.
And he didn’t plan on staying long at the hospital. Just long enough to make sure his mother was going to be okay and let her know he loved her. She would understand. She’d have to. As mad as she might be with him for taking down her brother, she had a loving heart and she’d never want Dani to be in danger because Adam stayed with her. She had others she could count on. Dani and Simon didn’t.
His mom would understand. What Dani said about not being able to rebuild the bridge with his mother if he didn’t show up wasn’t necessarily true. With his father? Yes. If Adam didn’t come to his mother’s bedside, his father would probably have nothing else to do with him. But his mother would understand. He repeated the phrase until he almost believed it.
Kade slid the headset on. “Might be a bad storm coming up. You sure you want to do this?”
Adam paused. “A storm? How bad?”
“Doesn’t look too serious, but you never know.”
“I need to do it if you can keep us in the air and land us safely.”
“Right now that isn’t an issue.”
“I’ve got to get back too.”
Kade pursed his lips and nodded. “Then let’s go. The storm’s not set to hit for another three hours or so.”
Adam blew out a breath. “That’ll be cutting it close, but I’ve got to chance it. I need to talk to this guy and see my mom.”
Adam watched the darkening sky and wondered if he’d make it back before the storm broke.
He had to. While he felt pretty confident that no one had any way of knowing where they were, and he knew Tori and Nate could handle anything that popped up, he didn’t want to risk leaving them alone too long.
Ten minutes later, Kade had them in the air.
His phone vibrated and he snagged it from his pocket. Tori. “Hey. What’s up?”
“Nate can’t make it after all. He got called in to help transport two prisoners.”
“What about you?”
“I’m good. I already asked for the week off.”
“I owe you.”
“I’ll collect.”
Adam gave a short laugh. “I know you will.” His other line beeped in. He hung up with Tori and answered. “Buchanan here.”
“Hey, it’s David. We traced the license plate of the car carrying the shooters.”
“Great. Stolen?”
“You get the gold star.”
“I figured.”
“Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Will do.” He dialed his sister, who answered on the third ring. “How is she?”
She didn’t bother with mundane pleasantries either. “She’s in surgery. She asked about you before she went back, though.”
“I’m on the way.”
A pause. “Are you really?”
“I really am. How long will she be in surgery?”
“The doctor said two to three hours. They’re not doing the reconstruction part yet. That’ll come later.”
Adam rubbed his eyes and mentally calculated how long he had. “I’ll try to be there in about two hours.”
“She should be waking up about that time.”
“All right. See you soon.”
He hung up and felt uneasiness run through him. He didn’t like leaving Dani and Simon as long as he was going to have to. He thought about asking David for backup out at the houseboat, but figured by the time he got someone out there, Adam would be close to being back.
It was just a couple of hours. Tori could handle it.
21
Just as he was about to exit the building, Joe Duncan did a double take when Adam Buchanan stepped inside. His curiosity piqued, he stopped and turned to follow Adam to the elevator. Joe snagged his phone from his pocket and dialed Stuart’s number.
“What?”
Did the man have no manners at all? “I spotted your target.”
“Dani?”
“No, the other one. The guy you said she ran off with.”
“Adam Buchanan.”
“Yeah. He just walked into the FBI building.”
“No kidding. So Dani wasn’t with him?”
The man was obsessed. “Nope.”
“Thanks.”
Joe hung up and shook his head. One night on a stakeout, Stuart had confessed his
interest in his sister-in-law. When Joe asked him what he planned to do about it, the man laughed and said, “Nothing. Not while Kurt’s still alive. He’d kill me if I ever tried anything with Dani.”
True enough. It was common knowledge around the bureau that Kurt was not a man to be messed with. And that included his family. Joe had met Dani a handful of times and never had she given the impression that she thought of Stuart as anything more than a brother.
Either Joe had lost his touch on reading people or Stuart was delusional. He figured it was probably the latter. But whatever. As long as he could use Stuart’s obsession to his advantage, he would.
He stepped onto the elevator with Adam. They exchanged nods and Joe remained quiet, checking his email on his phone, acting oblivious to Adam’s presence. The doors opened with a quiet whoosh and Adam exited without a backward glance. Joe flashed his badge and walked in the opposite direction. He knew Adam would have a slight delay while security cleared him. But where was he going? Who was he here to see?
Joe found a spot along the wall and leaned against it, once again using his phone to look as though he were involved in the device. His gaze, however, was fixed on the door Adam would come through.
Two minutes later, his patience paid off and Joe saw Adam head straight to Ralph Thorn’s office. One of the few people to actually have an office.
Joe pushed off from the wall and frowned. He ignored the activity around him and made his way toward Ralph’s door, wishing he had some way to listen in without being obvious.
Adam rapped his knuckles against the open door. The man behind the desk looked up. The woman in the chair across from him turned and stood. The agent waved him in. “You’re Adam Buchanan?”
“I am.”
“Come on in. I’m just finishing up here.”
“I can wait outside. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“It’s all right. This is Julie Faraday. She’s the daughter of my former partner.”
Julie offered him a weak smile, then turned back to the man Adam had come to meet with. “Thanks, Ralph. I appreciate all your help.”
“No problem. Thanks for stopping by, Julie. Tell your mother hello for me.”
“Of course.”
Adam stepped aside and let the woman pass him. About his age, she had dark circles under her eyes and a tightness to her lips that said she was under stress. She gave him a short nod and disappeared around the corner.
“You mind if I close the door?” Adam asked.
“Not at all.” Adam did, then slipped into the nearest chair, noting the clean desk and organized office. Pictures of family lined the credenza behind Thorn and a plaque quoting 1 Corinthians 13 hung on the wall. Adam nodded toward it. “The love chapter from the Bible. You don’t get a lot of grief having that hanging there?”
Special Agent Ralph Thorn shrugged. “Some. But I don’t let that bother me. It’s something I try to live by and hope I can influence others to do the same. Way I figure it, if everyone lived by it, there wouldn’t be any need for this office.”
“True.”
Ralph linked his hands on the desk and studied him. Adam shifted, not uncomfortable, just trying to buy some time while he figured the man out.
“What can I do for you?” Ralph asked. “Sounded rather urgent.”
Time was up. Adam pursed his lips. “Are you aware Kurt Harding was a dirty agent?”
Ralph blinked and stood. “Okay, you can stop right there. I don’t believe it, never will. You can leave now.”
“Will you hear me out?”
“Nope.”
He held up a finger indicating Adam should wait. Adam immediately understood. The man didn’t want to talk in case his office was bugged.
Adam stood too. Kept up a conversation about nothing while the man pulled out a bug-detecting device and swept his office. A few minutes later he pronounced it clean. “I can’t be too careful these days.”
Adam got straight to the point. “Look, I’m part of an organization that helps people. Dani came to us because someone tried to kill her.”
Ralph shot him a sharp look and Adam nodded that the man had heard right. Ralph dropped into his chair.
Adam leaned forward. “So, tell me about Kurt. Please.”
“Tell me why you think Kurt was dirty.”
Adam told him about Dani, and little by little, Adam could see the man starting to believe him. “I need you to trust me and tell me what you know.”
“Trust isn’t an easy thing for me right now.”
“Please …”
Ralph took a deep breath and rubbed a hand across his wrinkled forehead. “Kurt was an enigma.”
“How so?”
“He always knew the right thing to say, the right thing to do to make himself look good. But he had another side. One that didn’t show itself often, but I was around him enough to catch a glimpse of it every once in a while.”
“Such as?”
“He liked practical jokes. But not in a fun way. In a way I thought was cruel.”
Adam lifted a brow. “Like what?”
“That young lady you just met? Julie Faraday?”
“Yeah, what about her?”
“Her father was Gordon Faraday. Kurt put about three hundred snakes in a box and when Gordon opened it up at his fifty-sixth birthday party, they popped out all over him.”
“So?”
“So it was pretty well-known that Gordon was deathly afraid of snakes. To the point that he was getting counseling about it. He saw it as a weakness and wanted to beat it. But that night—” Ralph shook his head and blew out a breath. “It was pretty tragic. The snakes flew out and Gordon had a heart attack and died right there.”
“Whoa.” Adam leaned back. “If Kurt did that on purpose, that’s almost like premeditated murder.”
Ralph cleared his throat and blinked away what Adam thought might be a sheen of tears. “No ‘almost’ about it. Gordon was my partner. My friend. I can’t prove it was Kurt who did it, but I was watching him that night and I swear he smiled when Gordon hit the ground.” He nodded to the door. “Julie’s like a daughter to me as well.” He shook his head. “She’s crazy smart. A borderline genius. She’s the department sweetheart and everyone here loves her.” He gave a small smile. “I have four boys. I’ve known Julie since she was born. Even after six months, she’s having a real hard time with Gordon’s death. She keeps coming in and wanting to talk about it, so I let her. We all do. I think it’s therapeutic for her in some way. She’s not coming as often, so maybe time is easing some of the pain.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I am too.”
The more Adam heard about Kurt Harding, the more he despised the man. “What did you think about him as an agent?”
“Excellent reputation, excellent agent. He was smart, determined, and was headed for the supervisory desk in Houston. But I think he died before he ever told Dani because she didn’t mention it when I saw her last.”
“He ever do anything to bring suspicion on himself?”
Ralph shrugged. “No. Never. At least not from the people that mattered most.”
“What about the people that didn’t matter?”
Ralph smiled. “Now you’re catching on. He’d miss a meeting every once in a while with some lame excuse or he’d talk about how sick Dani was and he was the only one who could take care of her. Stuff like that. I didn’t really buy it after a while.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t live too far from them. One day Kurt missed a meeting, said his wife was sick. I drove past their house and she was out in the drive shooting baskets with Simon.”
“Maybe she felt better.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But like I said, I started noticing things.”
“Tell me.”
“There was some on-the-job stuff. We busted a drug ring about a year ago. Some of them had gang ties and Kurt wanted the top guy. He nearly killed a man trying to get a name.” Ralph shook his he
ad. “I’m not into that kind of thing. I’m not averse to a little necessary roughness occasionally, but what Kurt did … well, that was just wrong.”
“So you saw some things that didn’t line up with Kurt’s excellent reputation.”
“I did.”
“Did he know you saw them?”
“He knew.”
“And Alan James? Did he and Kurt get along?”
“Not really. Alan saw some of the same things I did. He couldn’t stand Kurt and didn’t bother hiding his distaste for the man.”
“What was Alan like?”
“As straight as they come. There’s no way he was dirty like Joe Duncan has said. Peter was singing Kurt’s praises and destroying Alan’s reputation every time he opened his mouth. I knew that wasn’t right and that Peter was up to something. Joe was the only witness to the shooting.” Ralph shook his head. “I don’t know what happened in that room, but it’s not what Joe says.”
“Why haven’t you said something?”
“Because I didn’t want to end up like Alan James.”
Adam sat back and pulled at his lower lip as he studied the man across from him. “What are you not telling me?”
A hint of a smile curved Ralph’s lips. “I don’t believe Alan was dirty. I believe Joe Duncan might be.”
“And?”
Ralph clasped his hands together again. “Look, I don’t know you, I don’t know anything about you. I’m not spilling my guts to you. What I’ve said so far can’t come back to bite me too hard, but if I keep going …”
Adam leaned forward. “I want to help you figure out what happened the day Kurt was killed. I want to know everything about Kurt Harding. Who he hung out with when he wasn’t working. Where he went when he was working. I want to know what he ate for breakfast and everything else there is to know.”
Ralph’s stare turned intense. Adam met him stare for stare, his jaw tight, hands clenched. He needed an inside person. He understood why Dani felt she could trust Ralph. Even Adam got a sense of the man’s integrity and he’d only just met him.
Ralph shook his head. “I think you’re being straight with me. I think you care about Dani and want to help her. But I’m not ready to put myself out there yet. Give me twenty-four hours and a phone number where I can reach you. I’ll let you know my decision then.”
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