by H. P. Bayne
He ended the call and returned attention to Sully. “That was the judge. His wife just went out, supposedly with friends. He’s got his home computer set up to trace their mobile devices, and he’s going to provide me with the location. I’ve got to go. We’ll finish this when I get back.”
Sully didn’t argue as he watched Dez gather up his stuff and head out into the evening. There was no point arguing.
He had his own plans for the night, anyway.
The garden was bathed in nighttime shadow, the back deck as dark as the large dog padding across it at its human’s feet.
Long brown hair and the cowl-like hood of an oversized coat kept Sully’s face invisible from the side, and the addition of the beard made him virtually unrecognizable from the front—at least at a first, long glance.
He’d gone two years being observed, but never truly seen. As he lifted a hand to rap on the back door, he hoped his almost-unbeaten record would hold up.
A man answered, as Sully had expected. He’d also expected the startled expression that swept across the man’s face as he took in the hooded figure and the large canine standing at the back door.
“Hal Devereaux?”
“Who the hell are you?”
“My name’s Oliver Chadwell. You need justice for your son. I can help you find it.”
8
Dez picked up Tessa Montague’s trail as she exited the freeway, headed south into the cross-section of skyscrapers that made up New Town.
He found a spot in the traffic a couple vehicles behind her conspicuous yellow BMW sports car, comfortable in the knowledge he wasn’t going to easily lose sight of her. He watched as a carload of college-age males pulled up next to her at a red light, catcalling to the stunning blonde while nodding their heads to an obnoxious rap song.
Dez couldn’t make out her response through the SUV and the car that separated them, but the peel of rubber as the light changed suggested her reply. He followed as the judge’s wife led the boys on a brief drag race until she lost them by veering left at the next light.
The traffic ahead of Dez wasn’t cooperating, and he lost sight of her temporarily—long enough he worried he was going to have to call Montague back for further directions. Luck was on his side, though, and he spotted the car as it made a right at the next intersection.
Keeping a safe distance, Dez followed for a few minutes, watching as she made another left and another right before finally pulling over outside a tall brick apartment building. The folding up of the convertible’s roof signalled journey’s end, and Dez found a spot one block back to keep watch.
A pair of long bare legs emerged from the car, a tight, short skirt hugging the curves of her hips as she unfolded her lean frame from the driver’s seat and pushed the door shut behind her. A high-pitched chirp indicated she’d set the alarm, and Tessa raked fingers through long, blonde hair as she bounced toward the building. Dez’s own wife Eva possessed a certain doe-like grace in the way she moved; Tessa bounced and pranced, as if to ensure full attention went to the movement of large breasts and the swing of softly curled hair. Dez had learned some time ago there were two kinds of feminine beauty: the self-possessed, confident type that simply existed without the need to call attention to itself; and the more in-your-face, done-up sort that not only revelled in attention, but required it. Eva Braddock woke up beautiful; Tessa Montague put it on like a uniform.
Managing to stay upright on a pair of treacherous-looking stilettos, she stepped up to the building and disappeared into what Dez assumed was a vestibule. He waited a few seconds before moving from his own vehicle and making his way toward the same building.
Many condos in Kimotan Rapids’s glitzy downtown boasted underground parking, on-site recreation facilities and round-the-clock concierge services. This one was among the few remaining older and therefore understated residences, the entry containing nothing but a buzzer system, a set of chairs and a pair of potted trees that closer inspection revealed to be silk.
A glass wall across from the entrance contained a locked door and, beyond that, a set of elevators and a doorway marked “Stairs.” Tessa was nowhere in sight, and Dez turned his attention instead to the buzzer panel.
The building showed fifty-two suites. The board connected some of the units with actual names, while others read simply “Occupied” or “Unoccupied.” Dez pulled his cellphone from his jacket pocket and snapped a couple of photos before leaving the vestibule to return to his vehicle. En route, he texted the photos to Justice Montague with a question: “Any of these names look familiar to you?”
By the time he slid back into his SUV, Dez had already received a reply: “No.”
It was possible, of course, Tessa was spending quality time with someone outside the judge’s social circle, and just as possible she was enjoying the company of one of the “Occupieds.” Whatever the case, there wasn’t much Dez could do but sit and wait, hoping she might emerge with a companion for a night on the town.
This wasn’t a ritzy building, not by comparison to so many of the others in this part of town, and there was nothing to suggest anyone inside had the kind of income to allow the purchase of a high-end vehicle. Dez guessed if Tessa was planning on heading out on a date night, they’d be taking her car.
Hoping he’d read the situation correctly—and that his target wasn’t sneaking out the back door into the rear parking lot, hand-in-hand with an illicit lover—Dez waited.
Lachlan had a way of turning an already annoying situation into a nearly unbearable one, and he managed it yet again with a well-timed phone call.
“How’s the stakeout?”
“How did you know I was on a stakeout?”
“Our client called me to fill me in. I think it makes him feel better to know I’ve got you under my thumb. No one likes an inexperienced unknown agent, now, do they?”
There was a fight to be made here, were Dez truly as inexperienced as Lachlan suggested. As it stood, anyone foolish enough to take on the likes of Lachlan Fields came to regret it inside of thirty seconds. Dez might not have his boss’s life or professional experience, but he’d learned enough to know a losing battle when he saw one.
“Why are you calling?” he asked instead.
“Bit testy, are we?”
Dez bit his tongue to keep it from forming the words that would land him in trouble.
Lachlan allowed himself a rumble of laughter before deigning to answer the question. “You wanted some information. I’ve got it for you.”
“Lars Ahlgren’s address? Your source came through?”
“Would I be calling otherwise? Grab a pen. Or better yet commit this to memory. Apartment 412, Upton Road East. Got that?”
Yeah. Dez had got that, all right.
“Braddock? You still there?”
“Yep, I’m there. I’m really there. Like, sitting right outside the building, there.”
“You’re serious?”
“That’s the building Tessa went inside.”
“What are the chances that’s the suite she went into?” Lachlan asked.
Dez had never been big on gambling but, if he were—given the fact he’d all but given up on believing in coincidence—he’d bank on the chances being pretty damn good.
The sound of a siren drew closer as Sully dashed into a darkened park, keeping well back from the glare of the overhead streetlights.
His heart beat a frantic pace as he risked one glance over his shoulder to see if the man was still chasing him. All he saw was Pax’s hind end in his peripheral vision, tail wagging joyously as he took what he probably thought was a leisurely run with his human.
For his part, Sully was spent, and he hoofed it only as far as a set of bushes that bordered the park’s perimeter before collapsing next to them and crawling into their shadows.
Pax seemed happy to sit on the lawn, and it took a little cajoling to get the dog to enter the shrubbery alongside Sully. The dog’s panting would be a dead giveaway of their loca
tion should anyone come near enough, but there wasn’t much that could be done about that.
A quick peek revealed no sign of Hal Devereaux. Sully hoped that meant the man had given up the chase and headed back home.
For now, the biggest threat had become the churning exchange of red and blue light eking through the leaves, causing Sully to draw back farther into his place of concealment. Hal had likely seen him run in here and would have told the police as much. Now, given the consistent brightness of the lights, Sully didn’t need to look to know officers intended to search the park. They probably wouldn’t spend too much time here; he hadn’t really done anything wrong, after all. But they’d check all the same, and if they found him….
Sully didn’t want to think about the consequences.
The super-bright beam of a car-mounted searchlight had Sully shrinking back farther, pulling Pax with him. Thankfully, it moved off as soon as it happened upon the spot where the two of them were hunkered, but it was followed a minute later by a smaller beam, this one no doubt from a flashlight. Sully checked his position and took comfort in the knowledge the officer wouldn’t spot him in here, even with the benefit of the flashlight.
Pax wasn’t a social creature, not the sort to actively seek out human companionship save the select few he decided to make his friends. So Sully was startled when Pax’s ears perked up and he sprang from his spot in the bush so suddenly there was no time to get a grip on him.
Sully sat in mounting horror, expecting the sound of a gunshot as the large dog rushed the unsuspecting officer. What he got instead was the sound of Pax’s happy whining and the continued approach of the flashlight until it was shining almost directly onto his hiding spot.
“I know you’re in there, Sully. Come on out.”
The sound of the voice had Sully’s breath leaving his lungs in a whoosh, and he waited until he’d taken another breath before obeying. Crawling out—and taking a collection of dead leaves and dirt with him—he regained his feet until he was standing next to Eva Braddock.
His sister-in-law played the beam against his face before turning it off completely and relying on the distant-yet-effective glare of the searchlight.
She clicked the button on her shoulder-mounted radio mike, turning her head just enough to relay her message. “Five-six to the units on the nine-three-six. I have one in custody. Everything’s ten-four here. Carry on.”
Having received a round of “ten-fours” in response, Eva turned her attention to Sully. “You know, when I heard a call on the radio about a suspicious male with long, brown hair, a beard and a big, black dog, I figured I’d better get my ass over here. Lucky you were on my patch. What the hell were you doing at Hal and Lana Devereaux’s place?”
“I needed to talk to them about their son.”
“Their dead son.”
“Yeah.”
“And did you?”
“I didn’t get the chance.”
Eva smiled at him, the expression containing no small measure of knowing. She tweaked her head, an indication for him to follow, and the two of them fell into step as they headed to her cruiser.
Pax’s tail hadn’t stopped wagging as he nudged up against Eva’s waist, demanding the ear rub she granted.
“When did you meet Pax?” he asked.
“You were missing, and Dez was looking after him. He brought the hairy beast over to our house. I think Kayleigh’s in love.”
“How is she?”
“She’s doing well. Really smart in school, and she’s crazy good at soccer. And I think she’s going to have to take up basketball at some point. She’s going to be tall like her dad.”
“I hope not,” Sully said with a grin. Dez was mountainous at six-and-a-half feet. No way would Kayleigh want to reach those heights—although Dez might not mind, once it came time in a few years to start shooing away potential boyfriends.
“Yeah, me too. Look, seriously, what were you doing there? You shouldn’t be out anywhere right now, should you? I mean, you’re supposed to be dead.”
“I know. But the ghosts don’t seem to care.”
“I figured that had to be what this was about. So you decided you’d take your scruffy ass over there and, what? They’d just let you in, no questions asked?”
“No. Honestly, I didn’t figure on this going all that well. But I can usually talk people down before they start chasing me down the street with a baseball bat.”
They reached the car and Eva opened the back door for Pax, leaving the front passenger seat for Sully. Eva waited until all three of them were inside and her lights flicked off before responding.
“They lost their son. Their only son. If they feel like someone’s picking at that scab, they’re going to react. Badly.”
“I know. I get that. But that doesn’t change the fact Carter’s still out there, and he needs help. He’s not communicating with me like the others, though. He disappears every time I see him. I’m trying to get a sense of him, of whatever it was that was going on before he was killed. If I can’t do that, I can’t help him.”
“Maybe he disappears because he doesn’t want help.”
“You didn’t see him, Eva. He’s in bad shape. Even if it’s true he doesn’t want help, he needs it. I can’t turn my back on that.”
“Why is it your job to fix everything?”
“Because I can do things other people can’t. If I pretended otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. And I’m not just talking about my conscience. They literally wouldn’t let me rest.”
Eva’s eyes, visible in the orange glow from the outside streetlights, were on him, but it was clear her mind was turning. It was a long moment before she offered a suggestion. “Okay, here’s my thought. First, I need to check back in with the Devereauxs. I had no choice but to call in that I’d found the subject of the complaint. Otherwise, the other officers on the call would have kept looking for you. If I don’t go back to the Devereauxs, and they check in with headquarters later for an update, I’ll end up in a pretty deep pot of hot water. The second problem is they might not be receptive to you, even if I manage to smooth things over with them on your behalf. Now, I’m presuming you didn’t use your real name, so I can’t exactly introduce you as my brother-in-law.”
“I’ve been using the name Oliver Chadwell.”
“Good. I think the best solution is to give me a phone number where they can reach you, if and when they’re ready. I think we can both appreciate not everyone feels the same way, but I know if it was someone I loved, I’d want to hear what you had to say. Out of curiosity, what were you planning on saying? I mean, since you’re seeing him, his death was a little more complicated than a simple accidental cave-in, right?”
“Yeah, you could say that. I’m not sure what I was going to say, exactly. I wasn’t planning on just coming out and telling them I think their son was murdered. I guess I’m just trying to get a bead on him. If I can figure out a way to get him to communicate with me, I’m hoping I can sort out what happened to him and pinpoint who’s responsible. Maybe that would give him some peace.”
“You know, if he was murdered, that’s a job for police, not you.”
“Sure, and I’d love that. But how is that supposed to happen? I can’t go to the police at all under the circumstances. Even if I could, what would I say? The truth would have me back at Lockwood inside of ten minutes. I have to gather enough proof on my own so there’s something concrete I can hand you or Dez to give to someone in Major Crimes.”
“Is Dez helping you with this?”
“Yeah, but he’s got other stuff on his plate right now. He’s working for Lachlan on a cheating spouse case.”
Eva wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. Bet he’s loving that.”
“Yeah. Not exactly.”
“He doing okay?”
Sully easily read the concern in Eva’s question, and he answered it with a smile and the truth. “He misses you guys. I wish he could move back in with you. His place is a div
e.”
“He’s welcome back anytime, and he knows it. The only reason he hasn’t taken me up on the offer is….” She trailed off, as if belatedly realizing an error.
Sully filled in the blanks. “Because of me. He still thinks he has to protect me, but it’s too big a risk to have me in the same house with all of you right now. He doesn’t have to, you know. I know how to take care of myself.”
“He thought he lost you, Sully. He almost did, more than once, and then we all thought it actually happened. He feels like he’s been given another chance. He’s not going to let you too far out of his sight until he knows it’s safe for you.”
“That might never happen. He can’t go his whole life like this.”
“I know. But what’s our alternative? It’s no better his being back home with us, trying to cope with skyrocketing blood pressure because he doesn’t have constant proof you’re safe. He’s been through too much in his life. He’s scared of losing someone else. I get that. Dez weighs risks all the time. He decides where he’s needed the most, and he plants himself there until he thinks the risk is resolved. You know that because you know him. We can’t change him and, honestly, I don’t think we’d want to if we could. It’s who he is.”
“How do I convince him I don’t need him like that anymore?”
“That’s going to be pretty hard because you won’t be able to convince him until you can convince yourself. I know you went a long time without any of us in your life, and you survived. But, Sully, we both know you don’t want to go back there again. Helping this ghost, it’s helping you, too, because it’s got you and Dez working together again. It’s not just about Carter; it’s about you looking for a way to get your life back, with your family. As much as I want Dez back with us, I care about you too. You deserve peace as much as your ghosts do. Dez helps you get there, and I would never try to keep that from you. We’ll figure out a way to make this work, all right?”
She turned back to the steering wheel, running a hand along the grip as she spoke. “But one thing at a time. First thing is dealing with the Devereauxs in a way that won’t end with them demanding Oliver Chadwell be hauled off to jail.”