by K. J. Dahlen
“Please hurry. I don’t want to die, not by his hand,” Maggie said. “But please be careful. He’s after you too.”
“Don’t worry about that. I can take care of myself,” Sable said.
“I have a feeling Noah knows more about you than you realize,” Maggie said.
“What do you mean?”
“Noah said something about it being his job to watch you over the years.”
What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure. Noah told me he’s been in Chicago watching you for Micah.”
Sable felt a chill. She suddenly got goose bumps on her arms. Fear followed the chill straight down her back. “What did you say?”
“Apparently Micah knew about you being alive for awhile now. Noah told me Micah saw you one day about four years ago. He told the boys you reminded him of someone he lost a long time ago. Noah said when Micah and the boys left Chicago, Micah left him behind to watch you. He said Micah was impressed with his covert tailing skills. You never knew he was there.”
Sable thought about what Maggie was saying for a moment. “That was quite a conversation you and Noah had, wasn’t it?”
“It was the first time in nine years I’ve spoken to my son. Even though it scared me to death, I had to find out what he’s been up to since he left. Good or bad, he’s still my son.”
“He’s also a Reardon, and the men in the Reardon family have been known to kill the women in the Reardon family,” Sable said.
“While that is true, you forget one thing…”
“Oh and what would that be?”
“I’m not a Reardon. Richard never married me.”
“I don’t think Micah cared one way or the other. He saw you as a threat. He told me before he died one of the things he had to do was find and kill you, so whether Richard married you or not, Micah had to kill you. Even after he died, his mission was carried out by the three young men he raised. Sam and Shawn came after me and it must have been Noah’s job to find and kill you. Even from the grave, Micah is still playing the game.”
Chapter Two
Sable was unsettled after her phone call with Maggie. She filled Nick and the others in on what she found out, but there was something niggling in the back of her mind. She felt violated by what Maggie told her.
Micah had known she was alive and well for four years. That fact by itself was disconcerting, but combined with what Maggie just told her, that Noah had been watching her off and on since that time, it was downright creepy. Micah had taught Noah well. She hadn’t known she was being watched.
“So what do you want to do? About Maggie I mean?” Nick asked.
Sable looked at him. “I think we have to protect her. Even now, months after his death, Micah is still running the show. She doesn’t deserve what Noah has in mind for her, no one does. At least she warned me about her son. She didn’t have to do that.”
“Did you ever think she might have had a reason for telling you about Noah? Maybe she’s luring you to La Crosse for him,” Nick said.
Sable shook her head. “I don’t think that was the reason for her letter. I heard the terror in her voice. She’s moving around the city so he can’t find her. She ran from Micah all those years ago and now she’s running from her son.”
“Did she say what he wanted?”
“He wants Richard’s knife back,” Sable told them.
“What?”
“He told his mother he wants the knife Richard used all those years ago. He told her it was one of a set. Both he and Micah had them made especially for them in Oklahoma. He was very upset when Maggie told her she gave the knife away. She said he was upset until she told him she gave the knife to me as evidence. He told her it would be evidence again once he got it back. He also told her the knife was his birthright.”
“His birthright?” Nick asked. “I wonder why he would say it that way.”
“I don’t know, but he really wants the knife back. He may even use Maggie to get it back,” Sable said.
“Why do you think that?”
“He told his mother she would live a little while longer if she told him what she did with the knife.”
“And she told him you had the knife. That means he’s coming after you once he’s done with her.”
“No, that means once we have Maggie in custody, I’m going after him,”
“We don’t even know what he looks like,” Brandi pointed out.
“No we don’t, but Maggie knows what her son looks like and we at least have a clue.”
“And what would that be?” Nick asked.
“He has the Reardon eyes,” Sable said. “That’s what drew Micah to him. I don’t know how he found him, but Micah made first contact with Noah at the age of ten and finally got him away from Maggie when he was fourteen. He’s been living a life devoid of all the basic human feelings for the last nine years.” She turned to Nick, “Do you remember the warehouse where we found Sam and Shawn?”
Nick nodded.
“I found three sleeping bags in the office. I assumed one of them was Micah’s but I was wrong. The third bag was Noah’s. He was with Sam and Shawn up to the day they died. He slipped through the radar then. I’m not going to let him get away again.”
“We didn’t know about him then,” Nick reminded her.
“I know,” Sable said. “We know about him now, and if we want to get to Maggie before he does, we’re going to have to move quickly.”
“I think we should fly to La Crosse, not drive,” Nick said. “We can be there in less than an hour. Maybe we can get to her before Noah finds her. If he knows where she is, we don’t have much time.”
“Ok, whatever we’re going to do, let’s do it. I want to get to Maggie before Noah,” Sable said.
Twenty minutes later they were in the air. The FBI’s small plane would take forty minutes to go from Chicago to La Crosse. Brandi was contacting the local police, while Quentin was researching Noah Reardon. Nick and Sable discussed what they knew so far.
“Noah commented on more than one occasion the knife was his birthright,” Sable said.
“I can’t imagine it’s a good thing.” Nick said.
Sable grabbed her cell phone and dialed Maggie’s number. It rang three times before it was answered. When no one said anything, Sable called out Maggie’s name.
There was a hesitation before Sable heard a man’s voice whisper, “Maggie can’t come to the phone right now.” He chuckled then said, “Or ever again.”
“Who is this?”
“Who is this?” He asked her back. “Oh wait, I’ll bet I know who you are. I’ll bet your name is Sable.” He hesitated then said, “Am I right? Is that you Sable?”
“Yeah, Noah, it’s me.”
“Ah, you know who I am. My mother must have been talking about me.”
“Yes, she told me about you,” Sable admitted. “What did you do to your mother?”
“Ah, well, you could say my mother has learned a hard lesson.”
“What lesson would that be?”
“The Bible tells us an eye for an eye and one of the Ten Commandments says, “Thou shall not kill,” Noah quoted. “I had to teach my mother the penalty for murdering my father.”
“You mother didn’t murder Richard, Micah murdered his brother.”
“That’s a damn lie,” Noah yelled.
“No, it’s the truth. Micah admitted murdering Richard to me before he died.”
“I don’t believe you. Micah only murdered the people he felt needed murdering. He never would have killed my father. Micah never would have murdered his brother. ”
“Why not? He tried to murder me and I was his flesh and blood.”
“I don’t believe you,” Noah told her.
“Micah dropped me in the same dry well where he put his brother’s dead body over twenty years ago. I was a four year old kid when he put me in that well. He dropped the lid on the well and walked away. I cried for my father not to leave me there and I listened as h
e didn’t hesitate to walk away. He turned his back on me and just kept walking. I was cold and it was dark outside and still he didn’t come back. I waited all the next day before I finally realized he wasn’t coming back.”
“That doesn’t prove he killed my father. All it proves is that he dumped his body.”
“True, but Micah admitted in his master plan that he murdered Richard.”
“What master plan? Micah never spoke about that.”
“Micah was going to bring down his grandfather’s legacy and murder every member of his family, including his own sons before he finally ended his own life.”
“Who told you that?” Noah demanded.
“Micah himself.”
“That’s a damn lie,” Noah said. “Micah never would have hurt the boys. They were all he had in the world. He would have died first.”
“He was dying. He was in the end stages of AIDS and he wanted to take his family out before he died.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Is Maggie dead?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you kill her?”
“She murdered my father,” Noah insisted. “Before she died she told me she gave you something I want back.”
“Yes, she turned your father’s knife over to me, along with several items from my childhood.”
“I want my father’s knife back.”
“Richard’s knife is evidence in several murders. I can’t give it back to you.”
“I don’t think you heard me correctly. I said I want my father’s knife back.”
“I heard you. Apparently you aren’t listening to me.”
“If you bring the knife, I’ll disappear. If I don’t get the knife back, I’ll make your life a living hell.”
“I’ve got news for you pal, I’ve been to hell twice now and I came back. I can’t say the same for Micah or Sam or Shawn.”
“I’m going to enjoy killing you, bitch.”
“You can try.” Sable snapped her phone shut and sat quietly for a moment. The call had upset her. She looked at Nick. “Maggie is dead. Noah blamed her for Richard’s death.”
“I take it he didn’t believe you when you told him Micah murdered Richard?”
“Not likely. He kept trying to defend Micah.” Sable shook her head. “He did say unless I give him Richard’s knife, he’s going to make my life a living hell.”
Nick stared at her for a moment before he said, “Why does he want Richard’s knife?”
“I don’t know. It can’t be for sentimental value. Richard was dead before he was born.” She reached for her phone again. “I’d better call the local police and report the murder. Can you ask Quentin to trace the call? I’d like to be able to give them an address where they can find Maggie’s body.”
Fifteen minutes later the plane landed at the airport. As they deplaned, Sable’s phone rang. It was the local police. They were calling to let her know they found Maggie’s body.
When Sable shut her phone, she looked at Nick. “The local police want us to come to the scene. I spoke to a detective Marie Thomas. She’s waiting for us at the Hampton Inn.”
“They’ll need to know how we knew Maggie was in danger and any information we have that will help them find her killer,” Nick said.
“They won’t find Noah. He’s smarter than that.”
“The police may not be able to find him, but you can,” Brandi told her.
“And he can find me,” Sable said.
Chapter Three
Twenty minutes later the rental car pulled up to the Hampton Inn on Rose Street. There were two police cars with lights flashing in the parking lot and several uniformed officers coming in and out of room one thirteen. Bright yellow tape marked off the area around the room. Sable, Nick, Brandi, and Quentin ducked under the yellow tape and were met at the door by an officer.
Sable grabbed her FBI badge and told the officer, “I’m Sable Quinn. I’m supposed to meet Detective Marie Thomas.”
The officer turned his head to call out over his shoulder. “Marie, the Feds are here.”
A young woman in street clothes looked up from the other side of the bed and stared at them. When she motioned them into the room, Sable and the others joined her. Marie was small and slim. Her dark blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She looked young to be a police officer until you looked into her eyes. Her dark brown eyes said she had seen some of the worst things people did to one another. She held out her hand. I’m Marie Thomas, La Crosse police department. My partner Joe Davis is in the bathroom collecting evidence.”
Sable smiled. “I’m Sable Quinn, I believe we spoke on the phone a little while ago.” Sable turned to the other members of her team. “This is Nick Ramer, the team leader; and my associates, Brandi Nichols and Quentin Parks.” She turned to view the room. The room was a shambles. Broken furniture told Sable that Maggie went down fighting. There were blood smears everywhere. Sable looked at Marie and asked, “Where is Maggie’s body?”
Marie looked down at the floor on the other side of the bed. “She’s over here. I have to warn you she isn’t as pretty as she was this morning.”
Sable stepped further into the room. Walking over to the bed, she moved to where she could see Maggie’s body. She gasped at the sight. Maggie’s eyes stared at the ceiling and her face was frozen in terror. She could see multiple stab wounds in her chest and abdomen, and the word SINNER was carved in her forehead. Blood ran down her face and down her neck, pooling under her head.
Sable turned and walked away from the bed. She stepped outside and took a deep breath. Tears rolled down her checks as she thought about the horror of what Maggie went through before death took her.
Nick joined her outside. “Are you okay?”
Sable shook her head. “I hope I’ll always be horrified when I see something like that. Noah took his time before he put her out of her misery. She was still alive when he carved the word Sinner into her forehead. Nobody deserves that.”
“Ms. Quinn,” Marie called out, “I let my boss, Captain Nix know you were here and he’d like to meet with you and your team at the station."
Sable nodded. “Nick is our leader but we’ll be happy to meet your captain.”
“I’m done here so I can take you to the station. I have to give Captain Nix my preliminary report anyway.” Marie snapped her latex gloves off. Wadding them up, she placed them in an evidence bag then tossed the bag to the officer at the door.
Sable turned around and looked at the neighborhood. It seemed a pleasant place, not the sort of place a murder would occur. Just off the main highway and Surrounded by easy access to the nearby shopping center and eating places, it was the ideal place to come and enjoy an evening. Several people were gathered on the other side of the yellow tape stretched across the driveway. As she scanned the faces in the crowd, she wondered if Noah was among the bystanders. He knew he would be protected by the fact no one knew what he looked like.
Fifteen minutes later, they were going through the metal detector in the courthouse. Walking up to the second floor, they followed Marie to the office of Captain Mason Nix. Sable glanced at the older man sitting behind the desk. His salt and pepper hair and the lines on his face showed his of years of experience. He sat back in his chair and stared at the group for a moment before he turned his head to Marie. “What did you find at the crime scene?”
“We found exactly what Agent Quinn said we would find. Maggie Yost was dead by the hand of another.” Marie paused for a moment then asked Mason if she could leave to process the evidence.
Mason nodded and watched her leave before he swung his gaze over to Sable. “And how did you know this fact, Miss Quinn?”
“Maggie Yost wrote me a letter alerting me to the fact she had a son with a man named Richard Reardon. I don’t know if you’ve been alerted to the fact that the Reardon family of Chicago has all been murdered, but when I called Maggie to get more information from her, her killer answered the phone. He told
me Maggie was dead.”
“Did he tell you his name?” Mason asked.
“He didn’t have to. His name is Noah Reardon. Maggie Yost was his mother.”
“How do you know this information?” Mason asked.
Captain Nix,” Nick said. “This is an FBI case that began a few months ago in Chicago. Long story short, Noah is the last in a family of serial killers. We only found out about Noah Reardon this morning when Maggie Yost wrote Miss Quinn a letter. We were on our way to take Miss Yost into protective custody when we found out she was murdered.”
“Do you know why Noah Reardon murdered Miss Yost?” Mason asked.
“He murdered her because he is under the impression she murdered his father.” Sable opened her purse and brought out her copy of the letter Maggie had sent her. She handed the letter to Captain Nix.
Mason leaned forward in his chair and skimmed the letter. He looked at Sable. "Who is this Micah she speaks of?”
Sable took a deep breath. “Micah was the man that fathered me. He tried to murder me twenty two years ago but I survived. I didn’t find out until Micah came back to Chicago a few months ago that he was my father. Micah and Richard, Noah’s father, were half brothers. Micah murdered Richard a long time ago but he convinced Noah it was Maggie that murdered Richard. Micah was a very manipulative person.”
“And did you find out if the boy went with Micah when he was fourteen?”
“Yes we did. Noah admitted running away to be with his uncle.”
“Noah didn’t happen to tell you what his plans are, did he?” Mason asked.
“As a matter of fact sir, he did.”
Mason threw his pen on his desk. “Great. What did he say?”
“He wants something of his father’s back. As a member of the FBI, I can’t turn over evidence to a killer.”
“What does he want back?”
“He wants the knife his father used to murder a number of people,” Sable told him.
“What ever happened to Micah?” Mason asked after a length of time.