The waitress brought their order, and their conversation slowed while they ate. She kept track of the time on the pretty watch Brendan had given her. Too soon, it was near two, time to go back to work. And she hadn’t learned what had upset Brendan.
Before he let her out of the car, he leaned across the seat and claimed her mouth. His kiss spoke of desperation. An aura of great sadness surrounded him.
When he pulled away, he smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “That alone was worth the time in town.”
“And there are more where that one came from.” She returned his smile, then climbed out of the car. “See you at six.”
She knew he’d watch to make certain she was safely inside the shop before he left, so she hurried. As the electric doors closed behind her, she turned and watched him drive away.
Mayhap she worried over nothing.
Mayhap the trip in to his office caused the far away look in his soft gray eyes.
Mayhap she’d better ask him again this evening.
After dropping Deirdre back at the shop, Brendan drove to the pet store where Tom Whitley worked after classes. He found the young man stocking shelves.
Brendan dropped a large bag of Prince’s favorite dog food into his shopping cart then wheeled next to Tom.
“Hi, Mr. Hunter. Stashing Prince’s favorite, I see.”
“I need your help, Tom.”
Tom put down a case of cans. “Sure, you picking up cat food too?”
“Guess I’d better, but that’s not the help I mean.” He lowered his voice. “I need to make contact with someone who’s great at computer hacking. Since you’re majoring in computer science, I thought you might have a friend or two who could help me.”
Tom’s face turned red. “Look, Mr. Hunter, I’ve never done anything illegal.”
“Never said you did. This is something to help on a case.” Brendan scanned the aisles nearby to make certain no one overheard. “I suspect another cop of something terribly dishonest. If I ask the experts at the station, word will get back to him.”
“A crooked cop? Well, I suppose my friends and I could try our hand at it. If you’re sure we wouldn’t get into trouble.”
“You have my word.” He looked around. “You get a coffee break here?”
“No, I haven’t been here even half an hour. At four-thirty I have an hour to eat. I usually walk down to one of the fast food places at the corner.”
“How about I pick you up out front at half past four? Dinner’s my treat.”
“I guess.” He wiped his hands on his jeans. “Sure, that’d be okay.”
Tom had appeared hesitant and nervous, but damned if Brendan knew who else to ask. He couldn’t ask Bill. It would seem as if Brendan were pushing Bill because he’d given the kid a scholarship. That wouldn’t do.
Danged if his mom wouldn’t be proud of him for this bit of skullduggery. This ought to fit her description of intent surpassing the exact definition of the law. But it grated against his sensibilities. He would never have believed himself capable of twisting the truth and ethics the way he’d been doing the last couple of weeks.
The heat turned his car into an oven too hot to sit in for an hour without running the air conditioner. He drove to a copy place and rented a spot at one of their computers. Writing down every memory he dredged up about Owen, he typed out information for Tom. He punched print and reviewed the information, surprised at the details he’d remembered. He hoped these few tidbits would be enough.
Next, he cruised by Owen’s townhouse. When he spotted a strange car in the drive, he slowed and took down the plate number. Must be Owen’s new girlfriend, Miss Tattoo. If so, she drove a hot red convertible that had set someone back big bucks. He rushed by George’s and gave him the plate number to check tonight.
Tom walked out of the pet store as Brendan pulled up.
“What’s your favorite food?” Brendan asked.
“Pizza.”
Brendan drove to a pizza place he liked and parked. Families crowded the place, and it was noisy. He and Tom chose food from the buffet. Brendan picked up some salad and marveled at the skill that Tom displayed in piling slices of pizza on one plate. They picked a table near the front, as far as possible from the video games in back.
Tom sat across from him. “You’re not eating?”
“I had lunch a couple of hours ago. Of course, I won’t be able to pass up a couple of those cinnamon rolls.”
“Yeah, I love them too.” He finished a slice of pizza in three bites. “Look, Mr. Hunter. Are you sure no one will get in trouble? You helped Bill, but I hafta protect my friends. I know you didn’t do what the papers accused you of, but....” He let his words trail off as if he didn’t know what to say and looked at Brendan while taking a long gulp of his soft drink.
“It looks bad, which is why I have to find the evidence I need to flush out the real murderer.” Brendan pulled out the information he’d prepared. “I can’t do this at work because someone will tell the bad guy. I’m even afraid it would get back to him if I asked someone in the sheriff’s office or the state trooper’s. You and your friends are my only hope of clearing my name and catching the real murderer.”
Brendan took a swallow of his Dr Pepper. “This man is responsible for the deaths of three people so far. He’s tried to kill me twice. He’s also tried to get to Deirdre. There’s no telling what he’ll do next unless you help me stop him.”
Tom’s eyes widened. “You mean he’s the one who sent those guys to kidnap Deirdre, um, Miss Dougherty?”
“That’s the guy. And I remember she said you should call her Deirdre.”
Tom looked at the facts Brendan furnished. “I know a guy who can do this kind of stuff.” He looked up. “You won’t be mad if I don’t tell you his name?”
“Not at all. Tell him I’ll pay him well.” He pulled out his wallet and peeled off a hundred. “Give him this to get started. Just get me the information, and the sooner I have it the better. If I don’t move fast, I’m afraid this guy’ll go after Deirdre again. Mom could be in danger too.”
Feeling a jerk for taking advantage of Tom’s obvious infatuation with Deirdre, Brendan couldn’t ignore his own fears. Owen knew how much he cared for her, and that put her in great danger. Since his mother had been the one to break off with Owen, the man might hurt her for spite. “I have to stop this guy within the next twenty-four hours—and pray that’s soon enough to protect Deirdre and Mom.”
Tom folded the note and the cash and slid them into his pocket. “Okay, but I have to work until nine. Maybe I can get him to come by and get this information and work on it now. If he can do it at all, he can do it fast.”
By this time, Tom had polished off a mountain of pizza slices. He stood. “Let me scarf down some of those cinnamon rolls and apple pie pizza, and then we can go.”
When Brendan dropped Tom back at his job, the kid pulled out a cell phone and dialed as he walked into the store. With any luck, Brendan would have the information he wanted tonight.
He had thirty minutes to make the five-minute trip to his mom’s shop. He dialed Jim Graham’s cell number. After the usual small talk, he asked, “Jim, I need a favor. Any chance tomorrow’s your day off?”
Chapter Thirty Five
Deirdre watched Brendan lock the bedroom door. “You’re very quiet this evening and hardly watched the movie Dave rented to cheer us. Your thoughts have been far away.”
He pulled her into his arms. “Sorry. Preoccupied from the visit to the chief’s office, I guess.” He pulled away. “Get in bed and I’ll join you.”
Brendan lit candles around the room then turned off the electric lights. The pink roses he’d brought in earlier filled the room with their scent. He switched on soft music before he undressed and slid between the sheets beside her. The flickering light glowed gently.
She touched his broad chest. “You’re very somber for all that you’ve made a lovely romantic room.”
“It’s just t
hat when Conor died, I thought that might clear my name. But I’ll try to cheer up.” He buried his face in her hair. “Mmm, this should do it.”
“What did the chief ask you?” Deirdre wondered if he still thought Owen was on his side?
He leaned on his elbow to look down at her. “Everything. I had to go back through stuff I’d covered a dozen times. Everything was already in his records, so I don't see what purpose was served by me going over it all again. Guess he just wanted to rattle me. Play cat and mouse.”
She touched his jaw and looked into his eyes. “Do you still think I’m wrong about Owen?”
“That’s another reason I’m upset.” He flopped back on his pillow and closed his eyes. He swallowed hard. “Y-You were right about him. I was too dense to recognize the signs.” His eyes opened and he looked at her. “He has a tattoo on his wrist. I saw it today for the first time. It’s a spider, just as you said.”
She gasped. “A tattoo? Merciful heaven, why couldn’t I see that’s what it was? Like the young people who come into the shop. There was even a man in Ballymish who had tattoos all over him.”
He pulled her to him. “Oh, and how did you learn about those?”
She giggled, happy to have the mood playful instead of sad. “He came to Ma once after he’d been in a fight. He had to take off his shirt for her to bind his ribs and soothe his cuts. There was a naked woman drawn on his chest and all sorts of flowers and hearts and such on his arms. And he had curlicues on his shoulders almost up to his neck.”
“What did you think of his decorations? Should I be planning on getting one or two?”
“Brendan Hunter, don’t be saying such. He was a fearsome man and we were that glad when he’d gone from our wee cottage. Came to visit his granny he had, but he went off on a voyage the next week and we never saw him again.”
“Maybe I should get a tattoo here.” He kissed her neck. “Or here.” His lips slid to her shoulder.
“Ah, now isn’t that lovely? Surely you can think of other places to suggest.” She tugged his head to her breast.
He slid the peak into his mouth and laved it with his tongue.
“That’s a grand idea.” His actions stole her breath.
“I have other ideas just as good.” He raised his head and his lovely blue eyes were dark with passion. “But tonight I want to taste all of you, Deirdre. Every inch.”
There was a note of desperation in his voice that chilled her. “Is something wrong, more than you’ve said?”
He smiled, but the fear stayed in his eyes as he mimicked her speech, “Now what could be wrong? I’m lying beside the love of my life and I plan to spend half the night pleasuring her.”
“You have the devil’s own way with words.”
“Then perhaps I’m talking too much.” He rained kisses from her throat down to her stomach.
“It’s turning my insides to pudding you are.”
Brendan wanted to love her so well that she’d remember it forever if he never returned to her. “The best is yet to come. Are you ready?”
“Aye, more than ready, if you take my meaning.” She tugged him to her.
“No, love. Tonight we take it nice and slow.” He kissed her breasts, the valley between them, and moved across her stomach leaving a trail of kisses.
When he laved her belly button, she giggled and curled on her side. “You’re tickling.”
He spread her legs and hooked one over each of his shoulders.
“Brendan Hunter! Are you daft? What are you about?”
“Relax, love. Let me love you tonight.” He found the nub of her desire and suckled it as he slid his finger inside her.
“You’ll drive me insane.” She thrashed her head on the pillow. Her hips began to buck and she met his finger.
Soon, he could stand it no longer. He slid up her beautiful body and claimed her mouth with his as he entered her. Their bodies melded and his own desire built.
Faster and faster he drove into her and she met him with as much fervor. When he thought he’d explode, he found release and she cried out his name. They clung together as he rolled to his side. Cradling her against him, he kissed her gently.
“You are my one true love, Deirdre. Never forget it.”
“And you are mine, Brendan. We’ll remind each other of that fact for the rest of our lives.”
He drew her closer. How long would they have together? One night or a lifetime?
Chapter Thirty Six
The next morning at nine, Jim and he sat at his kitchen table. At Brendan’s feet, Prince chewed on his plastic bone.
Ignoring his dog’s gnawing, Brendan met Jim’s eyes. “You sure you’re willing to do this?”
“Couldn’t be more sure.” Jim took a swallow of coffee. “Man, you don’t know how it hurt me to arrest you. I knew no way in hell you were guilty.”
“Thanks again for showing up to make that less painful for me. At least one friendly face helped.” Brendan polished off the last of his cheese Danish. “Never expected anything like this to come down.”
“How long did it take to collect all this?”
Brendan scanned the lists Tom had brought him early this morning. “Couldn’t have been more than a few hours. My contact brought them to me before he went to class this morning.”
Jim reached for another Danish. “Those kids scare me. Info like this shouldn’t be so easy to discover. Reckon anything is private now?”
“Apparently not.” They had Owen’s mortgage and credit card information, driver’s license, bank records—including the miniature check facsimiles from Owen’s account—and more. Check payments showed he’d leased a warehouse. Brendan could imagine what he stored there.
He shoved another sheet of paper toward the deputy. “A friend at the police station gave me the info on Owen’s girlfriend. Trixie Duggan. She has priors for shoplifting, soliciting, and drug possession.”
BadCat sat on the table looking at the papers as if he were invited to the meeting. Brendan set him on the floor and gave the cat one of the treats his mom kept handy.
Jim tapped the papers between them. “Lady has expensive tastes, according to the credit card records. Hmph. Shops at some mighty fancy places for a policeman’s unemployed significant other.” He looked up. “Unless a police captain makes a hell of a lot more than a deputy sheriff.”
“Owen’s been on the force for here for fifteen years plus whatever he served previously, so he’s at the top of scale, but he sure doesn’t bring down this kind of money. Especially since he claims his ex-wife cleaned him out.”
Jim tossed the papers he’d examined on the table. “When you gonna confront him?”
Brendan pulled out his cell phone. “How about now?”
“You don’t think he’ll admit anything on the station phone, do you?”
“No, he’ll want a meeting so he can kill me. You’re my life insurance policy.”
“We go in together?” Jim shook his head. “He won’t fall for that.”
“No he can’t know you’re there. But what if you go in early, hide, and wait for us to show?”
Jim frowned. “I don’t know, if he wants to meet you now in broad daylight, there may not be a place to hide or time for me to get set up. Maybe we’ll need guys in a car nearby.”
“More people will only make it more complicated. I’ll make sure there’s time to get you in place.” He picked up one of the sheets of paper. “I’m betting this is where he’ll want to meet. Odds are this is where he stores the drugs—if any are left.”
“The old Coke bottling plant?”
Brendan snorted. “Ironic isn’t it? Cocaine at the old Coca-Cola building. He’s probably laughing at the joke.”
“Makes me mad as hell. I love Coca Cola, but I’m hating this guy and the way he makes light with the law.”
“Then let’s take him down.” Brendan punched in Owen’s number.
When Owen came on the line, Brendan said, “I’ve run across some interestin
g information on the drug case.”
A short pause before Owen answered, “Oh, what?”
“You’ve been spending a lot of money recently, Owen. So has your girlfriend. More than your salary can support.”
After a long pause, Owen said, “I came into an inheritance. Decided to live it up a little. So what?”
What a liar. “An inheritance that coincides with the time the drugs disappeared from the evidence room? I don’t think so.”
“Now, son, surely you’re not accusing me of anything dishonest?” Owen’s voice was slick as snake oil, “Remember who you’re talking to, the guy who trained you, groomed you to take over when I retire.”
“Yeah, I remember. I also remember other things. Like Deirdre being attacked after I told you she knew something about the case. Like your comment that Michelle Porter was Mick. I never told you that, so how’d you know?”
“I can explain everything. Why don’t we get together and talk? I can get away from here at lunch, say about half past noon? I’ll prove to you that you can still trust me.”
“Sure. But if you can’t convince me, I’ll go straight to the newspapers and the Chief.”
“You know the old Coke bottling plant on Tyler Street off Main? Meet me there. Go in through the back door.”
Brendan smiled triumphantly at Jim. “Old Coke plant at 12:30, back entrance. Got it.”
When the soft drink company sold or let the lease expire on the building, the owner turned it into a warehouse but didn’t repaint the exterior. Though the bottling company signs had been removed, the colorful red logo—now faded—splashed across one outside wall. According to the bank account records, Owen had leased the building within days of the drug seizure made by Larry and Brendan.
Hadn’t taken Owen long to come up with a plan to line his pockets.
At a quarter of noon, Jim and Brendan had both parked in the school administration parking lot. A narrow field separated the warehouse’s small parking lot from the Radford Crossing ISD offices. They walked casually over to the warehouse.
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