Coming of Winter

by Tom Threadgill

  “I’ve got a better idea. Rebecca’s pre-K has spring break coming up in two weeks. How about we come to Saint Louis? They’ve got a good zoo, right? You know how much she loves animals. And it would do us both good to get away for a while.”

  Jeremy rubbed his fingertips together. Would she want to stay in his tiny one-bedroom apartment? He could sleep on the couch, and they could have the bedroom. It’d be the first time they’d spent the night in the same place, but did anyone care about that stuff anymore? Did Maggie? He thought he knew her but hadn’t considered this situation. What if Rebecca wasn’t coming? What would he—

  “You got awful quiet all of a sudden,” Maggie said. “Is there a problem?”

  “What? No. I mean, well, my apartment’s kind of small but you—”

  Her voice lightened. “I already promised Rebecca a place with an indoor pool. I’ll find us a place as close as I can if the dates work for you.”

  “Oh, sure. There’s a few nice places not far from my apartment. I’ll take some time off and chauffeur you two around to see the sights. The zoo, Grant’s Farm, the Arch, all that stuff.”

  “Sounds fun, as long as I get control of the radio. None of your twangy country stuff. I have to protect my daughter, you know.”

  He laughed and propped an elbow on his desk. “Protect her? She needs to be educated. Develop a bit of culture and appreciation for the finer arts.”

  “Uh-huh. We’ll see. Listen, I’ve got to get to work. I’m really looking forward to seeing you. It’ll be fun.”

  His face flushed and he swallowed hard. Love this woman. He glanced at the file, still open on his desk. A small photo of Catherine Mae Blackston was paper-clipped to the corner, smiling at him. “Yeah, Maggie. Can’t wait. Maybe I can bounce a few things off you while you’re here. Get your thoughts.”

  “A case you’re working?”

  “Officially? No.”

  “Ooh. I’m intrigued. Well, I don’t know, Agent Winter. Can you handle a female partner for a few days? Especially one with a young daughter in tow?”

  Heat flashed through him again. Easiest question he’d have all week. “Depends on what you mean by ‘handling.’ You two just get here.”

  She chuckled. “It’s obvious you haven’t spent much time with five- year-olds, or you wouldn’t be so brave. Gotta run, but watch your email. Oh, and I sent you a care package too. Let me know when you get it. Talk to you soon.”

  “Hey, before you go ... I saw they posted another opening for an intelligence analyst. You ought to think about it.”

  After a couple of seconds, she sighed. “Jeremy, we’ve been through this. I like my job.”

  “Yeah, I know you do, but think about it. A lot less travel. More time with Rebecca. Those are good things, right?”

  “Yep, still good. Just like the last time they had an opening and you brought it up.”

  “Maggie, I just think—”

  “You think it’s safer.” A twinge of sarcasm and anger crept into her voice. “I get it,” she said. “I have a daughter to think about. Only unmarried, childless women should be allowed in the Bureau, right? That’s what I hear when we talk about this.”

  He massaged his forehead. “You know that’s not what I’m saying.”

  “I’m sorry your, well ...”

  “Go ahead. Say it. We both know you’re thinking it.”

  “Fine. I’m sorry about your wife and daughter, but that wasn’t your fault. You can’t protect everyone you care about twenty-four hours a day. I do understand your concern, and I love that you worry about us, but this is who I am. You have to accept that.”

  He inhaled deeply. “I’ll try. Really.”

  “And promise you won’t bring it up when we come to visit?”

  “Promise,” he said.

  “Good. Now, we both need to get to work. Let me know when you get the present I sent, okay?”

  “Will do. Kiss Rebecca for me.”

  He held the phone to his ear for nearly a minute after she hung up, rehashing the conversation in his mind. He hated when she got angry at him, especially when she was right. She could take care of herself. But that didn’t change the way he thought. Keeping her and Rebecca safe meant everything. He’d failed once, and he couldn’t go through that again.

  It’d been a dozen years since Holly and Miranda died. His wife and unborn daughter, murdered while he was off playing patriot. He should’ve been there to protect them.

  The killer had never been caught. Twelve years of guilt and fury and frustration.

  Anger issues? Yep.

  And then he’d met Maggie. Red hair, green eyes, and tough enough to put a man in his place, including her ex-husband. And Rebecca was the spitting image of her mother. He couldn’t understand what the two of them saw in him. Once Maggie got the whole story, she’d be gone. He knew it sure as the sun rises in the east.

  He traced the crayon tiger’s whiskers with his finger and nodded. It’d been a long time since he’d wanted to be part of a family. Did they feel the same way about him? He thought so.

  But she didn’t know everything about him. Not yet.

  And when she did, they’d be gone.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The insurance fraud case was all but closed. It took Jeremy three days, though he could’ve done it in two. Suspects in jail, awaiting trial. Witness statements documented. The DA’s office considering immunity for a couple of lower ranking members of the scam in exchange for further testimony. In six months or so, they’d give Jeremy an update. It seemed a long time to wait, but that suited him just fine. Close the file and forget about it until maybe never. Kind of like what the Bureau had done with him.

  It still didn’t make sense. They transferred him to Saint Louis with no explanation and no notice. Pack up and go. Good luck and God speed. Don’t call us, we’ll call you. He’d reached out to a few contacts in HR, but no one seemed to know anything, or if they did, they weren’t talking.

  His new case involved bogus narcotics prescriptions. Lots of users and one doctor. As with virtually every crime, it all came down to the connections. Somebody knows something. The trick was to find that somebody, then start following the money. Shouldn’t be too hard on this one. All he had to do was figure out which of the users would be the most credible to a jury and go from there. Find the right connection and voila, doors opened, and angels sang.

  Three quick beeps on his desk phone notified him of an internal call. No need for formalities.

  “Yeah?”

  “Agent Winter?”

  “Uh-huh?”

  “This is Scott, down in the mailroom. Got a package in for you.”

  “Um, okay. Can’t you bring it up on the regular run?”

  A chuckle. “No can do. You’ll have to come get this one yourself.”

  Jeremy stood and bumped his chair back. “No problem. Need the exercise anyway. Be down in a few.”

  Incoming deliveries and mail came in on the ground floor at a small loading dock. He opted for the stairs and took his time. No hurry to get back to his computer. His eyes needed a break, and his leg was acting up. Time to stretch it out and give the scar an excuse to flare again.

  He walked into the mailroom and stood at the door, waiting to be acknowledged. No sense in interrupting anyone’s work, especially since he was in no hurry to return to his own.

  “Help you?” a young woman asked.

  “I hope so. I’m Jeremy Winter. Scott called and said you guys had a package down here for me.”

  The woman rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and frowned. “Yeah, thanks a lot. I’m the one who had to uncrate that thing. Out on the dock, of course, wanding it each step of the way. Took forever. You know how cold it is out there?”

  He considered letting her know that according to the weatherman on last night’s news, it was unseasonably warm for early April. Her expression warned him not to. “Um, thanks? I’m really not sure—”

  She pointed to a corner of the
room. “It’s over there behind the stacks of mail totes. Enjoy.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  “Whatever.”

  He wandered over, searching his mind for what it could be. No clue. Good surprise or bad? Either way, at least it was something different. And the way things were going, he’d take it. Anything to get out from behind that desk, even for just a—

  His chair.

  From his old office in D.C. He’d recognize it anywhere. The scraped and scratched brown leather with the stained padded armrests.

  Maggie.

  He plopped into the chair and smiled. The squeak was audible even over the noise of the mailroom. The left armrest wobbled. The seat leaned slightly to the right.

  His chair.

  Jeremy couldn’t imagine how she’d pulled this off. What kind of effort it must’ve taken to accomplish this minor miracle. He picked up the seat and one of the wheels clanked to the ground.

  My chair.

  Maybe this could work after all.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Jeremy carried a plush stuffed hippo in one hand and a cup of weak, but warm, coffee in the other. He nodded toward Rebecca as she hop-skipped a few steps ahead of them. “I don’t know how you do it, Maggie. She hasn’t slowed down since we got here. It’s like watching a human pinball machine.”

  “There’s some stwiped zebwas over there!” The carrot-topped whirlwind froze, pointed, and looked back over her shoulder, the freckles on her cheeks almost hidden by a pinkish-red glow.

  “I see them, honey,” Maggie said. “Why don’t you run over and get a closer look?”

  The girl yanked the green knit cap off her head and handed it to her mother. “Hold this. I’m hot.”

  “Keep it on. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

  Too late. Rebecca ran to the zebras, her frizzy hair reflecting the early spring sun while little legs churned, their blurriness implying a speed that wasn’t there.

  Jeremy laughed. “It’s plenty warm. You picked a good time to come. Temps are twenty degrees warmer than normal this time of year. Couldn’t ask for a better day.” He brushed his finger along her arm. “Of course, I’d have thought the same thing if it was sleeting. It’s a good day.”

  Maggie scooted closer, and the two sat on a bench and watched as Rebecca waved and talked to the zebras.

  “So,” he said, “you think it’s nothing.”

  Maggie crinkled her eyebrows and parted her lips slightly. “What?”

  “The Blackston case. The missing woman.”

  “Oh. I don’t know. There’s nothing to indicate anything other than she walked away from her life. It could be something, I suppose, but there are no hits on any of her accounts. Not that she had money in there anyway. Maybe she was depressed or found a new husband. Or maybe something did happen to her. But there’s no evidence that points to anything illegal. None. If it hadn’t been your friend who asked you to look into her disappearance, what would you think?”

  “Yeah, I know. I should drop it unless anything new turns up. It’s not like I don’t have enough to do without creating work. And he’s not my friend. I barely know the guy. He spent a day and a half in the bed next to me at Landstuhl Medical in Germany. I can’t even remember what we talked about, except he kept calling me G-man. Drove me crazy.”

  “Listen. The cops in Indiana have your number. If anything turns up, and they want your help, they’ll call. I still think she just left. People get tired of their lives sometimes and drop off the grid, hoping they can be someone different. Haven’t you ever wanted to get away from everything and start over?”

  Rebecca glanced back to make sure they were still watching, and Jeremy waved before kissing the top of Maggie’s head. “Maybe. But not now. Not anymore. Not unless you two are going with me.”

  A slow breeze moved through bringing a chill and Parfum d’Elephant. Maggie inched closer to him, and he did a half-stretch and yawn, landing one arm on the bench behind her. She reached up, pulled his hand onto her shoulder, and scooted until their sides and thighs touched. His chest swelled, and his mouth dried. Good grief. It’s like being back in high school.

  A family passed behind them, their three boys squawking about which snow cone flavor was the best. Somewhere off to the right, howler monkeys argued with each other, their whoop-whoops echoing from the primate house. A squirrel scurried down a tree and made its way toward them, hopeful for a handout. Jeremy squeezed Maggie’s shoulder and ran his hand up and down her arm.

  This. A perfect day. He didn’t deserve it, but here it was.

  Maggie tilted her head up. “Got to go soon. Don’t want to miss our flight this afternoon.”

  “I wish you could stay longer.”

  “I’ve got a job too, remember? Corrupt judges don’t catch themselves.”

  “Yeah. They don’t. But, you know, if you decided you wanted to maybe put in for a transfer or something ...”

  Maggie sighed. “We’ve discussed this. The divorce agreement is very clear. Unless Rebecca’s father agrees to it, which he won’t, I can’t live outside Virginia, and that’s all we’re going to say about it. You promised, remember? No talk about changing jobs.”

  His finger traced circles on her shoulder, and he slowly morphed them into hearts. “It doesn’t seem right. After the way he treated you and all.”

  “He’s a much better father than he was a husband.”

  “He’d better be.” Jeremy cleared his throat and stared at the redheaded girl as she carried on a deep conversation with the zebras. “I’m glad. Rebecca deserves that. Being a good husband and dad is about all any man could ask for.”

  Maggie nodded and looked up at him. “It still hurts, doesn’t it? You know you can talk to me anytime. We’ve been dating ... what? Almost a year now? You don’t say much about them. I’m not going to pry, but when you’re ready, I’m here.”

  He drew his lips into his mouth. “I know you are, and yeah, it still hurts. A lot. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if they hadn’t, I mean, if Holly and Miranda ... I wasn’t there for them, Maggie. If I’d been home—”

  “You’d have been at the office. Same thing would have happened.”

  “You don’t know. You don’t. There’s a price we pay for the things we do. When I was in Afghanistan, well, maybe they paid for the things I did.”

  She shifted and turned toward him. “When, Jeremy?”

  The question he’d known was coming. He had to tell her. Risk her judgment. But if Maggie didn’t understand, he would crumble. Disintegrate. He needed to tell her in person, face-to-face, so he could see her expression. Try to explain.

  But not now. He wouldn’t ruin this day. “Soon.”

  “When you’re ready,” she said. Rebecca glanced back, and Maggie grinned at her. “She likes you. Told me that at the hotel last night. She thinks you’re funny.”

  “Funny, huh? I do like to see her smile.” Like? Love.

  After a moment, Maggie tapped his knee. “No chance the Bureau will reconsider and bring you back to D.C.?”

  “Not likely. At least not for a while. I can’t even find out why I got transferred in the first place. Got the ‘it’ll do you good’ speech with a heavy dose of ‘we need you there’ thrown in for good measure. I’ll give it a few more months and then start calling again.”

  She sighed. “It’d be nice to have you closer.”

  He squeezed her against him, letting her coconut shampoo and soft floral scent mingle in his memory.

  “Close enough?” he asked.

  “For now.”

  A squeaky voice interrupted their peacefulness. “Giwaffes! I see them over there! Come on, guys!”

  “Well,” Maggie said, “I guess it’s time to go see the giraffes. You ready?”

  Jeremy closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and kissed her on top of the head. “I’ve been ready for a long time.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  J eremy scanned the database summary for the umpteenth time. The d
octor had been a busy man. Seventeen thousand prescriptions spanning a period of three years. Twelve hundred patients. Over two hundred different drugs, yet less than a dozen narcotics made up seventy percent of the total. No question. The doc was nothing more than a drug dealer with a diploma. Unfortunately, proving that would take more than a database.

  He stretched and rubbed his eyes. It had to be getting close to lunchtime. A glance at the nemesis clock set him straight. Nine-forty. Great. He tapped a finger on the desk, pretend-wrestling with his desire to make the phone call.

  Let someone else figure out what happened to Catherine Mae Blackston. It wasn’t his case. Probably not even a crime. Leave it to the locals. Toss the file and forget it.

  Can’t.

  He pulled up his contacts and punched a button. “Officer Obion? Hi. It’s Agent Winter with the FBI.”

  “Yes, sir. How are you?”

  “Good. Just thought I’d check in and see if anything new had turned up on Miss Blackston.”

  “’Fraid not. I went back out to the park a couple of weekends ago to look around. Hoped I’d come up with something we’d missed. Nicer weather, you know, but the wind’s been brutal lately. Figured maybe the leaves got blown around and exposed a piece of evidence. Stupid, I know.”

  “Not stupid at all. I’d call it being thorough.”

  “Thanks. Didn’t find anything though, so for now, we’re keeping it an open case. She’s in the system, and if anything turns up, we’ll get an alert.”

  “Great. I take it nothing else has happened around there? No one else gone missing?”

  “No, sir. Quiet as ever. The NBC station out of Evansville ran a story about Miss Blackston a couple of weeks ago, but nothing came of it. As far as I know, nobody’s looking for her other than her ex. He calls every week. Said he was going to put up some flyers around town and in the park.”

  Jeremy stretched his neck and twisted his head. “What’s your gut telling you on this?”

  “My gut?”