by Maris Soule
‘Dad … Mom … You won’t believe what happened,’ Shannon yelled the moment she stepped into the four-bedroom three-bath ranch house that Robby had bought overlooking the eighteenth hole of the Rivershore Country Club’s golf course.
Mary saw the confusion on her son’s face when she entered the house behind her granddaughter, then his frown as he glanced out the front window and saw her old Chevy parked in the driveway, not Shannon’s new Fusion. ‘What happened to your car?’ he demanded, his tone accusing.
‘It’s at Grandma’s. A truck ran into it, and the police wanted it left there until they’re finished with the crime scene.’
‘Crime scene?’ Clare repeated, coming down the hallway, her face covered with some sort of white cream. ‘Oh … Mother Harrington, you’re here, too.’
Clare’s gaze hopped from Shannon to Mary and then back to Shannon. ‘You committed a crime?’
‘Not Shannon,’ Mary said, feeling she’d better speak up before either her son or daughter-in-law said something they’d regret. ‘Her car was parked in my driveway when some teenagers drove across my lawn and hit the Fusion’s rear bumper.’
‘And threw a bomb at Grandma’s house,’ Shannon added. ‘Two bombs. And Grandma was so cool. She didn’t get all panicky at all. Just pulled me down on the floor and covered me with her body, and then we got back in the bedroom, and she called 911. And …’
‘Stop! Wait!’ Robby looked directly at Mary. ‘Someone threw a bomb into your house?’
‘It wasn’t exactly a bomb,’ she said. ‘Just one of those Molotov cocktails. And it didn’t come into the house. They both bounced off the window and landed in the bushes out front.’
‘A bomb,’ Clare repeated, and simply stared at Mary.
‘It was all so scary,’ Shannon continued. ‘The police came … and the fire department. And David was so cool, he actually …’
‘David?’ Robby said, once again frowning. ‘You mean Mr Burrows?’
‘Not Mr Burrows, Dad. Agent Burrows. Did you know he works for the government? I saw his badge. And he was carrying a gun. He pulled it out before he went outside.’
Mary was impressed by how much her granddaughter had observed and remembered. ‘David works for some sort of defense agency,’ she said, hoping that would satisfy her son’s curiosity.
‘And while he’s visiting you, your house is bombed?’ Robby didn’t look satisfied.
‘Purely a coincidence,’ Mary said, but she was glad David had been there. At least he’d kept that police detective off her back.
‘He put the fire out before the fire department even arrived,’ Shannon said. ‘And he kept all the neighbors off the lawn so the police could see the tire tracks, and … and …’ She sighed, and Mary could tell the girl was running out of steam.
‘You’re probably exhausted,’ she said, giving her granddaughter a hug. ‘Why don’t you go take a hot bath and get ready for bed. I’ll explain everything. You’ve got school tomorrow. I don’t have anything important to do.’
‘You’re going to see David tomorrow,’ Shannon reminded her.
‘Yes, I’m going to see David.’ Mary looked at her son and daughter-in-law and knew she had a lot of explaining to do, and not just about the attack on her house. ‘Clare, think I could have a cup of tea?’
Robby prepared the tea while Clare wiped the cream off of her face. Mary told him she’d wait in the living room, if he didn’t mind, until his wife returned so she didn’t have to repeat her story twice. She, too, could feel the after-effects of the adrenaline rush, and was glad to sink into the plush recliner that faced the couch. She was sipping her hot tea when Clare came back into the room and sat on the couch beside her husband.
‘I gave Shannon a pill to help her sleep,’ she said, looking at Mary. ‘She’d better do well on her test tomorrow. If she doesn’t keep her grades up, she’s not going to get into a decent college.’
‘I’m sorry she was at the house when all of this happened.’ Mary kept her voice level and wondered if her daughter-in-law would realize Shannon wouldn’t have been at the house if they hadn’t sent her there.
‘What is going on, Mom?’ Robby asked. ‘Why are people bombing your house? And who is this Burrows guy, really?’
Mary wondered how to explain without telling more than she wanted her son and daughter-in-law to know. ‘He’s a friend. A friend from before I moved to Michigan. Before I even met your father.’ She looked at Clare. ‘I don’t know if Robby told you, but David saw that article about me, and since he was in Chicago on business, he decided to drop by and say hello.’
‘He certainly stayed a long time,’ Robby said. ‘Was he going to spend the night?’
‘I’d invited him to,’ she said, knowing that was going to upset her son even more. ‘But Shannon arrived before he had a chance to accept or decline.’
‘Thank goodness,’ Robby said, before he realized sending his daughter over there had also put her in jeopardy. ‘I mean … Mom, it’s been years since you’ve seen this man. You know nothing about him. For all you know, he’s the reason those cocktails, or whatever they’re called, were thrown at your house.’
‘Molotov cocktails,’ she supplied. ‘And I know David wasn’t responsible for that. I’m just thankful he was there. As Shannon said, he had the fire out before the fire department even arrived. I’ve lost a few bushes and may have to have some siding replaced, but that’s it.’
‘So if it wasn’t because of him, why did these people try to burn down your house?’
‘I, ah …’ How to explain? ‘I think there’s a gang that’s upset with me because I refused to give up my credit cards and keys to a couple of the gang’s members.’
Clare frowned. ‘Gang members? When did this happen?’
‘Just before Halloween.’ Mary hoped they wouldn’t make the connection.
Robby did. ‘Was it those boys who live a couple blocks from you?’
‘I don’t believe they live there,’ she said. ‘I think they were just hanging around one of the abandoned houses.’
‘The ones who were beaten up so badly?’
She could see her son was remembering back and making the connection. She smiled. He was a smart kid. Always had been, which was why, she was sure, he was so successful as a financial advisor.
‘Mom, those boys were severely injured that night. Do you realize what might have happened to you? How lucky you were? What if the person who beat up those boys had been around then?’
She chuckled. Maybe he wasn’t that smart. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘I was lucky. But, for some reason, they feel I’m responsible for what happened to them.’
‘Oh, my.’ Clare leaned slightly forward as she looked at Mary. ‘One of the neighbors came and helped you, didn’t he? And you’ve been protecting him.’
Let them think what they liked, she decided. ‘I can’t say anything more.’
‘You’ve told the police. Right?’ her son said. ‘First your place is broken into, now this. The police understand what’s going on, don’t they?’
Mary thought of Detective Rossini and his questions. ‘I believe they do,’ she said, hoping the man didn’t know more than he needed to. ‘Now I have a question.’
‘Yes, what?’ Clare asked.
‘May I spend the night here?’
CHAPTER THIRTY
THE NEXT MORNING, instead of going directly to the station, Jack drove through the areas of Rivershore where known gang members lived. Along the way, he stopped at a couple of repair shops and checked if anyone had brought in a black truck with damage to the right front fender. No one had. He told the shop owners to call him if anyone did bring one in, especially if there was red paint on the right front fender. Whether they would call or not was another matter.
Jack thought he might have lucked out when he saw a battered black truck parked near a double-wide. It had plenty of dents and rust, but nothing new and no signs of red paint on any of its fenders. One thing h
e discovered: there were a lot of black trucks in Rivershore.
He grabbed a hot coffee at McDonald’s and was headed back to the station when he decided to take a side trip by Jose Rodriguez’s place. Not that he expected to find the truck parked there. From what he’d discovered, Jose was too smart to let any of his gang members – especially any that might be connected to a crime – hang out at his place.
What Jack didn’t expect was to see a white Impala parked just down the street from Jose’s place, and although Jack hadn’t memorized the license plate of so-called Agent David Burrows’ rental car, he’d make a wager it was the same one.
Jack slowly drove by the Impala. As far as he could see, there was no one in the car. At the end of the block, he made a U-turn and cruised by again. Unless Burrows was lying down on the seat, the man wasn’t in the car. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
Three houses down, Jack parked his Durango.
What in the hell are you up to, Burrows?
Sitting in his car, Jack mentally rehashed exactly what had been said the night before. Burrows had wanted to know about Jose, but Jack had avoided giving the man any information and definitely hadn’t told him Jose’s last name. Even if Burrows had overheard Jose’s last name, how did he know to come here?
And why?
To tell Jose to get his gang to lay off Mrs Harrington?
Now that wouldn’t be a smart move.
Jack glanced at Jose’s house. He’d love to get a peek inside. Maybe he, as a concerned officer of the law, should pay Jose a visit … just to make sure Burrows was all right.
At the same time he started to open his car door, his cellphone rang. He glanced at the ID, then took the call. ‘Hey, Wally. I’ll be in in a bit, I was just …’
‘You need to come in right away,’ Wally said. ‘I think we’ve got a problem. I want you to check your computer.’
‘My computer?’
‘I have a feeling it’s been compromised.’
‘Compromised?’ Jack almost laughed, thinking of his PC in a compromising position.
‘Hacked.’
‘Oh.’ That was a different matter. ‘Give me ten. I was just …’ He glanced back at the Impala.
It was gone.
‘Weird,’ he said, feeling uneasy that he hadn’t noticed Burrows leave Jose’s house or even heard the car leave.
‘It’s more than weird,’ Wally responded. ‘All of our computers are showing the same message.’
‘Which is…?’
‘Beware of AntiSec.’
‘AntiSec?’ Jack could understand Wally’s concern. They’d all seen the notices sent to law enforcement departments about the ‘Anonymous’-affiliated group of hackers. These hackers were determined to embarrass and discredit police officers across the country, especially after arrests of Anonymous members.
‘Why are they targeting us?’ As far as Jack knew, none of their ongoing investigations involved the Internet or hackers. They certainly hadn’t arrested anyone who claimed to be an Anonymous member.
‘I have no idea,’ Wally admitted.
‘Did they deface our website?’ That seemed to be a common occurrence with the group.
‘The website seems to be all right,’ Wally said, ‘but I know you’ve got some pretty sensitive material on your computer.’
Generally that was the second phase of the hackers’ attack. Within a short time after defacing the websites, the hackers would publish private emails and correspondence from confidential informants. Jack didn’t like the idea that some of the notes he’d saved on his computer might be made public.
‘Damn.’ He tried to remember exactly what he had saved on his computer. ‘Have you called a computer tech?’
‘I called the Sheriff’s Department right away, and talked to their tech. He said he’d come take a look, but it will probably be tomorrow at the earliest. He said to call if anything starts showing up on the Internet.’ Wally snorted. ‘That’s like closing the barn door after the horse is out.’
‘Maybe it was just a kid,’ Jack said, trying to reassure his boss, though nowadays kids knew more about computers than Jack ever would.
‘I even called the FBI,’ Wally said, sounding deflated.
Jack knew that had taken a toll on Wally. It was a real put-down when the police had to call in the FBI, an admission that they had a case they couldn’t solve. ‘So what did they say?’
‘They don’t have anyone available right now either. Maybe in a couple of weeks,’ Wally growled. ‘In a couple of weeks the whole world may know what we had on our computers.’
‘OK, calm down. I’m on my way in.’ No reason to stay where he was. Burrows obviously didn’t need rescuing, and without a search warrant, Jack knew he couldn’t get into Jose’s house. ‘Five minutes, and I’ll be there.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
MARY STAYED IN bed until she heard Shannon leave for school and Robby leave for work. She considered staying there until it was time to get dressed and return to her house. The idea of sitting around the breakfast table ‘chatting’ with her daughter-in-law had no appeal, especially since Clare had already indicated she wanted to know everything about this David Burrows.
The malicious part of her brain urged Mary to give Clare what she wanted. It would be fun to see her daughter-in-law’s expression once she learned the truth about her mother-in-law’s past. ‘David?’ she would say, pausing to take a sip of tea. ‘Yes, I have known him for a while. I met him back in my twenties, when we were assigned to kill the dictator of a small country.’
Clare would frown, of course, not quite sure if she’d heard her correctly or if Mary was kidding. Clare would probably repeat the word kill.
‘Assassinate,’ Mary would say, making it sound like a correction. ‘We assassinated him.’
From that point on, it would be interesting to see how Clare treated her. Maybe she would drop that condescending tone she’d been using lately, as if once a woman reached her mid-seventies she needed to be treated like a child. Or maybe she would be sure Mary was senile and making it all up.
Of course, if Mary did tell the truth and Clare did believe her, Mary would have to kill her.
And since she had no intention of doing that, she vanquished all malicious thoughts from her mind, pushed herself out of bed, and twenty minutes later, greeted her daughter-in-law with a smile and, ‘Good morning, Clare.’
Clare Harrington slid her chair back from the breakfast table and stood, leaving her cup of coffee and the opened entertainment section of the newspaper. ‘Oh, Mother Harrington, good morning. I was wondering if I should wake you. Did you get any sleep?’
‘I slept quite well actually.’
‘I don’t see how.’ Clare shook her head and moved over to the counter. ‘Coffee? Tea?’
‘Tea would be fine,’ Mary said, and took the chair opposite her daughter-in-law’s.
‘And what would you like for breakfast?’ Clare asked, placing a mug of water in the microwave to heat. ‘I can fix you an egg. Or heat up one of the muffins I have in the freezer. Or…’
Mary stopped her. ‘How about a slice of toast? I’m not really hungry.’
‘Oh, of course not.’ Clare gave her a consoling look. ‘You must be so upset. What a terrible experience.’ The microwave dinged, and Clare turned toward it and removed the mug of hot water. ‘You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like.’
‘I figured I’d leave right after breakfast,’ Mary said. ‘I’m hoping the police have all the evidence they need, and I can get into my house. I want to see what kind of damage those kids did. Is Robby contacting the insurance company about Shannon’s car?’
‘He said he was going to.’ Clare set the mug in front of Mary, along with a tray of assorted tea bags. ‘But is it safe for you to go back to your house? What if those men come again?’
‘I don’t think they will,’ she lied. ‘They’ve made their point. Besides, I’m not going to let a bunch of teenagers scare me out of
my house.’
‘I hope you’re not being foolish,’ Clare said, stepping back to the counter. ‘Shannon said she was terrified last night, that she thought that truck was going to drive straight into your house.’
‘It was frightening seeing those headlights coming straight at the window,’ Mary admitted, ‘but we were still in my bedroom and wouldn’t have been hit.’
‘Thank goodness.’ Clare gave an indulgent sigh. ‘And what about that man who was visiting you? Robert said there was something about him he didn’t like, something …’ she seemed to grope for a word, ‘something sinister.’
‘Sinister?’ Mary shook her head, smiled, and chose a black tea. She was going to need something strong this morning. ‘Hmm, that’s not how I would describe David.’
‘You need to be careful, Mother. With Father Harrington gone, you’re vulnerable. Probably lonely. There are people out there who would take advantage of a woman in your position … a widow with money. Robert said you helped this David fellow out years ago, when you were in Europe. Did he borrow money from you then? Ask for money last night?’
‘No, David’s never borrowed money from me in the past, and yesterday he just came by to say hi.’ And warn me, she thought. Little did he know I had more than a man from my past to worry about.
‘You need to sell that house, Mother Harrington. Move into …’
Mary stopped her from going on. ‘Clare, I am not moving. Not for a while, yet.’ She motioned toward the counter where she knew her daughter-in-law kept her bread. ‘Do you have any whole-wheat?’
By ten o’clock that morning, Mary was on her way home, dreading what she was going to find. Cloudy gray skies didn’t lighten her mood, and she groaned as she neared her house. The yellow crime-scene tape had been removed, but now, in the light of day, she could clearly see the tire tracks across her front lawn. The grass had been torn up in several places, and one of the barberry bushes near the property’s edge had been crushed. Worst of all, the yews Harry had planted years ago under the living-room window were nothing more than black stumps, their needles devoured by the flames before David was able to put the fire out with the extinguisher she kept in the kitchen. The vinyl siding under the window looked as if it had melted, strips sagging downward, their edges charred. All of it would have to be replaced.