Love 'Em or Leave 'Em Dead

  “Definitely. Because Dallas is my girlfriend, he’ll have to officially lead the case, but I’ll assist him from the sidelines.”

  “I’m glad you’ll be involved. How long will your people be in there?”

  “Shouldn’t take more than a few hours.”

  “Is your mother watching the kids?”

  “No, Brittany Hackett. She can stay through January if needed.”

  “Oh, bless her heart.”

  “I hope Dallas is better long before then.”

  I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE Iris Kellogg sitting next to Richard and Donna in the waiting room. She was my backyard neighbor and the attorney who had handled our divorce. It was two o’clock, and I had anticipated Shannon would be out of surgery by now.

  “Hi,” Iris said with a smile.

  “Are you visiting someone in the hospital?” I asked.

  “Shannon.”

  Huh.

  “She’s still in surgery,” Donna said with a note of frustration. I sat down and shared where I’d been and why. The faces stared back at me with concern.

  “That’s awful, Cal.” Iris said, “I’m sorry to hear that. You two are great together.”

  Donna and Richard locked eyes. Shannon’s mom still held hope that we’d reconcile. Richard gave her a face I interpreted as, “Whatcha gonna do?”

  “Do you have a suspect?” Iris asked.

  “Her ex.”

  “Always the first person to look at.” Iris turned to Richard and Donna.

  “I could use some coffee,” I said.

  “I’ll go with you. You two want some?” Iris said.

  “Decafs, black,” Donna said.

  I followed her to the elevator. When the door closed behind us, I said, “I wasn’t aware you and Shannon were close friends.”

  “You weren’t?”

  “Nope. Neither of you have mentioned it.” “It’s not a secret.”

  “Your girlfriend was one of the EMTs who treated Dallas. She’s good.”

  “Yes, Erica loves her job.”

  “Are you two still together?”

  She smiled. “Yes, why?”

  “Just curious.”

  WE BOUGHT FOUR COFFEES, sandwiches, and four oversized cookies, then made our way back up to the waiting room. We sipped and ate in silence, all of us glancing up every time there was movement outside the door. I was surprised when my mother and Bobby Lopez entered the room.

  “Mom, what are you doing here?”

  She used her explaining voice, slow and syncopated. “Clara called. She said you needed someone to stay with the children, so we drove right over, but Brittany was already there.”

  “Yes, she’s covering for Clara while Dallas recovers.”

  She pursed her lips and looked at Bobby, who hiked his brows.

  “Shannon’s not out of surgery yet?” she asked.

  “No, and I don’t know why it’s taking so dang long,” Donna said.

  “Sometimes they do more tests on the lymph nodes just to be safe,” Mom said.

  She turned back to me, “You know I’d be free labor, but I suppose a college student can use the money. Anyway, we stopped by Dallas’s room to see how she was doing. My goodness, she’s pretty beat up. Clara said they want to keep her overnight.”

  “Only one night?” I said.

  “You know how they push people out of the hospital these days.” “I’m gonna run down and see her. What’s her room number?”

  “She’s in 112.”

  As I stood to leave, the doctor entered. He crossed his arms across his chest as he delivered us the news. The lumpectomy was successful with clear margins, but the sentinel node biopsy was positive, so he proceeded with the removal of nine additional lymph nodes under her arm. That’s what took time.

  “Has the cancer spread to her lymph nodes?” Donna asked.

  “We removed them only as a precaution.”

  “When can she go home?” Donna asked.

  “Tomorrow morning. With the additional surgery she’ll be in recovery for a while, so we’re going to keep her overnight.”

  “When will she start chemo?” I asked.

  “Oncology will set that up after she heals . . . probably in a month. She needs to take it easy for a few days, but she can resume most activities in five days.”

  When the nurse walked in, she took a gander at all of us and said there was a limit of two family members in recovery. I suggested Richard and Donna go in. After they left, I told Iris I was going to check on Dallas.

  “Of course. Shannon will understand.”

  Right.

  Mom and Bobby followed me out. “We’re going to Cadillac Jack’s for ribs tonight. You and the kids want to join us?”

  “No”.

  “Why not?” Mom said.

  “Mom, my time today will be split between the two women in the hospital and my two active investigations.”

  “Oh.”

  Bobby put his arm around Mom and said, “We understand, Cal.”

  I hugged Mom goodbye, shook Bobby’s hand, then they walked off. Sometimes I didn’t get my mother at all.

  WHEN I WALKED INTO Dallas’s room, she was sound asleep. Her brother Jamie and Clara were huddled, visiting quietly.

  “How is she?” I asked.

  “Besides being beat to shit?” Jamie said.

  Clara put her hand on his arm. “Shh. The doctor said she’s going to be okay and won’t need surgery, but she’ll need time to heal. If all goes well tonight, she can go home tomorrow.”

  Jamie glared at me. “Why aren’t you out looking for Vince?”

  “I can’t because of . . . our closeness. My partner has the case. I’ll call him to see what’s up.”

  I went out into the hall. Spanky answered on the first ring.

  “Woods and I are on the way down to the Cities to pick up Vince Palmer. Edina PD is going to be there to support us.”

  “Did you swab doorknobs and the fridge door at the Bradleys’ for DNA?”

  “Of course. Hey, guess what the vanity plate on Palmer’s black Corvette says.”

  “No guess”.

  “‘VNC BA.’ What do you suppose BA stands for? Badass?”

  “Big asshole?”

  He chuckled.

  “Check him for scratches. Dallas thinks she got him.”

  “Will do. I’d like to interview her tomorrow. Will she be up for it?”

  “She’s supposed to be released in the morning.”

  While still in the hall, I sent a quick text to Donna to ask her to contact me when Shannon was back in her room.

  “How long will Vince be in prison?” Jamie asked.

  “First, we have to prove it was him.”

  “It was him,” Clara said, then set her jaw tightly.

  “He was wearing a ski mask and she only saw his eyes. A prosecutor will need more proof to file charges. Hopefully she got his DNA under her fingernails when she scratched him.”

  “You mean without DNA evidence you may not be able to prove it was him?” Jamie said.

  “Cal will do everything he can,” Clara said.

  “He better hope so,” Jamie said, giving me a hard stare.

  What did I ever do to this dick?

  At seven, Donna called to tell me Shannon was in her room but very sleepy. They were going home and would pick her up tomorrow morning from the hospital. They’d stay the day at my house with her, which worked for me. I wanted to see for myself how she was doing, so I said I’d be right back and made my way to her room.

  Shannon was awake. Iris stood at her bedside, her back to me. I moved to the opposite side and took Shannon’s hand. She didn’t pull it away.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked.

  “Pretty good.”

  “Any pain?”

  “Not much.”

  Iris proceeded to tell Shannon about Dallas’s assault, which I had not intended to do at the time.

  “Oh, Cal, I’m so sorry. You should be with her,
” Shannon said. Iris nodded.

  Shannon said, “I’m fine. Go.”

  In a way I resented being dismissed. And why the hell was Iris still there?

  CLARA PAGED THROUGH A MAGAZINE and Jamie played games on his phone while I watched Dallas sleep and plotted a strategy to nail Vince. Out of the blue, Zabrina and Zach’s kiss popped into my head. How long had that relationship been going on? She threw Grady away like he was a piece of meat fallen on the floor, and that evening was kissing it up with Zach Whitman. I realize some people—young and old alike—change relationships like underwear, but those two must have been attracted to each other way before now. To an inexperienced young woman, Zach Whitman must have seemed like a real catch—handsome, confident. But the kid hung out with the local doper losers. Then again, maybe Zach and Zabrina were made for each other—shallow, narcissistic. I’d have to mention it to Patrice—and have another talk with Zach.

  About nine o’clock I couldn’t stop yawning, so I said goodnight to Clara and Jamie. As I kissed the sleeping Dallas’s cheek, I noticed a strangely shaped bruise on her cheekbone. An impression of an object?

  I thought I’d head up to Shannon’s room one more time before I went home.

  Iris put her phone down when she saw me.

  “How is she doing?” I whispered.

  “Good, she’s just sleepy.”

  “I’m on my way home.”

  “Me too—in a few minutes.”

  “Iris . . .”

  “Yes?”

  “Never mind.”

  CONCERNED WHY SPANKY HADN’T apprised me of Vince’s apprehension, I phoned him on my way to my car. He and Woods were back in town—without Vince.

  “He didn’t show up for work, and he wasn’t at his condo or his parents’ house,” Spanky told me. “One of his neighbors saw him driving out of the parking garage, before six o’clock this morning. He said he waved, but Vince looked straight ahead. He thought Vince looked angry. We watched his place for hours, then Woods said we should give it up.”

  “At least you have a witness seeing him leave about the right time. Dallas has a weird bruise on her cheek. Check it out.”

  “Will do.”

  I turned around and walked back to Dallas’s room. I asked Clara and Jamie if they had any idea where Vince might hide.

  “His family has a cabin next door to some friends of ours on Island Lake. That’s how they met,” Jamie said.

  “Can you give me directions?”

  I handed him my small notebook. As he sketched a crude map, he gave me verbal directions. I called Spanky back, but he didn’t pick up. I left a message, headed home to change into my uniform and to grab my firearm, stopped back at the department, left another message for Spanky, logged in, signed out a vehicle, and when I still hadn’t heard back from Spanky, I found Deputy Jenny Deitz and asked her to follow me out to Island Lake.

  With the help of Jamie’s map, I easily located the Palmer cabin. Jenny and I parked at the end of the driveway where we’d be hidden from the view of anyone in the cabin, and also, to block the exit in case Vince tried to make a getaway. The driveway hadn’t been plowed since the half inch of snow overnight, and there were tire tracks.

  “Let’s walk on the edge in case we need to document the vehicle tracks,” I said.

  The reflective light from the waxing moon allowed us to walk in without using our flashlights. Our heavy boots crunched on the snow as we walked in time toward the cabin, approximately one hundred yards in.

  A great horned owl’s syncopated hoo hoo hoo sounded; I stopped and looked up to see if I could spot it, and Jenny smacked right into me. She giggled.

  “Shh.”

  “Well, don’t just stop,” she whispered.

  We approached the three buildings—all dark. The A-frame cabin sat between a garage to the left and another large shed to the right. Using my flashlight, I checked the inside of the garage through a side-door window.

  “No vehicle. I doubt anyone’s here,” I said.

  Jenny shined her light across the snow toward the large shed. “There are no footprints to the other building. It’s probably where they keep their boy toys.”

  “But there are tire tracks and footprints to and from the cabin, so someone’s been here today.”

  We walked around the exterior of the cabin and shined our flashlights through the windows. It didn’t appear to be occupied. I knocked at the door, and as expected, no one answered.

  “He may be out—or he left, which is what he should have done if he had a brain. Well, you may as well go back on patrol, Jenny.”

  “Golly, my heart was pumping thinking we were going to make an apprehension tonight.”

  “Not this time.”

  As we hurriedly made our way back to our vehicles, Jenny said, “I suppose he could have been out for a beer and burger, driven back, saw our vehicles and drove on by. Maybe we should have hidden our vehicles.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Thinking about burgers makes me hungry. I’m ready for break two hours early.”

  “Stop at Cadillac Jack’s,” I suggested.

  “Eat with me?”

  “No, I’m going home, but I’ll check out the parking lot for a black Corvette.”

  Jenny followed me to the restaurant—no Corvette—so I waved at her as she exited her squad. Tomorrow was another day.

  When I got home, the Twinks were in bed, but Luke was still up watching Jimmy Neutron with Brit. She had ordered pizza for dinner, so I microwaved a couple slices and joined them. When Luke fell asleep before the movie was over, I carried him up to bed. He woke as I laid him on his bed. He let me help him change into his pajamas, then I tucked him in. I brazenly kissed him on the forehead and told him I loved him. As I headed out the door, he called my name.

  “Yes?”

  “Is my mom going to die?”

  I knelt by his bed and touched his arm. “No, buddy, they got all the cancer.”

  “Why didn’t she come here like she said she would?”

  “The operating rooms sometimes get backed up. Her surgery ended later than they thought, so the doctor wanted her to stay overnight. She’s going to be just fine.”

  “Okay.”

  “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Wow. Progress. I hope I didn’t lie to him just then.

  34

  Wednesday, December 31

  I GOT UP EARLY, DRESSED IN street clothes, and went directly to my garage. I was on a stepladder pulling down a box from a shelf when someone called out my name, startling me. I wobbled. As I grabbed the shelf in order to steady myself, hands gripped the ladder. Bobby’s hands.

  “Jesus, Bobby. You scared the shit out of me.” I climbed down toting the box.

  “Sorry. I thought you’d heard my car.”

  “I was deep in thought.”

  “I guess so.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I had to come to Home Depot and thought I’d stop by to ask if you were aware lights were on in the Donovan house the last two nights.”

  “They’re putting it up for sale, so maybe they’ve been out there getting it ready.”

  “Figured they’d try to sell it. I imagine a property that pricey may sit for a while. If they want to unload it for a reasonable price, I may buy it for your mother.”

  “What’s wrong with the house you have?”

  “Nothing, but if I could get the Donovan place you could bring your kids out for a swim any time of year.”

  “You have too much money.”

  “Think so?”

  “The question is, how do you earn your money?”

  “You don’t want to know.” He laughed, as he always did when the subject of what he did came up. Part of me thought he was jerking my chain, part of me believed him.

  I brought the box down and dug through it until I found what I was looking for, then shoved the box back up in its place.

  “You know I have to reinvest i
n real estate soon. What’s the baseball bat for?” he asked.

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “That’s my line.”

  “So I’ve noticed.”

  He pointed at the bat. “Look, kid, what you’re planning is a very bad idea.”

  “What am I planning?”

  “You intend on delivering some comeuppance to Vincent Palmer for hurting your pretty lady.”

  I shrugged.

  “You do know you’d be the first person they’d look at.”

  “I have a ski mask, just like the one he used when he assaulted her.”

  “Aw, shit, Cal. You go through with this and you can bet you’d be the one to end up in prison—and that’s one place a cop does not want to be. You know I’m right.”

  “That piece of shit is not going to get by with this.”

  “He won’t.”

  “I suppose you know where he is.”

  “My guess is that he’s at his girlfriend’s.”

  I shook my head. “Jesus Christ. Which is where?”

  “You need to let your greenhorn investigator find him.”

  “What a dick.”

  “Me or Palmer?”

  I considered. “Palmer.”

  He nodded. “He is.”

  As I made a move to go around him, he blocked my way.

  “Okay, you’ll have to move.”

  “Not until you put the bat back. Go to work and encourage your rookie partner to look up Palmer’s cell phone records. He’ll find out he’s been communicating with this woman regularly.” He punched me on the arm and said, “Put the fucking bat away.”

  “Don’t you do anything.” As I said it, I wasn’t sure I meant it.

  “Is that what you want?”

  “What I want is the pleasure of kicking the shit out of him.”

  “Understandable.”

  I rested the bat on my boot. “But you’re right—they’d come after me.”

  “I’ve done some checking into this guy. I don’t like what I see.”

  “Like what?”

  “I’ll tell you when I know more.”

  “Bobby, just stay out of it.”

  “Why? What are you afraid of?”

  “That you’ll kill him.”

  “What do you take me for?” he scoffed, and walked toward his Escalade parked on the street.