by Val Welch
He sat at the kitchen table with his coffee, looked out the window at the bright sunlit morning and thought about Shelby Ryan.
She scared him. Plain and simple. She was the first woman he’d considered getting involved with since Eden. The prospect of actually moving on with his life and leaving the limbo of waiting was appealing, but in the cold reality of the morning he wondered if it was really something he was ready to do.
An hour later Gabe was jogging down the road toward the lake when he saw Shelby in front of him. She had a mile-eating pace and he had to work hard to catch up with her. He was about to yell at her when she glanced over her shoulder, spotted him, and slowed enough to let him catch her. They grinned at each other and wordlessly turned onto the lake trail. After completing the two-mile lap around the lake, she followed him back toward his house. They gradually slowed to an easy jog where speaking was actually possible.
“You are some runner,” he gasped out, struggling to regain his breath. He hadn’t done a lap that fast in years.
“Yeah. I like running. It clears my head. Before we went on the road, I did both the New York and Boston marathons every year. Now, I just run to try to stay in some kind of shape.”
“Oh, I think you’ve succeeded,” he said, still panting as he worked to keep pace with her.
She laughed and they slowed to a walk.
Gabe laughed. “Thanks for taking pity on an old guy.”
She smiled over at him as they stopped at his front gate. “I thought you did pretty well.”
He shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ve been slacking off lately.” He swung open the wrought iron gate. “Come on in. I’ll make you a cup of coffee.”
They walked up the flagstone walk to the wide steps of the veranda. She paused to look at the riot of late blooming flowers growing in the beds along the walkway. “You have a green thumb.”
“All I do is plant the bulbs. Mother Nature does the rest.” He took her hand in his and led her up the steps to the highly polished floor of the veranda. The very act of touching her hand sent a rush of warmth through him. He could feel her eyes on him as he turned the knob and pushed the front door open. Reluctantly, he dropped her hand and she walked through the door into his living room.
“How long did it take you to restore this house?” she asked, turning around and smiling at him.
“I’ve been working on it for the past four years. I think it’s finally finished. This morning, I couldn’t think of anything else that needed to be done.”
“It’s beautiful. It feels so serene and peaceful here.” She crossed to the bank of high casement windows overlooking the front lawn. “It’s amazing. Can I see the rest of it?”
“Sure.” He led her through the formal dining room and into the kitchen.
She ran her hand over the gleaming dark green countertop. “This is nice. Is it granite?”
“Yes.” He watched her move around the room. The light danced across her face, illuminating the incredible porcelain texture of her skin and the deep blue of her eyes.
She stopped in front of the bay window and looked out at the rose garden he’d planted in the sheltered area next to the house. “Oh wow! I’ve never seen roses like those. They look almost black, like black velvet. Gabe, this whole house is a masterpiece, everything is so perfect.”
She turned from the window smiling. She was so damn beautiful he actually felt his heart skip a couple of beats. He swallowed hard, tore his eyes from her and walked to the coffee maker. “I’m glad you like it. Are you hungry? I’ll make you some breakfast.”
“Sure. I could eat something.” She pointed to the doggie door and asked, “Do you have a dog?”
Gabe frowned. “Yeah. That’s weird. He always meets me at the door. I wonder where he is.” He crossed the room to look out the window at the yard. “Maybe he’s upstairs. Come on, I’ll show it to you.”
“Okay.” She turned and followed him back through the dining room and up the stairs to his bedroom.
She drifted over to his unmade bed and touched one of the cherry wood posters. “This is a beautiful piece. Did you restore all of the antiques too?”
“Yeah,” he said, trying to control the heat in his groin as the image of her in his unmade bed flashed into his mind.
She continued to slowly walk around his bedroom, running her finger along his desk and then pausing in front of the bay window overlooking the forest. “What an incredible view to wake up to,” she said, sitting on the window seat and looking out. “This faces the east, right?”
It was then that he noticed Bear, lying on the floor at the bathroom door. His gut clenched. Something was very wrong. Bear had never failed to get up when Gabe walked into a room. He crossed the room and knelt down beside him.
Shelby followed him. “Is he okay?” she asked, kneeling next to him.
Gabe forced himself to say it as he checked for a pulse. “I think he’s gone.”
“Oh no,” she said, touching Gabe’s arm. “Are you sure? Should we take him to the vet?”
Gabe shook his head, trying to hold back the tears. “No. I’ve known he was a short timer for a while. This morning, he said good-bye, I just didn’t realize it at the time.”
Their eyes met. “It’s Bear, isn’t it? He’s been with you since Eden left, hasn’t he?”
“Yeah. He was all I had left of her,” Gabe admitted, forcing his eyes from hers, his hand shaking as he slowly petted Bear. “We’ve been waiting for her to come home. I guess the waiting is over for him now.”
“You’re still waiting, aren’t you, Gabe?” she asked, her eyes wet with tears.
He nodded. “Yeah. I guess I am.”
Ten
Carson and Shelby had been stuck in the interview room at the federal courthouse in Phoenix for over an hour waiting to interview Eden Malone. “I thought they were bringing her right over,” he said, looking at his watch again.
Shelby glanced up at him, nervously clicking her pen and cleared her throat. “Sit down. All that pacing is not going to get her here any sooner.”
He’d never seen Shelby so stressed out, which made him stressed out, which made her even more stressed out. For Shelby’s sake, he sat down, forced himself to take a deep breath and break the stress cycle. This was without a doubt the worst case of their partnership and of his FBI career. It didn’t help that Shelby was now being forced to work on a daily basis with their boss Morgan, who she had a big-ass history with. He was constantly scrutinizing everything she did, looking for the slightest mistake to call her on. Shelby, as usual, didn’t take any of it lying down. She was right back in his face and everyone in the unit was on edge.
“How are we playing this? Who’s taking the lead?” he asked.
“Let’s play it by ear. See who she responds to.”
He glanced at the mirrored wall. He didn’t know if Morgan was in the observation room so he lowered his voice. “Are you sure you’re up for this? You look a little pale.”
She shrugged and began thumbing through the pile of papers in her briefcase. “Yeah, I’m fine. She’s been read her rights, correct? I’m not finding the signed acknowledgement in her file.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they did it. Morgan probably has it,” Carson said.
The heavy metal door opened and two beefy guards appeared with Eden Malone. Shit, she was the size of Carson’s ten-year-old niece Kaitlynn.
One guard waited at the door, while the other led Eden into the room. She was wearing the standard bright orange inmate transportation jumpsuit and it was several sizes too large. Her wrists and ankles were shackled with a long chain connecting the two. She kept her head down and shuffled across the room like an old woman. She waited at the chair until the guard pulled it out, then she sat down and he connected the chain to a holding device on the table before leaving the room.
Eden remained slumped over, her face hidden behind a mass of curly strawberry blond hair.
Shelby’s eyes met his and he gave her the g
o ahead nod.
“Good morning, Eden,” Shelby said. She shuffled the papers in her open briefcase as they waited for a response. There wasn’t one. Shelby tried to peer down below the curls and make eye contact, but Eden refused to look up. Shelby just shrugged and said, “I’m Special Agent Ryan and this is Special Agent Billings. We’re here to talk to you about the bombing of the Navajo Lumber Company office in Pine Ridge, Arizona.”
Shelby paused, waiting as Eden remained, head bowed and silent. “Eden, it’s in your best interest to cooperate with us.”
Carson looked across the table at Shelby, shrugged and then dove in. “Hi Eden, it’s nice to meet you. I think we have a mutual acquaintance. Gabe Navarro?”
Eden’s head moved sideways toward his voice. A single tear dropped onto the table top. He slid a box of tissues across the table. She took one and grasped it in her fingers as sobs began to shake her thin shoulders.
They gave her a minute and then she slowly looked up at Carson. He was momentarily stunned by the angry red slashes covering her face. Someone had cut the hell out of her. He sucked it up and refused to let her see how shocked he was by the scars.
“Please. Tell me about Gabe,” she whispered.
“Please …” she repeated, finally looking across the table at Shelby. Shelby flinched when she saw Eden’s face. Eden quickly ducked her head back down.
Carson cleared his throat. Shelby looked across the table at him. He jerked his thumb toward the door.
“Excuse me,” she said, standing and leaving the room.
* * * * *
Shelby went around the corner and joined Morgan in the observation room. He nodded toward the one-way window. “It’s only natural she wouldn’t want to see you sitting across the table, reminding her of everything she’s lost.”
“What do you think happened to her face?”
“It looks like someone carved it up with a razor blade.”
“She’s horribly thin. What did her drug screen look like?”
He shrugged. “She tested clean and doesn’t seem to have any of the symptoms of long-term meth use either.”
Shelby turned to watch Carson in action. He already had Eden talking, haltingly at first, but at least she was participating in the conversation.
The real break through came when Carson talked about Gabe and his restoration of the old Victorian house. Eden actually became animated, talking about how much Gabe had loved the house for years before he was able to buy it. He had drawn every room to scale and created a detailed restoration plan down to where each piece of furniture would be placed. Eden clutched her hands together when she spoke of the nursery they’d created for the babies they were going to have. She had everyone in the observation room’s rapt attention as she recounted the wonderful life she and Gabe had had together. Carson smiled across the table and gently asked, “Eden, why did you leave?”
She looked directly into the mirrored wall and raised her bound hands to cover the scars on her face. “I had to help William. He was in serious trouble, with some very bad people. I knew if I didn’t help him, they would kill him.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“It was a drug deal that went horribly wrong. William promised if I helped him this one last time, he’d clean up his life.” She sadly shook her head. “But, he lied to me again, and then it was too late, I couldn’t go home to Gabe.”
Carson closed the file in front of him. “Eden, I think that’s enough for today. I’ll stop by tomorrow to see how you’re doing. Okay?”
She nodded and almost smiled.
Shelby joined Carson in the hallway as Eden was being led away. “Good job, you made some real headway establishing a bond with her. That will make it easier to ask her the hard questions during your next session.”
Carson handed Shelby her briefcase as Morgan joined them.
“Great start, Carson, let’s go get some lunch. I want to talk strategy for your meeting with William tomorrow,” Morgan said, walking toward the exit.
Carson grinned at Shelby as she rolled her eyes and they followed Morgan out of the courthouse. They crossed the street and walked down the block to a small Mexican restaurant with an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. It had become one of their favorite hang-outs while working on the people versus Eden and William Malone cases.
They loaded their trays and took them to a booth in the back of the dark cavernous room. Shelby’s goal was to make it through lunch without throwing up, which was what she wanted to do whenever she was forced to look at Morgan. She concentrated on her plate and ignored the men as they had the obligatory sports conversation.
It wasn’t until they’d finished eating that Carson pushed his plate away and asked Morgan, “What’s going on with the other suspects? Do we know who was running the show yet?”
“No clear leader has emerged yet,” Morgan said, looking across the table at Shelby. “I’m assuming you haven’t heard anything from your informant. Correct?”
She shook her head. “No, nothing from Mogollon since he, or she, tipped us to the Tucson house.”
He turned to Carson. “What about tracing the stealth e-mails? Any luck with that?”
“No,” Carson said. “Whoever Mogollon is, he knows his stuff. His e-mails are virtually untraceable.”
“Well, we’ve eliminated Eden as a possible leader. In fact, there’s no evidence pointing to her involvement in any of the attacks after the Pine Ridge logging office.”
“Does that mean she won’t be getting a plea deal?” Carson asked.
“Why should she? She has no useful information for us. She’s been living and working in a domestic violence shelter for the last two years. It was a fluke she was picked up at the Tucson house. She was seldom there, just stopped by to see William.”
“What kind of time is she looking at doing?” Shelby asked.
Morgan flashed his creepy smile that she couldn’t believe she’d ever found remotely attractive. “Twenty to life is what we’re going to ask for.”
Shelby leaned back in the booth next to Carson and crossed her arms. “That’s a pretty extreme sentence.”
“You know the guidelines as well as I do. She’s a three time loser, charged with domestic terrorism and throw in at least murder two for the night watchman’s death. She’s damn lucky she’s not looking at the death penalty.”
Shelby tried biting her tongue and when that didn’t work, she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. That might have worked if she hadn’t looked up at Morgan’s smug face. God, she hated him. She leaned forward, jabbed her finger on the table and said, “By your own admission, she wasn’t involved after the logging office explosion. Can we even prove she helped with that? No, we can’t. I’m sorry, this stinks. She’s no terrorist. Her brother, Will, drug her into this. He’s your terrorist.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Shelby, have you forgotten? Our job is to compile evidence and prosecute the bad guys, not make up excuses for them.”
“Our job is to provide justice. There’s no justice in Eden being the fall guy because she doesn’t have any useful information about who really ran the group. If you give Will a plea deal, it will be the biggest injustice of the decade. He’s the one that took her out of her perfect little Pine Ridge life and turned her into a fugitive.”
Morgan sighed and massaged the back of his neck. “Why does everything with you have to be a fight now?”
“Because it’s just wrong and you know it.”
“Whoever said life was always fair. Sometimes we have to make decisions based on the greater good.”
“And locking her up for life and letting Will walk is the greater good? For whom?”
“For society, if he can provide the information needed to take down the rest of the organization. Shelby, you know how it works, sometimes it just sucks, but it’s the best system we have.”
“And that’s the biggest cop-out I’ve heard out of your mouth since the infamous, ‘I can’t leave her, she’s pr
egnant with twins’ line,” she said, leaning back, and glaring at him.
Morgan stood, started to say something, slowly closed his mouth and then just turned and walked away.
Carson watched Morgan’s exit, shaking his head. “Shit, I think you just crossed the line.”
She laughed. “What can he do? Fire me? Not without jeopardizing his career when the whole sleazy affair comes out.”
“Shelby, why do you care so much about Eden Malone? From what you’ve told me, she ruined Gabe’s life and he’s never going to get over her.”
“I don’t know. I just feel like I have to get her the best deal possible for his sake. Does that make any sense?”
Carson shook his head. “You do have a thing for him, don’t you?”
She felt like smacking him over the head. How could someone so smart, be so dense? “I never said I was interested in him. That was your speculation. I realized the day we buried Bear that he was still in love with Eden. He’s just another unavailable guy. And, I’m not going there again, it’s too hard.” She nudged him out of the booth. “Let’s go, I need you to hack into Morgan’s investigative notes file.”
“No way, we’re restricted from them,” he said, standing so she could scoot out of the booth.
“Why shouldn’t everyone working the case have access to each other’s notes? Wouldn’t that be a much better way to handle a case this big with all these different agencies involved?”
“Yes it would, but I still won’t do it. Come on, we’ve got to prep for William tomorrow.”
“It should be interesting. I’m curious to see if William is the monster Gabe thinks he is,” Shelby said as they walked toward the exit.
Eleven
There had been absolutely no contact from Shelby. The only information Gabe had about the Sycamore Canyon case came via the TV news coverage he recorded on his Tivo unit.
His new nightly routine was to bring home dinner from the diner, sit in front of the TV and watch all the news coverage he’d recorded, hoping for a glimpse of Eden.