by E. R. FALLON
But the captain was the type of person whose advice you’d inevitably take.
On Harry’s way out of the station, Carlow asked her where she was going. She didn’t see Maple around. He probably had taken a dinner break. Those FBI types were real freaks about sticking to their schedules. Harry ignored Carlow and went out of the station and got into her small car. It had been her city car, the car she’d driven when she moved here because she hated airplanes. Harry would rather spend days driving a couple of hundred miles and get almost no sleep along the way than get on an airplane. Almost everyone in her new town drove a pickup truck. Even the car she’d been issued by the police department was a SUV. She reckoned she’d have to buy a truck soon enough, like everyone else. If she stayed around.
Emily Will’s car had been towed to the municipal garage the police departments in the area used a few miles from the center of town. Harry wanted to get an early start in the morning and go to Emily’s former workplace.
She stopped at a shop that sold donuts twenty-four hours a day and got chocolate ones for Mickey and his kids. She didn’t bother swinging by her apartment to shower and change, even though she’d worn the same clothes for days. Most of her stuff was still in boxes from the move, and, knowing her, would remain that way for quite a while. She didn’t want to return home, because although that meant she could shower, it also meant she would be more inclined to have to unpack, even a little. And unpacking meant settling in, and Harry wasn’t sure if she wanted to settle in. On and off, she felt she would return to the city.
Chapter Fourteen
Mickey lived on a quiet suburban street where the homes were newer and less rustic than most of the houses Harry had seen in the town. Harry looked at herself in her rearview mirror and tried her best to fix her messy, windswept hair. She found a rubber band in the glove compartment and used that to tie her hair up.
She looked at her reflection again. Not great, but better. She locked her gun in the glove compartment because she knew Maria didn’t like her children around guns, and even though Maria wasn’t there, Harry wanted to respect her wishes. The medical examiner was finally done with Maria’s autopsy and Mickey would be burying his wife in a few days, with Harry by his side. Their parents would be flying in for the funeral. She picked up the box of donuts from the passenger seat and stepped outside. Harry liked how much starlight she could see at night in the country. She could never see much of the stars in the city because the buildings blocked the sky.
She strode up the walkway and ran the doorbell of Mickey’s house.
Sadie and Durante, her young niece and nephew, answered the door.
“Daddy saw you from the window and said we could greet you,” Sadie, the younger one, said.
They looked exactly like their mother, with brown, curly hair and beautiful brown eyes. Sadie was already hugging Harry’s leg, something the little girl was fond of doing since her mother’s death. Durante insisted on shaking Harry’s hand, since he was, as he said, a “big boy”.
Mickey walked up behind his kids and Harry partly embraced him as much as she could with the donut box in her hand. Mickey took the box from her.
“Donuts!” the kids shouted at once.
Mickey handed the box to them. “Take it into the kitchen and put it on the countertop. Be careful.” He smiled at them.
The children ran excitedly into the kitchen and Harry could see them opening the box.
“Don’t eat too many,” she shouted.
Mickey had mentioned he’d gone shopping for groceries earlier in the day while a neighbor watched Sadie and Durante. Unlike Maria, Mickey bought a lot of health food and Harry figured his kids could use a treat.
“We won’t,” they giggled.
“Are they going to be okay alone with all those donuts?” Harry asked her brother.
“Yeah.” Mickey managed a laugh despite his heartache.
“It’s good to see you smile.”
“You could always make me laugh, sister. It’s your gift.”
She patted his back. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, and then in Mickey’s – and Harry almost never cried. It was the sight of those children whose mother had been taken from them for forever that made her emotional. It angered her to think of what Agent Maple had said to Nolan about her being too emotionally attached to the case. Why wouldn’t she be when Maria’s children were her blood? How dare he say that. She started to say something to Mickey about it but stopped herself. Mickey had enough weight on his shoulders and didn’t need to be bothered with something as trivial as her quarrel – was it even still that? – with Maple.
“I’m sorry it’s so late,” she said. “I just got off from work. I’m not really off, Captain Nolan ordered me to rest for a few hours.”
“You’re hardly resting. The kids can’t sleep either.”
“I’m not going to rest until we catch those bastards who killed Maria, Mickey.”
“I know, and I appreciate what you’re doing. But don’t forget to take care of yourself. You’re the only mother figure the kids have now except for our own mom.”
Thinking of Maria, Harry said, “I have some big shoes to fill.”
Mickey smiled at the memory of his wife and they hugged again.
“Maria’s lavender sachets,” he said. “She liked to tuck them around the house. The smell reminds the kids of their mom, but eventually they’ll lose their scent.”
Harry patted his back. “I’ll get you some more.”
“Thanks,” Mickey said softly.
He seemed eager for news about the investigation but there was little Harry could tell him given that the case was pending. Facing victims’ families was hard even for a seasoned professional like her, but she’d never imagined that someday someone in her own family would be a victim.
Mickey looked down at the muddy leather shoes she’d kept wearing. “Looks like you’ve been busy. What can you tell me? That newspaper article identified them as a brother and sister. Like us.”
“They’re nothing like us, Mickey.”
“Maybe they’ll just turn themselves in.”
Harry didn’t want to tell her brother no so she waited a moment then spoke. “She fought back, Maria did. She was brave. I wanted you to know that.”
“The article mentioned that. It said the woman killed her. I would have rather heard that from you than having to read about it in the newspaper. The article – it shouldn’t have been written, right? Do you think it might jeopardize the case?”
From being around Harry the past few days after his wife’s death, Mickey had become familiar with police lingo.
“It’s certainly not going to help,” she answered honestly.
“Why, because it tells them how much you guys know?”
Harry nodded.
“What else have you found out, what wasn’t put in the article?” he asked.
Harry couldn’t tell him about Emily Will because that detail hadn’t been made public yet and was unlikely to be, given the sensationalism it would case. A female Air Force hero kidnapped to fly the killers to another country? That would have been a million-dollar story, one that newspapers outside of their area would be interested in, probably television, too.
“I can’t tell you anything else, Mickey. I’m sorry. I hope you can understand.”
“It’s all right. I get it. I’m thinking about getting a tattoo on my arm to remember Maria by. Like you did with River. Can you believe it, here I am nearing forty and I’m only now just getting a tattoo?”
Harry had all but forgotten about the small tattoo of River’s name she had on her left shoulder, done after the dog’s death. She didn’t expose it much, and she couldn’t see it unless she looked at it in a mirror so she’d sort of just forgot about it.
It sounded like the kids had dropped a plate in the kitchen. Maria and Mickey’s children were so polite they were the type to use plates to eat their donuts instea
d of straight out of the box.
“We better get in there,” Harry said, and Mickey went with her into the kitchen.
Later, with the kids snuggled up with their dad on the couch, Harry fell asleep that night upright in an armchair while watching TV. She awoke early the next morning before anyone else was awake and instinctively checked her phone to see if someone from the station had called or text. No calls or text. And no hang-ups from that Green asshole either. She would have like to smash that bastard’s teeth in for scaring her like that, but as a cop, there were certain rules she had to follow.
Harry looked at Mickey sleeping on the couch with Sadie and Durante. She got up and draped a blanket over them. She and Mickey and the kids had eaten all the donuts the night before and there were only a few crumbs left. Unlike Mickey, she wasn’t fond of healthy food so she skipped breakfast. She wrote a note for her brother and left it on the kitchen table:
‘Had to go to work. I’ll call you.
Love,
H’
Harry went outside and got into her car. She wanted to arrive at the flight school, Emily Will’s former place of employment, early before they started work for the day. She grabbed a large coffee from a fast food place on the way.
Harry parked at the flight school and walked into the airplane hangar as Emily’s former boss, James Addison, had instructed her to do on the phone. Her footsteps echoed in the large, cool space. She really should have gotten around to buying a heavier jacket instead of the urban leather one she still wore. She met Addison in his office near the back and he asked her to shut the door after she came in. He was a good-looking, older guy, with a headful of dark hair tinged with silver. He seemed like a confident man. She’d been surprised to see him there given the very early hour. She’d assume she would have to wait but when she got there the hangar had already been opened.
“It can get loud when my employees start arriving for the day,” he explained.
The office was small, and when he rose to shake her hand she saw how tall he was, and strong-looking. Unlike most men named James she’d met in her life he didn’t tell her to please call him ‘Jim’.
“Will your workers start arriving soon?” she asked. It was just her and him there as far as she could tell.
Addison gestured for her to sit. Her chair touched his desk.
He sat down again. “Oh, yeah. But not too soon. We don’t open for lessons until 10 a.m.. I like to get in early to tackle all the paperwork. As you can imagine, insurance forms are a big thing here given the risk of what we do.”
“I’m sure.”
“Have you ever flown before?”
Harry shook her head like that never would happen. Ever. “Have I ever flown an airplane on my own? No.” She could feel her face turning red. Just the thought of flying sent her into a panic.
Her discomfort seemed to amuse Addison and he smiled. “On the phone you said you wanted to ask me about a former employee?” he said after continuing to watch her for a second.
“Yeah, Emily Will.”
“Oh.” Up until that moment Addison’s face had had a healthy glow. Now he looked pale.
The newspaper article hadn’t mentioned Emily Will so nobody knew she’d likely been kidnapped, and Harry planned for it to stay that way, so she’d have to be careful when speaking with this guy.
“Is Emily Will a good flyer?” she asked.
“She’s the best woman flyer I’ve ever seen.”
“Best woman?”
“Everyone knows the gals aren’t as good as the guys,” Addison said. “It’s a biological thing. But I would say she’s the best woman pilot, hands down.”
Harry frowned at the backhanded compliment he’d given Emily.
“I know Emily Will served in the Air Force,” she said. “Do a lot of your workers have military experience? Do you have military experience?”
She didn’t really need to know the answer to that, but she was just curious. She didn’t believe he had, and it wouldn’t hurt to put him in his place a little after what he’d said to her about that biology crap. She guessed she might be the best woman cop, hands down.
Addison glared at her and then shook his head. “I’ve worked here for the past fifteen years. I used to be a commercial pilot. Some of the others here do have a military background, but most of them don’t.”
“So you went from being a commercial pilot to working here? That seems like a bit of a downgrade.”
“No, after I was a commercial pilot, I was a private flight instructor for wealthy people mostly, for a while. Then I came here. I really don’t understand why you’re asking me this. I thought you wanted to ask me about Emily Will but somehow it feels like I’m the one being interrogated.”
“I do want to ask you about Ms. Will. You were lucky to have her here, then, because she had military experience. I bet the customers really liked a war hero giving them lessons.”
“They did. It didn’t hurt that she was nice to look at either.”
Harry raised her eyebrows. She disliked that Addison had reduced Emily to a stereotype. So she said, “She was a very talented and experienced pilot.”
“She was that, too, yes. I’ve already agreed with you on that.”
“Why did she leave then?”
Addison leaned toward her like he had a secret to tell Harry, and she smelled his rank breath and moved her chair an inch back. She would have expected a man who looked as polished as him and who took care of his shape like he seemed to would have good breath, but his stank.
“I probably shouldn’t be telling you this because it’s sort of confidential,” he said. “We don’t normally discuss an employee’s health matters with third parties. But you’re a policewoman.”
“They just call us all ‘cops’ nowadays.”
He seemed to find it amusing that Harry, a woman, was a cop, let alone a detective! She wished she’d left the door open.
Addison looked peeved and didn’t respond to her wit. “She had mental problems,” he said with indifference. “It’s too bad because she’s a pretty girl. She said she needed to leave here to work on those, uh, mental issues, so we retired her early and let her keep her pension. We did her a big favor, actually. Nobody else would’ve gotten to keep their pension if they’d left before their time was up. She wanted to leave.” Addison shrugged. “Who knows why women do the things they do. Like I said, I don’t understand why I’m being interrogated. Maybe you should talk to … Emily.”
He seemed uncomfortable referring to Emily by her first name.
But Harry couldn’t push back too hard if she wanted to talk with him. Legally, he had no obligation to speak with her.
“I didn’t mean to make you feel that way,” she said. “We don’t want to interrogate Ms. Will either. I just need to ask you a couple of questions about her.”
“Okay. Last I heard, she’s become something of a recluse. Like I said, she has mental issues. No one sees her anymore. Frankly, I was surprised to find out she still lives in the area. She still does, right?”
“Yeah, she does.” Harry caught him staring at her chest. She shifted in her chair. “What were the exact circumstances of her leaving? Did she go willingly? Was she fired?”
“No, absolutely not. I already told you, she wanted to leave. Why are you even asking me this again? You already asked me this and I already told you what happened.”
“Please tell me again because it seems very complex and I don’t quite understand it.”
Someone who seemed as calm as Addison did was just waiting to erupt, and Harry wanted to see how he’d react if she pushed him hard enough. She got the feeling something bad had happened between him and Emily Will but she didn’t know what exactly.
“She retired early because of her mental health problems,” he said. “We let her keep her pension. We treated her very well. She wasn’t very grateful, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing. Why, did she say something to
you?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Why are you here asking me all these questions about her anyway? You wouldn’t tell me over the phone why you wanted to talk to me about Miss Will. But it must be important. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come all the way out here so early in the morning alone.”
Alone. Harry didn’t like how he’d emphasized that. It just made Addison seem even more like the sleaze Harry felt he could be.
“Did something happen to her?” he asked. “Or did she do something bad? Is she in some sort of trouble?”
He seemed a little too excited about the possibility of something bad having happened to Emily or that she’d get locked away.
“She didn’t say something to you about me, did she?” Addison sounded defensive.
“No,” Harry finally talked. She’d been enjoying Addison’s mini-meltdown. “Why, is there something I should know about you?”
Addison grimaced. “If she did say something, she’s lying. She’s a vindictive little …”
He didn’t finish speaking, and Harry figured he had enough control to stop himself – sometimes.
“Emily Will might have something to do with a case we’re working on, so that’s why I’m here talking with you,” Harry said. That was all she could tell him without giving too much away.
Addison appeared to be thinking, then he seemed to piece something together. “Is it the auction house thing? I heard about that on the news.” He sat up and paid better attention to Harry.
“I can’t say.”
“I bet it is, then. I can tell by your face. You’re not a very good liar, Detective Cannon. That’s your name isn’t it? I can’t seem to remember, and I normally never forget a pretty woman’s name. Emily was a bad liar also.”
He reminded Harry a little too much of Leo Green. Old Addison sure loved talking about women’s looks, something Green did as well. Addison seemed like one of those guys who knew how good his looks were, and that made him off-putting to a lot of women, including Harry.