Once he mixed his scotch and soda, he went to check on the kids. No matter how late he dragged in, he made it a point to kiss them good night. Didn’t matter they rarely remembered the visit in the morning.
He opened Ethan’s door. The nightlight next to the bed glowed, but his son wasn’t in his bed. Ethan often liked to cuddle with his older sister after Kathleen had her operation. Soon he’d have to insist he stay in his own room, but for now he’d let him have his solace.
Richard stepped down the hall and eased open the door. The bathroom light poured into the pink and lavender room. Empty. His heart nearly exploded.
He raced to the master bedroom. Maybe Kathleen had had a relapse. Heart transplant patients were so unpredictable. He threw open the door, expecting to see the bedside lamp illuminating his family, all cozy in bed.
Kathleen opened her eyes. “Richard, what’s wrong?”
His palms sweat imagining something had happened to his two precious kids. “Where are the children?”
“In bed.”
“No they aren’t.” He couldn’t keep the panic out of his voice. Damn. She couldn’t afford any more stress.
Her hand flew to her chest, and he ran to her side.
He shouldn’t have upset her, but he needed answers. “Are you sure they aren’t spending the night with your sister and you forgot?”
“No. Claire is out of town this weekend.”
His mind had failed to sort through all of the possible scenarios when the phone rang.
He jumped up from the bed. “I’ll take it in the kitchen. It might be work.”
“Richard, please—”
His hand trembled as he ran out the door, blocking out his wife’s pleas.
“Hello?”
“Don’t worry. They’re safe.”
“Who is this?” He tried to keep his voice down to a whisper. He barely recognized the altered voice.
“You know.”
“What do you want?” His legs weakened, and he slid down to the kitchen chair.
“I want you to find Stone Watson and the girl and eliminate them.”
“What the hell do you think I’ve been doing for the last couple of days?”
“When they are both dead, I will return your children. I’ll be in touch.”
Chapter Fifteen
Stone hadn’t slept last night, worrying about whether the cops in Brevard had figured out who’d called in Cho’s murder. He mentally ran through everything they’d touched. Had he or Susan had left any trace evidence or disturbed anything other than the body? He’d wiped down the doorknob and the chair, but would they think to lift his prints off Cho’s neck where he’d taken the man’s pulse?
The big question was whether the Transylvania County police department was sophisticated enough to draw any conclusions regarding who’d been there. If the cops did check around town, a few people could attest to the fact two strangers were asking where to find Gary Cho’s place. Would the department call in a sketch artist and search all the databases for a match? He’d shown his badge to the Pisgah ranger, so how much would they learn from him?
Nothing he could do about it now. He thanked the gods he’d gotten an untraceable phone. The 9-1-1 dispatcher would be able to identify the caller as a woman, but since Susan hadn’t mentioned her name, they were in the clear on that account.
He’d secured a room forty miles away under an assumed name and even suggested they sleep in their clothes in case the police roused them in the middle of the night. When the authorities never showed, he began to relax, though he’d only slept in short bursts.
Faint light peeked through the gap in the curtains. He got up and debated whether or not to wake Susan. She looked too peaceful to disturb. During the night, she’d tossed and turned and had only settled down a few hours ago.
Around three this morning, she moaned and twisted around in the bed. He’d been tempted to crawl next to her and hold her, but then he’d want to have her again. Taking his mind off his job even for a moment could prove deadly to both of them.
He checked the time on his cell. T-Squared should be getting home from work about now. Even though he could call Tom at work, his friend’s ability to talk freely went to near zero when he was at the office.
Not wanting to wake Susan with the call, he bundled up and stepped outside. The sun was only now visible over the horizon, and the brisk breeze shocked his system awake. Several motel guests were piling into their cars, even at this early hour.
After three rings, Tom picked up.
“It’s Stone.”
“Jesus Christ. Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling you for hours.”
“I tossed the Bureau phone and got an untraceable.”
“Smart. That’s why you didn’t answer. Where are you?”
“Asheville.”
“The shit hit the fan at work. You gotta hide.”
“What do you mean?”
“Richard produced a photo of you stringing up Gary Cho.”
The only thing keeping Stone upright was the anger rippling through his body. “That’s impossible.” He told his friend how he’d raced to save Cho. “Susan saw someone in the window. Shit. That’s when he must have snapped the picture. I’ve been set up.”
“I told them that. The photo could have been of you taking off the noose rather than putting it on.”
“It was. Cho was alive when we got there, so the killer had to be nearby.” He turned his shoulder to brace against the wind.
“Is Cho okay?”
“No. He died right after I took him down.” No need to mention Gary’s last words, or rather the last half of a word. “You said Richard had the photo?”
“Yeah. Said someone sent it to him.”
His mind swirled with possibilities, none that he liked. “When was this?”
“Around ten last night. He dragged in me, Harrison, William, and Nancy to discuss what to do. They weren’t pleased.”
So he brought in the heavy hitters. “I bet.” Stone leaned back against the motel wall. “Then it couldn’t have been Richard at the cabin.”
“Thomason? What have you been smoking?”
“Think about it. We put eight people under protection and five of their positions were compromised within a day or two. Only Thomason knew of their locations. He has to be the one leaking the information.”
“I got the info rather easily.”
“You’re the computer specialist who developed the firewalls.”
“True. Could have been Julie, then.”
Thomason’s secretary. “She’s nineteen and way too naïve to pull off a crime this sophisticated. With the series of kills, there have to be several different people involved, and I don’t see Julie having the brains to coordinate such an effort.”
“You might be right.” Stone thought Tom chuckled. “Besides, her old man would personally strangle her.”
“That’s true.” Julie’s father was third in line to be the director of the FBI.
“What time was Cho killed?”
Cho’s death seemed eons ago. “About two hours before Thomason showed you the photo.”
“Brevard’s a good day’s drive to Virginia, so he couldn’t have personally killed Cho.”
“He could have paid someone to do it.” He had no idea why Tom was protecting Thomason. Neither he nor Tom respected the man.
“What would be his motive?”
Tom would have to bring up the major hole in his theory. “Beats me.” Richard appeared to be an honest man, despite his uptight personality. If Stone had had a wife who’d just undergone a heart transplant, he’d be tense and accusatory, too. Richard had said the cost nearly bankrupted him. “What else did Richard have to say?”
“You won’t like it.”
A man slipped out of his motel room four doors down with a small overnight case and got into a black SUV, not even glancing his way. Stone’s body went to full warning mode. The car that had followed them from north Flor
ida had been a black Ford. What was the probability they were the same vehicle? Slim.
“Tell me anyway.”
“They think you killed Cho.”
Tension nearly strangled him. “Because of the photo?”
The black SUV pulled out of the lot. The plates were from Georgia. It could have been the same vehicle. Lake City was no more than forty miles from the Georgia border.
“Yes.”
“And Thomason suggested they put an APB out on me.” He slammed his fist against stucco wall.
“More or less.”
What an ass. Stone nearly burst a vein. “Here I am trying to protect Susan from a killer and my own coworkers think I’m the one who’s guilty?” This case had been FUBAR from the start. “Did Harrison agree with Thomason’s assessment?” He paced in front of the room, his gut churning up a storm.
“No, but with the evidence right in front of him, he had to do something. Harrison agreed to bring you in for questioning. That’s all.”
That’s all?. Stone wished he smoked, or drank heavily. Going for a run to burn off his excess energy was out of the question since Susan wasn’t in any shape to join him, and he refused to leave her alone.
“I need a place to hide until all this mess gets straightened out.”
From the noise in the background, Tom must have been tapping his feet or drumming his fingers on a hard surface. “Why don’t you two stay at Dad’s in West Virginia?”
Tom and he used to spend every summer at the cabin. He was hoping Tom would offer the place. “That would be great, but what about your father? I don’t want to put him in jeopardy, nor do I want him arrested for harboring a fugitive.”
“He’s here with me. He came for my birthday.”
Oh, shit. He and Tom always celebrated their birthdays together. “Hey, sorry I missed it.”
“We can party later. You know where the key is, don’t you?”
“Couldn’t forget.”
He knew every nook and cranny of the two-bedroom cabin, not to mention all the hiking trails surrounding the remote site. The only problem would be convincing Susan to hide in the dark, scary woods.
* * * *
“In the daytime, this place is rather charming.” Susan didn’t want to spoil Stone’s excitement about his friend’s cabin. At night, the woods would be a different story.
A large gust of winter wind swooshed past, and she shivered. Stone stepped behind her and ran his hands up and down her jacketed arms. She inched backwards to bridge the gap between them. If he tilted his head down, she bet his chin would have skimmed the top of her head. Their closeness warmed her.
“Tom and I came up here every summer. It was the best time of my life.” He dropped his arms and stepped back.
Because of way his voice trailed off, she debated turning around to drink in his expression but decided not to intrude on his privacy.
Instead, she studied Stone’s childhood castle. A big picture window took up most of the left side of the single-story log cabin. Underneath the window were two wooded window boxes that contained only dirt and some unidentifiable dead flowers. When the weather warmed, she bet the flowers would come to life and dress the cabin in color.
She looked up. “It has a chimney! I could use a glowing fire right now.”
She’d been in such a rush when they’d gone shopping, she hadn’t purchased warm enough clothes for February, and Florida’s selection of down jackets was close to zero, and to think she had a closet full of ski clothes at her house. Stone had said they’d stop in Brevard and pick up some gear, but once they found Gary Cho, all thoughts of shopping dropped off their radar.
As he searched for the key, she looked down the gravel drive leading to the cabin. Driving on the pebbles had made lots of crunching noise. If someone came up to the cabin, Stone and she were sure to hear him. It was kind of like their own alarm system. She liked that.
“I got it.” He waved the key.
Mr. Traynor had hidden it under the lip of a bird feeder. What a clever man.
Stone took their suitcases from the trunk and showed her inside.
The fireplace was the centerpiece of the cozy room. “Nice.” She could have done without the rifles below the mounted deer head though, but refugees couldn’t be picky.
He set down their suitcases. “It’s small, but the cabin has all the comforts of home.”
She liked how the light streamed in through the kitchen window. The view of the forest would be amazing once spring came and the mountain laurels bloomed. Right now, patches of snow were tucked under some rocks, and only dots of green shot up from the ground.
She hoped she wouldn’t be here that long because as soon as the FBI caught the maniac who was killing the jurors, she’d be free to go home and practice law again. A rush of excitement grabbed her until she realized Stone would be off on another assignment, protecting someone else, and she’d never seen him again. It wouldn’t matter to him that they had amazing sex. Their encounter was probably just relief to him.
She kept her back to him as she pretended to study the view, not wanting him to see her chin quiver.
“Pretty nice, here, huh?” he said.
He seemed excited to be back in a place that elicited good memories.
“It’s much nicer than I imagined.” She forced cheeriness into her tone.
Trying to live in the here and now, she passed the kitchen table and checked out the small cooking area. She trailed her fingers along the worn countertop. The stove needed a good cleaning, but Tom’s dad seemed to have equipped the cabin nicely.
She faced him. “Mr. Traynor doesn’t mind if we stay here?”
“He’ll be in Washington for the next week or so. When he comes back, we’ll have to find someplace else to stay.”
“Too bad. This house is nice.” She wrinkled her nose. “Do you think we could open a window for a few minutes? It smells kind of musty.”
“Hank probably took a vacation before he visited Tom, but I like the smell. Reminds me of the delicious aroma of those cinnamon buns Mrs. Traynor used to make. And her sourdough bread was amazing. Man, could she cook.” His eyes shone as he went to the window behind the kitchen table. “I know this one opens.” He lifted the sash.
Cold air rushed in, carrying with it the sweet smell of pine. “Thanks.” She waited until he faced her. “You know, I am feeling a lot better and can manage on my own. If you want to go back to Washington to straighten out this mess about the FBI thinking you harmed Cho, I’m okay with that.”
He placed his hands on her shoulders. “You can’t get rid of me that easily. I will not leave you until he’s caught. Too bad we have no idea where he is.” He smiled and her insides turned to mush.
Stone tilted her chin upward, and from the dreamy look in his eyes, she knew he was going to kiss her. She closed her lids, her heart racing, body waiting. He placed a kiss on her forehead and her stomach caved. Damn.
Her eyes sprang open as she took a step back. “You’re right. Absolutely right. The moment you leave here, the guy could find me.” God, this was more embarrassing than when she made the same error of judgment with Timmy Jackson. At least she was only ten then and had a good excuse.
He must have decided their interlude was a one-time affair. Too bad. Then again, Stone was only hired to protect her and nothing more.
She tapped his chest. “I wasn’t trying to get rid of you. I didn’t want you to feel obligated to stay by my side.” Giving him a way out would ease her conscience.
“In case I didn’t mention it before, I have a price on my head. I’d like to stay hidden for a little while longer. The Bureau will catch this guy. Don’t worry. Then you can move back to Washington and resume your life.”
What if I don’t want to resume my stressful life? “Great.”
“Come on. Let’s unpack. We need to discuss what we’re going to do for money.”
“Money?” Any joy she’d experienced being alone in the cabin with Stone evaporate
d.
He tapped her nose. “Think about it. I can’t use the FBI credit card anymore since the Bureau will know where we are. I only have enough cash to buy about three days’ worth of groceries.”
She hadn’t realized their situation was so dire. “I can wait tables. I got through law school at a diner next to the college.” She wasn’t going to let him support her.
He picked up her suitcase. “We’ll figure something out. Go pick a bedroom.”
For a split second, she wished the place only had one bedroom, so they could make love all night and cuddle. Don’t be so romantic.
“You said you and Tom came up here every summer. Which room did you stay in?” He’d probably feel more comfortable there.
“Tom and I shared the one on the left.”
Sight unseen, she chose the one on the right.
He put her bag in her new room. “Why don’t you take a shower, change, and we can go for a winter stroll,” he said.
He had to be kidding. “It might get dark before we get back.”
“We won’t go far. Besides, we have another two hours of light.”
Suddenly, she liked the idea of holding his hand, talking freely, sharing her thoughts. “I’ll hurry.”
When she emerged from cleaning up, Stone had placed a dark blue down jacket, a pretty navy scarf, and matching gloves on her bed.
“Where did these come from?” Her gear wouldn’t have kept her warm for long.
“The Traynors are big hikers and hunters. There’s a large hidden basement where they keep all sorts of camping gear. I pilfered them from down there. Tom’s mom passed away a few years ago. His dad apparently never got rid of her things.”
His gaze slipped to the ground. Susan hurried to get into the clothes. She didn’t want him to dwell on the loss.
Once dressed, they headed out. The trail going west behind the house took them past two waterfalls, separated by a large gap. “I never expected the woods to be so magical. This place is really beautiful.” Shoulder to shoulder, she looked up at him and smiled.
He took her gloved hands in his and pulled her around to face him. “I find there’s more beauty right in front of me.”
Monroe, Melody S. - Verdict (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 14