Darkness at the Edge of Town

by Jennifer Harlow

  “Are you profiling me, Dr. Ballard? I’m honored. Although if you truly thought you could get Helen or any of my people to turn on me, you must not be much of a profiler.”

  “I had your number before I ever met you, buddy,” I said. “Just like I know you have a plan. What I just can’t figure out is why you haven’t run yet. I would have the moment Helen called. Hell, the moment I started poking around. What, not enough money in the old retirement fund?” Ken’s nose twitched with that one. I looked at him. “That’s it, huh? Didn’t expect to get shut down so quickly?”

  “I would never, ever leave my family,” Mathias said loudly. I turned around and saw my brother, Megan, and Paul all within a few feet of us. “We have done nothing wrong, so we have nothing to fear. Right, son?” he asked Billy. My brother and the others joined their friends. Their own united front. Mathias threw his arm over Billy’s shoulder.

  “Absolutely,” Billy said.

  “Billy,” I said, fake relieved. “Billy. Thank God you’re okay. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. There’s so much I have to tell you. You have to—”

  “What? Listen to you?” he cut in, harshly. Thank God he knew to play along. “I don’t want to listen to a word you have to say. We said it all yesterday. And since then all you’ve done is try to destroy my family. My happiness. You brought the DEA down on us. You made up lies.”

  “I didn’t—”

  “You’re a fucking monster, Iris,” Billy spewed. He was a far better actor than I thought he’d be. Guess you had to be when there was so much on the line. “I don’t want to hear your lies. I don’t want to see your face. I know these people. I know they would never do anything you’ve gotten your friends to claim they did. They are my family. I’m with them. In this life and beyond. And there is nothing, nothing you can say to change my mind. Not about my family.” He turned to Mathias. “I want her gone. If I have to look at her a second longer, I may strangle her for all she’s done to us. Get them out of here. Please.”

  “With pleasure. Paul?” Ken said. The men flanked us.

  “Billy…” I said.

  “Iris, we’re going. There’s no point,” Luke said, taking my arm.

  “Just listen to—” I called to Billy.

  “Go!” Billy roared.

  Ken reached to grab my other arm, but Luke snarled. “Touch her and I will shoot you dead, I swear to God,” he said right in the pissed man’s face. “We’re going.”

  We walked ahead of the men all the way to the front gate. I glanced back at Billy a few times. Mathias kept patting him on the back as Betsy kissed his face. Megan smirked smugly and even gave me a little wave. Bitch.

  Our guards didn’t utter a word until we were at the front gate. As Ken unlocked it, I turned to Paul. “It’s not too late, Paul. Just come with us.”

  “Fuck you,” he said.

  “And I don’t care who the fuck you people are. Come here again and I will fucking kill you. Slowly. Painfully. And they’ll never find your bodies,” Ken said.

  “Have experience with that, do you?” I asked.

  “Trespass again and find out the hard way.” Ken yanked the gate shut and locked it. “Leave.”

  Luke took my arm and began leading me down the road. “Come on,” he whispered. We had a half-mile walk back to the car. I kept glancing back and the moment the men were out of sight, I began to pant from the fear and tension I could finally acknowledge.

  “Do you think they believed us? About Billy?” I asked.

  “Yeah.”

  I pulled out my cellphone and stopped the recorder. It was all part of our plan. I’d flipped it on when Megan approached and Paul had his back to us. “I thought we’d get more. Hell, we got next to nothing.”

  “It was because I was there,” Luke said. “Maybe we can do something with their threats. Both Ken and Megan threatened to kill us. At the very least, we got him admitting to the extortion yesterday. You press charges, we can bring him in tonight. We wait until right before five P.M. so he won’t be processed out until Monday.”

  “If it’s enough. If the judge accepts the tape as evidence.”

  “If he doesn’t accept the tape, I’ll swear out a statement I witnessed him say it. The case might get thrown out later, but at least we’ve bought the weekend with him away from them,” Luke pointed out.

  I smiled nervously at him. “When did you become an optimist?” He didn’t smile back. He stared straight ahead as we walked. “Thank you for coming with me.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said curtly.

  We could always read one another. In the old days, I didn’t even have to look at him; I’d just sense he was angry or upbeat or frustrated. Walking beside him, I could sense the anger radiating off him. It actually hurt my skin. And I knew I was the cause. “I didn’t sleep with him,” I blurted out.

  Luke didn’t look over. “I believe you,” he said harshly.

  None of his anger waned. “And I only kissed him—”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he cut in. “Even if you slept with him, it wouldn’t matter. You’re an adult. We’re not…You don’t owe me an explanation. You don’t owe me a damn thing, Iris.” He picked up the pace to get a step ahead of me. “Come on. We have to get to the station. Get that bastard away from those people while we still can. Did you see it? In their eyes? Fear. Desperation.”

  “I know. He’s not stupid. He has a plan. He’ll run, at the very fucking least.”

  “They have him under surveillance. And it’s not as easy to hide your identity as it was even fifteen years ago,” Luke pointed out. “He’s smart, but we’re smarter. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we’ll get it done. We’ll get him. We always do.”

  It gave me hope because he kept saying “we.” He hadn’t given up on me yet. I stared at him, at his strong, determined, gorgeous profile, and my heart literally skipped a beat. I loved him. I was in love with him. If I were being honest, I had been for years. I’d just buried it in my deepest recesses. I was in love with him when I was married. I was in love with him during my exile. I sure as hell was during the Shepherd case. I loved Luke Hudson. And he loved me. Or at least he had before Paul opened his mouth. Maybe it was good he had.

  Be brave.

  I had always considered myself brave. Refusing to get beaten down by the town, joining the FBI, leaving my house every day knowing I could be injured or killed on the job, how could I not be? But staring at Luke that day, I felt as meek as a nun in a whorehouse. There were a million reasons to continue ignoring my feelings. Life would ruin it somehow. Or worse, I’d ruin it. If I hadn’t already. I’d barely survived losing Hayden. I was forever fragile from that; I would be until the day I died. To lose my best friend and lover? I would never recover. Never. I needed Luke in my life. In my corner. I knew I wasn’t easy to love. Everything my brother and mother said was true. I was prickly and stubborn; I didn’t sugarcoat things; I could be selfish. Even Hayden said it on more than one occasion. How could I be willing to play the game when I knew the deck was stacked against us? With my mind reeling from the new crisis I’d helped create, I couldn’t deal with these thoughts. They might be moot anyway. I’d ruined us before we even started. Be brave? When it came to terror, facing serial killers had nothing on facing love.

  Chapter 16

  Whatever little bit of luck I had when it came to the case vanished on the tense ride back to the Sheriff’s station. There was a wreck on the road that blocked both lanes and created a half-hour traffic jam. Joyce promised to hold a deputy in the station to take our statements, but with the long wait as they cleared the wreck, he had to return to duty. Every officer, even the volunteers and part-timers, was either watching the Movement’s properties, out on calls, or participating in the search of The Temple, which I later learned netted nothing of value. Not a joint, not a pill, not a health code violation. The “friendly” judge hadn’t found sufficient evidence to issue a warrant for The Apex since the ambassadors met at the house,
not the farm. Apparently The Temple was near deserted, save for a handful of newer members and the children. It appeared as if Mathias had moved anyone who had been to The Apex there to “rejuvenate their energy after the unwarranted attack.” The fact that it happened not ten minutes after Helen was released gave me another stomachache. I was a hairsbreadth from getting an ulcer.

  My bad-luck streak continued when we reached the station. They’d just begun the search at The Temple when we arrived and the one deputy not on cult watch had to cover the whole of Grey County, so there was no one to take my statement then, or even an hour later. I couldn’t stop pacing around the bullpen and Luke was about ready to punch a wall, not to mention we hadn’t eaten all day or showered. Joyce promised to call the house when someone came back, so off my silent partner and I went to clean ourselves up.

  Luke hadn’t spoken a nonprofessional word to me since the farm, and that didn’t change when we returned to the house. He went into one bathroom to shower as I made a sandwich, then we silently switched. Forget talking, I would have settled for a look. A throttling. Something besides cruel silence and avoidance. Finally around three, Joyce called. Back to the suffocating tension-filled car we went. The station was buzzing, mostly with disappointment after the failed search. Carmichael and Lucerno were in the interview room, so we made a beeline for Hancock’s office. If I never saw them again I would have been a happy gal. Hancock was on the phone when we barged in.

  “…might have operated in your jurisdiction. They did this ambassador crap all over, even in Ohio. It can be a joint case, Harrv. I need more people. We’re not staffed for long-term surveillance and the DEA won’t send more agents. All the others in the Pittsburgh field office are on some heroin ring.” Hancock listened for a second and frowned at me. “One or two, more if you can spare them.” He shook his head. “Fine. One. Thanks, Harrv. Bye.” He hung up. “Sheriff in Amity County.”

  “I heard the warrant turned up nothing,” I said as I sat.

  “Looked like they’d been cleaning all night. Place was spotless in every way.” He sighed. “I also heard I should be charging you two with trespassing and obstruction. The surveillance team saw you leave the farm. You are damn lucky they called me and didn’t log it. I—”

  “No, have them log it,” I said. “It’ll back us up. Prove we were there.”

  “What?” Hancock asked.

  I removed my phone and played him the entire recording. He grimaced a few times, especially when the Paul allegations came up. Luke retained his professional poker face. When it ended, Hancock shook his head. “Jesus. What the hell were you thinking? They could have killed you.”

  “But they didn’t. They only threatened to murder us. And Mathias admitted he tried to blackmail me. It’s on tape. Plus he did it in front of an FBI agent. Is it enough to pick him up?”

  “Any lawyer worth his salt will get that tape thrown out. You didn’t have a warrant for a wiretap.”

  “But I’m not acting for law enforcement. One-party consent recordings have been admissible before. And even without the tape, I have a witness beyond reproach.”

  “It’s enough to pick him up for the weekend, and that’s all we want,” Luke said.

  “And it will get Mathias in that interview room,” I pointed out.

  “Have you really thought about this? All the allegations he made about you will be out there in the legal record,” Hancock said. “Not to mention he’ll probably want us to charge you both for trespassing.”

  Luke and I exchanged a glance. “We know. But that’s a chance we’re willing to take,” Luke said. “If I had jurisdiction, I would have arrested him there and then.”

  Hancock frowned. “Fine. Let’s get your sworn statements, make a copy of the recording, and I’ll call the DA about an arrest warrant.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  We were separated. Hancock took my statement and a deputy took Luke’s. Halfway through my retelling, an irate Carmichael and Lucerno walked into the bullpen. Their interviews hadn’t been going well, by the looks of their sneers and Carmichael’s literal huffing. “What the fuck is she doing back here?” Carmichael bellowed.

  “Pressing charges against Mathias Morning for blackmail and extortion,” I said. “You’re welcome.”

  Hancock gave him the abridged version. “It won’t stick,” Lucerno said.

  “Yeah, but it’ll get him away from my brother and get you a crack at him. Like I said, you’re welcome.”

  “Get your DA on the horn now,” Carmichael said. “We need that arrest warrant now.” He looked at me. “Good job.”

  “More often than not, yes,” I said with a smile.

  We finished our statements, and I actually felt a little lighter. I’d helped. I made a point to savor the moment. “We’ll have him in custody in an hour or two, God willing,” Hancock said.

  “Keep him locked up as long as you can,” I said.

  “You do know this means you can’t come back here. You can’t have anything to do with the case from here on, now that you’re officially a part of it. There can’t be any more hints of impropriety. You have to go home, back to North Carolina.”

  “But—”

  “You know I’m right. We can’t give his lawyer any more ammo. We want to put this guy away for life. One technicality and the DEA loses its whole case.”

  He was right. Everything I’d done before was as a free agent, completely unofficial. The authorities could use my observations for background but nothing else. Once the warrant was issued I was part of the case, a victim of Mathias’s, and firmly on the side of law enforcement. Anything else I did could be used officially. I’d aligned myself with a side. Legally. There was officially nothing else I could do. I frowned at Hancock. “Just get him, okay? I got the sense he wants to run but doesn’t have the funds. Arrest him before he does. And watch out for my brother. His eyes are wide open now; he just won’t leave his wife. If you see even half an opportunity to get him out of there, take it. Arrest him if you have to. Just get him out, okay?”

  “I promise,” Hancock said. “You’ve done good, Nancy Drew. You ran the ball, but we’ll take it to the end zone. I promise. You’ve gone above and beyond. You did all you could. No matter what comes next, know that. Trust that.” He patted my hand. “I’m proud of you, Iris.”

  “That means a lot to me.”

  “And I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true. I promise to call you when we have him in custody. And I’m sure Joyce will tell you the rest. Go home. Spend time with your boyfriend. You—”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” I said automatically.

  “Right. Yeah. Whatever you say.” Hancock rose from the desk. “I have a lot to do now. Come say bye before you leave town. And don’t be a stranger. Once a decade isn’t enough.”

  “After all this, are you sure?” I asked as I stood too.

  “I’m sure. Now go home before I kick your butt out.”

  “Just like the good old days,” I said as we walked in opposite directions.

  I spotted Luke near the coffee machine. “All done?” he asked as I approached.

  “Yeah. And we’re being kicked out again. Officially this time. We can’t have anything to do with the Movement from here on.”

  “Makes sense. Ready to go?” Luke asked.

  “I guess,” I said with a frown.

  Luke frowned too. “This isn’t giving up, Iris. It’s taking a step back.”

  “I know.” I sighed. “Come on. We’d better leave before they kick us out. Three times in one day is more than enough.”

  “Ready when you are.”

  Luke drove us back to my grandparents’ house in that still uncomfortable silence. I was too exhausted to care. That much.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “For what?”

  “Helping me? Being here? Staying by my side even after…you know.”

  He was quiet for a few seconds, then, “It was the right thing to do.”

&
nbsp; “And that was the only reason you helped me?”

  He glanced over at me. “No. I—” His phone rang. “Damn it.” He answered. “Hey, Darla, what’s up?”

  At least when we arrived home we were greeted by the scent of apple, cinnamon, and sugar. Grandma stood in the kitchen working on a pie. “Hello, you two. How did it go?” Grandma asked.

  “Great. Mathias should be in custody by nightfall,” I said.

  “That’s wonderful! Thank God. And Billy?” she asked.

  “Sorry. No news since we left the farm. But with Mathias removed, maybe Hancock can convince Billy to leave,” I said.

  “I have to get some work done. Call me when it’s time for dinner,” Luke said to me, cellphone still out. He smiled politely at Grandma before moving toward his room. “Excuse me. Hey, Darla, I’m back.”

  “I should check my emails too. Unless you need help. I can wreck the pie for you,” I quipped.

  “No. Go work.”

  I left before she changed her mind. I had over a dozen emails from Miranda and two from Carol. Most of the messages had a theme: Where are you? When are you coming back? A damn good question. I had no idea what the answer was. I had no idea what to do next. Again. There truly was nothing else I could do for Billy directly, but it just felt wrong to pack up and leave with everything up in the air. I didn’t know what to say to either woman, so I didn’t answer the emails. Instead I flopped on my bed and closed my eyes. I must have fallen asleep after the adrenaline rush. I awoke to Luke standing over me, touching my shoulder, two hours later. “Dinner,” he whispered.

  I felt the drool on the side of my mouth and quickly wiped it away. “Oh. Thanks.”

  “They haven’t called yet,” he said.

  “They will,” I said, sitting up. “Everything okay at work?”

  “Yeah. Life goes on fine without me, if you can believe it,” he said.

  “Not even a little,” I said without thinking.