He took out his cell phone and started to enter Laney’s number. No, maybe he should hold off on that. If she was mad at him and wanted to break the date, he wouldn’t want her in his contacts. He picked up the desk phone and carefully punched in the number.
“Hello?” she said.
“Hi. It’s Tony.”
“Oh, hi, Tony. Thanks for calling.”
“No probs.”
“How’s your case going?”
“We found the guy.”
“Really?” she almost squealed.
“Yeah, but I don’t think that’s public knowledge yet. We’re still following some leads on the parties responsible. It may be a long night.” He hoped he and Eddie didn’t have to relieve Nate and Jimmy at midnight. They couldn’t keep Janelle from alerting Tom to their visit, but they could stand by in case he came home from Boston early.
“Wow, I’m so glad you found him. Is he okay?”
“I wouldn’t say okay, but he’ll make it.”
“That’s great.”
“Yeah. So, why did you want me to call?” he asked.
“Oh, that.” She hesitated. “I, uh, told Judith that I was going to your cousin’s wedding with you.”
“Yeah?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Did she tell you that was a mistake?”
“No, but she did ask me which side of the family the cousin was on, and I said I didn’t know.”
“Okay.” Tony had a bad feeling.
“Then she asked if the governor would be there.”
He swallowed hard. “Yeah, I expect he will be. Is that all right?”
After a moment’s silence, Laney said, “I guess so. I mean, I just wish I’d known. Judith told me, and I felt so stupid. It’s like everyone but me knew he was part of your family tree.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it the first time we talked, and then at the diner we only had a second. I’m really sorry. If you’re not comfortable with going to the Blaine House—”
“We’d be going to the Blaine House?”
“Sure. The wedding is there.”
“Oh.”
“It’s just going to be a small wedding,” Tony said.
She was silent.
“I mean, they can’t fit that many people into the parlors.”
“Okay.”
“Really, I’m surprised they’re letting me bring someone,” he went on. “It’s mostly family and close friends. Not a lot of political connections. That’s the way Amy and her fiancé want it.”
“Amy?”
“She’s the bride. Uncle Bill’s daughter.”
“Wow.”
Tony waited a few seconds. When she didn’t speak, he asked hopefully, “So, are we good?”
“What do I wear?” She sounded scared. Tony hated that he’d done that to her.
“Just anything. Uh, do you go to church?”
“Yes, why?”
“Just whatever you’d wear to church, then.” Which was an odd thing for a man who rarely attended church to say. “Or a concert or something. Not formal.”
“A dress, though.”
“I’m sure there’ll be women there in dresses and in pants. It’s an afternoon wedding.”
“Whatever that means.” He could barely hear her.
“Look, do you want to think about it?” he asked, dreading her answer.
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” She cleared her throat. “I just. . .Oh, man.”
“If you don’t want to go, it’s okay,” Tony said. “We could do something else next weekend. A movie or something. Oh, hey, what about Monday? Eddie’s wife is having a book signing, and we’re all going to try to get to the bookstore on our lunch hours. You want to ride over there with me? It’s on Congress Street.”
“Yeah,” Laney said. “That sounds really fun. What’s the book about?”
“Uh, it’s a. . .true crime story. About a case we had last year.”
“Are you in it?”
“Maybe a tiny mention. Harvey and Eddie are the heroes, I’m sure.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“Great. We’ll aim for noon on Monday, at the door to the garage. If my schedule is messed up, I’ll call you.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“And you can think about the wedding. If you want to change your mind. . .well, let’s see how it goes Monday.”
“Yeah.” She sounded more cheerful now. Tony fiercely hoped she wouldn’t break the date for Amy’s wedding.
His cell phone rang. He hit a button and winced. Harvey. “Hey, listen, I need to go. We’re working late tonight, and I’ve about used up my break time.”
“Okay. Thanks for calling, Tony. I’ll see you Monday.”
He smiled. “No probs.” He hung up and picked up his cell.
*****
When Harvey and Eddie arrived at the hospital, they found Abby and Leeanne in the family waiting room on the med-surg ward.
“Peter’s still in X-ray?” Harvey asked.
“No, he’s out,” Abby said. “The doctor is setting his leg, and then they’ll move him up here. It should be soon.”
“What did the tests show?” Harvey sat down beside Abby, and Eddie wrapped his arms around Leeanne and kissed her as if they were all alone in the break room. That was where Eddie usually took Leeanne for a few minutes if she visited him at the office.
Abby looked pointedly at them, but they ignored her, so she just smiled and turned half away from them, toward Harvey.
“There’s no skull fracture.”
“Praise God for that.”
“Yeah,” Abby said. “I was worried after what Jeff and Mark told me. He’s concussed for sure, and very dehydrated. But the worst part is his leg. It’s a pretty bad break, in his femur. And his hands and wrists are a mess, but they’ll heal.” Tears spilled down her face, and she brushed them away. “Sorry.”
“Hey, no need to be.” Harvey took out his handkerchief and handed it to her.
Abby laughed and took it. She jerked her head toward Leeanne and Eddie. “You’d think those two were in love or something.”
“Yeah.” He grinned, glad Abby was able to make jokes. “Was Peter conscious?”
Her smile widened. “Yeah, I got to talk to him for a couple minutes after they got done in Imaging. He was a little strung out, but he’s lucid. I didn’t get many details on what happened, though. He just kept saying, ‘I thought I would die there.’ I didn’t push him, because I knew you’d want to hear it all firsthand.”
“Thanks. I’ll talk to him tonight if they don’t drug him up so much he can’t stay awake.”
“I haven’t told him about Gary’s arm yet.” Abby looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears. “I didn’t want to give him more to worry about.”
“Are they putting a cast on his leg?”
“Not until tomorrow. They need to wait until the swelling goes down.”
“Okay,” Harvey said. “So, he’ll be here a while?”
“A few days, anyway.” Abby let out a deep sigh. “So, what did you find out about Tom?”
“The Boston police are going to pick him up, if he really is at the Marriott.”
“You have doubts?”
Harvey gritted his teeth and shrugged. “Hard to say. I talked to his boss, Miles Redmond. Otherwise I’d have been here sooner.” He took Abby’s hand. “I’m glad Leeanne’s here with you.”
“She insisted, and I knew that if I said no, either Mom or Jennifer would come instead, and they’ve got our boys and Connor and Randy. Not that Randy needs a sitter. And Dad’s there, too.” She stopped and shook her head. “Sorry. Chattering.”
“Hey, kiddo, you’ve been through a lot. Chatter all you want.”
Abby squeezed his hand. “So, what about Tom? Do you really think he was involved in the kidnapping?”
“Involved, yes. To what extent, I don’t know yet. Mr. Redmond gave me the scoop on that house. It’s been on the market three weeks. He think
s the asking price is a little high. They showed it several times the first week, but not much since.”
“So, Tom thought he could get away with using it to stash a kidnap victim?”
“It’s too early to tell what Tom thought,” Harvey said. “It looks like the two kidnappers, McCafferty and Holden, may have talked him into finding a place for them to use.”
Eddie released Leeanne and flopped down in a chair, then pulled his wife onto his lap. “Those guys really went at this caper backward,” he said to Abby.
“How do you mean?”
“Mr. Redmond didn’t even know someone had used the keys from that house.”
“The set the owner gave the agency was at the office,” Harvey confirmed. “I figure Tom or one of the other two made a duplicate key the night they took Peter.”
“They didn’t have them in a lock box at the house?”
“I guess not.” Harvey frowned. “I got the impression that this house was on the low end of the scale for properties they handle. And Redmond said something to the effect of the owner not being in a rush to unload it.”
“What if Tom made duplicate keys before all of this happened?” Abby asked.
Harvey frowned. “I’m not following.” He was pretty sure that the kidnapping wasn’t planned, and that the men hadn’t intended to take Ulrich with them the night they shot him.
“Peter and I don’t see much of Tom. He’s kind of an odd bird, as Grandpa Wainthrop would say.”
“He does sell houses, doesn’t he?” Harvey asked.
“Apparently. He must sell enough to keep the job. But Janelle told me once they’d had trouble with finding a mess in a vacant house they’d listed.”
Harvey eyed her carefully. “So maybe someone rented the space on the side or what?”
“Maybe. It’s one possibility. She said they couldn’t find signs of a break-in.”
“Hmm.”
Eddie apparently didn’t have all his attention on Leeanne. He sat up a little straighter and said, “I can see that. Someone who works for the agency might let it out for a party.”
“Wouldn’t they get caught?” Harvey wasn’t quite buying it. “If the neighbors knew the house was empty and suddenly one night there’s a wild party going on, they’d be suspicious.”
“And call the cops,” Eddie added.
“Maybe that isn’t what happened.” She scrunched up her face. “I just thought maybe. . .I guess it would depend on the house and the neighborhood.”
Harvey nodded. “And the reason the renter wanted it. If it was something that wouldn’t attract a lot of attention—no loud music blasting or dozens of cars parking on the street.”
“Yeah,” Eddie said. “He could let them stash something there overnight, for instance. Stolen goods or an incoming shipment of contraband. Something they were going to move fairly quickly, but they needed an innocent-looking place to store it.”
“So you think Tom’s been taking money to let people use vacant houses for their nefarious purposes?” Leeanne asked.
“I don’t know,” Harvey said. “I still think it would be simpler to rent a storage unit. Less chance of getting caught.”
“But for a kidnapping victim, they needed a place with a bathroom,” Abby pointed out.
“Yes, and a place where other people wouldn’t be passing by within a few feet of the door.”
“What if Tom owed those guys a favor?” Eddie asked.
Leeanne shifted on his lap. “Or money,” she said.
Harvey nodded slowly. “They might offer to cancel a debt or a favor if he got them a place to use at short notice.” His phone whirred, and he looked at it. “I need to take this. Excuse me.”
As he stepped out into the hallway, a man in blue scrubs approached. Peter’s doctor? When Harvey went back to the waiting room a couple of minutes later, the doctor was talking to Abby. Leeanne and Eddie stood near her, listening.
Harvey sidled up to Eddie. “Boston P.D.’s got Merrick. They’ll hold him overnight, but we need to pick him up in the morning.”
“Tony and I can go,” Eddie said.
“Okay. You’ll have to take Merrick to the hotel to check out, and one of you will have to drive his car back here.”
Eddie nodded.
“Call Tony now,” Harvey said. “Tell him you don’t have to surveil the Merrick house tonight, but you’ll leave early in the morning.”
Eddie eyes focused on the far wall for a moment, and he nodded. “If we leave around seven, we should have him back here by mid-afternoon.”
“Good. Call me when you get back, and I’ll come to the station. If I’m not already there.” The doctor was leaving the room, and Harvey walked over to Abby. “Sorry. That was business. What’s up with Peter?”
“He’s all set in his room, and I can go in. You can come in for a few minutes if you want, but they don’t want a lot of people at a time. Peter needs to rest.”
“You go in with her, Harvey,” Leeanne said. “Eddie and I can wait.”
“Actually, I’d better go home and sleep,” Eddie told her. “I seem to have a full day laid out for me tomorrow.”
“Oh, okay. I got to see him for a minute in the ER. I don’t have to see him again tonight.” She pulled Abby into a hug. “It’s going to be all right.”
Abby gave a little sob. “I know. Thank you. And thanks for sitting with me and praying with me.”
“Any time at all.” Leeanne smiled and stepped away.
“Goodnight, Abs,” Eddie said. “I’m ecstatic that we found him.”
“Me, too.” Abby kissed his cheek. “You guys did a super job.”
“Well, it’s not over yet. Harvey can fill you in.”
“Don’t forget to call Tony now,” Harvey said. “It’s almost eleven, and he needs to know.”
“Right. Come on, Leeanne. You got your car here?” Eddie and Leeanne walked out together, hand in hand.
“What’s the room number?” Harvey asked Abby. “I need to make a few more calls, and I’ll join you there.”
“It’s 410.”
“Great. I’ll be right there.”
She pressed his arm and hurried out of the waiting room. Harvey pushed the speed-dial for Nate.
“Hey, Captain,” Nate said.
“You still sitting on the house?”
“Right where you left us,” Nate said. “Nobody in, nobody out, and all the lights are out except the back bedroom.”
“You can go home,” Harvey said. “Boston P.D. picked up Merrick. Eddie and Tony will drive down and transport him in the morning.”
“Perfect,” Nate said. “What do Jim and I do tomorrow?”
“Sleep in. They’ll be putting a cast on Peter’s leg tomorrow. There’s no skull fracture. I’m hoping to talk to him now, but if not, I’ll see him in the morning. You guys go ahead with your weekend plans unless I call you.”
“That sounds good,” Nate said. “Goodnight, boss.”
Harvey gave Jennifer a quick ring.
“I’m so glad you called,” she said breathlessly. “How is Peter?”
“I haven’t seen him yet, but I’m going in now. Abby’s in there.” He gave her a quick rundown on the medical situation as he knew it. “If he’s too groggy to talk now, I’ll come home. Even if he can talk, I shouldn’t be here much longer. How are the boys?”
“Beth took them over to her house around nine. She called me a few minutes ago and said they’re finally asleep.”
“Good. I expect Abby will give the word for them to come in first thing in the morning.”
He had only taken a few steps toward Peter’s room when his phone rang. With dismay, he realized the caller was one of the techs he had left on duty at Abby’s house that day.
“Michele, so sorry,” he said.
“Will there be someone relieving us?” Michele asked.
“No, I think we’ve got this one about wrapped up. You can pack up the phone surveillance equipment and take it back to the station,
then enjoy your weekend.”
“You’re done?” she asked in surprise. “We heard you caught one of the kidnappers, but I thought there was some question of there being more people involved.”
“We had one guy picked up in Boston,” Harvey said. “I’ll be surprised if we get more than that.”
“Nice work, Captain.”
“Thanks,” Harvey said. “And thanks for your patience.”
He found Peter’s room easily. Abby was sitting in a chair close to the bed with one hand resting gently on Peter’s head. She glanced up at Harvey and smiled.
“It’s hard to find a place to touch him that doesn’t hurt.”
Peter’s eyes looked droopy, but when he looked up at Harvey his smiled flickered. “Hey, bro. I’d offer to shake hands, but. . .” He lifted his arms slightly, displaying not only his bandaged hands and wrists, but an IV port and a line to the cardio-respiratory monitor.
Harvey grinned. “Even though you’re wrapped up like a mummy, it’s terrific to see you again.”
“I’m pretty sure I’d be dead by morning if you and your boys hadn’t found me.”
“Well, I don’t know about that,” Harvey said, “but I’m sure glad it didn’t take us any longer.”
“He’s probably right, with his injuries,” Abby said.
“There’s no way I could have gotten out of there,” Peter added. “I tried to get up to the window, but I was too weak, and I didn’t think I could fit through it anyhow. If I’d had something to stand on. . .”
Harvey patted the leg that wasn’t broken. “Quit fretting about it. You’re safe now.”
“That’s right,” Abby said. “You should be resting, not going over and over the last few days in your mind.”
“It’s hard to let it go.” Peter’s apologetic smile faded as he gazed up at Abby. “I am so thankful, Abigail. I need to see the boys, too.”
“I’ll have them here first thing in the morning. I want you to be a little perkier when they see you. And Gary needs rest, too.”
“Yeah.” Peter glanced at Harvey. “Abigail was telling me about Gary going out and breaking his arm.”
“He was very intent on finding his dad,” Harvey said.
Peter winced. “That’s another thing. I keep thinking about that deciding moment at the store. Was I stupid to offer them money?”
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