He powered the boat through the streets of Deirdre’s neighborhood to the address. Hailey looked down at the paper Parker had given her. “Take a right here. Should be two buildings down on the left.”
Eric turned the corner.
“Front door’s wide open.”
“I see it,” Eric said.
He cut the power by the front steps, and Hailey jumped out to secure the boat to a railing. Weapons drawn, they entered the residence together as though they’d done it a thousand times.
This night had brought them closer than he’d expected. They’d come up against the target, and in the midst of the destruction of the town, Eric couldn’t help but realize something. He’d offered Hailey a partnership, and while she’d hesitated—turning him down, for all intents and purposes—the trust they had built since then had been worth it. Hailey wanted him around as much as he was starting to want her with him.
The house was a mess. Roger Harmer’s basement garage was completely flooded. If it was anything like the first floor, there would likely be more junk than water down there. The soggy hall carpet was covered with trash, newspapers and empty pizza boxes, but it was the smell that got Eric every single time.
There was nothing else in the world that smelled like death. Hailey glanced back at him. Her eyes were shadowed from the lack of light, but he could see her discomfort. She smelled it, too.
“Let’s find the body.”
Hailey nodded, and they continued to search the house. Roger Harmer was in the bedroom, apparently having expired sometime between Farrell hitting them with his car and now. Harmer must have been the person they both fired on at the airport, but he hadn’t been dead when Deirdre held her gun on Kerry and escaped with Farrell. It must have happened within the last day. And from the look of it, Roger Harmer had not died peacefully of the wounds he sustained from the shot that had hit him.
Maybe it was a blessing they wouldn’t know who was ultimately responsible for his death.
When they had cleared every room, Hailey turned to Eric.
Before she could say it, he said, “I’ll call it in.”
Hailey nodded. They now had a concrete link between their escapee and his half-brother.
Eric informed Jonah, who said he would pass the news on to the local law enforcement officers to process the scene. Then he trailed behind Hailey down the stairs. “Police are on their way. You want to wait outside?”
Hailey shrugged and followed Eric back down.
He headed into the living room instead. “Are you okay?”
She didn’t say anything. She just slumped onto the couch and shut her eyes, looking more tired than he’d ever seen. Eric couldn’t relax. All he could see was Phelps in that chair behind the desk, and then Turner pointing his weapon at him. At Hailey.
“First Thomas Phelps, and now Harmer?” Eric looked up at Hailey. “You think Turner could be involved in this, too? Maybe he was on the assault team.”
Hailey’s eyes widened. “I don’t want to believe it of another marshal, but I guess it’s possible. There’s no way we’re going to find out in this flood, but he could’ve been part of the team that helped Farrell escape. Too bad he could be anywhere. Long gone, even.”
Eric ran a hand through his short hair and felt the water run down the back of his neck. “So now we have two guys and Deirdre to find out there, and we’re stretched thin in the middle of a natural disaster. Things keep getting worse and worse.”
Hailey looked like she wanted to laugh.
Eric frowned. “There’s nothing funny about any of this.”
“It’s going to take a whole lot of cleaning up.”
Eric squeezed the bridge of his nose. “The police will take care of Harmer. He’s under their purview, since we don’t investigate murders. We’re still on Farrell. And we don’t even know if Turner is involved, though it’s not looking good for him. Deirdre and Turner will turn up. Jonah will take care of that. What do you think?”
She needed to know that he trusted her instincts.
Hailey’s face flushed. Apparently she’d been expecting him to take over and dictate their moves, but he wanted them to figure this out together. “My guess would be that the lack of medical attention killed him. The location of the wound means he would have been in pain for hours before he died.”
Eric crouched in front of her. “We don’t know who shot him.”
Hailey didn’t say anything.
“He was helping a federal fugitive escape and you and I were just doing our jobs. That’s all there is to it.”
She nodded.
“We should concentrate on Farrell. At least until the town is put back to rights.”
Hailey’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen and blew out a breath. “It’s my dad.”
“I’ll go outside and direct the cops.” Eric stood at the door with his flashlight, but he didn’t close it.
Hailey’s voice was full of emotion. “Yeah, Dad.” She paused. “There are people everywhere, right? What does it matter if some kids want to fool around in the backyard…I know that, Dad, but I can’t check it out right now. Isn’t there anyone there who can…? Okay. Fine.”
Eric winced as she huffed out another breath.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Hailey strode over to join Eric at the door.
“Problems?”
She rolled her eyes. “Some kids messing around at the house. He wants me to check it out, like I can just drop everything in the middle of the storm of the decade and go have a chat with bored teenagers.”
Something niggled at Eric. “Does he call you like that a lot?”
A frown flickered over Hailey’s brow. “No. Not really.”
“You don’t think he knows you’re busy?” Eric held her gaze. “Would he call if it were just kids messing around?”
Hailey looked away, her eyes dark with something he didn’t understand. He’d never really had to worry about parent/child dynamics, so he didn’t know how it worked when you were an adult trying to maintain a relationship like that.
Eric said, “My mom left my brother and me with the neighbor for two days until they finally called the cops. She was across town getting high, and we had nothing to eat and no way to get into our house for clean clothes or anything.”
He didn’t want to get mad, but it was like she didn’t even know what she had. “You can’t take anything for granted. Life is way too short for that.”
SEVENTEEN
Hailey continued to look out at the street, while Eric’s mind washed with memories long buried. “I don’t even remember my dad. He was serving ten years for armed robbery. Since he got out he’s never once called me or Aaron. Our foster mom moved to Florida two years ago. I haven’t seen or heard from her since, and before that I only got calls when she needed a new refrigerator or her washer quit working.”
Old hurts boiled up inside him. “Maybe you should thank God every day that you have a dad who gave up the quiet years of his life to help you raise your daughter. He probably jumped at the chance to put a roof over your heads when you needed it most.”
Hailey’s head whipped around, her eyes dark. “I don’t need you to educate me about my own father. I know exactly what he thinks of me.”
“Yeah, he loves you.”
Hailey laughed, but the sound held no humor. “Just because he didn’t leave doesn’t mean he actually wants to be around. You don’t know anything about my father or his reaction to finding out his college-student daughter was pregnant.”
Eric’s stomach churned. He’d overstepped his bounds. The last thing he wanted was to put something else between him and Hailey’s trust, but he’d been so mad she had a father who was present and she was taking that for granted. “Hailey—”
“I won’t ever forget the look on his face. Did you know he told me what happened was my fault, like Charles had nothing to do with it? After Kerry was born my dad didn’t even look at her for a month. He just left me alone with a b
aby and Charles.”
Hailey fisted her hands in her hair on either side of her face. “We were barely adults. We didn’t know what we were doing. And all of a sudden there was this tiny person expecting the world from us.” She sucked in a choppy breath. “Charles just checked out. For weeks at a time I barely saw him. But I didn’t care. I had Kerry, and she needed me.”
“Why did you marry him?”
“I didn’t know what else to do. Charles was the only person who stood by me, even though it was barely anything. I still needed that if I was going to finish school and raise Kerry.”
“I’m sorry.”
Her eyes narrowed. “For what?”
He knew she didn’t want his sympathy. “For overstepping. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you about your dad just because of mine. I apologize.”
Hailey opened her mouth, but the sound of a boat approaching cut her off.
*
Two cops on a small police boat with a sputtering motor pulled up to the house. Hailey was glad she hadn’t been allowed to say what she’d been meaning to. Her relationship with her dad was way too complicated, and Eric had never experienced anything like that. How did he think it was okay to have an opinion on something he barely knew anything about?
Hailey shoved away the thoughts and watched as the first cop stalked toward them, his eyes alert. She’d seen him around town but didn’t know his name. Why did he seem to be more focused on Eric than on her?
Rain dripped off the edge of the plastic protecting his hat.
The partner brought up the rear, eyes hard as if this was an intense situation rather than taking over as babysitter of a body until the crime scene techs could arrive. This second guy was heavier-set, and older, with a belly honed by a steady diet of donuts.
They climbed the front steps slowly, ponchos billowing out around them like tents.
Hailey made a split-second decision. She stuck out her hip and said, “What’s up, guys?”
The two police officers stopped on the porch, crowding her and Eric against the front door.
The first one up the stairs, with the plastic-covered hat, said, “I’m Banks. This is Melon.” He motioned with his finger toward his bigger partner. “Some of our boys picked up your boss.”
Ah. Hailey breathed a sigh of relief. Turner was in custody, and now they’d be able to start clearing all this up. Maybe they were acting tough and being short instead of polite because they’d known Phelps personally, and didn’t like that he’d been killed by a marshal. Were they suspicious of all marshals, and not just Hailey and Eric?
She led them inside, and Eric stopped beside her. “Turner was brought in?”
Officer Banks gave him a short nod. “You’re Hanning?”
“Yes. I take it you guys are here about the body.” Eric motioned to the stairs. “If you’ll trade out with us, we’ll be on our way. We’re in the middle of a manhunt.”
The cops removed their ponchos at the same time, like they’d practiced it that way. Hailey almost laughed, but then both men rested their hands on their weapons.
She backed up a step and collided with Eric. “Relax, guys. Tell us what’s going on.”
Banks shook his head. “Both of you need to stay where you are. We’re to detain you until your people can get here.”
Hailey frowned. “For what?”
Melon rocked to the balls of his feet and back to his heels. It was probably all the exercise he got in a week. “How would we know? We’re only lowly police officers, not fancy-shmancy federal types.”
“Does this have anything to do with Turner?”
Eric looked worried. Hailey was, too, but he was the one who’d been in the room when Turner shot Phelps. She didn’t doubt he’d told the truth about the rest of it.
Banks grinned. “Worried?”
Eric started to speak, but Hailey cut him off. “Should he be?”
Banks’s eyes shot to her. “This is none of your business, little girl.”
Fire erupted in Hailey’s middle. She needed to not lose her temper—again—with someone they were supposed to have a professional relationship with. But it just grated on her, time after time, that they thought since she was a girl they could treat her like a second-class cop. Were these guys on the team that had ambushed them at the airport?
“You know—”
Eric grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back. “If this is none of her business, then she should be free to go.”
“Not likely.” Banks sneered. “Both of you are to remain here.”
“Then tell us what’s going on. Unless you care to blindly follow orders without question, regardless of what’s right and what’s wrong.”
Banks worked his jaw back and forth, clearly not happy with the insinuation. Hailey figured someone with that few brain cells should at least have the judgment to understand their limitations.
He huffed, eyes on Eric. “Word on the grapevine is that the boss claims you told him Phelps was armed, which led him to fire on Thomas. Everyone wants to talk to you now. Far as we’re all concerned you’re fair game for Phelps’s shooting.”
“I’m not the one who killed that man.”
“Yeah,” Banks sneered. “But you didn’t stop it, either. Did you?”
“Turner is the one who said he had a gun.”
Melon laughed. “Says you.”
Hailey couldn’t help but think the storm had made everyone crazy. These guys didn’t even care that there was a dead man upstairs. They were too busy fighting for the honor of another man who had been killed. It was like they’d grasped the one reason they could find to take out their frustration on someone.
Too bad it had to be Eric.
Hailey stepped in front of her partner and squared her shoulders at the cops. “Back off.”
Banks stepped forward. “Make me.”
Hailey nearly rolled her eyes. It was like dealing with a bunch of junior high boys. “You’re taking charge of this scene. The body is now officially yours. My partner and I are leaving.”
Melon elbowed Banks aside and stuck his chubby finger in her face. Then he called her a name she hadn’t been called in years.
Eric shoved Melon back. “You don’t call her that.”
Too bad everyone in town thought it was true. Thanks to some choice words that had once lit up the rumor mill, everyone in town figured the consequences of Hailey’s teenage partying had finally caught up with her.
Would it never die?
Getting pregnant by her college boyfriend hadn’t done her any favors. It hadn’t been intentional, but in the end what was done was done, and the town didn’t seem to be able to look past her actions. They acted as though Charles had no hand in it.
They had simply condemned her as the one at fault, when she was only trying to deal with it and move on—to live her life as a mom. She hadn’t planned to be a mom as early as it happened, but she wasn’t going to do anything but give Kerry her best.
Melon launched at Eric, but Banks held him back. “Don’t bother. Clearly she got to this one, too.”
The two of them laughed, as though she were a spider who had caught Eric in her web. They really thought she’d done that? She hadn’t forced Charles to marry her. It had been a mutual decision. And Eric was his own man. He was going to do exactly what he wanted.
This was why she didn’t date. Men were too unpredictable. The people in town were going to think what they wanted to think, regardless of what she did. The truth didn’t matter to them. Or the fact that she’d gone to work, come home and taken care of her daughter and her father for years now.
It was like they were all oblivious to anything but what they’d made up in their own minds.
Hailey faced down Banks and Melon. “Good to know if I hear that description of me being said around town, I’ll know who started it. Thanks, guys. That was a delightful reminder of why I like the past to stay in the past.” Hopefully the cops were smart enough to catch on to the sarcasm.
&n
bsp; Eric folded his arms. “The body is upstairs.”
Hailey nodded. They had to get out of there and find Farrell and Deirdre. That woman was up to her fancy shirt in this whole mess. The town needed to realize who was being dishonest in this situation, and who was simply trying to live their life and be the best mom and marshal they could be.
The two police officers trod up the stairs, but not before Melon glanced back and shot her a dirty look. Hailey turned to Eric, but didn’t make eye contact. “Let’s hit the road.”
He trailed after her to the front door, where he wrapped his hand around her elbow. He gently tugged her around. “You okay?”
Hailey shook her head, her vision blurry. “Can we just go?”
She didn’t want him to see. He needed to believe their words didn’t affect her or he would start to coddle her like the other guys did.
Eric powered the boat back out of the neighborhood.
Hailey sat up front where he couldn’t see her face and let the rain wash away her tears.
EIGHTEEN
The water was five feet deep. Eric pulled the boat up as close as he could to the law enforcement base of operations. Hailey jumped out and tethered it to a rail, and they trudged up the muddy hill to the warehouse. Formerly part of the now defunct mill, it had been turned over to emergency services for the duration of the flood.
When they walked in, the whole place was crazy with people running and yelling. The afternoon was waning and most of these folks had been up more than twenty-four hours now, though none of them showed it.
Eric’s body wanted to succumb to the fatigue of getting no sleep the night before. Eventually he’d need to rest, but that time hadn’t come yet.
“Jonah!” Hailey’s yell cut across the crowd of officers and staff.
Their supervisor turned and pointed over to a group of girls that included Kerry huddled on a cot, giggling. Sitting together, leaning over an iPad, they could have been hanging out at a slumber party. Eric was glad the girl could shut out the specifics of what was going on and trust the adults around her to take care of the danger.
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