Jason answered Heather by lowering her onto the bed and joining her.
“What about Ted?”
“Let him wait; I’ll be getting a new job soon anyway.”
Heather giggled; it was followed by a sigh.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
WASHINGTON, DC, WEDNESDAY, JULY 17th
Colleen and Troy arrived at the locksmith’s shop early. It was a small, freestanding structure with room to park on its left side and in front of it. It was painted a garish green and looked as if it could use a new roof.
The van Troy had followed two days earlier was parked out front, so they figured they had arrived early enough. They wanted to catch Al Cooper before he climbed into his van and drove off to service customers. They were not the only ones to have that idea. The man hired to kill Al Cooper had the same plan.
“That was a gunshot!” Troy said, as he parked their car beside the locksmith’s van. In the seat beside him, Colleen took out her weapon.
“I’ll call it in,” Colleen said.
As they left their vehicle, two more shots sounded off and were followed by the boom of a shotgun.
Colleen identified herself to the 9-1-1 operator than requested backup.
“Should we go in?” Troy asked her.
Colleen shook her head. “Just be ready for whoever comes out.”
The door of the shop flew open and a burly man with a graying beard came into view. He was holding a gun in his left hand with his arm down by his side. He’d been wounded by shotgun pellets and blood leaked down the arm, onto the hand, to drip off the barrel of the gun.
“FBI! Drop that weapon!” Troy commanded.
The man had been lumbering toward the street. At the sound of Troy’s voice, his head jerked up and his eyes went wide at the sight of the weapon aimed at his chest. After grunting something unintelligible, he dropped his gun.
Al Cooper emerged from his shop while limping. He’d been wounded as well. A slug had caught him in the right thigh. When Colleen ordered him to drop his shotgun, Cooper tossed it away and put his hands in the air.
The other man had decided to sit on the ground. The shotgun pellets hadn’t hit anything vital, but he was losing a lot of blood. Troy held him at gunpoint, as the sound of a police siren grew closer.
“I want a lawyer! I want a lawyer!” Cooper told Colleen.
“You’ll get one,” Colleen said. “Right after we get you a doctor.”
Cooper leaned against his van. “You’re FBI?”
“That’s right,” Colleen said.
“Why do you keep bothering me?”
Colleen decided to lie, in the hope of getting Cooper to open up. “You know why we’re here. Guy Tyler was arrested, Cooper. He’s talking to the cops right now and making a deal. My partner came here yesterday to give you a chance to come clean first, but you didn’t talk. That’s okay, Tyler explained everything.”
Cooper straightened himself off the van, then fell back onto it, as his leg wound protested the shifting weight placed upon it. After wincing, he yelled while pointing at the man who’d shot him.
“Did Tyler tell you that he sent that bastard there to kill me? Did he admit to that?”
“Why do you think we’re here? He gave up both of you.”
The man sitting on the ground let out a loud curse, then spoke with a vaguely German accent. “I want to make a deal too.”
Colleen laughed. “What sort of deal? You were caught in the act of attempting to commit contract murder.”
“This isn’t the first time Tyler hired me. If I tell you about that other time, I’ll want a deal.”
As a police car came to a screeching halt out at the curb, with another visible in the distance, Colleen sent the man a terse nod.
“I think something can be arranged.”
It took the rest of the day to sort it all out, but by six p.m. they had the full story.
Al Cooper, the safe expert, had been recruited by Guy Tyler to help him pull off a scam. The safe that was sitting in the office wasn’t the same safe that had been installed years earlier. During an office remodeling that had taken place recently, Tyler and Cooper had switched out the safe with a duplicate that had been altered inside Cooper’s shop.
The new safe was accessible from the rear by a hidden panel created by Cooper. The sliding panel was reachable by entering the closet in Tyler’s office. Prior to instructing Nikki to remove the petty cash and the hard drive, Guy Tyler had already switched the drive with a blank copy.
While video evidence seemingly proved that Tyler couldn’t have taken the hard drive, Cooper’s revelations damned him.
The theft of the hard drive became a secondary concern for Tyler. The hood he had hired to kill Al Cooper implicated Tyler in the death of his late wife. It had been believed that Francine Tyler had died in a car accident the previous winter during an ice storm. Her car had left the road, careened down a hill, and wound up wrapped around a tree.
The hired gun, who was named Hans Becker, admitted to killing Francine before sending the car down the hill. Tyler had given him three thousand up front and another seven thousand once Francine’s life insurance policy had paid off.
Guy Tyler had a serious gambling addiction. He had killed his wife for the money to get out from under a loan shark who had threatened to have him severely beaten. Tyler went through that money within a matter of months and came up with the scheme to rob his father’s business.
He thought the young Nikki would make for a convenient scapegoat. After learning that she had a connection to Damon Webb, the idea of introducing a political angle into the theft seemed appealing. With a political firestorm brewing around the thievery, he figured as the victim he would never be suspected. Meanwhile, Webb’s political rival would keep investigators wedded to the idea that Nikki was some sort of operative for the Webb campaign.
Guy Tyler had no political leanings whatsoever. All he had was an innate weakness of character and a gambling habit that was out of control. Those two things had cost his wife her life, risked his father’s business, and nearly took Nikki Varona’s freedom and reputation away.
The argument Troy had witnessed between Tyler and Cooper was about money. Cooper had become aware of just how valuable the information on the hard drive could be to the right people. He told Tyler that he wanted three times the money he had agreed to take. Tyler refused, knowing that Cooper could do nothing without implicating himself. When the FBI became aware of their connection, Tyler panicked and contacted Hans Becker to kill Al Cooper.
Guy Tyler was arrested for murder, theft, and other charges, while Nikki was set free.
A search of Tyler’s home uncovered the real hard drive. Tyler hadn’t yet had an opportunity to pass it on to the buyer.
Colleen and Troy were praised for solving the case so quickly, and Damon Webb stopped in again to thank them for clearing his son’s name.
With the excitement of the case ended, Troy was assigned to help out performing background checks on new applicants. It was dull work, and he ached to be back in the field.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
KINGSTON, NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JULY 17th
Marx had been angry at Jason for taking so long to come pick him up; he then grew exasperated when Jason shrugged and smiled at him.
Ted Marx was drunk again, but not to the point where he was weaving when he walked; however, he was slurring his words now and then.
Marx wanted Jason to do the background material as well as be his driver.
“I hope we get a chance to film a dead body again,” Marx said, while they were driving there. “That would really get the viewership up.”
Jason had rolled his eyes. He appeared tired and yawned more than once between sips of strong coffee. Thanks to Heather, Jason hadn’t slept much. Marx nudged him with an elbow to the ribs.
“Why are you so tired?”
“No particular reason,” Jason said, and Marx grunted.
Marx became more an
noyed when he arrived at the cabin and found that he couldn’t get near it. He had expected to be the first one on the scene, like in Pennsylvania, where Luis Cantrell wasn’t aware that he’d been targeted.
The cops and the crime scene techs at the cabin wouldn’t allow him to enter the home or even get near it. They did inform Marx that the victim had been taken to a nearby hospital. After getting a few shots and video of the cabin, Marx and Jason went to the hospital.
Owens saw Erica purse her lips in an expression of displeasure. When he followed her gaze, he saw Marx walking toward them.
When Marx saw them, he stopped walking, then shook his head in disgust.
“How long have you two been here?”
“For hours, why?” Erica asked.
“And you didn’t call me and tell me about this?”
“Why would we inform a civilian about a new development in a criminal investigation?”
Marx looked hurt. “Honey, I thought we had a connection.”
“Refer to me as Agent Novac or don’t talk to me at all, Marx.”
Marx spoke to Owens. “And what do you have to say for yourself, slick?”
“No comment,” Owens said.
“At least tell me how the guy, uh, Pardo, died.”
“He’s still alive,” Erica said, “and we’re hopeful that he’ll be able to help us find whoever is behind these homicides.”
Marx blinked. “Alive? But the email I got said that he was supposed to die today.”
Erica feigned being angry about Marx’s failure to contact them; there was no reason to let him know that his electronic devices were being monitored.
“You neglected to forward the email—yet again.”
“Oops.”
“We’ll see if a judge thinks it’s funny when we get back to Manhattan. I want there to be a penalty placed on you if you continue to withhold information.”
“I didn’t withhold; I forgot.”
“If you drank less, you might remember more; I can smell the liquor on you.”
Marx winked at Erica. “It’s not booze; I’m intoxicated by being in your presence.”
Erica pointed at a set of chairs. “Have a seat if you’re going to stay, but don’t film me. I don’t want to be seen on your videos.”
A man came down the hallway toward them. It was Gary Pardo, the victim’s brother. He had stepped away to have a bite to eat and use the bathroom. He was returning to get an update on his brother’s condition. When he spotted Marx, he pointed at him.
“You’re Ted Marx!”
“In the glorious flesh,” Marx said. “And who are you?”
When Gary explained his relationship to the victim, Marx decided to interview him. A doctor appeared a few minutes later and reported that Keith Pardo’s condition was unchanged and that they didn’t expect him to wake anytime soon. In other words, there was no point in hanging around to speak to the man.
As they were leaving the hospital, Ted Marx asked Erica if he could buy her a drink.
“You’re off-duty now, right, honey?”
“No.”
“Come have drinks with us anyway; I promise to behave.”
“I’m seeing someone.”
“Your partner here?”
“Of course not.”
“Then how will your boyfriend find out? Live a little.”
“Goodnight, Mr. Marx.”
“Call me Ted, honey,” Marx said, as he and Jason headed for their car.
Erica watched Marx with narrowed eyes, as Owens stifled a smile.
The next morning, they both awoke to the news inside their respective hotel rooms. It had been delivered to their phones via a text.
THE PATIENT, KEITH PARDO, PASSED AWAY FROM A HEART ATTACK BROUGHT ON BY THE ORDEAL HE HAD SUFFERED. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, THE DOCTOR WILL BE PLEASED TO ANSWER THEM.
Pardo’s time of death was 11:48 p.m. on the predicted day. The Appointment Killer was batting a thousand.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
WASHINGTON, DC, THURSDAY, JULY 18th
Colleen and Troy had made plans to have lunch together. As they were walking toward the restaurant, Troy spotted Nikki Varona as she left a nearby parking garage. He called to her and she headed their way.
Nikki was wearing a dress that showcased her lovely legs. She approached Troy while smiling.
“What are you doing in the area?” Troy asked.
“I came to see you,” Nikki said.
Colleen was smiling when she told Troy that she had to check her phone for messages.
“How’s it feel to be free again?” Troy asked Nikki.
“It’s awesome, and I have you to thank for it. Your partner told me that you believed in my innocence right from the start.”
“I did, and the more I talked to people about you, the surer I became.”
Nikki moved closer to Troy. “Would you like to go out sometime?”
Troy grinned. He couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do than spend time with Nikki. He then remembered all the teasing Colleen had given him. Nikki had been a suspect in a case. Perhaps it wasn’t right to date her, even if the case had been solved.
Troy released a sigh that was part moan. “I would love to go out with you, but I don’t think it’s a good idea. You were a suspect, then you were a victim. It might look as if I were taking advantage of a situation if we were to start dating.”
“It’s not against the law, is it?”
Nikki’s question caused Troy to laugh. “No, it’s not illegal for us to date, but some of my colleagues might think it’s unethical.”
Nikki stood on her tiptoes and gave Troy a peck on the lips.
“If you change your mind, you know how to find me. After all, you’ve already tracked me down once.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
“Goodbye, Troy.”
“So long, Nikki.”
Troy watched her walk away as everything in him was urging that he rush after her and say he changed his mind. He fought the temptation, turned, and joined Colleen, where she stood off to the side pretending to check her phone.
Colleen smiled at him. “So, when’s the date?”
“There’s no date; she asked me out, but I told her no, that it wouldn’t be right.”
Colleen had placed her phone back in her pocketbook. She looked up and stared at Troy.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I told you that I wouldn’t be distracted by her looks.”
“Fool, that was while she was part of a case; there’s no reason why you can’t date her now.”
Troy gaped at Colleen in shock. “You’re the one who kept telling me not to let her beauty blind me.”
“Yeah, when it involved a case. Troy, that girl thinks you’re her hero, and everything we’ve learned about her says she’s got a heart of gold. If you don’t at least take her out once, you’re not nearly as bright as I thought you were.”
Troy took off running to catch up to Nikki, while calling over his shoulder to Colleen. “I’ll meet you at the restaurant.”
Colleen was preparing her coffee when Troy took the seat across from her at the table.
“Did you catch her?”
“I sure did. We’re going to dinner tomorrow.”
Colleen smiled. “I hope it works out for you. You know, Brad Owens met his girlfriend while he was on a case last year.”
“He did, didn’t he? And I’ve met Rhonda, she’s really nice.”
“Who knows, maybe you and Nikki will marry someday.”
Troy laughed. “I don’t have plans to marry until my career gets off the ground.”
“I know a guy who used to say the same thing.”
“Who’s that?”
“You’ve met him.”
“I have?”
Colleen grinned. “It’s Xavier, my husband. We married while still in college. Love doesn’t wait for anything, Troy. If you and Nikki are meant to be, nothing will stop it.”
&nbs
p; “We haven’t even gone on one date yet.”
“I’m just saying, this time next year, you could be married.”
“You’re teasing me again.”
“A little.”
“I hope Chuck McVie teams us up again someday; you’re fun to work with.”
“I feel the same way. Now, pass me that menu, I’m hungry.”
Chapter Forty
NEW YORK CITY, THURSDAY, JULY 18th
“This is interesting,” Erica said to Owens. They were back in New York and looking forward to speaking to Heather Gray. They had decided to meet her at the reception desk in the building’s lobby and escort her upstairs.
Heather hadn’t arrived alone; she was in the company of Jason Warwick. The two of them were holding hands.
Erica and Owens walked toward the pair and they disengaged from each other at their approach. Jason had driven back into the city only an hour earlier with a hungover Ted Marx.
“Mr. Warwick, Miss Gray, are you two a couple now?” Erica asked.
“We are,” Jason said. “And I need to speak with either you or Agent Owens.”
Erica looked over at Heather, who was staring down at the floor.
“Why don’t you speak to Agent Owens while I talk with Miss Gray?”
“Okay, but what I have to say won’t take long.”
“Do you need privacy?”
“No.”
Erica gestured for the couple to follow her to a quieter spot in the spacious lobby. When they were away from other people, Erica nodded at Jason.
“All right, we’re listening.”
“Um, it’s just that, what I said about Heather the other day, that I thought I saw her in Pennsylvania, that was wrong. I’m certain now that I was mistaken.”
“Are you? And what has brought about this certainty?”
The Appointment Killer Page 16