by Amy Reece
She accepted the file and flipped through the pages slowly. “This guy between you and Mel, Carl Taylor? He’s got a couple priors.”
“Yeah, but for protests back in the sixties. I really don’t think he’s trying to kill Mel. He helped me save her life, if you remember. Plus, what possible motive could he have?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll look into those arrests all the same. Now what about this Lena Torrance across the street? Boy, that sounds like a stripper name, huh?”
Finn chuckled. Chris could be frustrating, but she was thorough, which he admired. “There’s not much on her at all, which I don’t like. It’s like she didn’t exist before moving in across the street. She told Mel she’d been through a messy divorce, so maybe she’s going by her maiden name or something.” He was silent for a moment, remembering how he had reacted to her the first time they’d met. There was something about her—something niggling in the back of his mind—but he couldn’t quite reach it.
“Well, it probably doesn’t matter since she moved in after Mel started feeling like she was being followed and after her house was broken into. All the same, I’ll keep digging. I like to be—”
“Thorough. Yeah, I know.” He leaned back in his seat. “I appreciate all your time and effort on this, Chris. It means a lot to me and to Mel.”
She smiled and he was struck by how pretty she was; he’d never really noticed before, maybe because she was usually so stern. “No problem. I’m just glad to have my partner back. I was barely starting to get used to you when you got hit by that car. I sure wish you could remember something about it. I’d love to get the asshole who did this to you.” She gestured to his ankle.
“Me too.”
***
Two days later CJ still hadn’t returned and he knew Mel was starting to freak out. She worried the cat had been hit by a car and lay dying somewhere. Finn figured the cat had simply found greener pastures and moved on, although he didn’t mention his theory to Mel.
“Sweetheart, you had her microchipped and your phone number is on her tag. That’s all we can do.”
“No, Finn, it’s not. I’ll put an ad on craigslist today and post flyers around the neighborhood.” She looked at him as if she found his lack of interest in their cat a serious character flaw.
“And I will help you put those flyers up after work today.” He backpedaled quickly, wanting to remain in her good graces.
She rolled her eyes at him across the breakfast table, but smiled crookedly. “Thanks. I know I’m being silly.”
“No, you’re being a responsible pet owner and it’s admirable and adorable.” He stood and leaned down to kiss her. “I’ll see you tonight.”
His day seemed to crawl by; now that he was more mobile, sitting behind a desk was really starting to bug him. He wanted to be out with Chris, finding witnesses, checking out crime scenes; even boring surveillance would be better than this. Argh! He stood and walked across the crowded precinct room for a cup of what passed for coffee here, glad he could at least carry his own cup now. The only excitement today had been when Carl Taylor came in to talk to one of the detectives officially running the investigation. Finn had listened in and discovered that Carl had been quite the anti-war protestor back in the day, with several arrests and a felony conviction for assaulting an officer.
“It was 1968 and my older brother got killed over there in ’Nam. You better believe I was goddamn protesting! The cops started beating the shit out of us with bats and throwing tear gas. I was one of hundreds arrested. I haven’t been in trouble since, and I didn’t have nothin’ to do with setting that sweet little girl’s house on fire! Why would I do something like that? She’s been nothin’ but nice to me, bringing that little dog by to visit me of a morning.”
Finn frowned; he hadn’t realized Mel had done that. He stared at the elderly man on the other side of the glass, intrigued by the past he referred to. It was too easy to look at the older members of society and forget they were once young. This man had an entire life story to tell, if only someone would sit still long enough to listen. It appeared Mel was one of the rare few willing to take the time to do just that.
“Mr. Taylor.” The detective leaned forward, hands clasped on the tabletop. “Can you tell me how you came to be in Ms. Blythe’s house the night of the fire?”
“There wasn’t nothin’ suspicious about it, if that’s what you’re thinking. That stray cat got in somehow and woke me up. It wouldn’t leave me alone, and I got the message I should follow it. Don’t ask me how. I just knew. I saw the fire once I got outside and figured Melanie was stuck inside, so I went in. The door was open and that cop was already there, but he couldn’t lift her because of his crutches. I may be old, but I could still carry that little girl.” He paused for breath, then continued. “I want to talk to that cop what lives next door. You ask me, none of this happened until she started seeing that damn cop. Seems to me he probably has more enemies than she ever could. Nothing good comes of getting too cozy with cops.”
Finn thought Mr. Taylor had a point—his antipathy for police aside. It couldn’t hurt to look into any recent parolees from his past cases when he was in uniform. Over the course of his career, he’d put away some truly nasty characters. Was it too much of a stretch to think one of them might be out to get revenge on him through his girlfriend? “Shit. The cranky old codger may be on to something,” he muttered as he made a beeline for his computer. He spent the next several hours looking into the possibilities.
Mel had texted to let him know she was out with Cara for an impromptu girls’ night, so he accepted Chris’s invitation for a drink on the way home. It had been months since he’d been out for a beer after work with his fellow agents and it felt great, like he was finally getting his life back. The bar was crowded with off duty police officers, paramedics, and firemen/women, along with the usual crowd of badge bunnies trying to arrange a hook up. Chris’s scowl stopped two of them in their tracks and they were left alone to enjoy their beers in peace. As Finn watched them skulk away, something nagged at the fringes of his memory, but he couldn’t quite reach it. He sighed and took a large gulp of beer.
He refused a second drink, anxious to get home even though he knew Mel wasn’t there. He couldn’t be happier Mel and Cara were becoming close friends. It would make everything so much simpler later when he made her a permanent member of the family. He felt a huge grin creeping across his face as he let himself into the dark house. He had thought he’d be nervous about asking a woman to marry him, and he was, but he knew in his soul Mel was the one for him. If he could just get this damned investigation heading in the right direction! It was maddening, and he felt powerless to protect the woman he loved.
Mel’s little dog greeted him, dancing around his feet and yipping for his dinner. Little idiot. He went straight to the kitchen rather than heading to his bedroom to change and put his gun away. He’d barely had a chance to feed Fluff and grab a bottle of water when a knock on the front door surprised him.
“Hi, Finn. It’s Lena, remember?”
He remembered, of course. He’d been avoiding her for weeks every time she showed up to visit with Mel. “Hello, Lena. What can I do for you?”
“It’s about your cat. I think she may be stuck in my crawlspace, but I can’t reach her. Can you come over? I’ll bet she comes to you.”
Well, if he couldn’t solve the case, he could at least get Mel’s cat back for her. He pictured her face when she came in later and saw CJ curled up in the chair in their bedroom. Spending a few minutes with their annoying neighbor was a small price to pay. “Let’s go.”
He followed her inside her house, surprised to see she was still living amongst boxes with very little furniture. “Where’s the access to the crawlspace?”
“It’s back here in the guest bedroom.” She opened the door to a bedroom and stood aside for him to enter.
He could hear weak mewls coming from inside and hurried to rescue the cat. The room was empty
, save for a desk holding a computer monitor and a small pet crate in the corner. There was some kind of poor quality pornography with no sound playing on the monitor—what the hell?—and the mewls were issuing from the crate. Alarm bells began going off in his head. He was about to cross to look into the crate, sure it was CJ, when something on the monitor caught his attention and he leaned in for a closer look. The way the woman’s hair rippled as she moved was too familiar. He wasn’t looking at low budget pornography. He was looking at security camera video of himself and Mel having sex. He straightened, reaching for his gun, still in his hip holster. “What the fu—”
Pain exploded from the back of his head as bright, white light filled his field of vision. Then blackness engulfed him.
Chapter Twenty
Mel
It was close to eleven o’clock when Mel let herself in; she, Cara, and Izzy had had fun at dinner and the movie, and had gone out for a drink afterward. She’d planned to be home earlier, but Cara and Izzy had razzed her about spending all her time with their brother.
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Mel. It’ll do him good to miss you,” Izzy had said. “Besides, Janey is staying the night with my parents, so I don’t have to be home early. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for ruining my first kid-free night in over a month, would you?”
“Yeah, you need to stop pandering to Finn. Make him work for it, Mel,” Cara had added, laughing a bit tipsily.
“Why do I feel like I’m in middle school and my friends are trying to make me give in to peer pressure?” But she’d acquiesced to their demands to stay out longer, of course. She’d texted Finn to tell him not to expect her until later, but he hadn’t responded, which wasn’t like him. She’d managed to shove aside her momentary concern and focus on having fun with her friends. She’d rarely had friends to stay out late with, and she was determined to enjoy it. I’ll deal with Finn later. Surely he isn’t mad at me for staying out late? It didn’t seem like something he would do, but maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought. She pushed the worry to the back of her mind and let Cara lead her to the dance floor.
Finally home, she retrieved her key from her purse and inserted it in the lock, only to discover the front door was unlocked, which was also very unlike her safety-conscious cop boyfriend. “Finn? Honey?” She locked it behind her and set her purse on the entry table. “Finn?” All the lights were on, but he was not in sight, and the house had a silent, empty feel. Fluff scurried to greet her, but CJ was still nowhere in sight. She was surprised at how much she missed and worried about the stray cat. She walked back to the bedroom, thinking Finn might have gone to bed and left the house lights on for her. The bedroom was dark; when she flipped the lights on she saw the bed still made from that morning. “Finn?” She backtracked through the house, checking all the rooms while her stomach cramped with fear. Where could he be? All right, calm down! He’s a grown man and a cop. He can certainly take care of himself. You’re nervous because of the fire and all the rest of the crap that’s been happening. Finn is fine. She made herself walk to her purse to retrieve her phone. She called, left a message when he didn’t answer, then sent a series of texts, each more tense than the last.
Mel: Honey, where R U?
Mel: Are you mad at me? Please answer. I’m sorry. Let’s talk.
Mel: Finn!
Each message was delivered; none were read. It appeared his phone was off and he didn’t want to be reached. She slammed her phone on the entry table, halfway between worry and anger. Ugh! When she got hold of him she was going to rip him a new one! She never thought he’d be so childish simply because he was in a snit over her staying out late. Her anger lasted all of ten minutes before she realized she didn’t care whether he was mad or not. She had to find him. She retrieved her phone and dialed the person she thought most likely to know his current location.
“Hugh? Hi, it’s Mel. Is Finn with you?” She struggled to keep her tone calm and collected, not wanting to alarm him. “Well, do you know where he is? No, that’s okay. I’m sure he’s fine. Thanks.” She hung up and went to sit on the sofa, wondering who else to call. She worked her way through his other brothers and his parents, glad Finn had their numbers posted on the refrigerator. She checked with Cara and Izzy, as well, although they’d been with her all evening. No one knew where he was, nor did they seem terribly concerned. She tried to adopt their attitude, with little success. Although she knew it was silly since he couldn’t drive yet, she checked the garage to see if his Jeep was still there. It was, of course. God, where could he be? She sank onto the sofa, phone in hand, thinking he must be out with friends she didn’t know. She had no idea what other friends he had; he’d never mentioned any others in the brief time they’d been dating. She texted—again—but there was still no answer. She wanted to start calling hospitals, but realized it was a bit precipitous and he’d definitely be embarrassed when he found out. So instead, she turned on the television and watched a couple late night talk shows. She was probably overreacting. He’d walk in soon and then they could have it out.
She jerked awake when her phone buzzed. Finally. But the text was from Hugh. She returned the text, telling him Finn still wasn’t home; her phone rang seconds after she pressed ‘send.’
“Mel, this isn’t like him. Something’s wrong. I’m going to call Chrissy. Stay put until we get there, okay?”
“Yeah, fine. Thanks, Hugh.” She hung up and began pacing. It was now crystal clear Finn was in trouble and she was officially panicked. She had to do something, but what? She couldn’t just sit—or stand—there and wait. The man she loved was missing, most likely in danger, goddamn it! She had finally found the love of her life and nobody was going to take him from her! But what could she do? The neighbors. She didn’t care how late it was; she’d pound on their doors until they woke up and answered. She’d still be able to see when Hugh and Chris arrived, so she wouldn’t exactly be breaking her word to Hugh, either. She paused, hand on the front door knob, and turned back to the bedroom. I should take a gun. She didn’t stop to examine the urge, but simply trusted her instincts. She punched the code and opened the gun safe, retrieving Finn’s personal 9-millimeter handgun while noting his service weapon was missing. So he hadn’t had time to put it back before he went…wherever. It made her feel slightly better to know he had his gun with him. She checked to make sure the one she held was loaded and the safety was engaged. This is insane, Melanie! What are you thinking? You hate guns! She silenced those thoughts as she realized she would do whatever it took to help Finn. She shoved the gun in the back waistband of her jeans as she’d seen Finn do when he didn’t have his holster, feeling slightly ridiculous, but resolved. She was more likely to shoot her own ass off before she was able to even pull the gun on anyone. Why am I even considering this? The likelihood of me running into anything dangerous is about a million to one. I’m simply going to wake up the neighbors and find out if they’ve seen Finn. But she took the gun with her anyway.
She shut Fluff inside and jogged next door to ring the doorbell repeatedly. “Mr. Taylor? Carl? It’s Mel! Please answer the door!” She saw lights go on and a shadowy figure approaching.
“What’s the matter? What’s wrong?” He tied the belt of a ratty terry cloth robe as he groused the words at her.
“Finn is missing, and I can’t get hold of him on his phone, and it’s been hours! Have you seen him?” She hoped he could understand her rushed, frantic speech.
“I seen him get dropped off by that lady cop earlier.”
“What time was that? Do you remember?” She reached to grab his arm.
“It was around seven, I guess. He must’ve gone somewhere else after that.”
“Did you see him leave the house? Please, Carl! Did you see anything? I have to find him!”
“I’m sorry, Melanie. I was fixing my supper and I didn’t see anything.”
She could only nod; the tears she’d managed to keep at bay all evening were forcing the
ir way out. “Thanks.” She choked the words out and turned to leave.
“You want me to come over and wait with you?”
She shook her head. “No. His brother and partner are on their way. I’m going to go ask Lena if she saw anything. Thank you, Carl.”
She wiped her eyes and sniffed; this was no time to get all weepy. It wouldn’t help Finn. Please, God, please let him just be mad at me and have gone somewhere to cool off. She would give everything she owned if it turned out to be something as simple as a fight. She knocked on Lena’s door and rang the doorbell repeatedly. She was way beyond polite societal norms. “Lena! Open up, please! It’s Mel!”
***
Finn
My head is killing me! Where the hell am I? These were Finn’s first thoughts as he pried his eyelids open. He tried to lift his arm to his sore head, but quickly realized he was restrained somehow. Shit. Am I in the hospital again? Another accident? He managed to get his eyelids to cooperate and both lift at the same time. He cautiously looked around and realized he was lying on carpet, his hands tied behind his back. Nope. Not the hospital. This is not good. He tried to move his legs and saw they were tied together as well. This keeps getting better and better. Okay, think! What happened? He shut his eyes again and the events earlier in the evening slowly trickled back into his mind. Going out for a drink with Chris. Mel not home. Lena stopping by—Lena! That bitch! She did this! But why? She had lured him over to her house with a story about CJ being stuck in the crawlspace. As he thought about CJ, he realized the air in the room was heavy with cat pee ammonia. “CJ?” The words came out as a croak and he had to try again. He was rewarded with a feeble ‘mew’ and craned his head around to see the pet crate in the corner. Poor thing. He wondered if she’d been given any food or water. Then he remembered the video. He sat up and looked around for the desk. The video was still playing, apparently on a loop.