Operation Notorious

by Justine Davis

  How you already feel about her, idiot.

  He got out of the car, barely managing not to slam the door in his self-directed irritation. Cutter would probably yap at him if he did. Moore answered the door promptly, a bowl of candy in his hand, clearly expecting a trick-or-treater.

  “Mr. de Marco,” he said, startled.

  “Happy Halloween,” Gavin said, eyeing the bowl of treats. “Been busy?”

  “Not yet, not like it usually is. Must be the weather.”

  Interesting, Gavin thought. Unless he was bluffing, it hadn’t occurred to the man that the lack of kids coming to his house might be because word was out he was a murder suspect. He couldn’t possibly be that naive, could he?

  Then again, he’d raised Katie pretty much by himself, and she had that same sort of innocence, the kind that was appalled by evil and the last to see it or believe it when it arrived.

  “I need to talk to you again.”

  He kept his gaze on the man’s face, but saw no trace of hesitation or worry. “Of course. Come in. I have coffee on.”

  Gavin followed him into the kitchen in the back of the house. He waited purposely until Moore was pouring coffee into two mugs before saying, “Tell me about your wife.”

  The stream of coffee didn’t waver, but there was surprise in Moore’s voice when he said, “Kathryn? She was the love of my live. She made me a better man. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her.” He turned and handed Gavin a mug. “Kind of hard not to, since Katie’s the image of her mother.”

  “Is she?”

  Moore didn’t answer, but walked over to a desk in the corner, pulled something out and brought it back. “Back in the days before digital, when Katie was small.”

  It was a photo album. Gavin found himself strangely reluctant to open it, though he couldn’t explain exactly why. He’d dealt with families struck by tragedy countless times. This should be no different.

  Except it was.

  He made himself open the leather cover. Moore hadn’t exaggerated. The woman in the pictures was indeed the spitting image of Katie. Or vice versa, he supposed. It tugged at him in a way he didn’t understand, the image of this woman dead and gone for years now. It wasn’t just the resemblance, it was the pure happiness in her eyes, those eyes so like Katie’s.

  A bit belatedly he realized the little girl she was hugging so tightly was Katie herself. A sunny, bright-eyed child with blond pigtails that reminded him of the jaunty ponytail she wore much of the time now. Both of them were looking at the holder of the camera with such love it made it hard to breathe for a moment.

  He glanced up at Katie’s father and caught the shadow in his expression. It wasn’t the powerfulness of recent grief, but the sadness of long-ago loss and a life never put quite right again. Gavin was certain that whoever and whatever Steven Moore was now, he had once loved Katie’s mother completely. And they had loved him in the same way.

  Could a man who had inspired such love truly have turned into a vicious, cold-blooded killer? Had the loss of that love triggered something that had lain dormant in him, something dark and evil?

  But he’d still had Katie, and had by all appearances raised her to be a caring, loving young woman. Was that it? Was Gavin refusing to see the truth because of Katie? Was his judgment once more impaired because of his attachment to someone?

  It was all he could do to focus on what he’d come here for. He spent the next two hours trying every tactic he knew to shake the man’s story. He got him talking about random things and then zeroed in with a question that arrowed to the heart of the case. He acted as if he had total belief in Moore’s innocence, but then turned on him as a prosecutor would, slamming him with ruthless questions.

  When he was done, he was left in much the same place he’d been before. He had no more indication the man was a killer, but he also was more certain than ever that he was hiding something.

  Chapter 24

  Katie was glad of the chaos of wrangling nearly three dozen children. It kept her from thinking about last night.

  “That’s not a real hatchet.” A boy dressed as a zombie spoke to a smaller boy dressed as a lumberjack.

  “Spider-Man’s better than Iron Man!” Obvious who the combatants were there.

  “Well, if Spider-Man was honest, that string would be coming out of his butt!”

  Score one for Iron Man, Katie thought as she shepherded her flock of characters into the meeting room. She was gratified when all chatter stopped as they looked around the room. She, Heather and Roger, the maintenance man whose son was coming, had put on the finishing touches barely ten minutes ago. Gauzy, webby-looking drapes had been set in motion by a hidden fan. Spooky lighting, more ghosts, jack-o’-lanterns and a raven or two decorated the room, while haunting sounds played softly over the PA. The best part was Heather’s brilliant contribution—slipcovers that made the plastic library seats look like old, crumbling tombstones. The kids were awed.

  She glanced at Heather attired in Wonder Woman’s very recognizable costume. She had been so sweet, coming to her with the idea, but very hesitantly.

  “I don’t want to do anything that would upset you,” she’d said earnestly.

  Katie had given her a heartfelt hug. “I love you for asking, Heather, but I don’t expect the rest of the world to tiptoe around me. And it’s too clever an idea not to use. The kids will love it, and now I’m prepared for it so I’ll be fine.”

  Heather came over to her now, grabbed her arm and drew her off into a corner as the kids inspected the room and pronounced it a sufficiently spooky place to spend their Halloween night.

  “Gavin de Marco?” Heather stage-whispered. “Your lawyer, the hunk that was here, is Gavin de Marco? And you didn’t tell me?” When Katie’s eyebrows rose, Heather rolled her eyes. “Please. It’s all over the place. Half the posts in my feed last night were about him. With photos from the Coffee Hut.”

  Katie sighed. While the kids picked out their tombstones, she told the story of how Gavin de Marco had dropped into her life, all because Cutter had run off with her cell phone.

  Heather was surprisingly accepting of the idea that the dog had planned it all. “I’ve seen some pretty darn smart dogs. I mean, just watch those dogs that herd sheep and cows. Those guys are amazing. Can’t be that far from herding sheep to herding people. We’re just more stubborn.”

  Katie laughed, inwardly relieved she’d successfully gotten Heather off the subject of Gavin. She wondered what her friend would say if she casually mentioned he had kissed her.

  Would she even believe her? Katie barely believed it herself.

  “You make a great Elsa, by the way,” Heather said, tugging playfully at her braid.

  Katie smiled. “And you’re truly our Wonder Woman.”

  Once the children appeared to be settling, she headed up front to where one of her own dining room chairs had been placed, padded and draped to look like a throne. She swirled the long skirt of her light blue costume dress theatrically, and put on her best royal voice to welcome them all. She wasn’t a performer by nature, but she did enjoy this. She watched the kids gradually lose their feigned boredom and sophistication and get caught up in the story she began to tell them.

  By the time she finished the second story, a classic Edgar Allen Poe, they were rapt. She handed off to Heather, who would be giving them a more modern touch with a zombie story, suitably expunged for the audience, of course. And finally Katie came back with a reading of a section from one of the boy wizard stories known around the world. Then she handed out the appropriately decorated cupcakes and put on one of the films made from that series.

  By the time they were done they’d kept thirty-three kids safely engaged for nearly four hours, and counted it a job well-done. And when Heather opened the door and regular light flooded in from the hal
lway, Katie was surprised to see several parents already there to pick up their kids, but who had quietly stayed in the back and watched the end of the movie themselves.

  The children chattered happily as they headed out. Next year, if word got around, they might draw even more kids. They could—

  “I like the costume.”

  She whirled around, smothering a gasp. Gavin stepped out of the darkest corner of the back of the room. He was looking her up and down with an expression that made her very aware of how the light blue gown bared her throat and nipped in at her waist before it flowed down to her feet in a waterfall of sparkly fabric.

  “What are you doing here?” she finally managed to get out.

  “I believe you invited me.”

  “Oh. Yes.”

  But she had never, ever expected him to actually show up. She hoped she didn’t sound as flustered as she felt. And she was very, very glad she hadn’t known he was there. She had the feeling it would have turned her into a bumbling fool. Kind of like she was feeling now.

  I’m such a pitiful sucker for brains and dark eyes. And thick, shiny hair that has a mind of its own in that charming way. And that way of moving that speaks of grace and power. And why don’t I just drool on him and get it over with?

  Only then did she realize Cutter was with him. Once she did, as if he’d been waiting his turn, the dog stepped forward and politely nuzzled her hand. She scratched that spot behind his right ear she’d learned he liked. And immediately she felt calmer, or at least not so flustered.

  “Roger said it was okay to bring him in because it’s a public meeting room, not the library.”

  “Yes. Yes, it’s fine. He was so quiet I didn’t even know he was here.” Or you.

  “Well, well,” Heather said as she came back into the room, the last of the children safely stowed with their respective adults. “Look who’s here.”

  Gavin looked at her and smiled. “Wonder Woman lives.”

  “You’d better believe it,” Heather said. “I may be small, but I’m tough.”

  “‘Though she be but little, she is fierce,’” Gavin said.

  Heather looked at Katie then. “A man who looks like that and quotes Shakespeare. How could any woman resist?” Thankfully, since Katie couldn’t think of a thing to say to that, Heather turned back to Gavin, who looked a bit discomfited himself. “Although, strictly speaking, you should be in costume.”

  “I’m a lawyer,” Gavin said drily. “Many would find that frightening enough.”

  Heather burst into laughter. “And a sense of humor, too! Snatch him up, Katie, before someone else does.”

  “I’m sure Mr. de Marco could do much better than a small-town librarian,” she said primly. “Good night, Heather,” she added.

  “He’d be a lucky man,” her assistant said firmly, but she took the hint and left.

  “She was right.”

  Katie tried not to look at him. “Right?”

  “I’d be a lucky man.”

  Katie’s heart leaped, missing a beat, then hurrying to catch up. “She’s just soft for a man who can quote Shakespeare.”

  His voice dropped to a whisper. “What poet do I have to quote to make you soft for me, Katie?”

  Katie’s mind tumbled into chaos.

  “Inappropriate again.” His voice had changed to something tight, irritated. And somehow that gave her back the power to speak.

  “Didn’t Quinn and Hayley meet on a case?” Hayley had told her that at some point, but right now she couldn’t exactly remember when.

  He didn’t pretend to miss her point. “Yes.”

  “So inappropriate is your decision, not Foxworth’s.”

  “Attorney,” he reminded her.

  “Not the client,” she retorted.

  “No, you’re a queen. It suits you.” He glanced down at her costume and looked her up and down again before adding softly, “Although the ice does not.”

  She was surprised again, this time that he recognized the animated movie character so loved by young girls. Then again, the image was hard to avoid; the story of the icy queen and her steadfast, loyal sister had quickly become a classic.

  “We had a client with a little girl last year,” he said, reading her expression. “She was...enamored. I heard the whole story.”

  The image that formed in her mind then, of the famous attorney listening to a child’s version of the tale, made her chest tighten almost unbearably.

  “I’d better close up,” she said rather hastily.

  “Then I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, clearly not intending to leave her there alone this late. She appreciated that, even though it seemed unnecessary in this quiet, generally peaceful place. “I spoke to your father again this evening.”

  “I know. He texted me. Said he’d hate to be an opposing attorney.”

  “I was fairly tough on him.”

  She considered that for a moment. “But no tougher than a prosecuting attorney would be, if it heaven forbid came to that?”

  “Exactly.”

  She could see that it was necessary, although she hated the very idea that her father could be subjected to such a thing for real. But she wasn’t sure the cloud of suspicion wasn’t worse. He needed to be proven innocent, and there was nobody who could do that better than Gavin. So she couldn’t be anything other than glad he was there.

  Even though quiet and peaceful were not words she could apply to herself when he was around. She thought the sound of his voice when he’d asked what would make her soft for him would be with her forever.

  And she feared she already was.

  * * *

  He’d walked her to her car and was nearly back to his rental, pondering if he should follow her home to make sure she got into her house safely, when Cutter growled. He glanced at the animal, saw the dog staring into the shadows of the community center. The parking lot itself was brighter with the faintly yellowish glow from the tall streetlights. He wondered what Halloween character was hiding in the shadows. Then he recalled the dog had taken some pretty chilling costumes in stride tonight, without reacting like this.

  He turned, looking where the dog was focused. Saw a slight movement. Animal? Person? Something glinted, catching what light there was. Metal.

  A knife.

  A big knife. One that looked as if its job was carving up animal carcasses.

  Or people.

  He was still trying to convince himself it was only a prankster in a Halloween costume when the figure exploded out of the darkness. He got the barest glimpse of a black ski mask pulled down over a face. Red trim around the eyes and mouth. Male. Nearly his own height. That was all he had time to notice before the dark-clad figure lunged at him. In the same instant Cutter launched himself at the figure.

  The dog caught the attacker’s free arm and the man screamed, waving the knife wildly. Gavin dived at the man, hoping he could take him down while he was preoccupied with the animal who had a death grip on his left wrist.

  They careened back, the three of them falling into the shrubs where he’d been hiding. Gavin felt the scrape of a branch or thorn on his shoulder as they hit earth that smelled of damp mulch. Cutter snarled, a chilling sound. The man kicked out and connected with Gavin’s left knee. He ignored the sharp pain, then an echoing pain, sharper yet, from his left shoulder.

  He could hear Cutter, that snarl rumbling from deep in his throat. The man twisted, trying to pull free from the dog’s grip. Gavin heard the rip of fabric, then a grunt. A curse, low and harsh. If he could just get some leverage he could pin the guy, but the dirt there was too soft. And that damned knife...

  Somehow the man twisted free and got his feet under him. Cutter went for an ankle as Gavin tried to grab the man. Pain shot through his shoulder again, and he couldn�
��t quite reach. A split second later the attacker was running, Cutter after him. Gavin tried to call him back, but the dog wasn’t having any of it. He got to his feet and started after them.

  “Gavin!”

  He stopped dead. When he turned, he saw Katie running toward him, her costume gown sweeping after her. He didn’t understand. She should have been gone. He’d seen her safely to her car. He glanced in the direction Cutter had gone. There was no question, he couldn’t leave Katie there alone when there was some crazy with a knife running around. Cutter was on his own, at least until he could get Katie safely back inside.

  And then she was there, her eyes wide with concern. “What happened?”

  “Not sure. Guy with a knife and a ski mask.” He peered into the darkness, but could see nothing beyond the circle of light from the streetlamp. The park below the building was dark and quiet.

  “My God,” she exclaimed. “Are you all right?”

  “Fine. Except Cutter went after him.” He made a decision, the only one he could make. “Get back inside the building. Relock the door. Then I can go find Cutter.” I hope.

  “As long as you don’t find the guy with the knife, too,” she said, and he found himself liking the note of worry in her voice.

  “I just don’t want to explain to Hayley why I let her beloved dog get sliced up with a hunting knife,” he said as they ran back toward the building. He shook his left hand; apparently that flower bed had been muddier than he’d thought, since it was dripping off him.

  “We should call the sheriff,” she said as she unlocked the library door.

  “You can do that inside.” She stepped in, reached for a light switch. He stopped her with a hand on hers. “Don’t turn that on until I leave. I need my night vision. Now lock the door behind me.”

  She didn’t answer. She was staring at his hand. He pulled it back, thinking this was a hell of a time for her to get prickly about being touched. She spun around to face him, and he had the crazy feeling he was about to get chewed out.

  “You’re hurt!”

  He blinked. His brow furrowed. Sure, they’d hit the ground hard but the ground itself had been soft. And whatever branch or thorn had snagged him must have scratched deeper than he’d first thought because his shoulder was hurting.