Ties That Bind

by Anne Patrick

  He cocked his head to one side and folded his arms.

  Jo took the sign as a challenge. "Our killer feels he was abandoned as a child. My mother didn't start teaching again until I was in high school so there would be no reason to resent her working. Also, Billy has a family and the man we're after doesn't."

  "You said yourself that profiling wasn't an exact science."

  "No it isn't, but I've been inside this guy's head, Austin. I think I'd know if it were Billy."

  "All right, I'll wait until we hear something from the Portland field office."

  She smiled.

  "You know you're the most exhausting woman I've ever met."

  "And you're the most pigheaded man I've ever met."

  "I'm sorry." He wrapped his hand around hers.

  "Me, too."

  He pulled her into his arms and she laid her head against his solid chest. "So have you managed to come up with anything in your search?"

  She leaned back in his arms, looking up at him. "According to local records, there was a James Edwin Ramsey, who passed away in Caldwell County in 1998."

  "You said this guy was on several of the flight manifests."

  "The name Edwin James was on all of them except the one from Seattle."

  "I'll give the names to the airlines. Have them notify the Portland Police if he shows up."

  "I know it's a long shot at best, especially since he used a different name on the Seattle flight, but hopefully we can get something on him from DMV."

  "I'll look into it."

  "You don't seem entirely convinced."

  "I'm sorry, Jo, but my gut is telling me that something is definitely going on with your brother. He hasn't been the same since you came to town."

  "Can you blame him? He thinks I deserted them."

  "Which reminds me, how'd your visit go with your mom the other day?"

  "It went okay."

  "Did you tell her why you weren't able to come when your dad died?"

  She shook her head.

  "Why not?"

  "It didn't feel like the right time." She wasn't looking forward to telling her mother that she'd spent time in a mental hospital.

  "I better get out of here and let you get some sleep."

  "Thanks for having me over. Dinner was great, and so was the company."

  "We were happy to have you." He kissed her lightly on the lips, and then got to his feet. "Don't work too late."

  She reached for her laptop. "I won't."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  As soon as Jo and Austin arrived at the office the following morning, she had Slim run the name through the DMV databases. While he was doing that, she called the Portland field office to find out if they had any news on the fingerprints, but they hadn't got to it yet. Once she reminded them it was an ongoing serial murder investigation, they promised to get back with her by the end of the day.

  "I've got thirty-eight hits with DMV on the name you gave me," Slim informed soon after she'd gotten off the phone with the Portland office. "I take it we're looking for one that fits the killer's description, living in this area?"

  "Right, and according to James Ramsey's death certificate, he was born in 1974."

  "Shall I go through them, or do you want the honors?"

  She figured he'd probably rather be out on patrol, and since she was bored, she took on the task. Grabbing a bottle of water from the vending machine, she took his place at the desk and started what she knew would be at least a couple of hours worth of work.

  She'd only been at it half an hour when Austin interrupted her. "Jo, I need you to come with me."

  She glanced up from the computer screen and knew from his expression that something terrible had happened. "What's wrong?"

  "We just received a call from Mariah. Billy is at your mother's house…He has a gun and he's threatening to kill himself."

  *****

  Austin sped through town, using only his emergency lights, while Jo struggled to keep her emotions intact, praying they wouldn't be too late. Moments later, he pulled into the driveway behind Billy's truck. Austin and Jo exited at the same time and ran toward the house.

  Not knowing the situation they were entering, Jo entered the house, her gun drawn. It wasn't until she reached the kitchen that she saw her mother standing in the backyard. She put her gun away and stepped out the back door ahead of Austin.

  Frantic, Liz McDaniels turned as her daughter approached. "Please do something, Jo. He's out there in the gazebo with your father's gun and he says he's going to kill himself."

  "Calm down, Mom, he isn't going to kill himself." Jo looked toward the gazebo, some forty feet from the house, and saw Billy standing with a gun in his hand.

  "How could you, Jo? How could you even think he had anything to do with those women's deaths?"

  "I never said he did," she said, keeping her eyes steady on her brother.

  "This isn't Jo's fault, Mrs. McDaniels. Billy's in trouble and he needs help. No one is to blame for that, least of all, Jo."

  Jo turned to face them. "Look if you two want to stand around arguing whose fault this is, fine, but I've no intentions of watching my brother blow his brains out. That's not really the homecoming I was looking forward to." She started to walk toward the gazebo.

  Austin grabbed her arm. "Be careful, Jo, you don't know what's going through his head right now, or what he's capable of."

  "You're wrong. I know exactly what he's going through." She twisted her arm free, quick to notice her mother's shocked expression.

  As Jo slowly approached the gazebo, she kept her hand on the gun inside her blazer, figuring that if he raised the gun to his head, she could at least wing him.

  "Stop right there, Jo. Don't come any closer," Billy warned, briefly pointing the .357 at her before raising it to his left temple.

  She stopped within several feet of the gazebo. "What are you doing, Billy?"

  "What does it look like I'm doing?"

  "It looks like you're fixing to blow the side of your head off, and I can tell you right now, Mom's going to be pretty ticked off if she has to clean up all the blood and brain matter you leave behind."

  He looked shocked, but he lowered his gun slightly, which is what Jo had hoped to accomplish. "I didn't kill those women, Jo."

  "I know you didn't, Billy, and I promise you I'm going to do everything I can to prove it. But right now, I need you to put down that gun before one of us gets hurt."

  "I wouldn't shoot you, Jo."

  "I know you wouldn't, but if you don't lower that gun away from your head, I'm going to be forced to shoot you in the arm or leg, and I don't think either one of us wants that to happen."

  "It doesn't matter, Jo. My life is over anyway. I've nothing to live for."

  "Sure you do. You haven't thrown me a welcoming home party yet." Her humor finally drew a smile from him. "Please put the gun down, Billy. If not for me, then for Mariah and the kids."

  "They're not here, are they?"

  "No, but think of what it's going to do to them when they hear their daddy killed himself. You don't want them to go through that, Billy. You love them too much to do that to them."

  He lowered the gun to his side. "I'm scared, Jo," he said softly. "I don't know what's happening to me."

  "You're just tired, Billy, you need a vacation is all. Since Dad died you've been running around here playing Superman. You've been there for Mom, Mariah and the kids, and at the same time, tried to keep your business afloat. Over a period of time the strain of trying to be three places at once starts to wear on you."

  When he didn't reply, she cautiously stepped forward. "What do you say I come up there and you give me the gun, and we sit down and talk like we used to."

  "We've never talked, Jo." His eyes leveled on her. "We barely even got along."

  She was taken aback at how pathetic his words sounded. What bothered her the most was that they were true. They hadn't been close since they were little kids. She forced a
smile. "We could change that, Billy. Will you give me the chance to be the kind of sister I should have been all along?"

  He tossed her a skeptical glance as if he didn't believe her.

  "Believe it or not, I've always admired you, Billy. You were my big brother. My protector."

  "You never needed protecting. You never needed anyone."

  "That's not true, Billy. I may have pretended that I didn't, but I got scared just like everyone else. I still do. When I left Claremont ten years ago, I'd never been so terrified in my life. I didn't know anyone in Virginia, plus, I was afraid I'd fail and I wouldn't have a family to come running home to."

  "I'm sorry, Jo," he said almost in a whisper. She then watched through teary eyes as he dropped to his knees, the gun falling from his hand.

  She could hear footsteps rushing toward her, but she waved them off and stepped up into the gazebo to take her brother into her arms. Years of resentment, frustration and hatred were released through uncontrollable sobs. She rocked him in her arms, trying desperately to control her own tears.

  Several minutes later she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders and watched as a pair of paramedics took him from her arms. "What are you doing, where are you taking him?"

  "They've got to take him to the hospital in Portland," Austin said. She turned to find him standing beside her. "He's going to be all right, Jo."

  She allowed him to help her to her feet. "I want to go with him."

  "Your mother's going with him. I'll drive you up."

  As much as she needed his support, she knew he was needed here more. "You have to stay here, Austin. I need you to find proof that he's innocent."

  "You can't drive to Portland in the state you're in, and besides, you're still in protective custody."

  "Then Slim can come with me. I need you to stay—"

  "No, Jo. I'm sorry, but I'm not leaving you alone at a time like this. Slim can finish up what you were doing. I'm coming with you."

  *****

  Four hours later, they sat in the lounge of the hospital's psychiatric ward waiting for some kind of a sign that Billy was improving. The doctors had quickly assessed his behavior as a nervous breakdown, but Jo had already known that. She'd been where he was. She'd felt the alienation, the paranoia, and the consuming feeling of fear as if the world was closing in on her.

  So why didn't she see it coming? Why hadn't she recognized the symptoms?

  She looked over at her mother who sat on the other side of the room, engrossed in a magazine. Mariah had been gone a good twenty minutes and Jo wondered what was keeping her. Had Billy come out from under the heavy sedation yet? Austin stirred beside her, and she turned to look at him. He was reading a magazine as well. How could they sit and read? She felt like she was going to start climbing the walls any minute.

  Mariah returned, and when Jo glanced up at her, she shook her head, indicating there wasn't any change. She took a seat next to her mother-in-law and picked up a book she'd been reading earlier. 'This is ridiculous.' Jo glanced back at Austin, then back to her mother. The woman had barely spoken a word to her since her arrival, and Jo suspected she still blamed her for the condition of her brother.

  Unable to take the silence any longer, she stood. "I can't do this anymore." Jo looked at her family members and then at Austin. "I can't sit around here any longer. I've got to do something."

  "Sit down, Jo. There's nothing you can do," her mother scolded.

  Jo met her mother's glare. She hadn't spoken to Jo like that since she was a teenager.

  "What do you say we go and get everyone some coffee." Austin slipped his arm around her shoulder. Jo protested, standing her ground, but her strength was no match to his as he half dragged her from the room.

  "They're doing it again, Austin," Jo spoke as they stepped into the elevator. "They're trying to shut me out, only I'm not going to let it happen. Not this time. I'm just as much a part of this family as they are."

  "I don't think anyone is trying to shut you out, Jo. They're just frightened for Billy is all."

  "They blame me for this. They think it's my fault he's in there strapped to that bed."

  "No they don't."

  "Yes, they do, and they're right, it is my fault. I should have been there for him. I should have seen it coming. I should have been paying more attention."

  "Stop it, Jo." He grabbed her arms and turned her to face him. "Look at me…you are not responsible for what happened to him. He had a nervous breakdown. You of all people should understand that no one is at fault. That it just happened."

  "Not only did I major in psychology, I've been where he's at. I should have recognized the symptoms."

  "And if you had, what then? Do you actually believe he would have been agreeable to seeking help? Be sensible, Jo, if someone had noticed the signs in you, would you have sought help?"

  "No, I guess you're right."

  "Of course I am." He smiled. "And you need to stop worrying about pleasing everyone. If your family wants to shut you out, so be it. I know it's not the same, but I'm here for you, Jo. I always will be, no matter what."

  She leaned against his shoulder; glad he'd insisted upon coming with her.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Austin stayed with Jo until the following morning when Slim arrived to relieve him. He'd tried to get her to come home with him, but she'd refused, promising to return later that evening. Her mother and Austin had slept off and on through the night, but neither Jo or Mariah could sleep, so they had visited most of the night. Mariah filled her in on the events she'd missed out on in the years she'd been absent from their lives. She talked of the children mostly, and there was a brief mention of her troubled marriage. Though she hadn't said as much, Jo suspected Mariah knew of her husband's affair. Despite his infidelity, it was clear she still loved Billy and wanted to work things out.

  Billy had stabilized during the night, and both Mariah and Liz had been in to see him. After their last visit, Mariah told Jo he wanted to see her. She stood outside his door, frozen with fear. Seeing him strapped to the bed the night before had brought back painful memories of her own experience, ones she had hidden deep in the back of her mind. She wasn't quite sure she was ready to face those memories. Though she knew she was much stronger now, and aware of her weaknesses, there was still that fear that someday she could snap again and be right back where she was.

  She peered through the glass of the door and watched as Billy sat up in the bed. He looked good considering all that he'd been through. Realizing she was being foolish, and that now was her chance to make up for all the years she hadn't been there for him, she entered his room.

  "Hey, little sister."

  "Hi, Billy." She greeted him with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

  "Better, now that I'm not in restraints. Mom said you spent the night, too. You didn't have to do that, Jo, I'm going to be fine."

  "I know you are. It's not like I had anything better to do." She stepped forward giving him a brief hug before taking a seat in the recliner next to his bed.

  "What about your job? I wouldn't want you going and getting fired after all your hard work of making a name for yourself."

  "I doubt I'll be getting fired. It's not the type of job that appeals to just anyone."

  "No, I don't reckon it is. I'm sorry, Jo, not only for the way I've treated you lately but for the way I behaved after Dad died."

  "Don't worry about it. You've had a lot to carry around these past two years."

  "Then you forgive me?"

  "There's nothing to forgive, Billy, I understand your resentment. All that I ask is that you understand there were reasons I couldn't be here, ones I don't wish to discuss right now. We will soon, though."

  "Fair enough. I guess I owe you my life, huh?"

  "The main thing is that you get better, Billy, realize your limitations and get on with your life."

  "You make it sound so easy. I threatened to kill myself, Jo. That's pretty serious."

&n
bsp; "I know it is, but these people will help you, Billy. They'll help you to understand what happened to you and how to deal with it. They can't help you unless you want to be helped though."

  He chuckled. "And here I always thought you were the crazy one."

  She smiled, knowing he only teased her. "Yeah, well I guess now we know it runs in the family."

  "So am I still being considered a suspect?"

  "I don't think so." She was certain the prints would clear him.

  "It's funny, when we were teenagers, you were always the one getting into trouble and getting picked up by the cops, and now you're an FBI agent, and I'm being investigated for murdering six women."

  "I'm going to clear your name, Billy. I'm going to catch the real killer."

  "I know you will, Jo, you usually do. I've never told you, probably because I was too busy envying you and the life you lead, but I am proud of you. I mean, how many people out there can walk around boasting that they have a sister who slays monsters for a living."

  "I wish it were as glamorous as you make it sound."

  "As long as you're happy, Jo, that's all that matters."

  "I am happy, Billy. More so now that I know you're going to be okay. You really scared me yesterday."

  "Yeah, I could tell. So, would you have really shot me?"

  "Yes," she replied without hesitation. "Only to wing you, though."

  "I don't know that I like the idea of my little sister carrying a gun, it's almost scary."

  "You're not the first person to think that," she said softly, recalling the battery of tests she had to endure in order to return to work after her own nervous breakdown.

  "Mom said Austin stayed here with you last night. Does that mean there's a chance you may be sticking around on a more permanent basis?"

  Jo had to grin.

  "What?"

  "Can you keep a secret any better than you did when we were younger?"