Cold Aim

by Janice Cantore

  The two men nodded toward Tess and then walked to where Livie was being comforted by Oliver.

  Tess hadn’t seen her come in, but there by the door stood Chevy. The teen looked Beck up and down.

  “You’ll never get away from me,” Beck sneered.

  “I think I already have,” Chevy said, flipping her hair and continuing toward Livie, Oliver, Flores, and Black.

  Steve tossed Tess a grin and continued out the door.

  –––

  Tess radioed Gabe, the officer on duty, to check and see if there was a rental car in front of the coffee shop. There was one, a large black Cadillac Escalade. Tess asked him to clear the area while Logan called the bomb squad to check out the vehicle.

  “Thank you for taking him away,” Chevy said.

  Tess nodded, still on edge and knowing that she would be until she found out the truth about the explosives.

  “Where were you two hiding?”

  “Livie has a panic room. There are monitors in there for all the cameras. We were watching when you came up the drive.” She sniffled. “On the monitor, I saw it was Cyrus in the car and we thought you’d betrayed us at first.”

  “No, he just threatened me with a bomb.”

  “Livie was going to ambush him, but I didn’t really want to see him, until . . . Well, when he was in handcuffs, he looked so much smaller than I remember. I opened the gate for Deputy Logan.”

  “He never was what you thought he was. There was nothing good in Cyrus Beck.”

  Chevy looked at her, seemingly unsure, the hard adult gaze Tess had seen at the shelter gone. She looked smaller and younger somehow. Tess hoped the girl would recover from this chapter of her life with minimal ill effects.

  Tess turned to regard Harp, who was sitting on the couch. Oliver had gotten her some water. The LAPD guys wanted to ask her questions, but she looked at Tess.

  “You know what happened, what that man did. He and his buddy Porter Cross killed Isaac Pink and his whole family.” Livie’s voice broke. “They were good people. He’s a monster.”

  “Yes, I know. But you couldn’t bring the Pinks back by killing Beck. This way, we are denying him freedom like he denied Chevy and who knows how many other women. Talk to these men; tell them the truth.”

  Livie nodded and gave the two investigators her full attention.

  By the time Flores and Black had finished with Harp, Steve let Tess know that the bomb squad was en route.

  He left to meet them in town, taking the cold case guys with him.

  “We’ll get the warrant quashed,” Investigator Black told Tess as he was on his way out. “I never thought she had anything to do with that killing; now I know for sure. Thanks for your help on this, O’Rourke.”

  “I’m just glad you can close the books on this case. My dad would be happy to see it resolved.”

  “Your dad? You mean Daniel O’Rourke?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Nice to see that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Good work, Chief.”

  With them gone, Tess was in a hurry to get Beck booked and to see to the conclusion of the bomb threat. But Harp had a question and Tess realized that so did she.

  “What’s going to happen to me now?”

  “You heard Black. They know you’re not a killer.” Tess sat on the coffee table across from Harp. “How on earth did you get to this place in life? How did you survive?”

  Harp was composed now, back to her confident self. “It wasn’t easy. I made it to Vegas on what I took from the Pinks. Got a job, went to school at night, and learned about computers. I worked my way up at a big casino as their tech person. I thought I’d pulled it off. But one day I was on the strip, and I saw someone I thought I recognized, someone who worked for Cross. He didn’t see me, but I was spooked. I quit my job and fled to Atlantic City. There, I met a man who was a lot older than me and I married him. For the first time I felt reasonably safe from Cross.”

  “I searched your background. I never found that you were married.”

  “Because his name wasn’t Harp. I was so freaked that for a while I was even agoraphobic. After he died, he left me a boatload of money. I used it to buy a new identity. And by hacking, I removed as much of my past from the public record as possible. I discovered that I had a talent for hacking. It was more out of a need for self-preservation because it was how I kept tabs on Cross.”

  “Wait.” Tess stopped her, something Bass told her about catching Cross clicking. They’d been tipped off to all the porn on his computer by an unnamed source. “Were you by chance the anonymous tip that tripped Cross up?”

  A faint smile showed. “Well, he was a sloppy man. It was only after he died that I truly felt alive. But in keeping up with what Cross was doing, I also found out what Beck was doing. He wasn’t nearly as sloppy as Cross. And he had Ice working for him. He really scared me. That was why I came here, to live off the grid. I was afraid because I knew Beck was worse than Cross.”

  She leaned back against the couch, closed her eyes, and stretched, raising her arms in the air. “Oh, wow, is it really over now?”

  Tess stood. “It’s over. He can’t worm his way out of this one.”

  Oliver stepped close. Tess could see that his brow was furrowed with worry.

  “Do you think he was telling the truth about the bomb?”

  Hands on her hips, Tess shook her head. “I don’t know. All we can do is wait and see.”

  Oliver brought a hand to his face as if he were going to scratch his stitches and then changed his mind.

  “What is it?” Tess asked.

  “I just remembered our conversation, a while ago. We spoke of Beck and evil and God’s forgiveness. I have a confession to make.”

  “Oh?”

  “Beck, so nakedly evil. Casually talking about taking innocent lives.” He held Tess’s gaze, pain in his eyes. “I saw no shadow of hope, and it breaks my heart. But I will pray for him. Because even though I can’t see it, I still believe God is able to break through to him.”

  Tess stepped forward and put her arms around Oliver’s waist, pulling him close. “That’s one of the things I love about you, always trying to find the good in people.”

  She felt his lips on her forehead and he whispered, “And one of the things I love about you is that you never give up fighting for justice.”

  53

  Cyrus Beck began his jail career at the Jackson County Jail, and according to Gabe Bender, who transported him for Tess, he complained and screamed for his lawyer all the way into Medford.

  “He says he’ll beat this case like he’s beaten all of the others,” Gabe told Tess when he called her from the jail. “What about Harp?”

  “Cold case guys cleared her.”

  “Wow. Wonder if she’s still going to be a recluse?”

  Tess considered the question after she ended the call. Her last glimpse of Harp was of a woman who looked as if the monkey was finally off her back. Her phone rang again—Steve this time. He’d returned the cold case guys to their hotel.

  “What do you think? Livie is totally in the clear. Good news, huh?”

  “Yeah, it is. And she’s got a new project. She’s going to help Chevy catch up on her education. It seems like Livie is inching her way back into society.”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  “You like her?”

  “I do. I know there’s an age difference, but she is very intriguing.”

  Tess smiled, thinking that they would be good for each other. “Thanks, Steve, for all your help.”

  “No problem.”

  She and Oliver were at the perimeter of the bomb-safe area, just outside Wild Automotive.

  The sheriff’s bomb disposal team had evacuated the town center. It turned out Beck wasn’t lying about the explosives in his rental car. It was indeed wired and packed with enough explosives to take out half of downtown Rogue’s Hollow. The bomb squad commander told Tess the reason it didn’t go off was that, for al
l his bluster, Beck’s device had a range limit after all.

  “The amount of explosives in that car would have leveled half your town,” he said.

  “What now?” Oliver asked.

  “I guess we wait.”

  A good hour passed before the squad defused the bomb and called all clear.

  Just before they climbed out of the car, Oliver asked, “Did you ever think that maybe Beck was bluffing and you should call him on it?”

  Tess rolled her eyes. “Maybe for a second, but there were too many lives to roll the dice. Besides, I had a secret weapon.”

  “What’s that?”

  “My favorite pastor was with me, and I know he was praying.”

  He put his hand on hers and smiled. Tess loved his smile . . . his green-gray eyes . . . everything, really.

  “I got more than I bargained or prayed for. Livie—or should I call her Heather?—is now free, just like Chevy.”

  “Yep, she is.”

  “What a big secret she’s kept all these years.”

  “True, but she proved something that I think I may add to my rules list.”

  “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

  “Big secrets never stay buried.”

  EPILOGUE

  It took time for things in town to settle down again, but the people of Rogue’s Hollow got a good start when Tami was released from the hospital. Shot twice, but somehow neither bullet hit anything vital. She had a lot of scrapes, scratches, and bruises from her trip downriver, but everything would heal.

  Oliver threw a coming-home party for her at the church. She thanked Tess for ending the life of Jim Smith.

  “He gave me no choice, Tami. But do me a couple of favors?”

  “Sure, what?”

  “First, don’t let Smith occupy your thoughts or life for another second. I think Oliver would agree with me. You need to let go of any anger or hurt; it will only affect you and your life, not Smith’s.”

  Tami’s eyes misted, but she held Tess’s gaze. Finally she said, “Okay, Chief, I promise I’ll try. Maybe Pastor Mac can help.”

  “I’m sure he would.”

  “What’s the other favor?”

  “Promise me that you’ll never go down the Rogue River again without a raft.”

  Tami burst out laughing and gave Tess a hug. “You have my word.”

  A month later, Tess could say that things in town were back to normal. Cyrus Beck had been remanded to federal custody, where he was going to be kept despite his plea to be released back to an ankle monitor. The judge was having none of it. At the bail hearing, bail was denied. It would still be a long time before the trial, but everyone in Rogue’s Hollow was happy to hear that Beck was behind bars and he’d stay there.

  One night while watching an old movie, Tess pressed Pause and turned to Oliver. “Would you work with Cyrus Beck like you worked with Don Cherry?”

  “That’s a little random, isn’t it?”

  “Not to me. I’m still struggling with redemption. You told me to keep asking questions.”

  He shifted on the sofa to face her. “If he asked me, yes, I would.”

  “Still think he’s redeemable?”

  “Not on his own, no. But with God, all things are possible, and everyone is redeemable. Does that bother you?”

  “On one hand, yes, it does. But on the other hand, I think if he did repent and change, like Cherry did, he could apologize to all the people he’s hurt, maybe heal some wounds, in a small way do some good. But he can never bring back the people whose deaths he caused. I guess I don’t want him escaping punishment.”

  “I understand, but even if he truly did ask the Lord for forgiveness and change, it would not negate the consequences of his misspent life. He is looking at a long prison term, maybe a death sentence. There’s no such thing as a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

  Tess grasped Oliver’s hand, realizing that as much as she struggled with men as evil as Beck being redeemable, it touched her deeply that Oliver believed it was possible.

  “I love that about you, you know that?”

  He smiled, brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “What’s that?”

  “That you can look at what looks completely hopeless and see hope.”

  “I can do that because I serve a big God, and with him there is always hope.”

  “Yeah, Tami, Chevy, and Livie would testify to that. So I guess the police chief can come around in agreement.”

  “Amen to that,” Oliver said and then leaned forward, this time pressing the kiss to her lips.

  –––

  Winter was coming, and the temperature reflected that fact. Normally, Tess didn’t mind the cold, but on this particular Sunday she was going to be baptized, so she whined a little about the cold.

  “Ah, my tough friend,” Oliver teased, “the baptismal is heated. You won’t feel the cold.”

  “I’ll hold you to that,” Tess said.

  She’d been baptized years ago, in her teens, before her father’s murder, but since Tess knew that she was rededicating her life, she wanted to be baptized again, and she loved the fact that Oliver would do the dunking.

  He or one of the other pastors did baptisms every fourth Sunday, so Tess wouldn’t be the only person, but when she saw the list, she was pleasantly surprised.

  “No kidding—Livie Harp and Chevy are also going to be baptized?”

  “Yeah, and one other late arrival. Garrett Cooper added himself to the list this morning.”

  “Oh, speaking of him, I talked to Win Yarrow about Garrett today.”

  “Good news, I hope.”

  “Yeah, fish and game isn’t going to charge him with any crime.”

  “That’s nice of them.”

  “Not really. There just isn’t any evidence. Blakely is dead; everything Garrett hid for him burned up.” She hiked a shoulder. “No evidence, no case. But I’ll tell you what is nice.”

  “What?”

  “Yarrow really surprised me. I always thought he was a jerk. But he did the nicest thing. He put Janie Cooper’s name in for the poacher reward money.”

  “You’re kidding!” Oliver’s eyes sparkled. Tess knew that he’d been worried about the Coopers’ finances. Twenty-five thousand dollars would go a long way to help.

  “Yeah, he wrote up a memo that just about made Janie sound like Superwoman, helping end a prolific poaching career. They should get the check soon.”

  “That will truly be a blessing to that family.”

  “You know, I would have said they didn’t have a chance.”

  “I know.”

  “And . . . I’ve kinda thought that about us from time to time. My friend Jeannie doesn’t think we’re a good match.”

  “Yeah? Well, according to Don Cherry, we’re oil and water.”

  “Really? Both sides of the spectrum count us out?”

  Oliver nodded, then pulled Tess close. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

  “No, what?”

  “We’re just going to have to prove them wrong.”

  She stood on her tiptoes, and he bent over and pressed his lips to hers.

  When the kiss ended and he released Tess just a bit, she smiled, holding his warm, stormy-gray eyes, and said, “Piece of cake.”

  1

  LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA

  FEBRUARY

  “999! 999—” Click. The voice cut off.

  Commander Tess O’Rourke was halfway to the station when the emergency call exploded from the radio. The frantic transmission punched like a physical blow. A triple 9—officer needs help—was only used when an officer was in the direst emergency.

  Adrenaline blasted all the cobwebs from Tess’s brain. Dispatch identified the unit as 2-Adam-9, JT Barnes, but had no luck getting the officer back on the air.

  She was early, hadn’t been able to sleep. Seven months since Paul left and she still wasn’t used to sleeping alone. After a fitful four-hour nap on the recliner in the living room, she’d given up
, showered, and decided to head into work early in predawn darkness, at the same time all hell broke loose.

  Tess tried to get on the radio to advise that she was practically on top of the call and would assist, but the click and static of too many units vying for airtime kept her from it. Pressing the accelerator, Tess steered toward Barnes’s last known location.

  A flashing police light bar illuminating the darkness just off Stearns caught her eye. She turned toward the lights onto a side street, and a jolt of fear bit hard at the sight of a black-and-white stopped in the middle of the street, driver’s door open and no officer beside it. It was an area near the college, dense with apartment buildings and condos, cars lining both sides of the street.

  She screeched to a stop and jammed her car into park as the dispatcher wrestled to get order back on the air.

  Tess keyed her mike. Voice tight, eyes scanning. “Edward-7 is on scene, will advise” was her terse remark to the dispatcher.

  She drew her service weapon and bolted from her unmarked car, cold air causing an involuntary inhale. Tess was dressed in a long-sleeved uniform but was acutely aware that she was minus a vest and a handheld radio. As commander of the East Patrol Division in Long Beach, her duties were administrative. Though in uniform, she wore only a belt holster, not a regular patrol Sam Browne. It had been six years since she worked a patrol beat as a sergeant in full uniform.

  But one of her officers, a good one, was in trouble, and Tess was not wired to do nothing.

  “JT?” she called out, breath hanging in the frigid air as her gaze swept first the area illuminated by yellow streetlights and then the empty car.

  The only sounds she heard were the gentle rumble of the patrol car engine and the mechanical clicking of the light bar as it cycled through its flashes.

  A spot of white in front of the car caught her eye and she jogged toward it. Illuminated by headlights were field interview cards scattered in front of the patrol unit as if JT had been interviewing someone and was interrupted, dropping the index cards.

  Someone took off running.

  She followed the line of cards between two parked cars and up on the sidewalk, where the trail ended, and then heard faint voices echoing from the alley behind an apartment building. Sprinting toward the noise across grass wet with dew, she rounded a darkened corner and saw three figures in a semicircle, a fourth kneeling on the ground next to a prone figure.