Merry Wrath Mysteries Boxed Set Volume III (Books 7-9)

by Leslie Langtry

  "Ms. Wrath," he said in a hollow tone. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

  Was there? I couldn't think of anything. In fact, I'd been pretty good with sharing what I knew with him. Okay, so sometimes it was later than usual, but I did share.

  "No," I answered.

  He looked at the file and then at me. Leaning back in Rex's chair, he fixed a stern gaze on me. He might be a newbie, but he was learning fast. I started to sweat.

  "I've just received some information that incriminates you in the disappearance of Detective Ferguson."

  "You what?" My jaw dropped. "There isn't anything that incriminates me, because I didn't do it!"

  Ted chewed his lip. Then he checked his watch. He didn't talk at all. It was a good interrogation technique. I'd used it myself to great success. Stare someone down long enough and they will talk to fill the uncomfortable silence.

  I took a different approach. I glared back at him. "You'd better tell me what's going on."

  He leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. Apparently he got an A in intimidation at the Academy. I didn't care. If he didn't tell me what was in that file, I was going to take it from him and read it myself.

  "Oh no!" I gasped and pointed out the window behind him. "What's that?"

  He turned to look, and I snatched the file folder.

  "You tricked me!" he cried.

  My eyes were scanning the contents of the file. "Yeah, I don't know how you fell for that."

  There was one sheet of paper. It was a typed letter in a baggie. An anonymous note that said I kidnapped and killed Detective Rex Ferguson. I tried to dampen my outrage as I forced myself to read:

  Merry Wrath kidnapped and killed her fiancé, Detective Ferguson. He discovered a criminal element in her past that would send her to prison. She had to get him out of the way. I saw her do this, and I have proof.

  The letter then went on to say some rather unkind things about my physical features and insult my cats. They didn't need to say that, as the damage had been done in the first sentence. I sucked in a breath. Was Rex dead, or was that just another lie? It had to be. I couldn't go on if I thought that was true.

  I leveled my gaze at the rookie. "You aren't seriously buying this, are you? It's an anonymous note, for crying out loud."

  Ted's eyes faltered for a moment then recovered. "We have to look into every clue, Ms. Wrath." He nodded at the letter. "And that includes anonymous letters."

  "It's a crank letter, a red herring trying to get you off track," I snapped. "What about real proof, like the cabal meeting I recorded at Vy Todd's house?"

  "We're looking into that too. The Des Moines police are managing a stakeout. If something is going on, we'll find it."

  I narrowed my gaze. "And Rex. You'll find Rex."

  He sighed. "I'm sorry, Ms. Wrath. But I think it's time to remove you from the investigation."

  "Why?" I finally get to investigate, and I get yanked from that?

  "Because you are a suspect!"

  My eyes dropped to a pen set on the desk. If I wanted to, I could kill Officer Ted Weir four different ways with those pens. But then the suspicion against me would be justified. And if I was kicked off the official investigation, I could do it on my own. And I wouldn't have to report every move to the police.

  It was just that I was really excited about being officially involved for once.

  "Fine," I said at last. "What happens now?"

  "You leave, and I go and tell the team what happened."

  Considering that they were my team, I was pretty sure it wouldn't go down well. I got up from my chair and grabbed my coat, shrugging it on as I made my little walk of shame through the station.

  Kevin Dooley was dumping half a box of sugar into one cup of coffee as I walked past. He gave me a look that I couldn't interpret, but if I had to guess, it would be a smug one.

  "Go to hell, Kevin," I grumbled before walking out the door.

  I drove to Riley's office, used my lockpicks to break in, and sat on the couch. Since it might be a few moments, I decided to follow up on his bizarre theory about Rex and me having a previous connection.

  "Hey, kiddo," Mom answered on the first ring. "Any news?"

  "None yet." My voice cracked a little. "I have a question. Can you patch Dad in?"

  "Of course! Just a moment," Mom said, and the line went quiet as she went to get him on speaker phone.

  "Hey, Merry." Dad's voice was full of sympathy. "What can we do to help?"

  I wondered why Riley wasn't pulling up to the office in outrage of what he'd just heard. Maybe he had Ted in a headlock. The thought made me smile, but I went on with my query.

  "Have you guys ever met the Fergusons before?" I thought about what Riley said about Rex's and my paths crossing, and started with familial connections. "Maybe you'd met them years ago?" Hopefully it wasn't that we were related somehow.

  My parents acted as if this was the most normal question ever. "No, I'm sure we haven't," Mom answered.

  "I'd remember them," Dad said. "But your mother's memory is way better than mine. So if she says we've never seen them before we met them officially, then we never met them."

  He was right. Mom had a near photographic memory when it came to people. Which was why she was so good at being a senator's wife. She could mix and mingle with anyone and remember their name the next time she saw them, whether a month or a decade later.

  "Okay. Just trying to debunk a line of questioning." I promised to call them the minute I knew anything, gave them my love, and hung up.

  The parking lot was still empty. Where was Riley? Had he drunk the Kool-Aid and bought the idea that I was involved? Didn't seem likely. Riley knew me longer than anyone in that room, save for Kelly.

  And why wasn't my cell going off like mad? If they weren't here, they should at least be texting me to say how insane the accusation was. They didn't believe an anonymous letter. Did they?

  This was a huge mess. I wanted to go home, eat a gallon of ice cream, wash it down with my tears, and check out. But I couldn't do that. Rex was counting on me to rescue him. I knew he was still alive. And I knew I wasn't the one who took him.

  The anonymous letter could be a crank or from the kidnapper. Rex told me they get crazy leads all the time from the public. Some people try to capitalize on a case because they are lonely and need attention or because they are mean-spirited, and in some cases, downright nuts.

  If this was the kidnapper, why would they say I kidnapped and killed Rex? My stomach dropped, and I shuddered.

  They killed Lewis Spitz and Bobby Ray Pratt. What did the murderer stand to gain by killing Rex also?

  I needed to find Rex and now.

  I sat down at Riley's computer and started it up. A password prompt was easy to bypass. Riley always used the same password, LadiesMan#1. He never changed it. It drove the CIA's IT department crazy, but the man refused to come up with a new password (and to be honest, it wasn't that original). I typed it in, and we were off and running.

  The main screen had several icons, and it took me a moment to make sense of them. Open meant an ongoing investigation. And Done meant the case was closed. Possiblities did not refer to cases—it referred to women. Sometimes the man was far too predictable.

  I clicked on Open, and because he didn't have any cases, there was only one icon with my name on it. He hadn't progressed very far in getting answers. I found some emails sent to his contacts at the Agency, but no one had found anything out yet. He'd even queried the FBI, but they didn't even respond.

  After leaving the CIA, Riley worked for the Feds, briefly. There was very little love lost between our two branches, and since he wasn't a lifer, the FBI wouldn't cough up any resources. I wasn't at all surprised that they hadn't answered his call for action.

  And where was Riley? I checked my cell. Nothing. No one who'd been at the meeting had called, texted, or at least stormed out in outrage over the accusation leveled against me. I was sure my friends did
n't believe it. So where were they?

  I was the only one Rex could really count on. The police were useless in this matter if they believed random notes from anonymous sources. My family had gone home (at my urging), and my friends had other things to deal with in their daily lives.

  If I was on my own, I could handle it. In the field it had just been me and Riley, and in many cases where there was complete radio silence, just me. I was used to working alone. Over the past few years, I'd gotten a little rusty. But once a spy, always a spy.

  Okay, so no one ever says that. I just made it up.

  Should I text everyone and ask what was going on? It didn't seem right that I should have to do that. They should be on my side. At any rate, the complete silence told me all I needed to know. The only way to find Rex was on my own. I just needed a place to start.

  Movement in the lower right-hand corner of Riley's screen caught my attention. I clicked on the icon that was labeled WebCam. There were several icons, including the school, both grocery stores, and the zoo. Only one was open to reveal a hidden camera outside the one gas station in town. Why was Riley watching that place?

  I guess it made sense. We were half an hour from the big city. Almost everyone who came out here had to stop there to get gas or something to eat or drink. People often assume that because of the anonymity, gas stations and convenience stores are good places to use to hide out.

  The truth was exactly the opposite. Most gas stations and convenience stores had security cameras. They were the main defense against idiots who thought they would be getting away with something. Plus, I always suspected that the staff looked over the recordings when they were bored.

  The image was in black and white and slightly grainy. A woman was pumping gas, her back toward me. There was something familiar about her. Leaning closer to the screen, I studied her, but she didn't turn my way.

  She wore her hair in a short, dark bob, and the bulky winter coat gave me no idea of her figure. And yet, I could swear I'd seen her before. Finally, she went into the gas station. I waited a few minutes, tearing through my memories, thinking about her mannerisms, stance, and so on, but came up with nothing.

  The gas station door opened, and the woman walked toward her car and the camera. She kept her eyes downcast, but at the last second, she looked up straight into the camera. The woman broke into an evil grin. I knew that grin.

  Lana winked at me before she climbed into the black SUV and drove away.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  I ran out the door and jumped into my van, roaring out of the lot. The gas station was on the other end of town, but considering that everything in Who's There is five minutes away, I could make it there in three. Two if the roads were empty.

  The tires on my van squealed as I made a sharp turn onto Main Street. Lana had a few minutes' lead on me, but the way that she grinned at the camera told me she wanted me to know she was here. She had to know I'd follow her.

  Which probably meant a trap. And if I wasn't so out of my mind with fear and fury, I might've been a bit more cautious. But it had been seven days since Rex disappeared. And I wasn't taking any chances of losing her.

  I hit the gas station in two minutes, shaving time off of my personal best. I pulled in where she'd been and then drove off in the direction I'd seen her go. There were only two ways out of town, and she was on one of them, unless she doubled back.

  However, if she'd taken the obvious road, she'd be on her way to Des Moines by now. I had to take that chance if I wanted to catch her. Roaring through town, going 50 mph in a 20-mph zone, I dodged a squirrel crossing the street and got an angry fist shaking from a farmer driving a tractor.

  I was on the narrow two-lane road that would take me to the interstate. Just a few hundred feet more and I…

  Crash!

  The nose end of a car blew through my passenger door before disengaging. The van started to spin, and I wondered if I'd put on my seat belt in my rush to catch Lana. I decided that I had when I didn't go flying through the windshield. The airbag deployed, and the last thing I remembered was catching a glimpse of a damaged black SUV as my world went black.

  * * *

  I was dreaming. I had to be, because as far as I knew, they didn't make six-foot-tall Pizza Rolls. I was chasing them with a vat of ranch dressing, but they were too fast, which was strange since they didn't seem to have legs or feet.

  I had almost caught one and reached out to touch it when it dissolved completely. Now I was on a gravel road in the country, walking toward an intersection.

  I'd just about reached it when I saw someone coming toward me. It was a man with dark hair. He smiled as he drew near. It was Rex! I wanted to run and jump into his arms, but for some reason I froze, unable to move.

  Rex said nothing more. It was as if he didn't know me. He strode through the intersection, nodded at me, and kept going. My feet finally started moving, but in the other direction. I tried screaming, but nothing came out. I walked through the intersection and kept travelling on my own road as Rex walked off into the sunset.

  Then Philby, who'd grown to giant proportions and now resembled a Hitler-like five-story building, loomed over me. She scooped me up with her paw and brought me to her mouth. She opened wide and tossed me down her throat into total darkness.

  "No!" I sat straight up.

  There was no cat, no roads, just a nondescript room that smelled like antiseptic. I turned to look around and felt a crushing pain in my neck.

  "It's okay," a soothing male voice said. "You're alright."

  In spite of the pain, I turned my whole body to see Riley sitting in a chair next to my hospital bed.

  "What happened?" was all I could think to say.

  "You were in a car accident," my former handler said. "Hit and run. The police are out looking for the other car."

  I rubbed the back of my neck. "They won't find her."

  Riley cocked his head to the side. "Her? You know who did this?"

  I wanted to nod. I really did. But it hurt.

  "Hey!" I said. "You know what?"

  Riley asked, "What?"

  "Come closer," I said. "I can't see or hear very well."

  Riley got up and leaned over me. With all the strength I could muster, I went to slap him in the face but ended up hitting his shoulder.

  "You didn't stand up for me!"

  He sat back down and looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

  "Officer Weir! And that completely baseless accusation that I'd kidnapped and killed Rex!" I flinched at the sound of my voice. Even sound hurt. "You didn't storm out of there in indignation!"

  "Wrath," he said as he patted my arm. "No one bought that. We spent half an hour arguing with Ted about it. Your Linda put up one hell of a fight."

  "And?"

  "He's agreed…to an extent." He held up his hands. "You're still a suspect, but at the very bottom of the list."

  "I'm still a suspect?" I screamed. It came out more like the sound a strangled chicken makes.

  "Hardly at all," he reassured. "What happened? Where did you go?"

  "Back to your office. By the way, you should get better locks. I called Mom to see if we had any connection to the Fergusons before I met Rex."

  "My theory." Riley grinned. "You took it seriously!"

  "No. I just wanted to eliminate it. That's all," I grumbled.

  "Then what? You weren't at the office when I got there, and the next thing I'd heard, you were in that accident."

  I struggled to sit up, and he stuffed a pillow behind my back. That was nice.

  "It was no accident. I got onto your computer and saw the security camera at the gas station. I saw Lana."

  Riley's eyes grew wide. "You saw her?"

  I really wanted to nod but decided against it. "She had short hair and a big coat, but it was her. She looked right into the camera and smiled. I took off to find her. And she ambushed me."

  He actually gasped. "Lana is the one who hit you?"

&n
bsp; "It has to be. It explains why she didn't stick around."

  Riley frowned. "Why would she want you to see her?"

  "Maybe she thought I was moving too slowly on the clues? Although that doesn't make sense because other than Rex's cell, we didn't find a new clue in the classroom."

  Talking was taking a lot out of me. I slumped against the pillow and took a couple of deep breaths. I hadn't been in this much pain since I fell out of a tree a few months ago and hit every branch on the way down.

  "Why were you watching that place?" I croaked.

  He shrugged. "It's the most obvious spot in town. Everyone stops there at one time or another."

  Of course he knew that. If I knew that, Riley knew that.

  He got up and closed the door. "You really think you saw her?"

  I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean, 'think'? Of course I saw her! Go get the footage from the gas station!"

  "I don't have to. I'm recording the footage from all of my hidden cameras," Riley said as a nurse came in and injected something into my IV.

  "No more drugs," I complained weakly.

  The nurse fluffed my pillow. "I promised Kelly Albers that I'd make sure you rest."

  "You're friends with Kelly?"

  The woman nodded. "We went to nursing school together. I'm Joyce."

  She left, and I felt wobbly. The room wiggled menacingly.

  Riley got to his feet. "Sleep it off. I'll be back. I just need to get that footage. See you soon." He kissed my forehead, but I was too weak to complain. Seconds later, I lost consciousness.

  * * *

  I was dreaming again. I was in an all-black room. In the center of the room, about one hundred yards away, was a trumpet on a table. Rex appeared out of nowhere…walked up to the trumpet and played it. Huh. I didn't know he could do that. I started walking toward him, but when I was still a couple of yards away, he set it down and, giving me a polite smile, vanished into thin air.