by Ty Patterson
‘I know how to contact them.’
Seven p.m. New York. Still on the twentieth day.
The city was unchanged. Snarls of fumes. Traffic like thick fat snakes. People in a hurry. High-rises lit up, reflecting the approaching sunset.
It was their city. Bear stretched. Chloe snuggled into him.
Zeb was impassive as his eyes flicked between the front and the rear mirror. Bwana and Roger were following.
It took forty minutes to reach Amy Kittrell’s home.
Forty minutes during which Meghan didn’t disclose how she would make contact.
Beth rushed out before they came to a stop and rang the bell.
Darien Kile opened the door, as immaculate as ever, the same smug expression on his face.
He opened his mouth. Beth darted around him and went to the lounge.
Amy Kittrell looked at her face, saw something in it, and rose.
Meghan arrived. Her face was shining too.
‘Ma’am, it’s over.’ Meghan saw the dawning light in her eyes and nodded vigorously.
‘The lawyer is dead. The cops know what went down,’ she spoke loudly in the room even though it was quiet. ‘Maddie and your husband are safe. They can return.’
The mom collapsed back, her eyes bright with tears that spilled and rolled down her face.
She moved her lips. No sound came out of her mouth. Beth went to her and clasped her hands.
‘It’s true. Your nightmare is finished.’
‘Something the lawyer said, stuck with me,’ Meghan explained when they were back in their ride, heading to Columbus Avenue.
‘He had Kittrell and Keyser’s phones tapped.’
‘Get to it,’ Beth cut in impatiently.
‘You remember, we never figured out how the father got our cell details, to send us those messages,’ Meghan reminded her.
Beth snapped her fingers when she made the connection. ‘He bugged his own home. He heard us when we gave Amy Kittrell our numbers.’
‘Aren’t you good! A bit slow on the uptake though,’ Meghan sniggered.
Beth’s phone rang as she was preparing for bed.
An excited yell came through and brought a smile to her face.
Maddie Kittrell had returned.
Chapter Forty-Two
Two weeks later.
The watchers in New York were arrested and interrogated. They didn’t have much to reveal. They were local thugs, paid to follow the twins and the men, and to relay reports to a cell phone.
The job had been arranged by a middle man.
The dead lawyer’s gloating confession was listened to in One PP and in Washington D.C. His movements, his backstory, his entire life was examined minutely by the cops.
A set of offshore accounts was finally discovered, buried deep under a maze of shell companies. In a deposit box in the Bahamas, a ledger was found.
The ledger was the lawyer’s insurance policy. It would bring down everyone who had used his services.
Events moved swiftly. Discreetly.
Several senior officers in some of the largest defense contractors in the country were quietly arrested. A raft of charges was filed against each one of them.
Prosecutors were rubbing their hands in glee over a slam-dunk case. Defense lawyers were dreaming of the fat fees they would charge their clients.
Dividing Zero was never mentioned.
Clare said there were heated discussions in the White House about its disclosure. The program had come into existence several administrations back; however trust in government was at an all-time low. That little trust couldn’t be risked by another shocking revelation of government misdeeds. The program would never be mentioned.
There was fallout, however.
General Klouse was tasked with coming up with a set of recommendations; to make the defense industry more accountable.
A four-star general in the Pentagon took his own life. His death received widespread coverage and on hearing some of his past interviews, Zeb stilled.
I know that voice. I met him.
The families of the Toccoa and Connersville men were given generous compensation.
Billy Bob Feitz was never found. He didn’t have a family to compensate. Several other names in Kittrell’s ledger were identified and their families received settlements.
Federal and state databases were quietly cleaned up. Several backdoor entry programs were discovered. It wasn’t just Dividing Zero or Kittrell’s software that had access to them.
Those discoveries spawned a new set of investigations that would ultimately bring down several criminal gangs.
Several Pentagon generals appeared on TV and exhorted whistleblowers to come forward.
Mayo and Kane collapsed. Spectacularly. The law firm was investigated and, even though all signs pointed to Kittrell being a rogue operator, its clients deserted it. Other law firms expressed shock and outrage in public. In private, their partners fist-pumped in joy and courted Mayo and Kane’s deserting clients.
Josh Kittrell, the husband, cooperated fully. Pizaka and Chang and a couple of other cops interviewed him at his home, the day after he returned. Beth and Meghan were in attendance.
‘Kittrell threatened me. With Amy and Maddie’s life. He said we were watched continually. If we made any attempt to contact the police, or anyone else…,’ he shuddered and hugged Maddie tighter.
‘Every word we spoke was listened to. Every so often, the lawyer mentioned something we had discussed at the dinner table. He knew which dress Amy wore. The color of Maddie’s socks.’
‘Making Maddie believe I was hitting Amy…hoping she would tell someone. Maybe her teachers, or anyone else. That was the only plan we came up with.’
He laughed shortly, with no humor in it. ‘It was a long shot, but then I didn’t have a lot of options. We couldn’t reach out to anyone.’
He paused when one cop returned from the depths of the house. He opened his palm. In it were several listening devices.
Miniature cameras too.
The husband had cached bundles of cash and fake identity documents in different locations in the city. ‘As a just in case. I didn’t have a plan.’
He had heard about Feitz two days before grabbing Maddie. A furious exchange with the lawyer had resulted in more threats. This time directed at Maddie.
The day of the grab, he had gone in early to the office and heard a voice. The lawyer’s. He was relaying instructions on his phone, unaware that he wasn’t alone.
‘Get the girl today. Then the wife. Grab the man when he leaves the office.’
‘I didn’t know Maddie had reached out to you that very day. I didn’t have any other choice,’ Kittrell ran his fingers through Maddie’s short hair. ‘I couldn’t tell Amy anything. I hoped she would understand.’
‘I didn’t,’ the mother cut in, with a shiver. ‘I wasn’t expecting him to disappear. Then you folks said he wasn’t who he was. My world crumbled.’
‘I couldn’t tell you anything,’ she apologized to Beth. ‘I didn’t know what was going on. No way to contact him. If I revealed something, it could endanger him and Maddie.’
She took the paper towel Beth handed and wiped her eyes. ‘I haven’t stopped crying. At least this time, they are happy tears,’ she smiled wryly.
‘Kittrell deployed the program on me,’ the husband continued. ‘I didn’t expect that. The only choice I had, was to contact you. Send you clues. Hope that you picked up on them.’
Pizaka’s jaw jutted forward. His shades glared at the husband. ‘You could have contacted us.’
‘No, sir, I couldn’t. My wife would have been next. Her collapsing and going to hospital probably saved her life.’
In the two weeks that followed, Amy Kittrell made a speedy recovery and resumed her work with Carey Landsman. Her husband was still at home, still piecing together his identity.
Darien Kile, offered to file a lawsuit on behalf of the family, against anyone and everyone. Lawyers did
n’t discriminate, besides, there was ample cause. Amy Kittrell brushed his offer away.
Maddie was a star in her school. She had stories to tell. Adventures to share. The school gave her an award for bravery.
She went with Peaches and Lizzie, Gramma in tow, to Beth and Meghan’s office one day.
She showed them the certificate. Gulped down the cookies Beth brought out. Played for hours.
She crooked her little finger as they were leaving and planted a kiss on Meghan’s cheek and then Beth’s.
‘Thank you.’ A wondrous smile followed and set the world right.
Meghan stretched and sipped her second cup of coffee. Beth and she were in their favorite hangout, the coffee shop, a block away from their office.
General Klouse had asked them to make a report of their investigation; that report was now mandatory reading material for several generals. A copy of it was with the NYPD.
There was a lull in Agency missions. A down time that Beth made full use of, by spending her evenings with Mark.
Beth was haranguing Meghan, urging her to date, when Meghan’s phone rang. She picked it up, looked at the number and frowned.
It was an international one.
She accepted the call just as the ringing stopped.
She shrugged. ‘You recognize the number?’
Beth didn’t.
Meghan rose, went to the counter and got a couple of pastries for them. She quickened her steps when Beth waved at her.
Her phone was ringing again.
‘Hello,’ she answered breathlessly and turned on the speaker.
The line crackled. A female voice came on.
‘Hello…Peltier.’ Words got swallowed in static.
Beth’s eyes widened. Julie Peltier, she whispered. The neighbor from Baybush.
Meghan nodded and shushed her.
‘…your message...couldn’t … earlier… hear me?’
‘Yes, ma’am. The line is bad –’
‘…poor signal…deep…country,’ Peltier cut Meghan off. ‘Amy … in New York…no contact.’
Beth started to interject. Julie Peltier’s call was unnecessary. Meghan stopped her again.
‘…sad…poor woman… Maddie…hope ...he…improved…deserves…happy.’
‘Could you repeat that, ma’am?’ Beth couldn’t hold back any longer.
There was no reply. The call had ended.
She dialed the number back. The call didn’t connect. An automated voice said the cell was out of range.
She sent a text message, knowing it was futile. Julie Peltier hadn’t replied to their previous messages. She didn’t seem to believe in SMS messaging.
‘That was weird. Made no sense.’
She didn’t get a reply. She looked up at her sister.
Meghan had a distant expression on her face. Beth knew that expression well.
‘What is it?’
Meghan rose, as if dazed.
‘Follow me.’
Chapter Forty-Three
Meghan moved without conscious thought; she snatched her bag from their table, the car keys, and walked out, nearly bumping into several customers.
She heard hisses of annoyance and ignored them. She heard Beth’s insistent questions; she ignored those too.
She drove without conscious thought, traffic miraculously bending and twisting around their ride.
As she neared their destination, she made one call. Beth gasped when the caller acknowledged Meghan’s question. Meghan hung up, ignored her sister’s shocked expression and dialed another number.
This call took longer; it too confirmed her query.
She reached their destination, parked, and walked up the small drive, Beth close behind her.
She took a couple of deep breaths to clear the fog from her mind. Sound returned. The city returned. Life resumed.
She looked at Beth; her face was pale, her eyes wide. Meghan knew she herself wore a similar expression.
We were so wrong.
She composed herself and rang the bell.
Amy Kittrell opened the door and smiled widely when she saw them. She ushered them in and led them to the cozy dining room.
Maddie’s pictures were on the wall, as were a few family portraits.
‘You are right in time for coffee,’ the mother gestured at a couple of chairs and called out for her daughter.
She poured with her left hand, pushed forward the cup to Beth, and poured another one to Meghan.
‘What happened to your right hand?’
She bit her tongue the moment the words escaped her.
Way to go, Meghan. You couldn’t sound any more accusatory, could you?
‘Softball,’ Josh Kittrell answered, as he entered the room, placed a baseball bat on the table, kissed his wife, and seated himself.
They heard scampering feet and Maddie burst in, uttering a yell of delight. She hugged Beth, then Meghan, grabbed a cookie and disappeared.
‘I didn’t know you played,’ Meghan looked at the mother.
‘She didn’t,’ Kittrell laughed before his wife could reply. ‘She does now. Maddie threw a wicked one and it struck her right shoulder.’
‘She has a strong arm,’ the mother said lightly. ‘She nearly knocked my head off, once.’
‘You never defended him,’ Meghan said suddenly when the small talk had dried out. ‘You did when Maddie was present, but not when you were alone.’
Amy Kittrell’s eyes flashed to Meghan’s face and fell away, in the silence that followed.
Josh Kittrell looked puzzled, switching his gaze from Meghan to his wife. ‘What? What are you talking about?’
‘Honey, you know what she’s saying?’
‘Your wife didn’t defend you, Mr. Kittrell, when we asked her about your beating.’ Meghan answered him and watched a dull flush appear on his face.
‘Where are you going with this?’
Meghan didn’t respond to him. She half turned to have the mother fully in her vision. ‘In all the explanations, a couple of points bothered me.’
The mother looked up and waited expectantly. Josh Kittrell leaned forward.
‘Your husband made plans. He stashed money, identities. He grabbed Maddie as soon as she left our building.’
‘Why didn’t he take you?’
The mother’s face whitened as she sucked in her breath sharply. Her hands started trembling; she hid them under the table when she felt the twins’ eyes on them.
Meghan turned her head at a sound; a chair scraping.
Josh Kittrell stood, his face tight in anger. ‘You should leave. You two have helped us, for which we are grateful. But you should go now.’
Beth didn’t rise, taking her cue from her sister. Meghan leaned back in her chair, utterly relaxed. Utterly ready.
‘Why didn’t you take your wife?’ she challenged him. ‘Sure, your phones were bugged. You had followers. However, you gave them the slip that day. You could have called your wife from a payphone. Arranged an escape.’
A muscle started to tick on the husband’s temple. The red flush on his face became darker.
‘Why didn’t Kittrell make a move against your wife? He could have grabbed her and forced you into surrendering. We all thought your wife was surrounded by cops. Surrounded by people. That’s why he got no opportunity. But that’s not the reason, is it?’
‘What are you accusing me of?’ the husband shouted, his eyes dark and narrow.
Maddie came running when she heard his raised voice and looked inquisitively at them. She turned away slowly and disappeared, an uncertain look on her face, when her mom smiled at her and gestured, it’s okay honey.
‘Did you check out Darien Kile, the lawyer?’ Meghan ignored the husband’s outburst. ‘He specializes in divorce. Especially divorce that arises from domestic abuse. Your wife was readying for a separation.’
Josh Kittrell’s head whipped round to look at his wife accusingly. Her head remained bowed.
‘You remember Ju
lie Peltier, Mr. Kittrell?’ Meghan didn’t let up. ‘Your neighbor from Baybush? We tried contacting her…she returned our call, finally, today.’
Kittrell’s nostrils flared and he breathed angrily. His finger pointed at Meghan. ‘You –’
‘She hoped you had improved.’ Meghan talked over him. ‘She said your wife deserved to be happy.’
‘That’s enough. Get out of my –’
Meghan didn’t heed him. She looked at him directly and continued remorselessly. ‘Your plan was brilliant. Making Maddie believe you were hitting your wife. Explaining it away to the cops, in the aftermath.’
She leaned forward, aiming her words at him, as if she could see their impact on his body.
‘You fooled us. The truth is you were hitting your wife. All along. You were abusing her.’
She waited for him to respond.
He didn’t. He stood there, a picture of rage, his harsh breathing filling the room.
‘The lawyer didn’t move on your wife, because he knew you didn’t care for her. He had bugged the house; he knew you were hitting your wife.’
The husband made an inarticulate sound; Meghan cut it off with an imperious hand.
‘Don’t bother denying it. Julie Peltier is a witness. The NYPD can find recordings from the bugs if they look hard enough. They will.’
Meghan looked once in Amy’s direction who still hadn’t raised her head. ‘You controlled her. She didn’t leave you because of Maddie. Maybe she feared for her life. For Maddie’s life too.’
She paused and when she spoke, her voice was low and soft, but her words were diamond hard.
‘You are a wife beater, Mr. Kittrell.’
Josh Kittrell exploded with a roar of rage. He grabbed the bat and pushed his chair back.
It toppled.
‘Bitch.’ He yelled at his wife. ‘I shouldn’t have returned.’
He took a step towards her and swung the bat in a wide arc.
Maddie ran in on hearing the commotion.
‘MADDIE!’ Amy Kittrell shrieked.
‘No,’ Beth yelled and dove. She grabbed Maddie and took her out of the room.