Cold Truth

17

“Cass!” Regan hurried across the parking lot to catch up with the angry detective before she could hop into a car and speed off.

“You don’t have to run, Regan,” Cass told her flatly when the two women were within twenty feet of each other. “I don’t have a car here. I came right from the hospital this morning with Rick.”

“Look, I know you’re upset…”

“Oh, please,” Cass muttered under her breath.

“This is a bad time for you, I understand that. With all that’s going on here in Bowers Inlet, your cousin being attacked, then you getting taken off your case-”

“I need to get to the hospital,” Cass cut her off. “Will you drive me?”

“Where is it you want to go?” Rick asked as he approached her.

“I need to check on Lucy.” Cass leaned against Rick’s car.

“You have a phone on you,” he pointed out. “Use it.”

“I want to see her.”

“If her condition hasn’t changed since this morning, there’s no point in spending another few hours sitting in that hospital room, glaring at Lucy’s husband, and having him glare back at you.” His tone softened. “You haven’t eaten since… when? When was your last meal?”

“Sunday sometime. Lunch, maybe. I don’t know.”

“And you last slept when?”

“Saturday night.”

“Look, you put a call in to the hospital. If Lucy is awake, I’ll drive you over. If not, you’ll come with us and get some lunch, and we’ll figure out where you’re going to stay.”

They stared at each other for a long moment before Cass took her phone from her bag and dialed the number for the hospital. She meandered around the car, speaking softly. When she completed the call, she dropped the phone back into her bag.

“She’s still not awake,” she told the three who waited by Rick’s car.

“We can grab some lunch… you have a favorite place?” Rick opened the passenger door for her.

She shook her head.

“Then let’s go back to the inn where I’m staying. The restaurant there is pretty good. I imagine Regan is ready for lunch, and I’ve yet to see Peyton here turn down good seafood. Or any food, now that I think about it.”

Mitch nodded as he unlocked his car. “Lead on. We’ll follow you.”

“Any chance I can go home and get a change of clothes and some things I’ll need?” Cass asked Rick as she got into the passenger seat.

“How about we stop after lunch and see what’s going on over there? I’m sure they have someone from the department at your house until the scene has been processed. Maybe by then they’ll be finished and you’ll be able to slip in and grab a few things.”

“All right.” She leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes.

“You okay?”

“Yes. Just…” She sought the word.

“Tired? Overwhelmed? Pissed off?”

“All of the above.”

Rick eased onto the street and into the line of traffic.

“I know this has been hard on you. The attack on Lucy, in particular. And I know you have to be beyond pissed at your chief.” He checked the rearview mirror to ensure that Mitch was following. He was.

“You have no idea.”

“Of course I do. Don’t think you’re the only person who’s ever been plucked from a plum case in the middle of it.”

“This is my case.” Her jaw tightened. “I don’t appreciate being tossed off it. What am I supposed to do while you and everyone else is working on it?”

“ Denver told you to take a few days off.”

“And do what?” She was beginning to steam again.

“He asked me to keep an eye on you.”

“What? That is the last straw,” she growled. “I can’t believe he did that. I do not need a baby-sitter. No offense, but I don’t need to be-”

“Of course you don’t. But if you’ll calm down for a second, I think you’ll see that this can work to your advantage.” He put on his right turn signal to alert Mitch to the upcoming turn into the parking lot.

“How do you figure?”

“I’m supposed to stick with you, but I’m also supposed to be working the case. Well, hell, I can’t be in two places at once. Our profiler will be here. She’ll want all the information on all of the victims. Who better to tell her about Lucy? And who better to tell her about the other crime scenes? You were there. You’ll have insights into this that no one else could have.”

“I don’t want to be off the case. I want to work.”

“I can appreciate that. But right now, this is what we have to work with. You can play a big part in this still. Just not on the clock.” He pulled into the lot and parked.

“He shouldn’t have taken me off the case.”

“Well, I have to disagree with you there.” Rick got out of the car and waved Mitch toward an empty parking space.

“You what?” Cass swung open her door, hopped out, then slammed the door for emphasis and glared at him over the roof.

“I think Denver has a point,” Rick said calmly. “I think the killer is highly pissed off right now, and the person who pissed him off is the person most likely to incur his most immediate wrath. And since that person is you, I think Denver was right to put you in the background for a while.”

“I thought you just said you knew what it was like to be yanked off a good case.”

“I did say that. And I do know what it feels like. It sucks. But in this case, it’s not unreasonable.” He rounded the car to her side. “This is one mean son of a bitch we’re after here, Cass. Now, I have no doubt that you can handle yourself damn well. You did an admirable job scaring him off last night. You saved Lucy’s life. And I’d be willing to bet real Yankee dollars that you gave him a damned good scare. But all of that does not change the fact that he’s mightily pissed at you. I think your department needs you. I think Lucy needs you. We cannot afford to let him get to you. And he will try, the first chance he gets. If I have to wear you in my back pocket until we get our hands on him, that’s where you’ll stay until this is over. I’d rather have you actively involved in the investigation, and I’ve already told you how you can do that. The choice is yours. You can work with me behind the scenes, or you can pout and go sit in a room someplace until this is over. Your choice.”

Cass stared at him, her expression unreadable.

“Like I said, Cass. Your choice,” he repeated.

They both turned at the sound of Mitch’s car doors slamming.

“This is lovely,” Regan was saying as she got out of the sedan. “What a beautiful old inn.”

“It’s a great place to stay. Nice room. Ocean view. Quiet.” Rick glanced at his watch. “If we hurry, we can make the end of the lunch hours. They stop serving at two.”

He turned to Cass.

“What’s it going to be?”

“I guess the crab cakes,” she told him, and without looking back, fell in step with Regan and Mitch.

“Which way is the dining room?” Mitch asked.

“Straight through the lobby,” Rick replied. But once they stepped inside, he paused in the doorway, then directed the others to go on in and get a table. “I’ll only be a minute.”

It was closer to five minutes, but Rick joined the others as the waitress was passing out menus. Mitch appeared to be on the verge of comment, but said nothing.

“I’m assuming all the seafood entrées are good,” Regan was saying.

“You can’t miss with any of them. I had the sea bass the other day, and have had the soft-shell crabs and one of the soups,” Rick told them. “All pretty terrific.”

“Nothing like what you get back home in Texas, eh?” Mitch closed his menu and placed it on the table.

“Nothing at all like Texas,” Rick agreed.

“That’s where you’re from, Texas?” Cass asked.

Rick nodded.

“You don’t seem to have much of an accent,” she noted.

“I’m from there, but I haven’t lived there for some time.”

“I see,” Cass said, but Rick doubted that she did. He just wasn’t up to talking about the years of New En-gland boarding schools. He wasn’t in all that good a mood to begin with.

The waitress reappeared, took their orders, and promised to be back in a flash with their iced teas.

“By the way, I spoke with Annie McCall,” Rick announced. “She’ll be joining us tomorrow afternoon.”

“That’s as soon as she can get here?” Mitch asked.

“She’s wrapping up something else today. Tomorrow is the best she can do.”

“Who’s Annie McCall?” Regan asked.

“Anne Marie McCall. Dr. McCall. She’s our favorite profiler,” Mitch explained. “Not to mention the best I’ve ever worked with.”

“What makes her the best?” Cass unfolded her napkin and rested it on her lap.

“She’s a psychologist, but besides being book smart, she’s a real master at understanding behavior. Especially aberrant behavior,” Rick told her. “She’s really good at putting the pieces together. You’ll see when you meet her.”

“I’d like to meet her, too.” Regan frowned. “I’m sorry I’m going to miss her.”

“We can always drive back tomorrow, if you’d like. I want to be part of the sit-down with her,” Mitch said. “You’re welcome to come along.”

“The sit-down?” Cass leaned back to permit the waitress to serve her drink.

“The preliminary meeting we have where we toss around whatever information we have. We’ll give her a chance to review the records, the interviews, the lab reports, all of that, but we like to discuss the cases informally. Some of our best insights come from those moments of idle chatter.”

“It hardly sounds idle,” Regan noted.

“I guess unstructured is probably a more accurate term,” Mitch said. “It’s sort of a brainstorming session.”

“Any chance I could be a part of that, too?” Cass asked.

Rick nodded. “Absolutely. You will be the star witness. We can’t have that powwow without you.”

Cass looked momentarily pleased, the guarded expression she’d been wearing lifting a little. Then she asked, “And after she leaves? Will I still be invited to the powwows?”

“You’ll know everything that’s going on when I do,” Rick promised.

“That wasn’t the question.”

“No, but that’s the answer.” He handed his menu to the waitress. “I think we’re all ready to order. Cass? Regan?”

Orders were placed and glasses replenished. The conversation drifted from the current investigation to the information Regan had found in her father’s files.

“That’s really interesting,” Cass said. “You write books about old cases and try to solve them at the same time? How many have you solved?”

“On my own, none.” Regan smiled. “But my dad had quite a record.”

“I’ve never read any of his books, but I will definitely look for them.”

“I’ll try to remember to bring you a few.”

“Thanks, Regan. That’s nice of you. And it does appear I’ll have some time on my hands, so maybe I’ll even get to read a couple of them.” Cass turned to Rick and asked, as if it had just occurred to her, “When do you suppose I can move back to my house?”

“I don’t know. We’ll look into that later. After we eat. You’re not the only one who missed out on dinner last night, you know.”

“I saw you nursing that bag of chips from the vending machine this morning, so don’t even pretend that you haven’t eaten in days.” Cass almost smiled.

“A snack-sized bag of potato chips doesn’t count for anything. It doesn’t even rate a true snack designation, and it sure as hell did not make up for the dinner and the breakfast I didn’t have.”

“Here.” Mitch passed the basket of soft rolls to Rick. “I realize they’re not organic stone-ground whole wheat, and God knows they probably aren’t as good as the ones you make in your little kitchen, but you can buck up, just this once, and eat what the rest of us eat.”

Rick grinned, and without comment buttered a roll, which he proceeded to devour.

“You make your own?” Cass pointed to the basket.

Rick nodded. “I have on occasion made my own bread. Not very often, but I have done it. Much to the amusement of some of my fellow agents, I might add.”

“You never should have mentioned it,” Mitch told him.

“What was I thinking?” Rick shook his head good-naturedly.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Cass asked.

“My grandmother baked every day. Cakes, cookies, breads-all from scratch. I often stayed with her when I was little. She said everyone should know how to bake their own bread and do their own taxes. So I learned both at an early age.”

The waitress brought salads, and Cass picked at hers, watching Rick out of the corner of her eye, and tried to envision those large hands kneading a mound of dough.

“So, what’s on the agenda this afternoon?” Mitch asked.

“Well, I’m going to get copies of everything we have and make a file up for Annie, then I’ll have it sent to her overnight. That way she’ll have a head start on the case before she gets here. I’ll check in with the lab.” Rick hesi-tated, then turned to Cass. “Do you think your friend Tasha would get copies of all the lab reports for us? We still don’t have the ME’s report from the victim on the dock.”

Cass nodded. “I’m sure she’ll give us whatever she has.”

“Even if you’re off the case?” he asked.

“Especially if I’m off the case.”

“Can you give her a call?”

“Now?”

“Yes. But the reception is poor in here. You’ll have to take the phone into the lobby.”

“I’ll be right back.” Cass picked up her bag and left the room.

“Is the reception in here really that bad, or were you trying to get rid of her for a few?” Mitch asked.

“Both, actually. While I was in the lobby, I switched rooms from a single to a two-bedroom suite with a sitting room between.”

“You move fast. I had no idea you were such a player,” Mitch said wryly.

“Hey, this is strictly in the interest of justice. She needs a place to stay, and she needs to stay where I can keep an eye on her. She won’t like it, but neither of us has much of a choice. I figure she’s got another twenty, thirty minutes in her, tops, before she just flat-out collapses. The woman is running on empty right now. I just wanted to make sure she was taken care of when she hits the wall.”

“Considerate of you.” Mitch still bore the slightest trace of a grin, which Rick chose to ignore.

“She’s going to want things from her house. Regan, can you go over with me later to pick out some clothes that you think she might need over the next few days? And some… stuff. Whatever stuff it is that women use.”

“Sure. I’d be happy to. But why don’t you take Cass?”

“Because I think she’ll be out cold before too much longer. I’d like her to have her things here when she wakes up. And I don’t think she should be in that house right now.”

“She doesn’t strike me as the squeamish type, Rick,” Regan noted.

“I don’t mean to imply that she is. But I think there’s a possibility the killer might be watching her house. In that case, he could easily follow her. Let’s keep her whereabouts under wraps for at least twenty-four hours, if possible. Give her a chance to rest before the real crazy stuff begins.”

“What crazy stuff?”

“I expect that by this time tomorrow, the chief will have a viable list of names. That, along with Annie’s imput, should put us closer to a suspect. Sooner or later, this guy will strike again. I think it’s all going to begin to boil over within the next few days.”

He looked up as Cass entered the room and headed for the table.

“And, unless I’m mistaken, I expect we’ll have him in our crosshairs by the end of the week. Until then, one of our priorities is to keep her out of his.”

“You’re going to keep me out of what?” Cass slid into her seat.

“We’re going to keep you out of harm’s way,” Rick told her.

“Nice of you.”

“What did Tasha have to say?”

“She’ll drop a copy of everything she has to you here. I didn’t know where I’d be staying.” Cass smiled up at the waitress, who began to serve their entrées. “I thought if she dropped them off to you, we’d all see them.”

Rick nodded. “Good thinking.”

“Wow. A whole meal.” Cass blinked at the plate that was set before her. “Vegetables and everything.”

“Let’s see how much of it you can eat before you fall asleep.”

“This will only serve to revive me, Agent Cisco,” Cass told him.

Rick smiled. He doubted she’d make it through dessert.

She did, but barely. Halfway through her cheesecake, Cass was struggling to keep her eyes open.

“You okay there?” Rick asked.

“I think I’d like a cup of coffee,” she replied.

“How about a nap?”

“I’ll be fine. A little caffeine…”

“Cass, I took the liberty of getting a room for you. It’s actually part of my suite on the second floor. Your own bathroom. Balcony, with a view of the ocean. I’ll give you the key and walk you up. You need to get some sleep.”

“I need to get some things from my house, then we’ll see.”

“Regan will get you what you need.”

“She doesn’t know where anything is.”

“You could tell me while we’re on our way upstairs,” Regan told her. “I’d be happy to get whatever you want. But Rick is right. You need to rest for a little while.”

“What if Lucy wakes up? I won’t know…”

“I’ll have the hospital put a call in to me and I’ll come right in and wake you the minute I hear from them,” Rick said.

“Promise?”

“Absolutely.” Rick took Cass’s arm and helped her stand.

Regan grabbed Cass’s bag and followed Rick to the stairwell. Mitch stayed behind to take care of their bill.

“You know I must be tired if I’m not arguing with you over this,” Cass told Rick as they climbed the steps. “All of a sudden, I can’t keep my eyes open.”

“It’s your body’s way of insisting you let it rest for a while.” Rick steered her in the direction of his rooms. He unlocked the door and led her and Regan inside.

“See, nice sitting room here. This door opens into your room.”

“Where do you stay?”

“That door over there is my bedroom.” He opened her door and motioned to Regan to follow Cass inside. “Cass, Regan is going to help you get settled. If you need anything, you let me know. I’ll be right outside.”

She nodded and disappeared into the room with Regan, who emerged less than five minutes later.

“She’s out cold. Are you sure you didn’t slip something into her food?” Regan asked softly.

“I didn’t have to. She was wobbly in the chief’s office. I’m surprised she lasted through lunch.”

“So, what’s next?”

“Next is you and me go to her house and pick up whatever it is she’ll need for the next few days.” Rick opened the door to the hall and looked in the direction of the stairs. “As soon as Mitch gets here, we can go.”

“You look a little beat yourself,” Regan noted. “Why not stay here and get some sleep. Mitch and I can find the house and get Cass’s things.”

“I want to see how the investigation is going there. And I want to look around the house, make sure nothing was missed. Then we’ll come back and I’ll see if I can get a few hours of sleep before something else happens.”

As it turned out, Rick was able to get more than a few hours of sleep. It was almost five the following morning when the ringing of his cell phone woke him. He sat up and listened to the caller carefully, then rose and pulled on his pants and shirt. In bare feet, he padded across the carpet to Cass’s door and knocked lightly.

“Cass?” He opened the door. “Cassie?”

She sat up, startled and disoriented.

“What…?” She looked around, trying to place herself.

“You’re at the Inn, Cass. The hospital just called. Lucy is awake, and she’s asking for you.” He gestured to the chair near the foot of her bed. “Regan left your clothes and things there. If you can get up and get dressed, I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Cass was out of bed in a flash.

“I’ll be right there,” she told him. “I can be ready in a minute. Just give me one minute…”

Rick closed the door and went back to his room to finish dressing, grateful they’d both gotten a good night’s sleep. He had the feeling they’d had the last real rest either of them were likely to get until this was over.