The Cat, the Wife and the Weapon

Thirteen

On another day, I might have rolled down the window and talked to this stranger. After all, folks made wrong turns down my street all the time and needed directions. Today, however, my gut was telling me this person didn’t need directions.

I reached for my phone on the seat next to me. Thank goodness I automatically put it close when I’m driving alone. An old habit, one I appreciated right now.

“Can I help you?” I called loud enough for him to hear. I slid the arrow on the phone’s screen and pressed the phone button, ready to make a call. I was sure he’d seen me do this, but he didn’t make any move to leave.

“They said you have my boy,” the man said.

My stomach clenched. Fear can be a gift, I’d read, one that leads you to make the right decisions. Something about this man put me on high alert. I was just about to tap the speed dial number for Mercy PD when I heard the short blast of a car horn. In the side mirror, I saw Kara getting out of her car.

I wanted to yell, “No,” but it was too late. The man had moved away from my van when he heard the horn, so I opened the door and got out, still clutching my phone. I couldn’t cringe in my car while Kara was confronting this stranger.

A Belle’s Beans cup in her left hand, Kara walked up to the man and held out her right hand. “I’m Kara Hart. Who are you?”

This is exactly the sort of thing her father would do in a touchy situation, I thought.

The man tilted his head and stared through narrowed eyes, ignoring her hand. “They told me the name was Jillian Hart, not Kara.”

She dropped her hand. “Who told you?” she said evenly.

Always the questioner, Kara’s even tone not only quieted my nerves, but seemed to do the same for this man.

His expression grew less wary. “The people in the diner. They said I just missed you, that Finn was with you.”

Kara briefly looked my way and said, “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Rory Gannon. Now, where’s my boy?” he said.

Finn’s biological father. How did the so-called phantom end up in Mercy? This can’t be a coincidence.

“Kara,” I said, trying to match her cool amicability. “This is Finn’s father.”

I saw a hint of confusion cloud her face for an instant, but then she was back on her game. She smiled. “Okay. Finn’s father. When did you get into town, Mr. Gannon?”

He ignored her question and looked at me. “Are you Jillian or is she the one I need to talk to?”

“I’m Jillian.”

“Is he with you?” he said.

“I’m sorry, but no,” I said.

This obviously wasn’t what he wanted to hear. His agitation was evident in eyes that darted everywhere. His gaze finally settled on my van.

I stepped away from the driver’s door and gestured toward it. “Go ahead and look if you don’t believe me.”

He took me up on the offer while Kara and I exchanged “what the heck is going on?” glances.

Once he’d assured himself Finn was not in my car, he walked over and checked out her new hybrid SUV. Finally satisfied we didn’t have Finn stashed away somewhere, he returned to us.

“Finn wasn’t with you in the restaurant? ’Cause some waitress said you had a teenage boy sitting with you,” he said.

I knew better than to give up any information to this strange man. “Can I ask how you ended up in our little town looking for your son—and found me?”

“You can ask all you want.” He stared past me at my front door. “Is he in your house hiding from me?”

“Why would he hide from you?” Kara asked.

This question seemed to fluster Gannon. “He doesn’t know me too well, is all.”

“Does he even know you a little bit?” I made sure the question sounded sincere and not like an accusation, since he’d apparently never been a part of Finn’s life.

“What’s it to you?” Gannon said. “He’s my flesh and blood, so you better tell me where I can find him. I deserve to know.”

That’s debatable, I thought. But I wasn’t about to get him any more riled up than he already was, so I said, “I wish I could tell you, but I’m not sure where your son is.” Not exactly where he was, anyway.

He stepped toward me. “You’re lying.”

Kara moved between Gannon and me. “You need to leave, sir.”

Why was she acting like she could take him on? This guy was obviously a loose cannon. Feeling afraid for both of us now, I pressed the speed dial number—something I should have done immediately. “Is this the Mercy Police Department?” I said, loud enough to send a message to Rory Gannon.

B.J. said, “Jillian? Something wrong?”

“I’d like to report a trespasser,” I said.

Gannon said, “You’re siccing the police on me when you’re probably a kidnapper?”

“Am I hearing the voice of your trespasser?” B.J. said.

“Yes. You know the address,” I answered.

“Does he have a weapon?” B.J. said.

“Not that I know of,” I answered.

“I’m sending someone now,” B.J. said.

Kara’s hands were on her hips and I saw no trace of fear in her body language. She said, “I suggest you leave while you can.”

“I get it. You’re hiding him and you’re determined to keep him from me.” He pointed at me. “I’ll be back.”

Rory Gannon jogged to his car and drove off.

I still held my phone to my ear and was listening to B.J. dispatching a squad car. I said, “He left, B.J., but I got his plate.” I rattled off the numbers. “His name is Rory Gannon and he’s Finn’s biological father.”

“Him? Uh-oh,” B.J. said. “He—he said he was Finn’s father and seemed nice enough, so I told him where y’all went for lunch. Guess I screwed up.”

“Does Candace know he’s in town?” I asked. She surely would have interviewed Gannon if that were the case.

“She will in a minute. I am so sorry if he bothered you, Mrs. Hart. He seemed nice, real polite,” B.J. said.

“I guess he forgot his manners on the drive over here,” I said. “Better let both Candace and the chief know about him as soon as you can.” Poor B.J. had so much to learn and was such a good kid, I couldn’t be upset with his mistake. Candace might not be so forgiving, however.

“I’ll talk to them right away. Let me correct my dispatch to a BOLO. If Mr. Gannon comes back, call me and I promise to do better.” He sounded so down in the mouth I felt terrible for him.

“You take care, B.J. No harm, no foul.” I disconnected.

While I’d been talking to him, Kara had gotten into her SUV and rolled the window down. When I was off the phone, she said, “Not what I expected to find when I came back here. That guy’s seat is not in the full, upright position.”

“No kidding. But are you going somewhere?” I said.

“I’m not leaving, especially after a guy straight out of a bad movie just visited. Could you pull your car up so I can get closer to the back door? I did some serious damage at the mall and cleaned out the Piggly Wiggly.”

I pulled the van close to the garage, and after I took Yoshi out to relieve himself, I helped Kara empty the back of her SUV of the bags of groceries and the clothing purchases for Finn. I explained what little I knew about Rory Gannon. Yoshi and the boy cats, who seemed to have forged a truce while I’d been gone, sniffed at each sack of groceries. Yoshi was the more interested party, and once I located the dog food, I offered him a dish of kibble.

Syrah sniffed the food while Yoshi sat patiently and watched. My cat took his time and finally walked away, seemingly indifferent. Merlot didn’t even bother checking out the kibble and Chablis had only shown her whiskers momentarily and then rushed off to whatever safe place she’d found to hide from Yoshi. Only then did the little dog eat.

As we put away groceries, Kara asked if she needed to pick Dashiell up. I told her Tom said he planned to do it—and would then be kicking his brother out of the house.

“Do you know anything about Bob and Tom’s history?” Kara asked as she stacked cans of cat food on the pantry shelf.

“Nothing, except Tom can’t stand him,” I said. “I’m pretty sure Karen isn’t feeling the love, either.” I was checking out the sweatshirts, jeans and T-shirts Kara had bought for Finn. They looked like they’d fit, plus they appeared a lot more teen friendly than what I would have bought.

“Ah, it’s logical Karen would know about Finn,” Kara said. “From what little contact I’ve had with Karen, she strikes me as, well… odd.”

“She’s different, yes. But she adores Finn.” I told Kara about our lunch and then said, “Tom’s ex is in town, too.”

“I expected her to arrive and hoped to get an interview,” Kara said. “How did you find out she was here?”

“She was at the police station and wanted to talk to Finn, but he wanted nothing to do with her,” I said.

“Is Tom going to have her arrested for what she and Nolan Roth did to him?” she said. “You did say Tom thought she was involved, right?”

“There could be a problem. See, Candace told us Hilary claims she knew nothing about Nolan’s actions. Since Tom never saw her when Nolan made him drive to North Carolina, I’m not sure what will happen.”

“Uh-oh. A he-said, she-said problem. What’s she like, by the way?” Kara asked.

“First impression? Normal. Concerned. Oh, and gorgeous,” I said. “She’ll be at the Pink House, if you want an interview.”

Kara’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

I started at the sound of a knock at the back door, but then realized it was Candace’s special rat-a-tat. She came in looking even more tired than when I’d seen her last at the police station.

“Hey, you two. I heard about Gannon. He didn’t come back, did he?” she said.

“No,” I said. “But he said he would. The man’s intense, to say the least.”

“I’m so glad you called us. B.J. screwed up on this one.” Candace took a spot at the breakfast bar. “I sure hope you have tea because I need a sugar boost in the worst way.”

Kara poured her a glass and then took her keys from the pocket of her jeans. “I have a paper to run. Call me if you need anything, Jillian.”

She waved to us both and was gone.

Candace took a long drink of tea. “Tell me about this Gannon guy.”

“You haven’t found him?” I asked, filling a glass with water. My lunch had probably supplied an entire week’s worth of sodium and I was thirsty now.

“No. We are so undermanned we only had one squad car to follow up on the BOLO. They thought they’d run into him coming away from this neighborhood, but nothing. It’s like he disappeared into thin air.”

“He said he’d be back—and I believe him.” I drank half my water, realizing my heart had sped up again at the thought of his return.

“What did he want?” she asked.

“He wants his son. Thinks I’m hiding him.” Syrah was weaving between my legs and rubbing his head on my calves. Marking his territory in case the curious Yoshi got any ideas, no doubt.

“I searched the NCIC database before I came here,” Candace said. “I don’t want to scare you any more than you already are, but you need to know this. About fifteen years ago, Gannon served time—first in a hospital for the criminally insane and then when he was competent to stand trial, he did a stint in prison.”

I drank the rest of my water, the glass nearly slipping from my trembling hand. “F-for what?”

“He went nuts when he was pulled over on a routine traffic stop,” she said. “Wailed on the officer with a baseball bat he conveniently had in his front seat. Put the officer in critical condition. Seems Gannon claimed the officer was an alien. He was convicted of felonious assault, so this guy is a violent offender.”

“Both Kara and I knew he was off, but now I’m even more scared of him,” I said. “My question is, how did he find out Finn was in Mercy?”

“Exactly. I have no idea. But I intend to find out. Violent offenders reoffend. He could be our killer—but I have to find him and interview him before coming to any conclusion on that.” She stood. “Where’s Finn, by the way?”

“He’s with Karen,” I said.

“I’ll ask the squad car out in the field to run by her neighborhood,” she said. “If Gannon found you, he might be able to find Karen, too. She was at the diner with you, right?”

“Yes, she was there and so was Tom.” I tore at a cuticle with my teeth.

“Guess we should alert Tom to the situation. Trouble is, the man doesn’t have a cell phone and I don’t have the time to—”

“I’ll go to his place and tell him. He planned to pick up Dashiell and then see if he could extricate his brother from the house. He’ll want to protect Finn and his mother from Gannon.”

Candace pointed at me. “You lock this place up tight and set your alarm—whether you’re out of the house or not. You hear me? If anything happened to you, well…” She shook her head and averted her eyes.

I walked around and hugged Candace. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”