Four to Go (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (15 page)

“I know he’s going to explain everything later, when we don’t have all of this confusion, but all he keeps saying is ‘My place was already there.’ And when I try to get him to explain, he gets all emotional. Help me. It’s killing me not to know how to help him.”

Kate quickly explained the basics of what had happened, how John had overheard Tom telling her that he and Mike didn’t “let” John into their bond, but that his place was already there and they were just waiting for him to arrive and claim it. Mike’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened in stunned comprehension.

“Never, ever would I have thought to express it that way, but it’s exactly what we both felt. That’s why he keeps saying—”

“Mike, can I make a suggestion?”

Mike nodded, still trying to compose himself.

Kate smiled and said, “If you can, back off a little, lighten up, and give him the time to come to terms with the change in
his
perception of his past. You can’t do it for him, Mike. He has to do it for himself. You have to be there for him to talk to whenever he’s ready.”

Tom suddenly sat up with a grin and a devilish gleam in his eyes. “You know, Mike, we both remember that shitty green jacket he wore, right? Well, I’d like to find someone to make a duplicate one up for John, adult-sized. Think he’d appreciate that?”

Mike snickered and then chuckled. “Oh, yeah, I’m sure he’d appreciate that one. He really hated that jacket.” Mike suddenly sobered. “Thanks, guys. I’ll wait until he’s ready to talk about it, but at least now I have some idea of what’s going on in his head. It helps.”

The next hour things started to calm down. Tom and Kate went back to their table in the corner where they were out of the way, but able to see what was going on in the room. They saw Mike answer his cell phone and make a comment to John. Mike and John both stood and walked out of the room. When they returned a few minutes later, they had two men with them. Tom sat up straighter, blew out a rough breath, and then sat back with a smile. “Mike and John have called in some of our old friends, if I’m not mistaken.”

Kate looked with interest at the two men. They were older than the rest of the M-G crews, well, maybe not older than all of them, but in their late thirties or early forties at a minimum. Oddly enough, they were rather unremarkable. If she’d had to describe them, it would have been difficult. There was a slight difference in height and hair color, but both had average features, and their hair had the same modified military cut. Mike led them over to the table where Sheriff Whittaker and Carolanne were still talking together.

Even though the men seemed to be responding in a friendly and sociable manner, there was an edge to them, a hard edge. They had positioned themselves almost facing each other and their eyes began a casual quartering of the part of the room they were facing, assessing and absorbing the details.

During the handshaking and introductions at the table, they had each moved unobtrusively into the opposite position where they each repeated the room scan. It was done so smoothly that if Kate hadn’t been looking intently at them, she would never have noticed. From the set of his shoulders, she had an idea that Sheriff Whittaker knew exactly what they’d done and why. She also noted the almost infinitesimal nod of their heads at Tom as they caught sight of him when they scanned the room.

Before they got to Kate and Tom, Mike took them through to the therapy room where they examined the hidden passage in detail.

It was a few minutes after they left the therapy room before they got around to where Tom and Kate were sitting. Mike had made sure that the guests were introduced to each and every member of the crew, while John seemed to be speaking very seriously with Ben. Finally, Ben stood and nodded in agreement and they walked toward Tom and Kate at the same time the others did.

The handshakes were effusive as Tom greeted his old friends.

“Kate, I want you to meet Ian Davies and Trent Palmer, two old friends I haven’t seen in almost ten years. Ian, Trent, this is my wife, Kate,” he said proudly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet both of you,” said Kate quietly. “And thank you for coming.”

“I think,” said Mike, “that we should find a place where we can sit and talk privately.”

“Absolutely, Mike, why don’t we adjourn to the library?” Tom steered his chair toward the door, and the others followed.

* * * *

Kate sat at the table in the library, listening apprehensively as the men discussed the situation.

“From the games this asshole is playing, he’s clever, he’s dangerous, and he’s sick.” Ian stated. “That’s a bad combination. Not only that, but he’s a long-range planner willing to risk exposure. He’s already proved that when he learned Tom was coming home from the hospital and was having a special physical therapy room constructed. He walked in bold as brass and conned the whole construction crew and bosses until he was able to construct his secret spy room right under their noses. Let me make one other point. This guy was not only able to mix with the contractor’s crew without a problem, he was able to do high quality work and do it quickly and by himself. That gives us another, higher category of construction workers to check.”

Ian turned to Trent. “Any thoughts, Trent?”

“That’s a good point, Ian. I also think we need to start at the beginning. We need to find out what precipitated the attack on Tom. We have the date of the car accident, and we’re going to have to work backward from that date to see if we can find anything that connects to Tom in any way, no matter how tenuous. Don’t you agree, Ben?”

“Let me make note of the date of the accident, and I’ll check our office records for any local reports or calls that happened within a month or two of the accident,” Ben said slowly. “My only problem is that with one deputy in the hospital I can’t promise an early answer. I’m really stretched thin. I can only promise that I’ll do my best.”

Mike made a notation in a small spiral notebook. “I may be able to help you, Ben. But I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

“Hey, I’m sure you’re better with computers than I am, so any help you can give will be appreciated. I’ll even let you use my office, Mike.” Ben sighed deeply. “Well, since I’ve got my assignment, it’s time for me to get back to the office and file my reports. If anything else comes up, be sure to call me. Ian, Trent, it’s been a pleasure. Tom, I can see myself out. Oh, before I go, Kate, would you please pass along my compliments and thanks to Mrs. Mallory? Dinner was fantastic.”

“Will do, Ben. Good night.” Kate sat quietly while the men discussed possible avenues of action and investigation. Finally, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Tom,” she said hesitantly. “When did you start walking with crutches or a cane? Do you remember?”

The room suddenly went silent as they all looked at Tom.

“I guess,” he said hesitantly, “maybe a month, or a month and a half ago. But I wasn’t really walking. It was more lurching and stumbling and frequent falls, even with the crutch or the cane. Why?”

“Because this maniac had to have a reason to attack you again after almost three years. And those letters on your bed were an attack, or at least the threat of an attack. I believe he was satisfied as long as he could see you were suffering and confined to your wheelchair. But once you began showing a marked improvement, once it looked to him as if you were going to walk again, he had to act.”

“She’s right! Damn it, she hit it on the button. There is no other reason for the renewed threat that makes sense.” John paced back and forth in frustration.

“But why? Why did he attack me in the first place? I can’t think of any possible reason.” Tom’s fist came down on the table with heavy force.

“We’ll find the reason, Tom. Just give us a chance. Since Ian’s now working out of Los Angeles and I’m out of San Francisco, we can check for information from counties surrounding yours that Ben wouldn’t have access to. Ben will handle the local area reports just fine, with some help of course, since he’s shorthanded. Now Ian and I have to get going. We’ll decide how we’re going to split up the information search en route to the airport. For now, hang in there, Tom. We’ll be in contact with you soon. It was a pleasure meeting you, Kate.” Trent shook her hand with a slightly distracted smile on his face.

“Tom, we’ll be in touch. Congratulations on your marriage. Your wife’s not only beautiful, but extremely intelligent. But then, you always did have the devil’s own luck.” Suddenly serious he said, “It’s been a real pleasure, Kate. I’m so happy for you and Tom.”

Within thirty seconds they were gone, and a pensive silence settled throughout the room. Finally, Mike picked up his cell phone and called Connor, requesting that he and Carolanne come to the library for a meeting.

As soon as Connor and Carolanne were seated, John and Mike outlined the facts, as they knew them, of the initial attack on Tom and as much background as they could.

“The biggest problem we have is that Tom can recall nothing in his past that would incur a cold, murderous rage of this magnitude. This is no simple case of feuding neighbors, or road rage, or anything that mundane. We believe this is a case of the perpetrator’s mindset, his perception of something he believes Tom was involved in. As you know, what we thought was a car accident was, in fact, an attempt at murder. We believe that something occurred within a month or two of Tom’s accident and that the perp is punishing Tom for a perceived wrong.” John sat down, and Mike continued.

“Ian and Trent are going to pull information from the surrounding counties and townships on any incident that has any relation to Tom, whether it relates to a car of his, a cat of his, or anything else of his that could be twisted into a reason for murder.”

“May I say something?” Carolanne asked.

“Go right ahead. At this point we welcome any suggestions or viewpoints.”

“I think it might be a mistake to concentrate only on any files that refer to Mr. Martins by name, or to a possession of his. I think
any
file regarding serious injury, accident, or death should be brought to Mr. Martin’s attention. For example, it could be that he might recognize a person involved in an open case of battery, murder, or accident. Even a cold case could have a perp acting to prevent any further inquiry. I’m sorry, Mr. Martins. I know it wouldn’t be pleasant to have to look at many of the files, but I think it could be important.” Carolanne shrugged and sat back in her chair.

“I don’t care if I have to look through thousands of files, as long as I can get this maniac off of our backs. Whatever it takes, I’ll do. You can bring the damn files by the truckload if you want, and I’ll search through every single one,” Tom said forcefully.

“I agree with Carolanne and Tom,” said Kate as she grabbed Tom’s hand in support.

“Actually, so do I,” Mike said slowly as he leaned against the desk. “But that’s another problem we have. We need to get this information as soon as possible. Ben has promised to try to get his files together, but with one deputy in the hospital, he’s hamstrung. There is no way he’ll be able to spread himself that thin. I’ve offered to help him out with the computer and paperwork, but I’m on the target list, too. I was hoping…” He looked at Carolanne with raised eyebrows.

“That I’d volunteer?” Carolanne asked with a grin.

“Yep. That’s exactly what I was hoping. Are you?”

“Yeah. I’m definitely volunteering. As long as I’m not officially working for the sheriff’s office, it’s fine.”

“No, you would still be on our payroll, with a hefty bonus thrown in. You’d be there only as an outside consultant. Would that be okay?”

“Perfect. I’ll be at his office first thing in the morning.”

“That honestly helps, Carolanne, because you actually have an understanding of the type of files we need,” said Mike with relief. “But, just for my own information, why do you have a problem working for the sheriff’s office?”

“It’s a well-known fact that Sheriff Ben Whittaker has a very rigid ‘no fraternization’ policy with his employees. Now, Connor will tell you that on company time I don’t fool around, at all,
ever
. But on my own time, after working hours, well, that sheriff had better turn in his cowboy boots for a pair of fast running shoes.”

The room erupted into chuckles and into outright guffaws. Except for Connor, who looked slightly scandalized.

“Carolanne,” Mike said through his laughter, “my money is on you!”

“As it should be,” she said with a wink. “Now, if there is nothing further you need me for, I’m going home to get my beauty rest.”

“We’re through,” said John, still smiling. “Go get him, Carolanne. But make sure someone walks you to your car.”

She nodded and walked out of the room with a quick wave of her hand.

“As much as I hate to say it,” John began slowly, exhaustion heavy in his voice.

“I agree. We need to be available for Connor and the teams tonight,” finished Mike. “In fact, I think one of us ought to grab a cot and sleep down there.”

“No need to grab a cot,” Tom said. “There is a mattress in the closet in the therapy room along with sheets and pillowcases. When I first started therapy, the pain would be so severe it would sometimes cause me to black out for a few seconds. Or I would be so exhausted by the end of a session that I’d have to stretch out on my back for a short period of time. No comments, please. I know I was overdoing it, and I knew it then.

John stood up and yawned and stretched. “I’ll head on down there now, find out the status of the teams and what’s going on before I turn in.”

“That’s a good idea, John. But I don’t think our perp is going to do anything more tonight. There are too many people here now. And he was busy as hell this morning and again early this evening. I’m sure he’s aware now that his secret hiding place has been found or he wouldn’t have had to use the pool this afternoon. This isn’t going to be over for a while, at least until we find out who this madman is, but I think tonight, with our teams all over the place, he won’t attempt another break-in.”