Julie Garwood - Mercy

Daryl and Cherry stood holding hands by their son's bedside. Elliott was outside the door, too upset to do more than peek in at his brother^

"The worst is over," Daryl said. Then he looked at Michelle. "You've been through the wringer tonight too, haven't you? The

police blocked off the steps and the elevators, and we knew something terrible was going on, but we didn't know how bad it was."

"I'm glad we didn't know," Cherry said as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a tissue,

"We could hear the gunshots. Everyone in the hospital could hear them, but we knew you wouldn't let anything happen to John Patrick."

"Dr. Landusky will be here through the night," she said. "But if you'd rather I stay-"

Daryl wouldn't let her finish. "You did your part, and we don't know how we're ever going to repay you. You go on home."

Michelle took the steps down to the emergency room to get Theo. The notion of sleeping for a week sounded glorious. She wondered if he was as tired as she was. She had already stitched his arm again, but he was waiting in the ER, sitting on an exam table with an ice pack on his knee while he talked on the phone.

He hung up as she walked in. "Detectives Underwood and Basham picked up Cameron Lynch. He was in the mood to talk," he added. "First thing he said after they read him his rights was that he wasn't going to take the fall for murdering John's wife. He called it a mercy killing."

"And that made it okay?" she asked, shaking her head.

"I don't know what kind of spin he's putting on it," Theo said. "The bottom line is that he was motivated by money."

He reached out and pulled her into his side and held her around her waist. He needed to have her close, to touch her. There

was a moment upstairs when he had thought he was going to lose her, and he knew he would never ever forget that terror.

He kissed her on the side of her neck. A nurse was standing at the counter watching. He didn't care, and from the way

Michelle leaned into him, he knew she didn't care either.

Noah walked into the ER then.

"What have you got all over your face?" Michelle asked.

He went to the mirror above the sink to look. "Plaster chips and dust I guess," he said as he turned the water on and grabbed a towel.

Theo told him about Cameron while Noah washed his face. "John's already moved the money out of the Cayman account. He

did it with his computer."

"Where'd he transfer it?" Noah asked.

"Don't know yet, but Underwood has people working on it. It's an interesting group," he commented.

"The Sowing Club? What's interesting about four deviants?" Noah asked. He wiped his face dry with the towel and dropped it

into the sink. Then he turned around, folded his arms across his chest, and waited for Theo to explain.

"When John first set the account up, he told his friends that all four of them would have to go to the bank to get any money out.

It was a safeguard, he'd explained, but that obviously wasn't the truth. He played them from the beginning, and Dallas and Preston and Cameron were fools to keep on trusting him after he manipulated them into helping hire the hit on his wife."

"Why did he need their cooperation?"

"Dallas was the connection to Monk," Theo said. "I'm not sure why he wanted to involve the other two. They had all the bases covered. John worked the banking end. He was a lawyer and a VP in the trust department. Cameron used his brokerage firm to screw clients out of their retirement money, Dallas was police, and Preston worked in the D.A.'s office and took care of any problems with the law.

"Dallas was actually telling the truth about the ghost. She did keep a file on him and all his past deeds, just to cover herself. Underwood has the file now. He said Monk killed a young girl a while back and that the father hired him to do the job. There's enough evidence to arrest the father, and they've got detectives picking him up now."

"I hope he rots in prison," Michelle said.

Theo nodded. "Underwood thinks Monk has flair." He lifted the ice pack and put it on the table behind him.

"What did he mean by 'flair'?" Michelle asked. She saw Theo grimace as he lifted his leg. She grabbed the ice pack and put it back on his knee.

"He always places a rose near the victim, usually on the bed, because he prefers killing them at night."

"So Detective Harris wasn't lying about that," Michelle said.

"She was smart," Theo said. "She stuck close to the truth as much as possible so she wouldn't get tripped up on lies."

"How did you know Harris was one of them?" Michelle asked.

"When Noah was in New Orleans, I had him check her out," he said. "I thought it was odd that her captain wouldn't tell Noah anything about the case she was working on. Noah's used to dealing with antagonistic detectives who don't want the FBI working with them, so he assumed the captain was being evasive on purpose. I thought maybe the captain didn't know what Harris was up to, but I didn't take that any further. I just filed it away and moved on."

"I should have taken the time to talk to some of the other detectives," Noah said. "To find out how they felt about working with her."

"They probably would have closed ranks on you," Theo said.

"I still don't understand how you put it together, Theo," Michelle said.

"Catherine told me," he said. "She was a smart woman, so I finally realized why she'd made it so complicated. She didn't have the attorney give the papers to the police because she knew one of the members of the Sowing Club was a detective. She gave the second backup copy to Rosa because she knew the housekeeper would never go to the police. I honestly don't know what she thought Rosa would do, though. Maybe mail the files… I don't know."

He yawned then and said, "Anyway, I'd narrowed it down to Preston and Dallas, knew one of them was a policeman, and then Harris showed up wearing a jacket when it was blistering hot and muggy outside. When she stepped into the hall and turned, her back was to me and I saw her reach behind and unsnap the strap on her gun, but she kept the other hand in her pocket. I figured she was carrying extra firepower."

"I sure would like to know where John Russell is hiding," Noah said.

Theo nodded. "We'll get him eventually." Then he yawned. "Let's go home."

"I'm ready," she agreed.

"Noah's going to sleep in your guest room," he said. "Just as a precaution."

"You don't think that John or Monk-"

He didn't let her finish. "No, but I'll sleep easier, and so will you."

They headed for the exit. Theo looped his arm around Michelle's shoulder as they walked along.

"I've got to stop at the motel and pick up some things," Noah said. "How's that kid doing, Mike? Give me some good news."

"He's going to be fine," she answered. "It wasn't as bad as it looked."

"Are you still chafed you let Monk get away?" Theo asked.

"I couldn't be in two places at once," he replied. "I knew I had to get back and save your sorry ass, and the police had the stairwells blocked off. I figured they'd get him."

"I saved your sorry ass," Theo corrected.

"The hell you did. Where are my car keys?"

"I left them in the car."

"Noah, how do you know you shot Monk?" she asked. "Did you see him fall?"

"No, he didn't go down," he explained. "But there was blood on the door and on the stairs. I either got him in the hip or the side.

He went up to the roof, crossed over, then down the fire escape." He turned to leave. "I'll see you later."

"Could you wait a minute and make sure I can get the pickup started?" Michelle asked.

She was glad she'd asked, because Noah had to hotwire it to get it going. Theo insisted on driving and didn't seem to have any trouble using his right leg to work the clutch.