Jeffery Deaver - XO

Ah, the meaning of the turned tide, she realized.

“Not exactly in charge.”

“More than anybody else. Damn. Wish I’d listened to you back in that interrogation room and let that son of a bitch go then.”

Her heart went out to the detective. He seemed lost.

“I asked the sheriff if I could consult or anything. But she said no. It’d look bad. Might prejudice the case.” He gave a laugh, harsh and cold. “Didn’t know whether she meant the case against the killer or the case against me. So, I’m sidelined.”

“I’m sorry it worked out that way.”

He waved his hand. “Nobody to blame but myself. I feel worse for Miguel. He’s got a wife doesn’t work and three kids. Won’t have any savings.” He was awkward now. “I’ve got to stay off the radar, Kathryn, but I’m just wondering, is there anything I can do?”

“I don’t know, Chief. I’m interviewing, Charlie’s working on the evidence, Dennis is still looking into if anybody else has a motive to kill Bobby and the others.”

“Yeah, sure. I understand.”

“You could just take some time off, get some fishing in.”

“Funny about that,” Madigan said. “Yeah, I like it. Been going out every weekend for years. But fact is I spend more time thinking about cases than I do about the fish.”

“You get some good ideas, floating around?”

“Oh, you bet I do.” A grim smile. “But the thing is, until now, I’d get outa the boat, put my uniform back on and do something about it.”

“Sorry, Chief.”

“Got it. That’s okay. Just thought I’d ask.”

He was halfway to the door, when Dance called, “Chief, wait.”

Madigan turned and she said, “There is one thing, I’m thinking. Nobody’d have to know. But it’s not the… well, most pleasant job in the world.”

A fraction of a smile. “Well, all righty then. Let’s get to it.”

IT WAS ABOUT eight-thirty in the evening when Kathryn Dance got to Bishop Towne’s house.

She greeted Kayleigh and the family, who flocked around her and thanked her for saving Sheri’s life. Damp-eyed, hoarse, the stepmother hugged Dance hard and bled gratitude.

Bishop offered his thanks too and then asked, “That sheriff, or deputy, Madigan? He got suspended?”

“That’s right. Two other deputies too.”

“That son of a bitch!”

“Daddy,” Suellyn warned. But Mary-Gordon was in the kitchen and out of hearing.

“Well, he is. And M-G’s going to learn words like that sooner or later.”

“It’s going to be later,” Kayleigh snapped.

Dance now explained, “We’re not making any progress putting together a case against Edwin. He’s either innocent or very, very smart. We don’t have any leads at all. I’d like to get a few more details from Sheri and”-with a glance at Suellyn-“from you and your daughter about when he picked you up at the airport.”

She was hoping to find something that she could use to infer threatening behavior, which would, in turn, justify an arrest for stalking. That would give her access to Edwin-with his lawyer’s approval-and she hoped to conduct a full kinesic analysis.

“At the least it could help get a restraining order. To keep him at a distance.”

“Oh, I’d love that,” Kayleigh said.

Dance noted she’d been crying recently. Because of Bobby? Today’s attack or some other reason?

Bishop escorted her to a small, dimly lit den, which smelled of pipe smoke and pine. Sheri and Mary-Gordon, her blue eyes sparkling, brought in cookies and a pot of coffee. The little girl’s golden hair was tied back in a ponytail, the way Dance’s daughter, Maggie, would often wear it, and for some reason Dance thought: How on earth am I going to tell Maggie and Wes that Jon Boling is moving?

But then Sheri ushered the girl from the room and sat down across from Dance, who forced aside her personal thoughts and began the interview.

Which, however, proved to be singularly unsuccessful. The woman could provide no more information about the attacker. She’d seen flashes of gunshots, and that was all. Not even an outline of the assailant.

Dance then met with Suellyn Sanchez. The matter-of-fact woman tried hard to recall something helpful but she confessed to Dance that she was still astonished that Edwin was the suspect. “He was just so nice and easygoing. And it sounded like he knew Kayleigh so well, they had to be friends.”

“And there wasn’t anything he said that could be taken in any way as threatening?”

When the sister hesitated, Dance said, “You’d have to testify to it. Under oath.”

The woman got it, deciding not to tell the lie she’d been about to. “No, nothing at all. Just the opposite. He sounded so protective. I actually felt good that somebody was looking out for her.”

Your shadow…

Strike one.

Next Mary-Gordon joined them. Dance showed her pictures of her own children and the dogs. The agent sipped her coffee and ate the cookies and chatted with the little girl, who meticulously set her place for her own cookie and milk and ate precisely.

With children, deception isn’t uncommon, of course; kids lie about as frequently as adults but their motives are clearer: missing candy, broken lamps. But the main problem with children as witnesses is that they don’t know how to characterize what they observe. Behaviors that seem suspicious to them might not be; and they’ll often miss the most egregious crimes because they don’t know they’re crimes.

Dance slowly shifted the conversation to the drive from the airport. But this talk too was futile. All the little girl remembered was a nice man who told her lots of neat things about the area and really liked her aunt. Her bright blue eyes sparkled as she talked about “Stan,” Edwin Sharp’s pseudonym.

She liked it that he was so helpful in picking out a present for Kayleigh. “He wanted me to get something she’d like. It was really neat! A stuffed tree.”

“Thank you, Mary-Gordon,” Dance said.

“You’re welcome. Will we see that man again, Mr. Stan? I liked him.”

“I don’t know, honey.”

“You can take a cookie with you, if you want. Or two.”

“I think I’ll do that.” Dance wrapped them up in a pink napkin. They were really good.

As they left the den, Suellyn said, “Not much to use, right?”

“Don’t think so but appreciate the help.”

After knocking and being waved in by Sheri, Darthur Morgan walked inside, his own bag in one hand and two books in the other. Mary-Gordon took his suitcase.

“No-”

“I’ll show you your room, Mr. Morgan.”

“You don’t have to get-”

“I’ll take it,” the little girl said and charged off, drawing a look of amused confusion from the huge man.

Dance said goodnight to Bishop and Sheri and then stepped outside. She found Kayleigh on the front porch swing. The two women were alone. Dance sat on a creaking rattan chair next to the swing. The singer lifted her hands, indicating her father’s house. “Look at this,” she said with an edge to her voice. “Look what’s happened. People’re dead, lives’re ruined. I’m hiding out with my father, for God’s sake. My life’s a mess. And we don’t even know for sure he’s behind it. He is, don’t you think?”

Dance sensed that something had happened recently, something Kayleigh did not want to share. She knew Kayleigh’s baseline behavior pretty well and there were now deviations in her eye contact and shoulder position. It would have to do with something internal-thoughts she was having, memories that she didn’t want to share with Dance, something she’d done wrong. And recently.

“I honestly don’t know. We always build cases slowly but generally there’s some definite evidence or clear witness testimony to tell us we’re headed in the right direction, at least. With Edwin, it’s all ambiguous.”