Mariah Stewart - Last Words

As her arms slid into the sleeves, she looked up and said, “When I told Connor you’d have my back, I never expected you’d give me the shirt off it.”

She began to cry softly and tried to work the buttons, but her fingers were shaking too hard. “Get it? That’s cop humor. You gave me the shirt off your back…”

“Right. I got it.” He finished the buttons for her, then knelt on the floor next to the bed. He eased her head onto his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her, rocking her gently. “I got it…”

The cemetery had been hot as hell, the July sun unmerciful and the humidity about as high as it could get, but nothing could have kept Beck from standing next to his friend until her casket was lowered into the ground. Even after the other mourners had gone, he’d returned, and stayed by the hole in the ground until it was filled. When the dirt atop the grave had been tampered down, the men assigned to the task had nodded to him, and left him there.

The world was not a good place, it occurred to him, when a woman like Lisa could fall in love with a psychopath like Todd Singer, and be murdered for it. She’d been a great friend, a great cop.

She’d even been a great wife to that murdering bastard.

His thoughts still dark, he walked back to the station. His Jeep had been released, but today he needed to walk off some of the anger. Besides, it was too quiet back at the station, with Duncan and Lisa gone. Mia, too. Her cousin had arrived in St. Dennis within an hour of Beck’s rescuing her from the bank, and had taken her away, just like that.

Well, she was a fed. Of course they were going to want to take care of her. Her statement had been taken and faxed to him. He wouldn’t really have cause to speak with her again until Todd’s trial. Assuming there was a trial…

He took the long way back, sticking to the side streets that led close to the river and wound around behind the municipal building. It seemed that the entire town had turned out for Lisa’s funeral, but he had no desire to bump into anyone right now. He knew from past experience that those who hadn’t gathered at Captain Walt’s to rehash the service and discuss who gave the most moving memorial would be at Lola’s doing pretty much the same. He’d just as soon keep to himself for a while. He’d had enough of the press coverage-the ever-present television cameras and the print reporters-to last a lifetime.

The frenzy had started at almost the same moment that he’d brought Mia out of the basement of the bank. Someone had picked up the radio call for backup, and for the past four days, images of Mia in Beck’s shirt being led to the waiting ambulance were juxtaposed with pictures of a handcuffed Todd Singer being led to a waiting cruiser by Hal on one side and Susan on the other. The papers doled out bits and pieces of the story in screaming headlines from, Bayside Heir Serial Killer! to, FBI Beauty Intended Victim! Bank Chamber of Horrors-Nine Unidentified Bodies Found in Vault!

By the time he got back to Kelly’s Point Lane, he was sweating under the collar of his shirt, which he started to unbutton as soon as he hit the front door. He waved at Garland and continued on to his office.

“You have a visitor in the conference room,” Garland told Beck as he passed.

“Don’t you want to know who it is?” Garland called after him.

“Not particularly.”

Beck thought he’d just ignore the unannounced visitor, whomever it might be, for as long as possible. He was in no mood for company.

He passed the conference room without looking through the open door, going straight to his office and removing his jacket. From there he went into the kitchen and got a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He wet a paper towel and cooled off his face. Feeling almost human again, he headed for the conference room, the bottle still in his hand.

He walked into the room half expecting another member of the press or another one of the Forbes family lawyers. There’d been several who’d called over the past few days wanting to discuss some proposed legal action against him and the town for the false arrest of Mickey Forbes.

The last person he expected to see when he stepped into the room was Mia.

She was sitting in the same place she’d been when he first saw her, that first day she’d come to St. Dennis to investigate the body that had been left in his Jeep.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey.” He walked toward her, smiling broadly. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better, thank you.”

“Good, good.” He nodded. “I was wondering. I wasn’t sure how to get in touch with you. I guess I could have called the FBI…”

“Depending on when you made the call, they may or may not have had a listing for me.” She rested her arms on the table. “I’ve resigned from the Bureau.”

“Whoa.” His eyes widened. “I wouldn’t have expected that.”

“It just got to be too much.” She sat back as if studying his reaction. “I love law enforcement, it’s been my whole life. I don’t know anything else. But I can’t take the constant parade of psychopaths and serial killers and baby killers and…well, you get the idea. It’s time I made a change.”

“What will you do?” He leaned on the back of the nearest chair unable to take his eyes off her.

“Before I do anything, I have to get my head together. Deal with some issues I had tried to ignore for a while. There are some things I can’t handle on my own. I tried, but…” She shrugged.

“The situation with your brother…”

“That’s at the heart of it all.” She nodded. “I haven’t had to drink myself to sleep in over a week, but that doesn’t mean the problem is resolved. Obviously I have some dependency issues. So I’m going to be seeing someone who can help me to sort things out.”

“Do you think you’ll go back to the Bureau?”

“No.” She shook her head.

“Won’t you miss it?”

“Honestly, no.” A half-smile touched her lips. “Like I said, I love law enforcement, but I’ve had my fill of the intensity. For the past nine years, I’ve seen misery and suffering and evil that most people could not even believe exists. I’m ready to move on.”

“You ever think about being a small town cop?”

“Actually, I have.”

“I’m going to have to replace Lisa and Duncan.” His eyes darkened to speak of it aloud. “Not immediately, but soon. For a while, Hal is going to work full time, and his brother, Phil, came back to pitch in. By the end of the summer, I’ll be looking for at least one new cop. If you’re interested…”

“How many serial killers do you normally see in a year?”

“Not counting this one? None.”

“Homicides?”

“Two that I remember.”

“Rapes? Kidnappings?”

“Again, except for this year…maybe one or two rapes in a calendar year.”

“What’s the most common crime in St. Dennis?”

“Shoplifting.”

“Child abductions?”

“We had a few kids get separated from their parents at the Fourth of July fireworks. Does that count?”

“I’ll keep your offer in mind. I’ll be around for a while.”

“You will?”

“I have a room at Sinclair’s Cove for the next few weeks. In the main house, this time.”

She smiled and added, “Dan Sinclair mentioned that the last time I stayed there, your cruiser was in the parking lot when he went to bed around one in the morning and it was still there when he woke up at five.” Her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t sleep in your car all night, watching out for me, did you?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Actually, I slept in the chair.”

“What chair? The lawn chair?”