Carla Neggers - Abandon

But she heard footsteps behind her, and when she turned, she saw Rook and T.J. making their way up the walk from the lobby door in their FBI suits. She dropped onto a stone bench.

“Special Agent Kowalski, Special Agent Rook,” she said, stretching out her legs. “If you’re looking for Cal Benton, he went that way.” She pointed toward the breezeway. “He’s got about a minute’s head start. He must have seen you, because we were having this nice conversation about three-legged puppies and -”

“I’ll go,” T.J. said, heading off at a light run.

Rook sat next to Mackenzie on the bench. “You look hot, Deputy Stewart.”

“I am hot. Cal hogged the shade.”

“Get your stitches out?”

“I did. Before you know it, I’ll be able to run, jump and shoot without pain.” Feeling sweaty, she looked up at the sky, but it was unchanged, no sign of the front moving through. “Cal’s trying to manipulate me. I can’t figure out why.”

“To save his own skin, probably.”

“I think he enjoys it.” She glanced at Rook, who didn’t seem to be sweating at all. “Did the doorman tell you we were out here?”

“You should have seen T.J.’s face when he mentioned a redhead,” Rook said.

“Cal called me. I didn’t just turn up. Why are you two here?”

“To follow up on last night. Time to get some answers from Benton.” Rook settled back on the bench. “I’d have told you T.J. and I were headed over here if you hadn’t sneaked out this morning while I was in the shower.”

She shrugged, pushing back a wave of heat that had nothing to do with the temperature in the courtyard. “You didn’t have the kind of doughnuts I like.”

“I didn’t have any doughnuts.”

“That’s what I’m saying.” She pointed toward the ornamental grasses. “There are spiders in there. Big ones. Of course, you’re from this area, so you’re probably used to them.”

“Mac -”

“Cal wanted to talk to me about a private matter.”

Rook leaned closer. “What private matter?”

She told him about Cal and his woman-of-the-moment at the lake, and her conclusion that there’d been other incidents. Rook listened without interrupting, and when she finished, she said, “It’s sordid behavior, but not illegal.”

“Did you recognize the woman he was with?” Rook asked.

“No.”

“How long has Cal known you saw them together?”

“Since I moved to Washington – about two weeks after I saw them. I considered pretending I hadn’t seen anything, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t trust him not to raise the stakes. I figured at least if he knew he’d been caught, he’d knock it off.”

Rook didn’t respond right away.

“What?” she asked.

“Are you sure you didn’t feel violated yourself? You grew up on that lake. Judge Peacham’s been a strong figure in your life -”

“Sure. I felt violated, too. So?” But she pressed ahead, not wanting to delve into her childhood on the lake. She opened up the sketch. “Cal now thinks our guy looks familiar.”

“Do you believe him?” Rook asked.

Mackenzie shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be more manipulation, but it doesn’t make sense that he’d lie. It doesn’t make sense he’d take a woman to Beanie’s lake house, either.”

“Why not? It’s quiet, isolated. Your parents are in Ireland. Most of the other people out there would be tourists. And if you like the idea of secretly sticking it to your soon-to-be-ex-wife -”

“That’s a sick way of thinking.”

“Who else might know about Cal’s flings?” Rook asked.

“Gus, maybe. He looks after the place when Beanie’s not there. But I haven’t said anything to him – to anyone except Cal, and now you.”

T.J. returned, not even remotely winded. “He took off. We can try him at his office.”

“He wasn’t dressed for the office,” Mackenzie said. “Of course, it’s Friday. I suppose he could stop in. He didn’t tell me where he was going.”

“I’ll wait in the lobby, where it’s air-conditioned and there’s cover if there’s a tornado,” T.J. said.

The bench was starting to feel very hard, but Mackenzie figured she’d let Rook and T.J. be on their way, then be on hers. But Rook didn’t move. She glanced at him. “Thinking?”

“Yeah. About last weekend at the lake. Did you put me in the room Cal and his brunette used?”

“I don’t know which room they used. I assume they used the downstairs bedroom.” In other words, Bernadette’s room. Mackenzie grinned at Rook and said, “I put you in the room that gets the bats.”

After T.J. and Rook left, Mackenzie returned to the lobby of Cal’s building, where the doorman, who had to be at least seventy, gave a low whistle. “You better take a few minutes and cool off.”

“I’m red?”

“Tomato-red.”

She made a face, although she wasn’t surprised. During training, she was known for getting red and splotchy during physical exertion. No matter how fit she was, heat had a way of turning her red. “It’s about a million degrees out there.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He seemed untroubled. “Need some water?”

“I’ve got some in the car.” She opened up the sketch and smoothed it out on the desk in front of him. “Any chance you’ve seen this man?”

He studied the drawing. “I don’t think so. Maybe.”

“Take your time,” Mac said.

“Does he live here?”

“You tell me.”

But the doorman frowned, straightening. “Are you a cop?”

“I’m a federal agent.” She showed him her credentials and gave him her name. “You’re…”

“Charlie. Charlie West, ma’am.” He glanced back at the sketch, rubbing his chin with one hand. “What’d he do?”

“He knifed two women in New Hampshire.”

His hand dropped from his chin. “We don’t have anyone like that around here, Agent Stewart.”

“Deputy Stewart, sir. Just focus on the face. Is it familiar?”

“I don’t know.” He held up the paper. “Mind if I keep this?”

“Not at all. But if you see this man, don’t approach him. Call the police. You should consider him armed and dangerous.” She handed him her card. “If you have any questions or think of anything, call me, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am, I will.”

“Do you know why Cal Benton insisted on meeting me in the sweltering courtyard instead of up in his condo?”

The doorman grinned, but quickly turned serious. “He had painters coming this morning, but he canceled them. I was supposed to let them into his place. They were on my list.”

“When did he cancel them?”

“I found out this morning – early. Right after I got in at seven.”

“He called you?”

“He came down here.”

“Was he alone?” Mackenzie asked.

“Yes, ma’am, he was alone.”

She thanked Charlie West for his time and headed out into the heat, just as thunder cracked and lightning flashed over the river. She ducked into her car, leaving the door open to the breeze, and dialed Joe Delvecchio’s number. When he answered, she told him everything that had transpired since her arrival at the condominium complex, leaving out only her exchange with Rook about the room with the bats.

“I figured I’d call you first,” she said.

“You didn’t call me first, Stewart. You called me last. You’ve already talked to Benton, Rook, Kowalski and the damn doorman.”

“I haven’t talked to Detective Mooney in New Hampshire yet.”

“Don’t let me hold you up,” he said.

She ignored his sarcasm. “Someone should show the sketch to other people in Cal’s building, just in case the doorman did recognize him but isn’t sure. Another worker or resident might be more certain, one way or another. I’d do it, but I’m personally involved.”