Неизвестный - 2. Beyond The Breakwater

Reese stepped closer to Tory and kissed her cheek. “Hello, love.”

Smiling despite herself, Tory touched her fingertips to Reese’s chin, brushing at a trickle of dried blood. “You’ve cut yourself, Sheriff.”

“Nothing major.” Reese turned to Dan Riley and murmured something before adding, “As soon as I collect Bri, check in with the chief, and make sure that the rest of my people know what they’re supposed to be doing, we can get out of here.”

As Tory watched Reese hurry off yet again, Dan said, “Let me take your pressure, Tory.”

“What?” Tory asked in surprise.

“Let me check your BP.” His eyes were kind as they met hers. “You’ve been on your feet all night.”

“Did she ask you to do that?”

“I know how she feels,” he said, avoiding the answer. He pulled a blood pressure cuff from inside the truck and wrapped it around Tory’s left upper arm. “When my wife was pregnant the first time, I had morning sickness every day for five months. I felt completely helpless and equal parts ecstatic and terrified. You can’t blame her for worrying.”

A minute later, he took the cuff off and regarded her steadily. “One-forty over ninety-two. Is that unusual?”

Tory drew a shaky breath, and then shook her head. “It hasn’t been consistent, but for the last few days it’s been in that range. Listen, don’t say anything to Reese, all right, Dan?”

“Of course. Like I said, it’s not my business.”

At that moment, Reese and Bri returned.

“Everything okay?” Reese asked, looking from Tory to Dan.

Tory took Reese’s hand. “Everything is fine. Let’s take Allie back to the clinic, and after that, maybe we can all get some breakfast.”

The four of them trudged through the water-soaked, litter-strewn fire site toward the highway where Reese had left her Blazer, Allie supported between Reese and Bri. Halfway there, Reese noticed someone on the outskirts of the crowd and said quickly, “I’ll be right back.”

Tory watched Reese approach a woman and speak to her briefly. “Who is that?”

“That’s Ashley Walker,” Bri said.

“The private investigator?”

“Yes.”

After a minute, Reese and the redhead turned and walked back to where the others were waiting.

“Officer Parker,” Ashley said with a slow smile when she recognized Bri.

“Ms. Walker,” Bri said with a small tilt of her chin.

“Hello,” Allie said, extending her hand to the newcomer. “Allie Tremont.”

“Ashley Walker,” the redhead replied languorously, her throaty tenor slightly raspy from the smoke, her green eyes flickering downward once before returning to Allie’s face. “Are you all right?”

“I will be,” Allie replied, never taking her eyes from Ashley’s.

Tory watched the exchange which, although completely innocent, held a note of intimacy that almost made her feel like a voyeur. “If we’re all done with the introductions,” she interjected dryly, “perhaps we can get back to the clinic so I can decide how Officer Tremont is doing.”

“I’ll follow you in my car,” Ashley said.

“Don’t get lost,” Reese advised.

“I wouldn’t think of it.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“You can use my office,” Tory said to Reese as the small group proceeded down the central hallway of her clinic toward the X-ray room at the rear. “Just help me get Allie up onto the table so I can get these films.”

Reese, Bri, and Ashley Walker left the small radiology room and crossed the hall diagonally to Tory’s office.

“Sit down, please, Ms. Walker,” Reese instructed while pointing to one of the two chairs in front of Tory’s large wood desk. She leaned her hips against it, but remained standing. Bri stood a few feet away also, off to Ashley’s right. “I want to know exactly what you’re investigating.”

After a moment’s deliberation, Ashley Walker nodded slightly. “I’m looking for a man named Stanley Morris. He was a claims investigator for the company which hired me.”

“The insurance company?”

“Yes,” she said. “Six months ago he was forced into leaving, ostensibly due to downsizing. Shortly thereafter, the first of what would turn out to be a series of fires occurred in buildings that are insured by the company.”

“Some kind of retribution?” Bri asked.

“That’s what we think. Morris’s area of specialty was fire investigation, and the timing seemed right. But the company didn’t have any proof.”

“So they hired you,” Reese surmised.

“I worked Missing Persons when I was a cop in Providence,” Ashley informed them. “But, I haven’t been able to find him, although it seems like I’m always close.”

“Can you place him anywhere around here?” Reese asked.

Ashley shook her head. “No. The last place I can put him is in Falls River six weeks ago. But that doesn’t mean he’s not here on the Cape, paying with cash and lying low.”

“All right. We’ll get an APB out to the other divisions on the Cape today,” Reese said. “Is there anything else we should know about this guy?”

“When he lost his job, his wife left him. He’s angry, and I’m not sure he’s entirely stable. I would consider him violent and recommend caution if he is to be apprehended.” She hesitated. “I’m not sure it’s relevant, but he was an explosives expert in the Army.”

“So noted.” Reese pushed off from the desk and glanced at her watch. “I’ll get this out on the wire as soon as we square Officer Tremont away. Are you going to be staying around for awhile?”

“I’m planning on it.” Ashley stood as well. “Maybe he’s coming undone. I might as well stay here until I can pick up some trace of him.”

The three of them walked back to the radiology suite, where they found Tory placing a soft cast on Allie Tremont’s left lower leg. Tory looked up when the others walked in.

“There’s a very small chip fracture of the distal fibula. It shouldn’t be a problem long term, but it needs to be immobilized for three or four weeks.”

“Great.” Allie looked frustrated as well as worn out. “I don’t even have any way to get home.”

“I can take you,” Bri said quietly.

“Why don’t I do it,” Ashley Walker volunteered. “I’m sure that you have work to finish up here, Officer Parker.”

Bri looked at Ashley in surprise, but she didn’t argue. “Okay. Fine.”

“And I should take you home, Dr. King,” Reese said quietly.

For a brief instant, Tory thought about protesting, but she didn’t argue because she couldn’t deny that she was exhausted. At the very least, she needed a shower and something to eat. Nodding her head tiredly, she said, “All right, Sheriff.”

“Tory, love. We’re home.” Reese gently shook her lover’s shoulder. “Time for you to get some sleep.”

“Time for me to take a shower. God, I’m grimy.”

Reese got out and walked around the front of her SUV and opened Tory’s door. She extended a hand and said, “I’ve got an even better idea.”

“Oh?” Tory asked, raising an eyebrow. “I love you beyond imagination, Sheriff. But I couldn’t make love right now if my life depended upon it.”

“Really?” Reese said as she slipped her arm around Tory’s waist. “Actually, I had something else in mind.”

Five minutes later, Tory, clad only in an old T-shirt of Reese’s, since hers no longer fit comfortably, was tiredly brushing her teeth in front of the bathroom mirror. Reese came in behind her, lifted the hair at the back of her neck with one hand, and kissed her on the ultrasensitive spot just below her hairline.

“Mmm,” Tory murmured, closing her eyes. “God, that feels good.”