Shattered Order: A Psychological Crime Thriller (Shattered Survival Thrillers Book 3)
Page 19
Bee spent the afternoon in the kitchen making the cobbler, and Steve sat at the kitchen table making lists of what needed to be done for the wedding plans. On the drive up, Bee had agreed to a civil service next week, and then a ceremony and reception in August.
After dinner, Bee prepared Steve’s cobbler, adding in the last of the Polonium 210. There was enough left, that she was certain Steve wouldn’t last more than twenty-four hours.
Bee spent the next day, on the wide deck overlooking the lake, keeping a look out for anyone passing by too close to the cabin, who could hear the screams from the bedroom, where Steve thrashed, too sick to get up but in terrible pain as the radioactive poison destroyed his body.
The following morning, Bee quietly left the park, leaving behind the deathly quiet cabins that no one would check for two more weeks. She planned the remains would be so damaged from the radiation to provide too many clues. The only evidence left was Steve’s wallet with his I.D. Everything else, including the lists of wedding plans, Bee dropped into the incinerator at the exit of the park.
On I-40 headed back to Memphis, she called Valerie from the disposable phone and said, “And then there were none.” She crossed over the Tennessee river and threw the phone out the window and into the dark waters below.
Chapter 60
Released by the EMTs, Colleen went to each of her friends, one by one and hugged them, beginning with Tommy. Court invited them all back to the house. Tommy and Isabel thanked Court for the invite but said they wanted to go observe the questioning of Rachel Ford and Gordon Gibbs. They promised to call later and check on Colleen. Colleen assured them, she was going to be just fine now.
“Colleen, are you sure you are up to all of us at the house. Don’t you need some rest?”
“No, what I need right now is to be around people I care about and I can’t think of anything I would rather do than be with all of you. And eat. I would like to eat.”
On the way home, Court made two phone calls. One to the neighbors keeping Lucy and asked them to meet at their house. Then to their favorite pizza delivery service where he ordered four extra-large pizzas, side salads, and chocolate chip cookies. When he hung up, Colleen slid across the bench seat to Court, leaned against his shoulder and quietly said, “I love you, Bear. I’m so glad you are okay. I was so worried about you.”
“Me? Baby Girl, you were the one kidnapped, not me!”
“Yes, but I knew you were in more danger than I. I knew there were bombs and explosions. But I also know you are the best person anywhere to deal with it.”
Court pulled into the driveway and saw the neighbors at the top of the driveway with Lucy. They could hardly hold her leash, she was barking, her tail wagging and Court realized she somehow knew Colleen was in the truck with him. He stopped the truck, Colleen had already slid back to the passenger side of the truck as they came up the driveway and she opened the door. Wisely the neighbor dropped the leash and Lucy bounded to Colleen’s open door. Colleen bent over to hug Lucy, who was excited but gentle with her master. Court hoped Jake would be that calm when they got inside the house.
Trent, Frankie, and Pierce pulled into the driveway, and once they were out of their rental cars, the pizza delivery pulled in.
Colleen hugged the neighbors, who told her they were glad she was okay and back home, and then excused themselves to return home.
The group was spread out in the living room, eating pizza and Colleen insisted, “Tell me everything that happened while I was out of the loop. Don’t leave anything out!”
“Are you sure you want to hear all this, Colleen?” Trent asked carefully.
“Baby Girl, there was no excitement other than your being as you said, out of the loop.”
“Nonsense. I understand taking me is how they got you to react. But I suspect a lot more happened than I’m aware of. I’m a U.S. Attorney for crying out loud, this is like my own private episode of NCIS, catch me up, now!
And they did. “I can’t believe I missed all the excitement. Damn them! What will happen to Dasher now? Will Harley keep him and a new dog to train too?”
“Right now Dasher is still at the vet’s healing. Harley hasn’t figured out what to do. He says he can’t have two dogs, but doesn’t want to abandon Dasher,” Court explained.
“I would like to adopt him, but I travel so much, it just doesn’t seem fair to a dog,” Trent replied.
“Well, that’s settled. We’ll adopt him. He’ll be a fine companion for Lucy when Jake is gone with you and he and Jake have always been pals,” Colleen announced, leaving no room for further discussion on the matter.
Sarah Frances looked at Colleen and said, “You know, when I met you in Ecuador, I thought you were quite an interesting woman. I never dreamed you were this tough too. I would like to say, it’s a pleasure to meet you again, and an honor to know you.”
“Likewise, Sarah Frances. Now I want to know what I have to do to be an Ecuadorian Rose. I want to be one too.”
“Like Missy here, you are an honorary Rose, you just need to move to Cuenca.”
“Oh good! I’m so excited. The old Bear and I will discuss a timetable for that move later tonight. I’ll get back to you.”
Tommy and Isabel left the justice center, just three blocks from the river. Tom Lee Park was now re-opened following the Music Fest explosion but Riverside Drive was still closed for the month-long activities. Tommy got as close as possible and parked in an unattended lot without saying a word. He got out of the SUV, walked around to the passenger side, opened Isabel’s door, bowed with a flourish and offered her his hand to assist her out of the vehicle. She chuckled, took his hand and didn’t say a word as he continued holding her hand, and led her to the park. They walked along the walking trail and neither spoke.
Tommy stopped and looked around. There were people around the park, but no one close and without dropping her hand he turned to Isabel.
“May I please kiss you?” he asked.
“Only if you promise it won’t be the only time,” she answered.
He leaned into her but just before their lips met he whispered, “Not a chance.”
Walking back to the SUV, Isabel asked, “When do you have to go back to Virginia?”
“In the interest of full disclosure, I have to let you know, I put in a transfer request. I heard back today that it was granted.”
“Where are you going?”
“Memphis, I hope that doesn’t upset you or scare you. Should I have asked first?”
Isabel laughed and reached into her purse pulling out folded papers and handed them to Tommy. He opened them and knew immediately that he was looking at a transfer request with her name on it requesting a transfer to his office in Roanoke.
“Please tell me you haven’t turned yours in yet.”
She laughed even harder but managed to say, “No, I was going to turn it in tomorrow morning. I would have turned them in today, except we found Colleen.”
“Oh thank God. That’s one of those crazy screw ups from a chick flick movie or something. Hey, why don’t you file a vacation request instead and come back to Roanoke with me to pack up my stuff for the move.”
“Okay, why don’t you come home with me tonight.”
“I will. Just let me call Court and let him know what’s up with the investigation and that I won’t be there tonight.”
Abby and Trent, Sarah Frances and Pierce, Missy and Frankie all prepared to leave Court and Colleen’s following a promise from Colleen to take the ladies shopping the next day to fulfill their retail therapy needs. She felt it was the least she could do since they came all this way to help her and Court.
Court’s phone rang and he announced that it was Tommy. The room fell silent as he answered the phone and listened. He said, “Thank you for letting us know, and of course, I understand. We’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“What is it, what did he say?” Colleen asked.
“Rachel Ford confessed to the whole thing. She sai
d Gordon Gibbs was a dirty cop and her husband Shawn had the goods on him. Shawn forced Gibbs to help them to keep his silence. Once Gibbs found out she confessed, he did too. They are both pleading guilty, so there won’t be a trial. The problem is, neither of them knows who Shawn was getting the bombs from. So The Artist escapes one more time.”
“Mostly good news is acceptable tonight!” Colleen exclaimed.
“You’re home, my love, any news is good news.” Court said and then they bid good night and the couples left for their respective hotel rooms. It seemed like days had gone by since they checked in at lunch time.
Lucy and Jake followed Colleen and Court up to the bedroom.
“I bet you’re looking forward to a night in your own bed.”
“Oh, I am, after a long hot shower. But first I would like to just sit and look at you for a few minutes.”
“Do you want to call your siblings? I had to work hard to keep them from coming here too.”
“I’ll call them first thing in the morning.”
“Do you feel like talking?”
“Sure. I feel great now that I’m home. What’s on your mind?”
“Colleen, I don’t mind telling you, this week took ten years off my life.”
“I know, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. But I got to thinking. How would you feel about retiring?”
“It’s several years until I’m eligible to retire, but I do have a nice 401k built up. What are you thinking?”
“If I sell Jake’s, we sell the house, and with our retirement, if we are careful I think we could retire early. Just promise me to think about it -and plan to give me at least a couple days notice before you decide to go back to work, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Okay, you’ll think about retiring or okay you’ll let me know before you go back to work.”
“Okay, let’s retire and move to Ecuador.”
“Silly girl, we don’t have to move to Ecuador, I’ll call you a Rose every day if you like.”
“I know we don’t have to move, but I want to. By the way, where is Tommy?”
“He didn’t say for certain, but if I had to guess, I’d say he’s shacking up with a certain female FBI agent. He told me this morning he was approved for a transfer to the Memphis office. It seems he found something here he likes.”
“I do love a happy ending.”
“Me too Darlin, me too.”
Thank you!
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About the Author:
S.J. Braden
S.J. Braden is often asked if her thrillers are autobiographical. Scarlett considers this the ultimate compliment for a fiction author and usually replies, “Of course, some is autobiographical. We write what we know. And the rest is fiction.” She invites you to read her stories and make up your own mind about what’s real and what’s fiction and to hang out with her in her Facebook readers group called Scarlett’s Cozy Couch. Scarlett writes thrillers as S.J. Braden, cozy mysteries as Scarlett Moss, and poetry as Scarlett Braden.