Collision Course

by Matt Hilton

  ‘I just wanted to check that we are all still on the same page here,’ Tess explained to him. ‘Let’s not have any childish games and try to lose us once we’re nearing Hayley’s house, eh? Po won’t put up with any nonsense, OK? He’ll catch you and force you to stop if it comes to it.’

  ‘I promise it never crossed my mind,’ he said, meaning Hayley had been working on him to do just that. That he’d refused earned kudos from Tess, and probably ire from Hayley.

  Ignoring the boy, Tess ducked lower so she could see Hayley.

  ‘You’ll be feeling nervous and ashamed right about now, and understandably so. You’ve put your mom through a lot of needless worry and heartache these last few days. But believe me, Hayley, once she sees you, your mom will forget all about it and be only happy to have you home and safe again. Do me a favor, huh? When you see her, tell her you’re sorry and give her a hug. From that moment on, I guarantee, things’ll start getting better again.’

  Hayley barely acknowledged her. She grunted noncommittally, then averted her gaze. Her reflection on the condensation-streaked window was unclear, but Tess saw her mouth writhing as Hayley muttered under her breath.

  ‘Give her a chance to explain,’ Tess went on. ‘You’ve made up your mind about her based upon the wrong emotions. Whatever you think about her she only has your best interests at heart. Your mom loves you, Hayley.’

  Jacob reached across and squeezed Hayley’s hand.

  The girl drew away from him, pushing her fingers through her dyed hair. But Tess noted the lowering of her shoulders as some tension was released. Hayley finally returned her gaze. ‘I’ll hear her out. But if Jeffrey turns up expecting a happy reunion, I’m out of here and I won’t be coming back.’

  Tess thought of her earlier promise to Jeffrey Lorton about letting him know when she’d located Hayley. Waiting until tomorrow to inform him was soon enough and still fulfilled her promise. Hayley and Jessie could do without the added complication of the estranged father showing up while they were trying to reconcile their differences.

  ‘There’s plenty time to hear his side of things,’ Tess assured her. ‘By the sound of things he’s back in Portland for the foreseeable future. Whether you want to reunite with him is totally down to you, Hayley. One baby step at a time, eh? Let’s get you home to your mom first.’

  Hayley nodded, still without conviction, but she was more open to the idea than before. Tess squeezed Jacob’s shoulder, silent thanks for helping. ‘Once we arrive, it’s best you give them some space, OK?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I’d best get my own ass home and face the music, too.’

  ‘If those brothers of yours give you any trouble, warn them they’ll have me to contend with.’ She smiled, offered him a wink and showed her bunched knuckles. She was still unsure if he’d heard yet about the thumping she’d given Nathan.

  She jogged back to the Mustang. Once she was inside, Po flashed his lights and Jacob set off.

  Jessie was waiting on the front porch when Jacob drew his car to a halt and Po pulled in behind him. The woman, blonde and slim, was only in her early forties: the stress of the last few days had taken a heavy toll on her, mentally and physically. She looked aged by two decades, as she stood rocking side to side and hugging herself tightly. As the car stopped she dropped her hands and took a tentative step forward. Po got out, allowing Tess to join him on the sidewalk. She didn’t approach Jessie, only met the woman’s gaze and nodded in support. Jessie came down the steps and along the short path even as Hayley slunk out of the Chrysler. Head down, shoulders rounded, hugging her arms across her abdomen, Hayley went to meet her mother. Jessie couldn’t contain her joy; she ran the last few steps and wrapped Hayley in her arms. She touched her hair – a recent change to Hayley’s image – her cheeks, her chin, and then grabbed her in a full-blown embrace again.

  Jacob watched open-mouthed from his car. Maybe he expected Hayley to look back at him, perhaps return for a parting kiss, but she didn’t. Tess squeezed him a smile, then raised her chin in a gesture to head on home. He tapped the steering wheel a couple of times, then left without any fuss. By the time she checked again, Jessie had led Hayley back up the path and onto the porch. She invited Hayley to enter first through the open door, and Hayley did so without looking back. Tess was fine with her lack of gratitude; if it were to come it would be at a later date. Jessie did acknowledge her though, mouthing a silent thank you, and then miming calling her on her cell later.

  ‘Another happy customer,’ said Po. Tess had forgotten he was at her side. He touched her hand, and she accepted his fingers in hers. ‘But you ain’t happy, Tess.’

  ‘Nope,’ she said. It could’ve been taken as mockery of his dialect if she wasn’t as sincere. ‘What are we going to do, Po?’

  ‘We can’t help those who don’t want helped.’

  They dropped Pinky off at Cumberland Avenue, said their goodnights and returned to Po’s ranch. Earlier, waiting on the roof of Maddie’s building, Tess had desperately needed to urinate. The adrenaline flooding her body when she’d gone to confront the armed invaders had blocked all unnecessary bodily functions, but since then almost three hours had passed. By now she should have burst, but the desire to relieve herself had dissipated; she felt her bladder must have dried up along with the stone her heart had become at the thought of abandoning the Toners to their fate. She retired to bed, and when Po later joined her, he spooned her, pulling her close to his warmth, but she simply felt cold, and the sensation didn’t leave her the entire restless night.

  She wakened early, and took her coffee outside. She stood on the porch, the sound of the nearby rain-swollen Presumpscot River somewhat deadened. The storm had passed for now, and the dawn sky was a pale blue sheet. It was calm, pretty, and the warmth of the rising sun was welcome where it caressed her face and hands. Yet she shivered. Her gaze was drawn to the northeast, towards Bangor, where she sensed another potentially violent storm was brewing.

  TWENTY-ONE

  An hour after dawn Po had rolled over, reaching an arm for Tess, but found the sheets cool. Her absence wasn’t cause for alarm; she often rose early when something troubled her mind. He dressed in jeans and T-shirt and padded through the house barefooted. He found her on the swing seat on the porch. The sun cast warm tendrils of light under the porch roof, but it was still cool. Tess had pulled a woolen blanket about her shoulders, sitting there in her pajamas with her bare feet drawn up under her. An empty coffee mug was abandoned on the floor. Without a need for greetings, Po sat alongside her, the seat swaying gently until he planted his soles on the boards.

  ‘You still haven’t let it go,’ he stated.

  ‘I’m worried about Maddie and her dad,’ she admitted.

  ‘They’re criminals. Why’d you care?’

  He was being ironic. He was a convicted killer, and to others without the full details behind why he’d killed, he might be abhorred. Tess didn’t judge him that way; she loved him for the man he was now, and knew his past crimes weren’t the sum of his character. Until recently Pinky had traded in illegal firearms – and who knew what other kinds of contraband? His association with Tess and Po had led him to see the light and turn his back on his old ways, but even before his decision, Tess had known he was the best of men at heart. If she could see the truth in them, she could allow the Toners some leeway too.

  ‘They’re involved in some criminal act,’ she agreed, ‘but it doesn’t make them bad people.’

  ‘My opinion of Maddie is she’s a spoiled brat used to gettin’ her own way … her father should know better and tell her no now and again.’

  ‘Mike Toner’s out of his depth and has lost control, both of his daughter and of the people threatening him. You ask me, Maddie sold him on her get rich scheme the way she did with Hayley. He jumped in to help her, expecting easy money, without ever considering the consequences and now look where it has gotten them. Intervening the way we did might’ve saved them last night, and you forced t
hose thugs to run with their tails between their legs, but there’s no way they’re going to let it rest. Dom and Temperance will be back, if they haven’t already been. And if not them, others will be sent in their place. I overheard Dom mentioning a name: Kelly. From what I could make out, she’s the boss and the one demanding half of Maddie’s earnings. Maddie was adamant she’d give Kelly nothing. From the way Dom spoke of her, Kelly doesn’t sound the type to let them off scot-free. If not Dom and Temperance, I’ve a horrible feeling that this Kelly might send somebody more persuasive to change Maddie’s mind.’

  ‘So what do you want to do, Tess? Wanna call the cops?’

  ‘And tell them what? We’ve hardly any idea about what it is Maddie’s doing.’

  ‘We could go see Hayley or Jacob and squeeze them a little harder for answers.’

  ‘Maybe with Jacob, but I’m a bit cautious about approaching Hayley too soon. She’s mixed up at the moment, and I don’t want to do anything that might threaten her reunion with her mom. Besides, what do we do with that knowledge? We find out what Maddie’s up to, and we inform the cops? That’ll come in time, but that only gets the girl in trouble and doesn’t do a thing to stop Kelly. One thing I’m certain of, Maddie’s a small fish, she’s not the only one being coerced by Kelly, so who knows how many others need our help.’

  ‘So you want to stop Kelly?’

  ‘Ideally, yes,’ Tess said, ‘but I’ve no idea who she is or where to find her.’

  ‘So we begin with her lackeys and let them lead us back to her.’

  ‘It should be easy enough finding their whereabouts,’ she supposed. ‘There could be a few people called Dom living in Maine, but I doubt there are that many named Temperance. Shouldn’t take me long to run her name through the system.’

  ‘Or we can do something even quicker.’ Without explaining, Po stood and held out his hands to her. She took them and allowed him to steady her as she alighted her unsteady perch. He led her inside to where he’d hung his leather jacket to dry the night before. He delved in a pocket and then turned and pressed a wallet into her hand.

  She didn’t need enlightening, but Po felt an explanation was due. Not so much why, but how, he’d appropriated Dom’s wallet. ‘I frisked him, but the punk was more interested in what I did with his pistol than anythin’ else. He watched me toss the emptied gun down the stairs, and missed me pickpocketing that. I thought it wise to get an ID on a guy I was makin’ an enemy of.’

  Tess’s eyebrows arched as she bounced the wallet on her palm. Po’s act – an unlawful search and seizure – was in essence theft, but so what? His criminal act was for the good. She flipped open the wallet. One side held a couple hundred bucks worth of bills. The opposite compartment held various bank and credit cards, and also a driver’s license. ‘Dominick Burgess,’ she read aloud from the license, ‘current address is in Brunswick, not in Bangor like I expected.’

  ‘Where he lives and where he works could be two entirely different places,’ Po suggested. ‘But if you are right and his boss, Kelly, has spread her net aways, there’s no reason why she can’t be based in Brunswick and still have victims the length and breadth of the state. Here’s how to cross-check.’ From memory he recited the license plate number from Temperance’s van. ‘Run her tags, if the van’s registered to an address in Brunswick, it’s a fair bet it’s our starting out point.’

  She leaned and pecked him on the lips. ‘I don’t know about that, Po. My first stop’s a nice warm shower. I need to work this cold out of my bones.’

  ‘Want me to join you?’ His turquoise eyes twinkled with promise.

  ‘Do that and we’ll get nothing else done the rest of the morning.’ She turned him around and patted him playfully on the rump. ‘You go and get another coffee brewing and I’ll be back with you in no time.’

  TWENTY-TWO

  Arlen Sampson forced a smile and nod of greeting as he held open the car door for his employer. ‘Welcome home, Blake,’ he added as the older man extricated his bent frame from the back seat. Rather than in her van, Temperance had collected him from Brunswick Executive Airport for the short drive north of Bath to his home, a sprawling six-bedroom house overlooking the Kennebec River, in a more comfortable saloon car: Blake Ambrose wouldn’t lower his standards by traveling in a workman’s van. There was some grunting and mild cursing from Blake, and he clung to the frame of the door as he levered up. Sampson studiously avoided lending a hand, because from past experience he knew it was unwelcome. Blake’s knees were shot, he was feeling the discomfort of being cooped up on a long-haul flight, and was probably fatigued, but he’d never admit his weaknesses to an underling.

  Blake was approaching sixty years old, but could have passed for a decade older. His black thinning hair was scraped back severely from a bulging brow that was at odds with his thin, hooked nose. If he’d large eyes he’d resemble a baby owl, but his were small, recessed raisins. He wore a camel-colored woolen overcoat over a black suit and formal black shoes. Blake barely offered a sniff of acknowledgement to Sampson. Instead he bent down to give Temperance a curt reminder. ‘I want to speak to you both. Find Dominick and I’ll see you inside.’

  Temperance stared dead ahead, hands gripping the steering wheel. ‘Right away, Blake,’ she replied.

  Turning for the front of the house, Blake swept an arm against Sampson to clear his way. ‘Fetch my bags,’ he instructed.

  Temperance popped the trunk and Sampson moved to obey. Kelly was over-exuberant, showing her husband how much she’d missed him. She clapped her hands in delight, squealed like a lovesick teenager and ran down the porch steps and threw herself at him. Her lies sickened Sampson and, judging by Blake’s gruff demand she ‘give him a goddamn break,’ he wasn’t buying her sincerity either. Unperturbed, because Blake was generally of a gruff disposition, Kelly continued mooning over him, cajoling him to return her kiss. Blake relented, but his kiss on her cheek was perfunctory at best. He groaned as he mounted the porch stairs. For the briefest moment, Kelly turned and shot Sampson a conspiratorial look, before following her husband up the steps, one hand at his lower back to steady him. He allowed her to touch him, had it been anyone else he’d have slapped the hand away with a curse.

  Sampson grabbed Blake’s luggage, one of which was a cumbersome suit bag. His case was heavy. He’d been in northern Europe on business, and had packed accordingly for the winter weather. Once Blake was inside the house, Sampson set down the suitcase and regarded Temperance. Last night, he’d been with Kelly when Dominick had telephoned with an update, so had heard how everything had gone to hell at Madison Toner’s apartment in Bangor. ‘I pity you both,’ he said, without sincerity.

  ‘You should worry about your own ass,’ Temperance sneered. ‘I saw that look Kelly just gave you; how long d’you think it’s gonna be before Blake recognizes what those sneaky looks mean?’

  Sampson neglected to answer. He’d no argument.

  ‘He might come across as a dull, miserable S.O.B., but don’t mistake that for stupidity, or a lack of interest. First thing he asked when I picked him up was if you were still here with Kelly.’

  ‘What other option did I have when those were his orders?’

  ‘You don’t have to convince me, Arlen.’ Temperance shifted impatiently. ‘I’d best get this parked and find where Dom’s gotten to.’

  ‘He’s inside already. I left him phoning the banks to cancel his credit cards; how’d the idiot manage to mess up a simple job and lose his wallet into the bargain?’

  ‘I don’t think he lost it. You hear about this guy, Nicolas Villere? I think he stole it when he took Dom’s gun.’

  Sampson snorted. ‘Yeah, how’d that happen? One guy with a knife manages to chase both of you off … and Dom armed with his pistol.’

  Slipping her knife from its sheath, Temperance turned it so it caught the light. ‘Come here, Arlen, and let me stick this in your ear. Let’s see if you can draw your gun before I skewer your brain.’

&n
bsp; Again he’d no argument, so he let the issue slide. ‘Best get these inside.’ He dragged up the case and slung the suit bag over his shoulder and headed for the porch. Temperance drove the saloon car into the four-car garage built cater-corner to the large house.

  Entering the house, Sampson was faced by a central staircase to the bedrooms and equal number bathrooms. There were three bedrooms and en suites either side of the head of the stairs, a landing with balustrade forming the arms of a squared-off horseshoe. A large picture window dominated at the top of the stairs, making use of the space to offer views over the Kennebec River. Ordinarily only Blake, Kelly and their elderly housekeeper, Marianne Perez, were allowed access to the rooms to the right, but last night Sampson had spent several uncomfortable hours in one of them. He tried to block the experience from memory as he struggled upward with the cases. At the top he stood the suitcase upright and folded the suit bag over it: Kelly could take them from there. By the time he was on his way back down, Temperance had entered the front door. Her normally dusky pallor had an insipid caste as she exchanged grimaces with him. She didn’t relish her coming talk with Blake. She went to Sampson’s right, towards the huge day room where Blake usually directed business. Sampson hadn’t been likewise summoned, but he followed behind her. Dom had found his way to the room without her bidding. Blake and Kelly were also in attendance. He had doffed his outer coat and suit jacket, and had loosened his tie, or more likely Kelly had done the undressing for him. He was seated behind his desk, and Kelly stood, mouth pinched and arms folded below her breasts, as Temperance and Dom presented themselves before them. They looked like a pair of school kids sent for punishment from the principal. Sampson stood at the threshold, and when Blake didn’t instruct him to leave, he crossed his arms and leaned nonchalantly against the doorframe.