Dangerous Tidings

by Dana Mentink

  Suppose they were right and it had been an accident. Sarah, the driver, had been rear ended, causing the Gallagher’s car to plunge over the side. The other driver had not stopped. Maybe Sarah would regain her memory of the accident and confirm that it had been nothing more than a horrible, tragic mistake.

  But something did not feel right—she had the feeling she got sometimes when a dog’s symptoms told one story but her gut supplied another. Odd that the driver had not stopped to call for help.

  Before his death, her normally cheerful father had been preoccupied, working late hours, investigating some case that he had not wanted to discuss.

  Or, she thought with a pang of guilt, had they all been too busy to listen? She had her own career, her sister Sarah had a busy life as a surgical nurse, and Candace was grieving over the loss of her marine husband with a child to raise. Most worrying of all was Navy Chaplain Angela, struggling to recover from a devastating tour in Afghanistan.

  They’d all been happy that Bruce Gallagher had started up his private investigation service. It gave him purpose, and he’d enjoyed solving cases only for people with military connections. It filled that part of his soul that had never stopped being a marine. Semper Fidelis was not just a motto to her father. He had been faithful to his family and the corps until the last moment of his life. He’d always done the right thing, the difficult thing, even when she’d openly despised him for it.

  She opened the file again. She’d removed the folders from the cabinet methodically and this was the only one from the drawer labeled Current that she had not gone through thoroughly. Pauline Mitchell’s file. Inside, there was only a list of names.

  Curious.

  The others were crammed full of statements, detailed bank information and even photographs, but this one had nothing except a list of names.

  3. Darius Fields

  2. Jeff Kinsey

  1. Brent Mitchell

  The shadow caught her eye. Her head jerked toward the door. Again, nothing. Only the pounding of her heart, the rasping of her own breath. Then she thought she caught the sound of someone moving along the front walkway. Clutching the file in her hand, she shot to her feet. She’d lock the door to put her mind at ease.

  As she pushed the chair out, a man’s hand reached from under the table and wrapped around her ankle, the fingers slick with sweat.

  TWO

  Brent trailed a step behind Marco as they sprinted up the steps. He finally caught the name on the front window as he passed.

  Pacific Coast Investigations.

  Why hadn’t Pauline mentioned it? His heart sped up a notch, but there was no time to indulge the feeling. They arrived in a well-appointed office cluttered with files. A Christmas tree occupied the corner, and he caught a whiff of pine.

  Marco scanned the room.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Thought I told you to beat it.”

  “I don’t take orders from swabbies.”

  Marco’s eyes swiveled to the conference room just as the door slammed shut. He raced to it and tried the handle.

  “Donna?” he yelled, pounding on the door. “Are you in there?”

  Brent opened his mouth to ask a question, when Marco picked up a chair and crashed it into the door. Bits of wood splintered everywhere, but the door didn’t budge.

  He didn’t waste time questioning. If there was a woman in there not responding... “Is there another way in?”

  “One exit door to the outside.”

  “On it.” Brent sprinted back down the hall and out the front door, then rounded the corner of the building.

  He reached what he supposed was the correct door. Locked, but there was a large window to catch the bay view. He pressed a hand to the glass and peered in. A guy with a ski mask knelt, his knee on the back of a prostrate woman. He saw only her cascade of wavy blond hair, her hands splayed away from her body, fingers balled into terrified fists. Across the room the door vibrated as Marco attempted to force it, probably with his booted foot this time. Despite Marco’s muscles, it was going to take a while and the woman on the floor had no time to spare.

  Brent tore his eyes away from the horrifying scene and hunted for something solid and heavy. No rocks or handy blocks of wood. He’d do what coasties did best: improvise.

  Time to do some damage.

  * * *

  Donna lay on the floor stomach-down, as the man in the ski mask had directed after he’d locked the door. Her heart thundered in her throat. He must have seen something in the window, because he eased off her for a moment to look. Instantly, she was on her feet, scanning the room for a weapon with which to protect herself. There was nothing in the perfectly ordered space except for the pitcher, which she snatched up.

  The intruder’s mouth twisted into a smile.

  Notice the details, she heard her father say. Most witnesses can’t offer anything helpful to catch the offender.

  Dark eyes, Caucasian, tall. But was she going to live to be a witness?

  He stepped close and she swung the pitcher with all her might at his head. With one hand he batted it away. It spiraled through the air, hit the corner of the table and broke. He grabbed her by the arms, forcing her down into a chair.

  Tears of pain trickled down her face. Terror left her limbs thick and lifeless.

  “What do you want?” she whispered.

  He loomed closer, dark eyes glittering, lips inches from hers. “You.”

  Fear turned to adrenaline. She twisted and writhed in the chair, but his grip did not loosen.

  “Your pops was a big-shot marine-turned-investigator,” the man said. “Are you a private eye, too?”

  She shook her head, teeth clenched together.

  He tangled his fingers through her hair. “That’s right. You’re not a detective.” Leaning close, he spoke into her ear. “You’re just a scared little girl.”

  Each word shot through her, his hot breath searing her temple.

  He pulled a knife from his belt. He was going to kill her.

  Again she struggled, striking out at his chest, clawing at his face, pulling at the ski mask until he jerked out of reach.

  He smiled, teeth harsh white against a tangle of facial hair, the hint of beard. “I guess you think you’re tough, don’t you?” He wrapped a strong hand around her throat, the other grasping the knife. “Little girls who think they’re tough like men. You know what happens to them?”

  She tried to loosen the fingers around her throat, but he was cutting off her air.

  “I said,” he hissed, “do you know what happens to those little girls?”

  She kicked out, missing him.

  Now his mouth was pressed against her forehead and he kissed her.

  Revulsion nearly made her gag. Tears stung her eyes, but she would not let him see her completely lose it.

  “Those little girls...” he whispered in a tender singsong voice, “die.”

  * * *

  Brent saw the guy pull a knife just before he found what he was looking for, a small stone bench. Not more than a stool, really, but heavy.

  He pulled it from the shrubbery, heaved it above his head and hurled it into the window. It shattered with a crash. He dragged it in a circular motion to swipe away the glass. Then he was up and over, clearing the threshold just as Marco smashed through the opposite door.

  The man looked from Brent to Marco and made his decision. He went for the door.

  Brent pursued. He managed to grab some of the guy’s black sweat jacket, just enough to knock him off-balance. He stumbled, but he did not go down.

  Brent lunged for him again, but the guy surged forward, tackling Marco, who went over on his back. The assailant rushed by and clattered down the hall. In seconds, Marco was on his feet and c
hasing after him.

  Should he follow or stay? It wasn’t even a contest. Brent’s heart was always with the victim. He turned back to the woman. Her thick lashes framed wide eyes, so blue, so vibrant. He flashed on Carrie, long dead, his fault. Knock it off, Brent.

  “Are you—?” he began.

  He didn’t finish the thought before she picked up a glass shard from the pitcher, wielding it like a knife.

  “Get away,” she said breathlessly, face wild with fear. “Don’t touch me.”

  He held up his hands, palms out. Panic could be as dangerous as any emotion—he knew from having rescued many people on the brink of drowning. Rational thought always took a backseat to the primal need for self-preservation. Many times he’d had to physically subdue a victim in order to save both their lives. The thought rippled across his mind before he could stop it. Had Carrie felt panic in those last few moments before she drowned? With an effort, he blinked the thought away. He kept his tone light, reassuring. “It’s okay. He’s gone. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Her skin was dead pale except for two spots of color that appeared on each cheek. “Get away.” Drops of blood dripped from her palm where a glass shard was cutting into her skin.

  He stayed still, hands where she could see them. “My name is Brent. I work for the coast guard.” He pointed to her hand. “You’re bleeding. Why don’t you let me help you with that?”

  She blinked, still gripping the glass. Slowly she looked at her hand as if she hadn’t known what was in it.

  “The man...” she stammered.

  He nodded. “I saw him. He ran away and he’s not coming back. Marco’s chasing him.”

  “Marco.” The dazed look in her eyes subsided and he could see her body begin to tremble like a leaf in storm-tossed water.

  “Why don’t you sit down?” He pulled a chair out, careful not to touch her. “I’ll stay here with you until Marco comes back, okay?”

  She still didn’t assent, but neither did she pull away when he pushed the chair toward her. Her trembling was violent now and she collapsed into it.

  “I’m just going to call the police.” He did so, eyeing her the whole time, checking to make sure that she was not slipping into shock.

  “What’s your name?” he said as he finished the call and clicked off the phone.

  “Donna.”

  “Nice to meet you, Donna.”

  He took a knee and slowly, very slowly, touched her wrist with his finger. “Can you open this hand for me?”

  “Are you a doctor?” she whispered.

  “Rescue swimmer and an EMT. I’ve been known to try my hand at doctoring a time or two. I’m a whiz with bandages.”

  Her fingers opened like a flower and he flicked the glass away. Taking a pile of napkins from the sideboard, he pressed them to the cuts on her hand. “Squeeze, okay? Not too bad, just some shallow wounds. Probably won’t even need stitches.” Her fingers were elegant, long and tapering, strong. He found himself glad she would likely not bear a scar from the attack, not a physical one, anyway.

  Mentally he’d been measuring the time, wondering about Marco. Shouldn’t he have returned by now? Her eyes, which he now saw were true navy blue, never left his face. She was, he realized, now that the terror was ebbing slightly from her expression, lovely. Like Carrie, only not.

  Sirens sounded in the distance.

  “Won’t be long.”

  “Where’s Marco?” she said, only a slight tremble in her voice now.

  He eyed the door. “As soon as the cops get here, I’ll go find him.”

  She caught her full lower lip between her teeth.

  “Don’t worry—from what I saw, he’s a big gorilla.”

  Marco appeared in the doorway. “The gorilla’s back.”

  Brent’s gut relaxed until he saw the ragged edge on Marco’s shirt and the blood seeping into the waistband of his jeans.

  * * *

  Donna leaped from the chair, brushed aside Brent’s restraining hands and ran to Marco. “You’re bleeding.”

  “Minor. Did he hurt you?”

  “No. Just scared me. Sit down. This man...” She looked at Brent. “He’s got some medical training.”

  Brent raised an eyebrow. “You should do what she says. I’m certain she’s smarter than you.”

  Marco reluctantly sat in the chair and Brent took a look at his wound. “Long and shallow.”

  “Minor, like I said.”

  Donna snatched up more napkins and handed them to Brent, who placed them on the wound. When he tried to hold them in place, Marco swatted his hands away.

  “I can do it.”

  “What happened?” Brent asked. “You forgot to duck?”

  “Sliced me, and made it to his truck.”

  Donna knew she should be terrified that the crazy attacker was out there somewhere, but at the moment, she could feel only relief. Marco, a man who was like a brother to her, was not seriously hurt.

  She turned to Brent. He was tall, a good six feet, with broad shoulders and the required military short haircut. Dark eyes, thick brows, an old bruise healing on his forehead. “Thank you, for what you did.”

  He shrugged. “No problem.”

  She quirked an eyebrow. “Why are you here?”

  Marco huffed. “That’s what I was trying to get out of him.”

  The police arrived then, sirens blaring. Three officers raced in, hands on their guns.

  Marco filled them in.

  The tallest one, a uniformed woman, introduced herself as Officer Huffington. Donna knew her even before the introduction. She’d been the one to show up in the hospital after her father was pronounced dead. Professional, unemotional. Donna felt anything but. Huffington listened intently to the three as they related the story as best they could.

  “Now do you see what I’ve been saying? Someone was after my father. He came here trying to scare me.” And it worked, she said to herself. Her knees were still shaking, palms ice-cold.

  “We’ll investigate, I can assure you, Ms. Gallagher, but what would his motive be, this guy?”

  “To stop me from investigating.”

  “Investigating what?”

  Brent edged forward. “I’d like to hear that, too.”

  Officer Huffington gave him the once-over. “So I guess this is the part when you tell me why you happened to be here at eleven thirty on a rainy night.”

  Marco grunted as a paramedic cleansed the wound.

  Brent’s eyes darkened, all traces of a smile gone. “I found the address to this business at my sister’s apartment. I haven’t heard from her recently. I was worried. I came here.”

  “Who is your sister?” Officer Huffington said.

  Brent pointed to the name on the file sitting on the conference table.

  “Pauline Mitchell. Seems like Bruce Gallagher was looking into something for my sister.” He looked squarely at Donna. “I’d like to know what that was.”

  THREE

  After a volley of questions and answers, Officer Huffington moved to speak with her officers. Brent wanted to talk to Donna, but Marco fielded most of the questions in a maddeningly brusque manner. Brent realized that Marco was trying to get rid of him. Reasonable. It was going on 12:30 a.m. The man was obviously family to Donna, and the woman had just been through a violent attack on the heels of losing Bruce Gallagher. He was sorry to have to press, but the roaring of his instincts would not be quieted now.

  “My sister is missing,” he stated again calmly. “She obviously went to see Bruce Gallagher on some private matter.” Too private to tell her brother. He swallowed the guilt. “I want to know what it was about.”

  Donna looked him over, pale but resolute. “Mr. Mitchell, I know your sister. I’m a vet. She b
rought her dog, Radar, in to see me a month and a half ago, but I don’t know what she discussed with my father. I remember chatting with her that Dad was an investigator, but I had no idea she was his client.”

  “What’s in the file?”

  She jerked her head toward the manila folder still sitting on the conference table. “Nothing, really. Just some names.”

  “What names?”

  Officer Huffington rejoined the conversation. “What makes you think your sister is missing, Mr. Mitchell?”

  “Haven’t heard from her for three weeks.”

  “Is that unusual?”

  He rolled a shoulder as a new wave of guilt hit. “No, but I’ve left messages that she hasn’t returned.”

  Donna nodded. “I’ve repeatedly called to check on Radar, her dog, and she didn’t return those calls, either.”

  “Any discussion about her taking a trip?”

  Brent shook his head. “Not that I know of.”

  “Actually,” Donna said, “when she brought Radar in, she mentioned a trip to Carmel.”

  Brent sighed inwardly. Of course she hadn’t told him. He’d never made the time to listen. She did not take priority above his coast guard duties. Be the hero to everyone but your own sister, Brent.

  “Okay,” Huffington said. “Give me Pauline’s address and I’ll send someone over to look at her place after our search for this guy is concluded.”

  Brent provided the address.

  She looked at Donna. “And I’ll need a copy of what’s in your father’s file.”

  Donna went to the copier in the corner. He noticed she was careful to screen his view. She was protecting some sort of information because she didn’t trust him. Gratitude for his catapult through her window went only so far. He suspected the Gallaghers and company were a tight-knit clan.