He was fairly sure Teddy wouldn’t have heard anything, but it was time to have it out with Tory’s kennel boy. Past time.
Teddy knew something. Holt was sure of it. He’d been afraid that if he pressured him the kid would clam up, but it was too late for niceties. Teddy would tell him what he knew, and he would tell him today.
Ten minutes later Holt had checked the clinic completely and satisfied himself that nothing was out of order. He heard Teddy whistling as he cleaned a cage. Holt stood by the door, waiting until the young man stepped around the corner and saw him.
“We need to talk, Teddy.” Holt watched the kid pale and felt a vicious stab of satisfaction. He’d been right. “Let’s go outside. I don’t think you want Dr. Falcon to hear what you have to say.”
Tory had watched as Holt strode through the clinic grimly, then told her he had to go. Two of his officers would be arriving soon, he’d said, to look around her house and to keep an eye on things at the clinic. He’d told her he’d be back as soon as he could, kissed her goodbye and was gone.
That was four hours ago. A few clients had trickled in, all of them morbidly curious about the police car that sat in her parking lot, but she’d had more than enough time to sit in her office and let her fear eat away at her.
Holt had looked so grim, so implacable when he’d left. So closed in, as if every fiber of his being was focused on finding and catching the person who had been in her house that morning. Is that the way he’d looked to his wife when she was desperate for comfort? A weak person could crumble if faced with that single-mindedness. A woman who didn’t have her own demons to wrestle could never understand that kind of need.
But she did. She understood it all too well. And instead of resenting Holt for shutting her out, she prayed endlessly that he would be safe, that his need to solve these crimes wouldn’t drive him to recklessness.
Teddy appeared in the door of her office, a mop in one hand, his face pale. His gaze focused on the calendar on the wall behind her. “Is it okay if I mop the front now?”
“Go ahead. I don’t expect any more clients this morning.” Leaning back in her chair, she added, “You can leave for lunch today, Teddy. The police officer in the front of the clinic is going to be there all day.”
Instead of thanking her, his face got even paler, if that was possible. “No, thanks, Doc. I think I’ll just stay here today.” He licked his lips and mumbled, “I brought my lunch with me.”
“Teddy,” she said gently, “are you worried about what happened this morning at my house?”
Reluctantly his eyes met hers. They were filled with misery. “I would never have forgiven myself if you got hurt,” he whispered.
“Nobody’s blaming you,” she answered, puzzled.
To her surprise, his face flamed red. “I’ve got to mop. Before the mop dries,” he said in a strangled voice as he turned and hurried away.
Tory listened to the furious swishing of the mop on the floor in the other room, unease stirring inside her. Did Holt somehow imply to Teddy that it was his fault someone had broken into her house?
No, he wouldn’t have done that. Tory dismissed the idea instantly. Holt could never be unfair. Sighing, she stood and rolled her tight shoulders. Teddy was probably just as tense as she was, and just as nervous.
Avoiding the parts of the floor Teddy had already cleaned, she opened the front door and saw the two policemen conferring next to their car. When they saw her they both ran over.
“Is something wrong, Dr. Falcon?”
“No, everything’s fine. I just wondered if you’d found anything at my house.”
One of the policemen looked at the other, an unspoken message passing between them. “We’re probably not supposed to say anything, but heck, it is your house. We found a partial fingerprint in red paint on the wall outside the broken window. It’s smeared, but it’s better than anything else we’ve gotten so far on this case.”
Tory felt as if the day suddenly brightened. “Do you think you’ll be able to identify it?”
“We’ve sent it to the state lab. It’ll take about twenty-four hours to get an answer, and a match if it’s on file anywhere.”
“Thank goodness.”
The two police officers nodded. “It’s about time we caught a break on this case.”
Tory shivered in the cool autumn air, and one of the officers noticed. “Hey, Doc, you’d better get back inside. It’s cold out here.”
“And Chief Adams would have our butts on a platter if he knew you were out in the open,” the other officer added.
The two men glanced at each other. “In fact,” the first one said, “why don’t I spend the rest of the afternoon in the clinic with you?”
“That’s not necessary,” Tory said, but the young officer gave her an engaging grin.
“It’s a lot warmer inside than sitting in a police car.”
“All right,” Tory answered, aware that she’d been manipulated but willing to overlook it. She didn’t want either officer to get in trouble with Holt.
She saw them exchange another look and felt the fear unexpectedly flooding over her. Don’t be ridiculous, she told herself, laying her hand over her churning stomach. They work for Holt. But she stood in the doorway of the clinic and barred their way in. “You’ll understand if I call Chief Adams first?”
They both looked startled, then reluctantly impressed. “Go ahead. You’re smart to be cautious,” the first one said.
It only took a moment to dial the police station. Holt wasn’t there, but she recognized the dispatcher’s voice. Marge asked to speak to both of them, and in another moment she’d assured Tory they were indeed Eagle Ridge police officers.
The second officer disappeared in the direction of her house as the first policeman settled onto the bench in the waiting room. He sat there all afternoon, chatting with her clients and thumbing through a magazine. After the last client left, he tossed the magazine on the bench and stood up to stretch.
“You can take off now, kid,” he said to Teddy.
Teddy shook his head. “Chief Adams told me to stay here until he gets back, and that’s what I’m going to do.” There was a stubborn set to his mouth.
The police officer looked annoyed, but shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He turned to Tory. “Want me to check the clinic for you?”
Tory heard a truck pulling into the parking lot and felt relief flooding through her. “Chief Adams is here now. He can take care of it.”
A moment later she heard Holt knocking at the door. “It’s me, Tory.”
She hurried over to open the door. His face was hard and set as he looked at her. She longed to throw herself into his arms, but instead she closed the door quietly behind him. Holt looked at Teddy and tensed.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” His low voice vibrated with anger. For a moment she thought he was talking to Teddy, but then she realized he was looking at the police officer.
The officer shuffled his feet and gave his boss an uneasy look. “I figured it would be safer for her if I was inside with her.”
“And who was supposed to protect her from you?”
The younger man looked bewildered. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that this crime isn’t solved yet, and it looks like our criminal has some police experience. Until it is solved, everyone on this police force is a suspect.” Holt turned to look at her. “And what the hell were you thinking of to let him in here?”
“I called the police station to ask you first,” she said defensively. “You weren’t there, but Marge talked to him and assured me that he was one of your officers.”
“Marge doesn’t give the orders around here. I do.” He swiveled to face the younger man, who was ramrod straight and red-faced. “In the future, you obey your orders. If I tell you to stay somewhere, you stay there.”
“Yes, sir,” the officer mumbled, and practically ran out the door.
Holt turned to Teddy and gave
him a long, hard look. After what seemed like forever, he said, “You can go home now.”
Tory was puzzled by the relief that swept over Teddy. He looked like he’d been holding his breath all afternoon and had finally let it out. She turned to Holt to ask him what was going on, but Holt took her hand and shook his head once. They stood quietly, listening, until Teddy left and the sound of his car trailed out of the parking lot.
“What is it, Holt?” she said.
“Let’s go to your house.” He walked into the kennel. In a few moments the lights went off and he was back. “Why don’t you get your coat and purse?”
She tried to ignore the police car pulling out of her driveway as they headed for the house. It was easier than ignoring the sound of the trees. There was very little wind today, but they still whispered to her. “Soon,” they crooned. “Soon.”
In her house, she noticed that the broken window had been fixed and new locks installed on all the windows. Her blood chilled at the reminder of what had happened that morning. She was afraid to look up the stairs.
He must have read her mind. “It’s okay. The paint’s gone, and nothing else in your house was disturbed. I checked it myself.”
“Do you really think one of your men could be the murderer?” she asked.
“I can’t ignore the fact that whoever is doing this seems to know just how to avoid leaving any traces. It would be criminally careless if I didn’t suspect them.”
“But do you really think one of them is responsible?”
“I sure as hell hope not.”
He spun around restlessly and began checking the house. She moved into the kitchen to feed Spike, watching Holt the whole time. Something was wrong.
When he finally came into the kitchen, she asked quietly, “What’s wrong, Holt?”
He jerked around. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”
“I can tell.” She was almost frightened by her certainty, by the ease with which she was able to read him.
He drew in a deep breath. “You’re right, something is wrong.” He paused, shoving his hands into his pockets and whirling to look out the window. “I had a long talk with Teddy today.”
“About what?” Her hands trembled with sudden fear, and the bag of dog food dropped to the floor with a quiet thud. A sick feeling churned in her stomach as she remembered Teddy’s odd behavior the morning they’d found the blanket and paint in the kennel.
He turned to face her. “About what’s been happening around here. He’s been acting pretty damn peculiar lately, and today was the last straw. I couldn’t wait any longer to find out what he knows.”
“He couldn’t know a thing,” she whispered. “He’s only a kid, Holt, not a murderer. It couldn’t be Teddy.” Not Teddy, she thought. Dear God, not Teddy.
“I don’t think he’s the murderer, Tory.” His voice was gentle, and he reached out for her, steadying her with hands on her shoulders. “But he’s not completely innocent, either.”
“What do you mean?” The words burned on her tongue, pain mixing with the bitter taste of betrayal.
“If it makes you feel any better, he’s been almost as terrified as you since this all began,” Holt said.
“Why?” she whispered.
He took his hands off her shoulders and shoved them into his pockets. “It seems a group of his friends have been pressuring him to help them break into the clinic. He’s been refusing, but he’s been worried about it.”
“The day I opened the clinic, when someone had broken the lock on the back door.” She felt herself pale. “He was acting so strange. Almost guilty. I just assumed it was because he was nervous.”
“He was nervous, all right.” Holt’s voice was grim. “Nervous because he thought he knew who had done it.”
“Why didn’t he say anything to me?”
Holt sighed. “He’s eighteen years old, Tory. He didn’t want to snitch on his friends.”
She looked at Holt, horror growing inside her like some malignant thing. “He’s only a kid,” she said. “A teenager. What kind of friends does he have? And why would they want to break into a veterinary clinic?”
“You answered that yourself when you had that first break-in. Drugs, Tory. That’s why someone would want to break into a veterinary clinic.” At her incredulous look he sighed and turned to look out the window. “Just because this is a small town doesn’t mean there aren’t any big-city problems here. We have kids on drugs, just like Chicago. And those kids will commit crimes to get their drugs.”
She stared at Holt, at the tension that stiffened his back and made his muscles rigid, and realized he was holding something back. “There’s more to it than that, isn’t there? There’s something you’re not telling me.”
Slowly he turned to face her, regret in his eyes. “Yes, there’s more to it than that. I wish to God I didn’t have to tell you this, but I don’t think it’s just kids who are behind this.”
“What do you mean?” She moved closer to him.
“I mean that someone put this idea into those kids’ minds. Someone told them there were drugs in the clinic.”
“Who?” she asked.
“Teddy didn’t know,” he said grimly. “But I have an idea.”
“Do you...” She stopped and licked her lips. “Do you think it’s connected to the murders?”
His face tightened. “I don’t know. Murdering three women is a big jump from stealing drugs. I hope we’ll find out tonight.”
She felt like her feet had grown roots and burrowed into the floor, anchoring her there permanently. “What’s going to happen tonight?” She could barely force the words out of her mouth.
He walked to the window and stared at the darkening sky. “Teddy has agreed to help us. He’s going to tell his friends we’re going to Pitcher for the evening,” he said, naming a town thirty miles from Eagle Ridge. “We’re not going anywhere, of course. I’m going to be waiting in the clinic for whoever shows up.”
“What do you mean, you’re going to be at the clinic. Where am I going to be?”
He turned to face her. “You’re going to be sitting in this house with one of my deputies right next to you. He’ll have a gun and he won’t hesitate to use it.”
Tory shook her head. “On whom? You said everyone with a police background was a suspect in these murders. How will you pick which one stays with me?”
“I’ll figure out something. I’ll leave two of them here if I have to.”
She shook her head again. “No. I want to be in the clinic with you.” She swallowed hard and looked at him, hoping he didn’t see the desperation in her eyes. “It’s my business and my building. I want to be there.”
“You’ll be safer here in the house,” he said flatly.
“That’s debatable, but I really don’t care. I’m not about to let you go sit in that clinic by yourself.”
Understanding dawned in his eyes. “Are you worried about me?” he asked, incredulous.
“Why is that so strange?” she retorted, defensive. “Do you think I want you to get hurt?”
His eyes softened as he looked at her. “I’m not going to get hurt, Tory. And I don’t want you to get hurt, either.”
“Then we’ll stay in the clinic together,” she said stubbornly. “That way we can make sure.”
He stared at her for a long time, then his lips curled into a reluctant smile. “You’re like a dog with a bone, you know that? You won’t give up.”
“That’s right, Holt,” she said softly. “I’m just like you.”
The smile faded from his lips as he watched her. He spun around abruptly to look out the window again. “All right, you can stay with me. But you’ll do exactly what I tell you to do, when I tell you to do it.”
“You’re in charge. I just want to be there.”
“All right.” He sighed, and his face was unreadable again. “Go get into some warmer clothes. We’ll leave in a few minutes.”
Holt looked at Tory, sitting ne
xt to him in the front of his car. She had been quiet since they’d left her house, locking Spike inside and turning on the outside lights. He’d expected her to pepper him with questions, but instead she just stared out the window at the blackness of the forest surrounding them.
“You okay?” he asked softly.
She looked at him. Even in the darkness of the car he could see the fear in her enormous eyes. “I’m fine. I was just thinking that I’m glad I’m here with you and not at home by myself.”
Suddenly he realized why she’d been so adamant about coming with him. She’d been concerned about his safety, but she didn’t want to be left alone, even with another police officer in the house. She trusted him to keep her safe.
Fear slammed into him like a train. What if he couldn’t keep her safe? What if something happened to her in spite of his efforts?
Nothing would happen. It couldn’t. Holt didn’t want to examine his feelings. He just knew he would rather die than let Tory get hurt.
Abruptly he turned the wheel of the Blazer, hearing the tires squeal as he skidded off the blacktop and onto the dirt road.
“What’s the matter?” Tory’s voice, breathless with fear, came from the seat next to him.
Loosening his fingers from their grip on the steering wheel, he made a conscious effort to regain control of his emotions. “Nothing’s wrong. I almost missed my turn.”
“Where are we going?”
He could hear her trying to control her fear, too, and he wanted to reach out for her. But he needed both hands to steer on the uneven, hard-packed dirt. “This is an old logging road. It curls around and stops about a half mile behind your house. We’ll park there and walk to the clinic.”
He felt her tensing beside him. But instead of protesting, she said in a small voice, “Does everyone know about this road?”
“Most people in town probably do.” He kept his voice casual, knowing what she was asking. “But it hasn’t been used in a long time. After the last murder, it was one of the first places I checked. There hadn’t been any vehicles on it. I’m still not sure how he got to that clearing near your house, but he didn’t come this way.”
The Dark Side Of The Moon Page 20
