Leo sighed when Lane left, still rubbing his jaw from the impact. The man had a serious right hook, he almost broke his jaw.
“I’m really sorry,” Amelia apologized, feeling more than responsible for his obvious pain. “He shouldn’t have come here.”
“It’s not your fault, are you okay?” Leo was more concerned with her wellbeing than his. He knew he would get over it in time, his ego might need a little longer than the flesh.
“I’m fine. Lane tends to fly off the handle sometimes, but I never thought he would do that.”
“He was worried about you.”
“So were you but you didn’t punch the first guy you saw.”
He shrugged, keeping his thoughts to himself. He didn’t admit it aloud but he agreed with Lane. It was him who insisted Amelia get involved in the case, it was him who asked her to go out and speak to witnesses on her own, and it was him who put her in the line of fire. Everything was his fault.
* * *
“You didn’t have to do this,” Amelia insisted as she limped inside with her arm around Leo’s waist. “I could have gone home. I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself.”
“What kind of a cop would I be if I let you go home to an empty house when someone ran you off the road?” He eased her onto the sofa, shooing away Harley as the dog tried to help.
“Mr. Moustache has what he wanted, I doubt he will come after me again.”
“Well, I’ll be here to protect you if he does. Won’t I?”
Amelia sighed, giving in. Just like at the hospital when the doctors released her, she didn’t have a chance of winning the argument and was too weary to argue. Leo had insisted on taking her home with him and now he insisted on babysitting her too.
“I just need to sleep for a while,” she moaned as he placed a cushion under her head. “I’ll be fine in the morning.”
“The doctor should have listened to me and kept you in overnight.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me, I’m just bruised. I didn’t need to stay in the hospital.”
“You had a concussion.”
“Stop arguing with me.” She closed her eyes, tired of fighting to keep them open.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he draped a blanket over her. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will, thank you,” she muttered as she finally allowed herself to drift into a dreamless sleep.
Morning came too quickly. If it wasn’t for Harley’s wet tongue as he licked her face, she would have slept for hours more.
“Harley, stop that,” Leo scolded in a whisper, trying to get the dog away before he woke her but it was too late. He saw her eyelids flutter open. “Sorry about that.”
She tested her ribs, seeing how badly they would hurt if she sat up. She quickly got her answer – they would hurt a lot. “It’s okay, what time is it?”
“Seven.” He was dressed in a suit, his unfolded tie still dangling around his neck as he led Harley away with the lure of food. “How are you feeling this morning?”
“Sore. You?” She glanced at the purple bruise on his cheek and felt a pang of guilt.
“I’m more worried about you,” he artfully dodged the question. “Are you going to be okay if I go to work? I can call in sick if you’d rather I stayed home.”
“Don’t be silly, I don’t need a babysitter.”
He poured some cereal into a bowl and covered it with milk and sugar before handing it to her. “Can I trust you not to get up to any mischief without me here?”
She smiled. “We’ll have to wait and see.”
Leo rolled his eyes, hoping she was just joking but fearing she wasn’t. He let it go, making a mental note to call her constantly to make sure she didn’t make a move without him knowing about it. He took a sip of his coffee and grew serious. “I’m really sorry I caused your argument with Lane last night. I didn’t want to get in between you guys.”
Amelia let the smile fall from her face. “It’s not your fault, really.”
“Still, he’s your boyfriend. If my presence is causing trouble in your relationship, I’ll understand if you want out of the investigation.”
“It’s not that. We were on the edge anyway, we have been for a while. I guess neither of us wanted to admit it.”
“You’re breaking up?”
“I really don’t know, it’s complicated,” she said honestly. There were no lies hidden in her words, it was what she truly believed. As sad as that fact made her.
“Okay, well, if you need to talk about it-”
“I know.”
“Good.” Leo nodded, feeling more uncomfortable than ever. He wished he hadn’t opened that particular can of worms and changed the subject. “Are you well enough to tell me what you found yesterday?”
Amelia nodded. She told him everything she could remember, in the order she found it. From the cell phone recording of Renee and the man to the documents in the gym locker, she wanted him to know every detail. Leo listened intently, writing down what he needed to in his notebook.
When he had heard it all, the detective was stunned. “Did Mr. Moustache take Renee’s phone too?”
Finally, she had something to smile about. “Nope.” She fished it out of her handbag and handed it over. “There are several recordings.”
“This is fantastic, thank you.” Leo checked his watch, not realizing how late it was getting. “I better get going. Last chance to spend the day with me?”
“I’ll be fine, I have Harley.”
“True. Call me if you need anything. And I mean anything. I’ll be back after five. There is food in the kitchen and fresh towels in the bathroom. There are also some women’s clothes in the bureau in my room. Make yourself at home.”
Amelia raised one eyebrow at the last comment. “Women’s clothes? Is there something you want to confess?”
“They’re my ex-girlfriend’s. She never picked them up. I guess she was too busy with her new boyfriend.”
“Got it.”
She waited for him to leave before flicking on the television. She wanted to get moving, continue on with the investigation but her body wasn’t going to let her. Every movement hurt and reminded her exactly where her seatbelt had been.
Harley soon curled up on the lounge beside her, settling in for the count They watched talk shows until lunchtime when Amelia decided she really needed to move.
She took a shower and found the clothes Leo had told her about. She held up the blouse and jeans, wondering which lucky lady had owned them. Bree Rowland popped into her mind first, she figured they would probably fit her. But then there was the medical examiner, the district attorney, and any other number of faceless women. She slipped them on, trying not to think about it.
Next came lunch, she made a sandwich from Leo’s well stocked refrigerator and shared it with Harley. Her appetite hadn’t returned yet, no matter how good the food looked.
By early afternoon, the television was no longer holding her attention. When the doorbell rang, she was grateful for the interruption.
As she approached, the doubts started to creep in. A moment of panic hit her as she remembered the man with the moustache, how he had caused her to crash without a second thought, how he left her by the side of the road to suffer with her injuries and how he was still out there. She faltered, unsure whether she should answer the door after all.
The knock came again. Looking through the mottled glass, Amelia could see the blue uniform of the police force. She sighed with relief, it was just someone from the station. They wouldn’t be there to hurt her and they definitely wouldn’t be the moustache man.
“Can I help you?” She asked, opening the door.
The policeman stood on the stoop, his brown hair perfectly parted to one side. “Hello, ma’am. I’m here to pick you up.”
“Oh, did Leo send you?” The officer nodded. “Did he say why?”
“You need to come with me.”
“Okay, I’ll just grab my bag.” She s
miled, leaving the officer on the stoop for a moment longer.
She gave Harley a pat and turned off the television before locking the door behind her. The officer was standing by his car, holding the passenger side door open for her. She got in and they headed down the road.
Ten minutes into the drive and Amelia noticed something – they weren’t taking the most direct route to the police station. “This is a weird shortcut.”
“We’re taking a detour,” the officer replied calmly, not taking his eyes off the road.
It took another ten minutes for the panic to set in. Amelia knew the roads they were driving and they were going in the opposite direction of the police station.
She tried to remain calm, telling herself she was just being paranoid. The last few days had shaken her up, that’s all it was. “Maybe I should give Leo a call and tell him we’re going to be a little longer?”
“He knows we’re taking the detour.” He doesn’t know we’re taking a detour.
The lie was enough to convince her it wasn’t just in her mind. She tried to formulate a plan, her mind racing with what she should do. Unfortunately, all she could think of were the alarm bells ringing in her brain.
“You’re not a police officer, are you?” She asked, wondering if they were going slow enough for her to jump out of the vehicle.
As if the officer could hear her thoughts, he turned on the child’s door lock making the decision for her. She was trapped now, even if they did slow down.
“Tell me who you are,” Amelia demanded when he was ignoring her.
“It’s none of your business,” he grunted back. “Just shut up and do what I say. Nobody has to get hurt.”
“Leo has been calling me every hour, he’s going to come looking for me when I don’t answer.” She didn’t think she would ever be happy for his overprotective phone calls.
“Well, he can come looking, but he’s never going to find you.” The man smirked. Amelia waited for the lie, welcomed it, but it didn’t come. He really did believe Leo would never be able to find her wherever he was taking her.
CHAPTER 24
Leo was watching the clock tick, wishing it would move faster. He wanted to get home and personally check on Amelia to make sure she was okay and staying out of trouble.
She hadn’t answered the phone the last two times he had called. He figured she was exhausted and had probably slept through the ringing. It was understandable. He left a message on his answering machine, asking her to call him back when she woke up.
Still, no matter how much he reassured himself, he would still prefer to check she was okay with his own eyes. Hence the clock watching.
Paperwork was the other reason for his brain dead state. If he had to fill in another form, even just one more, he was going to go crazy. He was tired of sitting behind the desk, he didn’t sign up for the idle work. He was itching to hit the streets again, do the work that he loved. It couldn’t come soon enough.
Looking around, the bullpen was quiet for the afternoon. The other detectives were out running leads on their cases, the few administrative staff were busy at their desks. As far as he could tell, nobody was paying any attention to him.
He pulled out the memory card from Violet Stream’s camera. Amelia had given it to him at the hospital, glad to be rid of it. He had been dying to take a look at the photo of the rich woman but hadn’t been game enough earlier. Now, it was time to find out who had been arguing with Renee White before her death.
He popped the card into his computer and scrolled through the images. There were several dozen of Violet’s cat in various sleeping, eating, and standing poses. Finally, the second last file was the one he was after.
Double clicking on the photo, it burst onto his screen in full size. It was fuzzy, but not so bad that he couldn’t see the woman clearly. He didn’t need to see her finer details to recognize her. Leo had seen the rich woman many times before.
He gasped, quickly looking around the room to make sure he was still going unnoticed. He couldn’t have anyone else look at his screen. He took one last look before closing the file. He ejected the memory card and placed it in his lunchbox, somewhere no-one would think to look.
Remembering Renee’s cell phone, Leo couldn’t wait to hear the recordings now. He flipped through them all, listening to each in turn. He kept the volume as low as possible, suspecting he knew who the woman would be talking to before pressing play.
Sure enough, the voice was clearly recognizable to him. He shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. He definitely knew he couldn’t risk being overheard now. He had to protect the evidence above everything else. If he didn’t, no-one was ever going to believe him. He placed the phone in his lunchbox with the memory card before putting them in his locker. He took the key with him.
Leo didn’t know what to do, he wanted to immediately call Amelia and tell her what he had discovered but he couldn’t. She deserved her sleep after what she had gone through.
Instead of reacting to the information, he tried to think it through. If he concentrated, he thought he might be able to come up with a logical explanation about why the woman was visiting Renee. She could have been comforting her, she could have been keeping up appearances, or she could have been just another concerned citizen. That would explain her presence, but it sure as hell couldn’t explain her arguing with Renee.
The walls of the precinct were starting to feel stifling. Leo needed to get out of there so he could think clearly. Being chained to the desk wasn’t just messing with his mind but his body too. He needed to walk, stretch his legs and breathe again. He stood, heading for the door.
“Michaels, you’ve got a call out,” Constable Shawshank yelled across the bullpen. Leo stopped dead in his tracks.
“Where to?”
“Come take the sheet and look for yourself.”
He was torn. Leo could see the beckoning blue sky outside but it was too far out of his reach. He had no option except to follow orders. If he was being sent on a call out, then they must be desperate. Commissioner Pace’s instructions were very specific to keep him in the station.
He took the job sheet from Shawshank, the details hastily scribbled down from a phone call. There was a suspected robbery at a business in the industrial region, the perpetrator was suspected of still being inside. Backup was requested by the responding officer.
“Saddle up.” Shawshank grinned. “Welcome back to the action.”
“Thanks,” Leo groaned. He knew he should have been grateful for the assignment but there was too much going on in his head. He had been so close from escaping it all.
Being out on the road helped. As the streets whizzed by, Leo took the solitude of his car as the quiet he needed. He didn’t know what to think about the woman in the photograph. It didn’t make sense and he couldn’t make the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle fit together. He wondered if Amelia would be able to figure it out, use her psychic abilities to see what he couldn’t. He wished he could talk to her.
Traffic was making it difficult to get to the industrial area of town, he threw his gumball on the dash and flicked on his siren. If the robber was still in the building, then every moment counted. He needed to get there without hesitation.
Weaving through the other cars, Leo made it to the building on the call sheet. He did a quick survey, it was a standalone double-story brick building. The sign on the outside was faded, barely able to be read. Once upon a time it was a bakery, now it looked abandoned.
He double checked the address, he was definitely in the right place. Leo looked around for the responding officer, the one that had requested backup. He couldn’t see any other cars in the lot or parked on the street. Instantly, his gut was telling him there was something wrong.
He pulled out his gun and took off the safety, slowly approaching the front door of the building. Someone had broken the lock, leaving it ajar. He tried to reassure himself that would be how the burglar gained access, it was normal to find it l
ike that. How many other burglaries had he been called to that started exactly the same? Dozens, if not more.
“Police. Is anyone here?” He shouted out to the empty room. The building had been gutted some time ago, leaving just one large room for the entire floor.
Pillars held up the second floor, every one of them a chance for someone to hide behind. He wouldn’t be able to clear them all quickly.
He heard a shuffle and spun around, trying to find the perpetrator. His gun was poised, gripped tightly in his sweaty hands.
“Police. Show yourself.”
The ceiling above his head creaked, snapping his head upwards. There was someone on the second story, he knew it without having to go up there. And now he didn’t have the element of surprise to use against them.
“Police. Show yourself,” he repeated, much more confidently than he felt. He hated being hunted, played with, but that was how it felt. He was playing their game and not his own, and that was not how it was supposed to work.
He located the stairs to the second floor at the rear of the building. He tried to keep an eye on them as he checked all the pillars. He didn’t find anyone hiding behind them, he was confident he was alone in the large room.
That only left the upstairs. Going up any staircase was always a risk. You had to look upwards and were limited in your view. The person standing at the top, however, could see everything. They had the ultimate advantage and it would take only a split second for them to use it.
He took each step slowly, one at a time. His gun was pointed upwards, held steady by both hands. He wished he had stopped to put on his bulletproof vest like protocol stated. He silently scolded himself, if his head wasn’t so clouded in other things he would have remembered. And now he might pay for the mistake with his life.
The step creaked underneath his foot, sounding so much louder in the quiet room and declaring his position. He stopped moving, staying as still as a mouse for a moment to listen. He wasn’t the only one making floorboards squeak. Someone was still walking around in the second story. No matter how he strained to hear, he couldn’t tell whether they were coming toward or away from him. It was too difficult to tell.
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