Sable Quinn Trilogy Boxed Set

by K. J. Dahlen

  "I agree. I’ll get Max going in finding the six case files from the summer Micah ran away. We need to bring those men in too," Nick said.

  Nick headed to the elevator. When they arrived back at the office, Nick got on the phone. A few minutes’ later two officers showed up. Sable joined Greg and Gabriel. "These officers will escort you to the hospital then bring you all back here. Until we find out more information, we want you all where we can see you. Sam is dangerous. We don’t want to give him another chance to get to any of you."

  Gabriel began to shake his head, but Sable held up her hand to stop him. "You don’t have a choice, Mr. Reardon. You may not care about living but the rest of us do. I’m not willing to put my life on the line for you if you aren’t going to cooperate. I will simply arrest you. You can spend the next few days in a 4 by 8 cell. The choice is yours."

  Gabriel stared at her for a moment then agreed. "All right, you win. This time you win, but I will not allow your insolence again."

  Sable didn’t say anything. She let him walk away. A few minutes later Max handed her a report. She didn’t know any of the names listed but there were eight men’s names on the report. Each of them had one thing in common -- each of the men had been acquitted of major crimes and Gabriel Reardon had been the judge in all eight cases.

  Sable gave Nick the report. "These are the cases from that summer. Now all we have to do is find them. Sam's letter only mentions six men but we have eight names. Either two of these cases are unrelated or he's deliberately misleading us."

  At this point we don't know enough about Sam to know what he intends. We have to look at all eight cases," Nick alleged.

  "Did you find anything in Gabriel’s life that someone could use to discredit him?" she asked Max.

  "Nothing yet. I’ve gone back about twenty years, but he’s as squeaky clean as a newborn’s bottom."

  "There has to be something; you may have to go back further."

  "Guys," Nick commented out loud, "I think we have a problem."

  Sable glanced at him. He held up the list. "I checked with the local police. Four of these people have been found dead within the last three weeks."

  Chapter Three

  Sable had to sit down. "How did they die?"

  Nick leaned on the corner of his desk. "Each of them was found tortured and drenched in their own blood. The word ‘sinner’ was engraved in their forehead along with the date they were found innocent."

  "Damn," Max whistled. "What about the other four?"

  Nick glanced at the list. "Two of them are in prison on other charges. That leaves two unaccounted for."

  "The other two must be what’s left of the original six," Sable reasoned.

  "Then that means Sam has been here for at least three weeks," Nick said.

  Sable thought for a moment. "No… he’s been here longer. I think he’s been here the whole time. By now he knows what really happened the day Micah died. He also knows who allowed his father to burn to death."

  "That means he’s coming after you," Max said the words out loud.

  "He would be coming after me anyway. He has to finish what Micah started. I think he’s going to try to make my death the most visible and the most painful. I’m a part of Micah’s past that he isn’t."

  "What is that supposed to mean?" Nick asked.

  "Micah tried to murder me once and he failed. When he came back to try again, he failed again. If Sam was here the day Micah died, he isn’t going to let me live. I took the life of the man he called Dad. I stopped his father’s mission in taking out his family. Now Sam has taken up the cause. He feels he has to finish his father’s work, but not before he disgraces his great grandfather. I think that was the real reason Micah came back. It wasn’t to simply murder them; he was going to disgrace Gabriel before he murdered him. We need to find out what Micah had against Gabriel."

  Max glanced at his computer. "I’ll dig deeper into Gabriel’s past."

  The door to the outer office opened. Sable watched as Emma, Greg, and Gabriel Reardon came in. Emma was bruised; her right arm was in a sling but she was alive. Sable rushed over to her.

  "Are you alright?" she asked.

  Emma tried to smile but she couldn’t. There was terror in her eyes. "Was that young man really Micah’s son?"

  "He sent Gabriel his birth certificate."

  Emma grabbed her arm. Sable led her to the couch. Sitting her down, Emma paused for a moment then told them what happened the day before. "I was getting in my car yesterday when this young man came up behind me. He opened the door into the back seat and called me Great-Grandma. I was frightened but couldn’t show it. I asked him who he thought I was. He told me my name, and he said he was Micah’s son Sam." Emma glanced up at Sable. "I didn’t know Micah had a son."

  Sable knelt down in front of Emma. "What happened then?"

  "He grabbed my arm, twisting it around until I faced him then he slapped me. He hit me so hard my nose bled. He held me there watching the blood from my nose get all over everything in the front seat of my car. I was so scared I couldn’t move. He told me I had to come with him." Emma’s eyes filled with tears. "He led me to another vehicle and we got in. He drove about ten minutes, stopping at a warehouse by the water. When we got out of the car, he forced me to go inside. He pushed me into a corner then tied me up." Emma held up her arms, showing her badly bruised wrists. Her delicate skin had been rubbed raw.

  "Did he say anything else? I mean other than his name and who he was?" Sable saw the rope burns from her restraints.

  Emma closed her eyes for a moment then said, "He ignored me for most of the night. I don’t think he slept at all. He left for awhile this morning. When he came back, he was smiling. He sat down on a trunk then he said it was time to call you." Emma shuttered. "I think he’s not only crazy but pure evil too."

  Sable smiled patting her arm. "Don’t worry, I won’t let him get close to you again."

  Emma tilted her head. "I don’t think you’ll have a choice. The young man wants to kill us all."

  Sable sighed deeply. "I won’t let him do that."

  "You don’t understand. He’s out to take our family down, but he has a private vendetta against you. He wants to see you die a slow painful death."

  Sable felt an almost physical blow when Emma had put her worst fears into words. For a brief moment she had allowed the terror in her heart to come to the surface. She could taste the fear. Sable found she didn’t care for it much. She put it to the back of her mind. She wouldn’t let him win.

  Sable glanced at Emma and the others. Each of them wore a look of helplessness toward her. She had to smile slightly. "We’ll see who is left standing when this is all over. He may want me dead but I want something too. I want to live. Sometimes the sheer will to live is stronger than whatever evil a person has buried in his heart."

  "You have something more than that," Nick told her.

  Sable turned to look at him. "What would that be?" She asked her boss.

  Nick smiled slightly. "You have me."

  "And me." Max joined the conversation. Both men wore the same expression of determination to stop any threat against her.

  Sable’s throat swelled with pride. Turning back to Emma she smiled. "There, you see. Sam can try but three against one are pretty good odds, don’t you think?"

  Emma burst into tears, raising her hands to cover her face. Sable allowed her to cry for a moment then she lowered Emma’s hands. Emma sobbed. "I was so afraid he was going to kill me."

  Greg put his arm around his mother. He kissed the top of her head.

  "Sam is nothing more than a coward and a bully," Sable told her. "He plays on vulnerable people by getting them to fear him. We need to stay together and find a way to stop him."

  "What do you mean stay together?" Gabriel asked.

  "Sam is a single man; good, bad or otherwise, he’s only one man. To strike fear into us he needs to separate us. He has to get to each of us when we are most vulnerable. He�
�ll be looking for a way to get us when we are alone," Sable told them. "If we can stay together as a group, he can’t isolate any of us."

  "Mrs. Reardon," Nick asked, "did Sam give you any idea what he was going to do next?"

  Emma glanced over at him. "He said he had two more little worms to dig up. He said he would be coming after Gabriel with everything he had when he got rid of the two men." She reached inside her pocket handing Sable a piece of paper. "He didn’t know I took this. I have no idea what it means, but he left it on the table."

  Sable opened the paper. There were two words written on it. It said, Remember Melinda. She handed the paper to Nick, turning back to Emma. "Do you know a woman named Melinda?"

  "None I can think of that could be responsible for something like this."

  Nick turned to Gabriel asking the same question. "Is there anything in your past involving a woman named Melinda?"

  Gabriel thought for a moment. "Nothing I can recall at the moment."

  "Then we’ll keep digging. In the meantime we need to get you to safety while we find the other two men on the list. Sable was right about one thing. If you remain together, Sam won’t be able to get to you," Nick said.

  "But he will try again," Emma commented.

  Sable agreed. "Yes he will. Try, I mean. I think he’s going after the other two names on the list. Once they are taken care of he will come after us."

  Emma smiled weakly. "I could use a nap. I didn’t get much rest last night."

  "I have one more question then I’ll let you rest," Sable told her.

  "What do you want to know?" Emma asked.

  "What does Sam look like?"

  Emma’s lips turned up at the corners. "He looks a lot like Micah. He has the same dark hair and blue eyes. He’s a slender man but he’s very strong."

  Sable glanced at Nick. "Ok Emma, I’ll let you rest now." She stood allowing Emma to move past her. The officer followed them to the conference room.

  Sable told Nick, "Her description could be a thousand other young men. It doesn’t help us identify him. He’s a slender young man with dark hair and blue eyes. It’s not much to go on."

  Nick agreed. "It may not be much but right now it’s all we have."

  The door opened again. A lab technician walked into the office. He handed Nick a file. "I hope this helps. It was the best we could do."

  Nick opened the file and glanced at the photo inside. It was the enhanced photo. Sam had been aged about fourteen years. The man in the photo appeared to be about twenty years old and the description Emma had given them fit with the new image.

  Sable viewed the photo then glanced at Nick. "This could be anyone. His outstanding feature is his blue eyes."

  "It’s all we have to go on," Nick said.

  "Don’t remind me," Sable grumbled.

  Half an hour later police officers escorted the Reardons to a safe house. Sable and Max were busy delving into Gabriel’s past while Nick began tracking the whereabouts of the two men still on the list.

  One of the men, Kyle Raymos, had disappeared a few days ago. The other man, Scott Black, was still in the area. Sable and Nick decided to check him out, if nothing else, to warn him he might be in danger.

  As Nick pulled up in front of Black’s home, he whistled. The house was a mansion with a circular drive, a fountain in the front yard, and huge heavy front doors. The doors were made of glass and wood. They had heavy black hinges. The house was three stories tall. With all the windows in the front, it appeared as if it would be bright and airy. It also told anyone walking by the owners had nothing to hide. The front lawn was manicured along with splashes of color in the form of flowers on either side of the front door.

  As they stared at the house the door opened. A man stepped out from the foyer. He was big, black, and had a gun strapped to his shoulder. Sable glanced at Nick. When she looked back, two more men came around the side of the house. They too were armed.

  "It seems as if Mr. Black is not in any immediate danger," Nick remarked.

  "We still have to warn him. Sam might be smarter than we think."

  Nick sighed deeply. "Ok, but I doubt Black will be interested in our help."

  When Sable and Nick stepped out of the car and walked up the drive all three bodyguards moved together to stand as one. By the time Nick and Sable reached them they seemed too tense, as if expecting trouble. The one on the left of the middle opened his coat showing his weapon. Nick looked at the gun then glanced at the man. Slowly he reached into his pocket he drew out his FBI identification. Flipping it open he turned his gaze to the man in the middle. "We’re here to see Mr. Black."

  The man stared at them for a moment then turned back into the house. He reappeared a few minutes later. Holding the door open for them to enter he stepped back. He led the way down the hall to another door. The room behind him was a game room. A massive pool table dominated the room. A wooden bar stood at the far end of the room. Scott Black sat in one of the many easy chairs scattered around the room. He was a short wiry man with long strawberry blonde hair. His green eyes told you he didn’t miss much.

  Scott sat behind a cloud of cigar smoke watching as Nick and Sable walked into his game room. He put the cigar he was holding down in an oversized ashtray on the table then stood up. "What can I do for the FBI today?"

  "My name is Nick Ramer. This is Sable Quinn. We are here to inform you it has come to our attention there is a very real threat to your life," Nick explained.

  Scott seemed amused. "Really? Do you know what this threat is or rather who he is?"

  "His name is Sam Reardon and he’s already murdered four people," Sable told him.

  Scott walked over to the bar. He poured himself a drink. Raising the glass to his lips, he glanced at them. "I don’t know if you noticed or not but I have an ample security force already. They are on duty 24/7. I do appreciate the warning although it really wasn’t necessary."

  Sable squirmed. "Mr. Black, this is important. Sam Reardon is not going to go away until he kills you, and he’s not going to be frightened by a few men roaming around your house."

  Scott turned toward her. "Miss Quinn, I’m not dismissing the killer as easily as you think, but I’m a practical man. I know there are people out there that don’t appreciate what I do for a living and you know what, that’s okay with me. I don’t have to like my neighbors either, but I respect their right to earn a living."

  "Mr. Black, this has nothing to do with how you earn your living," Sable argued. "No one here cares how you earn your money."

  Scott frowned, "Then what is this all about?"

  "We found your name on a hit list along with several other names. Sam Reardon has murdered four other men. He will come after you."

  "Why? What did I ever do to Sam Reardon?"

  "Nothing. You haven’t done anything to him, but once a long time ago you slipped through the legal system. You never paid the price for whatever crime you were on trial for," Nick told him.

  "I don’t think I understand what’s going on here. I haven’t been to court for some time."

  "We know, we checked. Like I said, Sam isn’t after you for anything you’ve done recently. He had a list of eight men his father saw fall through the cracks of the judicial system. Now he’s hunting these men down to murder them," Sable said.

  "Eight? I thought you said he’s already killed four men?"

  "He has killed four men; two of the eight are back in jail so you and another man are left. The other man is missing so we came here to warn you." Nick said.

  Scott seemed worried but tried to brush it off. "Like I said before, I’m protected well enough. My men are here all the time. I am never alone."

  "Are you willing to bet your life on that?" Sable asked.

  Chapter Four

  Scott smiled and shrugged. "I do have weapons in the house."

  "Sam prefers a knife. He likes to watch his victims suffer before they die," Sable told him. "He likes to watch them bleed to death."

/>   "Look, I’m not going to let this monster chase me out of my house. I feel protected enough here. Personally I can’t think of one reason why he would come after me. I haven’t done anything illegal for a long time."

  "Would you allow us to stake out your house tonight?" Nick asked.

  "Why?"

  "Because I think he’s going to try to silence you as well as the other guy so he can carry on with his other agenda."

  "What is his other agenda?"

  "He wants to kill me along with three other people," Sable said.

  "What the hell? How do you know that?"

  "Sam Reardon told me."

  Scott rubbed his hand along his jaw. "Yeah sure. Come by before dark. I don’t suppose it would hurt to have a little extra manpower around for a night or two."

  Sable turned to look at Nick. She saw his jaw tighten in anger. When she turned back to Scott, she said, "We’ll be here later." She grabbed Nick’s arm and led him out of the house.

  Once outside, Nick took a deep breath running his fingers through his hair. "You know what, that creep deserves to meet up with Sam."

  Sable groaned. "You know better than that. I don’t like him either but no one deserves to die the way Sam kills."

  "Do you think he’ll try tonight?"

  "Yes I do. Sam knows he has very little time. If he’s in one place too long, he runs the risk of getting caught."

  "Let’s go back to the office. We need to find out if Max has come up with anything on Gabriel."

  Max was grinning when they walked in the office. "I now know more about Gabriel Reardon than I do myself, but I think it paid off."

  "What do you mean?" Sable frowned.

  "The man is so squeaky clean he could be Mr. Clean’s brother, but there was one name from his past that raised some red flags. Melinda Carter. Boss, I had to go back forty-eight years to find her."

  "What’s so special about Melinda Carter?"

  "The police report is almost non-existent but she supposedly went missing after a frat party."

  "Around here?"

  Max’s grin widened. "Nope. Boston."