Dan turned back to Kate. "Tell me more about Dad and that mess-up at the clinic. That really rocks me, and what's happening with Lucy? Couldn't be better, but to business. Tell me about Lucy, exactly what she said."
Kate spoke slowly, "I asked who had come to see her. She mentioned Maggie and Sally. Did I tell you she knows Sally is her mother? Then she said a strange thing, 'I think I saw my cowboy.' I already told Dr. Gold. She was very sure about it, but who do you think she means?"
"'My cowboy.' Those were her exact words?" Dan asked. "She didn't say 'the cowboy' she said, 'my cowboy?'"
"Those were her exact words," Kate flared, "and no, it wasn't 'the cowboy,' or 'your cowboy.' It was 'my cowboy.' I've been wracking my brain, and I haven't come up with one coherent idea about that phrase."
Dan thought for a few minutes. "What's a cowboy and what makes him different? He wears boots and a holster with a gun, maybe two, and a ten-gallon hat. Did you see anybody at the hospital with any of those things? Did the paramedics have anything with their uniforms that looked like a cowboy?"
"I don't know." Kate answered as she finished her meal.
"That's right," Dan said. "They were gone when we got there. Tom and Jack wear blue uniforms and a badge, no cowboy paraphernalia. They're good friends of mine. In the morning, I'll see if one of them kids around, wearing a 10-gallon hat."
He yawned. "That food made me sleepy. I'm beat. Dead animals, fake cowboys, I don't give a damn about any of it anymore tonight. I need to put this to rest for a while."
Kate said, "You pay the check, give me the keys, and I'll warm up the car."
Kate turned on the heater in the car and thought, 'I hope nobody's up at the house. I don't want to talk to anybody else tonight, and I sure as hell, don't want to see the chief.'
Dan got in the warm car, and when they pulled up in front of the house Kate heaved a sigh of relief. Except for the nightlight in the hall, the house was dark.
She climbed the stairs, wearier than she ever remembered. 'Thank God, that's it for tonight,' she told herself, as she reached over and turned off her bedside lamp. Her head touched the pillow but sleep eluded her.
She tossed and turned and finally sat up, and switched on the light. She thought better with the lights on. She recapped the day, lingered over her time with Lucy, a warm, loving, trusting twelve year old. Her mind managed to avoid the image in the mirror and the upset in the clinic with the chief.
'Oh my God!' she thought, 'Didn't it hurt? Did she cry out, scream in pain that first time? Was no one else home or was someone there, a co-conspirator, an enabler, a family pimp? How can I sleep when I need answers to these questions?'
She lay back, buried her head in the pillow, and cried softly. Not for herself, but for that poor helpless abused child. And then she heard a noise at her door. When the handle started to turn, she sat up and pulled the blanket around to cover herself. Was it her father? Did he hear her crying and was coming to comfort her, like he tried to do when she was little? She gave a silent prayer of thanks when the door did not open and she heard footsteps fade away.
She reached for a robe, got out of bed, opened her door slowly, and looked around. No one was there, so she padded downstairs to the kitchen. The lights were on, and Kate shielded her eyes against the brightness so she could see Dan sitting at the kitchen table. "Oh, it's you. I thought you would be sound asleep by now. Were you at my door, just now?"
"Not me, Kate. I couldn't sleep, and I've been down here for almost half an hour. I can be very quiet when I want to. You're used to me thumping down stairs with boots on, but I tiptoed and even skipped the squeaky step. You, on the other hand, didn't skip that telltale step. I heard you coming." Dan sat back smiled.
"Well isn't that interesting, Dan. I forgot you wear boots most of the time. Could it be your boots that jogged Lucy's memory?" Kate looked at Dan with fire in her eyes.
"Oh come off it, Kate. If I'm somebody's cowboy, it sure as hell isn't Lucy's. Maybe at one time I could have been Sally's, but I'm away too much of the time." Dan sat back. "Do you want to get serious or what? Can I get you a glass of milk, a cookie or something?"
"No. I want to think and I want to talk." Kate whispered, "God damn, it had to hurt like the fires of hell."
"Pardon me! What the hell are you talking about?" Dan asked.
Kate couldn't stop herself. The words tumbled out like children's blocks clunking down the stairs. "I'm talking about Lucy, you idiot. She was probably only eight or nine when the abuse started. Right now we're thinking adult male. Did she scream? Did he put his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet? Each time I close my eyes, that rape is more vivid because I've come to feel very close to Lucy." She pulled in a big breath, tears starting to flow.
Dan went behind her chair and massaged her shoulders. "Gosh, Kate, I never did visualize it that way. No wonder you couldn't sleep. Now you've put that picture in my mind it will haunt me too. Are you happy now?"
Kate wiped her face with a few napkins and smiled up at Dan. She saw that his bleary eyes matched her own. "So, what kept you up?"
Dan thought for a minute, "It wasn't anything specific. It was just an uneasy feeling we are missing something right under our noses. Damned if I can think what it is. I know you feel for Lucy and the pain she's been through, but that hasn't brought you any closer to who's been doing this to her."
Dan sat down, drank some milk, and ate a cookie, waiting for Kate to say something. When she didn't respond, he tried a different tactic. "Okay, let's look at the family angle. First Maggie, then Sally, and now Lucy. We have three separate horror stories. Are we convinced that it's the same man from day one? Of course we don't know when day one was, do we, Kate?"
Kate didn't mention the strong resemblance between herself, Sally, and Lucy. Instead, she said, "It's hard to reconstruct events that started twenty-four years ago when we weren't even born. All we know is what we've heard from other people. To get to the root of the question, we start at the beginning. So now we know what our next step is going to be."
Dan sat up. "Whoa, you just passed me at sixty miles an hour. What's our next step?"
"The library, you ninny," Kate grinned. 'We have to find out everything we can from the first Halloween accident until now. We have to read any stories about the death of Agnes's husband. Were there any stories in the local press about Maggie's or Sally's babies?"
"Good thinking, Kate." Dan got up. "Now that there's a plan, I can sleep. So in the morning, do you want Mortonville or Oakton library?"
Fourteen
Tuesday morning, Kate went downstairs and faced a grim scene around the kitchen table. She felt her knees go weak as she watched the chief handle his police issue .45. He tossed it from hand to hand, stroked the barrel with his fingers. He aimed it first at Louise then at Dan, saying, "Bang, bang, you're dead. Remember our little game, kid?"
She saw that Louise was trying to ignore him while Dan seemed transfixed.
Hoping to interrupt a tense and dangerous situation, Kate said, "You're going to get blood all over the toast if you shoot us at the table, Dad."
The chief pointed the gun at Kate. "What makes you immune, sister? Toast be damned. Bang, bang, you're dead too."
Kate stared at him. "What's with you, chief? Off your feed this morning?"
He got up, dropped the gun in its holster, put on his heavy jacket, picked up his Stetson, and said, "Shut up, kid. You're an ass. I was only thinking about it this time." He went out, slamming the door behind him.
Kate plopped into a chair, feeling the strength seep back into her legs. She took Dan's coffee, drained it, and collected herself enough to say, "I'm beginning to see what you mean, Mom. We've got to get you out of here. He meant it when he said 'not this time.' How about it Dan?"
She saw color start to come back to Dan's face, but before he could answer, Louise said, "That was fluster and bluster, kids. He wanted to scare you, show you what a big man he is. And he did. You two thought he was
serious."
Kate interrupted, "Damn it, Mother, that looked pretty serious to me. Dan and I have to get you out of here today, right now."
She wondered where to take her mother in a hurry, where the chief would have trouble finding her, for a little while, at least.
"What about your friend Mrs. O'Neal from the library? She lives clear across town. Or say, how about Mrs. Murphy at St. Timothy's? That's even better. She'll protect you from all comers, including big, swaggering Chief Addams. Go pack a few things and we'll take you over there right now."
Louise said, "Calm down, you two."
Kate thought her mother was much too calm.
"Listen, I admit, he was never that explicit before, but I'm not scared of him, and the two of you shouldn't be either. That man has done some terrible things." Louise hesitated. "If you don't know, or suspect most of it already, I'm sure you'll find out all about it soon enough, but he isn't going to shoot his family. Now I am getting out of here. I'm going to the clinic."
Dan said, "Mom, how can you be so calm? That idiot scared me to death. He had the goddamn safety off. A hair trigger and we would have been toast."
Dan started to stand up, and Kate saw him grab the back of his chair to steady himself. "And I sat here like a wimp. Didn't even try to take the gun away."
Kate said, "He's your father, Dan, and I'm not sure you had a good shot at taking him down, anyhow, but it's over."
Dan threw up his hands in the air and scoffed, but Louise only said, "You're father has been getting crazier and crazier since Halloween, Kate. He gets away with murder in Oakton, ask anybody...except, I don't believe anybody would have the courage to ever say a word against him. He's got the whole town in his pocket, and if he squeezes, somebody gets hurt."
Kate said, "But, Mom, that doesn't explain pretending to shoot his family. If he's getting crazier, as you say, how can you stay here, live in the same house with that maniac?"
She considered her words for a moment. "Did I just call my father a maniac? If I did, there's help for you. I'll call Dr. Gold, and he'll have commitment papers drawn up. We can get him out of here today."
Louise assured Kate that the situation wasn't as bad as she thought. He would calm down, bring her flowers tonight, and pretend nothing happened. And if she reminded him, he'd deny the whole thing and call her crazy. She got her coat, car keys, and left.
If Louise could deal with what just happened and get on with her day, Dan knew he could pull himself together, and do his job, talking to the paramedics.
Jack Evans lived a few blocks from the clinic, so that was his first stop. The interview with Evans yielded nothing. He drove to Tom Halloran's, North across the Root River to the new Oakton suburbs, curving up into the hills, below the bluffs. He asked the same questions and got the same answers. No, they didn't wear anything but their uniforms and they didn't see anything Sunday night but Lucy.
Tom told Dan that his questions jarred his memory about Halloween. He remembered something odd when they picked up Agnes Clark. "When he lifted the woman's hand to check for a pulse, she was holding a white envelope. The chief barged into the house before we got her into the van, and I never saw the envelope again." Tom wondered if the chief took it, what was in it, and if it was important? He hadn't thought about it again, until just now.
Sitting at Millie's with his coffee and donut, Dan tucked the information away, reminding himself to be sure to tell Kate. When they met up again, Kate said she worried about Louise but decided her mother would be safe at the clinic. She pulled herself together, got dressed, and got to the clinic a little after 7:00. Kate walked down the dimly lit corridor to the desk where Mary Hansen was back on duty. "Anything new with Lucy, Mary?"
It took her a minute to notice that Mary had a strange, disheveled look. She had to lean close when Mary whispered, "You wouldn't believe what just happened, Kate. I tell you, I'm still shaking. It scared to death."
Kate took hold of Mary's hands. Mary whispered to her that a little while ago, the chief barged in and tried to get to Lucy, but thank God Dr. Gold put a big, burly security guard at her door last night. When the chief saw the security man, he took out his gun, waved it around, but when the guard pulled his own gun, the chief ranted about it being against the law, keeping him away from Lucy. The chief stopped, turned around, and glared at her.
Mary had ducked under the counter, shaking and sweating. She could hardly breathe. Then she heard him storm out. When she nosed her head above the counter, she saw that he turned over food carts and threw anything he could lay his hands on, adding that that the staff already cleaned up his god-awful mess.
Kate looked at Mary in disbelief, thinking, 'It wasn't enough to threaten his family, now he is out of control.' She asked sternly, "Where is my mother?"
Mary raised her voice. "I don't know why you've got your drawers in a knot about Louise, Kate. What was she supposed to do, come out and tackle the guy?"
Kate took off her coat. "Of course, not. You must have been scared to death. At least, nobody got hurt. God knows what the man would have done if he saw Mom in that room with the child. I'll go in and see how Mom and Lucy are getting along."
Seeing the stern-faced, imposing figure standing guard at Lucy's door, Kate smiled at him, remembering that she went to high school with him.
"Remember me, Ned? You sure have changed. That must be some healthy diet you're on. Mary told me what happened, and I'm not surprised the chief didn't want to take you on."
Ned Barnes looked down at Kate from his burly six foot four inch height. "So you're still a smart ass. I remember you, Kate Addams, always making fun of me. I am big and I could crush you with one hand, but I'm saving myself for your son-of- a-bitch father."
He asked, "You here to see the kid?"
Before Kate could answer, there was a bump against the door, and Ned stood aside for Louise, backing out with a tray in her hands.
"Oops." Louise steadied herself against the door jamb. "That was a close one. Here, Kate, please take this tray to Mary. I'll stay with Lucy. She heard all that yelling and swearing. She didn't see him, but that ruckus with your father really scared that little girl."
She looked up at Ned. "You were great, Ned, facing him down. I only heard it through the door, but I bet it was something to see, Kate. Colossus against colossus, and Ned won."
Kate shook Ned's hand. "Good work, Ned. I'm proud of you." She noticed him blush.
She turned to Louise. "You know the doctor didn't want anybody talking to Lucy about what happened to her. I hope you're not interfering, ignoring his instructions."
Kate watched her mother's face morph into stone as she answered slowly, deliberately, "I know what happened to Lucy. I need to confirm one or two things, and I'll have answers to all your questions, my girl, even ones you don't know enough to ask."
Kate said, 'Let's walk down the hall, Mom. I don't want to talk outside Lucy's door. Poke your head in and tell her you'll be back in a few minutes."
Louise said the child was nodding off and that's why she was leaving. She put the tray on Mary's desk. Mary was dismissive. "Thanks a lot, Louise. I won't need you any more today." But Louise wasn't having it and told Mary she'd take her instructions from Dr. Gold.
Louise sat on a bench next to Mary's station and planted her feet firmly on the floor. Kate leaned over and said, "While Lucy's sleeping, let's you and me go to Millie's, Mom, and get a good breakfast. It looks like it might be another long day."
In the car, Louise asked, "Is it breakfast you want, Kate, or to get me away from Lucy?"
Kate smiled. "I want to talk, but not in front of Mary. She's the biggest gossip in town."
As they went up the steps to Millie's, Kate and Louise came face to face with Chief Addams on his way out. Kate shrunk back from his loud, crude language. "Well look at these two nosy nellies. What the hell do you two bitches think you're doing, running around, stirring things up? Keep out of my business, you two, and I mean or else!"
Louise laughed in his face. "That new Stetson went to your head. If your ears weren't so big, it would slip right down over your eyes."
Kate watched his eyes get black and hard as he glared at his wife, but Louise didn't back down, "Now get out of our way." They shoved past him, waved at Millie, and went to the back booth.
"Boy, that was something, Mom, but you didn't have to push me away. I carry a gun. We could have had a shoot out right there in front of Millie's."
Kate saw the color rise in her mother's face. "I can't believe I did that, Kate. That was a first, but then, a lot of things are firsts for me lately."
Kate said, "Okay, Mom, back to business. You're the one who intimated you've got all the answers. What do you know that Dan and I don't? Talk."
Louise frowned. "You're pretty nervy, talking to me that way, daughter. Why shouldn't I know things you can't possibly know? I live here. Lucy can confirm what I've suspected for a long time. I don't want to make accusations I can't back up."
"Fill me in," Kate said. "It would help if Dr. Gold, Dan, and I knew everything you know. Then we could gather evidence, get DNA, and nail everything down."
She watched her mother finish her oatmeal but didn't know Louise was wondering.
Kate watched Louise sit back, reach for her coffee, and let out a long, labored sigh. "What if I'm wrong? I will have blackened someone's reputation, embarrassed myself, and end up a pariah. You know how vicious a small town can be."
Kate said, "Hey, Mom, if you suspect somebody, tell me. I'll tell you what we have and we'll see if it fits together."
"No," she said, but Louise thought for a minute. "You go first. Tell me what you think you know."
Chief Among Sinners Page 16
