by LS Sygnet
"Congratulations. Anything else?"
"The cabin up on Scabbard Mountain put the final nail in Lowe's coffin," Conall said. "That's where he kept his other trophies."
Heads and hands no doubt. "I see."
Conall and Briscoe shuffled their feet.
"We uh … well, we figured you'd want to know that the whole thing is wrapped up, Eriksson," Briscoe said. "If you're plannin' on hangin' around here for awhile, me 'n Puppy here wondered if you might be interested in some more work."
"I don't –"
"Think about it," Conall interrupted – his smile echoing that odd familiarity I sensed when I first met him, like he knew me somehow. "We don't expect an answer today, Dr. Eriksson. Our lieutenant said we could float the idea to you, and that if you're interested, you can call her. Not right away of course, but whenever you decide what you want to do."
They slipped out the door.
"Your friends are going."
"We came separately," Orion said. "How are you, Helen? I was sort of surprised when you didn't show up at Lowe's evidentiary hearing."
"I'm assuming everything held up, or Carpenter wouldn't be thinking his trial date is only a few months away."
Johnny folded himself into one of two chairs at the table. He crossed his ankles and stacked his hands behind his neck. "Lowe will no doubt angle for an insanity defense, as I'm sure you realized. That's a problem for the prosecution."
"Why?" I snorted. "Because juries want to believe that someone must be insane to do the things he did? That can be easily disproven by reminding jurors that Lowe had the mental capacity to not only hold down a job, but manipulate his way into administration of their police department. An insane man wouldn't be that functional in the real world."
"I think Zack would like our resident expert on this case to tell the jury exactly that."
"Who is it? Someone I might've heard of?"
"You, Doc. We're counting on you to convince the jury that Lowe isn't crazy."
"You'll need an expert, a forensic psychiatrist for that, I'm afraid."
"Not with your resume."
I shrugged. "I'll do whatever I can, but I hope this ADA listens if I tell him he needs a medical expert instead of a clinical psychologist."
"I didn't come here to discuss business."
My arms tightened around my waist. "Oh?"
"How are you? And don't give me that I'm fine bullshit. You're not fine. It's finally starting to catch up to you, isn't it?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Sure you do, but if this is how you want to play it, fine with me."
"Why are you really here?" I perched on the edge of the bed. "I don't believe it's because you're worried about me, Orion. You want something. Just like Briscoe and his partner did."
Orion spun my laptop around and woke the screen. He whistled softly. "Pretty impressive house plans. You're going to rebuild?"
"I'll never get my money out of the property if I don't."
"Let me see if I've got this straight. You won't agree to work here. You will consider rebuilding a gorgeous home to replace the shoddy one you got suckered into buying, but you won't commit to actually living in it. Instead, you've spent a week and a half holed up in probably the filthiest motel in Darkwater proper guzzling wine by the bottle."
"You need to leave."
"I'm not leaving you, Helen." He rose and began stalking through the small space. "You might have commitment issues, but I do not. You'll stay here. You'll do what you really came to do."
He couldn't know. I almost swallowed my tongue. Did he learn something else while I was hiding out licking my wounds?
"In the meantime, it might be wise not to dismiss the opportunity Tony and Crevan offered you. What better way to catch Datello than through a legitimate police investigation? I don't want to spend sleepless nights worrying that you're trying to break into his office again."
"I can take care of myself."
Johnny stilled and stared at me. "Like the last time? That didn't turn out so well."
The door was ten feet away. Before Orion could protest, I opened it and waved him through it. "You're going. Now."
"Not before I get what I came here for."
My eyebrow arched. "More dire warnings? More attempts to manipulate me into doing what you want instead of what's best for me? Datello's no fool, Johnny. If I stay here, he'll be watching every move I make. It would be suicide –"
He cut off whatever excuses I planned to fob by jerking me against his chest. Lips mere millimeters from mine, he murmured, "I came here because the way I see it, the least you owe me is a kiss."
"Oh really? I already told you, you missed your –"
Johnny's nose brushed mine a moment before his lips closed the brief distance. Sparks crackled along my nerves at the light touch of his mouth to mine. My stomach dropped through the floor before I knew what was happening.
And then he stepped away.
"Stay, Helen. I think there's more here for you than you could possibly imagine."
Dazed, I leaned against the open door and stared up at him. "Where are you going?"
Orion popped the sunglasses back on and smirked. "Some of us have, jobs, sweetheart. If you want to talk, you know where to find me." He kissed my forehead. "Make the right choice this time."
I wasn't sure what he meant, but I knew what his words meant to me. The right choice didn't involve another murder. It meant making a concerted effort to do this the right way, to exact my sense of justice along a parallel path with the legal system. Most of all, it meant forsaking the wisdom of my father, a part of myself so ingrained into the fabric that makes me Helen, I'm not sure I can do it.
There was something about this city too, something niggling at the nape of my neck that I couldn't quite identify. Conall's odd stares ... Briscoe's encyclopedic knowledge of way more than a simple police detective ... and of course, Datello wasn't going anywhere, not unless someone did the right thing and sent him to prison. My gut warned me that this battle of wits with Lowe was far from over. And someone was still blackmailing Hardy and Weber. Did I care enough to invest in more than...
The floor plan on my computer screen drew my attention. Yeah, that was the real question. Did I care to invest in more than property? My lower lip endured a bit more abuse. The newest incarnation of cell phone lay close by. Fingers tiptoed across the table and glanced over the numbers on the touch screen. One ring. Two rings.
"Hello?"
"Maya, it's Helen. How would you like to help me pick out the floor plan for the house I have to build?"
Her soft laugh gave me hope, instilled belief that I could do this. I could become more than the sum of my parts, more than Wendell's progeny, more than the ex-wife of a money launderer, more than a former profiler for the FBI. I could be Helen, maybe for the first time in my life. In a few short minutes, I realized that I don't know who I am, but I'd really like to find out.
"Come on over, kiddo," she said.
Time, I have. Where is this path going to take me? I don't know for sure, but that crawling sensation down my spine tells me that something else is still lurking out here, something dark and lethal. If I'd been paying attention, perhaps I would've noticed the eyes watching me since my arrival in Darkwater Bay. I might've believed Jerry Lowe when he warned me, this is only the beginning. Only my ignorance shrouded the depths of what was truly hidden in Darkwater Bay.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chap
ter 22
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
