Sullivan's Law

by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg

  “Were you hurt?” Carolyn asked.

  “I’m okay,” Metroix said. “They removed the stitches this morning. How’s the police officer?”

  “Still in surgery,” she told him. “He’s going to make it, but it doesn’t look good. The bullet lodged in his spinal cord.”

  “I wish I could have stopped him from getting shot,” Daniel said. “When I saw the officer shove the guy’s gun in the waistband of his pants, I knew he’d made a terrible mistake. Then he leaned over and practically placed the gun in the man’s hand.” He stared at a spot on the wall. The exertion had obviously drained him. “A prison guard would never have done something like that. Did the other officers tell you I bit the guy?”

  “No,” Carolyn said. “Where did you bite him?”

  “On his Achilles tendons,” Daniel said, reaching over and taking a sip of water from a cup on the end table. “There was nothing in here I could use as a weapon. I managed to take him to the floor, but I was afraid he was going to get away from me. In prison, you learn to use whatever you have. Find someone with bite marks on their ankles, and you’ve got your man. The forensics people can match the wounds against my teeth, right?”

  “Sure can,” Carolyn told him. “First, we have to catch him. We’re going to have officers stationed all over the hospital tonight, even though I doubt he’d be stupid enough to come back. By tomorrow morning, I should have figured out a safe place where we can take you.”

  “Nowhere has been safe,” Daniel said, lowering his eyes. “Maybe you should just send me back to Chino.”

  “I know things have been tough,” she said. “I was with you when the motel exploded. My daughter broke her ankle, my car was destroyed, and my son was kidnapped today. This wasn’t even my fight, Daniel. When things go bad, all we can do is try our best to make them right.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, rubbing his hand back and forth on the sheet. “It just seems like life was better for me when I was in prison. When I’m not able to work, I get depressed.”

  “Listen,” she said firmly, refusing to allow a man with his intellect and abilities to crawl back into a hole, “you want to give up and spend the rest of your life behind bars, go right ahead. All you have to do is steal some hubcaps.”

  Daniel fell silent.

  “I showed your work to a physics professor I know,” Carolyn continued. “He was very impressed. He wants some of the other faculty members at Caltech to take a look at your design for the exoskeleton. All I need is your permission.”

  His eyes lit up. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, I am,” she said. “He even told me the government was offering fifty million to any individual or institute who comes up with the best prototype.”

  “When you say the government,” Daniel said, his enthusiasm waning, “what you mean is the military. I’m not interested in perfecting the exoskeleton or any of my other inventions to be used in warfare. Money doesn’t mean anything to me. My dream was to work in the biomedical field. I want to help disabled people.”

  “I’ll either come by or call you first thing in the morning,” she said. “We’re going to catch this man, Daniel. If you hang in there and let us help you, you might be able to work anywhere you want.”

  Daniel gave Carolyn a pathetic look, almost as if he couldn’t stand for her to leave. The poor man had suffered through so much, she thought. He’d gone without love since he was a teenager. John’s ordeal had left her in an emotional turmoil. She impulsively walked over to his bed and kissed him on the forehead.

  Carolyn experienced a strange sensation. As she gazed at Daniel’s face, her vision blurred. “The picture you had in your room,” she said, removing it from her purse. “Is this you?”

  “Yes,” Daniel said softly.

  “And the girl?” she asked. “Is she your sister?”

  “I loved her very much,” he said. “Her name was Jenny.”

  “You never mentioned a sister,” Carolyn said. “Where is she now?”

  “At the Queen of Angels Cemetery in Los Angeles,” Daniel said. “She was five when she died. When you moved into our complex, I thought God had sent her back to me. You were the same age and you looked just like her. We used to play together. You don’t remember, do you?”

  “No,” Carolyn said, wondering if this early tragedy had played a role in his illness. “I’m sorry about your sister. How did you recognize me after all these years?”

  “Maybe because the time I spent with you was happy, and my sister had been sick from the time she was born, I had more good memories of you than I did of her. When I heard someone named Carolyn Sullivan was going to be my probation officer, I wasn’t sure it was the same person. The moment I saw you, though, I knew.”

  Carolyn had to leave. “Whether I remember the past or not isn’t important,” she told him. “I’m glad you found me.”

  “No one has ever really cared what happened to me outside of my parents,” Daniel said, giving her a look of gratitude. “You risked your life to help me. You’re a wonderful person.”

  “So are you,” Carolyn said, smiling. “This time, I promise I won’t forget to call you. Please—”

  “Don’t worry,” Daniel said, cutting her off, “I’m not going to leave the hospital.”

  Chapter 27

  Carolyn and Paul were sitting next to each other on the sofa in her living room. It was almost midnight, and both John and Rebecca were asleep. After several hours in the car with Hank Sawyer, John had finally identified the vacant house where he’d been held. The police had cordoned it off as a crime scene and were still combing the house for evidence. They hadn’t discovered another body, but they did confirm that the sneakers John had seen in the garage had belonged to Luisa Cortez. Once the crime lab removed and examined all the evidence, they might be able to tell if more crimes had been committed and make an attempt to locate any additional victims.

  “I don’t mind you using my place in Pasadena,” Paul told her. “Going in an ambulance is a good idea. To be honest, though, I don’t think the visiting nurse is the way to go.”

  “Why?” Carolyn asked, peering over at him. “Daniel will need medical treatment. A gunshot wound is a serious injury.”

  “I agree he needs someone to care for him while he’s recuperating, but he doesn’t need a nurse,” the professor told her. “Not only that, neither you nor the children should leave my house in Pasadena until the killer has been apprehended. I’m going to send Isobel with you. She can do the shopping, cook, and take care of Metroix. Pasadena is a small town. A new face would attract attention.”

  “No, Paul,” Carolyn told him. “I can’t let you do that. Lending us your house is enough. You need Isobel to help you with Lucy, as well as handle your chores. I don’t want to keep you from finishing your book.”

  “To hell with the book,” he said, placing a finger under her chin. “I think I’m falling in love with you.”

  They kissed, and then Carolyn pulled back. “Isn’t a statement like that a little premature? We haven’t even had sex. I know how you men operate. You’re desperately in love until you get the woman in bed, then everything starts to fade.”

  “Even if we never had sex, I’d still adore you. Look at all the excitement you’ve brought into my life.” Paul rubbed his hands together. “I’ve changed my mind about writing another physics book. I’ve decided to become a crime fighter.”

  Carolyn nudged him in the side. “You’re making fun of me.”

  “Somewhat,” Paul said, smiling. “I doubt if I could do your job even if I wanted. I meant what I said earlier, though. I guess it just wasn’t the right time to begin a love affair.”

  “Amen to that one,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m so tired I can’t see straight. Tomorrow, I have to contact the kids’ teachers and get their schoolwork together, pack some of our things.”

  “Let the schoolwork go,” Paul cautioned. “For this to work, you can’t let anyone know wh
at’s going on. Don’t forget that John was deceived by Downly. He uses his youth and appearance to his advantage.”

  “I wasn’t going to tell the school where we’re going,” Carolyn said. “All I intended was to make it so they could keep up with their studies. You know how serious John is about his grades. Not only that, what are they going to do pent up in the house all the time?”

  “I’ll send some of Lucy’s DVDs with you,” he told her.

  “And your son can learn more from Daniel Metroix than he’ll ever learn at school. I thought of sending some of the professors at Caltech over to talk to him since he’ll be in the area.” He saw the look on her face, then added, “Not too smart, huh?”

  Carolyn yawned. “Stick to physics.”

  A few minutes later, Paul realized that Carolyn had fallen asleep. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to her bed. Instead of returning home, he called and asked Isobel to bring him his rifle. Tonight, he decided, it was his turn to play sentinel.

  Arline Shoeffel called Carolyn at home at seven-thirty Wednesday morning. Paul had left as soon as she’d awakened. The children were packing their things for the trip to Pasadena. Carolyn was resting in her bedroom, knowing she had a long day ahead of her.

  The judge had heard about John’s kidnapping and the shooting at the hospital, as well as the possibility that Eddie Downly was the man who’d raped Luisa Cortez. Carolyn told her about their plan to stay at the professor’s house in Pasadena until Downly had been apprehended.

  “What should we do about Warden Lackner?” Carolyn asked. “For all we know, he hired Downly. He had the same motive to get him out of jail as Charles Harrison. He couldn’t take a chance that Downly would roll over on him.”

  “The attorney general’s office is launching an investigation,” Arline informed her. “They’ve already determined that there was no joint venture program at Chino.”

  Carolyn bolted upright in bed. “Then Lackner lied?”

  “Looks that way,” she told her. “There’s also no official record of any inmate having a lab or workshop along the lines of what Metroix described. Several guards have already verified Metroix’s story, so Lackner must have taken down the lab as soon as you started asking questions. The AG’s office would like to depose Metroix as soon as possible.”

  “Don’t they understand that someone’s trying to kill him?”

  “I told them he wouldn’t be available for several weeks due to his injuries,” Arline continued. “I tried to arrange federal protection, but the case isn’t far enough along to warrant it. The one thing you can do, since you’re going to be spending some time with this man, is to attempt to compile a list of whatever it is he invented during his time at the prison.”

  Carolyn hung up and called Brad Preston.

  “Where are you going?”

  “As far away as we can get,” she told him. “I’ll check in with you at the end of the week.”

  “What about Metroix?”

  “I don’t know,” Carolyn lied. “My primary concern is my family’s safety.”

  “You can’t just walk off the job and not let anyone know where you’re going, or when you’re coming back.”

  “Right now,” Carolyn said, “I don’t have to tell anyone anything. You want to get me fired, go right ahead.”

  “You’re not being fair,” he said, stung by her sharp remarks. “I am concerned about you. I’m not trying to get you fired.”

  “I’m tired and I’m scared, Brad,” Carolyn said. “No one has ever come this close to hurting my children. If you care about me, don’t ask any questions. It’s for your own good as well as mine. Tell Wilson I’m having an operation.”

  “I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately,” Brad said, his voice soft. “Maybe we could try again. You know, put things back together. All you’d have to do is transfer to another unit. Either that or I’ll take over field services.”

  Carolyn scooted farther down in the bed, imagining he was beside her. Paul Leighton offered her intelligence and stability. Just thinking about Brad made her toes tingle and her nipples harden. “Were you telling the truth about Amy McFarland?”

  “There was never anything between us,” he told her. “To be honest, I haven’t even been dating. I guess I’m getting old or something. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. The other day, I thought about asking you to marry me.”

  “Yeah, right,” Carolyn said. “And you’re going to give up drinking and staying out all night, sell all those stupid race cars, just suddenly settle down and become a family man.”

  Brad laughed. “Maybe.”

  “Maybe not is more like it,” Carolyn told him. “You just can’t stand it because I’m seeing someone else. I’ll check in toward the end of the week.”

  Chapter 28

  By ten o’clock Wednesday morning, Carolyn, John, and Rebecca were sitting in a room at the Ventura Police Department. Hank had pulled her Infiniti into a service bay at the rear of the station, then had some of the other officers remove the boxes of belongings she’d brought along and load them into a white van.

  “Here’s the plan,” Hank said, entering the room and taking a seat across from them at the conference table. “You and your children will ride to the hospital in one of our evidence vans. This shouldn’t attract suspicion as Downly knows we’ll be sending people over to Methodist to collect evidence from the crime scene. Metroix is scheduled for release at noon. The hospital records won’t show he’s been released until tomorrow. If Downly manages to get hold of the hospital records or calls to check Metroix’s status, all he’ll be told is that he’s no longer a patient. There won’t be any forwarding address. This will give you a full day’s lead time. To extend it any longer would be too risky. We don’t know everyone involved in this mess. We’re going to cover today by putting a phony note in Metroix’s chart that he’s been transferred to the psych ward.” He stopped and took a drink of his coffee. “We know Downly isn’t working alone. Whoever shot Metroix was in the passenger seat. The same holds true regarding the people who tried to run you and Rebecca off the road.”

  Carolyn saw the fear in the girl’s eyes as she recalled that night. “Don’t you have any leads on Eddie Downly?” Carolyn asked, reaching over and clasping her daughter’s hand. John was sitting beside his sister, a sullen expression on his face. He’d gone through the roof when his mother had told him she was taking him out of school. Then, when she’d told him that they were going to be holed up with Daniel Metroix, John had told her she was insane. She tried to explain that since the killer knew all three of them by sight, it made sense for them to remain together.

  “We don’t have anything on Downly’s whereabouts at the moment,” Hank said, pushing his chair away from the table. “Whether you realize it or not, John, Downly wants to get rid of you as much as he wants to get rid of Metroix and Luisa Cortez. Your testimony will convict him.”

  “Well, that sure makes me feel good,” John said sarcastically. “The guy might as well kill me. I’m probably going to flunk out of school anyway.”

  “You’re not going to flunk out of school,” his mother said. “Hank’s just trying to explain why we need to go away for a while.” She turned back to the detective. “What about Nolan Houston and Liam Armstrong?”

  “You’ve got to let us carry the ball now, Carolyn,” Hank said. “The captain, along with Kevin Thomas from the DA’s office, has a meeting scheduled with Judge Shoeffel this afternoon. After what happened yesterday, she’s agreed to issue search warrants for both Houston and Armstrong.” He tilted his head toward the door. “We need to get moving, folks. The ambulance is already at the hospital. We’ve got men standing around over there twiddling their thumbs. I’d like to get them back on the street so we can find Downly. We also want this move to go as smoothly as possible.”

  On the ride to Pasadena, Carolyn called Paul Leighton from her cell phone inside the ambulance. “Thanks for staying last night.”

  �
�I forgot to tell you,” he said. “There’s no phone service at the house except for the two lines paid for by the university. One is a DSL line for the computer. The other jack is right next to it. I didn’t want to turn the phones back on in case Downly or someone else hacked into the phone company’s records and got the address. We’ll communicate only on our cell phones. If your cell phone doesn’t work for some reason, just plug one of the phones into the jack behind my computer.”

  Carolyn started to hang up when the professor continued speaking, “Do you know someone who drives a black Nissan?”

  “No,” she said. “Why?”

  “I saw a person parked a few doors down from your house in a black Nissan. I assumed it was an undercover cop, but I decided it was worth mentioning. I checked with the neighbors. No one knows anyone who drives that type of car.”

  “I’ll ask Hank if it was one of their men when I talk to him later. I didn’t spot any strange cars when we left to go to the police department.”

  Paul had sent Isobel to Pasadena early that morning, to air out the house and stock the refrigerator. “Was this person there when Isobel left?” she asked, cupping her hand over the phone so the children wouldn’t hear.

  “Honestly,” he said, “I don’t know. I doubt if it’s anything to be concerned about. I checked with the neighbors, but a lot of people weren’t home. For all we know, the person in the Nissan could have been a friend of one of the teenagers who live around here. Maybe they stopped by to give them a ride. The car disappeared around eight-thirty. That coincides with when most of the kids head out to school.” He paused and then added, “From what I could tell, the driver was female. Nothing you’ve told me indicates that a female is involved.”

  Carolyn instantly thought of Madeline Harrison. Daniel had described the shooter as having blond hair, and Harrison’s widow was a blonde. Mrs. Harrison had an aura of sophistication about her, however. It was hard to imagine her parked on the street alone, lying in wait to kill them. Some things just didn’t fit.