Closer Than You Think

by Karen Rose

  ‘Because you’re not irrational.’ She shook his head. ‘Where is Colby now?’

  ‘In custody.’ Deacon’s mouth tightened, his fury still boiling. ‘Adam said Colby grabbed Faith by her blouse and lifted her off her toes.’ Deacon was glad he hadn’t been home to see it. I might have killed him.

  ‘But Adam stopped him, right? Colby didn’t hurt her?’

  ‘She talked him down herself,’ he said in disbelief. ‘Then she made Colby a cup of tea.’

  Bishop’s frown softened. ‘I’m liking her way more all the time.’

  Me too. That she’d put herself in harm’s way for Greg shouldn’t have surprised him. She’d been doing the same thing for kids for years, just in a different context. As much as her lack of self-preservation terrified him, he was grateful she’d protected his brother.

  ‘Who was the last call?’ Bishop asked. ‘The “hell, hell, hell” one?’

  ‘Vince,’ he said. ‘He received Jeremy’s prints from the Ohio Medical Licensing Board and they don’t match the print from the hairbrush found in the basement. Not even close.’

  ‘Damn,’ Bishop said, but without much heat. ‘That would have been too easy, though.’

  ‘I wish we could have gotten Stone’s prints.’

  ‘He was military. They would have taken prints. Can we pull them?’

  ‘If they still exist. Discharged vets can petition their prints be wiped from the database. Stone may have been wily enough to do that.’ He sent a text to Tanaka. ‘Asked for them.’

  ‘So Jeremy didn’t bury ten bodies in the O’Bannion basement and he didn’t try to kill Faith. But Stone’s still a suspect in both, although not in the murder of Agent Pope. Tell me about this kid who’s threatened Greg and Dani.’

  ‘Sixteen years old, always in trouble. Big, plays varsity football. Defensive lineman.’

  ‘So not terribly light on his feet,’ Bishop said. ‘Certainly no sprinter.’

  ‘He moved pretty slowly in the school security video that I saw. Apparently he was fairly popular, although at least some of that was via intimidation. Not so popular recently.’

  ‘Because Greg made everyone think that the kid’s HIV positive, which is scary, Deacon. Both that your brother thought up something like that and also that he’s got the skill to pull it off.’

  ‘Trust me, I know, but right now I’m not thinking about Greg. I’m thinking about the fact that a trained federal agent let a high-school kid get the drop on him.’

  ‘I was thinking that too,’ she said reluctantly. ‘Not wanting to disrespect Pope’s memory, of course. But, wow . . . that was the guy they sent to guard Faith?’

  ‘I might have thought that too, but I checked his background when he was first assigned to Faith. Pope was Special Ops before he joined the Bureau. Nobody should have been able to get the drop on him, and certainly not with a knife. And certainly not that kid,’ he added. ‘So what if Pope’s murder wasn’t a cosmic coincidence?’

  ‘Meaning that he was killed deliberately by our guy?’ Bishop considered it for a moment. ‘It’s possible. Where is this kid now?’

  ‘In the wind. He’s skipped the last few days of school and the agents that went to retrieve him from his house say he wasn’t home. His parents claim they don’t know where he is either. The SAC put surveillance on his house and the houses of his friends in case he resurfaces.’

  The Special Agent in Charge was ready to tear down the town looking for the kid who’d murdered one of his men in cold blood. Deacon knew he needed to have his thoughts in order before presenting an alternate theory at this point.

  ‘And the knife they found in Pope?’

  ‘Adam says it matches the description Greg gave him. The bully had been showing the knife around at school. He’d bragged that he’d stolen it from the sporting goods store.’

  ‘That’ll be easy enough to verify. If it is the boy’s knife, but it wasn’t a coincidence, how did the killer get the knife?’

  ‘Good question. I don’t know. Maybe I’m seeing conspiracies that aren’t there.’

  Bishop shook her head. ‘Except that Pope was Special Ops and he shouldn’t have been taken by surprise. So if it was our killer, how did he do it? How’d he get the drop on Pope?’

  ‘Maybe he shot him first, like the Butler County sheriff’s deputy. Or maybe he drugged him.’ Deacon got out his phone. ‘I’m texting Washington a request for a tox screen on Pope.’

  ‘If it wasn’t the kid, we know it couldn’t have been Stone, Keith or Jeremy because they were with us at the time. That just leaves Combs plus whoever was in the basement.’

  ‘Who wasn’t Jordan, because his alibi checks out, or Jeremy, because his fingerprints don’t match, but could still be Stone or Keith.’ He scowled. ‘It’s like a damn jigsaw puzzle.’

  ‘There’s still Herbie the Third. Or even a Mr X. And we can’t forget about the woman who met Herbie at Maguire’s fake offices. Could be a woman who fired on Faith from that van on the bridge in Miami. If our killer has a partner, maybe he’s a she. Regardless, we’re looking at someone who squatted in the house for years, has good handyman skills and is a crack shot.’

  ‘And is strong enough to drag the Earl Power guy across the back of the O’Bannion house,’ Deacon added, ‘can sew stitches like a trained physician, and embalm like a mortician. And, importantly, had access to that damn will.’

  Cincinnati, Ohio, Tuesday 4 November, 11.20 P.M.

  Faith stood in the doorway to Arianna’s hospital room, using the moment it took to unzip her borrowed FBI jacket to center herself before barging in on the teenager. Her mind was still a little hazed from being woken from a deep sleep, her body aching from having taken that sleep while curled up on the floor of Kimble’s car.

  But her discomfort was a drop in the sea compared to Arianna’s. Deep lines that hadn’t been there that morning radiated from the corners of Arianna’s pursed lips. She looks my age. The girl had refused her pain meds to stay awake, and this was the result.

  Meredith Fallon, seated at Arianna’s side, stood as soon as Faith and Kimble entered the room, her eyes widening when she saw Faith. ‘Dr Corcoran, what happened to you?’

  Faith looked down, astonished to see the front of her blouse streaked with blood. Oh, right. Agent Colby had grabbed here there. ‘It’s not my blood.’ It was Agent Pope’s. Colby’s hands had been covered in it. ‘If I can get some scrubs, I’ll cover up. And please call me Faith.’

  ‘I’m Meredith.’ Grabbing a clean hospital gown from a shelf near the door, she glared over Faith’s shoulder at Kimble. ‘You didn’t even let her change her clothes?’

  Kimble opened his mouth, probably to make a smart remark. Or maybe to defend himself, but Meredith was having none of it. ‘Go,’ she said, flicking her hands toward the door. ‘Out.’

  Meredith had pushed Kimble from the room, closed the door, and was dragging Faith’s blouse from her jeans before Faith could form a thought. Making a face, Meredith pulled on a pair of gloves. ‘Give me your blouse.’

  Faith stared at her. ‘What? Why?’

  ‘It’s going in the biohazard bin. This is an ICU ward.’

  ‘Of course.’ Faith’s mind clicked back into place. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, stripping the blouse off and dropping it in the biohazard bag with a pang of sadness. That was the blouse she’d worn when Novak had . . . No, Faith. Not going there. She shook her head hard. ‘We had a disturbance at my safe house. Kimble rushed me out and straight here and I fell asleep in the back of the car. I’m still a little cobwebby. Give me the gown.’

  ‘Um, no.’ Meredith’s nose crinkled. ‘The bra, too.’

  Faith sighed. Blood had seeped through her blouse, speckling her bra. Popping the front clasp, she held the gown to her chest while she dropped the bra in the bag along with the blouse. ‘It was my nicest one, too,’ she murmured.

  ‘Sorry,’ Meredith said softly. ‘Arms in.’

  Faith obeyed, allowing Meredith to dress h
er as though she were a child. She caught Arianna struggling to open her eyes and gave the teenager as bright a smile as she could muster. ‘Hi, honey. I’m sorry I’m late.’

  ‘Hold your hair,’ Dr Fallon ordered, stepping behind her to tie the gown.

  Arianna’s dark eyes grew big as saucers. ‘What happened?’ she whispered, horrified.

  Too late, Faith realized she’d neglected to cover the scar on her throat. She dropped her hair, instinctively covering her scar, but kept her voice warm and soothing. ‘It happened a few years ago. Nothing for you to worry about now.’ She allowed Meredith to drag her to the sink and scrub her hands, giving Arianna a helpless look that made the girl’s pursed lips curve.

  ‘Now you’re clean enough to sit in an ICU ward with a patient recovering from surgery,’ Meredith said crisply, but she put a gentle hand on Faith’s shoulder. ‘Kimble called while he was driving you over here and told me what happened. He said you stepped in front of a grief-stricken, out-of-control federal agent to keep him from abusing Kimble’s fifteen-year-old cousin.’

  Faith wondered why Meredith had taken precious seconds to rehash Agent Colby’s meltdown. Until she saw a subtle change in Arianna. Minute relaxation, the lines of pain around her mouth softening.

  ‘You did that?’ Arianna asked.

  Faith sat in the chair at the girl’s bedside. ‘Yes,’ she said simply.

  ‘Like you did for me.’ Arianna’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I thought it was a dream.’

  ‘Arianna woke with nightmares,’ Meredith explained. ‘By the time I arrived, she was a tad worked up. She’s a little unsure of what exactly happened last night.’

  Faith noted the soft restraints still hanging from the bedrails. ‘A tad worked up’ really meant that Arianna had been thrashing so frantically that she’d been a danger to herself. The hospital never would have restrained her otherwise, knowing what she’d been through.

  ‘Waking up from nightmares is always disconcerting,’ Faith said. ‘But the fog you’re experiencing is normal. You’re not losing your mind.’ She watched Arianna’s gaze flick up at Meredith, who smiled and nodded as if she’d said the exact same thing.

  ‘I’m so damn scared,’ Arianna whispered. ‘I always kept clear before. I can’t go crazy.’

  ‘Before?’ Faith asked carefully.

  ‘Before Lauren’s family took me in.’ She closed her eyes. ‘I had a lot of uncles back then.’

  Faith’s heart broke, but she kept her tone strong. ‘But you could always count on your mind to tell you what was real, and today you haven’t been able to do that. Well, don’t worry. Some of your confusion is shock from your injuries and some is a side effect from the anesthesia. It happened to me too, but at least I woke up to see my dad and stepmother and uncle, not two red-headed strangers.’

  Dark eyes opened to lock on Faith’s face. ‘I remember that you covered me with your coat. Then you stood over me. You had a gun. I thought maybe you were going to shoot me. But then you said that no one would hurt me. That they’d have to go through you. Did that happen?’

  Faith held Arianna’s hands. ‘Yes. I didn’t know if whoever hurt you would come back.’

  Arianna’s brows knit together. ‘Why didn’t you run?’

  ‘I wouldn’t have left you. How did you get in the road? I mean, one second it was empty, then all of a sudden there you were.’

  ‘Dragged myself.’

  Just like Deacon had thought. ‘From the power company’s truck?’

  ‘Yes.’ Her eyes shadowed. ‘I saw the man from the power company get shot, but I left him there. I left Corinne there.’ A sob broke from her throat. ‘I ran away.’

  ‘You ran to get help.’ Faith wiped the tears from Arianna’s face. ‘I was the one who called the power company and asked them to send the man out. Do you think I’m to blame?’

  A slight frown, as if trying to make sure it wasn’t a trick question. ‘No.’

  ‘Then how can you possibly be? And a lot of people are looking for Corinne, because you got help.’ Faith brushed dark hair from Arianna’s damp forehead. ‘Don’t lose hope.’

  Arianna’s face tightened on a spasm of pain, shuddering out a breath as the pain ebbed.

  ‘The nurse is going to make you take that medication now that Faith is here,’ Meredith said. ‘You should make good use of the time you have before you go back to sleep.’

  ‘Okay. I’m ready to talk about what happened now.’ Arianna dropped her gaze to the scar on Faith’s throat. ‘But first, tell me how you got that.’

  ‘All right. I used to counsel victims of sexual assault. Usually incest. But I also had to work with the people – mostly men – who’d hurt them.’

  A frown bent dark eyebrows. ‘Why?’

  Faith could feel Meredith also watching, waiting for an answer. ‘Because many times a judge would order it that way to try to rehabilitate the offender,’ she said. ‘And fix the family.’

  Arianna’s face turned to stone. ‘You can’t fix them. They don’t change. They do it again and again. And it’s not the family’s fault. They don’t need fixing.’

  ‘You’re right,’ Faith said. ‘But the victims, the kids – they need help. The mothers that truly didn’t know it was going on – they need help too. The mothers that allow it to happen . . . Well, I didn’t think they needed fixing. I thought they needed jail. But I wasn’t a judge.’

  ‘My mother knew.’

  Faith’s heart broke a little more. ‘Did she take you to therapy?’

  Dark eyes rolled. ‘She wouldn’t even take me to school. She was usually too high.’

  ‘Many of my girls had moms like yours. They wouldn’t have gotten therapy, not unless the court ordered it. And usually those mothers only complied to keep the offender out of jail. If I wanted to help the girls, I had to work with evil to do good.’

  ‘You did it for the kids,’ Arianna murmured.

  Meredith relaxed and Faith felt like she’d passed a critical test. ‘Anyway, one of the abusers got angry with me and did this.’ She pointed to her throat. ‘I was terrified, I have to admit.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. Shouldn’t have made you remember.’

  This, too, was a test, because even as Arianna whispered her consolation, her eyes remained watchful. ‘You didn’t make me remember. I’ve never forgotten. I just push it aside when I have to deal with whatever life’s throwing me at the moment. You won’t truly forget what’s happened to you. You’ll have to find your own way to deal. And to go on. I think you know this already.’

  Arianna nodded grimly. ‘Yeah. I do. And I will.’

  ‘Good. It’s my turn to ask a question. The police can’t find a record of Roza. Who is she and why didn’t she leave with you?’

  ‘I don’t know who she is, but I begged her to come with me.’ Arianna’s eyes were haunted. ‘She said she wouldn’t leave her mother. That her mother was there.’

  Faith blinked, startled. ‘Her mother was also being held prisoner in the basement?’

  ‘I don’t know, but Roza said she couldn’t leave her. Find her mother. Please.’

  ‘I’ll do everything I personally can. But it’s the police who are searching. You can help them by answering their questions. Detective Kimble is waiting outside.’

  Faith wished it was any cop but Kimble, but she sensed that Arianna was ready to talk.

  ‘I don’t know him.’

  ‘He works with Agent Novak and Detective Bishop. You met them here last time.’

  ‘The man with the white hair? And strange eyes? I thought I might have dreamed him too.’

  That made Faith smile. ‘Agent Novak is very real. Will you talk to Detective Kimble?’

  ‘What happened to the lady detective? Where is she?’

  ‘She’s with Agent Novak, looking for Corinne. Kimble brought me to see you.’

  Doubt flickered in Arianna’s eyes. ‘What will he ask me?’

  ‘Details of your abduction
and assault. About the man who hurt you. And what he did.’

  Doubt became accusation, childlike and shrill. ‘You said I didn’t have to tell! You said!’

  ‘Arianna. Listen to me. You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to. It’s your right to talk when you’re ready, and I will protect that.’

  Meredith Fallon smoothed her hand down Arianna’s arm. ‘We both will, Arianna. I’ve told you that. You have our word. Now settle down or you’ll pull out your stitches.’

  Arianna stopped struggling, slumping into the mattress. ‘I’ll have scars, too, won’t I?’

  ‘Probably. But none of your cuts were deep enough to leave a scar like mine. And this scar used to be a lot worse. It’s faded. So yours will fade even more.’

  A long silence. Faith might have thought Arianna had fallen asleep, but for the continued iron grip on her hand. The girl’s eyelids fluttered open. ‘If I talk to the cop, will you stay?’

  Tears stung Faith’s eyes. ‘Let them try to make me leave.’

  ‘Then tell him to come in.’

  Cincinnati, Ohio, Tuesday 4 November, 11.35 P.M.

  Deacon let out the breath he’d been holding, as did Adam and Bishop. He and Bishop had arrived in time to hear Arianna refusing to talk to Kimble. He’d been disappointed, but hoped Faith could bring her around.

  He’d been mentally urging Faith to push Arianna, but instead Faith had backed away. And it turned out that she’d understood the girl better than they’d hoped. Arianna had agreed to help them of her own accord.

  The door opened and the three of them jumped back like guilty eavesdroppers. Dr Fallon emerged from Arianna’s room. She pulled the door firmly shut.

  ‘Let me guess,’ she said dryly, looking up at Adam. ‘The wind opened it.’

  Adam’s cheeks darkened. ‘I’m good with that explanation.’

  ‘Well, are you going in there or not?’ Dr Fallon demanded. ‘She might change her mind.’

  Adam shook his head. ‘She’ll be more comfortable with Bishop. I think Faith will be, too.’

  Bishop gave Adam a nod, then followed Dr Fallon back into the room.