On the Hunt

by SUE FINEMAN

  After the doctor left, Mia called her mother, and Dave wandered down the hall to call Kowalski. He got him out of bed. “What’s happening there?”

  Kowalski groaned. “Don’t you know how to tell time?”

  “Nobody in this business knows how to tell time.”

  “That’s true.” After a big yawn, Kowalski said, “We have an ID on Arnie. He works for Tarik Assad, a man who runs strip clubs in several cities. We think he might be the one you call Al. He lives mostly in Vegas.”

  “It’s him. I knew I’d seen him before. What in the hell was he doing in a small town like Clover Hills?”

  “Who knows.”

  “Anyone in custody?”

  “No one but Ken Knight. His full name is Malcolm Kendall Knight, and he has a rap sheet six pages long.”

  “I’m not surprised. Nothing to eat but bread and water.”

  “Come on, Dave. You know we can’t get away with that.”

  “No phone calls, either. I don’t want him tipping anyone off. I’ll take full responsibility for the fallout.”

  “You sure as hell will. How are Mia and Mrs. Snyder?”

  “Mia has a concussion and a whopper of a headache, but she’s being released this morning. Mrs. Snyder will stay another day or two, and then she’s probably going to Texas, so Mia’s mother can take care of her. Could you find someone to pack some clothes and personal things for the woman? Ask Mrs. Ayers, Tonya’s mother. Tell her I suggested it.”

  “Would you mind if I waited until the sun came up?”

  Dave chuckled. “Sorry.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  Ignoring the comment, Dave said, “Bring in a few more people if you need them. I want this settled quickly, before whoever took those girls has a chance to do some permanent damage.”

  “You think they’re still alive?”

  Dave had asked himself that question several times over the past two days. “I don’t know. If they are and the perps know we’re on to them, their situation is precarious at best. I’d rather not return them to their families in boxes.”

  He shifted gears. “I’m taking Mia to her apartment to recuperate. Unless something breaks, we’ll be there through tonight. Did Stipes sweep for bugs?”

  “Yeah. He found two in your room and two in Mia’s. No cameras. We’re questioning employees of the Four Leaf Clover today.”

  Dave was immensely proud of his men. If he walked away right now, he could count on them to complete the job. Some people managed their people closely, but Dave always thought the sign of a good manager was the ability of the team to do the job without someone looking over their shoulders every minute. His team could handle anything.

  Mia was dressed and ready to go when he returned to her room. Dave walked her down the hall to Mrs. Snyder’s room while the nurse prepared Mia’s discharge papers. Mrs. Snyder sat up in bed with her eyes closed. She looked as if she’d shrink into the bed and disappear.

  Dave saw the look of concern on Mia’s face. He put his arms around her and rubbed her back. “We’ll come back later,” he whispered.

  “Aren’t we going back to Clover Hills?”

  “Not today. We need to take care of business here first, and the first order of business is taking care of you.”

  “I’m fine.”

  He held up three fingers. “How many fingers?”

  “Sixteen,” she said without hesitation. “I’m okay, Dave.”

  “I’m not. I need breakfast and a five-hour nap.” Preferably in the same bed with Mia.

  An hour later, after a quick stop at the grocery store, Dave cooked breakfast in the kitchen of Mia’s apartment while Mia talked to her mother on the phone.

  “Two or three days, I think,” said Mia. “Are you sure it’s all right to bring her there, Mom?... It’s just a little bump. They kept me overnight for observation, that’s all.”

  Dave smiled to himself and turned the pancakes. Greg never told his mother the truth about any of his injuries, and it sounded like the rest of the family didn’t either. As far as he knew, Mrs. Gregory still hadn’t been told about Greg’s gunshot wound in Oklahoma. Dave and Greg worked together on that operation, the first time they’d worked together. Although several of the bad guys died and Greg nearly died from the second shooting, they took down a major drug lord and closed down his organization.

  He slid a plate across the counter to Mia. She said, “I have to go now, Mom. Dave has breakfast ready and I’m starving. I’ll let you know when we’re coming.” She laughed a little. “Okay, I’ll do that.”

  She hung up and walked around the counter. “Mom said to give you a big hug for taking care of me.”

  As Mia stepped into his arms, he wrapped her in a gentle hug. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and her breasts pushed against his chest. He wanted to push her shirt up and taste them, and he would, another time. As he gently rubbed her back, she whispered, “Dave, are the pancakes burning?”

  He jumped back and slid the pan off the burner. “Can we start over now?”

  Reaching up, she gave him a slow, sweet kiss, and he knew it wouldn’t be easy to keep his hands off her until she recovered. He slid his hand between them to cup her breast and a little sound came from deep inside her.

  “Who needs pancakes,” he whispered. “I’d rather eat—”

  “Dave!”

  He held up both hands. “Honey, if you want me to keep my hands off, don’t give me mixed signals.”

  She ran her hand down his arm. “Is that what I’m doing?”

  “Isn’t it?”

  The look in her eyes spoke of confusion. She didn’t know what she wanted, yet sparks flew every time they touched. Blonde or not, best friend’s sister or not, he wanted to make love to Mia, but not today. As much as he wanted her, he didn’t want to do anything until she could think clearly. Until she invited him into her bed.

  “Eat your breakfast, Mia. We’ll talk about this after your head clears.”

  The moment was over, but there would be another.

  And he wouldn’t back away the next time.

  CHAPTER SIX

  After breakfast, while Dave cleaned up the kitchen, Mia stood under the hot shower, trying to wash her headache away. At least the nausea had passed and she didn’t have to try to sleep in a noisy hospital.

  She worried about Mrs. Snyder. If the man who attacked her started the fire, he might have thought she could identify him. She often peered out her window, but Mia doubted she could recognize anyone more than ten feet away. Mia saw him quite clearly. If they could find him, he could stand trial for attempted murder.

  Who planted the bugs and why? Did they think she knew something? Mia tried to think, but her muddled brain wouldn’t cooperate. She turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around her hair and another around her body. “Dave,” she called.

  “In the kitchen.”

  She walked out to the kitchen. “Do you think there might be a connection between one of my arrests here in Tacoma and what’s going on in Clover Hills?”

  He wiped his hands on the dish towel and turned to face her. “Where did that come from?”

  “Why else would they be so anxious to get rid of me? Maybe I saw something, or maybe they just think I did.”

  Dave’s eyebrows knit as he thought it over. “It’s possible, I suppose. Would a list of your arrests help trigger your memory?”

  “It might.” Mia sat on a stool at the kitchen bar and called her captain. He barked his name, but his foul mood didn’t stop her from asking for help. “I need a list of the arrests I made, Captain, especially the ones in the past year or so.”

  “Why?”

  “It has to do with an FBI investigation in Clover Hills.”

  “Then the FBI can ask for the list.”

  “Fine. Talk to the FBI.” She handed Dave the phone. “He needs an official request.”

  Dave grabbed the phone. “Captain, this is Special Agent Dave Montgomery, FBI. I realize this is an u
nusual request, but it’s part of an investigation into the disappearance of three young women from Clover Hills. Someone is targeting Mia and we think there may be a connection to an arrest she made.” Dave winked at Mia. “Yes, that’s right. The fewer people who know about this, the better.”

  Dave listened for another minute, “I’m at Mia’s apartment in Tacoma right now. If you can’t reach me here, try the cell phone.” He rattled off the number. “Thanks for your help, Captain.”

  Mia stared at Dave, her blood boiling. “Why would he listen to a man he’s never even met when he won’t listen to me? I work for the man, dammit.”

  “It’s those three little letters,” said Dave. “F B I. It opens doors you wouldn’t believe.”

  “So does that bad ass attitude. Did you learn that from Greg?”

  “Don’t snap at me. It isn’t my fault—”

  She waved both hands. “Of course not. It’s a guy thing. If I had a deeper voice, if I didn’t have these.” She put her hands over her breasts. “If I peed standing up instead of sitting down, people would listen to me.” As her voice rose, her head pounded harder.

  The muscles in Dave’s jaw worked and his eyes narrowed. “I don’t care if it is that time of the month, don’t pull that crap on me.”

  “It’s not crap from where I’m standing. Where are those pain pills the doctor gave me?”

  “It wasn’t pills, it was a prescription, and I forgot to stop at the drug store.”

  Without a word, Mia grabbed a gel pack from the freezer and walked to the bedroom. Her head pounded so hard, she couldn’t even dry her hair.

  “I’ll go find a drug store.”

  “Don’t bother,” she snapped. Her head hurt, her captain wouldn’t cross the street to help her, and she felt like throwing up again.

  The apartment door slammed and it felt like it slammed into her head. She leaned over the toilet and lost her breakfast.

  <>

  As he unlocked the car, Dave spotted two kids inspecting the mailboxes. Instead of turning the key in the ignition, he waited to see what the kids would do next. One was a teenager and the other couldn’t be much over ten or so. The older kid’s eyes moved constantly while the little one read the names off the mailboxes. Reading lips, Dave saw the older kid say, “That must be her apartment. Let’s go.”

  From the way they looked around, the kids not only didn’t belong here, they feared getting caught. Dave pulled the key out of the ignition, locked his car, and followed the boys upstairs to the second floor balcony. He had his hand on his gun before the kids reached Mia’s door.

  A woman came out of a door down the way and her eyes widened before she backed into her apartment and closed the door. Dave didn’t know if she saw the two kids, their knives, or his gun, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t want anyone in the way.

  The blade on the knife in the hand of younger boy flashed as the older boy opened the door to Mia’s apartment. Dave walked up behind them. “Police. Hold it right there.”

  The older boy turned to him, knife raised, and the younger boy dropped his knife and disappeared down the stairs, feet slapping against the stairs in panic. Dave stared at the older boy. “Drop the knife,” he ordered, and the knife clattered to the balcony floor.

  Dave kicked the knife away and positioned the kid on the floor, arms straight out from his body. He punched 911 on his cell phone. “Officer needs assistance.” He gave the address of the apartments and within a minute, sirens sounded.

  Wearing plaid flannel pajama bottoms and a cropped red top, her damp hair brushed out, Mia appeared in her apartment door. “What’s going on?”

  “You’re a popular lady.”

  She looked down and swallowed hard. “Oh, Jerome.” She looked up at Dave. “His brother was the one my partner shot.”

  Dave shoved the knife with his foot. “Planning to carve a pumpkin for the pretty cop?”

  A spew of obscenities confirmed the boy’s hatred for cops.

  “Go inside, Mia. I’ll take care of this.”

  “Were there two of them?”

  “Yeah, the younger one ran off.”

  Another stream of profanity poured from the kid, then two police cruisers arrived in the parking lot below. Dave nudged the kid with his toe. “Better shut your mouth, Jerome. You’re in enough trouble already.”

  A squad car left with Jerome, but the investigating officers hung around outside, supposedly to interview the neighbors. Mia knew Dave had asked them to hang around until he returned with her prescription. They were looking out for one of their own, only Mia wouldn’t be one of them much longer.

  Curled up on the bed, wrapped in her comforter, the pain in Mia’s head washed over her in waves. She’d had headaches before, but this one was a doozy, and the incident with the kids had made it worse. They’d come to kill her for her part in their brother’s death. She was a cop, an enemy.

  The two oldest brothers in the family were in prison, one for first-degree murder and the other for dealing drugs. Dave caught the middle brother, Jerome, breaking into Mia’s apartment. With his record, the state would keep him until he reached eighteen. Mia’s partner shot and killed the next brother, and the youngest, only eleven, already had a police record. With no brothers left at home to emulate, he might make it, but only if someone stepped in to lead him in the right direction. His parents seemed unable to do it. They’d been in and out of prison themselves, a legacy they’d passed on to their five sons.

  Mia’s eyes closed and images flashed in her mind. The people she’d arrested paraded before her, the men dressed in skirts and high heels. The drug dealers were dressed like doctors and nurses. They came at her with needles and put bitter pills in her mouth. The kid her partner had killed jabbed the bloody knife into her head over and over again. And then the kid’s face turned into Dave’s and the knife turned into a bloody scalpel. She heard the words ‘frontal lobotomy,’ and fought her way out of the fog to find Dave sitting on the bed beside her – the real Dave, not the doctor with the bloody scalpel.

  “I’m hallucinating.”

  “I can’t imagine why.” Dave handed her a pill and a glass of water. She swallowed the pill and eased her sore head back down on the pillow.

  “I called the hospital to ask about Mrs. Snyder. The nurse said she’s doing better, and they’re hopeful for a full recovery,” said Dave. “I said we’d be in to visit tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” Mia closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She felt the mattress shift when Dave stood. “No, stay with me.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, honey.” He sank to the bed beside her and rubbed her shoulder. She held onto him and onto reality as she drifted off to sleep.

  <>

  The next morning, Mia’s headache had eased considerably. After breakfast, Dave drove her to the hospital to see Mrs. Snyder. The old woman’s face was a mass of colorful bruises, and she had stitches over one eye, but her eyes were open and she sounded alert as she talked to the nurse.

  “Is she up for a visit?” asked Mia.

  “Yes,” said Mrs. Snyder. “Is that you, Mia?”

  “It’s me. My friend Dave is here with me.”

  “Oh, that’s nice.”

  While Dave and the nurse went out into the hallway to talk, Mia sat beside the bed and took her grandmother’s hand, wondering how to begin. “I didn’t know you were my grandmother until a couple days ago. Mom told me the beautiful girl in the pictures in your living room was my natural mother.”

  A single tear slid down Mrs. Snyder’s cheek and she squeezed Mia’s hand.

  “That’s why you watched me when I was a little girl, isn’t it?”

  “I wanted to keep you, but...” A heart wrenching sob tore loose.

  Mia rubbed her arm. “I’m so happy to know you’re my grandmother, and I want to thank you and Darlene for giving me to a wonderful family. I couldn’t have asked for better parents. I just wish I’d known about you sooner. Mom said she and Dad intended to tell
me, but Dad died and things got a little hairy at home.”

  “Yes, I remember.”

  “I hope to spend some time with you when you get to feeling better, so you can tell me all about Darlene.”

  “She knew having a baby could kill her, but she wanted you so much she wouldn’t listen. And then when her... when your father died, she wanted to come home, but my husband wouldn’t let her. He was a hard man.”

  “It doesn’t matter now. What matters is that we have each other.”

  Dave walked in the door and Mia looked up. “This is Dave Montgomery.”

  “Mrs. Snyder, how are you feeling?” he asked.

  “Much better, thank you. Come closer so I can see you.”

  Dave walked to the side of the bed opposite Mia and leaned down. “I’m Mia’s friend, and I’m also an FBI agent.”

  The woman’s eyes widened. “Am I in trouble?”

  “No, but the man who hit you is in big trouble.” Dave pulled a chair over and sat beside the bed. “The doctor doesn’t want you to live alone until after you get your strength back and we catch the man who hurt you.”

  Mia said, “You could go to a nursing home, but Mom said she’d love to have you come to Texas for a visit.”

  “Bless her heart. I always did like Carol and Leona. They were such nice girls.”

  Mia held back a laugh. Mom was anything but a girl these days.

  Dave caught Mia’s eye. “Greg called. He said Neen and your mother are on their way. They’ll stay the night in Tacoma and fly back to Texas tomorrow, with their special passenger.”

  “What about my clothes?” Mrs. Snyder asked.

  “Mrs. Ayers packed some things for you. She and Jeff are bringing them to the hospital this afternoon.”

  “Oh, that’s nice of her.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  Dave excused himself and left the room, leaving Mia alone with her grandmother again. They talked for several minutes, until the nurse came in and told Mia it was time for her patient to rest.

  “We’ll have a long talk after you recover.” Mia leaned down and kissed the papery cheek.

  As she left the room, Mia heard Mrs. Snyder say to the nurse, “That’s my granddaughter. Isn’t she beautiful?”