by E. R. FALLON
“Yeah, it looks that way,” Nolan said, and Carlow nodded in agreement.
“It does,” Maple said. “Especially since we got some more background info on Joyce Fisher while you were gone.” He motioned for her to hand him a slip of paper on her desk.
Harry gave it to him.
“According to what we were told by his office, Joyce worked for the deceased Dr. Tompkins as a hypnosis expert. She was fired by the doctor for bringing patient files home unauthorized,” Maple said. “She’s been a student of hypnosis since she left high school at sixteen. Everyone I spoke with told me it’s been an obsession of hers since she was a young teenager. She studied with one of the region’s leading hypnosis experts after she dropped out of school. And she managed to impress him. He’s deceased now, but I was able to get in contact with his widow who remembered Joyce Fisher and told me her husband thought she was one of the most gifted hypnotists he ever came across. Anyway, the connection between Joyce Fisher and Dr. Tompkins is a solid connection between Emily Will and the Fishers.”
“That’s how they got control over her,” Harry mused. “That’s the one thing I’ve never been able to figure out. How the Fishers managed to kidnap a military expert like Emily Will, even if her gun wasn’t loaded. Up until now I didn’t have an answer. But that’s the answer: Joyce hypnotized her.”
“Really?” Carlow said. He seemed ready to laugh. “That’s the craziest thing I ever heard. It’s like from a movie or something. Or even crazier. I think it’s even too crazy to be in a movie.”
Harry frowned. She didn’t need an underling hurting her confidence. “You’re entitled to have your own opinions, Carlow, no matter how small-minded they might be. But never forget I’m the detective. So, believe it because it’s true. Even if it sounds extraordinary.”
“Small-minded? How come my disagreeing with you is small-minded? That thing you said about the hypnosis seems too insane to be true. That’s what I think. And I’ve been here longer than you.”
“Watch it, Carlow,” Nolan said.
Carlow apologized to Harry. “Like I said, it’s just my opinion.”
“Next time keep it to yourself,” Maple said, surprising Harry.
What was going on? Was Maple, who seemed to like Carlow, now joining her side against Carlow?
“What do headshrinkers use hypnosis for anyhow?” Carlow asked.
“I suppose people believe it can be therapeutic,” Nolan said.
“Yeah,” Harry and Maple said at the same time.
Just then a fax came through and Harry went over and ripped it off the machine. “It’s a record of the Fishers recent credit card purchases. Holy crap. Albert bought fertilizer. Remember what Sheriff Sanchez said?” She thrust the piece of paper toward Nolan.
“She said the Fishers might have had a bomb in the trunk,” Nolan said, taking the paper from Harry.
“You think it’s possible?” Maple asked.
Harry nodded.
“Really?” Carlow said. “It’s even more like a movie now.”
His disbelief and excitement irked Harry. Just as she had been starting to like him a little more …
“Yes, it’s possible.” Harry gave a discreet eye roll. Why was this guy always questioning her?
“I better call the bomb squad,” Nolan said. “I already notified them when you told me what Sheriff Sanchez said. But now I’ll give them the heads up to be on standby in case the situation escalates.”
Maple leaned against Carlow’s desk. “What the hell are they doing with a bomb?”
His curse startled Harry in a pleasant way.
“They’re robbers, not radicals,” Maple continued. “But do you think they stole the money to fund something?”
Nolan shook his head. “There’s nothing in either of their backgrounds that would even hint at that. What I think is going on is, like Harry said, they took Emily Will because she’s a pilot and they want her to fly them somewhere. So they’re going to need an airplane. Maybe the bomb is to keep us away from the airplane.”
“They’re going to blow themselves up if we try to intercept?” Maple asked.
“I believe so, yes.”
“They’re going to kill themselves and take Emily with them if their plan doesn’t work out,” Carlow said. “Talk about all or nothing. They’re willing to throw away their lives and all that money if it means they won’t see the inside of a jail cell. And it won’t be easy for them to steal a plane, so it’s more likely they’re plan won’t work out than it will. I wonder if she’s figured out they’re completely deranged.”
“I’m sure she’s well aware of that,” Harry said.
“We have no proof she’s even alive,” Carlow said.
“I think she is,” Harry said. “I don’t think they’d truly harm her unless we prevented them from escaping successfully. They need her skills to escape.”
“Our first priority is to get Emily out of their clutches and then get them and recover the money they stole,” Maple said.
“But how can we help her if they’re just going to kill her and themselves if we get too close?” Carlow said. “I don’t mean to be a downer, but how realistic is it to believe we can rescue her alive?”
“We just have to get to her without them knowing we’re there,” Harry said. “I also believe that, while we can’t depend on it one hundred percent because we don’t know whether she’s injured, Emily Will might be able to help us herself. With her training, she’s not an ordinary victim. I said it once and I’ll say it again, I think the Fishers made a big mistake taking her. Em’s a fighter.” Harry realized she’d used Emily Will’s nickname. She felt like she knew Emily, and there were traces of Emily’s greatness almost everywhere she sought answers during the investigation.
Maple smiled at her.
“Em?” Carlow said.
“Her fiancé said it was her nickname,” Harry explained.
She’d deliberately left out what Peter Morgan had said about not being able to face Emily again. Nobody needed to know that very personal detail since it wouldn’t help with the case.
“All right, kids. Stop bickering, please,” Nolan said lightly. “I’ve ordered checkpoints at every major highway and road around here. All local law enforcement has been asked to look out for Michael Baker’s black pickup truck.”
“What about the small roads, sir?” Harry asked. “If the Fishers are locals, they’ll know their way around most of the smaller roads.”
“Good point. I’ll expand the checkpoints. It could take a while, though. There are lots of tiny roads around here and we don’t have enough manpower to cover them all. I’ll have to call in cops from the neighboring counties.”
Harry kept a spare shirt in her desk drawer; she never knew when she might pull an all-nighter and need a change of clothes. She retrieved the shirt and went into the bathroom to change. Harry put her dirty shirt in her drawer and planned to deal with it at some point.
The day passed without any word on the Fishers or Emily Will. That’s how investigations often worked. In the beginning it was rush, rush, rush. Then a lot of waiting for something to happen or for some word to be given. And then at the end it was rush, rush, rush all over again.
Around 8 p.m. Carlow left the station to go on traffic duty for the evening until the early hours. Nolan’s parents were visiting from Trinidad and he went home to his wife and family. He’d mentioned he wanted to take his mother to visit the beautiful local stream the next day where he spent many weekend afternoons fly fishing during the warmer months. Nolan had worked for the local police for his entire career, and the adventurous part of Harry found that a little boring, but in a way it was also nice he had formed such a strong bond with one place. Harry wondered if she could ever do that.
For a while it was just Harry and Maple keeping an eye on things, there in case something happened. Around ten, Maple asked her if she wanted to get a late dinner.
“No, thanks. I’m not hungry. I’ll pass.”
“You never seem to eat.”
“I do eat. Just not the healthy food you like. Didn’t you say you’re a vegan or something? More often than not my diet consists of fast food, coffee and potato chips these days.”
She didn’t want to tell him about her beloved River, that why she hardly ever ate a real meal anymore had to do with his abrupt death. That almost every time she ate she’d think of River’s end, how even the bulletproof vest she got for him hadn’t been enough to save him. She’d think of the blood and his cries, and how there was little she could do to help him because his injuries were fatal, and get nauseous. She did not want to tell him that she’d been interested in life in general less because of River’s death. The only one at the station who knew about River was Nolan, and she’d told even him very little.
“I’m a vegetarian,” Maple corrected her. “Suit yourself. It’s quiet tonight, I’m going to head to my motel to get some rest after I eat. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I better stay here in case someone calls.” Why did she feel the urgency to give him an excuse? Usually, she didn’t care what someone thought of her. Could it be that she and Maple were becoming friends?
“Are you going to sleep here?” he asked.
Harry shrugged. “See you,” she said, and her attention went back to her work.
She spent the next two hours at her desk poring over the files on the Fishers and Emily Will. A small part of her wanted to really make sure Emily couldn’t have had any part in the crimes. She’d told Nolan that, and her career depended on that instinct.
She called Mickey just before midnight. Harry knew he’d be awake because when her brother was upset he wasn’t able to sleep. On the phone she found out her niece and nephew were doing as well as could be expected. Mickey was hanging in there but was eager for news about the case. Harry could give him little. And she felt guilty that she had to treat the case as a detective would, as a case, and not the way a sister would treat it. When should she stop being a detective and act like a sister? Where did she draw the line?
After she ended the call she couldn’t keep her eyes open, and not wanting to be found face down and snoring on her desk by her co-workers in the morning, she got up and went downstairs to the ground floor where the police department had one holding cell in case they had to keep someone overnight and couldn’t send them to the county jail miles away. She didn’t want to return to her apartment with its unpacked boxes. She didn’t want to do anything not having to do with the case.
Harry used the flashlight on her keychain to inspect the cot. It looked clean. She shut the cell door and pulled off her shoes and got on top of the cot. She made a promise to herself that she’d wake early before anyone found her there. She fell asleep once again believing Emily Will was innocent.
Her phone rang sometime in the middle of the night.
“What the …?” She sat up and struggled to find her phone in her pocket in the dark. Was it Green? Something to do with the case? She tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes and to see better in the dark.
She saw Nolan’s name on the screen and accepted the call straight away. Something to do with the case. It took her a while to answer and she was surprised to have gotten to the call before he left a message.
“Hello, captain. What’s going on?”
“Cannon, are you at home? Or are you still at the station? Is Maple there?”
She looked around because she’d forgot, and then she didn’t want to tell him she’d been napping in the jail cell. “I’m … I’m at the station. Maple went to his motel. What’s going on? Is it something to do with the Fishers or Emily Will?”
Nolan sighed and Harry knew it wasn’t good news. “Is it Emily?” She only realized she’d used the victim’s first name after she said it. “Did something happen—”
“No. It had nothing to do with the Fishers or Ms. Will. It’s Carlow. He’s been shot. And before you ask, no, it wasn’t the Fishers. We already got the guy who did it.”
“Oh, my. Wasn’t he on traffic duty?”
“Yeah. He was alone. One of the problems with us being a small force. It seems he was shot while attempting to give a speeder he’d pulled over a ticket. It’s more likely for these kinds of things to happen at night-time. I’m on my way to the hospital. I know you can’t stand the guy.”
“Geez, captain. I might not love the guy but I never wished him harm. Has his family been notified?”
“Yes, I already called his father to tell him the news. It’s just his father and him. There’s no other family.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Everything around here knows, but you’re not from here, so … Never mind. I’m sorry. I just … I hope he pulls through.”
“Yeah, me too.” Harry wondered if she ever would truly belong in the town and in her job there, or only superficially.
“The hospital is just outside of town so I should be there in fifteen minutes,” Nolan said.
“Do you want me to come to the hospital?” she asked.
Harry would have felt odd going there because although Carlow could be a jerk sometimes, she’d also been unkind to him throughout their time together. But she knew it would be the right thing to do. If he died, it would devastate her. Not just because of his youth but in the way that losing anyone on the force affected the other members.
But Nolan gave her an excuse not to go when he said, “That’s not needed. It’s best if you stay there and watch over things since I’ll be out of reach for a while. I’ll call Maple and ask him to come help,” and although it made her feel like a coward she didn’t go.
“Captain, about Maple, I don’t need him to come. He left not that long ago. I’ll be fine.”
“As your senior officer, I’m telling you I’m going to ask him to be there. Technically, he’s above all of us in the Fisher case. He needs to be there whether or not you like it.”
Harry swallowed her pride and held her tongue. “Yes, Captain Nolan.”
When the call ended Harry tried to fix the cot sheet so that it looked like no one had slept there. She did a pretty good job, considering. Harry tried to straighten the wrinkles in her shirt but had no luck. Oh, well. Screw it. She went upstairs to await Maple’s imminent arrival and sat at her desk with some paperwork in front of her, like she’d been there since he left. The cell had been warm and the clothes she’d slept in felt sticky to her skin.
After a while, Harry heard the entrance door open downstairs and heard Maple’s heavy footfall.
“Tough luck, huh? The poor kid,” Maple said when he entered the station.
Harry looked up from her desk. “Yeah, it’s terrible.”
“I thought you’d be at the hospital. When Nolan called me he mentioned you were still here but I thought you would’ve left by now.”
Harry shrugged.
“Carlow always was a bit of a punk,” Maple said.
Harry stood up. “Don’t say was. Is. It’s bad luck to refer to him in the past tense.”
“Is that guilt I hear in your voice?”
“Not guilt. Not exactly. I haven’t known him for that long, and sometimes we haven’t gotten along well, but he’s a colleague.”
“Go see him, then.”
Harry checked the time. “I’ll call the flower shop in town this morning, when they open in a few hours, and send some to the hospital. Even a town as small as this one has to have a florist.”
“I believe they do. I think I saw one on the main street the other day when I drove here from my motel.”
Harry texted Nolan for an update and he responded straight away: ‘I’m at the hospital. He’s stable. He’s hanging in there.’
“Thank God,” Harry said with relief. She showed Maple the text.
“I want in on the flowers, if that’s all right with you,” he said.
“Sure. You can pay for half. I have to warn you, I’m not great at picking out flowers.”
“That’s okay. I know someth
ing about them.”
“Really?”
Maple nodded. “My parents own a gardening shop.”
“In Vermont?”
“Yep. What’s your family like?” he asked.
“Well, you already know my brother Mickey is a math teacher. He lives right here in town. Both of my parents still live in the city. I’d never lived anywhere except the city until I came here. My mother, she’s retired now, was also a math teacher. My father is a retired detective. He would’ve been a cop until the day he died if he could have. He only retired after getting shot in the eye by a criminal. And if you’re thinking, ‘She used his connections back in the city to get hired’, I didn’t. I worked with a different police department than his.”
“I wasn’t thinking that, but good to know.”
“He was a cop first, my dad. Worked his way up on the force.”
“Like you and me.”
“Yeah, like me.”
“And me. Remember, I told you I used to be a cop.”
“I never asked you, was it in Vermont? Because that doesn’t count.”
He laughed at her joke.
“It was in New Hampshire, actually,” he said.
“Same thing.” Harry smiled.
“Why did you stop kickboxing? If you don’t mind my asking.”
“Who says I have?”
“I just assumed … ”
“You’re right, I have. I don’t mind that you asked me. I lost a match badly and hurt my wrist.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I can still use a weapon fine. It made me focus more on my law enforcement career.” Then she asked Maple something that had been bothering her ever since he arrived. “You once wanted me off this case, earlier on. Do you still do?”
“I never wanted you gone completely from it, I just worried you were too attached because she’s your sister-in-law.”
“Was. Was my sister-in-law. Are you going to kick me off this thing just before we solve it so you can keep all the glory and recognition to yourself? You owe me an answer.”
