The Priority Unit (Maine Justice Book 1)

by Davis, Susan Page

  “Extremely boring stuff, like filing and data entry. It would pay half what you’re making, and they don’t have air conditioning in the basement.”

  “There are a few perks, though,” Eddie said.

  “Like what?”

  “Like us upstairs, and lunch every day with the Invincible Duo, if you want.”

  She chuckled, feeling calmer.

  “Good,” Harvey said. “You’re not beyond laughing.”

  “Do you really think they’d hire me?”

  “I don’t know. They’ll probably have a gazillion applicants, and you’re grossly overqualified. But, if you want to take a shot at it, Mike would speak up for you.”

  “He would?”

  “Yeah,” Harvey said. “He’s impressed with your computer work. I got the word on Bobby Nason the other day before the investigating officer did. And Mike thinks you’re pretty sharp.”

  “Do you think I should apply for it?” The idea of leaving the familiarity and financial benefits of Coastal was scary, but working at the police station might offer her a different type of security.

  “Do you want to?” Harvey asked. “That’s all that matters.”

  “It’s not all that matters to me,” Jennifer said.

  “Okay. What else matters to you about it?”

  “Well, if I worked in the same building with you, and that became awkward for any reason…” She glanced toward Eddie, but he was studiously arranging the pickles in his sandwich.

  Harvey didn’t hesitate. “Come in on your lunch hour tomorrow. I’ll talk to Mike in the morning. If the job looks too depressing, you can walk away.”

  Eddie said, “If you think it will help, I’ll talk to Marge in Records.”

  “You have some pull with Marge in Records?” Jennifer asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Harvey turned his eyes toward the ceiling. “Eddie has pull with every female in the department.”

  He drove her back to within sight of the Coastal building and stopped at the curb.

  “We may work late again tonight, gorgeous.”

  Jennifer flushed, but Eddie was unbuckling his seat belt so he could get out and take her place in the front seat.

  “You take care, Harvey,” she whispered. “Don’t they have rules about how much sleep you need if you’re wearing a gun or something?”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll get our rest. I have to cut out seeing you every night, is all.”

  *****

  Harvey gave Eddie an unaccustomed wake-up call on Tuesday. “Can we leave early this morning? I want to go to the big furniture store on Bay Street. It opens at seven.”

  “You’re finally buying furniture?”

  “I’m too old to keep sleeping on the floor. I get up all stiff in the morning.”

  “Okay, but you ought to go to the used furniture place first. It would be a lot cheaper.”

  “I know, but I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I’ve decided I want a bed nobody else has slept in.”

  At the furniture outlet, acres of bedroom sets confronted them. Harvey began to remember why he hated shopping.

  “How about the brass one?” Eddie said.

  “Too gaudy.”

  They looked at modern, French Empire, and futons.

  “Hey, here’s one that looks like an antique, but it’s new,” said Eddie. “You like antiques.”

  The maple sleigh bed had gracefully curved head and foot boards. It was set up with a patchwork quilt covering the mattress and box spring.

  “I could sleep in that.” Harvey found a clerk and told him what he wanted, demanding same-day delivery. He had left a key to his apartment with Rebecca the night before, asking her to expect a truck.

  “Bring the quilt, too. You got bookcases?” he asked the clerk.

  “Yes, sir. This way.”

  Harvey quickly chose a couple of barrister’s bookcases with glass doors, and headed for the living room sets.

  Eddie looked at his watch. “We need to get going. Besides, don’t you think you should let Jennifer pick out the sofa?”

  Harvey turned on him and growled, “What’s Jennifer got to do with this?”

  Eddie backed off with his hands raised. “Sorry. Too far?”

  “Way too far.”

  As soon as they got to the office, Harvey told Mike about Jennifer’s interest in the clerk’s job.

  “Why would she come work here for a pittance?” Mike asked.

  “She hates her job. Besides, I’m thinking she may not have a job after we’re finished with the Dunham case. Not that I’ve spelled that out to her.”

  Mike frowned, chewing his gum thoughtfully. “Well, it’s only for baby leave, twelve weeks.”

  “I told her.”

  “Hey, the department could use a brain like hers. I’ll write her a glowing letter this minute. Can I say I’ve known her a long time?”

  Harvey laughed. “I don’t think eight days constitutes a long friendship.”

  “Well, I can honestly say I’ve seen her work. How do you spell Wainthrop?”

  *****

  She came at ten past noon. Harvey met her at the front door and walked her down to Records. “Do you want me to wait, or would that make you nervous?”

  “Why don’t you just go eat.”

  “Okay, I’ll be at the diner down the street with Eddie. Come join us when you’re done.” He kissed her forehead. “Knock ’em dead.”

  She broke into a wide smile.

  “You smile like that, and they won’t be able to say no.” Harvey was tempted to kiss her again, but she turned toward the door of Records and took a deep breath before opening it.

  He kept one eye on Jennifer’s car as he slowly ate a ham sandwich and drank coffee. When she finally came out, she walked swiftly toward him, and he went to meet her.

  “How’d it go?” he asked.

  “Good. The job’s mine if I want it.”

  “Yes! Don’t you want it?” He frowned at her lack of enthusiasm.

  She looked up at him, squinting against the sun. “Harvey, are you absolutely sure you want me working here? Even for a short time?”

  “Yes. It will be great.” He couldn’t understand her thinking he might object. Having her so close would be wonderful.

  She smiled. “Okay, I’ll take it. But I’d better call them from work and tell them, or I’ll be late getting back.”

  He walked her to her car and handed her a paper bag.

  “What’s this?”

  “Lunch. And you don’t have to look under the car. Eddie and I have taken care of it.”

  “You sweetie.”

  He wished they were alone, not on the street in plain sight of the diner and the police station. “When do you start?”

  “Two weeks from Monday. The expectant lady plans to start her leave then. I’ll give Coastal two weeks’ notice.”

  “Give it this afternoon.”

  As he watched her drive away, Eddie came over from the diner. “Pete was just here. He said Arnie had news on the Nason brothers.”

  “Really? I thought Bobby and LeRoy both skipped Newport.”

  “They did. Nobody seems to be at the house, but the cops went back yesterday with a warrant and went in.”

  “Find anything?”

  “Some black powder. Seems the brother shoots muzzle loaders, though. Could be nothing. They did get finger prints. Took Leroy’s off the can of powder. And guess whose off a glass and the telephone?”

  “Brother Bob’s?”

  “Bingo.”

  Harvey nodded. “So, where are you and Sarah going for your big date Friday?”

  “String quartet at the Wadsworth-Longfellow House,” said Eddie.

  “Classical music? You?”

  “It was her idea.”

  “And you’re happy with this?”

  “If it makes her happy.”

  “Eddie, maybe you’re growing up.”

  “Hey.” Eddie nudged him and nodded toward the diner. Mike and his
wife were approaching a free table on the sidewalk. Mike pulled out Sharon’s chair and seated her. A waitress came out and took their order. Eddie ambled toward the table, and Harvey followed.

  “Hey, guys,” Mike called.

  “Hello, Mrs. Browning,” Eddie said shyly.

  “Hi, Eddie. Hello, Harvey.”

  “I’m taking my wife out for a fancy lunch,” said Mike. “BLTs and Moxie.”

  Sharon laughed. “I never get to see him anymore unless I come down here.”

  “Hey, Harv, I’ve got another question for you,” Mike said. “Do people that die turn into angels? Sharon says it’s not in the Bible.”

  Harvey was startled. Mike had never talked to him about religion until the car bomb incident at the church. “I don’t know, but if it’s not in the Bible, then I guess they don’t.”

  “Good answer,” said Sharon.

  Mike laughed then turned sober. “There’s a new report on the Nason brothers.”

  “Newer than what Pete just told me?” Eddie asked.

  “See Arnie about it.”

  Eddie and Harvey went up to the office, and Arnie Fowler was to the point. “I got LeRoy Nason’s fingerprints from Newport. That one print from the pipe bomb on your car—it’s a match.”

  “Bobby’s brother?” Harvey asked.

  “That’s right. Maybe he put the bomb on the car, and maybe he didn’t, but he touched it. I put out an APB on both brothers, but they’re slippery.”

  “This can’t be personal,” Harvey said. “I’ve never even seen LeRoy Nason.”

  “Somebody’s bankrolling this job,” Arnie agreed.

  Chapter 22

  Harvey spent an hour going through computerized gun records. Nick Dunham had been killed with a .357 magnum, but no matches showed up in the system, and none of the partners at Coastal admitted to owning a handgun.

  “They hired someone to shoot Nick,” Eddie said.

  Harvey stared at the monitor, thinking. “Is it possible the car bombs are connected to this case?”

  Eddie shrugged. “I don’t see how. We didn’t even have a body back then.”

  “All right, but when we find the Nason brothers, we run any weapons they have on the IBIS system, against the bullets that killed Nick Dunham.”

  “Can’t hurt.”

  “It’s a long shot,” Harvey admitted. “A .357 isn’t Bobby Nason’s style.”

  “Yeah, he likes a bigger boom.” Eddie eyed the scar on his hand.

  “Harvey, Eddie,” Mike called, and they went quickly to the captain’s desk. “I’ve got a CIA representative who’ll see you at the federal building in twenty minutes. Seems the Pentagon had some leaks last fall. This Massal guy may be on the fringe of it.”

  Arnie and Pete came hurrying from the locker room wearing their Kevlar vests.

  “Where you headed?” Eddie asked.

  “Possible lead on the Nason brothers. We don’t want to lose them again,” Arnie said over his shoulder. He and Pete were out the door.

  There was no word from them all afternoon. Harvey wasn’t satisfied with the scant information he gained at the federal office building. They still didn’t have enough evidence to go after Massal.

  His thoughts kept straying to Jennifer as he worked at his desk. She was becoming dependent on him, and he wasn’t sure that was good. She needed to be able to take care of herself.

  He believed in God, and beyond that, he knew God now, although the acquaintance was newly formed. It had come to him gradually, a firm, unshakable knowledge that he believed.

  Jennifer needed that, too, regardless of what happened to him. He wanted more than anything to tell her he believed, but she had to understand that they were separate in their commitment. He knew it was the only way they could become one. She was close to it, he was sure. He silently formed a prayer for wisdom, and was struck with amazement and humility that he was able to ask God for that.

  “So, she’s really taking the job in Records?” Eddie said.

  Harvey realized he had stopped typing as he prayed, and was staring out the window, at the lawyer’s office across Franklin Street.

  “Yeah. Two weeks from Monday, she’ll be downstairs filing away our reports.”

  “Good deal,” Eddie said.

  Harvey looked at his watch. In two hours, he could go to her. As soon as he knew she had settled her own spiritual questions, he would tell her that he loved her.

  The flag for Jennifer’s program had appeared in the corner of his screen. When he clicked on it, an update from the State Police appeared. “Eddie.”

  “What have you got?” Eddie asked.

  “Donna-jean Jacobs was stopped in Kittery this morning. Drugs again.”

  “Send them your file on her,” Eddie recommended. “She won’t bail out so quick this time.”

  “Don’t mention this to Jennifer.”

  At five o’clock, Harvey was heading to the locker room to shave when Mike yelled, “Eddie, Harvey, don’t go!”

  The captain was hanging up his phone as they turned toward his desk. “Arnie and Pete have tracked the Nasons to a motel. I told them to wait for us. Bobby’s skipped off too many times, and I want to bring him in. Get your body armor. I’ll call downstairs and ask for more men.” Harvey and Eddie ran to their lockers.

  “Hope we get him this time.” Eddie pulled his bulletproof vest over his shirt.

  “I’d better call Jenny.” Harvey took out his cell phone. Mike came in and swiftly put on his vest while Harvey made the call.

  “Jenny, it’s me. I know I promised to help move Beth in, but something’s come up, and we have to work late tonight. I’m sorry. I’ll come over as soon as I can.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’ll be here.”

  He hesitated.

  “Let’s roll, Harvey,” said Mike, heading out the door. Eddie followed him.

  “Jenny, we’ll talk later.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Yes, but I have to go.”

  He ran after Mike and Eddie. Downstairs they added six more officers who had been leaving the day shift: Sarah Benoit, Cheryl Yeaton, Nate Miller, Jimmy Cook, and two more men. Jimmy and Nate, who had been at the school when Harvey’s car was bombed, said they wouldn’t miss this for anything.

  “We’ll surround the motel unit,” Mike said. He looked at Harvey and Eddie. “Ride with me.” They piled into his car, and the others followed in two cruisers, with lights flashing, but no sirens.

  When they arrived, they spotted Arnie and Pete in the parking lot. The marked units parked down the street, and the officers waited for instructions out of view of the front motel rooms. Arnie briefed Mike quickly.

  “Room 10, the third door from this end. They’ve been in there forty-five minutes. I figure they’ll want supper soon.”

  “Pete, go ask the manager for the key,” Mike said. “Arnie, tell four of the uniformed officers to go around behind the motel and be careful not to be seen from number 10’s window. One door, one window to these units. We’ll get them.”

  Sarah and her partner, Cheryl Yeaton, moved cautiously to where Mike stood, while the four patrolmen went to the back. Mike and the two women stationed themselves between vehicles, weapons drawn. Pete came across the parking lot, and Eddie and Harvey went with Arnie, approaching the door of Room 10. Eddie and Harvey flattened themselves, one on each side of the door, guns skyward. Arnie took the plastic key card from Pete and held it ready. He motioned Pete back and stepped to the side of the door, where Harvey was. Then he knocked firmly.

  “Police! Open up!” Arnie yelled.

  Silence.

  “You sure they’re in there?” Eddie said softly.

  They heard a faint sound, then a blast. Arnie swore and shoved the key card into the lock, then pushed the door open hard. He went down on one knee, with his gun in both hands, and Harvey stepped quickly behind him, aiming into the room over his head.

  Something hit Harvey hard in the chest, and he went
flying backward. He hit the edge of a concrete traffic barrier, and his breath whooshed out of him. Around him, people shouted and gunfire erupted. He tried to roll over off the walkway, but it hurt too much, so he just covered his head with his left arm and tried to breathe.

  The shooting subsided, and Sarah knelt beside him. “Harvey! Harvey, are you hit?”

  He took his arm down, and that hurt, too. She was worried, and kept glancing up, toward the motel.

  “I don’t know. It hurts like blazes.”

  Eddie was there then. “It’s okay, Harv. We got them both.”

  “What happened?”

  “They threw a pipe bomb out the back window.”

  “Anybody hurt?”

  “Jimmy’s got a pretty bad gash on his leg, and Ted Marston’s got cuts and bruises, but nothing real bad. You okay?”

  “It hurts.”

  “Where?”

  “My back.” He tried to sit up, but couldn’t. He sank back, gasping, and Eddie opened the right side of his vest.

  “I can’t see any blood,” Eddie said.

  “I can’t breathe.”

  Mike was there. “Harv, ambulance on the way. You okay, buddy?”

  Eddie looked up, frowning. “He says it hurts, but I can’t see anything.”

  “Probably bruising. Thank the Kevlar people. We’ll get you to the hospital. Do you want me to call Jennifer?”

  “She’ll think it’s worse than it is,” Harvey groaned.

  Sirens screamed in the background.

  Arnie came from the motel room. “Mike, Bobby Nason’s dead, and his brother’s pretty bad.”

  “We need LeRoy,” said Mike.

  “It’s an abdominal wound. We might lose him.”

  “Okay. Get Ted around here for the EMT’s. They’ll get Jimmy. Somebody with him?”

  “Yeah, Cheryl. It’s a nasty cut on his leg. I think there’s shrapnel in it.”

  The sirens were ear-splitting.

  “Call the medical examiner for Bobby,” Mike yelled at Arnie.

  When the ambulances cut their sirens, Harvey heard Mike say, “Take the prisoner first. One of my men will ride with him. Then get this guy—” he gestured at Harvey, “and there’s another man with a torn-up leg out back, and that guy over there has lacerations.”

  One team came to where Harvey was, and Sarah and Eddie stood back.