The Cat, the Wife and the Weapon citm-4

by Leann Sweeney

  When we pulled onto my block, a dark-colored sedan was parked in the street in front of my house, a car I didn’t recognize.

  Candace had pulled up beside it while Tom and I drove into my driveway. We both walked back down the drive to see who Candace and Liam were talking to in the sedan.

  My stomach lurched. Hilary Roth was out of the car and conversing with them. As we joined them, I could see tears glistening on her cheeks in the moonlight.

  When she saw Tom, she addressed him. “I only wanted to talk to him. I called through the door, I begged him to let me in.”

  “He wouldn’t, would he?” Tom said.

  She shook her head. “I went back to the car. I waited. I went back several times hoping he would just say something. Anything. See, I knew he was in there. I just knew.”

  Candace said, “You kept talking through the door?”

  “Yelling actually,” she said. “So he could hear. He needed to know about Rory. The man was his father, after all.”

  “You didn’t yell out the juicy piece of information about his father’s murder by chance?” Tom said angrily.

  “I—I did mention Rory died unexpectedly. He had to know. I thought if I told him, he’d open the door. But he didn’t.” She hung her head and sniffled.

  This woman’s son ran away and she’d lost her husband all in the last week. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. But Tom was not swayed by her tears or by the fact she’d been parked here for maybe several hours hoping to talk to Finn.

  He said, “You may think you’re fooling us with all this fake concern for Finn, but you’re not.” Tom looked at Candace. “Can you make her leave?”

  “Why don’t we talk to Finn and see what he wants to do?” Candace said.

  Tom said, “Are you kidding me?”

  I took his hand and drew him away. His back was to them and I said, “You can’t protect Finn from her forever. With all of us here, what harm can it do to let her see her son?”

  “Hilary being in the same room with him is harm done, as far as I’m concerned,” he whispered harshly.

  But I could tell by his face he was willing to give a little.

  I said, “Finn needs to see his mother’s concern.”

  “Jillian, she is not concerned. All you’re seeing is what I call her beautiful facade. This woman has something else in mind, probably something to do with money. She may not love her kid, but she does love money. You’re right, though. With all of us around for support, Finn can decide whether he wants to talk to her or not.”

  I turned back to Candace. “I’ll go in first. Tell him we’re here to talk to him, okay?”

  We walked around back where I could disengage the security alarm.

  And realized it wasn’t set.

  Tom stood right behind me and knew this instantly.

  “Open the door,” he said, the urgency in his voice alerting Candace.

  She grabbed Tom’s arm. “Stand down, Tom. I’ve got this.” She took my keys and unlocked the door—the dead bolt wasn’t locked, just the door—and then Candace went into my house with her weapon drawn.

  Twenty-Three

  I saw lights go on in the kitchen and heard Candace calling Finn’s name.

  Hilary had been standing a few steps back from the rest of us, but moved closer and said, “Does she think Finn is hurt? I don’t understand.”

  Tom turned and glared at her, his mouth white-ringed with anger. “Keep out of this.”

  Sounding conciliatory, Liam said, “He may be asleep. This is just a precaution.”

  He isn’t asleep, I thought. Not with the security system disarmed. Before Tom and I left, we’d made sure he’d armed the system and knew how to work it if he had to take Yoshi outside. He’d picked up the directions easily and wouldn’t have forgotten.

  Candace returned a long minute later, her face impossible to read. How she managed not to share so much as a morsel of emotion always surprised me. She said, “Come on in.”

  Chablis was the first to greet me, so I knew immediately Yoshi wasn’t here. And if Yoshi wasn’t here, Finn wasn’t either. I picked my cat up and held her close.

  All the lights were on, thanks to Candace’s search. Once we’d all stepped into the kitchen, she said, “He’s gone.” She glanced back and forth between Hilary and Tom. “Either of you know where he might be?”

  “How would I know? I’ve been talking to you about a dead guy I didn’t even know from Adam for the last two hours,” Tom said.

  Syrah arrived to greet us, but stopped before reaching us. Tom’s raised voice made him wary. Neither I nor my cats had ever heard Tom sound so upset.

  Syrah hissed, turned and raced out of the room past Merlot. My biggest boy hadn’t even bothered to come close. He was sitting on the tile near the breakfast bar, his gaze trained on Hilary, his nose in the air trying to catch her scent. Chablis snuggled into my neck and began to purr. She knew I was troubled and wanted to comfort me. How I wished my cats could tell me what had gone on here in my absence.

  “Maybe Finn took Yoshi for a walk,” Hilary said, a tinge of panic in her voice. “If he went out this back door, I wouldn’t have seen him leave.”

  I said, “Even though the security system was disarmed, the door was locked. You can lock it from the inside and leave. If he went to walk the dog, he may have accidentally locked himself out.” Why was I being such a Pollyanna? In my heart, I knew Finn was gone, reverting to what he’d done before. He’d run. Unless, I thought, someone lured him outside and snatched him and his dog. Something pretty darn hard to do with Hilary parked out front. Besides, who would do such a thing?

  Just then Tom spotted a Post-it note stuck on the fridge door. He took it down and read aloud, “Thanks for everything, Mrs. Hart. Finn.”

  Hilary looked over Tom’s shoulder at the note. “Oh no. I recognize his handwriting.”

  Tom bolted for the back door and Candace called, “Where are you going?”

  “To find him,” he shouted.

  “Let him drive around,” Liam said. “Maybe he’ll cool off, and who knows? He might just spot the kid.”

  The helplessness I felt at watching Tom run out the door made it impossible to speak. He wanted to do right by Finn and, after all he’d told me about his past, I was sure Tom believed he’d failed.

  Liam said, “Did you notice if Finn left anything behind, Deputy Carson?”

  “Now that I think about it, I didn’t see anything that might have belonged to him in the guest room,” she said solemnly.

  I blinked hard, feeling the unexpected sting of tears. Worry for Finn and for Tom, plus the night’s horrific events finally converged. But I managed to fight back the tears and said to Candace, “You’ll put out one of those BOLO things for him?”

  “If he were simply an adult runaway, I couldn’t. But since he’s wanted for questioning anyway, I’ll do just that.” She took her cell phone from her utility belt. “But not out on the radio for the whole town to pick up on their scanners. Don’t want the do-gooders in town to spook Finn if he’s just walking around, thinking about what he heard his mother say. What was he wearing last time you saw him?”

  I described the jeans and shirt Kara had bought. While Candace called in the “be on the lookout” alert with Finn’s description, the rest of us listened in silence. I was stunned by the evening’s events and I’m sure Hilary and Liam were, too.

  After she hung up, Candace looked at Hilary. “We need to talk to everyone who knew Mr. Gannon. You can follow me to the police station.”

  She pointed at herself with a manicured nail. “Me? There’s nothing I can tell you about Rory aside from the fact he’s battled mental illness most of his adult life. I mean, he did. Before he—he… died.” With the money troubles she had, she still got her nails done. Not unusual, I decided. Denial was a huge issue in a country where people hurt by the downturn in the economy still wanted all the perks they were used to.

  “I just need to write down ever
ything you know about Mr. Gannon for the chief. Paperwork never goes away. Let’s go.” She started for the door and Liam got behind Hilary as if to herd her out.

  I stood at the back door and watched them leave, but before Candace disappeared around the side of the house, she turned and said, “I know you’ll call right away if Finn shows up.”

  I shut the door and locked it, making sure the dead bolt was fastened, too. Setting Chablis down, I turned on the deck lights in case Finn decided to come back. Gosh, I hoped he would.

  As I walked back into the kitchen, I remembered Candace’s words when we were talking about her job once and got a shiver up my spine. She’d said, “The innocent? They just stick around. Guilty folks run.”

  I opened the fridge and took out the sweet tea. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten, but I wasn’t hungry. I poured a glass and went into the living room, grabbed a lap quilt and curled up in John’s recliner. All three cats soon surrounded me.

  I stared out through the picture windows, the deck lights casting faint glimmers on the black lake. Stars shone like brilliant specks through the trees and I hoped one of those stars would lead Finn back here. Why did he feel the need to run away? He seemed to understand we all wanted to help him. The thought puzzled me, and deep down I feared that maybe he didn’t run away after all. Maybe someone made him write the note and leave it for me to make it seem like he ran. I shook my head. No. I couldn’t dwell on dark thoughts. There was an explanation. Finn would come back and he would tell us why he left. I was sure of it.

  My phone rang and the sound made me jump. Maybe it was Finn. Instead it was Kara, making sure I was all right after what had happened. I told her I was okay and before I could even mention Finn’s disappearance, she said she was in a hurry to get a headline in for tomorrow’s Mercy Messenger. She disconnected.

  My eyelids felt weighted and, with Chablis resting on my chest, I closed them. Next thing I knew, a knock at my back door awakened me. I’d dozed off. I rose from the chair so quickly I frightened poor Chablis and she leaped from my arms and scampered off down the hall. But Merlot and Syrah were already waiting in the kitchen ready for me to answer the door.

  It was Candace.

  I let her in, hugged her tightly and said, “I am so glad you came.”

  “I knew you wouldn’t be in bed,” she said. “I take it you haven’t heard from Finn?”

  “No. But I nodded off. How can I sleep with Finn missing?” As we went into the kitchen I checked the microwave for the time. One a.m. I’d been out for several hours.

  “You needed the sleep. And I need tea.” She opened the fridge and took out the pitcher.

  “I have wine, if you’d rather—”

  “Nothing stronger than tea or coffee until I solve this double homicide,” she said. “But I’d love a big bag of chips about now.”

  “Since I had a teenager in the house, I can fulfill your wish,” I said.

  “By the way, did you check your security footage? I wonder if something important was caught on video. Maybe Hilary lied and Finn did talk to her,” she said, taking the bag of chips I offered.

  “Can’t hurt to check,” I said. “We can also get the exact time the security system was disarmed, though I’m not sure how the information will help.”

  “Any information might be useful,” Candace said. “Let’s go look.”

  In my office I booted up the computer and we watched the various feeds from the past evening. Most of the time, Finn seemed to be watching television in the living room. Then we saw him stab the remote and stand up, as if listening to something. Could this be when his mother showed up? He disappeared and must have gone to his room, but without a camera in that part of the house, we could only assume. Then we watched Finn and Yoshi walk through the living room and kitchen, Finn carrying his backpack slung over one shoulder. The time stamp showed Finn disarmed the system around ten p.m. On his way out, he stopped to write the note he’d left me and I noticed he kept glancing back toward the foyer.

  I murmured, “He heard Hilary. He left because she was at the front door.”

  Candace had been leaning over, looking at the screen. “You’re right. She was the trigger. He didn’t want to see her.”

  I powered off the computer and we returned to the living room. Candace sat down with her tea and the extra-large bag of Wavy Lays. I felt sad Finn never even had a chance to open them.

  “I take it you haven’t heard from Tom?” I asked.

  “Not a word. He didn’t go home. See, Bob didn’t have a ride since Rodriguez drove him to the station. But Morris wasn’t about to drop Bob off at Tom’s house until we can search the yard in the morning light. There could be evidence we missed. He did drive by the place, though. Rodriguez was on watch, parked out front. He said he hadn’t seen Tom.”

  “Where did Morris take Bob?” I asked. “He said he didn’t have any money.”

  Candace finished her mouthful of chips before answering. “Morris dropped him at his mother’s house. We made sure not to tell Bob that Finn is missing. We figured he can’t tell Karen anything he doesn’t know.”

  “Karen said it was okay for Bob to come to her house to stay?” I said. “You’re aware those two have issues.”

  “I know. But Bob called her from the station, and she apparently didn’t put up too much of a stink. You know something? She’s been living in Mercy for ten years—since I was a teenager—and I never saw her as hysterical as she was tonight. For that matter, I’ve never seen Tom as screwed up as he is right now, either.”

  “I’m worried about him. You think he’s still driving all over the place looking for Finn?” I said.

  “Not a doubt in my mind. You don’t think Tom changed his mind about Finn, do you? Maybe he thinks Finn found Gannon spying through Tom’s window and ended up harming his father. Because if that’s the case, I wouldn’t put it past Tom to help Finn get as far away from Mercy as possible.”

  “No way, Candace. He knows Finn could never kill anyone,” I said. “If he finds him, he’ll convince him to come back. I had a thought earlier that perhaps Finn didn’t leave here on his own. Maybe someone compelled him to leave. Now we know it was probably Hilary’s arrival that made him run.”

  She used a paper towel she’d grabbed earlier and wiped salt and grease off her hands. After taking a long drink of tea, she said, “Could be, or maybe he compelled himself to leave, Jillian. From talking to him, I get the sense he’d blame himself, think he’d caused everyone too much trouble. Distress like that can make people turn to what they know best to solve a problem. In his case, it’s running away.”

  “He’ll come back. He has to. Now that he’s seen how much Tom cares about him, he won’t be able to stay away.” I welcomed Chablis onto my lap. Syrah was already asleep above my head on the recliner’s back. Merlot, who likes salty fingers, was parked close to Candace.

  “I hope you’re right,” she said. “I want to tell Finn myself how we found a couple important pieces of evidence on Gannon’s body.”

  “What evidence?” I asked.

  “Finn’s wallet. We also found a prepaid cell in Gannon’s pocket. It belonged to Finn, too.”

  “His wallet? And a phone?” I said. “How did Gannon get these things? Because Finn never mentioned meeting up with his father. Unless… Oh my goodness. Could Gannon have been at the scene of the accident?”

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” she said.

  I nodded slowly, deciding it all made sense. “He took those things from Finn’s pocket or backpack while he was unconscious.”

  “I can’t think of any other explanation,” Candace said.

  “That’s huge,” I said. “But it makes me wonder—and not for the first time—how Rory Gannon ended up in Mercy. And now, how he ended up at the accident scene—or should I say Roth’s murder scene?”

  “Don’t know for sure yet,” she said. “But here’s another little gem of a connection. The crime lab sent over the phone logs
from Tom’s cell and we now know a call was placed from Tom’s phone to Gannon’s halfway house. Once Finn’s phone is thoroughly examined by our techies at the county crime lab, maybe we’ll learn more about who was talking to whom.”

  “You didn’t look at Finn’s call and text record on his phone already?” I said.

  “Not completely,” she said, avoiding my gaze. “On TV they fiddle around with cell phones, scrolling through the call log and sent messages of phones at crime scenes, but I don’t do that. We have techies who know how to access information, relay it to us and preserve the evidence—not to mention preserve the chain of custody for court.”

  “I can tell you saw something, though. What?” I said.

  She stared at me for a long moment. “Oh all right—but I’m telling you only because I trust you more than my own mother. I saw a text that came from Tom’s phone to Finn the day Nolan Roth was murdered. The message said something like, ‘Hey, I’m driving around looking for you, Finn. Where are you?’”

  “But Nolan Roth had Tom’s phone,” I said. “He sent the message and lured Finn to him. How in the world did he make him get into the car?”

  “Good question,” she said. “I’m hoping when we find Finn—and I’m sure we will—some of his memory will return and he can help fill in the blanks.”

  “Remember that the doctor who treated him for the concussion said he doubted what was lost would ever be recovered,” I said.

  “Call me an optimist. First we have to find him, though. Meanwhile, I’m seriously considering Gannon for Roth’s murder.”

  “What motive did he have?” I said.

  “He wanted his son back?” Candace sounded less than sure.

  “Then why smash Finn’s head into the dashboard? No, wait. Maybe Roth was the one who did that after the crash.”

  “We just don’t know,” she said. “Not yet anyway. But we have Finn’s and Tom’s phones, so we can see how they match up as far as dates and times with those texts and calls. One other thing’s been bugging me and I was hoping Hilary Roth had the answer. She claims she doesn’t, though.” Candace closed the top of the potato chip package.