outside.”
“I want to check something,” he said, interrupting her.
He snatched up the remote control from Abby’s
hand and started channel-hopping.
“Dad,” Abby whined.
“Josh, I asked you a question.” The irritation dissolved as Kate noticed his disheveled state. “What happened to you? You look like you’ve been dragged
through a hedge backwards.”
Josh ignored her and continued channel-hopping. He found what he was looking for, the news. Slowly, Josh backed up and sat on the arm of the chair next to Abby.
Kate started to complain, but Josh shushed her.
“Give me a minute and I’ll explain.”
The television screen showed a cordoned police scene with police and fire services present. Spotlights illuminated the area. In the background, the burnt carcass of a car lay slumped on melted tires. A screen shielded the television cameras from what Josh knew to be the dead body of Tom Jenks. The field reporter with suitably furrowed brow spoke.
“To recap, the police have found the body of a dead man next to this charred Chevy Malibu.” The reporter motioned with a hand in the direction of the
wreck. “The man has no identification, was shot
twice in the face and burned. Police, as yet, have no witnesses to the grizzly murder and appeal to witnesses to come forward. Initial indications lead the
authorities to believe this killing may be a drug deal gone bad. …”
“Kate, come with me,” Josh said.
“Okay.” She saw the fear in Josh’s eyes; fear that was contagious.
“There you go, sweetie.” Josh gave Abby the remote control. “We’ll be back in a minute.”
Josh led Kate by the hand toward the stairs, but their daughter halted their progress.
“Daddy, why don’t you tell me what is happening?”
Josh returned to his daughter’s side and knelt by her so that he was eye to eye. “Daddy is having some big problems he’s trying to get through. You know sometimes you struggle with math problems and you scratch
your head for a while before you get it?”
Abby nodded.
“Well, Daddy has a whole big bunch of them”—he
gestured with his hands out wide like a fisherman telling a tale—“and it’s going to take me a long time before I can work them all out. But I promise, when I’ve got it all sorted out, I’ll tell you all about it.” Josh put a finger to her nose. “Is that okay? Can you wait for a little while?”
Abby nodded vigorously and gave him a hug.
“Thank you, honey. You can watch your cartoons
now.
Josh returned to Kate and took her up to their bedroom.
He sat her on the bed and knelt in front of her,
holding her hands in his.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Kate
asked.
He took a deep breath. “If I knew I would tell you, but I don’t understand it all myself.”
“But what do you know?”
“I went to the office and Mike Behan wanted to see me.” Josh hesitated. “They’ve suspended me, indefinitely.”
“Why?”
“Because
of the Dixon apartments bribe. They can’t
have an employee suspected of bribery in such a sensitive position.” Josh frowned in apology.
“The bastards. Is this suspension paid?”
“Until an arrest is made. Then they cut me loose. But I think it’ll be all over by then.”
“How can you say that?”
“Trust me, it will.”
“But that doesn’t explain your condition.”
At that moment, Josh realized how badly he smelled.
Briefly, he thought of the girl on the bus and what she must have endured sitting next to him. He caught a glimpse of himself in the closet mirror. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Jenks and his foiled assassination attempt quickly obliterated the images of the nose ring girl.
“I think someone wants me dead.” Kate started to
challenge his wild accusation, but he knocked her protest aside. “Listen, I came home from work and I was picked up by some guy called Tom Jenks, who said he was a cop.”
Kate looked puzzled. “Who said he was a cop?”
“Yeah, he said he needed me to go with him and I
did. After a few minutes, I realized he wasn’t—the car, his manner, lots of things didn’t ring true. When I tried to get away, he pulled a gun and told me I was worth money to someone, but only if I was dead. He took me to the old factories over by the rail lines.”
Kate slapped a hand over her mouth. “That was
him, wasn’t it? The murdered man on the news. You killed him?”
Josh shook his head. “No, I didn’t. He was going to kill me and someone else killed him.”
“Who?”
“James Mitchell. He ran him down, then shot him
and must have burnt him and the car. I was out of there once the killing started.”
“But I thought Mitchell was trying to kill you, not rescue you.”
“That’s what I thought, but I really don’t have a clue now.”
Kate wrapped her arms around him. “Oh, Josh,
what have you got us into?”
The word us stung. His actions, his deceits, his mistakes, had dragged his family and friends into a sinkhole with no bottom. It was his fault and his alone, but he’d affected everyone close to him. His only comfort was she still thought of them as an us, not as individuals.
He hoped he could keep it that way.
“I don’t know.” He pulled her back. “But I think it’s connected to Margaret Macey, the woman who got the threatening phone call. Someone wants both of us
dead. I’m going to see her.”
“No, Josh.”
“But I’ve got to. I might be able to save her and she might be able to explain to me what’s going on.”
“No, Josh. That’s what the police are for.”
“But they won’t be interested until I wind up facedown in an alley with a bullet in my head.”
Kate flinched.
“I’m sorry, but it’s true.”
“Josh, I’m scared. I don’t want you leaving this
house tonight. The more involved you get, the more things go wrong. People are dying. I don’t want you to be next.”
“I can’t just do nothing. I have to go.”
“If you go, I won’t be here when you come back. I mean it.”
The professional lounged on the bed in his motel room with pillows propped behind his back, the remote control in one hand and a cellular phone in the other. He watched his handiwork, the cremated car and the
