Silence squeezed its arms around the room. Squeezed it tight, until Admiral Norval Tumney, a man whom the general thought would have been more aptly named “Tummy” or “Tubby,” said, “The navy will do everything in its power to assure that this situation is resolved promptly and professionally.”
“I’m sure you will, Norv,” said General Biscayne. “It’s the only way to save your butt from a court-martial after letting this guy, Hunter, sneak onto the base and burn down B-14.”
The admiral’s face darkened with disdain, but General Biscayne didn’t care. “I want the remains of that building gone through with a tweezers. If there’s a shred of paper the size of my fingernail that survived the fire, I want it found. Am I making myself clear?”
Everyone except for Margaret Wellington nodded.
“And verify that the prototype was destroyed. I don’t need to tell you that it had better not fall into the wrong hands.” He riveted his eyes on Victor Drake. “And Drake, whatever paperwork you have stashed away in your office somewhere-and I know you have some-I want that as well. I want it all. We’re pulling the plugs on this. The DOD is finished with Drake Enterprises.” Then he stomped past the conference table and was halfway to the door before he threw one word back into the room: “Dismissed.”
63
Lien-hua, Ralph, and I let the breakfast conversation wander into sports and the weather and politics and Ralph’s struggles to conquer his son at video games and Lien-hua’s upcoming trip to visit her brother in Beijing, and it felt good to let our friendship explore other topics than just murder, death, and abductions. But soon, like always, our conversation cycled back to the case.
“Well,” said Ralph. He spoke tenderly, with respect for the dead.
“With Austin Hunter dead, Cassandra in the hospital, and the suspect from last night in police custody, I think you two might be able to head home. Margaret arrived last night. Lucky me. I get to spend the day with her.”
“We still have a lot of unanswered questions about this case,” said Lien-hua. “Plus, we still need to find Shade.”
“Lien-hua is right,” I said. “At this point there are a lot more questions than answers, and we need to address some of them before we can wrap anything up.” I folded down my computer screen.
“I’m going to visit Cassandra before Tessa wakes up for our meeting with Calvin.”
“Werjonic is here?” Ralph exclaimed. Dr. Calvin Werjonic is a household name among investigators, especially those who track serial offenders.
“We’re meeting at 10:30.”
“Well, say hi to the old buzzard for me.” Ralph nodded with deep respect. “He’s a good man, that Werjonic. Smartest guy I ever met.” Lien-hua stood. “Pat, I think I’ll come with you to talk with Cassandra. Hopefully, it’ll shed some light on this case before we close things up.”
I had a feeling that closing things up was not on the day’s agenda, but I just stood and said, “Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.”
64
After all that Cassandra had been through, Lien-hua hadn’t wanted her to see the bruise on her thigh, so she changed into jeans before we left the hotel.
When we arrived at the hospital, Cassandra’s doctors told us that the police hadn’t been able to contact any of Austin Hunter’s relatives, but that she was packing to go and they didn’t want her to leave before someone told her about Austin’s death. A severe-looking nurse standing beside a gurney informed us that she was on her way to the room to tell Cassandra the news right now.
When I was a detective in Milwaukee, I’d had to tell people this kind of news all too often. It’s not something I enjoy, but at least it’s something I have experience with. “No,” I told the nurse.
“I’ll do it. I was there. I know the circumstances surrounding the shooting.”
The doctors agreed, and the nurse looked relieved as she led us to Cassandra’s room.
On the way, Lien-hua touched my shoulder lightly. “Let me tell her the news. I was the last person Austin spoke to. She needs to know he died thinking of her. I’d like to be the one to give her the news. I’m a woman. It’ll be better coming from me.”
Maybe Lien-hua was right. “OK,” I said. “Just let me ask her a couple questions before you tell her.”
A few minutes later we knocked on Cassandra’s door, and when she called for us to enter, I saw that she was already gathering her things together to leave. Maria, her co-worker from the aquarium, was standing beside her and must have brought her some clothes, because an overnight bag lay by the windowsill and Cassandra was wearing jeans, flip-flops, and a beige blouse instead of the red dress. Maria’s face held a mixture of both anxiety and relief. I assumed she was relieved that Cassandra was OK, and probably anxious because Lien-hua and I had shown up.
We introduced ourselves to Cassandra, and as we did, I noted that she was about five-eleven, just as I’d guessed. I asked her how she was doing.
Still distracted with her packing, Cassandra said, “I spent twelve hours chained to the bottom of a tank that was filling with water.”
Her voice was cold and distant, as if she were speaking to us from another place. “I almost drowned. How do you think I’m doing?”
“Cassandra,” Lien-hua said softly. “We were there with you last night. Do you remember us?”
She looked at us closely then, for the first time. “Of course, I
… You broke the tank, didn’t you?”
Lien-hua nodded.
At that, Cassandra let out a heavy breath. “Oh. Thanks. I’m sorry
… I didn’t… I didn’t recognize you at first. I thought you were just a couple more cops. Really, thanks for saving me.”
“You’re welcome,” Lien-hua said.
“I mean it.”
“Cassandra,” I said, “I’m wondering if we could talk with you for a few minutes. We won’t be long, I promise.”
She tossed her hospital gown onto the bed. “I really need to get going.”
“We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important,” I said.
“Maybe later. In a couple days. A week or something.”
“Please,” said Lien-hua. “It’ll be helpful in building a case against your abductors.”
Cassandra hesitated for a moment and then spoke to Maria. “Um, can you go get me a Coke or something? Just give us a couple minutes, OK? Thanks.”
Maria looked as if she were about to say something, but swallowed her concern and stepped quietly past us into the hall. I closed the door behind her.
As soon as Maria was gone, Cassandra said softly, “So, you got him, right?” Her throat constricted, her voice wavered. “I mean, you caught the guy who put me in there, didn’t you?”
“We apprehended a man at the warehouse,” I said. “Yes, he’s in custody now.”
“So, good. You got him. He’s in jail?”
The man we had in custody was innocent until proven guilty, but that’s not what Cassandra needed to hear at the moment. “The police are talking with him today, and we’re in the process of gathering more evidence,” I explained. In light of the news we needed to give her about Austin’s death, I decided to keep my questions focused on her abduction rather than her possible involvement in starting the earlier files. “That man, had you ever seen him before?”
She shook her head.
