Checkmate (Caitlin Calloway Mystery Book 2) (29 page)

“I thought you were sleeping,” Val whispered to Stevie while
Jamie poured the coffee.

“Someone’s banging on the roof.”

“That would be Mills. She’s posing as a roofer.”

“Any chance she’ll really fix the roof?”

“Knowing Mills, yes.”

There was a knock on the door, and Jamie and Stevie froze.
Val checked the window, and CC rushed into the room. Val waved
that everything was all right.

“The plumber’s here,” she explained in as normal a tone as she
could muster. She nodded for Stevie to answer the door. It was her
friend Brenda, who was dressed in work clothes and toting a tool
box and a couple of heavy bags.

“Miss Calloway?” She set her tool box and a bag down. She
handed one to Val and dug out equipment. “I hear you’ve been
having some problems.” CC peered over Val’s shoulder and nodded
when she realized what was going on.

“Yes,” CC said, “the dishwasher has been giving us trouble.”

“Let’s have a look at everything.” Brenda gave Val a thumbs up.

Stevie looked bewildered. “What is…”

“The plumber needs to check things out,” Val calmly
explained. She felt a bit off center standing so close to the woman
she had made love to only a few short hours ago. Val wasn’t one for
morning-after chitchat. Most of Val’s dates ended with her leaving
just before sunrise.

“More coffee?” CC smacked Val in the back of the head.

“Sure.” Val wanted to kick the cocky detective’s ass. She
peered inside the bag she was holding and was shocked by the
contents. Clothes. “What the f—” The sound of Dr. Jameson
clearing her throat cut off her expletive. “Sorry.” She took a
moment to calm herself.

Brenda returned from scoping out the kitchen and moved
upstairs. Val’s ire grew as she looked over her new wardrobe. She
couldn’t figure out if Brenda was playing her or had simply lost her
mind.

“It’s clear,” Brenda said and set her toolbox down. “Which is
good, since you’ve already blabbed everything.”

“No listening devices,” Val said for Stevie and Jamie, who
each sported a look of confusion. “What’s with the new clothes?”
She held out the bag that contained various items in pink or pastel.

“Everything in your closet has a navy insignia or US Marshal
emblazoned across it. I know we’re all married to our jobs, but hit
the GAP every once in a while.” Brenda turned her attention to
Stevie. “Emma is fine. The trip went very smoothly. Bright kid.”

“Thank you,” Stevie mumbled. Val didn’t miss the distant look
in her eyes.

“You have a great security system in place,” Brenda said. “3M
film on all the windows so they won’t break no matter how hard you
hit them. Charlie bars on the sliding doors and basement windows.
Security cameras all over the property, although, Miss Calloway,
you need to turn yours on,” she told Stevie.

Stevie simply nodded and set about powering up her laptop.

“I don’t usually see this much detail with civilians,” Brenda
said.

“We had problems in the past,” CC grimly informed her.

“Well, I might as well take a look at the dishwasher, since I’m
dressed for the part. Then I need to get back to DC. Unless there’s
something else you need, Brownie?”

“Not at the moment. Thanks, Brenda.”

She motioned to Val. “Why don’t you join me?”

Val followed her, curious as to what was going on. She feared
perhaps Brenda had found something she didn’t want to reveal in
front of the family. Val stood in CC’s kitchen and watched Brenda
fiddle with the dishwasher.

“What is it?”

“Have you lost your mind?” There was no mistaking the
disappointment in Brenda’s voice. “You slept with her?”

“How did… Never mind. Look, it was a moment of bad
judgment.”

“Never happened to you before.” Brenda’s eyes bored into Val.
“Except that time in Milan when you slept with what’s her name.
Geez, Brownie, you’d think after that disaster—”

“I screwed up, okay?” Val cut off Brenda’s tainted view of the
situation. “Just for the record, this is nothing like that bi-curious
wench from Milan, okay. Dimitra was a bored housewife.”

“A bored senior officer’s wife.”

“How’s the dishwasher?”

Val jumped when she heard CC’s sharp tone.

“Seen better days. I can patch it up. You might want to start
shopping for something new. I fixed the upstairs toilet while I was
snooping around. Hope you got a good price on this place.”

“We did. Short sale, but it needs work.”

“No kidding.”

“Is the place secure?” Val said in an effort to change the
subject.

“Yes.”

“You’re not off the hook,” CC said to Val. “But Stevie’s over
thirty. It’s not like I can ground her.” She turned to Brenda. “So
what’s it like working for the CIA?”

“Doesn’t suck.” Brenda finished patching up the dishwasher. “I
have to go.” She packed up her tools and brushed off her work
clothes. “Brownie, call if you need me.”

After Brenda’s hasty exit, Val watched CC open the
refrigerator and remove a carton of eggs. Her heart hammered in her
chest as CC beat the eggs.

“What happened to Dave?” CC asked out of the blue while
pouring the eggs into a skillet. Val stiffened, not wanting to answer
the question. “You said Dave was DEA.”

“Line of duty.”

“Sorry.”

“Part of the job.”

“Doesn’t make it easier.”

“Yeah. Want to go over things for today?”

“No.” CC waved her off while she finished throwing together a
couple plates of scrambled eggs. “Jamie’s going to ask her boss for
the weekend off. I’m heading to Waltham. Other than that, I guess
we’re just sitting around and waiting.”

“We’ve got troopers canvassing the hotels, mostly down
around Beacon Street,” Val said She couldn’t understand why she
felt a need to prove to CC that she was on top of things. “Everyone
in the Boston area is looking for him. We released his picture to the
local schools. I hit Emma’s school first. I also put a couple of extra
field officers around the main business areas. If he’s near here, we
have a chance of spotting him before he makes his way to your
block.”

“I’m not questioning what’s being done. Nothing short of
seeing him in chains is going to make me feel better.”

“I also moved my vehicle into your garage. Having a black
sedan with government plates parked out front wouldn’t bode well.”

A Cher tune echoed in the kitchen. “Jamie’s idea,” CC
grumbled as she began to search for her phone. “She’s programmed
in all these ring tones. That would be Brad.” She found her phone.
“Hello? Hey there, peanut! I can see you.”

“I know,” Emma squealed. “This place is so cool. We’re going
fishing later, and I saw a deer this morning.”

“Sounds like you’re having a great time. Can you see me, or do
I need to turn this around?”

“The old phones have the camera on the back,” Emma said with a dramatic sigh.“Your phone has a camera on both sides.
We can see you. Ricky made breakfast. He even caramelized the
bananas.”

“Did he now?”

“Yes!”

“Did you want to talk to your mother?”

“I called her first. I’m having fun, Auntie Caitlin. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Val stepped back to give CC some privacy. Needing to make
herself feel useful, she gathered up the breakfast plates and took
them into the other side of the house. Val offered Jamie and Stevie
breakfast. She wasn’t surprised that no one seemed interested in
eating. She had endured some very odd mornings-after in her life,
but not once had she offered breakfast to the woman she had spent
the night with while making plans to hunt down her father.

“No eggs for me,” Jamie said. “I had a bowl of Fruit Loops.
Don’t give me that look, Stevie. You know I think you’re jealous
because your sister never let you eat the fun stuff for breakfast.”
Stevie just stuck out her tongue. Val found it positively adorable.

“I need to get going,” Jamie said when CC joined them. “I
hope I can convince Jack to give me the weekend off. Maybe he’ll pick them up.”

“He didn’t have plans?” CC asked while Val tried to disappear
into the background.

“He might. I think he was going to try to get together with
Joyce.”

“I can’t believe those two haven’t worked things out yet.”

“Jack doesn’t seem to think there’s a problem.” Jamie’s voice
turned bitter. “In his mind, Joyce is overreacting. I’m off. You kids,
play nice.”

“We’ll try.” CC gave her wife a quick kiss. “Oh, Brenda fixed
the toilet.”

“The CIA fixed our toilet? Our lives are truly surreal.”

CC watched Jamie leave in a fake taxi driven by an undercover
cop. Then she stood in the middle of her living room with nothing to
do. It was an unnerving feeling. In an effort to center her world, she checked and rechecked every nook and cranny of both sides of the
house. Still feeling antsy, she climbed up onto the roof with a jug of
water for the crew.

“How’s it going?”

“Thanks for the water. Roof is coming along nicely,” Mills
said. “No sign of our guy.”

“I can’t take much more of this.”

“Calloway, we’re on it.”

“I’m not doubting you. I’m just not good at sitting on the
sidelines. Unless something comes up with the Stern case, I’m just
in the way.”

“Did she really fry his nuts?”

“Oh, yeah.” CC couldn’t help but laugh. “Never piss off a
soccer mom.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Sorry to do this to you, but you need to
head back inside. Doesn’t look good if you’re up here hanging out
with the help.”

“Thanks, Mills.”

CC scanned the street as she made her descent down the ladder.
The normalcy of the view did nothing to calm her nerves. There was
a storm brewing; she could feel it. Everything was being handled
perfectly. Perhaps too perfectly. She gave the tree-lined street one
last glance and returned inside.

“Hey, sis,” she said. Stevie looked like she was ready to break
down. “Emma sounded like she was having fun.”

“She’s having a blast.” Stevie didn’t look at CC. She just sat in
an overstuffed armchair and stared out the front window. “I told her
the pumpkins are rotting. I swear you carve them early, just so you
can do them again.”

“I do.” The sight of Stevie slumped in the chair looking
defeated tore at CC. “This will be over soon.”

“I believe you. There’s not much I believe in this world. Just
you. So no lecture about last night.”

“I won’t. You found yourself in an extreme situation, having
your daughter taken away in the middle of the night, and you found
comfort. Not for me to judge you.”

“She’s a good person.”

“Seems to be.”

“Are you sure you want to see Mom?”

“I have to.” CC suddenly felt nauseous. “Sure you don’t want
to go?”

“I have nothing to say to her.”

“Fair enough.”

“Tell me again that this will be over soon.”

“You have my word. Like you said, he doesn’t win this time.
We have every federal agency and most of the cops in the city on
our side. No offense to your genetics, but Bert isn’t the sharpest
knife in the drawer.”

“None taken.”

CC didn’t know how to feel about anything. A part of her hated
that she had to face her mother. Then there was the other part, the
little girl that still remembered the good times, that wanted to see
her mother.

“Come on, Deputy Doo Daa,” she said to Val. “You’re coming
with me.”

“Because?”

“Because you’ve already made contact with her.” CC was relieved when Val nodded and yanked out her cell phone.

“Marino, give me a twenty on Gallagher.” CC tapped her foot
impatiently as Val listened to the response. “She’s at home,” Val informed CC. “The address is 372 Prospect Street. Do you know where
that is?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“You could just enter it into the GPS in your phone.” Val tried to explain. “You don’t even need to type it in you could just hit that symbol and tell your phone where you want to go.”

CC stood there, stunned, as Val snatched the phone from the
holder on her belt. Val’s fingers furiously entered the data. CC’s jaw
dropped when her phone began speaking in careful detail, a crisp
mechanical voice providing directions.

“See there’s an app for that.”

CC snatched her phone back with a sneer. “Everyone is a
smart-ass today.

The drive over to Waltham was an eerily quiet affair. Which
suited CC just fine. She had no intention of making idle chitchat
with the woman who had bedded her sister the night before. Val
kept herself busy with her own phone, while the GPS voice that CC
had decided to call Mandy directed her towards her mother’s
address. Navigating the streets was easy for her except when Mandy
decided to recalibrate because she felt CC should take another route.

“Starbucks!” Val shouted, startling CC. “They do exist.”

“Yeah, there are a couple here and there.”

“Can we please stop?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Shall we start with you taking my gun or bedding my sister?”

“Which bothers you more?”

“My sister, you ass.” CC zoomed past Starbucks. “What are
you doing?”

“Checking the reports from my team.”

“Don’t get grumpy. You can do that on your phone?”

“I could do it faster if I had your phone. It’s not fair. You don’t
even know how to use it.”

“What are you, five years old?” CC wanted to smack the
irritating woman. “Faster? Just how much technology do we need?”

“What are you, one hundred?”

“Not liking you.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“We’re here. You take the lead.”

CC was confused when they entered the apartment building.
“This place is a retirement community.”

“Yes.”

“My mother is…” CC’s voice trailed off. She had no idea how
old her mother was. “Never mind.”

CC’s anxiety grew as they rode up in the elevator. When they
stepped off, she hung back, feeling like a coward. She wanted to
run.