He snatched the phone from the cradle. “Hey, big boy. What’s up, but make it snappy
.
I got a bedtime story to read.” Josh turned
on
the speaker phone so he could wiggle into his
suit
coat.
“Hi
,
Josh. What the hell do you mean you’re going home? Getting soft? Real cops are just getting warmed up about now.”
Josh shook his head. Next to most cops, he was the workaholic, but compared to Manny
—
well
,
there was no comparison.
“Yeah
, o
kay. I’m slacking off after twelve hours. I want to see the boys again before they start shaving and dating.”
“Well
,
that’s weak
,
but almost understandable.”
“Thanks
for your undying compassion
.”
He waited for Manny to speak again and felt his own uneasiness grow. “This isn’t about the job offer, is it?” Manny didn’t speak. Not good.
“No, it’s not. Argyle’s back. He called me about an hour ago
, j
ust after he sent an e-mail showing what he did to a local reporter. I’m forwarding the e-mail as we speak. Josh
, h
e’s escalated things, his MO. He’s gone deep.”
Josh rubbed his
face
with his
hands
. “Great. Do you know where he is
. . .
or was?”
“Yeah. He was on a cruise ship, the
Ocean Empress
, docked in St. Thomas. But you’re right
;
he’s long gone. He’s too organized not to have his escape route in place. Wherever he is, he’s not on that ship. But I don’t think he’s had time to leave the island.”
Just then,
Josh’s
computer told him he had a new message. “Hang on.”
He pointed the mouse and opened
the communication
Manny had
forwarded
.
This job was always full of surprises
—
demanding, at its best. But having Argyle show up now
,
like this
,
took
Josh’s
breath away. He
turned away and
laid his family picture face down on his desk
, h
oping it might insulate them from what was screaming through his monitor.
He let out a long breath
.
“
Who was he?”
“His name was Eric Hayes
, a local reporter
. About six years ago, he wrote a series of articles about the complexity of the human mind and got some facts wrong involving Argyle’s research. There
were threats, even
a lawsuit, but nothing to
o
desperate
. . .
u
ntil this.”
“I’m sending a plane. I’d like to have Sophie come too. Alex, if he can make
—
”
Before he could say another word, Sophie was talking.
“Josh? Sophie here. I’d be more than willing to help. Really. Thanks for asking.
Maybe we can discuss some of the details over dinner, my room?
”
Josh
heard Manny tell her to go pack. She was in the background, talking fast, but he
could make
out her fading comments.
“W
o
o hoo. Road trip to St. Thomas. Best one ever
. . .
”
Josh laughed. “I guess she wants to go.”
“That’s an understatement. I’ll check with Alex. I know he’d like to be involved, if he can.”
“Good. Meanwhile, I’m going to call the folks at Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas and have them delay all outbound flights until we can determine if he’s trying
to
leave that way. I’ll meet you there. Okay?”
“Sure
,
Josh. We’ll be there. What about the ship
?
It’s
due to sail in about
ten
hours
.
”
“I’ll see if they’ll delay until we get there. Carousel owes us that much.”
“Good enough. One more thing. I’m sorry about the story
-
reading time with the boys
.
I missed a few of those with Jen
.”
“Thanks. But I’m going to go home and do it anyway. I’ve got an hour
or
so
before
they’ll have the plane ready.
Besides, they ain’t leaving without the man in charge.
”
“I’d do the same. Oh, I’m bringing my own gun this time.”
“Me too.
And lots of ammo. Maybe we’ll get a chance to save the taxpayers some money
.
”
“Okay. Is that it? Because I can’t think of
—ah
s
hit,” Manny blurted.
His
tense
tone surprised
Josh
. Maybe scared him too. “What is it?”
“I just got another e-mail.”
That caused Josh to
stand
to his full six-f
ee
t. “From the reporter’s account?” His stomach somersaulted when he heard Manny’s reply.
“It’s from
Eric’s
wife.”
Chapter
-9
Gavin Crosby did everything he knew to comfort the newest member of the Argyle Widow Club, Katie Hayes
,
before hanging up
, knowing she was
sitting on the bed of her stateroom aboard the
Ocean Empress
, taking comfort from her sisters and the ship’s security staff
—
but it could never be enough.
He had said all the right things. But he knew that it hadn’t really mattered
—
that it wasn’t enough. How could it be? There weren’t words in any language that could perform the instant healing Katie’s soul longed for. He knew she felt like the loneliest woman God had ever created and nothing would fix that, at least
not
now. Her children would help when she got back to Lansing, but until then, she would simpl
y
zombie through the process of getting home, alone, and wonder a billion times over what had just happened. He snorted. Argyle had just happened
again
, that’s what.
Gavin’s
hatred for the deranged doctor
smoldered
.
The large picture window in the southern corner
of
his fifth
-
story office looked over the Capitol building. Gavin stood in front of it,
his
wrinkled hands held behind his back, looking at everything and seeing nothing. But that’s how things had been the last few months.
He had always enjoyed watching the sunset
,
reflecting
off
the
C
apitol’s
pearly
dome, but he barely saw it tonight. In fact, he’d hardly seen it at all since they got back from the cruise from
hell
. His mind kept drifting back to the horrible scene in Mike’s cabin and the carnage Argyle had left as a reminder that he hadn’t cared for Gavin’s opinion of his research. He shook his head. That was it
, n
othing more sinister or complex than that. If there had been something unforgivable, some heinous wrong that the Crosbys had perpetrated to ruin the
d
octor’s life, at least Gavin could understand that. Lexy was ravaged over a
professional disagreement, a damned
argument
.
The pack of smokes in his shirt pocket called his name
,
and he listened, lighting up. He had quit for over twenty years, but started again when they returned from the Caribbean. Who knew exactly why? Did it matter?
He supposed it did, but he didn’t care. It calmed his nerves.
It was against the rules to smoke in the building
, but h
e was the
p
olice
c
hief
;
what were they going to do, fire him?
He exhaled a gray
, wispy
haze
,
and again tried to focus on positive things
:
what was good for his wife Stella, for his son Mike, and even for him. There were moments that it worked
, b
ut usually it didn’t. Today
was one of th
e
days that positive
things were
as far away as Shangri
-
La.
Stella. His wife of thirty
-
seven
years was holding them all together, like usual. She spent time reading about healing. She went to Ta
e
-Bo classes with women like Manny’s wife
,
Louise, and Alex’s wife
,
Barb. Her friends wouldn’t let her drown in a funk
,
but instead helped to pull he
r out. They were there for her. But he choose the opposite
. . .
alone was better.
He bowed his head.
Stella
was working hard at moving on
.
Mike and he needed to follow suit. They would, eventually, but nobody
had said
how
difficult
it would be.
And lately, being home with her was
. . .
harder. She would never blame him, but he felt guilty, almost dirty around her. It was why he’d spent a few nights in the office over the last month. People married as long as
they’ve been
didn’t have to talk to communicate
,
and he’d felt
something
was off. But things would come around
. T
hey always did
—
he hoped
.
He wasn’t sure how much more he could take.
Gavin moved away from the window
,
sat at his desk, and began to leaf through the personnel file of newly appointed
d
istrict
a
ttorney, Jessie Grace. The
c
ircuit
c
ourt
j
udges in Ingham County had named her to replace Liz Casnovsky.
Jessie had a reputation
for
being fair
-
minded, but unbending in her approach to
serious
criminal offenses
while
an
a
ssistant
d
istrict
a
ttorney. She was incredibly prepared and bright. Maybe a little raw with the people skills, but that would come. It would have to. Serving the public was as much about image as getting the job done.
“Welcome to
the
wor
l
d of sleepless nights and the realm of
‘
they
don’t
pay
me
enough
for
this
shit,
’
” he said to himself.
Gavin finished his report on the e-mails Manny had received
and
then
went over the preliminary findings of the murder at the White Kitty. Morse had been no Citizen of the Year candidate, but dying like that wasn’t how anyone should go.
“
Brutal
”
only touched the surface of this one.
He frowned. Somewhere, way back in one of those secret places of the
mind
, he called himself a liar. Maybe dying like that
was
jus
t
ice
.
“Hey
,
honey.”
Gavin looked up from the oak desk, stared,
and then
broke into a
tired
grin. Stella was standing at the door, her expression more relaxed than he could remember seeing in months. She looked good too. Real good. Her long legs were in great shape
,
and she had changed the color of her hair.
“Hey baby, good to see you. Sit down.”
Stella walked around the desk and kissed her husband. “No
,
thanks. I can’t stay that long. Things to do. Just wanted to say hi and give you this.”