Heartsong Cottage (2 page)

She gave him a measured look over the top of her coffee mug. Because the statement was true enough, Daniel managed to hold her gaze.

Gail didn't need the burden of this nameless worry of his. For a cop's wife, anxiousness came with the territory, but if fretting were a sport, she'd be a pro. On the All-Star team. She'd been more relaxed the past couple of months since he made detective and moved off patrol, but he saw no sense in causing her concern. Besides, the problem could very well
be
the furnace. They didn't need the financial hit for that right now. Not as long as they were making the hefty payments to the fertility clinic.

“What plans do you have for today?” he asked in hopes of shifting the topic of conversation.

“We have a big day planned. We're going grocery shopping this morning, then meeting Jeremy Tate and his mom at the mall for a matinee. The new Disney movie. If your day goes okay, want to meet us afterward for dinner?”

“Sure. Sounds like fun. I'll do my best to make it.” Maybe he'd see about taking a half day of personal time and catch the movie with them, too. Two hours of feel-good entertainment might help him shake this funk. If he could talk her into ending their day the way they'd started it, he might put this weird mood behind him for good.

Daniel wiped his mouth with his napkin and stood. He leaned down, kissed his wife good-bye, then headed for the mudroom where he pulled on his overcoat and unlocked the gun safe to retrieve his weapon. As he slipped the revolver into the holster beneath his jacket, he heard the rattle of Soupy's tags and the thud of Justin's footsteps on the stairs. He almost turned back to greet his son, but a glance at his watch convinced him otherwise. A five-minute delay now meant another twenty minutes in traffic.

He second-guessed that decision minutes later as he accelerated on the ramp onto the interstate that would take him downtown. The chill that skittered down his spine had little to do with the crisp November weather.
You should have taken the time. Being a few minutes late to work won't hurt anything.

Sure. Right up until the moment they started choosing warm bodies for layoffs.

Nevertheless, the urge to see and speak to Justin was so strong that he almost took the first exit and turned around. He might have done it, too, had his phone not rung.

Two minutes later, any thought of taking a personal day had evaporated. He called Gail. “I'm not going to make it this afternoon. We caught a homicide.”

“Oh, no. I just told Justin you said you'd try to join us. He'll be disappointed.”

“Tell him I'll take him kite flying this weekend to make up for it. The weather's supposed to be perfect for it.”

“He's standing right here. Why don't you tell him?”

She handed the phone to Justin who spoke with a whine in his little voice. “Daddy, come to the movie with us!”

“I can't, buddy. Daddy's got to work.”

“But I don't want you to work. I want you to come to the movies!”

“I'm sorry, kiddo. Tell you what. You be a good boy for your mother today, and Saturday, you and I will go to the park and fly a kite.”

“Promise, Daddy? Cross your heart promise?”

“Cross my heart promise.”

“I love kites even more than movies. Except for the popcorn.”

“Hey, we'll get us some popcorn, too.”

“Yippee. Bye, Daddy.”

The dial tone sounded in Daniel's ear and he chuckled. Needed to work with the little guy on phone etiquette. Then Daniel tossed his phone onto the passenger seat and turned his attention toward murder.

It was a grisly, all-consuming business, though he did manage to steal a few minutes to call his father and nag him to make the doctor's appointment. Throughout the morning, his sense of foreboding continued to simmer.

They made a one o'clock appointment with the deceased's grieving sister at her home in a Boston suburb. During the drive there after a swing through a fast food drive-through at Reichs's request, Daniel brought up the possibility of layoffs. Reichs squirted a packet of ketchup onto his fries. “Forget about it. Ain't happening. You're not getting out of this job that easy. You're gonna have to suffer along at least until you get your twenty years like the rest of us poor saps. Is that what's been gnawing at you this week?”

“Yeah. No.” Daniel watched his partner lick ketchup from his thumb, and his mind returned to the bloody scene where they'd spent much of the morning. “The husband did it.”

“Yeah.”

“We'll prove it.”

“Considering the history of domestic violence, we'll close it by the end of the week.” Reichs popped another fry into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “What's eating you, Garrett? Have a fight with the wife?”

“No. Gail and I are good.” Daniel sucked in a breath, then exhaled a heavy sigh. “I don't know. I'm being paranoid. But … something's off. I have this spider crawling up my spine.”

“That's why you're wearing your vest?”

Of course his partner had noticed. Very little got past James Reichs. Daniel described the sense of foreboding hanging over him like a storm cloud. “I don't know if it's all in my imagination or if I'm picking up on something that's real.”

Reichs shook a fry at Daniel. “Doesn't matter. That's a lesson I learned many moons ago. You listen to your gut. It just might save your life.”

Daniel's lips twisted in a rueful frown. “I'm listening. I just wish my gut would speak more clearly. At least let me know if this whole thing is business or personal.”

“Be a detective, Garrett. Figure it out.”

“Easier said than done,” Daniel muttered.

Reichs finished his fry, then polished off half his burger before he spoke again. “You're still green, but you're smart. You're tenacious. You have great instincts. With a little experience, you'll be a damned fine investigator. When you're in a situation like this, you have to be methodical in your approach. Nine times out of ten, there's something there, something you're seeing but don't realize you're seeing. The place to start is your files. Take a stack of them home with you tonight.”

Daniel nodded, glad to have a direction. He'd lucked out getting Reichs for a partner. The guy was a legend in the department, and Daniel knew he could learn a lot from him.

When they arrived for their appointment, Reichs grabbed a vest from the trunk and slipped into it before pulling on his suit jacket. The action made Daniel feel less foolish for having mentioned his concerns. The interview provided helpful background information about their suspect, and they left with a new lead to follow that took them downtown.

Congestion in traffic ahead caused Daniel to alter the route he'd intended to take, so chance put them on the narrow streets in the industrial area of town when all hell broke loose in front of them.

Sirens screamed from police cars pursuing a gray Mercedes sedan that turned onto the street ahead of Daniel's car. As Reichs got on the radio to report their position as half a block away, the sedan screeched to a stop and a young man bailed from the driver's seat and ran toward them.

Reichs listened intently to the radio. “Carjacking. Dragged a woman from the car. Her baby's in the backseat.”

Daniel slammed on his brakes and threw the car into park even as he saw the man dart into a narrow alley.

Two of the uniformed cops stopped by the Mercedes and tended to the child. Two others joined Daniel and Reichs in pursuit of the suspect. Young and fit, Daniel outran the others, and he was the only one who saw which way the suspect turned in the narrow, twisting maze of streets and alleys.

Daniel was fast, but so was the suspect, and he obviously knew this part of the city well. Just as Daniel began to believe that he'd lose his man, the suspect stopped and whirled around.

Gun. He has a gun in his gloved hand.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Daniel saw the muzzle flash and tried to react, but the kick at his chest knocked the breath from his lungs and propelled him off his feet.
He shot me. I'm shot.

He clapped a hand over his chest.

The suspect turned into another alley and disappeared.

Before Daniel caught his breath, Reichs was at his side, waving the patrolmen to continue on after the suspect while he stayed with his partner. “You hit? Show me.”

Daniel shook his head. “Okay. I'm okay. The Kevlar stopped it.”

He moved his hand away from his chest and revealed the hole in his overcoat. Holes, he silently corrected because the bullet had pierced his shirt, too. The temptation to stick his pinky finger through them was strong, but he resisted. Barely. Looking down at the tears in the fabric, he exhaled a heavy breath.

“Holy hell, son,” Reichs breathed. “Remind me to always listen to your hunches. Your guardian angel was on the job today.”

“Yeah.” Thinking of his family, Daniel sent up a shaky prayer of thanks.

Reichs helped Daniel to his feet just as the two patrol officers returned empty-handed, the shooter having managed to lose them in the matrix of warehouses and shipping hubs. “Did you get a good look at him?” one of the patrolmen asked Daniel.

He nodded. “I'll recognize him when I see him again.”

“And that will happen,” Reichs said. “We'll find him.”

When they walked back to their cars, they discovered the scene filled with a whole host of newcomers—an ambulance, fire truck, a half-dozen more patrol cars, and even the SWAT van.

“How's the baby?” he asked a paramedic.

“Appears to be just fine. He never took her out of her car seat.”

“The mom?”

“She's on the way.”

Daniel nodded, relieved. How frightened that poor woman must have been. Someone handed him a bottle of water, and as he twisted off the plastic cap and took a long, welcome sip of cool water, the reality of the past twenty minutes sank in.

He'd dodged a bullet. More or less.

He'd dodged that bullet because he'd listened to his gut. The sound of his partner's voice echoed through his mind.
It just might save your life.

He dragged the back of his hand across his mouth and willed the weakness out of his knees. He was fine. He was okay. He'd listened, so he'd lived. A lesson for a lifetime.

Excellent.
Guess I don't have to comb through files now.

His lips quirked at the thought.

Tension rolled off him in waves and exhaustion began tugging at his bones. Adrenaline drain, he thought, just as a silver-haired man wearing a brown pin-striped suit beneath his khaki trench coat approached with his hand outstretched. “Detective Garrett? I'm Todd Barnhill. I'll be lead on this boondoggle. If you're comfortable skipping the ambulance, I'll give you a ride to the hospital and take your statement there.”

“I don't need to go—”

He shook his head. “Regulations, Detective. You know that.”

Yes, he did. Daniel nodded his acquiescence and glanced around. “My partner…”

“Detective Reichs is giving his statement to my partner. They'll meet us at the hospital when they're done.” Barnhill hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “That's my SUV over there if you want to get out of the weather. I need to finish up with Officer Maxwell, but I'll be ready to leave in five.”

“Thanks.” Daniel nodded and walked toward the late-model SUV. For the first time since bailing out of his own car, he took notice of the winter chill in the air. The temperature couldn't have climbed above freezing yet. He rubbed his arms, and when Barnhill used remote ignition to unlock his vehicle, Daniel waved a thanks. He climbed into the truck and settled wearily into the passenger seat as the last of the adrenaline drained away, leaving him exhausted.

He hoped he slept better tonight. He should. Surely getting shot qualified as the big bad hanging over his head. No need to worry about layoffs or the furnace now. Not until the next time he experienced … what … a hunch? A premonition? A sixth sense inherited from his Irish/Gypsy heritage?

A warning from his guardian angel?

Well, whatever. The name didn't matter. He was a believer. He would never attempt to ignore or dismiss those feelings again. At this particular moment, he felt like the luckiest man in the world.

Maybe after Barnhill finished with him, he'd stop and buy a lottery ticket. And roses for Gail. Maybe a bottle of wine. After Justin was in bed, he'd put on some big band music and coax her into dancing with him. He'd sing to her, give them both the gift of a little romance. Maybe tonight they'd hit the jackpot in the getting-pregnant department. Why not, this was his lucky day, wasn't it?

Daniel warmed to the idea even as he held his fingers up to the heated air flowing from the vents. He also realized he needed to call Gail ASAP. News trucks would probably start showing up here any minute, and if she heard about today's events from anybody other than him, he could forget about getting any luckier.

He reached into his pocket for his cell phone, but his fingers found Justin's little Batman figure first. He pulled the doll from his pocket and studied it, newly aware of an elemental truth about himself. He didn't want to die, but he didn't really fear death. However, the thought of leaving Justin without his father cut him off at the knees.

He rubbed his thumb over the head of the Caped Crusader, smiling crookedly. He suddenly quite desperately wanted to talk to his wife and his son.
What a day this has been.

He shifted one-armed Batman from his right hand to his left and searched once more for his phone. He dialed Gail's number and was disappointed when his call went straight to voice mail. “Hey, babe. Just calling to give you a heads-up. Had a little excitement today. You might hear about it on the news. I'm fine. Wasn't hurt. The good guys are winning. I'll tell you the whole story when I get home. Love you.”