Shadow Dancer (The Shadow Series Book 1) (30 page)

“I would absolutely
love
to hear why you decided to bring me to the Rusty Nail.”

Joe smiled candidly before bringing a single finger up to his mouth indicating the need for quiet. He pointed to the booth behind me.

“Speak of the devils.”

DiNolfo’s eyes went wide as a devilish grin grew across her face.

“No! Are you serious?”

Amos and Earl had taken the booth directly behind Joe and Jenna. Unaware that their boss was sitting right behind them, Amos and Earl began voicing their grievances over their light beers.

“With Kendricks gone, we are not going to get our money. So we might as well just rat him out.”

“I never liked that term, rat. We are doing our civic duty of delivering justice. Fifteen years late.”

“We have to do it carefully. We have to make it seem like he threatened us, not vice versa. She’ll hang us by our hides”

DiNolfo sat perfectly still, fuming in her booth as Joe looked down at the floor trying to keep his face hidden. He was laughing into his palm as he sneaked peaks of Jenna’s face, red and murderous.

“What are we supposed to do about that case file though? You know she is eventually going to read through the whole thing.”

“The only person speaking the truth is a guy that’s holed up in Pennington prison. I’m not that concerned.”

“Shit, I am. That guy’s been writing to the Bugle. Didn’t you see that piece last week, ‘Was Benson Framed?’ Benson is a problem. He knows all about the pay-offs. And if Benson starts talking, Trafford will, too.”

“One thing’s for sure though, I am not covering for Kendricks if he isn’t paying his dues. They’ll swoop in on him so fast - kidnapping charges and fifteen-year-old murder charges, and who the hell knows what else. I can see it now. The papers will be calling us heroes.”

“Not if she finds out that Kendricks’ been paying us to keep quiet about Catherine.”

“Stop saying that so loud. Someone might hear you!”

DiNolfo had heard enough. She whispered across the table while grabbing Joe’s hand. “I’m going to have to take a rain check but we will do this again real soon, only without this next part.” Joe smiled as he said, “Do your thing, girl. I’ll catch up with you later.”

DiNolfo jumped from her booth and confronted the two deputies, still in their uniforms as they chugged down their light beers.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” asked Earl incredulously.

“Me? I’d say I am arresting you.” said DiNolfo calmly as she stared at Earl. “And you,” she directed at Amos.

“On what charges?!” they said in unison.

“Let’s see. Obstruction of justice, blackmail. I’ll know more once I read the rest of the case files and follow up with Benson and Trafford.” She pulled her walkie-talkie up to her mouth, “Sergeant DiNolfo… I need backup at the Rusty Nail.” She cuffed Earl, the one she thought was most likely to run and plopped him down in his seat, while she cornered Amos in his booth.

“Tell me now, and speak clearly” DiNolfo demanded as she turned on her voice recorder, “who is responsible for the murder of Catherine Morrow?”

Earl and Amos stared at each other tight-lipped, though it was clear that Amos’ resolve was weakening. He began to speak, his voice in nothing more than a whisper at first.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it a murder… but Bernard Kendricks is the reason Catherine Morrow is dead.”

“Pardon?” asked DiNolfo incredulously, “I know what I heard.”

“Don’t get me wrong, the reason she is dead is because of Kendricks, but it wasn’t no murder, in the ordinary sense.”

“Spill your guts. Right here, right now.”

Amos told her everything. He told her about Kendricks stalking Catherine relentlessly. He told her how Jack had gotten the restraining order when he found Kendricks in their backyard. He told him about the pictures in which Kendricks showed up, the heaps of letters of threatening and disturbing nature. He even told her how Catherine died.

“He had been writing a whole bunch of letters to Catherine, real threatening-like, and she refused to answer them. This only ticked him off further and he started to show up at the house. Well, one letter that Catherine received before Jack could intercept it said that Kendricks would be coming for her when she had the baby. The letter said he had no use for her while she was pregnant with another man’s baby. But he would forgive her in time for loving someone else. The guy is sick in the head. He said they would make a life in another state, I think Utah or Montana, far off the grid. Some random western state. Anyway, after the baby was born he planned to take her west. Well, he showed up just a few hours after she had given birth. Stationed himself in a little hut just west of the Morrow house that Jack and his dad sometimes use for ice fishing. Stayed in that tiny shack throughout the blizzard. I mean you’d have to be insane. Do you remember that blizzard? Anyway, he watched them leave, watched them come back. He watched the family through windows with his bird-watching binoculars. He knew exactly when to come. So when everyone was downstairs, he got her, forced her out the house. No one heard a thing, but then again, those winds… plus it is a really big house. Almost immediately Catherine started to run from him, barefoot through the snow. The chase led them straight to Croft Lake, which was frozen over at the time. He was right on her heels now, pleading with her to come back. The weight of both of them on the ice was causing the frozen sheet to fracture under their feet. This excited him and frightened him all at once. The closer he got to her the more the ice cracked, as if nature knew that they were not supposed to be together. Finally, he was just an inch from her arm. She pleaded with him to let her go. She had a baby, she had children. She had Jack. But the word Jack is what finally set Kendricks off. He closed in, grabbing her hand as the ice gave in beneath them. Kendricks grabbed on to the ice mass, while keeping hold of Catherine’s frail hand. He looked at her and said ’You’ll learn to love me, and you’ll learn to forget about them!’ Catherine replied, ’I never loved you and I never will! I love Jack.’ In a rage, he held her head down, under the freezing water. She fought for a while, flailing her arms and legs trying to escape him until she couldn’t bare it anymore. She drowned. As the water filled her lungs, he screamed like a banshee into the night. Angus Morrow found her later that morning. What’s funny though, if she hadn’t mentioned Jack’s name, she probably would still be alive. Kendricks always said he was the reason she was dead.”

DiNolfo raised an eyebrow at Amos. “The last time I checked, holding someone under water and drowning them is murder.”

“Well, I think of murder to be a bit messier. A knife in the gut or a gunshot wound. I did say in the normal sense…”

“How the
hell
did you get out of the academy?!” roared DiNolfo.

“Well…” Amos began.

DiNolfo began shaking her head wildly from side to side, a strained look on her face. “It was a rhetorical question. Tell me something else… what did he give you?”

“He’s been paying us one-thousand dollars a month each to keep our mouths shut.”

“Where’s he getting two G a month on a teacher’s salary?”

Amos shrugged his shoulders. DiNolfo raised her eyebrow at Earl, wondering if he would have anything to contribute to the conversation. He sniffed once loudly, before looking to the ground. Earl wasn’t in the mood for talking.

Amos added, “From what I hear, he’s a pretty successful gambler. It’s definitely not an inheritance. His mother didn’t have a dime to her name. Just the house. His biological father comes from money, but he’s been holed up in Pennington Prison for years.”

Just as they were finishing up, Officers Deacon and Pavil walked in and DiNolfo had them read the now-former deputies their rights as they cuffed them and hauled them off to a county holding cell where they would await their trial.

Meanwhile, Joe Piedmonte was standing out by his car, clapping as the two deputies were carted off in a patrol car. Sergeant DiNolfo smirked as she approached him.

“So, are you busy tonight?” she said, with a coy smile.

“No, my date ditched me in the middle of dinner to arrest some corrupt cops.”

“Great. Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?”

“Anywhere but here.”

Part Three

The Final Betrayal

Chapter Eighteen

He’s Coming

October 9, 1997

Fox Hollow, Pennsylvania

Nightfall

“The time for games is over, Catherine!” said Bernard Kendricks as he stared through a pair of black binoculars, setting his sights on the Morrow Manor. Lying on the damp ground, Kendricks followed Tristan’s movements through the house. The sun had gone down hours ago, and in the darkness of the meadow, Bernard Kendricks took satisfaction knowing that no one knew he was there.

“I love the hunt, the thrill of the chase, but I’m growing tired of this charade. My patience is being tested, and I know how much you hate my temper, but I can feel it rising, furious and violent. It is time to go, time to start our life. You’ll have no choice but to come this time, once all the distractions are removed.”

Tristan was pacing now. Her nerves were a live wire. She was planning her next move.

He loved this part of the game. When he didn’t quite know what to expect, but he knew he would win. He had always won before. With Catherine, with Patrice Daly, even with Allison Finkle, and her father from Ohio. He lived for the thrill, and it was upon him. There was a shock of electricity in the air. He could feel it, and it made him feel alive. With each passing moment, Bernard Kendricks felt the allure grow stronger. With each calculated movement, Tristan was heightening her hunter’s desires. He had no longer hungered solely for her flesh. He was bloodthirsty, and he couldn’t suppress it any longer. As Tristan Morrow wandered nervously throughout the house, Bernard Kendricks stored his binoculars away as his worn hunting boots started to trudge silently across the land towards the manor house.

* * *

“No, stop it, I’m fine,” insisted Tristan as she batted away an alcohol-soaked cotton ball that was treating her wounds.

“You’re not fine!” Bridgette said, as she continued to treat her niece’s many wounds, “Sit down!”  Tristan’s mind was racing, beating hard in her skull. She watched as Frank put his rifle back in the gun cabinet. “Don’t put that away!” she urged him.

Frank, eyeing his niece from the opposite end of the dining room, gave her a worried glance. “Tristan, please try to relax. We have an eye on the situation. The house is locked up. If I see any movement I will be out there shooting.”

“He’s already out there, and he’s not going to wait for you to shoot first. He’s waiting for an opportunity to strike.” Bridgette eyed her niece warily. Tristan needed to rest. She hadn’t had a wink of sleep since she went missing, and it didn’t seem like sleep would be in the cards for her tonight either. What did Tristan say again, “She couldn’t rest until she knew she wasn’t being hunted anymore?” So relieved to have her home, Bridgette just wanted her to relax now, but it was so hard with Kendricks still out there somewhere.

Hunted. I could definitely see why she would use that particular word.

DiNolfo had called about an hour ago, letting them know that they had gotten a confession from Amos saying that Catherine’s death was Kendricks’ fault and they had squad cars searching the area. She was almost entirely certain that if Tristan was back, that Kendricks would be out looking for her. A chill shot up Bridgette’s spine as she thought about it.