“It went well,” he offered, certain she’d know what he was talking about. She nodded and pulled the blanket tighter around her. He took a seat beside her. “There’s a rush on the samples. I know a few guys in forensics and asked for a personal favor. We might have an answer by tomorrow morning if we’re lucky.”
Cassi perked up and nodded. “Thanks,” she said, her voice rusty and hoarse.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling okay?” he asked, concerned. He went to touch her forehead but she moved away from his touch. He frowned. “What’s the matter?”
“I’m fine.”
“I don’t believe you. Something is wrong. Tell me.”
“Tommy, if I wanted to share, I would. Some things are private and I don’t care to share them with everyone.”
“I’m not
everyone,
” he said, offended that he was somehow lumped in with this nebulous group of strangers. “It’s me. And given what we’ve been through in the past few days, not to mention most of our childhood, I’d say I’ve earned a better spot than some unknown group of nobodies.”
She sighed but didn’t respond. Frustration at her stonewalling fueled his movements as he jiggled his keys, not quite sure what to say or do. “Fine. You don’t want to talk. But whatever it is…I’m here for you if you need me.”
He got up to walk inside and she grabbed his hand. “Thank you, Tommy,” she whispered and kissed his palm. Her eyes seemed to glitter with unshed tears, but he wasn’t sure, for she let go and returned to staring at the moonlit clouds as they moved across a dark night sky.
Thomas walked into the house, still unsettled by Cassi’s mood and went to find Mama Jo. He found her sitting in her favorite chair reading one of those horrid gossip magazines that featured alien babies on the cover. She’d always loved the ridiculous rags, often chortling at the stories or at the very least grinning from ear to ear.
But tonight she seemed troubled, too. In fact, after a few minutes, she laid her magazine down with a loud exhale. “There’s something eating at that poor girl. Did you figure out what it was?” she asked, getting right to the point.
“No,” he answered truthfully. “She pushed me away, said she didn’t want to talk about it.”
“I got a bad feeling in my bones, Tommy,” she said, worried. “She came back this afternoon with a sadness about her, but it was coated with something dark and dangerous.”
“Came back? Came back from where?”
Mama Jo looked nonplussed. “She said she needed some personal things from the store. I let her borrow my car.”
He swore under his breath. He was willing to bet his front teeth that she hadn’t gone to the store like she said. Which begged the question, where’d she go? There was only one place she’d go without him and come back full of rage.
Home.
She must’ve seen Lionel.
“Damn it, Cassi,” he said, looking away.
“Did I do something wrong in letting her borrow my car?” Mama Jo asked, her brows knitting in concern.
Anger at her deception and her recklessness coursed through his veins. In spite of it, he did a fair job of assuring Mama Jo that all was going to be fine. But the truth was, he was pissed.
Mama Jo excused herself to bed and Thomas bade her good-night. As soon as Mama Jo’s door closed he stalked outside.
“What were you thinking?” he asked.
She was pulled from her thoughts, and although she was startled by his sudden reappearance, she didn’t try to pretend that she didn’t know what he was talking about.
“I don’t know. I couldn’t help myself. It’s been so long since I’ve been home,” she answered with a shrug, not the least bit contrite. “Bastard turned my room into a gaudy game room.”
“You could’ve spooked him,” he said from between gritted teeth.
She glared at him. “I sure as hell hope I did. That man deserves a sleepless night or two wondering what’s going to happen next. If he doesn’t get two winks tonight I’ll consider today worth the heartache.”
“If he skips town we’ll have less of a chance to catch him. We need him feeling fat, dumb and happy so we can catch him easily and quickly,” he reminded her, but she didn’t care.
“I can’t handle the thought of that man living one more second without feeling the need to look over his shoulder in fear. I spent the past two years sleeping with one eye open and it’s his turn for all the misery he’s heaped on me and the countless others whose lives he ruined!” A tear tracked an angry course down her cheek and she didn’t bother wiping it away. “My mother is in the
ground
while he parties and plays like a damn carefree bachelor, spending money he didn’t earn and I can’t stand it anymore. He’s living in my house. Taking what doesn’t belong to him and I need to see him pay for it. Do you understand?
I need to see him pay.
”
Her shoulders shook and she dropped her head into her hands as she wept. He hadn’t realized the emotional toll it would take on her to return home. It was probably why she’d run so far and so quickly. He took her into his arms and held her until the cries became hoarse whimpers. “He will pay,” he said, hoping to God he wasn’t making a false promise. “But you have to stay away from him. Don’t bait him into bolting. That won’t help us.”
“I know,” she said against his shoulder. “I’m just tired of running, tired of being someone I’m not, and I just want to go home. But I can’t, because he’s there, and no one I love is around anymore,” she said in a tear-choked voice that broke his heart.
He held her tighter. “That’s not true. I love you, Cassi. You’re not alone. You’ll never be alone as long as I’m alive.” She sagged against him and the tears started fresh. He heard the pain and the anguish, the fear and loneliness, and all he could do was keep her pressed against him as tight as possible. “Promise me you’ll stay away from him. Give me the chance to bring him to justice. Please?”
She sniffed back her tears and buried her head against his shoulder. Her arms tightened around him but she hadn’t answered him.
“Cassi? Promise me?”
It was a long moment before she did and Thomas felt cold dread tickle his spine.
“I’ll try,” she whispered.
And he knew he was running out of time.
Cassie was going to do something dreadful and if she did that…there was no turning back.
He’d lose her forever.
Hair samples from Olivia Nolan showed toxic levels of arsenic in her system.
“Cassi, you were right,” he murmured before going straight to Zell’s office. He wasn’t surprised to see Zell there as early as him, but he was surprised to see Lionel Vissher standing there with him. “Is this a bad time?” he inquired, giving Lionel a hard look.
Zell turned to Lionel and said, “Thank you for sharing your concerns. We’ll look into it right away.”
Lionel smiled, his teeth white and perfect. “Much obliged, Director Zell. I just want to put this whole sordid mess behind me. The sooner the better.”
“Of course,” Zell said, waiting for Lionel to leave before dropping his false smile and turning to Thomas with an equally annoyed expression. “What did I say about keeping your flight risk under control?” he demanded. “I thought you could handle her, but I guess not. Seems Ms. Nolan paid an unscheduled visit to Mr. Vissher and he wasn’t happy about it.”
“I suppose not,” Thomas agreed amiably, making Zell frown suspiciously. “And she shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why are you agreeing with me so readily?”
Thomas held up the paper with a grin. “Because we’ve got the sonofabitch. Forensics found arsenic in Olivia Nolan’s hair samples. She was poisoned.”
“Yes,” Zell said, narrowing his gaze. “According to Mr. Vissher…it was Cassie who poisoned her mother, not him.”
“Bullshit,” Thomas shot back, shaking his head. “He’s running scared. He has to try and deflect the evidence. It was him.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know Cassie,” Thomas said.
“Not good enough. What proof do you have it was Vissher that did it? We don’t have anything on him. By all accounts he’s a model citizen while your
girlfriend
is not.”
Thomas jerked. “She’s not my girlfriend, sir,” he protested.
Zell barked a short, unamused laugh. “You’re a terrible liar, Bristol. The day I handed you the file I could see it in your face that you had it bad for this woman, which was only confirmed when you had her in my office. She’s clouding your judgment. I want her brought back in and put into federal lockup until we get this figured out.”
“No.” The word slipped from his lips before he realized what he was saying. But at Zell’s double take and accompanying glare, Thomas knew he hadn’t said it only in his head. It was too late. He couldn’t take it back. So he stood his ground. Zell had been hell-bent for leather against Cassi from the moment they met and it was time he found out why. “What’s going on with you and Lionel Vissher?” he said, throwing it out there and seeing what he caught on the hook.
And he hooked one pissed off superior.
“What are you implying?” Zell asked in a growl.
“You’ve been harsh with Cassi from day one. You’ve already admitted that you knew we had a history and yet you gave me the file anyway. You wanted me to bring her in and for some reason you’ve given Vissher ample opportunity to prove his innocence yet you’ve practically thrown away the key on Cassi. What gives? And before you answer, let me fill you in on a little something about me…I may be a terrible liar but I’m a helluva investigator and if there’s one piece of evidence linking you and Vissher together in any way…I will bury you.”
Zell turned an awful shade of milky white and his lips all but disappeared as he pressed them together in an angry clamp. “You have some nerve,” he bit out, spittle flying to land in a soggy splotch on the desk. “I ought to fire you right now.”
“Do it. And I’ll have the Bureau of Professional Standards breathing down your neck so fast you won’t know what hit you. Something’s rotten in Denmark, Zell, and you seem to be at the heart of it. Cassie stays with me.”
He left Zell shaking with rage but Thomas knew he was right. And while it felt good to go toe to toe with his jackass superior, he knew he’d only bought a little time. If Zell was in a conspiracy with Vissher in some way, the two would likely try to discredit him or make Cassie disappear.
And there was also the very real possibility he’d just screwed the pooch and tanked his career by making a wild accusation against his superior. All scenarios put together, Thomas didn’t feel comfortable in the least.
He had to get back to Cassie. He wanted to share the news…but at the core, he wanted her in his sight. Suddenly, he was short on trust and looking over his shoulder.
As angry as Zell was, he wouldn’t put it past him to chuck something heavy his way.
“I’m not comfortable with the ‘sit and wait’ plan,” she admitted. “What happens now?”
“Well, I’m going to have to bring you in for some formal questioning as Vissher has named you as a suspect. And they’ll have to bring Vissher in, too.”
“He’s an accomplished liar, Tommy. What if no one believes me and they believe him?”
“That’s what evidence is for. Evidence doesn’t lie,” he said.
“I don’t know about that,” she said, worried.
“He slipped up somewhere. For one, he probably shouldn’t have used arsenic. Of all the poisons, it’s the easiest to trace because it lingers for so long. But killers get comfortable with one method and tend to stick with it. The court orders for the exhumation of his previous wives are already in process. Chances are they’ll have arsenic in their systems, too.”
Cassi grabbed her date book and handed it to Tommy. “Everything I ever found on Lionel Vissher is in this date book,” she said.
He accepted the ragged book and turned it over gingerly in his hands, flipping the pages open to peruse the contents. He saw dates and times, notes, phone numbers, even pictures stuffed in the side pockets. “You managed to put this portfolio together while trying to survive?” She nodded and his eyes warmed with pride. She could spend a lifetime staring into those eyes, she realized with a start. She leaned into him and he pulled her tight. “You’re amazing,” he said, kissing her forehead. “You would’ve made a great investigator.”
“I don’t know about that,” she said. “I was pretty highly motivated and desperate.” And scared. She was terrified right now that Lionel was going to walk, just like he always did. There would be no justice for any of his victims, most importantly her mother. She’d have to bring justice to him. She pulled away and he sensed the change in her.
“Cassi…”
She quieted him with a faint kiss brushed against his lips. “Don’t say it,” she said.
“I have to,” he said, looking into her eyes, searching for some kind of assurance that she couldn’t give.
She smiled, though it was painful. “It’ll all work out. One way or another. I just know it.”
A heavy silence settled between them and Cassi didn’t trust herself to break it. Instead, she clung to him and prayed. Though she couldn’t rightly say what exactly she was praying for. There was a part of her that burned for retribution and hungered for blood, and it warred with the part of her that was crying for closure and wishing for a new beginning that started with Tommy.
She could only wait and see which prayer was answered.