A Killer Past (16 page)

L
ESS
THAN
AN
hour after driving away from Mary Harrington’s house, Jack was back, standing on her front lawn, looking at the scorched bushes in front of the house and the tire tracks on the grass. Fire trucks and police cruisers, their flashing lights illuminating the night sky, filled the street, while an acrid, smoky stench filled the air. Neighbors had come out of their houses wearing hastily thrown-on clothes and robes, some simply gawking at the scene, others talking amongst themselves. All would have to be interviewed.

The blonde he’d seen get out of the red Fusion stood by the back of her car, staring at the crumpled fender and broken tail light. Mary Harrington stood beside the girl, her arm around the girl’s shoulders. The blonde was obviously shaken, her face ashen. Mary was talking to her, her words too softly spoken for Jack to hear over the noises surrounding him.

‘Since you were asking me about the break-in last night,’ Officer Mendoza told Jack, ‘I figured you’d want to know about this. According to Agent Burrows,’ Jennifer indicated the man Jack had met earlier that day, ‘there were two vehicles. First a truck, then a car. They came one right after the other, a Molotov cocktail being thrown out of each.’

‘He was in the house at the time?’ Jack hoped Ella had continued her watch of the car parked across the street from her house. If she had, she might be a good witness.

‘He said he was in the kitchen, and the two women – Mrs Harrington and her granddaughter, Shannon – were just coming out of the bedroom when the first vehicle hit the granddaughter’s car, came across the lawn, and the first bottle was thrown against the
living-room window.’

‘Good thing the window didn’t break.’ They would have been looking at a lot more damage if either of the bottles had gotten inside. He assumed they’d been filled with gasoline, an oil-soaked rag used as a wick. Once that bottle broke and the gasoline was released, the explosion would have spread the fire over everything in its path, possibly including the two women.

‘Agent Burrows said the same thing. You’ll want to talk to him.’ Mendoza led Jack over to the man.

‘We meet again,’ Burrows said, extending his hand.

Jack accepted the handshake, noting the man seemed quite calm concerning what had recently happened. ‘You were inside when this occurred?’

‘In the kitchen. I heard a really loud muffler and had just gotten up from the table to see what was making so much noise. For a moment I thought the truck was going to run right into the living-room, but as you can see,’ he pointed at the tire tracks that led toward the house and then veered away and back to the street, ‘they turned just before they reached the bushes.’

‘Did you see what kind of truck it was?’

Burrows shook his head. ‘As I told Officers Mendoza and VanDerwell, all I can tell you about the truck is it was dark colored. Maybe black, dark blue, or green. The car that followed, however, was a Buick. Older model. Probably early 90s. It was white.’

‘See who threw the bottles?’

‘Not out of the truck. That took me by surprise. But the car had at least three people in it, all male as far as I could tell, and the one who tossed the bottle had some sort of tattoo on the back of his hand and up his wrist.’

Not a lot to go on, but a good start.

‘Truck was black,’ Mendoza said. ‘We found some paint chips on the ground near the Fusion.’ She grinned. ‘Black with some red now on its front fender, I’d guess.’

That would help narrow the investigation.

‘Also, one of the neighbors said she recognized the driver of the car. If she’s right, he belongs to Jose’s gang.’

‘Jose?’ Burrows said.

‘He’s …’ Jennifer started, but Jack interrupted her.

‘Officer Mendoza, I believe you’re wanted over there,’ he said, pointing to where Officer VanDerwell stood by the crime-scene tape that had been installed, talking to one of the onlookers.

She got his message, nodded to Burrows, and headed for her fellow officer, leaving Jack alone with Burrows. ‘And this Jose is?’ Burrows asked again.

Jack shook his head. ‘We’ll take care of this, Mr Burrows.’

‘Agent Burrows,’ the man corrected.

‘For an agency that doesn’t seem to exist.’ He watched Burrows for his reaction. What he got was a smile.

‘I take it you tried looking up the Department of Special Forces.’

‘And found nothing.’

‘We don’t advertise, but if you want to call the President, I’m sure you’ll get a confirmation of our existence.’ His smile widened. ‘And probably a visit from Secret Service.’

‘So I’m simply supposed to take your word that there is such an agency?’ Jack wasn’t that gullible.

‘Yes.’ Burrows looked over at Mary Harrington. ‘She needs protection.’

‘Because?’ Jack hoped Agent Burrows would tell him something about Mary Harrington’s past, about her connection to this non-existent agency.

Burrows frowned. ‘Because her house was broken into last night and tonight they’re trying to burn it down. Isn’t that a good enough reason?’

‘What connection does she have with this Department of Special Forces?’

‘No connection.’

Burrows said it firmly, and Jack almost believed him. Almost. ‘What about in the past?’

‘Sergeant,’ Burrows ground out the word, ‘I’d suggest you focus on the present. Although I’ve had no contact with this woman for years, I consider her a friend, and I don’t want to see anything happen to her. She needs protection.’

‘OK.’ He got the message. The man was not going to reveal anything about Mary’s past. ‘We’ll increase patrols by her house. I’m
pretty sure she pissed off one of our local gangs. We’ll pull those gang members in and check their vehicles. It shouldn’t take us long to find the two that were used tonight.’

‘And then what? Put a couple kids in jail? You need to eliminate their leader.’

‘We’re working on it.’

‘I’m glad to hear that. And this leader’s name is…?’

Jack would admit the man was persistent. ‘Forget it, Burrows. You’re out of your jurisdiction … whatever that might be. And if you mess up the investigation we have going, big-shot agent or not, you’ll end up in prison right alongside him.’

Burrows merely smiled.

‘And,’ Jack pointed at Burrows’ jacket, where he knew the agent’s gun was strapped, ‘I’d better not find any bullets in any of the gang members that match your weapon.’

‘Trust me, Sergeant, that would never happen.’

‘And you’d better tell your girlfriend to come clean with us.’

As if she knew they were talking about her, Mary Harrington came toward them. ‘David, I’m going to drive Shannon home,’ she said as she neared. ‘And as long as this is a crime scene, I’m going to spend the night at my son’s.’ She held up a reusable shopping bag. ‘Officer Mendoza let me go inside and get a few things. Will you be around tomorrow?’

Burrows nodded. ‘I’ll be around.’

Mary Harrington switched her attention to Jack. ‘How long before I can reclaim my house?’

‘Maybe you should stay somewhere else for a few days,’ he suggested. ‘Until we catch the people who did this.’

‘No.’ The set of her chin matched the firmness of her response. ‘I’m not letting them scare me out of my home. How long do you expect this to take?’ She indicated the scene in front of them.

‘I don’t know for sure.’

‘Do you think I can come back tomorrow afternoon?’

‘I suppose.’ As far as Jack could tell, the evidence they needed was outside of her house, not inside.

‘Good.’ Again she looked at Agent Burrows. ‘Stop by tomorrow afternoon.’

‘Are you coming, Grandma?’ the blonde called from the driveway.

‘Coming.’ Mary Harrington jiggled the set of keys she held. ‘We’re leaving her car here, taking mine. You won’t need to take hers anywhere, will you, Sergeant? We’ll want to get the insurance adjuster to look at it as soon as possible.’

‘It will stay here,’ Jack said, noticing Agent Burrows’ smile as the man reached out and caught a blackened piece of wood dangling from Mrs. Harrington’s key ring.

‘This the kubotan you made?’ Burrows asked.

‘It is. I thought it might be handy to have around.’

Burrows nodded and released the wood. ‘Take care of yourself, Pan. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

Pan? Or did he say Pam?
Jack smiled.
Like in Pamela?

He had a clue.

S
HANNON
DIDN’T STOP
talking during the drive from Mary’s house to Robby’s and Clare’s, and Mary didn’t try to stop her. Listening to her granddaughter, Mary remembered her reaction after her first assignment. The mixture of fear and adrenaline had her pacing the room as she told Carl exactly what had transpired. He’d calmly listened to her, just as she was with Shannon, until exhaustion finally took over.

The high in her case, however, lasted for days, maybe for years. Back then she’d loved the danger and excitement that went along with the job. It wasn’t until she’d reached her late twenties that the tension began to wear on her, and she started questioning how long she wanted to work for ADEC … or if she could ever quit. She’d come to a point in her life where taking someone else’s life – justified or not – didn’t seem right.

‘Dad … Mom … You won’t believe what happened,’ Shannon yelled the moment she stepped into the four-bedroom three-bath
ranch house that Robby had bought overlooking the eighteenth hole of the Rivershore Country Club’s golf course.

Mary saw the confusion on her son’s face when she entered the house behind her granddaughter, then his frown as he glanced out the front window and saw her old Chevy parked in the driveway, not Shannon’s new Fusion. ‘What happened to your car?’ he demanded, his tone accusing.

‘It’s at Grandma’s. A truck ran into it, and the police wanted it left there until they’re finished with the crime scene.’

‘Crime scene?’ Clare repeated, coming down the hallway, her face covered with some sort of white cream. ‘Oh … Mother Harrington, you’re here, too.’

Clare’s gaze hopped from Shannon to Mary and then back to Shannon. ‘You committed a crime?’

‘Not Shannon,’ Mary said, feeling she’d better speak up before either her son or daughter-in-law said something they’d regret. ‘Her car was parked in my driveway when some teenagers drove across my lawn and hit the Fusion’s rear bumper.’

‘And threw a bomb at Grandma’s house,’ Shannon added. ‘Two bombs. And Grandma was so cool. She didn’t get all panicky at all. Just pulled me down on the floor and covered me with her body, and then we got back in the bedroom, and she called 911. And …’

‘Stop! Wait!’ Robby looked directly at Mary. ‘Someone threw a bomb into your house?’

‘It wasn’t exactly a bomb,’ she said. ‘Just one of those Molotov cocktails. And it didn’t come into the house. They both bounced off the window and landed in the bushes out front.’

‘A bomb,’ Clare repeated, and simply stared at Mary.

‘It was all so scary,’ Shannon continued. ‘The police came … and the fire department. And David was so cool, he actually …’

‘David?’ Robby said, once again frowning. ‘You mean Mr Burrows?’

‘Not Mr Burrows, Dad. Agent Burrows. Did you know he works for the government? I saw his badge. And he was carrying a gun. He pulled it out before he went outside.’

Mary was impressed by how much her granddaughter had observed and remembered. ‘David works for some sort of defense
agency,’ she said, hoping that would satisfy her son’s curiosity.

‘And while he’s visiting you, your house is bombed?’ Robby didn’t look satisfied.

‘Purely a coincidence,’ Mary said, but she was glad David had been there. At least he’d kept that police detective off her back.

‘He put the fire out before the fire department even arrived,’ Shannon said. ‘And he kept all the neighbors off the lawn so the police could see the tire tracks, and … and …’ She sighed, and Mary could tell the girl was running out of steam.

‘You’re probably exhausted,’ she said, giving her granddaughter a hug. ‘Why don’t you go take a hot bath and get ready for bed. I’ll explain everything. You’ve got school tomorrow. I don’t have anything important to do.’

‘You’re going to see David tomorrow,’ Shannon reminded her.

‘Yes, I’m going to see David.’ Mary looked at her son and daughter-in-law and knew she had a lot of explaining to do, and not just about the attack on her house. ‘Clare, think I could have a cup of tea?’

Robby prepared the tea while Clare wiped the cream off of her face. Mary told him she’d wait in the living room, if he didn’t mind, until his wife returned so she didn’t have to repeat her story twice. She, too, could feel the after-effects of the adrenaline rush, and was glad to sink into the plush recliner that faced the couch. She was sipping her hot tea when Clare came back into the room and sat on the couch beside her husband.

‘I gave Shannon a pill to help her sleep,’ she said, looking at Mary. ‘She’d better do well on her test tomorrow. If she doesn’t keep her grades up, she’s not going to get into a decent college.’

‘I’m sorry she was at the house when all of this happened.’ Mary kept her voice level and wondered if her daughter-in-law would realize Shannon wouldn’t have been at the house if they hadn’t sent her there.

‘What is going on, Mom?’ Robby asked. ‘Why are people bombing your house? And who is this Burrows guy, really?’

Mary wondered how to explain without telling more than she wanted her son and daughter-in-law to know. ‘He’s a friend. A
friend from before I moved to Michigan. Before I even met your father.’ She looked at Clare. ‘I don’t know if Robby told you, but David saw that article about me, and since he was in Chicago on business, he decided to drop by and say hello.’

‘He certainly stayed a long time,’ Robby said. ‘Was he going to spend the night?’

‘I’d invited him to,’ she said, knowing that was going to upset her son even more. ‘But Shannon arrived before he had a chance to accept or decline.’

‘Thank goodness,’ Robby said, before he realized sending his daughter over there had also put her in jeopardy. ‘I mean … Mom, it’s been years since you’ve seen this man. You know nothing about him. For all you know, he’s the reason those cocktails, or whatever they’re called, were thrown at your house.’

‘Molotov cocktails,’ she supplied. ‘And I know David wasn’t responsible for that. I’m just thankful he was there. As Shannon said, he had the fire out before the fire department even arrived. I’ve lost a few bushes and may have to have some siding replaced, but that’s it.’

‘So if it wasn’t because of him, why did these people try to burn down your house?’

‘I, ah …’ How to explain? ‘I think there’s a gang that’s upset with me because I refused to give up my credit cards and keys to a couple of the gang’s members.’

Clare frowned. ‘Gang members? When did this happen?’

‘Just before Halloween.’ Mary hoped they wouldn’t make the connection.

Robby did. ‘Was it those boys who live a couple blocks from you?’

‘I don’t believe they live there,’ she said. ‘I think they were just hanging around one of the abandoned houses.’

‘The ones who were beaten up so badly?’

She could see her son was remembering back and making the connection. She smiled. He was a smart kid. Always had been, which was why, she was sure, he was so successful as a financial advisor.

‘Mom, those boys were severely injured that night. Do you
realize what might have happened to you? How lucky you were? What if the person who beat up those boys had been around then?’

She chuckled. Maybe he wasn’t that smart. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘I was lucky. But, for some reason, they feel I’m responsible for what happened to them.’

‘Oh, my.’ Clare leaned slightly forward as she looked at Mary. ‘One of the neighbors came and helped you, didn’t he? And you’ve been protecting him.’

Let them think what they liked, she decided. ‘I can’t say anything more.’

‘You’ve told the police. Right?’ her son said. ‘First your place is broken into, now this. The police understand what’s going on, don’t they?’

Mary thought of Detective Rossini and his questions. ‘I believe they do,’ she said, hoping the man didn’t know more than he needed to. ‘Now I have a question.’

‘Yes, what?’ Clare asked.

‘May I spend the night here?’