Come Gentle the Dawn (12 page)

Linc watched Brie leave, feeling her fury. He got up, picked up the grocery sack and headed out the door to the white whale. Minutes later, she appeared with Homely Homer in her cage, a jar of baby food and the thermos in the other hand.

Wisely, Linc said nothing as he opened the back door of the truck for Brie. She gently set the cage in a corner, holding it in place with a black rubber strap. She stepped out and he shut the doors and locked them. Until the pigeon was able to fly and hunt for its own food, Brie took the bird with her every day.

“Get in, I’ll drive,” he told her.

Brie glowered at him as if deciding whether to rip his head off or simply chew him out with a choice expletive.

“Come on,” he coaxed. “The mood you’re in, you’ll get us killed.” He saw Brie’s eyes lighten and she lifted her chin, taking a deep breath.

“You’re probably right,” she muttered. “Okay, you drive.”

Once on the road and heading toward their first stop, a chemical company outside Canton, Linc broke the brittle, icy silence. “For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry this happened, Brie. I know I’m not much use to you— yet. If I hit the manuals hard this week, maybe I’ll be able to relieve you from some of that load you’re having to carry all by yourself.”

Brie’s features softened, and she glanced at him. “Don’t mind me, Linc. Every once in a while I need to sulk like a child and get it out of my system. Coffee?”

He grinned, giving her a tender look laced with care. “I think we both could use a shot.”

She gave an unladylike snort, unscrewing the cap of the thermos with angry jerks. “A shot of something. Damn, I’m so mad I could spit nails!”

“Let’s talk about it, then. No sense in bottling it up inside you.” Maybe he’d get a bit more information.

Brie handed him his cup then poured coffee into it. “You don’t deserve this kind of welcome into your new career slot!” She slid the thermos between their chairs, put both feet on the dash, scrunched down and glared straight ahead. “I’ll tell you, sometimes, this job is the armpit of the universe. I hate getting screwed around like this by management. They should have taken a more seasoned veteran from one of those other quadrants to help McPeak.”

“You don’t think Jeff can handle it?”

“Yes, he can handle it. He may come off carefree, but Jeff is thorough and careful. Those two things will save your neck every time out.”

“Who’s Bob Townley?” Linc wanted to know.

“Him!” Brie growled. “Bob’s long on guts and short
on common sense. Sometimes I could just throttle him. I’ll lay you odds he got too close to one of those tank cars and breathed in that stuff. He’s in the hospital with lung congestion because of it.”

“How serious?”

She gave a bitter laugh. “Don’t worry. Bob hasn’t bought it yet, and he’s been in haz-mat for almost twenty years. He takes a hell of a lot of chances, but has always walked away.” Her lips compressed. “This time he didn’t.”

Linc divided his attention between the swelling morning rush hour of Canton traffic and Brie. “You might take Saxon’s choice as a backhanded compliment to you,” Linc offered, hoping to make her feel better.

Brie slid him a glare. “This better be good, Tanner. How?”

“You must be an ace at training people, or he’d never have taken Jeff over seasoned vets. That’s a compliment to you.”

He was right, Brie decided. “Just pretend you don’t know me for the next hour or two, okay, Tanner? When I get in one of these moods, I’m a brat to everyone around me. So just ignore me.”

He reached over, gently massaging her tense shoulder for a moment. “Lady, you’re hard to ignore under any circumstances.” Then he smiled. “Besides, I think you look provocative as hell when you pout.”

She gave him an exasperated look. “Tanner, you really are a pervert!”

His laughter rolled through the van. Brie tried to hide her smile, but it didn’t quite work. She’d never admit it, but Linc knew how to ease her anger. “You always this good at dealing with people?” she demanded tightly.

“Just people I like,” he amended, trying very hard to remain innocent-looking.

Brie shook her head and drank her coffee. “Well, for better or worse, Tanner, you and I are stuck with one another.”

“Don’t make it sound as if we’re married. I think I’m getting cold feet already.”

She met his amused blue gaze, drowning in the warmth that he was lavishing upon her. And she hadn’t forgotten when he reached out and slid his hand across her shoulder in an effort to soothe her. Hope sprang strongly in her heart as she looked at him. There was a vein of pure gold running through him, she realized. She lifted her cup toward him in toast. “I owe you one, Linc.”

He nodded, his mouth quirking in a grin. “Okay, I’ll remember that and collect soon.”

A startling coil of heat sizzled through Brie at the inference in Linc’s softly spoken words. She gave him a wry look but said nothing. “Well, the day’s off to a fine start,” she griped. “Let’s just see how far downhill this baby is going to slide.”

At nine o’clock Brie entered the office of Carter Fuel and Oil of Lisbon, Ohio, and was met by the owner, Frank Carter. Tall and lean, at thirty-five, he was a proud, handsome man. He scowled darkly from where he sat at his desk behind the counter.

“What the hell’s up?” Carter demanded, standing. “You were here just three months ago.”

Brie gave Carter a brisk smile meant to defuse his initial reaction. Many companies panicked when a hazmat official walked in to inspect their premises. “Our quarterly inspection, Mr. Carter.”

Frank moved to the counter that separated them. He looked at Tanner, and then focused his attention on Brie. “Look, this is ridiculous, Miss Williams.”

Instinctively, Linc moved to Brie’s elbow in defense of her. “Mr. Carter, I don’t think you have anything to get upset about.”

Carter glared at him. “I sell fuel oil, not hazardous chemicals. The fire marshal’s office ought to be more interested in the chemical companies up the river from me than my small company.” Out of frustration, he looked at Brie. “Don’t you think this is ridiculous? Every three months you drop in here unannounced?”

Brie held on to her patience. “We realize fuel oil is low on the hazardous material list, but we’d like to check out the trucks, just to make sure they aren’t leaking any oil, Mr. Carter. It won’t take long.”

Disgruntled, the owner turned to his office manager. “Earl, go with them. I’ve got too much work to do to play these silly games with the state.”

Earl, who was bald and fifty, nodded and quickly got to his feet. “Yes, sir, Mr. Carter!” He gave Brie a smile and hustled his rotund form around the counter. “Come with me, Brie. I’ll take you over to the garage where we keep the trucks.”

They crossed the hard-packed dirt yard and out of earshot of Earl, Linc asked, “Isn’t Carter a little rabid about us checking his trucks?”

Shrugging, Brie said, “No, because every company we visit gets upset. They’re afraid of the fines we might levy.” She gestured at the fenced-in area that contained several buildings and trucks. “He’s right. Fuel oil companies are low on our list of concerns, but Carter’s
business is on our way to two chemical plants on the Ohio River.”

Linc smiled. “Luck of the draw, eh?”

“Yes. Carter’s got a clean record, but it doesn’t hurt to keep fuel oil companies on their toes. Sometimes a truck will have a leak, and they get lazy and won’t fix it. Oil on a road can create an auto accident.”

A huge German shepherd came trotting over, wagging his tail in a friendly fashion at Brie. She leaned down, murmuring words to the animal. Linc remained alert, looking around, mentally making notes that he’d later put into his own notebook of evidence.

*

Just as Brie and Linc were ready to leave the office of the second chemical company, at the close of the day, Brie’s beeper went off. She asked to use the phone, and the secretary nodded. Giving Linc a frustrated look, Brie muttered, “Beepers going off usually mean a major haz-mat incident.”

Linc nodded. “Calling the FM?”

“Yes.”

Brie heard the line connect and the chief answer. “Chief? It’s Brie. What’s up?”

Saxon’s voice came across worried. “Brie, is Linc Tanner with you?”

Confused, Brie said, “Yes, he’s here.” The unspoken why was left in the silence between them.

“Let me speak to him, please?”

She held out the phone to Linc. “Chief Saxon wants to talk to you,” she said, sliding out of the booth.

Linc’s scowl deepened, surprise flaring momentarily in his eyes. “Me?” Saxon always talked to Brie
whenever a haz-mat spill was reported. “What’s going on?” he muttered, gripping the phone.

Linc’s grip tightened on the phone. Something was up. His gut knotted instinctively, and he glanced at Brie, who stood beside him with her arms crossed, eyes reflecting suspicion as to why the call was for him.

“Linc?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I want you to get over to Carol Holcomb’s residence right away. I just got a teletype message from your office in D.C. via the Canton police that her house has been torn apart. It appears that it was broken into while she was gone.”

Grimly, Linc listened. “I see. Burglary?”

“Not according to the Canton detectives. Nothing is missing. Carol Holcomb called in tears to report the breakin to the police department. The house is apparently a shambles. It appears as though three or four people were looking for something. Just thank God she and her daughter weren’t there when they broke in.”

Linc broke into a cold sweat, his eyes never leaving Brie’s face. His instincts were screaming danger so loudly. “When did this happen, sir?”

“Carol Holcomb left for the grocery store at four o’clock this afternoon and returned an hour and a half later. The police were called, and after a preliminary investigation, they sent a report to your office, as they had been instructed earlier when the ATF made their initial contact with them. I was then informed via the FM as to who you were. Your boss, Mr. Cramer, wants you to get over there and investigate. Talk to Mrs. Holcomb and
see if you can find anything out. Then contact a Detective Brad Gent at Canton police. He’ll let you read their reports. When you’re done, contact Cramer and me. I want to know what the hell is happening. I’m not so sure Mrs. Holcomb’s residence being broken into is a fluke. I want Brie protected. Her house could be next. We just don’t know if this is an isolated incident or not.”

Linc’s jaw tightened. “Yes, sir. I’ll do what I can. Goodbye.” He hung up the phone, staring at it for several seconds before turning to face Brie and her questions. She couldn’t know who he was. Not yet…

“The chief wants us to get back to Canton,” Linc said, putting his hand on her arm and leading her out of the office. Outside, he said, “Carol Holcomb’s house has just been broken into.” The color drained from Brie’s face. For a fleeting second, he wondered if Brie knew something about it. He opened the door for her. She stared numbly at him.

“What do you mean, ‘broken into’? Are Carol and Susie all right?”

He nodded patiently, coaxing her into the seat. “They’re fine. Tighten up that seat belt,” he warned her.

The hour it took to get to Canton was reduced to forty minutes. Her fists were tightly clenched in her lap as she wondered how Carol really was. This was all they needed six months after John’s death. Her brow furrowed as she looked at Linc’s blunt features. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him why the chief had called and asked for him. Why discuss the breakin with Linc and not her? She was too upset to think clearly and pushed the questions aside for now.

Brie’s brows drew down as they approached the
street she lived on. “Linc, what are you doing? I thought we were going over to Carol’s house.”

“We will. First I want to check something out.”

Confused, Brie stared at him. He had been silent all the way back. The way he had driven, like a professional race-car driver, he had to devote all his concentration to the task. Why was he going to
her
house? Brie became even more confused when he made the van move very slowly up the tree-shrouded drive. Impatient, she rubbed her brow.

Linc’s eyes narrowed as the house came into view at the end of the curve. There were no cars in the driveway other than Brie’s Toyota. Everything looked peaceful and quiet. He’d know in a few minutes if someone had broken into her house. Casting a glance out of the corner of his eye at Brie, he realized she was fuming. He stopped the van.

“What are you doing parking this far from my house, Linc? What’s going on? You’re acting odd.”

He took her impatience in stride, never allowing his gaze to leave the house. All the windows looked closed. The front door didn’t look jimmied or tampered with. Maybe if they were lucky, her house hadn’t been touched. “I want you to stay here, Brie,” he told her, opening his door.

“What? Linc—”

He snapped his head to the right, pinning her with his narrowed cobalt gaze. “Stay here,” he ordered in a low tone. “I don’t want you out of this car for any reason unless I say so. Understood?”

Brie blinked, stunned by the coldness emanating from him. Her lips parted in shock, and she nodded. “All right.”

A twist of a smile touched his mouth. “Just trust me.”

Trust him
, Brie thought, sitting like a caged tiger in the idling van. Why was Linc acting so odd and distant? She watched as he approached the back door to her house. The way he walked, the way he carried himself was entirely different from what she’d seen. Brie sat there, feeling stunned, getting more and more upset by the minute. The way Linc slowly opened the screen door and carefully unlocked the back entrance made her take whatever he was doing seriously. Her heartbeat picked up as he slid like a shadow through that slit and disappeared inside.

She fidgeted. Linc came out five minutes later, some of the harshness gone from his unreadable face. As he got into the van she couldn’t help snapping, “Look, I want to get over to Carol’s. I don’t know why you stopped here. Now if you’re done, can we go?”

Linc shot her a look and said nothing, turning the van around. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.” Brie’s home had been untouched.