Daddy's Home (31 page)

She didn’t reply.

“That’s ludicrous. Holly is my partner and my friend.”

“Is it really that crazy? Are you sure that’s as far as the feelings go? Sometimes it does seem like you’re a little more than just friends.”

“That’s absurd.”

“Is it?”

“I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never told anyone before, and I’m trusting that you’ll keep it confidential.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I am a psychiatrist. It’s my job to be discreet and confidential.”

“I do feel a bit responsible for Holly. She’s had it tough. After Jack died and she went through her pregnancy alone, I felt very protective over her. You know Jack and I worked the force together for quite some time, and there are things that Holly is not privy to regarding Jack.”

“What could a wife not be privy about? What are you hiding from her?”

Chad took a deep inhale, and blew it out. “Jack was a mercenary for the CIA before he met Holly and came to work for the department.”

“What kind of mercenary, Chad?”

“He took out some pretty bad dudes down in Nicaragua and helped plan several drug raids.”

“Are you serious?”

“Why would I make it up?” He crossed his arms again. Was this something he should be telling her?

“And he confided this in you and not his wife?”

“He didn’t want to frighten her. As a rule, the CIA does not employ the most forthright group of people. He didn’t want to frighten her, but he did need to talk to someone.”

“You.”

“Me. We were like brothers, and Holly is like a sister. Nothing more.”

“Fine. Why are you telling me this?”

“You know, I’m not sure. A couple of reasons, I suppose. In a way, I carry around some guilt knowing this. A few weeks before Jack died, he asked me to look out for her if something ever happened to him. He said that he was afraid he was being watched . . . and he was thinking about leaving Holly so that she wouldn’t be put in any danger.”

“He thought the CIA was after him for some reason?” Brooke now looked fascinated as she pushed her glasses back onto her nose.

“He had information about them that he knew they wouldn’t want to see the light of day. He also thought that it could be any number of Nicaraguan or Columbian drug lords hunting him down.”

“He was actually thinking of leaving her?”

“In order to protect her.”

“What are you saying exactly?” Brooke asked.

“Jack was very savvy and connected. There is a possibility he did survive that explosion and disappeared.” He paused. “There’s also a chance that he planned the explosion himself.”

“And you’ve kept this from her for all these years?”

Chad nodded, looking down at the floor. “What choice did I have?”

“The truth is always a good way to go.”

“Be reasonable, Brooke. I swore to Jack that I would protect her at all costs. I gave him my word that I would never, no matter what the circumstances, tell her about any of this. And now you’ve given me your word. You cannot tell her! For Heaven’s sakes, she’s finally dating someone who she really likes, and Jack would want that for her whether he’s alive or not. I have my doubts that he is, but let’s leave the past where it belongs.”

“Fine. But for the record, I think that she should know.”

“Noted.” Chad turned to open the door and leave.

“I thought we were going to grab a bite to eat?”

He looked back at her, but before he could say anything his phone rang. “Euwing here.”

“Chad? Is this Chad? Holly Jennings’ partner?”

“Yes. Who am I speaking with?”

“This is Brendan O’Neil. I’m Holly’s friend. We met the other day in my office when you brought the dog in. Petie.”

“Sure, hi, Brendan. How can I help you?”

“It’s Holly. She’s been up at my place in Mammoth for a couple of days with Chloe and my daughter Meg, and I haven’t been able to reach her all day. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

Great. A vet with instincts
. Chad stifled a laugh. “Brendan, Holly is a cop. I’m sure the girls are fine. Trust me, Holly can take care of herself.”

“I’m worried.”

“Okay, I’ll make a few phone calls, see if we can’t get a cruiser over to your cabin. Give me the address. I’ve got to warn you, though, she’ll probably be chapped with you. Holly isn’t into the Prince Rescue routine.”

Chad hung up. “That one has it bad. Look, let’s take a rain check on that dinner.”

He walked out of Brooke’s office, perturbed and confused by the woman he’d thought he’d been falling in love with. Now he wasn’t so sure. He’d seen a side of her this evening that he didn’t care for.

He went back to his desk to make the phone call for Brendan O’Neil, when Martin Landon showed up.

“I’ve got something you should see,” Landon said and updated him on what he’d discovered on the case.

What bothered Chad the most was the implication that the killer had found himself the perfect mate in someone who had a Christmas name. Brendan O’Neil’s phone call was beginning to trouble him now. He picked up the phone to get the number to the police station in Mammoth. Like Brendan, Chad was picking up on something out of the norm as well.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

The sun was still shining hot on the Oahu coastline. Holly’s dad, Ben, sipped his second Mai Tai of the afternoon. But he wasn’t enjoying it like he’d hoped. There was a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and it wasn’t from the fresh fish that they’d had for lunch. It was the case his daughter Holly was working. She’d e-mailed him tidbits here and there, and he didn’t like the sound of it at all. Something really nasty about her case rang a bell.

Normally it went against his grain to get involved in Holly’s investigations. She called and wanted advice sometimes, but he trusted her instincts. Besides, he was a retired FBI man, and he wanted to leave all of that in the past. However, today he made the decision to get involved.

He went back into his oldest daughter’s kitchen. Everyone was out at the beach. He picked up the phone and dialed in the number to his former office at the FBI out in Los Angeles. “Tyler Savoy, please.” He asked for the young man he had helped to train. Tyler was an elite profiler and was very good at what he did. If anyone could give him some answers about this case, it would be him.

“Hey, Ben, long time. What are you up to?”

“Well, kid, I’m out here sunning myself in amazing Hawaii, drinking a Mai Tai, and overlooking the surf.”

“You old dog. Then what the hell are you doing calling me?”

“I’ve got a tick bugging me. You know my daughter, Holly?”

“Sure we’ve met. She’s a crime scene specialist with San Diego.”

“That’s the one.”

“I know they’ve got a nasty case right now. In fact, looks like we might be getting involved soon. Their chief gave us a ring, and we did some checking. There was a similar murder up here in Los Angeles in ’92, a kid and his mom murdered. No leads, nothing. Is your daughter working that case in San Diego?”

“She was.” Ben filled him in on the politics and what had happened.

“We all know the politics are a bitch. So are you doing some covert hunting for her? A bit of info gathering?”

“You could say that. What I need is for you to look up crimes in which the victim’s ring finger was cut off. I’m vaguely recalling something like that about twenty-five or so years ago, before you ever came onto the scene. If my memory serves me right, and believe me it doesn’t always serve me anymore, I recall something like that with a case up in the Oakland area. I was working the LA office, but that was when profiling was just getting going. Although I don’t think that the bastard who was responsible for that murder was a serial killer, my boss noted his method only because it was so absurd.”

“And this bad man down south is cutting off ring fingers?”

“Yep.”

“Let me see what I can do. I’ll get onto the computers and see what old files I can dredge up. It might take some time. Something tells me your old hound dog nose is onto something.”

“My gut more than my nose. The whole finger thing has been bugging me for a bit now.”

“I’ll call you back.”

Two hours later and two more Mai Tais, and Tyler called Ben back. “Got something for you. Does the name Drake ring a bell?”

Ben leaned back in his chair, put his feet up in the chair. He thought for a minute. “Drake, huh? I don’t know. Should it ring a bell?”

“Maybe. If memory serves me, you had a partner named Carter, right?”

“Yeah. Jimmy Carter, like the president. We worked together for a few years until he moved back up North. We talked occasionally thereafter. Poor buzzard has Alzheimer’s now.”

“Too bad, because Jimmy worked this case up in Oakland. Husband beat the shit out of his wife in front of their three kids. The youngest was only four at the time. The oldest, a boy, was about twelve.”

“Ah, good old dad, setting up his young ones for a lifetime of psychological problems.”

“No kidding. Anyway, after he did her in, he chopped off her finger, wrapped her in some tarp, and sent her on a deep sea fishing trip in the San Francisco Bay. The dad played the bereaved husband for some time, claiming that his wife was manic and disappeared. Everyone fell for it hook, line, and sinker. But the little one kept telling her preschool teacher that Daddy had cut off Mama’s finger.”

“The mouth of babes. Their honesty is so refreshing. So how long did it take before things started happening?”

“After about a month of the little one carrying on and then showing up at school with some nasty bruises across her back and legs, the teacher grew suspect and gave the police a call. A week after that, the mother’s mangled body washed up on shore.”

“How do they know that the finger was cut off and not eaten by the fishies?”

“Straight cut across. Fish gnaw.”

“Right.”

“Dad got away. Somehow he caught wind that the police were on to him, and he’s never been seen since. Hopefully he’s lying in his own grave, but he could be on some island enjoying life. Who knows? The kids were all separated and sent to foster homes. There was suspicion that the boy was also abusing his sisters.”

“The apple doesn’t fall far.”

“No, it doesn’t. Check this. The kid spent five years in juvie after cutting the finger off of one of his foster siblings. Of course, those records are sealed, but we have our ways.”

“Are you thinking what I am?”

“That maybe this kid, who would now be a man, is the dude down south doing the terrible deeds.”

“I’m thinking it could be. I’m also thinking that I better give Holly a call. I’m worried, though. It’s eight your time, and I’ve been ringing her at the cabin she’s at in Mammoth for the last couple of hours.”

“Probably out for dinner, Pops.”

“Hey, watch who you’re calling Pops, kid.”

“I’m not exactly a kid anymore. I’m graying at the sides. Listen, why don’t I take this info to Holly myself. Claire and I need a few days away. Our two-year-old is driving us crazy running the roost. My mom has offered to step in for a couple of days, and believe it or not, things are slow for me for the time being. We love the snow, and I might do some fishing if the lakes aren’t frozen over. Claire and I’ll take a flight up in the morning. I’ll head over to Holly’s place, fill her in on what we think we know. If she wants to take it a step further, I might call in my guys and kick the asses of the SDPD coppers who pulled her from the job.”

“She might like that.”

“Are we good to go, then?”

“Yep.”

“Good. I’ll give you a call when I land and fill you in before and after I see your daughter.”

“Thanks, Tyler. I appreciate it.”

“No problem, old timer.”

“I’m gonna kick the crap out of you when I see you if you don’t knock this old timer shit off with me.”

“Go drink a Mai Tai for me.”

Ben laughed and hung up the phone. Although he knew Tyler was a very good agent and that he’d be true to his word about going to see Holly, Ben still couldn’t help thinking time was of the essence.