Humpty Dumpty: The killer wants us to put him back together again (Book 1 of the Nursery Rhyme Murders Series) (37 page)

Just as she was coming up close to the two men, a taxicab pulled up. Before the vehicle even came to a complete stop, the back door swung open and a tiny woman leapt out, rushing straight for them.

“Kyle, sweetie, you’re okay,” she gushed as she pulled Had into a bear hug. How a woman that size managed anything close to a bear hug was beyond Sariah, but she couldn’t deny the evidence of her eyes.

“Ms. Hadderly,” she said. “How—?”

Had’s mother pulled away from her son with obvious reluctance, and turned her gaze on Sariah. It was in that moment that Sariah remembered her last almost-conversation with the woman in front of her. All of the sudden she wasn’t so sure she wanted to be here.

“You must be Special Agent Cooper,” she said, looking her up and down. “You’re a lot prettier than your voice sounds on the phone. Not that I had much of a chance to find out…” She glared at Sariah, moving in to face off with her. How did such a tiny woman manage to be so damn intimidating?

“Right,” Sariah said. “About that…”

And then Ms. Hadderly’s face broke out in a smile. “Aw, honey, I’m just yankin’ your chain.” She reached out and drew Sariah in for a squeeze. “My boy’s all right, the killer’s dead, and I brought a picnic. Far as I’m concerned, it’s all good.”

“It wasn’t Humpty,” Joshua spoke up, then winced. “But they had met.”

“Oh, you must be Joshua,” Had’s mother gushed. “I’ve heard all about you. And you need to stop being such a grumble-puss all the time. This killer’s dead. The other one can just wait a spell.”

“Did you say
picnic
?” Had asked, his face hopeful.

“Oh, right. I’ve got it all there in the cab. Hold on, sugar.” She shuffled back to the taxi and started pulling out bag after bag. “I brought all of your favorites and then some. I got collard greens and baked beans and cornbread and some brisket…” Her description continued as she unloaded the equivalent of a busy restaurant on a weekend out of the back of the car.

It seemed only moments before a feast was spread out on a huge homemade quilt, and everyone there, including the paramedics, were busy chowing down on the finest southern meal Sariah had ever seen. The woman had somehow even managed to produce a pitcher of lemonade. Impossible. She’d have to talk to her about how she’d managed to get that past security at the airport.

“But how did you get here so fast?” Joshua asked, moving his face away from another of Bella’s demonstrations of love.

“Oh, honey, I started movin’ the second my boy stopped answerin’ his phone. He may not talk to me as much as he should, but he knows better than to screen my calls.”

“Okay, fine,” he said, waving off her explanation. “But how did you know we were out here?”

“Sugar, please.” She pulled herself up, offended. “If you can’t figure
that
out, you ain’t much of a federal agent.”

That echo of Sariah and Joshua’s earlier argument almost pulled a smile from her. Almost.

The most shocking part of the meal, though, was the fact that Joshua stayed there in the midst, eating some of everything he could put his hands on. And he was smiling. Well, nearly. It was what Sariah imagined passed for a smile with the former agent.

And Reggie was right there as well, looking more a part of the team than Sariah herself. Maybe that was something that she should make official. They had certainly benefitted from her presence, and now that it was clear that Humpty was still out there and active, they could use her help.

As Sariah looked over the group, she was overwhelmed with how much they looked like a family. They fit together. As distinct and separate as they all were, they belonged.

And she did not.

She turned to find a darker corner where she could deal with her feelings alone. There was no need to impose her negativity on the celebration that was happening around her. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair.

A hand rested on her shoulder. Sariah turned around, expecting to see Had, or maybe Reggie.

It was Joshua.

He was holding Bella still, and the puppy tried to sit up when she saw Sariah, her tail wagging. Sariah reached out to scratch her ears, but Bella attacked the hand with her tongue before she got there.

“What is it, Joshua? I kind of wanted—”

“Shut up, Coop,” he cut her off. “Shut up and come eat some food.”

“But I—”

“I said, shut up. You’re part of this, whether you feel like it or not. Whether you admit it or not. You are sitting down with us, and you are eating this amazing food.” He stared at her for a long moment. “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but you earned this.”

He grabbed her by the arm, even though she could see it was painful for him, and dragged her over to the inner circle, pushing people aside to make room for her as Had shoved a plate overflowing with food at her.

What else could she do?

She sat down and broke bread with her new family.

* * *

Another airport after another flight in another airplane that looked just like every other airplane in the US. Man, Joshua hated to travel.

But at least having Bella with him made it more interesting. Two different flight attendants had given him their number on cocktail napkins. The puppy was like a magnet.

Bella hadn’t left his arms since the paramedics had placed her there two days ago. Made showering a bit awkward, but at least it kept her clean.

Reggie was with them. It had taken some serious talking on their parts to get her boss to part with her, but when she asked if he would put her on full-time status, all of the sudden his arguments evaporated. She looked over at him, possibly having felt his gaze, and smiled. That was a dazzling smile. One of which he was going to have to be wary.

Once more, Had was off talking to a newly acquired friend from the flight. Agent Cooper was standing by herself, watching the interaction with a look that someone else might have thought was wistful.

But Joshua knew better.

They were back in DC, and in a few minutes Bilal would be picking them up to take them back to Quantico. It was time to start back up on the search for the real Humpty Dumpty killer.

But what Coop, Had and Reggie didn’t know was that Joshua had a side trip he had to take first. He approached the agent, watching her come back to herself as she felt his presence nearing.

“How’s the ribs?”

“Still broken,” Joshua replied.

“Yeah, I guess so.” And as if he had just accused her of breaking them herself, she dropped her gaze to the ground.

“Hey,” Joshua said, bending down to catch her eye. Wow. That was painful. He reminded himself not to try that move again. “You’ve got to stop this.”

She said nothing for a bit, and then gave him what looked like a grimace. It might have been meant as a smile.

“I did everything right, Joshua. Everything.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “I know. Look, last time I said this, I was yelling at you, but let me try it again. Sometimes you do everything right, and it still goes to shit.”

“But that’s—” she began.

“Life,” he finished for her. “It’s just life. Sometimes it sucks.”

She nodded once, looking out over his head, her gaze unfocused. “I get that.”

“Not sure you do,” he said. “But you will. Listen,” Joshua changed tracks, “I’m not coming in to Quantico with you right this second.”

Her attention returned to his face, her eyes questioning. “Oh?”

“I’ve got… Well, I’ve got some things I need to take care of.”

There was another long pause, in which Coop seemed to be trying to read his soul. He shifted from one foot to the other.

“Okay,” she said finally. “I trust you.” She turned to walk away, but then added one more thing. “Besides, you’ve still got that monitor on.”

True enough. Joshua watched as Bilal pulled up to the curb and his three teammates piled into the cab. He would see them soon enough.

Right now, he had an appointment with his family.

His family, and a nasty old man.

EPILOGUE

Sariah stared at the front door.

She’d been standing there for what felt like an hour, moving closer, then changing her mind and coming back to stand in the shade of the oak tree out in front of the modest home. It was one of those manufactured houses, in an area that had nothing but manufactured houses.

After months of agonizing and obsessing, Sariah had found out more than she’d ever wanted to know about Curtis Howse and his family. Part of the story that had started to come out was just why it was that he had acted so guilty.

Curtis had a secret. It was the reason he’d killed himself rather than have his family invaded. It was the reason that, even though truckers made pretty good money, his home was modest.

The trucker had spent his time and money on helping illegal immigrants escape from immigration. He would pick up families that were about to be deported, skipping or only taking small parts of lucrative hauls in order to carry those looking to stay in the US.

The house of cards had come tumbling down after he died. He’d made bribes and faked manifests, all to get around the weigh stations. But with his death had come questions, and the puzzle had started to come together for those who had been keeping an eye on him for a while. It hadn’t taken long for Sariah to get them to open up about it.

The man had done it all for the love of his Latina wife. From what Sariah could tell, it was her family that had needed his help first, and what had started him on his crusade. Thirteen years ago.

And now, here she was, trying to force herself to talk to Curtis’ widow. She couldn’t imagine that the meeting would go well, but she owed it to the woman. Curtis was dead because of her.

It was time to pay the piper.

Sariah took one last deep breath, walked toward the door and rang the doorbell before she gave herself time to rethink. She heard footsteps approach the entryway, the tread light.

The door opened, and there before her was Lupe Howse, widow of the late Curtis. Her eyes widened in recognition.

“Agent Cooper? I’m so glad you’re here. Hold on a moment.” She shuffled off down the hallway, disappearing for a moment around the corner.

Sariah had no idea what to make of this. Was Lupe going for a gun? It wasn’t that much of a stretch, and Sariah wouldn’t blame her if she did. But her attitude upon seeing the agent on her doorstep hadn’t been adversarial.

And then she was back, with a package in her hands. “This has been waiting for you,” she said, and placed the box in Sariah’s trembling hands. She then nodded and closed the door, and Sariah listened as the footsteps retreated.

She looked down at the box in her hands, a feeling of dread spreading through her body. The box had lost some of its integrity and was soft and moist in Sariah’s grip.

Grasping the edge of one of the pieces of tape used to secure the package, Sariah began to open it, somehow knowing what she would see before she got the lid open. It felt like an out-of-body experience, or like watching a car accident happen right in front of you. She wanted to look away, but could not.

With fingers shaking, Sariah lifted the edges of the lid, pushing aside the Styrofoam peanuts that had been used to keep the contents from damage. A glistening piece of plastic surfaced, and she scooped out the remainder of the packing materials, looking to catch a glimpse of what was contained underneath.

And then it was clear what she held in her hands. The blood drained out of her face, and her arms shook to the point that she almost could not keep the box in her arms.

There, staring out at her from the package, was a human head.

Afterword

Thank you very much for taking this ride with Joshua, Coop and Had. Hopefully you enjoyed reading about their case as much as we enjoyed writing it. Be on the lookout for
All Fall Down
, which should be out March 2014.

If you did enjoy
Humpty Dumpty
, we'd love to ask you a favor and go back to Amazon and leave a review. We indie authors live and die by our reviews!

We’d also like to enlist your help. If you find any, and we mean any typos, spelling errors or anything funky, please contact us directly at
[email protected]
. Even though this book has gone through a gazillion edits, we are all only human and your input is greatly appreciated!

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Looking for other great mysteries? Be on the watch for
3rd Body
, the first novel in the next trilogy of the
Darc Murders Series
, it should be out mid 2014. Can't wait until then? Check out the next section for more mystery/thrillers from Carolyn and Ben!

Other Works by Carolyn McCray and Ben Hopkin

The Nursery Rhyme Murders Collection