Past Forward- A Serial Novel: Episode 11 (4 page)

The clock chimed nine-thirty.
Chad reached for his phone.
He
’
d waited, hadn
’
t demanded information, had been the perfect patient
,
but the women were gone
,
and now it was time for answers.
“
Hey Chief, where is
Brad
?
”

“
Had to take his car in for an oil change.
He
’
s walking in now
;
do you need him?
”

“
Actually,
”
Chad admitted,
“
I was hoping you
’
d come out here and tell me what you know about the accident.
I
’
ve been thinking about it
,
and none of it makes sense
.”

“
You
’
re supposed to be recuperating, Chad
.”

Chad
fought to keep a respectful tone in his voice as
he
pressed for information.
“
Look
, I
’
ll be back in three days.
How can knowing what
’
s going on hurt me
now
?
I can
’
t go anywhere; I don
’
t have a vehicle.
I
’
m stuck out here at Willow
’
s by myself all day
,
and I
’
m bored stiff
.”

Chief
Varney
resisted the idea but eventually capitulated
.
“
I
’ll bring
out
the files
and tell you what we know.
Can’t stay long;
I
’
ve got beat t
his after
noon
.”

“
You
’
re on beat?
I
’
m sorry
.”

The Chief chuckled.
“
Unlike you
,
son, I like it.
It
’
s cold this time of year
,
but people need a friendly face
.”

Twenty minutes later, Chief Varney sat on Willow’s couch and passed a file across the coffee table. A question jerked him from the contents as his boss
spoke.
“
Chad, I
’
ve never wanted to ask
—
it
’
s none of my business, but is there anything going on with you and Miss Finley?
”

Feeling a little self-conscious, Chad said,
“
Well
actually, we
’
re getting married
.”

“
Wow.
I didn
’
t know things had gotten
that
serious.
Congratulations
!
”

“
W
e haven
’
t announced it yet.
My cousin
’
s getting married
in March
,
so we
’
re waiting until after that.
Let him have his day
,
you know?
”

“
Thoughtful of you.
I have to admit, I
’
m surprised.
You always seemed a little put out that you had to come out here.
I knew it
’
d happen eventually
,
but
—”
Varney took back the file and
spread out the information they had on Willow
’
s stalker
across the coffee table
.
“
His name is Ben Fischer.
Clean record. One speeding ticket and a drunk and disorderly on his twenty-first birthday
,
but other than that, model citizen
.”

“
Any idea why he was after Willow?
”

Chief Varney shook his head.
“
No, and what
’
s worse, a guy like him doesn
’
t do the things he did without some training or experience
.”

“
What do you mean?
”

“
I
’
ve seen it in Rockland.
We
’
d find them dead with no ties to anyone, no record, but too much experience or training for it to be a fluke
.”

“
So working for someone?
”

With a hesitant nod, Chief Varney pointed at Chad
’
s neck.
“
That accident.
It wasn
’
t one.
Your head injury could have come from hitting the side of the door
,
but that hypodermic didn
’
t just jab itself into your neck
.”

“True
…
”

The older man continued as if on a roll. “A
nd how did Fischer
’
s seatbelt fail?
He just accidentally managed to fly through the back window?
I don’t think so. The c
oroner found a hypodermic on him too.
He
’
d have missed it if we hadn
’
t got suspicious about you
r memory loss.
You didn’t hit your head
that
hard
.”

“
I
’
m glad no one thought I took those things voluntarily
.”

“
Well we certainly didn
’
t think Willow gave them to you!
”
the c
hief teased
,
before growing serious again.
“
If you hadn
’
t gotten too much of that stuff, we
’
d never have questioned anything.
It was just good enough to look
the after effects of a head injury,
but when they found that puncture
—”

“
How did we catch him in the first place?
”

While Frank Varney recounted the story of Ben
’
s capture, Chad listened closely.
“
He was moving clothes?
”

“
Yep. I had her repeat her statement several times.
Was sure she was explaining it wrong or something.”

Chad recounted events to keep them straight.
“
So for several weeks, Ben comes around, kills her animals, moves things around in her house
—
why?
Then we catch him and he refuses to talk at all
.
Then he
’
s killed on the way to processing in Brunswick
—
why?
Finally, why make it look like an accident?
Why risk me remembering something?
”

“
Well, the doc says with the dose you had, remembering anything is pretty slim
.”

“
Why risk killing a cop with an overdose
then
?
”
Chad demanded.

“
You almost can
’
t overdose on R2
,
but it can make you extra vulnerable to other things
.”

Chad
’
s mind whirled.
“
Ben
’
s working for someone, gets caught, gets killed by someone else working for someone
—”

“
What was the name of the guy who
paid off
Willow
’
s mother?
”

“
Solari
.”

Chief Varney’s face paled, turning even his red nose a sickly white
.