The Corin Chronicles Volume I: The Light and the Dark (20 page)

“I see someone’s hungry.” Smiling, Andrew led the way back to the dining table, where Nancy had already started serving the food.

When he sat down, Karl’s first thought was of his wife. He saw in Nancy the same immaculate attention to detail, and the same loving and caring personality. He almost shed a tear at that moment, even as he bit into a piece of meat, but he realized Nancy had called his name more than once.

“Yes, I’m sorry, I was just thinki… It doesn’t matter. Sorry.” Karl started to feel uneasy.

“No need to apologize.” Nancy smiled warmly. “I know you haven’t had one of these in a while.”

Karl suddenly burst out in laughter. “No, not at all,” he said. “All I have these days is bad Chinese, but I guess HBO makes up for it.”

Nancy giggled. “Andrew was like that when I first met him. I don’t think he had ever cooked a meal for himself before we met.”

“I think I still have a lot to learn about our Andrew here,” said Karl. “But he seems like he will be great for our team.”

“He definitely hasn’t been able to shut up about you.” Nancy leaned over and held on to Andrew’s hand.

“Really?” Karl leaned forward. “What nice things could he have to say about a fogey like me?” A smile lingered on his face after he finished speaking.

“Well, you seem like someone who never stops until the job is done, and I’m just happy that he has you watching over him.”

“So you don’t mind him doing this?” asked Karl. He chewed for a moment, nodding approvingly as he ate. “I mean, you hardly need the money.”

“It’s never been about the money.” Nancy stopped eating and put her fork down. “I think we need to discover ourselves and live our own lives. I’m still a nurse, and Andrew has always wanted to make a difference. From what he tells me, your task force is doing just that.”

Karl remained silent, with an uneasy look on his face. He wondered whether to mention what he knew of her father but decided against it. As far as he knew, Nancy did not know exactly what her father did. “I’m not sure if this is for you, Andrew,” he said. “You have a great life here. Your fiancée’s wonderful.” He noticed the gleaming smile on Nancy’s face and focused on it for a second before continuing. “I know what this job does to a person. I would never wish my life on anyone, especially a couple that already has everything.”

Nancy and Andrew did not respond, and silence filled the room. Karl continued eating and noticed that his hosts did the same. He saw that Nancy seemed to desperately want to speak, but she was keeping her thoughts to herself. The food tasted scrumptious, and he tried to distract himself from the tension he felt had invaded the room, but the silence suddenly ended when Nancy spoke.

“I adore what you’re trying to do,” she said. “But I fear that Andrew will never be happy unless he does this.”

Karl gazed at Andrew, who remained focused on his food, before diverting his eyes back to Nancy. “Is this what you want?” he asked. “Knowing that you could get the call any minute, saying that he’s been in an accident or worse?”

With her chin resting in her palms, she looked at her fiancé for a few seconds, almost trying to find the words with which to answer. “I understood the risks he put on his life when I first met him.” Her gaze was now firmly on Karl. “I tried to convince him to choose another career, but you can’t stop anyone from achieving their dreams. I love him with all my heart, and I’ll support him.” She paused for a minute, grabbed her fiancé’s hand and kissed it. Andrew lovingly held both of hers. “I’ve never heard him speak as highly of anyone as he’s spoken of you,” she continued. “I truly believe that you will look after my baby and make sure he comes back to me every night.”

Karl frowned but tried to conceal it with a forced smile. “I’ll try my best,” he said before continuing to eat his food.

“So, have you got a nice woman in your life to look after you?” A broad smile spread across Nancy’s face, but then quickly retreated when she noticed the grimace on Karl’s face.

“Nancy, I told you not to talk about that,” Andrew whispered. He set his fork down, uncomfortable.

Speechless, Nancy put her hands to her face where they stayed for a few seconds, before she slowly continued to eat her food.

Karl gazed toward the left-hand wall for a few seconds, deep in thought. Glancing at both of his hosts, he placed his fork down and rested his hands on either side of his face. “That’s okay,” he said finally. “I’m glad you asked that. The truth is… I’ve needed to talk to someone about it for a very long time. The Bureau kept trying to get me to see someone before I resigned. But I was scared, scared that it would be too painful. I guess this is as good a time as any.”

“I’m really sorry. Forget I said anything,” Nancy ate quickly, avoiding eye contact.

“No, I’m fine.” Karl took a few deep breaths. “The truth is, my wife and daughter were murdered.”

Nancy dropped her cutlery and placed both palms on the table. “Oh my god,” she said. “That’s so horrible. Do you know who did it?”

“I do, as a matter of fact. I guess it was one of those things that no matter how I looked at it, neither I nor my Kimberly would have done anything differently.” He paused for a second to sip his glass of red wine. “You see, my daughter, Pamela, was just like her mother. She cared so much for others, and as you would have it, one day when coming home from school, she saw a beggar on the street. As her mother always did, she went to give him a dollar.

“When she did, he grabbed her and dragged her into an alley. This was in broad daylight, by the way.” Karl looked up and saw both Andrew and Nancy looking at him intently. “Anyway, she screamed and struggled. Some eyewitnesses said that people dialed 911, but no one went up to help her. There was one guy though, out of all of them. He ran into the alley and literally wrestled her attacker. Some said he threw his whole body at the man, punching and kicking him. My daughter kept screaming, but this stranger calmed her down.

“He personally took her to the hospital, and after we met him that night… Well, I’m sure you can understand the gratitude we felt.” Karl paused and took a long, deep breath before continuing. “So we found out his name was Sean Pepper, and, believe it or not, he was homeless. Kimberly insisted that he stay with us for a bit, as a sort of thank you. I wasn’t as keen myself, but the checks I ran on him all came back clean, so I was cool with it. Things were brilliant for a while, and we loved him. But I’m a trained agent, and it wasn’t long before things were no longer adding up.

“He didn’t really have a past or a valid memory that didn’t sound made up. It was almost like he was trying too hard to make us feel sorry for him, and I just had a bad feeling, you know?”

Andrew nodded.

Karl gulped the rest of his wine before continuing. “After that, I did everything. I ran more checks on his name. I even checked with Interpol, but nothing came back.” He lifted both his hands in the air. “Nothing. I decided to just leave it alone. But the longer he stayed with us, the more worried I was. I knew he was hiding something. I just knew it in here.” He pressed his right hand against his chest.

“Kimberly begged me to drop it. She kept going on about how he saved Pamela’s life and how we should be grateful. So what did I do? I put my hands up. I let it go.

“Anyway, a few months passed, and Sean suddenly said he was going to stay with a family in Virginia.” Karl shrugged. “Kimberly wasn’t happy. Neither was Pamela. But I was. I just wanted rid of him. On the day he was supposed to go, I had finished in the office when my phone rang. It was Kimberly, asking me to speak to Sean before he left. I wished him luck and all that. He was cool about it all. No problems. But as I walked out of the office, the phone rang. Forensics had finally found a match for his prints. The agent didn’t say what he was wanted for, but she did use the words ‘extremely dangerous’.”

“What did you do?” Nancy moved her plate to one side and leaned forward. Andrew remained in the same position, captivated by the story.

“I rushed straight home, but at every corner… traffic, traffic, and more traffic. I had to do something. I just had to. So I called. I just wanted to make sure she was all right. Maybe if I had just left it alone. Maybe if he didn’t know I was on to him, he might have just left.” He paused and looked toward the ceiling. Andrew and Nancy exchanged glances before Karl spoke again.

“She answered the phone quickly,” he said. “She sounded normal, but she said he was still there. I had no idea whether he was listening or not, so I just told her to make sure Pamela stayed upstairs. But being Kimberly, she wanted to know why and just didn’t let it go. I just made some stuff up and said I had a surprise for her, and she bought that.

“After that, I took every other road I could find with no traffic. I thought of sending a squad car, but they probably would have taken longer.” He coughed loudly before continuing. “When I walked through the door, I saw them both lying there. I rushed down and looked for any injuries on them. There were no injuries, but they weren’t breathing.

“After calling the ambulance,” he continued, “I tried mouth to mouth. I tried everything, but nothing worked. They were gone. As I sat there, holding on to them, I could see something moving around outside my patio door. I rushed there, but he had already climbed over the fence.”

“What?” shouted Nancy, “You mean you saw him?”

“Yes, it was him. The person I let into my life. The person I let sleep near my ten-year-old daughter. Anyway, I couldn’t see him clearly at first, but then it was almost like he walked into clear view just so I
could
see him. I saw his face clearly, the blank, almost sad expression. Maybe it was remorse. I didn’t care. I was so mad I just pulled my gun and started shooting. Shot straight through the glass of the patio door. I could hear the neighbors screaming, but I didn’t care. I wanted him so bad.”

“What happened then?” asked Andrew.

“Nothing,” Karl said. “He was too far away.” He let out a deep breath, his cheeks puffing out momentarily. “After a while, the police and ambulance sirens came, but he was already gone.”

“So, did you ever find out how they died?” Nancy’s voice trembled. “What if he didn’t even do it? What if it was an accident? It all sounds so mysterious.”

“Oh, it was him,” Karl said. “The coroner said it was cardiac arrest, but to this day I don’t understand. He said it was maybe due to some kind of shock, but I’m not buying it. He murdered them.”

Andrew and Nancy remained silent, worried about saying the wrong thing.

“It wasn’t until the funeral that Senator Walsh approached me and…” Karl paused, wondering whether to tell them the whole truth. “He basically told me how dangerous Sean was,” he continued. “And that was the birth of my task force. I’ve been tracking him ever since.”

“Oh my god,” said Nancy. “That’s a horror story. If he did kill them, he doesn’t deserve a trial.”

Andrew stood up suddenly. “Everyone deserves a trial, Nancy. Even him. Where would we be without the law?”

“This isn’t the time for preaching, Andrew.” She spoke with her voice raised. “Would you let him go to a jury if he did that to me?”

Andrew walked to the other end of the room, shaking his head furiously. Nancy folded her arms.

“I think what Andrew is saying,” said Karl, “is that we’ve sworn an oath to uphold the law, even in personal circumstances. I want nothing more than his death, but the truth is, he’s probably done this to so many more people, and they all deserve to see him punished. Who am I to take that chance away from them, to see him punished at the hands of the law?”

“I’m so sorry,” said Nancy. “You’re such a good man, and you don’t deserve this.”

Andrew sat back down next to Karl. “You have my word, boss,” he said. “I will make this as personal as if he took one of my own.”

Karl smiled. “I think I need to go,” he said.

Andrew remained motionless, unsure of where to look. Nancy edged toward Karl and embraced him.

“Come on, partner. I’ll get my keys,” Andrew said. He quickly exited the dining room.

Breaking the embrace, Karl nodded at Nancy and rushed after Andrew, calling out his name.

“If it’s okay with you,” Karl said. “I’ll walk for a while and then catch a cab.”

“Are you sure?” asked Andrew. “At this time?”

Karl smiled. “I’ll be fine,” he said. “Thank your wife for me. The food was amazing.” Without giving Andrew the chance to respond, he opened the front door and walked out.

Andrew returned to the kitchen, where he found Nancy seated, staring into space. He sat next to her but did not speak or make eye contact. Nearly ten minutes passed before they heard their doorbell ring. They both ran to open the door. The sight of Karl waving his phone in the air startled them. They stepped aside for him to enter.

“Is everything all right?” asked Nancy worriedly.

Karl looked at Andrew. “Pack a bag. Just got call from William. I think we’ve got him.”

“What?” Andrew’s eyes widened. “Where?”

“Adelaide, Australia. It’s about ninety percent this time, so I’m putting my money on it being him.”

“All right then.” Andrew bumped his fist against the wall. “Let’s do this.” He ran out of the room and headed up the stairs.

Slowly, Nancy approached Karl. “So what happens now?” she asked.

“Well, we have to go over there. If it is him, we’ll need to be sharp, because this guy is dangerous.”

Karl noticed Nancy clutching her chest with both hands and quickly walked up to her. “Andrew knows what’s at stake here,” he said. “He won’t take any risks.”

“Please look after him.” She stuttered her words. “I know there are no guarantees with your job, but please promise me you’ll do everything in your power to keep him safe.”

Karl nodded. “Andrew’s a good guy. Smart, too. He’ll be fine. But I give you my word. I’ll look out for him.”

“Oh, thank you,” she blurted. “You don’t know what it means hearing you say that.” She stepped away and tried not to cry.

A few minutes went by before Andrew rushed back down the stairs. His briefcase was so large that Karl’s mouth dropped open when he saw it. “It’s not a holiday, Andrew. What the hell have you got in there?”