Carolina Rain (38 page)

“How do you know that?” asked Manny.

“I can get a little fu
rther than Agent Corner, although not so much this time,” said Braxton. “It looks like the program ended
suddenly
,
and I don’t know why.
H
e got out of the service a few days later
,
then landed the job in New Hanover County. He dropped of
f
the military radar, as much as possible
,
at least, during that timeframe. I found just two bits of info regarding him up to now. Both had to do with extended
US Marshal
training procedures. One sponsored by the Wilmington people and the other one requested by the
Marshal’s office
.”

“The
Marshal’s office
trains
law enforcement all over the world
,
but they don’t request attendance from
people in
any
organization
unless there’s another motive beyond training,” said Josh.

Manny’s mind was racing with the implications of Garcia being brought in
to train
by the
US Marshals
.
Did that have to do with
th
is other
mysterious training project? But thos
e weren’t the biggest questions.

“I’m assuming you’re trying to find out who requested Garcia to come in and
you’ve
been stonewalled,” said Manny.

“Can’t crack that one with an A-bomb,” agreed Braxton.

Sophie leaned in to comment.
“Taking the final, small leap that Garcia is our man
:
why? Why
did he
kill Max and Garity? And
,
on top of that
, did someone tell him to take them
out? If so, who?”
She slapped
her hands on the table.
“Damn it. Listen to me. It’s like
I’m talking about
some stupid
-
ass conspiracy game you see on a cheap TV movie.”

Running his hand through his hair, Manny was suddenly struck with another possibility. Maybe just as farfetched but plausible, nonetheless. Moreover, it felt right.
But they’d need to do
some leg
work. Manny quickly wrote
six
names on a piece of paper
,
did it again
,
and handed one to Josh and one to Braxton.

He watched Josh’s brow furrow deep as Braxton released a low whistle.

“Maybe not a conspiracy, in the true sense, Sophie
.
Instead, m
aybe
it’s
something else
,
”
said Manny.

He turned back to Braxton, who was now standing near Josh’s chair. “Don’t think I’m nuts
,
but I want you to see if you can tell me what these people were doing four years ago, about the time Garcia’s training ended, and where they were doing it. My wager is that they have something in common.”

Shrugging, Braxton grinned
, eyes twinkling
. “Like I said man, you’re a bright one
. B
ut trying to find a link to these people, since they’re all dead, might be a tough one
.
I’ll do my best just because I want to hear what you’re thinking.”

The big man pulled out his phone and headed toward the back of the jet.
Manny appreciated that the man went right to work.

“I’m going to text this to our tech department and see if they can get to work ASAP. I’ll admit it
,
Williams, you’ve got me wondering about
your take on
a
possible
connection,” said Josh.

“Well
. . .
”

“Who’s on that list and why do you want to find a link?” interrupted Sophie.

His phone went off again and
,
this time
,
Manny was sure he
had
to answer it. Chloe needed him, even if that meant putting things on hold for a few minutes. He raised his hand to Sophie and the others and took the call.

“Hey
,
Chloe. I’m kind of in the middle of something
. . .
”

Manny stopped talking and listened. Chloe wasn’t the kind to drop into panic mode, but she was close.

Ninety seconds later, he felt
his guts tighten
.

“Calm down. You got this
handled
,
Chloe
.”

Her speech slowed and the panic was replaced with her cop demeanor
. . .
almost. Good girl.

“You called Gavin? Okay. Do it. Have the CSU come to process the envelope for prints. And
,
Chloe, what color is it?
Yes, color.
Close enough. We’ll be landing within a half hour so we
’
ll be there soon. Okay? Just
sit
tight.”

He was ready to hang up
,
except h
is new wife stopped him.

“What else, Chloe?”

After she was done, he felt more than his
guts tighten
.
The finger was
one
issue,
but the dead man
who
was Doctor Fredrick Argyle still haunt
ed
him.
Would it, he, ever end?

“Just leave the disc
for the tech and tell Buzzy not to do anything until we get there. I promise, honey, we’ll be there soon. Now call Gavin
. . .
and I love you.”

Tossing the phone on the empty seat beside him, Manny released his seatbelt, stood, and looked at the people staring at him from around the table. This was all too much.
It was enough to think that there might be something deeper going on with the recent murders in North Carolina
. Not to mention,
the mysterious
Janice Rhode’s
attempt to kill him
in the hospital
. T
hat didn’t include
the apparent spontaneous reformation of Anna Cruz and the
months
it
c
ould take to see if
she
was an anomaly or an abomination.

N
ow there was a severed finger sent to his house
. A
DVD from Ireland and Haley Roses’ bed and breakfast laced with promises
of more hell
,
that Argyle said he could deliver,
and
all
within seventy
-
two hours. Why now? Why all of this at once? He didn’t believe in coincidence
,
so what was really going on?
What did all of this have in common?

Manny was gifted with one more inspiration. And it caused his dread to rise higher.

“What the hell was that
all about
?” asked Alex, pointing to the phone on the seat.

“Let’s just say it’s raining
a
shit
-
storm
back home
,” said Manny. “But before I explain, Alex
,
I need you to do something for me when we get back to Lansing.”

“What?”

“I need a body ex
h
umed.”

CHAPTER-52

Pulling up to the front of his house in the Bureau’s SUV
,
in typical bat-out-of-hell fashion that was Sophie’s signature style, Manny was
possessed
with a feeling of
d
éjà vu
that crept inside him as he
considered
the three LPD cruisers in the driveway. He had done this far too many times the last two years. It seemed like this house, his home, had been at the center of every battle the good guys had fought against all that was wr
ong with this planet. He’d lost and won wars here
, h
ad b
een invaded by Argyle and survived. He’d been blessed by Louise, Jen, Sampson, and now Chloe. No doubt, he’d gained some but
,
in the end, lost much more, including the first love of his life. It shouldn’t be
, none of it
. Whatever happened to a man’s home being his castle? Now here he was again. Severed fingers, DVDs from a dead madman, and a new mother-in-law
who
may have
been mentally tainted from exposure
to
that
brilliant
psychopath
.

Exiting the truck
,
he hurried toward the front door, his mind still focused on the setting.

And what of Chloe? She was strong in ways like no other woman he’d
ever
met
. S
he
’d
never complain
ed
—
it just wasn’t her nature
—
but
,
maybe she deserved something else entirely. To have a domicile void of memories and history that would never truly be hers. A place that she could
call her own with her new family
.

Damn, how could
I
be so blind?

She deserved her own home. And if he
—
they
—
survived the crowning culmination of what he suspected was
to come
regarding
the chain of events over the last ten weeks, then he’d fix that for her.

Shaking off his self-deprecati
on
, Manny entered the house, followed by Sophie, Josh, Dean, and Alex. Braxton had decided to go back to DC and oversee the research on the names Manny had requested.
That was good by him.
Manny
had been
counting on it.

He was immediately mugged by the one
-
hundred
-
thirty pound black Lab that doubled as his bodyguard an
d
sometimes confidant. Sampson barked, stood on his hind legs
,
reaching
the top of Manny’s six-foot frame
,
then licked his face.

“Good to see you,
B
ig
D
og,” he said, returning the hug.

After one more lick, Sampson dropped to all fours and moved to the corner of the front room and sat down, never taking his eyes from Manny.

Good
dog
.

Walking through the doorway into the kitchen, Manny saw Chloe. She took two strides and was in his arms. She belong
ed
there. The smell of her hair and the gentle strength of her embrace made him wonder why he’d ever
think of
leav
ing
her again
.
Maybe he
w
ouldn’t.

“About time ya got here, Williams,” she whispered, kissing him on the cheek
,
then stepping away.

“We got her
e
as fast as we could. I was going to surprise you
.
I guess you beat me to it,” he answered.

Chloe nodded. “Not my idea of a fancy surprise, don’t ya know.”

“I suppose not. Listen, not to rush things, but I need to see the DVD that Haley Rose brought with her
. . .
now.”

“It’s in there. I put it in my laptop
—
well
,
the Bureau
’
s laptop
—
and after
viewing
Argyle’s little drama
,
I left it in there
.
”

“How’s you
r
mom?”

“She seems normal
. . .
appalled at the DVD and the finger.”

“Good.
That’s a good first step.”

Haley Rose was a
resolute
woman
, h
eadstrong
even. S
o maybe she was totally unscathed by Argyle’s influence.
And perhaps that’s what Argyle
had
wanted.
At any rate
, Haley Rose
seemed
undamaged, for whatever purpose
, for now
.