Cloaked in Blood (34 page)

I opened the fridge and grabbed the
milk.  Moments later, I started brewing Johnny’s hot cocoa
recipe on the stove.

“How does somebody hide all of this shit?”
Datello wondered.  “For over twenty years I tried to prove to
people that I wasn’t the same kid that got dragged out of Darkwater
Bay by the ear, but everybody knew what happened to my dad, that my
uncle was this horrible person, and they assumed I was a chip off
the old block, no matter how many good deeds I did.  Do you
have any idea how much I’ve done for Darkwater Bay?”

“I know more than you think I know,” I
said.  “People don’t want to give the man in the black hat a
chance to prove he’s not the devil.  It’s human nature. 
I’m as guilty of it as anybody else.  All this time, I assumed
you were cut from the same cloth as Sully.  I know how wrong I
was now, but then?”

“But you thought you were just like Wendell
too,” Danny argued.

“Yeah, and my desperation to keep him hidden
from the world was pretty serious,” I admitted.  “I even went
so far as to let the entire world, including Rick, believe Wendell
was dead.  I’m not proud of it, but I understand why Dad
doesn’t hold it against me, why he wouldn’t fight to prove his
innocence.  The sins of the father and all that.  It
haunts the children.”

“Maybe that’s why this unknown guy is so
desperate to cover his tracks now.  Maybe he’s got so much to
lose in Darkwater Bay that he’d kill to protect that image.”

I stirred blocks of dark chocolate into the
simmering milk on the stove.  “That’s something else that’s
been nagging at me, Danny.  Remember when we talked about
Rodney Martin?”

“Yeah.  We need proof that he was
campaigning to climb the ladder in the police department, don’t
we?  Wendell’s sure that he wouldn’t have had to suck up to
anybody to get into the police academy after his undergraduate
degree. I think he’s right.”

“If it was his intention to position himself
with powerful people as he began his career, it makes more
sense.  I don’t believe in coincidence.”

“What’s coincidental about this notion that
he might’ve been involved with the human traffickers, Helen? 
At least insomuch as knowing certain pieces that would’ve added up
to what they were really doing as things happened out here over the
past few months.”

“Me,” I said.  “My first trip to
Darkwater Bay after he graduated from UCLA.  He begged me to
come here with him.  I thought it was a crush, you know,
though I couldn’t understand it.  Rodney was a very attractive
and popular young man in college.  I was… well, I’m me, and
not much has changed over the years.  I’m still too tall, too
thin, too…bleh.”  I shuddered.

Datello laughed.  “Okay, then. 
You do have a chink or two in that self confident armor, I
see.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my esteem. 
I’m just not delusional, Danny.  I’m no beauty queen like your
wife.  And I don’t mean that in a nasty way.  I adore
Celeste, if you must know, and it just about killed me when I had
to tell her that I failed to save your life.”

A faint smile crept over his lips. 
“You were starting to have doubts about me, weren’t you?”

I nodded.  “It became very clear to me
after that nightmare on
The Celeste
that you were a
convenient patsy they planned to use all along.  I was an
idiot not to look deeper in the first place.  When Rick told
me the truth, that you were his cousin, I should’ve immediately
started an investigation.  We could’ve avoided all of this
bullshit last year.”

“Except you did solve a few really heinous
murders out here,” Datello said.

I poured hot chocolate into two cups. 
“We managed to get Southerby off the streets once and for all,
stopped some drug dealing white supremacists, and arrested a
murderous homophobe.”

“And Gwen’s murderer,” he said.  “That
meant more to me than you could possibly know, Helen.”

The light bulb in my head clicked on. 
“Frank Bennett was like the father you lost, wasn’t he?”

“He was a good man, a good friend.  He
helped me see that I really didn’t have to be as ruthless as I was
raised to behave, Helen.  I wasn’t that old when I came back
to Darkwater Bay.”

“You’re really an environmentalist,” I
chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess I am.  I love this
city.  I wanted to protect it, to make it a better place, not
one full of crime.  But I probably brought Uncle Sully with me
unwittingly.”

“Well, his days are numbered.  You’ll
testify, explain what he’s done and Franchetta will corroborate
that much credibly.  I don’t think any jury in the world would
doubt that he’s killed a bunch of people.”

“How many people have you killed?” Datello
asked quietly.

“Is this part of the sting operation,
Danny?  Get me to confess and you give evidence against me
too?”

“You know better than that.  It’s just
that my imagination is a little bit out of control where you’re
concerned.  Sort of like you imagined Wendell killed more than
he ever did.”

I sighed.  “Outside the line of
duty?  Only one.” 

Yet I wasn’t entirely that innocent.  I
enjoyed killing Umberto Gutierrez and Andy Gillette.  I
certainly felt no remorse for Alfred Preston’s death.  While I
technically had nothing to do with Fulk Underwood’s murder, I made
sure the man who pulled the trigger didn’t pay for his crime. 
And I seriously planned to murder Datello.  And Mitch
Southerby.  It crossed my mind more than once to make Seleeby
vanish too.  And if I were completely honest, there was a very
black moment at the bay where Tony Briscoe might’ve met his maker
by my hand too.

“I think you built your father up into this
great heroic monster, just like I refused to see that mine was
probably every bit as bad as Uncle Sully,” Danny said.  “We’ve
both been running away from who we really are, Helen.  The
irony is that neither one of us has to be like the men who raised
us.  It’s all a choice.  People aren’t born good or
bad.  We choose what to do.”

“When this is all over, there will be
consequences for what I’ve done.  I don’t doubt that.  I
just hope that my sons have a better shot at a normal life than
I’ve had,” I said.

“I doubt Orion will let anyone hurt you,
Helen.  As much as I dislike the guy, it’s pretty obvious that
he loves you.”

“Yeah,” I said over the rim of my cup. 
“If only that were enough.”

Chapter 34

David Levine slapped a file down on Johnny’s
desk.  “His name is Brent Koehler, age forty, a former Army
Ranger who was plucked out of the military for special operations
with an agency who wants very much for his identity to remain
private.”

“Meaning he’s been off their grid for some
time now,” Chris Darnell said grimly.  “They don’t want egg on
their face.  One of their groomed psychos went freelance on
them.”

“Are you serious?”  Johnny shook his
head in disbelief.  “That shit actually happens?”

“If special forces hadn’t been able to get
to Osama bin Laden, who do you think would’ve done the job,
Johnny?  Granted, these kinds of missions are blown way out of
proportion by conspiracy theorists, but it does happen.  Not
as often as they used to because technology has rendered the lone
man on the ground obsolete, but they’re still useful assets in
highly populated areas.”

“Where a drone would cause a human rights
uproar,” Johnny said.  “So how does somebody in Darkwater Bay
hook up with a guy like this?  I can’t imagine that Helen’s
theory on militia and soldier of fortune underground publications
is how this guy got around.”

“You’d be surprised,” David said.  “But
speaking of Helen, where is she?”

“I had Crevan take her home hours ago,”
Johnny said.  “I already told you that we’ve got a team
watching Henderson’s place.  Crevan’s heading that up. 
The second we find him, I want him out here for questioning.”

“He’s probably anticipating as much, given
the location of this latest murder, Johnny.  Honestly, now
that we know there was a connection between him and the orderly
from that hit and run accident, and in addition to his relationship
with Terrell Sanderfield, he can’t possibly think we wouldn’t want
to have a serious conversation.”

Johnny crunched the knuckles of his right
hand into the palm of his left.  “I’m getting answers once and
for all.  This bullshit stops, David.  It’s been going on
for far too long.”

“I don’t disagree, but at the same time, I
think it would be to our advantage to involve Helen in this
conversation with Henderson.  She’s the last person he’d
expect to interrogate him.”

Eyes narrowed, Darnell’s this time. 
“And don’t you suppose that might create more problems when we have
no legal reason to detain Mr. Henderson?  He’ll walk out of
here and probably tell whoever is instigating this particular crime
wave.  Tipping our hand, letting them know that we know who
Helen really is, I don’t think it’s a mistake we can afford right
now.”

Johnny disagreed.  “Chris, they
probably at least suspect we’ve figured out that much.  It’s
impossible to think otherwise.  In fact, they’re probably
amazed that everyone didn’t notice the resemblance between Helen
and Crevan the moment she arrived in Darkwater Bay.  Florence
Payette said a couple of months ago after the Datello baby was
abducted, that Eugene Sherman was excited about Helen’s arrival in
town.  I’m thinking excitement wasn’t the positive kind. 
Of course, she’d never talk to me after I scared her half to
death.”

“I could talk to her,” David said. 
“She was comfortable with me.”

Johnny nodded.  “Though I’m not sure
how that helps us at this point.  Sherman is dead.”

“She identified Preston as an associate of
Sherman,” Chris said.  “Who’s to say she can’t definitively
identify other men involved in all of this?  We’d barely have
a case left against Melissa Sherman if it weren’t for Florence
Payette.  I think if we’re going to utilize Helen, it would be
far wiser to have her working with Payette than it would to let her
anywhere near Henderson.”

“I won’t allow Helen’s involvement in this
any further,” Johnny said.  “That’s final.”

“Is she in agreement with that?” David
asked.

“We’ve reached an understanding. 
Putting her in the middle of a case that seems to revolve around
her in the first place isn’t a good idea.  There’s a huge
conflict of interest,” Johnny said.  “It could actually damage
the prosecution’s ability to successfully put these guys away for
life if their likely first victim is involved in the
investigation.”

“Her insight could be valuable, Johnny,”
David said.  “Loathe as I am to admit it, she did benefit from
a unique education as the daughter of Wendell Eriksson.  I
suspect he honed her instincts without either one of them even
realizing it.”

Datello’s paranoia, recently transferred to
Wendell and Helen fluttered to Orion’s thoughts again.  Why
did David keep insisting that Helen be part of this
investigation?  Did he have another motive, like Datello
alleged?  If so, what could it possibly be?  He’d
intimated that things were dire with the government’s star witness
Eddie Franchetta.  Did his sudden arrival back in Darkwater
Bay have more to do with the bureau’s suspicion that Danny came
back home?  Did he suspect that Helen knew where Datello was,
that she still wanted to see him dead for ruining her career?

“Johnny?” David cocked his head to one
side.  “Are you all right?”

He nodded.  “I’m sorry, David, but I
have to agree with Chris.  Helen stays far away from all of
this.  If you want to talk to Payette again, be my guest, but
I don’t want any of this mentioned in Helen’s presence, discussed
with her or her opinions solicited.  She’s pregnant.  Her
priorities have to change.”

“And what would she say about your orders?”
David bristled.

“I already told you.  She agrees with
me completely.”  Johnny glanced at his watch.  “It’s
late.  I’m exhausted.  We’ve got Henderson under
surveillance.  I’m going home.  Chris, will you walk me
out?”

“Johnny, I thought perhaps we could discuss
this further, that you might extend your hospitality again,” David
said.  “You were right you know.  Helen did call to
apologize.”

“I’m sorry,” Johnny said.  “I mean
it.  This doesn’t come home with me.  Call me later after
you get some rest.  On the cell, not my home phone.”

David frowned but agreed.  “I guess I’d
better find a hotel room then.  I’ll be in touch.”

The door barely closed before Chris asked,
“What the hell is going on, Johnny?  Something happened at
that crime scene tonight.  If you had such a huge problem with
Helen’s involvement in this, why was she there in the first
place?”

“I wanted her out of there before David
showed up.”

“But why?  I thought they were
close.  He actually helped us when Collangelo closed OSI.”

“I saw something in Lyle Henderson’s
apartment earlier.  We need to get a warrant and get in there
right away.”

“Why?”

“Because I think we have another crime
scene.”

“Seriously?  Nobody reported –”

“I know what I saw.  The light across
the street?  What was left by the time anyone else saw it, it
illuminated something.”

“What?”

“A body on the sofa in that apartment. 
I don’t know how anybody found out that the sniper failed before
the media hopped on the story, but somebody did.”

“He could’ve been watching, making sure that
Henderson was shut up for good, Johnny.”

“Yeah,” he said.  “Which means he
might’ve seen who killed Koehler.”

“Do we actually know specifically where the
nine-one-one call came from?”