Dead Wrong (22 page)

M
ARA YAWNED AND OPENED HER EYES SLOWLY, THEN
realized that the car had stopped moving. She turned toward the driver’s seat, but it was empty, as was Spike’s little dog bed.

Unbuckling her seat belt, she opened the door and stepped out into a cool and foggy morning. She had absolutely no idea where she was. There was movement off to her left, and she called softly, “Aidan?”

“Over here.” He stepped through the parting mist following Spike, who took off for Mara.

She scooped him up. “Bugged Aidan for a walk, did you?”

“We both needed to stretch our legs. Hungry?”

“Very. Where are we? Is this a rest stop?”

“It’s a park. If you want a ladies’ room, there’s a wooden structure back near the entrance that has rest rooms. It’s not far. I just changed down there. Figured if I’m going to meet with the local police, I should look like an FBI agent.”

“Well, you look nice.” She smiled. He did look nice in his light gray tweed jacket. “But I thought you all went for that Men in Black look.”

“We field agents don’t have to do the MIB thing all the time. Mostly we save it for when we’re trying to impress someone. I do have the dark glasses, though. Somewhere . . .” He looked almost amused.

Mara smiled. She liked this Aidan. He seemed more relaxed, less moody than the man who’d stayed with her in Lyndon. It was a nice change.

“The building’s right down this path. Just follow it to the end.”

The building was clearly marked, and though less than luxurious, it was clean and well-kept and contained all the necessary equipment. Mara used the toilet, then washed her face at the sink. She brushed her hair, then rummaged in her purse for makeup, but a small compact containing loose powder and some lip gloss were all she had at hand. She fussed for a moment, wishing she had a little blush and maybe a little mascara, then smiled to herself, trying to recall the last time she had fussed over makeup. It had been a while. She knew without even thinking about it that the effort was for Aidan’s benefit. Something to think about, to be sure . . .

When she came outside, the Explorer had been pulled up close to the building to wait for her.

“Thanks, but I could have walked back,” she said as she climbed into the SUV.

“Spike was anxious to get on the road.”

“Spike seems to have taken a liking to your lap. Can you drive with him sitting there?”

“I drove the last hundred or so miles with him on my lap.”

“You’re spoiling him.”

“We’re buds.”

“You found your glasses,” she noted. “Nice touch.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you really think you need them now? The sun is barely up.”

“Just trying to get back into the groove.”

“By the way, where are we?” Mara asked as they drove from the park. “And how much farther to Lake Grove.”

“We’re there.”

“We’re there? Already?”

“Yup.”

“Where to now?”

He glanced at his watch. They had close to two hours before Aidan figured the chief would be at his desk.

“We have time to stop for breakfast before we check in with Chief Lanigan. I planned to chat with him for a while, then get directions to Tanner’s place.”

Ignoring Spike’s indignant sigh at being left in the car, Mara and Aidan stopped at an all-night diner whose sign declared that it served breakfast twenty-four hours a day. They took their time, because they had so much time to kill. And even so, they arrived at the police station a full forty minutes before the chief checked in. Mara took Spike for a walk around town while Aidan met with the chief.

“Agent Shields.” Chief Martin Lanigan met Aidan at the front desk with a handshake and an uncertain smile.

“Thanks for taking time from your schedule to meet with me. I appreciate it.” Aidan recognized a wary local when he saw one. He’d do his best to set Lanigan at ease.

“Come on back to my office. Mary Rose,” the chief called over his shoulder to the young receptionist, “if you’d be kind enough to bring us some of that good coffee of yours . . .”

Aidan followed the chief down a short hallway that had two doors on each side. Judging by what he’d already seen of Lake Grove that morning, he figured they didn’t need too large a force.

“So remind me again why you’re here. . . .” Lanigan walked around his desk to a large leather chair with a well-worn seat.

“Just a follow-up on an old case,” Aidan told him casually.

“Now, which old case would that be?”

“Actually, it wasn’t a case here in Lake Grove.”

“Oh?”

“It was a case we handled about six years ago, down in Rockledge,” Aidan told him.

“Rockledge?” The chief frowned. “What would that have to do with Lake Grove?”

“Not sure it does.” Aidan rolled his chair out of the way of the receptionist, who entered the room carrying a tray with two mugs of coffee and a cardboard carton of creamer.

“Rockledge is almost seventy miles from here. What’s the connection?” the chief asked as he passed a mug to Aidan.

“There’s a current case in Pennsylvania in which several women have been killed in a very methodical fashion.” Aidan rested his forearms on his thighs and leaned forward slightly. “The scene was very carefully staged.”

“We got a bulletin on that case. Woman’s name . . .”

“Mary Douglas.”

“Right. Asked us to search our records, see if we had anything like that on our computer. I can assure you that I found nothing even similar, and those computer records go back twenty years. And yes, before you ask, I searched the computer myself and so responded.” Lanigan looked slightly offended.

“I’m sure you did, sir. I’m not here to follow up on your response.” Aidan sipped at his coffee. It was too hot and burned his tongue. He reached for the cream, hoping to cool the coffee just a bit. “The case in Rockledge had a similarly crafted scene. Now, the MO was different, but that crafting, the staging, could be a signature. That case has not been solved, and we’re following up on several of the potential suspects who were interviewed at that time. One of them gave his home address as Lake Grove.”

“Ah, I see. You’re looking to interview this suspect again.”

“Exactly. Only he seems to have disappeared. We were hoping to find someone here who knew him or knew his family—”

“Got it. That’s why you want to speak with Chief Tanner. Well, anyone who’d lived in Lake Grove just about anytime over the past seventy years, Tanner would know about it.” Understanding now that the visit from the federal agent had nothing to do with him or the running of his department, Lanigan’s entire demeanor changed.

“Yes, sir. That was the plan.”

“Easy enough to get to his place. Go straight out here past the station and go three miles until you hit the lake. Take a right, go about a mile and a half till the paved road ends, then go about another three-quarters of a mile on the dirt road to the end. Tanner’s house is right there. Overlooks the lake.” Lanigan glanced up at the wall clock. “He ought to be sitting on his deck right about now, watching the ducks feed. You want to get off on the right foot, you’ll take him a large cup of coffee from the convenience store across the street, a loaf of bread for the ducks, and a bag of birdseed for his feeders. Oh, and a box of dog biscuits wouldn’t hurt. He’s got himself two or three old dogs he picked up at the pound.”

“Thanks, Chief. I appreciate the tip.”

“Welcome. Now, all I ask is that if you find something that I should know about, you let me know. I don’t want to be reading about it in some memo coming over the fax machine.”

“Did you get directions?” Mara asked when Aidan approached the car.

“Yes.” He leaned into her open window. “I have to make a run to that store across the way. Can I bring you something?”

“Coffee would be good. Cream and whatever form of artificial sweetener they have on hand.”

Aidan returned in under ten minutes, a large bag in one hand, a smaller bag and a cardboard tray holding three paper cups of coffee in the other.

“What’s in the bag?” Mara asked.

“My bribe’s in the big one. The little one’s for us.”

She peered into the larger of the two. “Birdseed, a loaf of bread, and a box of dog biscuits. Who are you bribing, Doctor Dolittle?”

“Chief Tanner. We’ll know in about five minutes whether or not Lanigan knew what he was talking about.”

Mara opened the smaller bag.

“Doughnuts.” She grinned. “Flip you for the jelly.”

“It’s yours. I’m more of the chocolate-frosted type myself.”

The retired chief was exactly where Chief Lanigan had said he would be, sitting on his deck overlooking peaceful Lake Grove, from which the town took its name. Three dogs of questionable age and breed lay near his feet, and bird feeders were everywhere. A dozen or more ducks swam just off a makeshift dock.

Lanigan knew his man, all right.

“Think it would be okay if I took Spike for a walk while you’re visiting?”

“I don’t see why not.” Aidan got out of the car and slammed the door. “Would you hand me the big bag and that last cup of coffee there? Might as well make the most of what I’ve got.”

Aidan had barely taken five steps from the car when he was surrounded by the dogs.

“They’re okay, they don’t mean any harm. Unless you do.” The man raised himself slowly from the chair in which he sat.

“No, no,” Aidan assured him. “I’m just here to meet Chief Tanner and have a little chat.”

Aidan introduced himself, then asked, “Would you be Chief Tanner?” knowing full well that the man was.

“Depends on what your business is, son. Never had an FBI agent stop in when it wasn’t bad news.”

“No bad news.” Aidan smiled. “How’d you know I was FBI?”

Tanner just smiled.

“Like I told Lanigan, we’re just following up on a loose end. I just wanted to test your memory.”

“Well, then. You’re in luck.” Elwood Tanner stood on his top step and gestured for Aidan to come up onto the deck. “I have a memory today. Some days, it’s not so sharp. But today, well, I’m feeling spunky today.”

“Then I am in luck.” Aidan handed him the cup of coffee along with the bag. “Chief Lanigan said you liked your coffee black.”

The old man threw his head back and laughed.

“Coffee from Parker’s in town, ah, that’s the best. And let’s just see what’s in that bag. . . .” He peered inside. “Birdseed . . . oh, the good kind, too. Lots of thistle. Good, good . . .”

He looked up at Aidan and said, “Is the bread for me or for the ducks?”

“The ducks.”

“And I see some biscuits for the boys.” He called the dogs to him and they sat obediently at his feet. “Manny, Moe, and Jack, meet Agent Shields.”

Three dog tails thumped in unison.

“That your girl out there in the car?”

Aidan hesitated, then, rather than explain that he was more bodyguard than anything else, said, “Yes, sir. It is.”

“Is she ugly?”

“No.” Aidan stared at the man. Was he kidding? “No, she’s not ugly. She’s beautiful.”

“Then why are you leaving her locked up in the car? Tell her to come on up and join us.”

Aidan rose and took the steps two at a time.

“And is that a little dog I see there, too? Bring the girl and the dog.”

Mara leaned out the window as Aidan approached.

“Let me guess,” she said. “He took the bribe then told you to beat it.”

“No. He took the bribe and told me to get the girl and the dog out of the car and have you join us on the deck.”

“Oh. Okay. Come on, Spike. Wait, are you sure he said the dog, too? I decided against walking him. Those are some pretty large pups he has there. I’d hate to see Spike being used in a tug of war.”

“His dogs are old and seem to be pretty calm. I think it will be fine. Just grab his leash.”

Mara did, along with the remaining two cups of coffee, and Aidan opened the door for her. “Oh, and he thinks you’re my girlfriend.”