Mercy (24 page)

T
heo certainly wasn’t jealous. Teenage boys got jealous, and he was way beyond that stage in his life. He was getting irritated, though. Michelle was laughing and having a good old time dancing with Noah. Theo sat at the bar making notes while a man explained his problem. The guy had purchased a used car that had a thirty-day guarantee. The man paid cash, drove the car off the lot, but two blocks later the muffler fell off and the radiator exploded. Since he hadn’t owned the vehicle for thirty minutes, he had it towed back to the lot and demanded his money back. The owner of the lot explained that the guarantee of satisfaction only covered the tires and the engine. He also suggested that, next time he purchased a car, he read the fine print before signing.

Michelle laughed again, drawing Theo’s attention. He loved the sound of her voice, and from the way Noah was smiling at her, Theo figured he was enchanted too.

Once again turning back to the man sitting next to him, he tried to concentrate. When he glanced over at the couple for about the hundredth time, Noah had pulled up his T-shirt and was showing Michelle the ugly scar on his chest.

He muttered, “Enough,” dropped his pen on the counter, and went over to put an end to the dance.

“You trying to impress Michelle with all your bullet holes?”

“I already impressed her with my wit and charm,” Noah said.

She shook her head. “You were very lucky. That bullet should have killed you.”

“I
was
lucky,” he agreed. “God was looking out for me, I guess,” he said. Then he laughed. “I was in church when I got hit.”

She was sure he was joking. “Did you fall asleep during the sermon and make the minister mad?”

“Something like that.”

“Daddy will want to hear that story,” she said. “Where is he?”

“He’s in the kitchen making sandwiches,” Theo answered.

“You can’t still be hungry after the catfish.”

“He offered, said he was making one for himself. He’s making one for Noah too.”

Thinking to help her father, she went around the bar and headed to the kitchen. She heard Noah say, “By the way, Theo, you might want to look at the sign-up sheet for the fishing deal Saturday. The sheet’s tacked to the wall over there.”

“Why do I need to look at it?”

“You’ve been bumped.”

“No way.” Theo refused to believe him . . . until he looked. His name had been crossed off, and Noah’s was written above it.

Michelle hurried into the kitchen. Her father handed her a paper plate filled with a double-decker turkey sandwich swimming in mayo and a huge mound of greasy french fries. He carried an identical plate out and set it on the counter.

“If Theo stays another couple of weeks, he’ll have to have a bypass,” she said. “You’re killing the man with kindness.”

“Turkey’s not bad for you. You said so yourself.”

“A jar of mayonnaise on it makes it bad,” she said. “And there’s a gallon of oil in those fries.”

“That’s what makes them good.” Turning his back on her, he called, “All right, boys, here’s your snack. I made the sandwiches without any of my hot barbecue sauce, Theo, just in case you were worried.”

Noah and Theo were looking over the list. She nudged her father and whispered, “Did you trade Theo for Noah as your partner in the tournament?”

He looked guilty as sin. “Honey, I had to.”

Incredulous, she asked, “Why?” She didn’t give him time to answer. “How friendly was that, making a promise and then breaking it?”

“I was being practical.”

“What does that mean?”

She followed him back into the kitchen. “Wrap up my sandwich for me, Mike, so I can take it home with me.”

She got the foil out and did as he asked. “You still haven’t answered me,” she reminded him.

Jake leaned against the island and folded his arms. “The way I see it, we stand a better chance of winning if there’s four of us trying for the prize instead of just two, and Noah was going to sweet-talk you into partnering with him. I didn’t figure Theo would appreciate hearing that, so I told Noah I’d be his partner. Now you and Theo can spend the whole day together. You should be happy to be included.”

He was exasperating. “In other words, that means you think Noah might be a better fisherman?”

“He did mention he’s done a whole heck of a lot more fishing in the past four years, but that isn’t the reason why I switched,” he hastened to add when he saw that stubborn glint come into his daughter’s eyes. “There isn’t any reason to get in a snit about this. You should be thanking me for paying your fee.”

“I don’t want to fish Saturday. I have a hundred other things to do.”

“You could win the prize. Everyone knows you’re a better fisherman than I am.”

She wasn’t buying it. “That’s not true, and you know it. Are you trying to play matchmaker? Is that why you want me to partner with Theo?”

“After the way I heard you talking to him? I don’t need to do any matchmaking. You’re holding your own just fine.”

“Daddy, I was teasing . . .”

He acted as though he hadn’t heard her. “Noah might be doing a little matchmaking. He told me he’s never seen Theo acting like he does around you.”

That remark got her full attention. Her father nodded, then went to the refrigerator to get some milk. He poured himself a full glass and took a long swallow.

“How does Theo act?” she asked.

“Noah says he’s smiling a lot. I got the feeling that’s a rarity.”

“The man’s on vacation. That’s why he’s smiling. Is your stomach bothering you? You only drink milk when you have indigestion.”

“My stomach’s just fine,” he said impatiently, and then went right back to the subject at hand. “And when it comes to Theo, you’ve got a reason for everything. So explain this: How come he can’t take his eyes off you? Noah noticed, and after he pointed it out to me, I took notice too.” Before she could argue, he said, “Did you know that Noah works for the FBI? He wears a gun, just like Theo’s. I saw it clipped to his waistband. I’m telling you, Theo has some real influential friends.”

“And you know a lot of people who need help from influential friends.”

Jake finished his milk and set the glass in the sink. When he turned around, she noticed in the harsh overhead light how tired he looked.

“Why don’t you go home now and let Theo and me close up.”

“I can see to it.”

“I know you can, but the next couple of days are going to be busy.

People are going to be stopping in to sign up and eat, and you know how crowded it gets in here on Thursday and Friday. Go home, Daddy. Get off your feet and rest.”

“You need your rest too. You’ve got to start working on those papers at the clinic.”

“I’ll have help.”

“All right, then,” he said. “I am tired, so I’ll go on home. You shut down at one instead of two.”

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He opened the back door, then closed it. “Oh, I forgot to tell you that Ben Nelson called looking for you. He still doesn’t have any news or any suspects, but he’s going to keep an eye out just in case something else bad happens. Now, I ask you, is that something you want to say to a father? He had me worried sick about you, but then I remembered Theo is staying with you. You turn your deadbolts tonight.” He reopened the door and stepped out into the moonlight. “It’s a comfort,” he said.

“What’s a comfort?”

“Knowing Theo’s going to be there with you.”

Michelle nodded. It was a comfort. She locked the door, flipped off the light, and went back into the bar. Theo and Noah had carried their plates over to one of the round tables and were eating their sandwiches.

One of the regulars wanted a refill. She noticed how bleary-eyed he was and asked, “Are you driving home tonight, Paulie?”

“Connie’s coming by to pick me up after her shift’s over at the plant. She’s my designated driver tonight.”

“Okay, then,” she said, smiling. She poured another glass of beer, noticed how stuffy it was inside, and turned up the speed on the overhead fan. There were only five customers in The Swan. She made sure everyone was happy, then filled two tall glasses with ice water and carried them over to Noah and Theo.

Theo pulled a chair out. “Sit with us.”

She handed Noah his water, then sat down between him and Theo and put Theo’s glass next to his plate.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I sent Daddy home, which means I have to close up the bar tonight,” she said.

“It’s so damned cute that you call your dad ‘Daddy.’ Is that a southern thing?” Noah asked.

“It’s a Renard thing,” she said.

Noah had just popped the last of his french fries into his mouth and was washing it down with a big gulp of water when she asked him if he wanted her to accompany him to her clinic to survey the damage.

“I’ve already been there. I think Theo’s right. Kids didn’t do it. It was a one-man operation. And whoever it was got real frustrated looking for something. Did you notice the desk? The lock was destroyed. Somebody took a long time working at that lock.”

“Michelle thinks maybe it’s one of Robinson’s patients trying to steal his file.”

“Couldn’t a patient simply ask for his records?” Noah asked.

“He could get a copy of his records, but I would keep the original,” Michelle answered.

“I doubt it was a patient. Patient charts are confidential. Everyone knows that. Whatever is in the charts stays private. And why would a patient go to such extremes tearing the place up? If he wanted his records so badly, all he had to do was break in and lift it out from those boxes. No, I don’t think it was a patient, but what does Robinson say? Did he have any pain-in-the . . . difficult patients?”

“He hasn’t returned my call yet,” Michelle told him. “I’ll try again in the morning. He recently moved to Phoenix, and he’s probably busy getting settled.”

“Why don’t you give Noah his phone number and let him talk to him,” Theo suggested. “People tend to sit up and take notice when the FBI calls. And on my worst day I couldn’t be as abrasive as he can be. He’s better at coercion.”

“Yeah, right.” Noah scoffed at the notion. Turning to Michelle, he said, “I’ve seen Theo make grown men cry. It was kind of funny actually . . . watching a coldhearted killer, who happens to be the head of a crime organization, blubber like a baby.”

“He’s exaggerating,” Theo said.

“No, I’m not,” Noah argued. “However, it is true that the average person doesn’t know what the attorneys over in Justice do. Come to think about it, I’m not so sure I know. Besides making criminals cry, what exactly do you do, Theo?”

“Not much,” he answered dryly. “We drink a lot . . .”

“That’s a given.”

“And try to think of things for you guys to do.”

“I’ll bet you do.” Turning to Michelle, Noah added, “Those lazy Justice attorneys make the dedicated FBI agents do all the hard work.”

Theo smiled. “It’s called delegating. We do it so the little people won’t feel left out.”

The insults began to fly, and some of the outrageous things they said were hilarious. Vastly amused, she sat back and relaxed. When the subject eventually returned to her clinic, she said, “I’m not going to worry about this any longer. I’ve been blowing this out of proportion.”

“How’s that?” Noah asked.

“I was so spooked after I saw the mess, I thought I was being followed. You know that feeling you get? It’s hard to explain.”

“I’d pay attention to that feeling if I were you,” Noah said.

“But no one was following me,” she insisted. “I would have spotted him . . . wouldn’t I?”

“Not if he’s good,” Noah said.

“This is a very small community. Strangers would stick out.”

“Yeah? What about a man driving a van with maybe a cable company logo on the side? Would he stick out? And what about all the men and women who come here to fish? If they were dressed in fishing gear and carrying a pole, would you think they didn’t belong?”

Michelle stood. “I see your point, and I appreciate your taking the time to look at the clinic, but I really believe this was just an isolated incident.”

“And that belief is based on what?” Theo asked. “Wishful thinking?”

She ignored his sarcasm. “This is Bowen,” she said. “If anyone had a problem with me, he’d tell me so. Now that I’ve had time to think about it, I didn’t start jumping at shadows until after I saw the clinic. I overreacted. I will remind you,” she hastened to add when he looked as though he was going to interrupt, “that nothing else has happened. You want to find a conspiracy, and there just isn’t one.” Turning to Noah, she said, “I do thank you for coming to Bowen.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” Noah said. “To be honest, I only did the favor to get a favor. Theo’s agreed to drive back to Biloxi with me. He’s going to give a lecture for me, and I would have driven cross country to get out of that. I still have to go finish the training session, but at least I don’t have to write a speech.”

“When do you have to be back?”