Relentless Pursuit (19 page)

“I’m sorry, I was slightly more concerned to find out if my own brother was alive!” Marshall shot up from the ground and pushed Pierce back a few steps.

“I don’t care about me! Just get me to her now!” Pierce shoved past him and got into the cruiser as Marshall hurried after him. Marshall sped away as Marcy and Betsy shared a knowing look. Pierce had fallen hard.

Ahmed knelt down beside Tammy as Annie rushed into the room. People moved out of the way as she pushed her way forward. Miss Violet was wiping away the tears in her eyes as she knelt down next to Ahmed. “Is she…”

“Tammy!” Henry shouted as he burst into the room. The crowd had moved back as those closest to Tammy had tried to help her.

Ahmed looked her over in puzzlement. Three bullet holes with gunpowder residue were clear as day on her chest, but there wasn’t any blood. Hesitantly, he felt the entry points of her wounds. His breath rushed out of him and he felt dizzy as he looked up to see Henry eyeing him curiously. Henry reached down and felt the bullet holes. He grabbed the top of her blouse and tore it open.

“I see she got our present,” Annie said with relief. 

“That’s the ugliest, and at the same time the most beautiful undergarment I’ve ever seen!” Henry laughed as he loosened the Velcro on the bulletproof vest.

Tammy fought the panic caused by the darkness swallowing her. From the depths of her mind, a voice was dragging her back. She listened to his calm, silky voice guiding her out of the darkness.

“Tammy, my dear. You’re safe. You can wake up now.” Ahmed stroked her head gently as Tammy woke.

“Did you get them?” she mumbled as she looked around at all the faces filled with relief above her. Some still had napkins stuffed in their shirts and sandwiches in their hands from the café. The Rose sisters squeezed her hands as their eyes shined with happy tears.

“No. They escaped. But I shot one…twice. He won’t live long.” Ahmed said with no emotion.

“You’re slipping,” Tammy teased as she tried to sit up. She looked down at her blouse, which was torn and pushed open, exposing the three bullets lodged in her vest above her heart. “This was my favorite blouse. Who tore it?”

“I’m sorry, I did that,” Henry grimaced.

“Well, you always said my shirt would look good on the bedroom floor. Too bad I wasn’t shot ten feet that way and your pick-up line would have finally worked!” Tammy tried to laugh as she nodded toward her bedroom, but it hurt way too much. Her joke worked, though, as Henry roared with laughter and the crowd joined in. The laughter was therapeutic as the relief from the tense situation settled the room.

“Tammy!” A voice yelled over the laughter.

“Pierce! I’m here!” The crowd parted and Pierce rushed in with Marshall right behind him. “Oh my God! What happened to you?” The crowd gasped as they took in the blood seeping through the bandage around his neck and his two black eyes. The tension that had just been dispersed by laughter returned and hung heavy among the group.

Tammy tried to stand up but winced in pain. “We need to get you to the hospital immediately.”

“Ambulance is waiting downstairs,” Bridget told them as she walked into the overcrowded apartment. She looked down at Tammy with a blank face. “I’m glad you wore our present.”

“You got her the vest?” Pierce asked with a hint of surprise.

“Annie and I did. Better than silk panties, huh?”

Tammy snickered at the inside joke and then at the way all the single men and some of the married looked over at Bridget, trying to figure out what she was wearing under the tight brown shirt and camouflaged cargo pants.

Pierce knelt down beside Tammy and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “You scared me, sweetheart. I love you so much. But, now I’m sorry, I need to leave you for a bit.”

“What?” Tammy was confused. Leave her, now? Why?

“Noodle, will you and my mom take Tammy to the hospital. Don’t leave her side.” Noodle nodded and Marcy moved further into the room to help her stand up.

“Come on, dear. Let’s get you checked out.” Marcy pushed Tammy’s hair gently out of her face and put her arm around her as Tammy stood up.

“Where are you going? Pierce, if anyone needs to go to the hospital, it’s you.”

“You know how men are, dear. They hate doctors. I’m sure Pierce will be there soon. The men have something they need to do.” Marcy and Noodle looked at each other over Tammy’s head and hurried her out of the apartment before she could figure out what was going on.

Pierce kissed Tammy quickly on the cheek as his mother and Noodle helped her out of the apartment. “I’ll be there before you know it. Just feel better for me, love.”

The apartment emptied quickly as they sensed what was coming. Soon all that were left were Pierce, Ahmed, Marshall, Henry, and Bridget. Pierce put his hands on his hips and let out a deep breath.

Pierce looked right at Ahmed. “We’re ending this now.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Pierce kept his eyes trained on Ahmed as he looked Pierce over. Ahmed nodded ever so slightly.

“I’m coming, too,” Marshall said as he unhooked his badge from his jeans and started to unbutton the brown sheriff’s shirt he wore while working, exposing a white t-shirt underneath.

“Me, too,” Henry said, surprisingly forcefully.

Pierce shook his head. “Sorry, Marshall, you can’t. You’re too recognizable. And Henry, you can’t witness what I’m thinking of doing. No offense, but you’re not cut out for this kind of thing.”

“I’m not asking, Pierce. I’ll come on my own if I have to. But Tammy is the only woman to ever tolerate me and she’s the best friend I’ve got.” Henry stood tall, confident, and unwavering.

“Fine.” Pierce clipped. He turned to Ahmed and asked, “I’ve never done anything like this. How do we proceed?”

“Gentlemen,” Bridget interrupted calmly. “I’d like to assist in this matter.”

Ahmed raised an eyebrow and Marshall’s lips quirked. Henry flat out laughed and Bridget simply smiled.

“You want to help us?” Ahmed said with disbelief ringing in his voice.

“Yes. And, I bet each of you I can get a confession in under a minute all while never laying a hand on them,” Bridget said definitively.

“Sure, hon. I’ll take that bet,” Henry snickered.

“I’ll bet you, Pierce, for twenty acres of the back part of your property that I can do it.” Bridget turned to the rest of the men and continued. “I bet you, Marshall, for the job of exclusive K-9 handler for the sheriff’s department. And you, Henry, for the legal work on acquiring the property and setting up a company to train police dogs.” Bridget turned then to Ahmed. “From you, I want hand-to-hand combat training and your reference for foreign government jobs.”

“And what do we get if you can’t follow through with your bet?” Ahmed asked in a slightly disinterested tone.

“Henry, your pick, I’m just not getting naked. Marshall, I’ll work Marko for free for the rest of the year. Pierce, I’ll recommend your Cropbot to one of the largest manufacturers in the country; I guarded the CEO's family recently. Ahmed, I’ll provide protection and explosive sweeps for free for the royal family’s next two trips to Kentucky.”

The men all looked at each other and then slowly shrugged. “Deal,” they all said at once.

“Now, let’s go see what you’re made of, Miss Springer,” Ahmed said before heading out the door.

Pierce walked down the empty hallway of the agriculture building. They had tried both Aiden and Mrs. Oldham’s homes. Both were empty. The hall filled with the echo of his party’s footsteps as they headed toward his old research lab.

As they neared the room, Pierce heard Aiden toss something against the wall and curse. Pierce slowed as he approached the slightly open door. He looked in through the narrow window and tightened his fists in anger. There sat a copy of his Cropbot. Aiden was kneeling on the floor next to it trying to work on its internal components.

Pierce bit his lip and was about to burst into the room when he felt Ahmed pull him back. With a quiet shake of his head, Ahmed warned Pierce to stay quiet. Ahmed pushed his way into the lab with Pierce in tow. Marshall and Henry stayed at the door waiting to give Bridget her signal to enter. Aiden looked up with irritation until he saw Pierce. Then his eyes went wide before he could mask them.

Aiden quickly stood, palming a screwdriver as he stepped in front of the Cropbot in a failed attempt to hide it from view. “What are you doing here?” Aiden shot accusingly at Pierce as his eyes darted from person to person.

Pierce waited until Henry pulled out his cell phone subtly and hit Record. “Interesting piece of equipment there. That looks amazingly like my invention to which I hold a patent.” Pierce paused, trying to keep his voice even before he started again, “and it matches the personal notes I have on my laptop that was nearly hacked last night during a break-in.”

Aiden’s face turned red with anger. He stepped forward menacingly, “You think it was me? You’re accusing me of theft?” Aiden shouted.

“I don’t need to accuse you of it. The evidence is right there behind you. Do you actually dare to deny it?” Pierce laughed to the others at the absurdity of Aiden’s dismissal.

“You arrogant son of a bitch!” Aiden again stepped forward angrily, holding the screwdriver as if it were a knife.

Bridget took her cue and stepped forward with Marko. “Sir, this is a trained police dog. Lower your weapon or I'll set him on you.”

Aiden turned toward her without lowering the screwdriver, the anger clear on his face. Bridget dropped Marko’s leash and gave the command. Marko sprang forward, charging across the room with his teeth bared as he barked and growled. Bridget gave another command and Marko stopped in front of Aiden who stood rooted to the ground. Marko was less than a foot away barking and snarling at Aiden. Sweat broke out along his face as he watched Marko.

“You need to drop the weapon, sir, or I’ll have him remove it from your grasp,” Bridget said calmly. Aiden dropped the weapon and Bridget gave Marko another command. “You know, I saw something just like this—only working, just a week ago. Are you sure you didn’t steal this?”

“I’m sure,” Aiden stuttered. Marko growled softly and a drop of sweat rolled down the side of Aiden's face.

“Well, there you have it, gentlemen. It wasn’t him,” Bridget said happily.

Ahmed shot her a look of confusion and Pierce flat out looked at her as if she were growing horns.

“Of course it’s him!” Pierce flung a copy of the picture of Aiden in a mask at him. Aiden’s reaction gave him away as he looked at the picture on the cold tile floor.

“That’s not me!” Aiden cried.

“Well, you see the confusion then, sir. But I have a simple way of solving this.” Bridget reached into her bag and pulled out Pierce’s laptop. “Marko,
hier plaats
.” Marko immediately ran to Bridget and sat down in front of her. She then lowered the laptop to his level.

“What are you doing?” Aiden asked nervously as Marko started sniffing the laptop.

“He’s smelling the laptop and will then track the scent he receives off of it. The man in the picture left his scent on this computer. If it isn’t you, then you don’t have anything to worry about,” Bridget said with a polite smile on her face.

“Marko,
keuring
!” Marko sniffed in the air, turned around, and ran straight for Aiden. He immediately sat in front of Aiden, never moving, not even blinking as he stared him down.

“Well, Mr. Fink, isn’t it? That’s a positive indication of scent. You have definitely touched this computer recently.” Bridget pulled out a tennis ball from her pocket and tossed it for Marko who happily chased it down and brought it back to her. “Sheriff Davies, I do believe that’s probable cause for an arrest. You may want to call in local reinforcement. They are quite eager to hang someone out to dry for Dr. Oldham’s murder. They’ll be thrilled with the evidence against Aiden here.”

“Wait! Murder? I didn’t murder anyone!” Aiden cried.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure you did. See, we have a waiter who can identify you driving Pierce home the night of the murder. Plus Tammy can identify you fleeing Pierce’s house. Then trying to murder her today, too, doesn’t look too good. You’ll be lucky if you don’t get the needle.” Bridget hardened her voice and Marko leaped up and started to growl again at her aggressive tone.

Aiden flinched and then paled. “I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Marko growled again and Bridget just shrugged. “Sorry, after Marko identified your smell, I don’t believe a word you say.”

Aiden looked wide-eyed from Marko to Pierce to Bridget. “Okay! Okay! We did steal Pierce’s invention and we broke into his house trying to find his personal notes. I can’t get the electronics to work!”

“Who’s we? You know if your accomplice committed the murder, then you’re still culpable,” Bridget warned. Marko barked loudly this time and Aiden jumped back. “I wouldn’t do that. Sudden movements aren’t very wise.”

“It was Suzy Oldham. It was all her idea. She flipped out when she discovered her husband was hiding the fact that he helped you with the invention and didn’t get his name on it. But she didn’t
kill
him! She came to me and suggested we steal it! I swear!”

“That’s strange, I wonder why she’d come to you?” Bridget asked.

“We were having an affair. It started three years ago. She got me the position here with her husband so we could see each other more. It was all her idea! We even talked about it the night Dr. Oldham was murdered – that’s why I know she didn’t do it. She was with me. Please, believe me,” Aiden begged.

Bridget hooked the leash back on Marko. She looked over to Henry who silently turned off the camera and then to Ahmed who looked down at his watch.

“Fifty-four seconds.”

“Well, welcome to Keeneston, Miss Springer. It’ll be a pleasure having you and Marko on the team,” Marshall said as he pulled out his cell phone and called the detectives.

“What's going on? You believe me, don’t you?” Aiden cried in bewilderment.

“Yeah, I actually do. You’re still going to jail, though,” Pierce shrugged. “Now, the real question is who murdered Dr. Oldham and why?”