The Face of Fear: A Powers and Johnson Novel (46 page)

Officer Lynagh made it to the sixth row of vehicles and located the cell phone about two inches from one of the tires of the vehicle. He picked it up and opened it up to see if it worked, and thanks to the leather cover, it still operated properly. He thanked the assisting officer as he ran back to his cruiser. He sat in the cruiser and called in to Bud about what had happened, and in turn Bud went into Cronin’s office to let him know what had happened.

Paul was still there talking to him as Cronin answered Bud, saying, “Tell Lynagh to give the phone back to Patty to use, bring her home, and then get some sleep before his 2:00 am shift tonight.”

“The FBI also told Lynagh that they will be watching Patty, not the Suffolk County Police Department,” Bud replied.

“OK,” the detective lieutenant replied. “Sounds good to me.”

“Very good,” Bud replied as he shut the door.

“Getting interesting, isn’t it?” Cronin said as he looked at Paul.

Lynagh sat there to be sure the assisting officer moved his cruiser out of the middle of the Long Island Expressway without any incidents. Once Officer Waters turned his vehicle around and waved to Lynagh, he turned on his cruiser and waited a couple minutes before moving. He was surprised how a five-minute delay looked like it caused a backup of more than 100 vehicles.

He turned around to Patty and said, “This is your cell phone.

Please keep it on you. Someone has gone to the trouble to be able to reach you if they need you.”

“That’s why I threw it away in the first place, genius,” Patty remarked.

Lynagh kept looking straight ahead as he said, “You were released on bail to help us catch a killer, not have a vacation. Keep the cell phone.”

Patty became silent and didn’t say another word as Lynagh started up the car and drove back to the village that had become famous throughout the nation. It took Officer Lynagh about 25 minutes to reach the Fairview Apartments. He escorted her to her apartment and looked around to be sure there were no problems.

“I think you are OK,” he told her. “If you decide to go out, remember to wear your vest.”

“Wait,” she said. “Will they be able to tell if I’m having sex with an ankle monitor on?” Lynagh didn’t smile but answered, “Why don’t you let me know next time I see you.”

As Lynagh left the front door of her apartment building, he noticed there was an unmarked car about 60 yards to the right. There was no doubt in his mind it was the feds. “You can have her,” he said aloud to himself as he got to the car. He was now alone in the car and he did what was requested of him directly from Cronin in a text.

“Officer Lynagh, before you hand over the phone to Patty Saunders, get the number for me, and tell no one.”

Lynagh texted the number of the cell phone directly to Cronin’s phone. He turned on his vehicle and, instead of driving out of the complex, made a u-turn and drove up alongside where the unmarked vehicle was. He rolled down his window as he pulled out his 9mm Glock and kept it on his lap. There were two men in the vehicle.

“What’s up, boys?” Lynagh spoke. The two men looked at each other like it was beneath them to even speak to a Suffolk County police officer.

Finally one of them spoke up, saying, “FBI surveillance of Patty Saunders.”

“How about some identification?” Lynagh spoke again.

“Are you busting our balls?” the other man asked.

Lynagh smiled and said, “No, sir. I dropped Ms. Saunders off from the courthouse, and before I leave I want to be certain she is safe.”

“And if I don’t feel like it?” the man in the passenger seat answered. Lynagh took a deep breath then looked back at the two men. This time he had no smile.

He said, “Then I will think you are not part of the FBI, and you don’t want me thinking that, because then we will have a problem. Identification please.”

The two men looked at each other again and went into their lightweight jackets as Lynagh raised his 9mm toward the bottom of the window. Their identifications came out of their pockets as they extended their arms out of the window.

“Thank you, sirs,” Lynagh said. “You have a nice rest of the day now, you hear.”

As he pushed the button to raise his window and drive away, he muttered “assholes” to himself. He pulled out of the complex and drove to Crystal Brook Hollow Road to get some sleep before his shift that night at the Wilkerson home. His house was only about eight minutes away from the house on Bell Circle in Belle Terre. He arrived at his house and figured if he got four to five hours of sleep he would be OK for the 2:00 am shift so Healey could get some shuteye. He checked his phone to be sure there were no messages from anyone before he shut it off.

Bud was watching Fox News from the precinct and was getting ready to leave when he looked at the bottom of the screen of the television. It showed 5:04 pm, and he looked at his watch, which said 5:02 pm. Lindsey had been right, it was two minutes off. He was shaking his head when he told Cronin he was going home to get some shuteye before he headed over to the Wilkerson home about midnight. If Healey could get six hours of sleep between Bud and Lynagh relieving him, he thought it would be a big help to the officer who had Lindsey’s life in his hands.

“Where’s Paul?” he asked Cronin.

“He needed to take care of some things,” the boss answered. “What about the ballistics on Allan?”

“He gave them to me,” Cronin answered. “.22 caliber shot from about two feet away. A gun from Ohio, bought by a man in 2006 that somehow ended up dead here on Long Island last year.”

“Names?” Bud asked.

“We are checking, won’t know ’til morning, computers are down.”

Bud said good night as Cronin held a paper in his hand. The computers were not down. He looked at the name on the piece of paper; it was all starting to come together. As Bud walked past his desk, he stopped Officer Henderson to contact Fun World to send over images of every costume they had associated with the Ghost Face mask. He wanted to take a look at the differences in the styles based on what was sold in stores everywhere and the one from the hospital video. He got in his car and sent Deborah a text before starting the car.

He wrote, “I hope you are OK and I can speak to you soon!”

She answered him within minutes, writing, “I miss talking to you. I look forward to being able to come home.”

He pulled over his car to text back to her, typing, “Me too!”

He reached his apartment, took a shower, and climbed into bed for a three-hour nap. Usually he would be texting or calling Paul, but he didn’t want to. He felt a change in the air. He wasn’t comfortable about how he was feeling. He didn’t feel the need to call him, and evidently Paul felt the same way. He laid in his bed for more than an hour before he dozed off.

The Wilkerson home was in good hands. Officer Dugan was sitting in his cruiser looking at the beautiful homes in this tiny village. He scanned all the yards and looked at every vehicle that drove by. Every hour or so he would get out of the car with his shotgun and walk a bit just to stretch his legs. He would even call Healey in the house just to tease him that he had gotten the better end of the deal.

On the inside, the Wilkerson family was having dinner at the kitchen table, but only after Healey had moved the portion of the table they would be sitting at away from the window. Healey also sat about 12 feet away from them, just in case there were any problems. It was Lindsey who kept bringing food over to him. She was almost motherly to him, the way she wanted to please him.

“I’m OK, Lindsey,” he said, and smiled at her.

Both her parents were surprised at how well Lindsey was handling all of this but felt she truly felt protected by his presence.

After they finished dinner, Lindsey wanted to watch the History Channel but decided not to. When asked why she had changed her mind, she told Officer Healey that she had enough on her mind for now and did not want another 60 minutes of history in her head forever.

He raised his eyebrows as if to say he almost didn’t believe her, but based on everything he had seen, he gave her the benefit of the doubt. He got up and looked out the window and saw a shadow on the front lawn. He picked up his shotgun and sent Dugan a text to wave if it was him. A few seconds later Dugan waved at the front window. Healey sent him a note to text from then on when he was taking a walk.

Cronin was still in his office at 7:00 pm when he contacted Assistant District Attorney Ashley. He gave him the cell phone number that found its way to Patty after she was released from the correctional facility.

“I will need all the numbers in and out on this phone, John, as they happen.”

“I’ll get right on it,” the assistant district attorney replied. He got up and said good night to Gina, who never left until he did. He got in his car and drove over to Rachelle’s house. He got out of his car and waved to the officers sitting in their car on Prospect Street. He knocked on the door, and Madison greeted him and let him into the house to speak to Rachelle.

“I’ll be in my room, Rachelle, if you need me,” she said to her sister as she gave them their privacy. Once the door was shut, Detective Lieutenant Cronin began talking.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“It’s going,” she answered.

The Detective replied, “The woman who started all of this with the kidnapping of Debbie Lance is now home. She’s only five minutes away from here, but she has an ankle monitor. Her movements are constantly watched. I have reason to believe her release will bring all of this to a climax. I would prefer that you did not go out for the next 24 hours at least.”

Rachelle started to interrupt him by starting to speak about Twitter, but he put his fingers up to her lips. He shook his head no to tell her silently not to talk about that subject at this time.

“Just stay in and know they have FBI agents watching her place at Fairview. I will be in touch with you. Just be cool over the next 24 hours. If you need anything, give me a call or send your sister out, but really, stay indoors.” She nodded her head as he said good night.

As he approached the door, he looked at Rachelle and said, “You know, Rachelle, if you didn’t have love for someone in your heart, you wouldn’t be feeling the pain that you have.”

She smiled at the detective lieutenant as she shut the door behind him.

Paul gave his father a call to check up on him, and everything was fine. In fact, he said to him, “Son, I don’t think the state of Florida can afford to watch me.”

“Well, Dad,” Paul replied, “they are going to have to find a way for now. OK, time for my nap. I have to get up in a few hours so Bud is not alone tonight.”

“Be careful, son, you are all I have.”

“OK, Dad, talk tomorrow.” Paul put the phone down and sent Rachelle a text.

“Hi,” She answered back, “were your ears ringing? We were just talking about you.”

He texted back, “Really? That’s nice. Have a good night.”

He put the charger on his BlackBerry and lay down on his bed after setting the alarm for 10:30 pm. He wouldn’t see Rachelle’s reply to him saying, “I miss our talks,” until after he woke up.

Paul woke up at 10:31 pm and lay in bed until it was almost 11:00 pm. He put on his blue jeans and a white shirt. He strapped on his backup gun and then put on his main weapon underneath his shirt. He washed his face to help him wake up and combed his hair as he headed toward the door to go downstairs. He remembered his phone, came back, pulled out the battery charger, and saw Rachelle’s text as he got in his car to head up to the Wilkerson house.

He decided to stop at Rachelle’s house on the way, and she appeared to be happy when she walked up to him at the door.

“Hi! Come on in, Paul, it’s so wonderful to see you.”

Madison came out to greet Paul and offered him a drink.

“No, no thank you,” he replied. “I’m going up to give relief at a home for a few hours and just wanted to see how things were going.”

“It’s fine, thank you,” Rachelle said.

Madison added, “You missed Detective Lieutenant Cronin a few hours ago.”

Paul seemed surprised and said, “Oh, really? What did he want?”

“I guess the same as you,” Madison said. “He was checking on things. What brings you here so late?” Madison asked.

“Well, I thought you would be up since the lights were on.”

“Oh,” Madison replied. “I guess that was a sign,” she said as she laughed.

“OK,” he said, “I have to get going. I’m glad everything is OK.”

“Thank you, Paul,” Rachelle said as she shut the door. When the young woman started walking back to her room, Madison couldn’t help herself and asked, “Are you still hurting for him?”

Rachelle just turned her head with a pained look on her face and said good night.

Paul arrived at the Wilkerson home at 11:15 pm, and Bud was already there conversing with Lindsey. They were having a debate about the age of judges. Bud did not believe that Judge Green was only 65 years of age. He thought at least 75, which would make him one of the oldest judges in the nation. Lindsey laughed and said no way.

“Judge Wesley Brown is the oldest in the nation at 104 years old in Wichita, Kansas. He was appointed by President John F. Kennedy.”

“Bud,” Healey said, “do you really think you can win a debate with her?” Bud nodded.

“Hey, Lindsey, time for bed. You and Officer Healey need some sleep for school tomorrow.”

“Good night, Bud,” she said. “Good night Paul. I will have the sketch for you tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Paul replied.

Bud walked up to Healey and said, “Why don’t you sleep in the guest room instead of a cot in the hallway? Paul and I will be here ’til

Lynagh gets here and Dugan is here ’til 6:00 am.”

“I know,” Healey replied. “I just feel I should be outside her door, but thanks.”

“OK,” Bud replied.

“Night guys,” Healey said as he went upstairs. It was awkward, as Bud and Paul were in the living room and kitchen not saying much to each other. Bud was becoming uncomfortable about Paul, and the same was happening to Paul about Bud. Paul was so uncomfortable that he decided to go outside and see what Dugan was doing. He waved to him as Dugan got out of the car and they had the conversation that Bud and Paul would normally have. Bud looked around the house at the expensive furniture and accessories in the house. He thought that the sofa was more expensive than his entire house.