Executive Protection(24)

Chapter 6


Late afternoon the next day, Thad met Darcy at a coffee shop downtown. Seeing his friend yawn for the third time, Thad asked, “Late night?”

Darcy told him about the situation he and his partner had interrupted and the call he’d received last night.

“And you went?” Thad watched his friend self-consciously avert his eyes and then his toughness returned.

“Did you stay the night?” Thad asked.

“She was scared.”

“You stayed.” Thad could see Darcy was interested in the woman. So soon after his divorce, he wondered if it was for real.

“I slept in my clothes.”

“What about her?” Thad teased.

“She slept in hers, too.”

“You like her.”

“That isn’t why we’re meeting today.”

Thad was the same way with him when he’d talked about Lucy. Both of them had met women that had them on the defensive.

“Sorry,” Darcy quickly amended. “Meeting her caught me off guard. It’s not that I’m falling for her or anything. We just have a lot in common. Talking to her is so easy.”

If that wasn’t a contradicting statement, Thad didn’t know what was.

“She’s a nurse,” Darcy said, more of an announcement.

Thad stared at him, not liking the insinuation. What was he quietly suggesting? That they both were drawn to similar women?

“What have you got on the shooter?” he asked more abruptly than he intended.

Darcy didn’t press the issue. He slid over an envelope. “A reporter I keep as a friend for times like these hooked me up with an agent working the investigation. Said he was someone who might talk. The agent isn’t talking to the press, but he might to another law enforcement officer. I think the reporter is hoping I pass along anything I might find.”

Thad opened the envelope and took out a ballistics report as he listened to Darcy.

“I met with the man a couple of times, and he agreed to give me copies of this report. It confirms the gunman was in the building across the street.”

Nothing he and Darcy hadn’t already deduced from the evidence. Thad read on as Darcy narrated.

“The angle of the strike to the wall pins it to a thirteenth-floor office space. There are several empty spaces in the building. It’s old and in need of remodeling. The landlord is having trouble attracting renters. The shooter broke into the office. The agents searched it and found no evidence other than some footprints in the dust on the floor.”

“Are there any surveillance cameras that may have captured the shooter entering the building?” Thad looked at the photos of the room; it was completely empty. He also studied the photos of the shoe print. The report said it was about a size ten. Common.

“That I don’t know.”

“And what about the type of shoe? What is it?”

“Don’t know that, either.”

“Your friend gave you this to shut you up.” Thad put the report back into the envelope and dropped it onto the table. It was just enough information to possibly satisfy them but not enough to lead them in any particular direction. Thad suspected that if he or Darcy asked for more, they’d get a big fat “no” for an answer.

“Why?” Darcy asked. “Why bother giving me anything?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

Darcy stared across the table at him as he thought. “The chief hauled me into his office before I left to come here. He warned me to stop asking for data on the investigation.”

“He knew?”

“Yes.”

Wade Thomas was always one step ahead of them. Every time he or Darcy obtained any information, Wade found out. How was he doing that?

“Something doesn’t feel right about this,” Thad said. “It’s almost as if the feds already know who the shooter is.”


“Then why not arrest him?”

“Evidence?” Maybe they were waiting for the right time.

Thad could see how that was possible. But still, this whole thing had a stench to it, and he wished he could sniff it out.

“We need to keep what we learn quiet. Don’t discuss this with anyone other than me.” Darcy leaned forward a little and spoke in a low tone. “I wouldn’t even tell your mother that you’re working on this.”

He didn’t think she’d expose anything they uncovered. She may even be told he was looking into it. And if she wasn’t, Thad was more concerned for her recovery. Worrying her with his and Darcy’s speculation was unnecessary at this juncture.

“I’ll be careful.” He turned his attention to another matter that had bothered him ever since the literacy program. “Have you looked into what I asked you about?”

Darcy leaned back, easily shifting into the new topic. “This morning.”

He’d found something.

“Rosanna Bridger...” Darcy began.

* * *

After meeting with Darcy, Thad went to find Lucy at the Winston estate. He was at odds with how he felt and his instinct to protect the little girl Sophie. Maybe it was her trouble with learning to read, something brought on by the tragic loss of her mother. Her situation touched him. It would touch anyone. He was also doing this for Lucy. In fact, he was pretty sure that was the main driver.