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His chuckle was wet. ‘Can’t have that. Your mother only stays with me for my retirement package.’ He cupped her face in one of his big palms, his eyes glittering with a few tears of his own. ‘Why didn’t you come to me and talk about this? At least yell at me? Why did you keep this inside you all these years?’
‘Because I wanted to prove you wrong. I wanted you to see that I could be a good cop too. That my heart wasn’t too soft.’
‘Soft, baby. But not too soft. You couldn’t have survived all this time otherwise. You would have pulled the trigger on that bastard Bracken and you would have beaten the child abusers. You wouldn’t be Detective Bishop. You might have cracked, but you didn’t break.’ He hugged her to him and gave her a little shake. ‘And if you’d talked to someone – like your father – then all this anger wouldn’t be building up to the level where you’re doubting yourself.’
‘I didn’t want you to see the anger,’ she confessed. ‘I didn’t want you to know how close to the edge I was.’
‘So you kept your distance. All this time.’ He sighed heavily. ‘Dammit, girl. So what are you going to do about it?’
‘Stick with Marcus. He said he can’t see the anger I’m so afraid of. I think it’s because I’m not angry when I’m with him.’
Understanding flickered in his eyes. ‘He’s your valve.’
‘Like Mom is yours.’
‘Well then. Bring him to di
She laughed. ‘Don’t worry. He got the talk from Tommy this afternoon.’
‘Tommy? You mean Shoeshine Tommy?’
‘The very same. I keep track of him and some of the others. He’s spending time at the Meadow these days. He witnessed one of the perpetrators in my case fleeing the scene yesterday. His and Edna’s testimony will ensure that a little prick named Drake Co
‘I didn’t know you were keeping track of Tommy too.’
‘Too?’
‘Sure.’ He shrugged. ‘I still need my shoes shined and sometimes I don’t have time to do it myself.’
Scarlett knew better. Her father had never gone to Tommy for the actual shoeshine. ‘But he doesn’t have his stand anymore.’
‘He still has his shine kit. I seek him out when I have a free minute or two. Not as frequently as I’d like. But he never mentions seeing you.’
‘Because I threatened him if he told anyone. He wasn’t supposed to tell Marcus.’ She scowled. ‘I take care of him and the others and they make sure I get informed when they see trouble. Just like you used to all those times we’d go see Tommy for a shoeshine. I was telling Marcus today how you used to take me with you.’
‘You looked so cute in your pink tutu,’ he said, a smile in his voice. ‘You had to have your ice cream too. Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip from Graeter’s. Always.’
‘Always.’ Scarlett’s throat thickened again, her chest so tight that it hurt. But it was a good hurt. ‘I didn’t understand why you went to Tommy for a shoeshine back then, but I do now. I didn’t need the Academy, Dad. I learned how to be a cop by watching you.’
His chest expanded on a sudden deep breath that he shuddered out, followed by another harsh exhale. ‘Thank you, baby.’
‘It’s the truth. That’s why it hurt so much when I heard what you said. I wanted to be like you.’
He cleared his throat roughly. ‘You know I love you, right?’
‘Yeah.’ She leaned her head on his shoulder. ‘You know I love you back, right?’
He hugged her to him, hard. ‘Yeah. So are we okay? There are no other misunderstandings we have to deal with?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said cheekily. ‘I’ll think about it and get back to you.’
He was laughing softly when her cell phone began to buzz with incoming texts. Instantly focused, she read each one, smiling with satisfaction. ‘CSU decrypted Drake Co
Fury sparked in his eyes. ‘Explosives where the sun don’t shine.’
‘You got that right. The photo is tagged – the man’s name is Ke
‘The photos were taken with a hidden camera,’ her father said. ‘Anders wanted assurance that he wasn’t going to be double-crossed. No honor among criminals.’
‘None,’ she agreed. ‘Drake stole them from Anders’s computer to blackmail him later. Now this one . . .’ She frowned at the photo for a moment, trying to figure it out. ‘That’s Chip Anders’s hand. See his ring? He’s signing a register at a reception desk. This was taken with a camera somewhere on his suit. Probably the pen in his pocket.’
‘And there’s your sniper, sitting at the receptionist desk.’
Indeed it was. Scarlett clicked to the last photo, another taken with a pen-cam. Yes. ‘Jackpot. It’s Ke
‘I have to say I was impressed with your reporter,’ her father said. ‘He could have made a positive ID, giving you the arrest and himself a story. But he didn’t.’
‘No, he didn’t. It wouldn’t have been the right thing to do. I think you’ll like him once you get to know him, Dad.’
‘I’m looking forward to it, Scarlett A
Thirty-four
Cinci
Wednesday 5 August, 7.15 P.M.
Ken drove around the block three times before choosing a parking place behind the Ledger building. There was a back door and a loading dock, although the dock didn’t look like it had been used in decades. He didn’t have much time to draw O’Ba
He was not going to miss his flight tomorrow night. Beaches, palm trees, half-naked women – and freedom – awaited.
He felt the buzz of adrenaline race across his skin as he got his gear ready to go. He had two assault rifles and three handguns and enough ammunition to take out at least a hundred people. Luckily there wouldn’t be nearly that many at the main Ledger building. More than half of the eighty-five Ledger employees worked at the printing facility on the west side of the city. Most of the staff in the main building would have gone home, but because Ken had done his homework, he knew that at least four of O’Ba
Of all the employees, Stone and Diesel were his prime kill targets. Stone had written the McCord story and someone had hacked into McCord’s computer to find evidence of his kiddie collection. That the hacker was the IT wizard was a logical conclusion. He’d shoot Cal Booker if he had to, but the guy was in his sixties and overdue for retirement, so killing him seemed overly cruel. He would take Gayle E
Marcus would come for Gayle.
Everyone else in the building was fair game if they got in the way of his bullet stream.