Chapter One
He stood in the shadow of the large oak tree across the street. Watching and waiting for her to come out of the brownstone apartment.
"You are mine, Madeleine Wheeler," he whispered, watching her through the window as he fingered the syringe in the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. "Mine."
"At the Copa…Copa Cabana…the hottest spot north of Havana. At the Copa…Copa Cabana…Music and passion were always in fashion…At the Copa-a-a-a…They fell in love," Honey sang at the top of her lungs as she danced wildly around her living room. Barry Manilow kept singing from the CD player as Honey moved happily across the space.
"I am done with law school. I am done with law school," she sing-songed as she conga danced around the sofa. "Finally, I can go home. Woo-Hoo!" she hooted.
The song on the CD ended and Mandy started in its place.
I need food, she thought. Glancing at the clock, she noticed it was 6:30. Definitely time for dinner. Maybe a grilled cheese sandwich and some of Mr. Maypenny's hunter's stew from the freezer. She turned and headed to the kitchen, turning down the sound system as she passed it.
Honey grabbed her cell phone and started to press two on her speed-dial. Pooh! I can't call Trixie, she frowned. She and Jim are at Mead's Mountain. She looked out the kitchen window at the shadowed back yard. Double pooh! Now that I think about it, no one is home tonight.
As she set the cell phone down and turned toward the refrigerator, the phone rang.
Honey picked the phone up and checked the caller ID. Seeing her downstairs neighbor, Mike Clark's name, she grimaced. "Oops, the singing and dancing were a little too much for Mike," she muttered, clicking the phone on. "Hello."
"Hey, Honey, it's Mike. We got some mail for you today. I was just about to leave for work. I'm on at Mickey's in a half-hour and I need to return some books to the library first, so I thought I'd see if you wanted to pick it up."
"Sure. Your mom called about an hour ago and told me, but I was preoccupied. I'll be down in just a bit," Honey replied. "Your mom sounded better. How's she feeling?"
"She's good," he answered. "She finally kicked that flu and went back to work yesterday."
"Great. I'll stop by and see her later," she said.
"How soon will you be packing up to head home?" Mike asked. "It's gonna be quiet around here without you." He added with a laugh, "And Barry Manilow."
Honey's cheeks blushed prettily. "Oh, you heard?" Hearing Mike's laugh, she answered, "My family is coming for graduation at the end of next week and they'll help me move home over that weekend."
Mike's voice quieted. "It won't be the same with you gone. I'll miss you when you go home."
"I'll miss you and your mom, too," she replied gently. "I'll keep in touch though." Glancing at her watch, she added, "You'd better get going or you'll be late for work."
"Crap," Mike exclaimed. "OK, I'll leave the mail in our front screen door. I've gotta book out the back to my scooter. I'll catch you later."
"I'll get the mail in a few minutes. Take care, Mike. Thanks." Honey clicked off the phone before she picked up the pile of mail from her own mailbox that she had tossed on the counter and began to flip through it.
A few minutes later, she glanced up from her bank statement to see what looked like a teenage boy with droopy pants and a black hooded sweatshirt walking down the sidewalk in front of the apartment.
"Oh darn," she murmured. "I forgot to get that mail from Mike." Honey slid on her shoes, grabbed her keys and popped out the door to jog down the front steps then through the gate and down the outside basement stairs.
She removed the envelopes from the screen door, then made her way back up the stairs sorting through the half-dozen pieces of mail. A big smile broke across her face when she recognized Brian's scribbled handwriting on a card envelope. Excitement coursed through her as she reached the sidewalk. A happy smile spread across her lips as she closed the stair gate and turned to continue up the stairs to the front door of the building.
As she moved to place her foot on the bottom step, she was grabbed from behind and yanked off the stair. Her breath was knocked out of her lungs as she was pulled against her assailant's chest. Sudden fear coursed through Honey. She filled her lungs and screamed, "Help!"
Her attacker placed his gloved hand over her mouth to stop her screams and jerked her squirming backward along the sidewalk. Think, Honey ordered herself. Think self-defense. She stopped fighting and went limp.
Her assailant stopped moving, dropped one arm to place a hand in his pocket. A syringe glittered in the waning sunlight as he flicked the cover off the needle. His raspy voice whispered, "Madeleine?"
Honey suddenly stood straight and jammed her elbow into his stomach, knocking him off balance. She yelled, "Help me please. I'm being attacked." Honey kept screaming for help even as she fought the attacker.
Once again, he grabbed her from behind and brought the syringe up by her face. Desperately, she managed to bite down on his wrist hard enough that he dropped the needle.
She stepped down on his instep with the heel of her shoe. He grunted in pain and loosened his hold long enough for her to reach behind, then grab and sink her nails into him. Coming into contact with soft tissue, Honey squeezed hard and twisted.
An agonized scream pierced the night air as the attacker hit Honey in the shoulder to break her hold. He pushed her away into the iron railing around the stairs to the basement apartment and fell to his knees, crying out in pain.
"Hey, you!" an angry voice shouted from down the block.
Honey groaned as she held her head.
The hooded attacker looked up to see an old man running at him brandishing a baseball bat. He cried out as he slowly stood up. Then, he took one more glance at Honey and limped away as quickly as he could.
It was pouring rain in Ithaca as Trixie and Jim drove from the airport toward Honey's apartment. The tension in his neck as he maneuvered the unfamiliar vehicle was fueled by Trixie's fingers drumming on the console of the SUV. The only peaceful occupant of the vehicle was Sherlock quietly dozing in her kennel in the backseat. Slowing to just under the speed limit, he took her hand gently in his.
"Trix," he said gently, folding his large hand around her tapping fingers. "We'll be there soon. Try not to worry."
The warmth of Jim's hand relaxed her and Trixie changed her angle in the seat to look at him. "I'll try, Jim, but Honey being hurt just makes me so mad and scared." She frowned. "All those phone calls from various numbers but all the same voice and message." Running her fingers through her curls in frustration, Trixie continued, "I can't help but think about everything. The last three text messages concern me, too. How would he even know Brian exists? It's not like he has visited Honey in Ithaca a lot or anything."
He withdrew his hand from Trixie's to exit the highway. "Baby, tell me what the guy said on the phone and in the texts," Jim requested, as he stopped at the end of the off-ramp.
Trixie pulled a notebook PC from her briefcase and booted it up. She then pulled a thumb drive out of the pocket of her jeans. Once the PC was ready, she plugged in the drive and opened a file named 'Bee Keeper'. Glancing up quickly to see where they were, Trixie began to read from the file.
"First contact, Saturday, February twenty-fifth. Subject called Bee, said nothing and Bee disconnected the line. Approximately, thirty minutes later the suspect called Bee again and said 'You shouldn't throw yourself at men. That's cheap. You supposed to be a lady not a cheap tart'. Bee replied, quote, 'Who are you? What right do you have to talk to me this way?' end quote. Suspect responded, quote, 'I'm the man for you. You need to act like it and not throw yourself at unworthy men' end quote."
"Saturday the twenty-fifth … What happened that day? Why would this jerk say Honey was throwing herself at men?" Jim asked, confused.
Trixie moved and clicked the computer mouse. "One sec and I'll tell you." She typed and clicked some more. "I thought so," she cried.
"What?" Jim queried with a glance at her.
"I had to open my calendar but February twenty-fifth is the day we went in search of that toxic mermaid dress for Sally's bridesmaids."
"Those dresses were a crime," he said with a grimace, turning off the road into the residential neighborhood. "What else do you have?"
Trixie snorted. "You got that right." Picking the laptop back up, she began, "The next contact was during Ben's and Sally's wedding. Honey's phone received a text while she was waiting in the vestibule to enter. The text read and I quote, 'U R MY mermaid. I s/b escorting U'." Studying the computer file, she looked up at Jim and noted, "Whoever it is, they were either at the wedding or nearby in order to know about that ugly bridesmaid dress." Trixie frowned deeply. "I know for a fact that there are no individual pictures of you or Honey in your wedding attire; only pictures of you both buried in a crowd behind others." A quick smile popped onto her face. "I'll never forget the look on that poor photographer's face when Maddie offered him money to delete any picture or splice out any frame of the video of just you or Honey."
Jim laughed at the memory. "Mother and Dad do make a formidable team. Just like we do."
Trixie flashed a brilliant smile at Jim and ran her hand along his thigh. "That we do, my love," she agreed.
Jim's eyes darkened as he said softly, "Trix, we're going to have a wreck."
Trixie slowly withdrew her hand and said throatily, "We'll continue this later, Jim Frayne."
Groaning, Jim muttered, "I hope I can live until then." He shook his head as if to clear it. "OK, back on task. We need to focus on Honey and her stalker," he said firmly.
"Right," Trixie concurred as she sat up straight in the seat. Looking back at the laptop, she read, "The next text was during the reception. It said quote 'Stay away from him'. Honey had been dancing with Brian the whole time, so it could only be him that the suspect meant." Trixie studied Jim to see his reaction. "Those were the texts during the wedding. However, Honey's bouquet went missing. We assumed one of the young girls took it, but both Bess and Tess denied it. We never found it. I don't know for sure he took it, but it sounds like something the creep would do."
"Well, he appears to think Honey is his property or girlfriend and that she shouldn't have anything to do with any other guy," Jim said with a small frown. "Tell me the rest, baby."
"There wasn't any activity by the suspect until the last two weeks," Trixie said reading through the notes. "Two weeks ago, when you were gone with your dad to London, the rest of the Bob-Whites plus Bonnie went to Honey's to pick up a load of her stuff to take back to the Manor House. Since graduation is next week and Honey's lease is up in two weeks, it seemed like a good idea. If we had your car now, we'd probably be drafted to take a load back with us when we go," she said with a shrug.
"I'm sorry I missed out on the trip," Jim smirked. "It would have been worth missing out on visiting with the Headmaster of Eaton House to see Mart land in that mud puddle. I'm just glad you and Brian got pictures on your phones."
Trixie giggled and said, "He looked like he'd been in a pigpen. When he tripped over his own shoelace and tossed that box of dishes to Dan, then fell into that mud face first…it was awesome!"
"He sure looked unhappy in the pictures. I need to give him grief about having to wear one of Honey's sleep tees and a pair of her baggy sweat pants home," Jim agreed with a chuckle. "So what happened that weekend?" Jim asked, making the turn onto the street where Honey's brownstone apartment was located.
Trixie's face drooped into a frown. "After we got everything loaded up to head out, Honey and I were sitting on the stoop of the building waiting for Brian to get done in the bathroom so we could leave. He came outside and leaned in and wrapped his arms around both of us. He was acting all silly and crazy, so he gave both of us a smacking kiss on the cheek," she said, reminiscing. "Her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and her face went white as a sheet. I noticed the number was the same so I leaned in to listen when she answered." Trixie's hands clenched into fists as she continued. "The bastard called her a whore and told her she shouldn't let just anyone kiss her. She should quote 'save yourself for your true love, me' end quote."
Jim's knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel in anger. Gruffly he asked, "He called her a whore?"
"Yes," Trixie confirmed with a nod.
"That son of a –." Jim started before Trixie cut him off.
"Jim, it's OK," she soothed. "When we catch this guy, he won't be able to do this again. Your mother and dad are mad and upset enough without us adding fuel to the situation. We'll get him," she said, as a promise.
"Then what happened?" Jim demanded fiercely.
Knowing that Jim wouldn't like it if she didn't tell him everything, she picked up the story. "I signaled to Dan to look around and then, as carefully as possible so as not to tip our hand, I asked everyone else to help out," she said quietly. "We didn't see anything out of the ordinary so we made sure Honey's apartment was locked. We told the Super to keep an eye out and headed for the Manor House. Honey spent the weekend at home with me staying with her and then that security company your dad uses was supposed to patrol and keep watch after I got her back here," she concluded.
Trixie looked over at Jim noticing the scowl on his face and the hard look to his eyes. She slowly reached out her hand and ran it up and down his thigh to soothe him, as one would a child. Watching carefully, Trixie saw the muscles in Jim's jaw and neck relax as the scowl left his face.
She stopped moving her hand and just left it on his thigh. Trixie looked around and realized they were almost to Honey's.
Heaving a heavy sigh, Jim said softly, "Tell me the rest of it, babe."
Trixie took a deep breath before responding. "The two calls this past week were exactly the same. The suspect called after Honey left the law library and said quote, 'You are mine and you always will be. Graduation doesn't mean you can dump me' end quote. Honey has one call as a voice mail. Your mother got the cell phone provider to tag and trace all calls after the weekend we were up here." Smiling at Maddie's move, Trixie commented wryly, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Hart family trust is a majority owner of the cell company."
"Trixie, even I don't know everything Mother and Dad own," Jim said shaking his head. "So tell me about the last two texts," Jim requested wanting to know everything before seeing Honey. Pulling the car to the curb at Honey's apartment, Jim turned off the SUV and turned in his seat to look at Trixie.
"Here, Jim," Trixie said holding out the notebook PC. "Look for yourself." After Jim took the PC, Trixie added quietly, "The first text came last Monday and the other on my birthday. The security company was supposed to step up their efforts."
Jim read the screen and felt his heart speed up in anger. The file showed the text from Monday stated 'U won't get away' and the latest said 'U'll die w/o me'. Closing his eyes, Jim counted to thirty before he felt Trixie wrap her arms around him.
"We'll protect her and your family from whoever this crazy person is and get him, Jim," Trixie vowed as she placed a kiss on his lips. "We'll get him."
"Damn straight," Jim agreed.
Trixie cautiously surveyed the area around Honey's apartment as they walked Sherlock toward the door. The rain had finally stopped, but the sky remained an ominous gray. In the park across the street, she noticed a guy a little younger than her reading a book. He caught her attention because of the dark sunglasses and ball cap pulled low over his eyes. Periodically, he raised his head and glanced around before returning his eyes to the book.
Trixie touched Jim's arm, which was carrying Sherlock's kennel, and indicated where to look with her eyes. Jim glanced that way and then reached out to knock on Honey's door.
The door opened on a chain to show the face of a dark-skinned man. "You must be Trixie and Jim. We got a complete dossier of everyone legitimately connected to Ms. Wheeler. I still need to see ID please."
Jim and Trixie both showed the man their ID. Inside the apartment, Matthew Wheeler yelled, "Wilson, let my son and Trixie in immediately."
Rolling his eyes, the man shut the door enough to release the chain before swinging it wide for Jim, Trixie and Sherlock to enter. "Please come in," the giant of a man said, waving them into the apartment. He was at least six-foot-six and built like a football running back. His arms were bigger around than Trixie's head. After they were inside, he shut and relocked the door. "I'm Wilson. I work for Jason Marlow as a guard for Ms. Wheeler," he said motioning them toward the couch. "It's OK, Carmelita. Ms. Wheeler can come out now."
Jim placed the dog kennel by the entry table, took Sherlock's leash and let the pup loose. He had no sooner placed the leash on the table when Honey flew into the hall followed closely by a woman who looked like a cross between Salma Hayek and Laura Croft. Honey hugged Trixie fiercely and then moved to hug Jim just as hard.
"I guess you met Wilson," Honey said from her place between Jim and Trixie. Indicating the woman, she said, "This is Carmelita Chavez, my new personal bodyguard that Daddy hired for me. She and Wilson both work for Jason Marlow, Daddy's friend." Looking at her brother, she added, "You remember him, don't you, Jim? Daddy had him over for dinner last summer."
Jim was staring open-mouth at Carmelita. Honey poked him in the ribs with an elbow. "What? Oh, yeah," Jim stammered shifting his gaze to see Trixie frowning and Honey glaring at him. "I remember he and Dad went into the den and didn't come out for hours," Jim said with an apologetic look. Stepping around Honey, Jim placed one arm around Trixie and the other around Honey's shoulders.
A laugh poorly disguised as a cough was heard from the living room. "Come in here and sit down so we can discuss this situation and make plans," Matt called.
Trixie glared up at Jim. He leaned near and whispered, "I may have looked briefly but she's nothing compared to you. I love you and don't you ever forget it."
Trixie sniffed and tossed her curls over her shoulder. "You'd better. I have a gun, I'm an FBI special agent, plus I have three brothers and a dad who will hurt you if you hurt me," she whispered back, poking him in the chest. "That beats a beautiful PI in the poker game of life."
"My love, no one is more beautiful to me than you. You are my life. I don't need anyone or anything else," Jim said softly with a kiss on her brow.
Honey glanced at Wilson and Carmelita then back at Jim and Trixie. "Carmelita, this is my brother, Jim Frayne, and my best friend, who is also his girlfriend, Trixie Belden. And this furry piece of love is their dog, Sherlock," she leaned over to pet the dog on her head. As she straightened her face was pale. "I guess I shouldn't lean over like that. It makes me a little woozy. As I was saying, we'll be in the living room with Mother and Daddy," Honey said glancing at the woman. "Why don't you two take a break?"
Wilson snapped to attention and instantly spoke. "Ms. Wheeler, our orders are to not leave you alone, at any time, with anyone. I think that means everyone."
"Wilson," Trixie stepped toward him and showed him her FBI badge and revealed the gun at her waist. "I think I have this under control. Honey needs her family for awhile. OK?"
"I'll be perfectly fine with my family," Honey agreed quietly. "Please leave us."
Wilson grunted out, "Ms. Wheeler, I'll be in the kitchen and Carmelita is going to lie down but that is as far as we go. You don't leave this apartment; go near the windows or anything. This is for your safety. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Honey sighed before she walked over and flopped gracefully onto the couch.
Trixie, Jim and Sherlock greeted Matt and Maddie before Jim sat beside Honey and pulled Trixie down beside him. She promptly turned to sit cross-legged looking at Honey across Jim.
"OK, Wheeler," Trixie ordered, looking worriedly at her friend. "Spill it."
Honey sighed loudly before sitting up and assuming the same position as Trixie. Sherlock jumped up and settled into her lap.
Jim looked at his sister then his girlfriend as they stared at each other. Seeing the worry and confusion on their faces made his heart beat faster as his own concern grew. He picked up a hand from each woman and sandwiched them between his own.
As one hand stroked Sherlock's soft fur, Honey licked her lips, blew out a breath and recapped everything that Trixie had said in the vehicle on the way to town. She added, "The last two texts came yesterday. I guess you know they said, 'you won't get away' and 'you'll die without me'." Shaking her head and nervously chewing on a cuticle, Honey stated, "Yesterday was just a normal day. I took my final classes in the morning and worked at the law office library in the afternoon. I only spoke to Wilson, Professor Baxter and David Roberts."
"Did you check out the security firm and these peoples' backgrounds?" Trixie softly questioned Matt with a frown.
"Wilson and Carmelita are all clean and have worked for Jason for years. I had Dan run them for us, Trixie. I wanted to have it done while you were clearing your calendar at work to go on vacation with Jim," Matt answered.
"I could have run them," Trixie argued, stiffening. "I could have set them to run while I finished up the Anderson court documents."
Jim explained softly, "Baby, Dad knew you had a lot to do in a short time. He and Mother wanted us to be able to go to Mead's Mountain. He had Dan run these people and then Dan asked Cooper to run them, too." Soft green eyes stared into blue, as he assured, "I think right now we need you to focus on this guy after Honey and not the bodyguards. This needs the two best detectives there are working on it. The Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency needs to be fully focused on this case. I need my sister to be protected, to graduate law school with honors and for this bozo to go to jail. That's what I need you to do for me, baby." Leaning in, Jim gave Trixie a quick peck on the lips.
Trixie snorted and rolled her eyes. "Damn, Frayne, how did you turn me into such a soft touch? Sheesh!"
The room broke out in laughter.
The tension that Honey had been feeling while repeating the stalker's contacts drained away as she laughed. As she watched her brother and best friend snuggle close for a minute and share a secret smile, Honey felt an ache of loneliness. I wish I had someone to love like they love each other, Honey thought with envy. Of course, they've been in love which each other forever and are just lucky they didn't lose one another. I wonder if Br-
"Honey, I asked you a question," Trixie pointed out.
Honey blushed and replied, "Sorry, Trixie, I wasn't paying attention. What did you ask?"
Trixie studied her friend for a second, then asked, "Honey, I asked if you would write down all of the information you can about Professor Baxter, David Roberts and the other people at your office for me so I can get it to Cooper. I did a quick search on them but I want Cooper to run a more detailed one."
"Oh, Trixie, I've already done that. The paper is on the desk by the phone," Honey answered, pointing across the room.
"Great," Trixie exclaimed, jumping up from the couch and moving to the desk. As Trixie picked up the paper to read over it, another question came to her mind. Looking across the room toward the couch, she queried, "Honey, where should Jim put our overnight bags? We left them in the car because we were too anxious to see you."
Honey sighed and turned to face Trixie. "My apartment has always been big enough for several guests but with Wilson and Carmelita here," Honey began. "Well, I have to admit, it is full. Daddy sent Tom and Regan after my bedroom set last week because he didn't want movers to scratch it up again. The apartment is available furnished so I had the landlord bring in beds for the master and guest bedroom. Wilson and Carmelita are using the third bedroom as a command post." Setting Sherlock in Jim's lap, Honey stood and walked around the room stretching out her sore muscles. "As it is, Carmelita and Wilson are sleeping in shifts. Mother and Daddy wanted to stay here, but they didn't want to take my bed and have me sleep on an air mattress on the floor or on the couch. In any case, I don't have a place for you to sleep," Honey revealed tiredly.
Maddie stood and placed an arm protectively around her daughter. "Darling, don't you worry about that. It's early afternoon, so there is plenty of time to figure it out. You look tired. I think you should lie down and rest for a while. How's your head?"
"But Jim and Trixie just…" Honey began, but then admitted reluctantly, "My headache's back."
"We'll be here when you wake up," Jim interrupted, as he got to his feet. "Mother is right, sis. You need to rest." He glanced at Trixie with a wink. "Sherlock is tired, too. I think she'd like to lay down with you. Trixie will come get you in an hour."
Trixie immediately agreed. "Sure I will. In the meantime, I'll get this information to Cooper and we'll figure out where Jim and I will stay. Now, you girls go get settled so you can take your nap."
"OK. I am a little tired," Honey acknowledged. "Come on Sherlock. Nap time. We'll be back in a bit." She walked slowly down the hall with Sherlock trailing behind her.
The living room remained quiet until the door to Honey's bedroom softly closed.
"So, what do we really need to know?" Trixie insisted as soon as the bedroom door clicked. "How is Honey really?"
Matthew rubbed his hand across his face, trying to rid himself of fatigue. "Well, the neurologist has some concerns. It seems Honey was unconscious when the ambulance got to the hospital. She was still rather comatose when Maddie and I arrived just before midnight."
Grasping Matt's hand, Maddie continued, "She was in and out of consciousness until around 1:00 am. The doctors did a CT scan when she first arrived and they did another after she was alert. She still had some minor swelling, but the doctors said they aren't overly concerned. Her memory and recall are fine and she hasn't exhibited any effects of a concussion."
"She was dizzy when Trixie and I arrived. Isn't that a side effect of a concussion?" Jim asked.
Maddie squeezed Matt's hand. "Oh I think she was just lightheaded from bending over, don't you?"
"Maybe," Trixie said, reaching into her bag and taking out the notebook pc. "I've transferred all my notes into one file. I wanted to compare notes with the PIs." She started another file and listed the medical facts that Wheelers had told her. She was about to ask Wilson to come back into the room and give his impressions, when Sherlock began to bark frantically. Trixie was out of her seat within seconds and through Honey's bedroom door.