Tom Dayton is Loose Again

by kaleen1212

Tom Dayton, who was responsible for the death of the woman Ed Brown was engaged to, is once again released. Only this time, the City Council decides Robert Ironside is the only one that can help him. They install him in Ironside's office as his new aide. It doesn't work out well for either of them.

13. Chapter 13

Tom Dayton is Loose Again

Chapter 13

1

Ironside arrived back at his office. The visit with Mary Dayton had provided them with no clues as to where Tom Dayton was keeping Eve. Dayton was unstable, and Ironside worried he might harm or even kill Eve if she said or did the wrong thing. Finding her was an imperative. Damn the doctors for turning him loose! Dayton belonged in the mental institution where he could get the help he needed. The chief knew he wasn't ready to be released in the real world.

Assigning Eve to give him a hard time had been necessary. It was the only way to find out if Tom Dayton was cured of his hatred for women, in particular, women bosses. Well, they found out alright. They now knew Dayton wasn't cured. Ironside had to find him and return him to the institution before he harmed Eve, or anyone else for that matter. Ironside didn't believe Tom was responsible for the murders, but that didn't mean he wasn't capable of committing one himself. He couldn't let that happen.

The door to his office opened. Ed Brown and Carl Reese entered and came down the ramp. Ironside turned his chair toward his officers. "Well, did you find Vincent?"

Both officers sat down at the table Ironside was at. Carl deferred to Ed, since he was the one working directly for the chief. "We found him," Ed said. "He was at his restaurant trying to force his wife to withdraw the money they had in the bank."

"I want to interrogate him myself." Ironside turned his chair around and headed for the door.

"I am afraid that is not possible, Chief," Carl said.

The detective stopped and turned his chair back to face Ed and Carl. "What do you mean it's not possible? Didn't you arrest him? Don't tell me he escaped."

Ed shook his head. "No, he didn't get away, nor did we arrest him."

Ironside knew what that meant. "You shot him."

"He didn't give us any choice, Chief. I shot him," Carl informed him.

"I shot him as well," Ed said, "in the back."

"In the back?" Ironside questioned. "Ed, you know that will be an automatic investigation."

"I know that. I wasn't about to allow him to shoot and kill anyone," Brown said.

"He was protecting me, Chief. I'll swear to that." Reese glanced from Ed to the chief.

"I don't doubt that for a second, but it will prompt an investigation."

"We did learn something. Carl and I decided to go back and questioned some of the witnesses in the murder cases. Although, none of them saw the murders, every one of them saw the same man in the area."

Ironside's attention was drawn to his sergeant. "Go on."

"We showed those people pictures of both Tom Dayton and Frank Vincent. Tom may have been identified as being at the scene of the murders, but so was Vincent. We already know his DNA was found under Stacey Lomax's fingernails. We know for certain he killed her, and probably killed the other one as well. Tom is in the clear as far as the murders are concerned. Frank Vincent killed them, not Tom."

"Ed, we already know that. That is not the problem here. Tom didn't kill them, but he could kill Eve if we don't find her."

Mark Sanger was listening from the kitchen, where he was putting on a pot of coffee. He walked over to the table and sat down. "We don't have a clue where she is, Chief. How are we going to find her? San Francisco is a big city. There are dozens of places he could take her."

The door to the office opened and Officer Duffy came down the ramp. He headed straight for the table. "Chief, I just got word that Eve was seen leaving Headquarters, and Tom Dayton was in the seat beside her."

Carl Reese picked up the phone. Ironside knew what Carl was going to do. "Put the phone down, Carl. I already had a APB put out on Eve, Tom, and her car."

"Where could he have taken her?" Mark asked. "There must be somewhere he has been before that he felt he could hide her."

"And that is exactly what we have to find out. "Ed, you and Carl start with Tom's friends."

"Did he have any friends?" Carl asked.

"You're a detective, Lieutenant, find out," Ironside growled.

"Mark and I are going to do some checking on our own. Everyone get moving. Mark, turn off the coffee pot. We don't have time to sit around drinking coffee." Ironside whirled his chair around and headed for the door. Everyone followed him out of the office.

2

Tom Dayton paced back and forth outside the room he was holding Eve Whitfield. What was he going to do with her? He couldn't keep her locked in the room forever. A sharp pain in his head sent him to his knees. Holding his head in his hands, Tom waited for the pain to subside. He stood up and looked around; he had no idea where he was. The area was vaguely familiar. Still, he couldn't place it. What in the hell was he doing here? The last thing he remembered was he was at Police Headquarters in Chief Ironside's office.

For the first time since he was released from the mental institution, Tom was scared. He must be blacking out. It was the only explanation he could think of as to why he couldn't remember how he got here. What was the matter with him? Had Ironside been right? Was he not cured? He really wanted to make Ironside see he was capable of being out on his own. After all, he couldn't live in Ironside's office forever. Besides, Tom could sense that the man still considered Mark Sanger his aid.

Mark Sanger . . . now there was a guy who he could call a friend. From the beginning of his stay in Ironside's office, Mark tried to help him adjust. He wasn't hard on him like Chief Ironside or Eve Whitfield. Whitfield! Why did all women try to bully him? He hated when they did that. Another sharp pain in his head and Tom was once again on his knees. Eventually, the pain went away. Tom stood up. What was he going to do with the bitch in the next room? Ever since he was assigned to Ironside's office, she'd been riding him. It didn't matter what he did, she was always there to criticize him. Why couldn't she leave him alone? Women were all the same. They were inferior to men, so they had to exert their authority over them whenever they got the chance.

Well, Tom wasn't about to allow any woman to boss him around. He was a man, and men were better than women. How he hated women bosses! They were the worst. He could have worked for Ironside. The man was a jerk in some ways, but at least he was a man, not like the bitch, Eve Whitfield. He showed her who the boss was. He wasn't the one confined in a locked room. She would never boss him around again.

What would he do with her? He kept telling himself he couldn't keep her locked in the basement forever. Nor could he let her go. She would go running to Ironside and tell him she found him in a police uniform. What in the hell did they expect? Did they really think they could keep him cooped up in that small room they called a bedroom? Tom wasn't about to allow them to tell him when and if he could leave Police Headquarters. He was his own man, and no one was going to tell him he couldn't go out on the town if he wanted to. He thought about his situation. Who was he kidding? He couldn't show his face in public now. There wasn't any doubt Ironside had put out an APB on him, Whitfield and her car. He would be picked up by the first cop who spotted him. Unfortunately, he had no choice. He had to feed Whitfield. She had to eat, and he was getting hungry himself. He wouldn't be able to do it for long; he was running out of money. How would he buy food for either of them with no money?

Tom began to pace back and forth again. He had to find a way out of this predicament. What was he going to do with Whitfield? There was only one solution he could think of, and that was to kill her and dump her body somewhere Ironside would never find her. Actually, this area was never used. It could be years before her body was discovered. By then, it would be nothing but bones. That would really show her who the boss was. It sure wasn't Eve Whitfield.

3

Ironside and Mark rode down the elevator to the police garage. When they arrived at the van, Mark pushed the button and the lift lowered to the ground. Ironside backed his wheelchair onto the lift, and Mark once again pushed the button. The detective was lifted into the van. Sanger walked around, opened the door, and got behind the wheel. After starting the vehicle, he turned and looked at his boss. "Where are we going, Chief?"

"To the mental institution. I want to talk to Tom's doctor. Something has been bothering me about Tom."

Sanger pulled the van out of the police garage and headed for the mental institution. He wondered what the chief was talking about. Tom seemed perfectly normal to him. Certainly, he fooled him, but he was able to project an image of being totally normal. What did the chief see that he didn't?

"Are you going to tell me what bothered you about him?" Mark asked.

Ironside sat there for a moment collecting his thoughts. Finally, he was ready to answer Mark's question. "Did you notice Tom seemed to be having trouble with headaches?"

"Yeah, so what? Everyone has trouble with headaches from time to time. Chief, what's your point?"

Ironside stared out the front window. "Of course, everyone does, except Tom's headaches were different. Mark, you were around him as much as I was, didn't you notice they seemed to be brought on whenever Eve would get on his case?"

Mark thought about it. "I think you're right. I remember Eve getting after him, and he started rubbing his temples. I went and got him some aspirin, but I still don't know what your point is."

"Most headaches come on gradually and get worse until an individual decides to take a painkiller, such as aspirin or Tylenol. Tom seemed to have sharp pains, not the gradual headache."

Sanger thought about it. The chief was right. It did seem Tom got sharp pains. "Okay, I'll buy that. So, the sharp pains brought on headaches, so what?"

"I think there may be a reason for it. That is why we are going to the mental institution to talk to his doctor," Ironside said. "That is, if you quit driving like an old lady and pick up some speed. Then we just might get there before tomorrow."

"If I get a ticket, you are paying it, not me. Why don't we get a siren for this vehicle?" Mark asked.

"We have one. I don't like to use it. I prefer not to bring attention to the van."

"Chief, everyone knows this is your van, especially when we use the lift."

"Which is why they won't ticket this vehicle. So get moving," Ironside said.

"All right, but if we get pulled over, you are paying the ticket."

"You're the one driving. It's your ticket."

Mark shook his head, but picked up speed. He kept looking in the side mirror, expecting to see the flashing lights of a police cruiser. They arrived at the mental institution in record time, and with no ticket. Mark got out of the van as Ironside lowered his chair in the van's lift. Sanger stepped behind the chair and began pushing the detective into the medical center. They headed straight for Dr Guisinger's office. When they arrived, they found his office empty. Guisinger was nowhere in sight.

"Maybe we should have called first, Chief. It seems the doctor is not here right now."

A nurse appeared at the doorway. "What are you doing in here?" She looked at the man in the wheelchair. "Oh, you're not a patient. You're Chief Ironside. Can I help you, sir?" she asked.

"I am here to see Dr Guisinger."

"Is he expecting you? she asked.

"No, I only decided to see him a short time ago. There wasn't time to call for an appointment."

"Oh, well, Chief, I'll see if he is done with his patient. He is in therapy at the moment. I'll be right back." She turned and left the office, leaving the chief and Mark alone.

Ironside watched her leave. Mark turned and looked at the wall of filing cabinets. A thought occurred to him. "Tom's file must be in those cabinets." Mark walked over to the files and looked for the "D's". He opened the cabinet that would contain Tom Dayton's file.

"Mark, close the drawer, now!" Ironside said firmly.

Sanger stopped. "But Chief, there could be a clue in his file that will tell us where Tom is holding Eve."

"Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I would like to remove the file from the cabinet and read it? We can't do that without a court order."

"But, Chief, Eve's life could depend on what we find here."

"We will get the file, Mark, but we will do it legally." Ironside pulled out his phone and called Police Headquarters. After asking for Officer Duffy, he waited until the police officer came on the line. "Duffy, I need you to go to Judge Herman Thatcher. Get the paperwork out of my office and get a court order to obtain Tom Dayton's medical records from the mental institution."

"I'm on it, Chief. Anything else?"

"No, Duffy, just get on it," Ironside barked and hung up the phone.

"Now what?" Mark asked.

"Now we wait," Ironside said.

4

A mouse scurried across the floor in front of Officer Whitfield. She recoiled at the sight of it. She hated rodents. Eve was surprised she didn't scream. She watched the mouse for a while. Wondering where it was getting its food, Eve continued to watch it. When she realized she wasn't doing anything to figure her way out of the locked room, she tried to concentrate on her problem. Eve couldn't help the feeling it was familiar. She was sure she had been here before. Spending all her time trying to remember when she had been here hadn't brought back her memory. The chief would have remembered. It was too bad she didn't have his memory.

Eve stood up and began looking around the room again. She knew it was hopeless . . . no, it wasn't hopeless. The chief would never give up, and neither would she. Her best bet was to try to talk to Tom. She had to convince him what he was doing was wrong, that he needed help, and that Chief Ironside could see that he got it. Eve hadn't seen Tom for some time now. Was he coming back? Or did he leave her here with no way to get out. For all she knew, Dayton was long gone. He would have to know she would report everything to Chief Ironside. It would mean he would have to go back to the mental institution. That was the one thing that scared Dayton more than anything. Would that be the thing that would make him run.

Eve thought Tom had changed while he was in the room. She sensed there was a part of him she could reach. Something was wrong with him. She didn't know what it was, but she had to try to get through to the soft side of Tom, which she believed was there. It was up to her to find a way to do it. Before she could do that, Tom had to return.

What would she say to him? What were the right words that would bring out the softer Tom? If she said the wrong thing, he could turn on her, even kill her. Nevertheless, Eve had to try. He couldn't hold her here forever. Eventually he would realize he had to do something, and that something could include her death.

Eve closed her eyes. She could do it. She could reach Tom. Granted, the manner in which the chief had her handle Tom was going to be a very big barrier. She would have to overcome it. Eve watched the chief talk people down from dangerous situations. Furthermore, she learned from it. Not only that, she would use what she learned and talk Tom into turning himself in. Though, she worried that she would never get the chance if Tom didn't return.

Eve's attention was drawn to the door as she heard the key turn in the lock. She waited for it to open and for Tom Dayton's return. A moment later, the door opened and Dayton walked in. He had another bag from MacDonald's. He tossed the bag on the table. "I would suggest you eat it this time. It is all you are going to get." Dayton turned to leave.

"Tom, wait! We need to talk. Please, Tom."

"Talk, Officer Whitfield? You must be kidding. After the way you treated me in Chief Ironside's office? You think you are better than I am, but you're not!"

"No, I don't think I am better than you. Chief Ironside wanted to make sure you were cured of your hatred of women. He was trying to help you. I was following orders. I thought it would help you too. Don't think I liked doing it. I did it because the chief felt it was necessary."

Dayton listened to Officer Whitfield's words. Eve could tell she was getting somewhere with him. She had to keep trying. "I know you don't want to hurt anyone. You are a caring person. Some women treated you bad, Tom. That doesn't mean that all women are bad. There isn't any reason for you to hate us. You deserve to meet someone, fall in love, and live happily. You would like that, wouldn't you?"

Dayton stood there listening. He began to feel a pain in his head again. He went to his knees and held his head. Eve looked at the door. It was wide open. This was her chance. If she could get away from him, she could go for help.

Dayton stop holding his head. He looked up. Where was he? What was he doing here? He had no idea what brought him to where ever this was. Then he noticed Eve Whitfield standing there. "Officer Whitfield. Where are we?"

Eve realized Tom had no clue what was going on. "You mean you don't know?"

"Why would I know? Why did you bring me here? I have to get back to the chief's office. He will be upset with me leaving without telling him. Suppose you tell me why you brought me here to begin with?"

"I didn't bring you here, you brought me here. Where are we?" Eve asked.

"How should I know? All I know is I don't want to upset the chief." Tom looked around the room. He spotted the MacDonald's bag that was sitting on the table. "If you didn't bring us here, then where did the food come from? I wouldn't have bought it; I don't even like MacDonald's food."

"Tom, are you telling me you really don't know how you got here or where the food came from?" Eve asked.

"Obviously, you brought me here. What did you use, knock out drops? Some kind of mind bending drug?"

Dayton wasn't faking. He really didn't know how he got here, where ever here was. She decided to take advantage of his confusion. "Well then, why don't we get out of here." She looked down at the bag of fast food. "I'll buy you dinner."

"Dinner? Why would you buy me dinner? You hate me." His voice was rising. Eve had to lowered his anger immediately. She had no idea what he would do if he was angry enough.

"I don't hate you. I explained that I was ordered to do it."

"Don't lie to me, Officer Whitfield. You hate me."

Eve walked over to Dayton. "Do I really look like I hate you?"

Dayton looked into her eyes. He didn't see any hatred there. Maybe he was wrong about the policewoman. Why did he hate women? He didn't hate them. He hadn't hated them for a long time now.

"Can we get out of here?" Eve asked. "Come on, let's get back to the office. The chief can help you. All you have to do is let him."

Eve recognized it was the wrong thing to say. The expression on Dayton's face changed immediately. "I am not going back to that institution! You hear me. I'm not going back!"

Trying to repair the damage she apparently created, she placed a hand on Dayton's shoulder. "Tom, we aren't going to make you if you don't want to."

"Ironside wants to lock me up! You are just trying to get me back in his office, so he can do it!"

Eve had to get the situation back under control. At this point, she was losing it. "No. I am trying to help you."

"You don't want to help me. I am not going back to that institution. You women are all alike. You just want to keep me down, just like all the rest of them!" He grabbed Eve by the throat. "You're lying!" Pain struck him again. Tom started to squeeze.

Eve couldn't breathe. Dayton was choking her. She had to break his hold, or she was going to die right here and now. She grabbed at Dayton's hands, attempting to break his hold, to no avail. Eve had only one advantage, and that was he was choking her from the front and not the back. If he was behind her, she would have few options. In front of her, she could use what she had been taught.

Eve drove the heel of her shoe into Dayton's foot. He cried out in pain. His grip on her neck loosen. Eve, using both hands, slammed them on both of his hears. That did it. He let go of her completely. Whitfield drew her knee up into his groin. Dayton dropped to the floor on his side with both hands between his legs.

Eve knew an escape route when she saw one. She jumped over Dayton with the intention of leaving him behind. Eve didn't anticipate what happened next. Dayton grabbed her ankle and pulled her backwards. She tripped over him, falling to the floor. Dayton reached under his policeman's jacket and pulled out Ironside's service pistol. Pointing at Eve, his hand shaking, but for some reason Eve didn't understand, he didn't shoot. Holding the gun on Eve Whitfield, Dayton got to his feet. He started backing out of the room.

"Tom, wait," Eve pleaded.

"Shut up! Just shut up. You're just like the rest of them. You think you are better than I am, but you're not, you're not! Look who's the boss now." He backed out of the room, shut the door and locked it.

Eve sat on the floor. She failed. She tried what the chief had taught her, and she failed. How would she fix this now? Dayton wasn't going to trust her, yet she had to win his trust if she was ever to get out of the room. She just couldn't sit here waiting for the chief to find her. Eve just had to make her own luck. She had to find something that would give her the upper hand with Tom Dayton. Whitfield had to get him to listen to reason. Eve shook her head. What in the world was she thinking? She was being held captive by a man who murdered two women. Did that sound like a man who would listen to reason?

Right now, she had to attend to her needs. She was hungry. Officer Whitfield walked over to the table and picked up the MacDonald's bag. Looking inside was a quarter pounder with cheese, an order of fries, and a coke. She sat down at the table, removed the food from the bag and began eating. Eve didn't care for MacDonald's food hot, let alone the cold food she was about to eat. Under normal circumstances, she would never eat anything from MacDonald's. These weren't normal circumstances. She took a bite of the quarter pounder, sipped the Coke, and started to think about what she would do next. Eve stood up and began looking around the room again.

5

Ironside wheeled his chair around Dr Guisinger's desk. He checked everything on it. None of it pertained to Tom Dayton. He looked at the cabinets. He could understand Mark's desire to just open the file and pull Tom Dayton's file out and read it. Ironside felt the same desire, but he was a cop, and he had to follow the law. For if he didn't, he would be no better than the criminals he arrested. So, they would wait for the court order. They had no choice.

One hour later, Duffy walked into the office with the document Ironside needed to read Tom Dayton's file. "Here it is, Chief," Officer Duffy said, handing the paper to him.

Ironside put it in his pocket. "Thanks, Duffy."

"My pleasure, Chief. Anything else you need me for?"

"No. You can go back on patrol."

"Okay. See you later." Duffy turned and walked out of the room.

When Dr Guisinger saw Duffy in the hall, he stopped him. "Hello, Officer. Is there a problem? Can I help you with something?"

"No, sir, but you can help Chief Ironside. He is waiting in your office," Duffy said and moved on.

Dr Guisinger hurried to his office. Sure enough, Chief Ironside and his aid were waiting there for him. He walked in. When he did, Ironside turned his chair around to greet him. "Tristan, how are you?"

"I'm fine. I take it this isn't a social call. Is it about Tom? How is he doing?"

"He's not cured, Tristan."

Dr Guisinger waved his hand up and down. Let's not go over that again. When I talked to Commissioner Randall, he told me Tom was doing quite well in your office."

"Tom Dayton stole a police uniform from one of our storage rooms. He was going out at night and was seen at the scene of at least one murder."

"That's ridiculous, Bob. Tom Dayton is not capable of murder."

"He didn't commit the murder. We caught the man that did. Tom was also at the scene of another murder. He didn't commit that one either. That is not the problem."

"Then what is the problem?" Dr Guisinger asked.

"We believe my policewoman caught him in the patrolman's uniform. He took my service gun out of my office and abducted Eve. Both of them have disappeared."

"What! I don't believe it," Guisinger shouted.

"Why, Tristan? Because you couldn't possibly be wrong. I told you he wasn't cured. You refused to listen to me," Ironside growled.

"You are not a doctor, Chief Ironside! Tom made excellent progress while he was here. I believed he was ready. Everything about his sessions and behavior pointed to that."

"Well, it was wrong. Now he has my officer. He hasn't committed murder yet, and I would like to keep it that way. Now, I need to see his medical records."

"You know better than anyone that patient records are confidential. I can't give those to you, and you know it. I don't have the authority."

Ironside reached into his pocket and pulled out the court order. "This gives you the authority. I want that file. Now!"

Dr Guisinger opened the document. He had seen court orders before. He didn't like it, but he had no choice; he had to honor it. Guisinger walked over to the file cabinet, opened it, and pulled out Tom Dayton's file. Turning around, he handed the file to Ironside. "I'll need that back."

"You'll get it back when I am finished with it. Let's go, Mark." Ironside passed the file to his aid, and then turned and wheeled his chair toward the door.

"Bob!"

The detective turned around. "Yes."

"I am sorry about Officer Whitfield. I don't believe Tom will harm her. When you find him, please be careful how you handle him. You could undo all the progress we have made with him."

"Progress, Doctor? What progress? He is back to doing the same thing he did before he came to your institution. Right now, I am only concerned about my officer. If I can get her back without harming Tom Dayton, I will do so. But if he attempts to harm her, well, I am not promising you anything. Do we understand each other?"

Slowly, Tristan Guisinger nodded his head. Tom Dayton was a special case. He worked hard to cure him. How could he be so wrong? Tom was the model patient. He did everything asked of him and progressed nicely. What went wrong? How could he have misdiagnosed his condition? God help him if Tom harmed Eve Whitfield. Tristan would have blood on his hands. He hoped Ironside was able to find Tom and stop him. If anyone could find something in Tom's medical records that could help locate him, it was Robert Ironside. He walked over to the doorway and watched Ironside and his aid disappear down the hall.

Mark didn't close up the van when he left it, so Ironside only had to back his chair onto it and pressed the button. Mark got in the van, started it up and headed away from the mental institute. "Back to the office?"

"Yeah, back to the office," Ironside said.

"Chief, do you think there is something in his record that will give us a clue as to where he is holding Eve?"

Ironside blew out a breath. "We won't know until we look. There has to be something in there. Ed and Carl are checking his friends. I doubt they will find more than a couple of people. Tom didn't have any visitors all the time he was in the institute, except for his sister. If he had real friends, they would have been there for him. I don't think they will be of any help in finding Tom and Eve."

They drove in silence the rest of the way to Headquarters. Mark pulled the van into the police garage and parked it in Ironside's assigned parking spot. While the chief was lowering his wheelchair on the lift, Mark got out of the vehicle and joined Ironside on the other side. Mark wheeled the detective to the elevator, pressed in the code and waited for it to open. Once up on the top floor of Headquarters, Mark turned his boss's chair to the left, and they entered the office. Ed and Carl were already back from their assignment.

Ironside wheeled his chair down the ramp, slowing it as he descended. He joined his officers at the table. Looking at both of them, he could see they were trying to avoid his eyes. "Well, gentlemen, from the look on your faces, you didn't come up with much."

"We came up with a big fat zero," Ed said. "He had exactly three friends, all male."

"I expected that with his hatred of women. What did the three have to say?" Ironside asked.

"All three of them said they quit hanging around with him," Carl told the detective. "One of them said he was a real bore when they went to bars. They would pick up the ladies. He treated the gal with him just terrible."

"Another of his former buddies thought he was gay. He didn't have anything against that. In fact, he said Tom was welcome to come along anyway. The other two didn't agree. They thought Tom was a real drag. He quit hanging out with them. They haven't seen him since before he was arrested, and they never visited Tom at the institution," Ed said. "What about you, did the good doctor tell you anything helpful?"

Ironside pulled the file from between his leg and his chair. "We got a court order to get Tom's medical file." He dropped the file on the table. "I hope none of you were planning on going home or out on the town, because we are going through this file with a fine tooth comb. Mark! How about cooking some burgers and pull some soft drinks out of the ice box."

Mark walked over to the table. "Chief, no one calls it the ice box anymore. It's a refrigerator."

"It's the same thing, Mr Sanger. Just rustle us up some food."

Mark headed into the kitchen to make dinner for the officers responsible for finding Eve and Tom Dayton.

6

Tom Dayton paced in front of the door of the room where he was holding Eve Whitfield. His headache was pounding. He just didn't know what he was going to do. Rubbing his temples, he willed the pain to go away. He sensed that she tried to trick him, but he just couldn't remember what happened. The last thing he remembered was her trying to escape from the room. He stopped her, though it hadn't been easy. She struck him. In the end, he prevailed. She was no different from any of the women he came across. They were always riding him, berating him, pushing him around. Well, Tom showed her who the boss was. He wasn't going to allow her to push him around. Never again!

Tom would have to make a decision soon as to what he was going to do about her. He couldn't keep her in the room for much longer. She was becoming a problem. Maybe he should just shoot her and get it over with. Could he do it? Tom didn't think he could. He had no use for women, but he didn't have any desire to kill them either. Despite knowing it, he might have to do exactly that.

Then again, maybe he didn't have to kill her. He could just leave her in the room. He had to get out of San Francisco. No one would find her anyway, not down here. But, what if they did? She would tell Ironside what he had done. He couldn't have that. Ironside couldn't prove he had anything to do with her abduction. Tom was certain of that. Unless, of course, she got out of the room and told him. He couldn't afford to keep her alive. Dayton couldn't take the chance she would be found and tell Ironside. The damn cripple would never stop looking for him. Tom knew he would hunt him down. He made up his mind. Eve Whitfield would have to die.