April 4th
The phone rang three times before Tom picked it up. "Ryan." He said, looking at the clock with bleary eyes. 6:35 am.
"Tom."
"Cassie? Are you alright?" He sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"Yeah, but my car isn't." She said, "I went running this morning, and my car was rear-ended when I was backing out of the parking lot by Lake Trail."
"You went running where our victim went running every morning? Really?"
"I always run here," Cassie said.
"Give me a minute to get dressed then I'll come to get you." He said. "Be careful, alright. We don't know where she caught the eye of her killer."
"I'll be careful. Thank you, Tom. For coming to get me."
"It's not a problem. See you soon." He said. 20 minutes later he pulled up beside Cassie's car, just as the tow truck got it hooked up.
"Perfect timing." She said as she got into the passenger side of his car, putting the personal effects from her car into his back seat. "Can we go by my house so I can shower and change?"
"Absolutely." He said as he backed out of the parking space he had just pulled into "So who rear-ended you in a parking lot?"
" A middle-aged man with coke bottle glasses and orthopedic shoes." She said. "We exchanged information. His insurance should cover the repairs on my car."
Tom laughed "The national budget won't cover repairs on that car. It's totaled, Cassie."
"What? No. No way. It's just a little rear-end damage."
"That will cost more to repair than your car is worth three years after you bought it." He said "Trust me. Insurance companies won't pay for it to be repaired. They'll just buy the car from you… at what it's worth now which is probably less than you still owe."
"There is no way it's depreciated that much in just three years."
"It depreciated that much the moment you drove off the car lot. Not to mention how much it costs to repair body damage on a sports car." He said as he drove toward her house. He had considered looking for a house again once he'd been reinstated but decided against it because he was just biding his time till he could propose to Maura.
"You looked all this up when I bought the car didn't you." She said.
"No, I looked it up to console myself when I couldn't buy the sports car I wanted." He said. "But It did give me happy thoughts when you did."
"Well, that's just rotten." She said. "Especially when I kindly gave you your car back."
"Which you only did because you couldn't afford the insurance on both of them." He pointed out "But I appreciated you putting it back to its original color."
Cassie smiled "You're welcome." She said. "It was the least I could do since I had it painted candy apple red because I knew it would drive you up a wall."
"I knew that's why you did it. As well as the velour seat covers." Tom shrugged. It didn't matter anymore,
"Well, I was the angry ex-wife. Now I'm just the ex-wife."
"Glad the angry is gone," Tom said. He pulled into her driveway and turned off the car. "I'll wait." He said.
"Seriously?" She said "Come inside. I'm not Marnie, your backside is safe from me, so your girlfriend has nothing to worry about. You can make coffee."
Tom laughed. "Fine, I'll make coffee." He said "Maura isn't jealous by the way."
"Right." Cassie said leading the way to the front door which she unlocked. "There is no such thing as a woman who isn't jealous when she has a handsome boyfriend."
"You used to tell me you were never jealous." Tom pointed out.
"That's how I know it's a lie." She said "There are pastries on the counter. Help yourself." She'd gone to the bakery the night before.
"Did you really think I'd cheat on you?"
"I didn't think you'd ever intend to cheat on me. You're a boy scout."
"That sort of thing doesn't happen by accident, Cass." He said going into the kitchen to start the coffee. "It's not like you trip and fall and land in an affair."
"It's a slippery slope. One thing leading to another, that leads to another, and next thing you know you're in bed with someone you shouldn't be."
"You mean that slope that starts with going into a beautiful woman's home, alone, while your girlfriends are out of town?" Tom said. Which was why he'd intended to stay in the car.
"Yeah," She said then frowned. "Hey, that's different. You and I are never going to just fall into bed together."
"You're right." Tom said, "No one just falls into bed together."
"We did."
" That was completely intentional on my part."
"Whatever. I'm going to get in the shower now."
Tom opened the box of pastry and found that it was filled with his favorite kind. He took one and went to sit at the kitchen table while Cassie was in the shower. He looked at his watch and then pulled out his cell phone to call Maura.
Harry watched for Tom and Cassie who showed up together precisely on time. "My office." He said and waited for them to join him.
"Lesley Cooper's husband Ray committed suicide last night," Harry said.
"Raymond Cooper?" Tom asked. "The novelist Raymond Cooper?"
"I think so, yes." Harry said "Why? Are you a fan or something?"
"Used to be. Then I found out that his first two books had been ripped off from another writer."
"Plagerized?"
"Entire manuscripts were stolen." Tom said. "His later work was his own, in theory anyway, but he paid out millions in settlement money to the author of the first. So he admitted to killing his wife in his suicide note?"
"Not exactly. He said it was his fault. Which is not the same thing as admitting he killed her." Harry said. "Just admitting he felt responsible."
"So wait a minute," Cassie said, "This guy was a disgraced novelist?" She shook her head "Sounds crazy to even say that in a sentence. Arlo Reynolds was a disgraced investment banker."
Tom looked at her "We've been looking at the wrong people. This isn't about the women, this guy is targeting their husbands, who got away with whatever crime they committed. He's punishing them by killing their wives. The remaining victim, who is she?"
"Selena Elias." Cassie said, "Her husband is Cyrus Elias. He owns that private security firm, Hippeus."
"Sounds like we need to go talk to Elias and find out what he did that he never had to pay a penalty for," Tom said getting to his feet. "Then we'll hit the school and Gym for the Reynolds case. We don't want to give people time to forget details."
"Good. Sounds like a solid plan." Harry said "I'll be out of the office for a couple of hours at lunch. I'll be back before you call it a night, so you can fill me in then."
"Right, Skipper." Tom said.
They arrived at the Security firm 20 minutes later and spent another half an hour waiting at reception.
A woman approached them. Tall, lean, and wearing a power suit and 4-inch heels. "Mr. Elias regrets that he can't meet with you today. He says I am to assist you with anything you need."
"What I need is to speak to Mr. Elias about his wife's murder," Tom said bluntly. "Unless he'd rather have the conversation down at the precinct, which can be arranged, I recommend he makes himself available. Is that something you can help us with Ms…"
She blinked "Travers. Rachel Travers." She said, "Come with me, Detectives." She led the way to a conference room. "I'll ask Mr. Elias to meet with you as soon as he can." She left the two detectives alone and went to find her employer.
"How long do you think that will take?" Tom asked, 5 minutes later. "You've interviewed him in the past, what does he look like?"
"5'10 ish, balding with black hair, blue eyes, looks like he could bench press a Buick." She said.
"So like that?" Tom asked pointing out a man quickly leaving an office and heading toward the front.
"Exactly like that" Cassie said as she left the conference room and followed the man toward the front of the building. "Mr. Elias." She called out.
He turned to face her and then ran for the front door.
"I hate it when they do that," Tom said running after him. He was surprised when he had to put on a real burst of speed to catch up. He tackled the man to the ground. Elias twisted under him, attempting to get free. "Don't even think it. Right now I just want to ask you a few questions, run again it's resisting arrest and you do not want that."
Damn that hurt. Okay, maybe he shouldn't have tackled the guy. His arm was going to be telling him all about it for the rest of the day.
"Alright." He said "Alright."
Tom got up and helped Cyrus Elias to his feet. "You wanna tell me why you decided to run from people investigating your wife's murder," Tom asked as they walked. The man was silent. "Would you rather I arrest you? Because that's extremely suspicious. I'd just as soon have the conversation here and then we can both get on with our day. But if you're going to make things difficult then I have to arrest you and haul you into the station. I'm sure you don't want that. Do you Mr. Elias."
"No. I don't want that."
"Good. Let's go with plan A then." Tom smiled at Cassie as they got to the door. "We're going back to the conference room."
"Oh, well, that's convenient," Cassie said as they walked.
"I'd say cooperative if I hadn't had to chase him for two blocks." Tom said.
Once inside the conference room, They all took a seat.
"So I'm going to ask again, why you ran," Tom said.
"It's complicated."
"Explain it to me. I've got time." Tom said and looked at Cassie "You got time?"
"I've got lots of time." She said.
He glared at them. "Not without a lawyer. Even if it means that we have to go downtown.
"Let me make it simple for you." Cassie said "You did something you shouldn't have. You got caught, but for whatever reason, you got away with it."
"But someone found out," Tom said "And that someone kidnapped your wife, and later killed her. Now, we've gotten that out of the way you may as well come clean about what it was and who found out."
"We're homicide, so unless you've killed someone it's not our problem." She said
"Without going into details … I blackmailed several of my clients. They won't press charges." He said."I don't know who it was that found out. I swear I don't."
"They contacted you when your wife was taken didn't they," Cassie said.
All the victims had disappeared three days before they were found dead. They'd been kept alive during that time with no signs of sexual assault or torture. Other than Lesley Cooper anyway. It had perplexed her at first. Now it made sense.
Elias nodded. "Yes."
"So what did they say, what did they say, when they contacted you?" Tom asked.
"They didn't. They made Selena tell me what I'd done, and she said that he was giving me three days to figure out who he was and make contact or she would pay the price for my crimes." He said "But I couldn't figure it out. I had no clue to work from. Nothing. I tracked down every client I'd blackmailed, I checked out everyone in the company that could have figured it out. I have been looking ever since to try and figure out who it was, but I haven't found anything."
"Do you have any connection with Raymond Cooper or Arlo Reynolds?" Tom asked.
"Not that I'm aware of no. Whoever it is, is the one responsible for those other women found in dead in the parks." He said, "Isn't he."
"It's possible. But we don't know that for certain." Cassie said.
"If I figure it out I'll let you know. Trust me I want this son of a bitch to pay for what he's done."
Harry and Frannie stood to one side of Chris Lorenzo's grave, while Rita and her son stood to the other.
"Here you go." She said and handed a rose to Sam, "Can you put that in the holder right there next to Mommy's flower?"
" Ah huh." He said and stepped closer to the tombstone to put the flower in the small vase attached. He went back to Rita. "I'm hungry." He said as she picked him up.
"You're hungry?" She asked "Then I guess we'd better go have lunch then."
Frannie smiled "Why don't I take him back to the house and feed him and put him down for a nap and the two of you go have lunch and talk about all those cop things you've been avoiding talking about around me."
"Are you sure?" Rita asked.
"I am sure," Frannie said and held her hands out to Sam. "Would you like to come with me?" She asked him.
Sam nodded and reached for her.
Harry and Rita drove back to the precinct and found the food truck that they'd all frequented back in the day.
"I remember Chris used to eat these god awful burritos here." Rita said, "Sometimes he'd even get an extra one and take it home with him for dinner."
"Bachelors do not eat well at all. Which reminds me I am supposed to drag Tom home for dinner, by the ear if I have to." He said. "His girlfriend is out of town and Frannie is convinced that he'll starve if we don't take him under our wing."
"The two of you take good care of your detectives." She said, "I hope I can live up to your example when I get back to California."
"Only the special ones. You are going to be an amazing captain." Harry said. "I have no doubt whatsoever."
"I hope you're right." She said,", Just a little over a week until I find out."
Tom had taken Cassie back to his apartment for lunch. He took a plate of lasagna from the microwave and put it in front of Cassie, before putting one into the microwave for himself. He was frustrated. "I'm not seeing anything to tie these people together." He said. "If our theory is correct then there has to be one person who connects to all of the others. How else does he know that the husbands are disgraced or downright criminal in the first place."
"I could easily see one of Cyrus Elias's victims reporting it to the police but not having evidence." She said. "Maybe the same with Arlo Reynolds."
"True, but the stolen manuscripts were handled in civil court." Tom said.
"True," She said taking a bite of the lasagna. "But he paid for that act. Right? He paid out money to the writer he ripped off."
"Then there is something else he did., Tom said. "Honestly though, what they did may not be as important as how the killer is figuring it out."
"Maybe we should find out if there are any new missing persons reports. Reynolds reported his wife missing before the killer made his wife call him." She suggested.
"Which isn't a bad idea. I just don't know how we could tell that the missing women are in fact kidnapped by our serial killer." Tom said and took his food out of the microwave. "I feel like the more we find out the less we actually know."
"I know." She said and sighed. "I'm not sure where to look for more information."
"Me either." He said. "I don't know. Maybe Harry will have an idea. All I've got left is fine-tooth combing everything we've already fine-tooth combed."
"What if this guy is a total stranger to every one he's killed?" She asked.
"Then he's a psychic. " Tom said. "Or has one hell of an information source."
"And if it's not one guy doing all of them?" She said finishing her lasagna.
"Then we're screwed," Tom said. "So far the only thing we have to go on is that their husbands were all crooked to one degree or another." He finished his food and put their plates in the dishwasher. "And the fact that I don't believe in coincidences."
"So who do crooked people talk to?" Cassie asked. "Lawyers."
"And victims talk to cops." Tom said "Neither of which is going to tell us anything even if we knew who they were."
"I know."
They got back to the precinct half an hour later and Tom made note of the fact that Rita was ensconced in their captain's office again. "I wonder if she's moving back."
"I think she just likes spending time with Harry."
"The last thing I would do on vacation is hang out at a police station," Tom said. "I just hope he isn't training her to take his over his job."
"Harry loves his job. He's not going anywhere." Cassie said. She studied Tom for a moment."What's bothering you? And don't say this case."
"It's…" He made a face, "Something in the air." Tom said. "You can almost smell it like, like, rain. Change. There is a major change brewing and it's not on the horizon, it's right around the corner."
"Is this about Maura?" She asked.
"I don't know." He said "Maybe…"
"It's okay to change your mind, Tom. Don't do something you're going to regret out of guilt."
He shook his head "I'm not changing my mind Cassie, and I don't feel guilty. I know she's out of my league, and I know that her father makes things complicated, but I love her, I think I always have."
"She is not out of your league," Cassie said firmly. "Stop saying that. I just think that it's going really fast after, you know … the last time."
That was the rub. He was never going to live that down. He would always be the cop that got conned by a beautiful woman. He'd always be on IAB's radar, especially as it was his case that brought one of them down and It wasn't the first time he'd been instrumental in an Internal Affairs officer going to prison.
No matter what he did, that was going to hang over his head. Even with Cassie. Especially with Cassie. He supposed he wasn't surprised. He wasn't sure that he'd react any differently if he was watching someone else living his life. But it didn't change how he felt. Neither would arguing with Cassie over it.
"I'm not moving in with her, or asking her to marry me right away." He said.
"But you are planning to ask her," Cassie said.
He laughed "I was planning to ask her 17 years ago. "If I could have gotten a scholarship to a college in New York I would have."
"I worry about you, Thomas. I just don't want to see you get hurt again."
"I know." He said quietly.
Harry came out of his office, with Rita. "Alright, what have you two found out?"
"Mr. Elias is a blackmailer., Cassie said. "He wouldn't tell us which of his clients he blackmailed, and none of them have pressed charges."
"He says that his wife called him when she'd been abducted and told him that the kidnapper was giving him three days to figure out who he was or she was going to pay the price for his crimes." Tom said. "Unfortunately he never did. He claims to have checked out all the people he blackmailed. I don't know that I believe him."
"Is it possible that he killed her himself and dumped her where she'd be presumed to be just another victim of our not-quite-a-serial killer?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. It's possible." Tom said "But it's not likely. He's not as shattered as Reynolds but not every one responds to grief the same way. I think Elias is the type to look for revenge before he'd break down and cry in front of strangers."
"No one seems to remember anyone unusual in the women's lives, or anyone stalking them. I think he's a pro. As in someone trained in surveillance."
"Which doesn't leave too many professions," Rita said. "We're talking cops, private investigators, and the alphabet suits."
Tom laughed quietly "That's what Maura calls them… alphabet suits." He said "But even then we're limited to the FBI. No one any higher up would even have these people on their radar."
"And that still leaves us not knowing how they found out about any of this in the first place. Aside from Raymond Coop, er no one's sins are public knowledge." Cassie said.
"He also paid for his sins. Through the nose." Tom said.
"Do you know who the actual author was?" Rita asked. "I know they knew who stole their work but to make someone pay out it takes more than just knowing. Civil courts require evidence too. See if you can find out where they went for help."
"Good idea," Cassie said. Was Tom right? Was Harry training Rita to take over his job? Now SHE was starting to feel the wind of change.
Patterson and Clark entered the room and walked over to the group huddling around Tom Ryan's desk.
"We've closed the Galloway case," Clark said. He was a tall African American man. He'd worked with Tom briefly in the past.
"Excellent," Harry said with a broad smile.
"You may change your mind when we tell you who," Patterson said. Patterson had transfered in from the Bronx by way of Vice. He'd turned into a sun worshipper almost immediately. He looked like an escapee from the1970ss. Bronze skin and sun bleached hair. Tom figured he would wind up with skin cancer before he was 50.
"And why would I not be happy to hear a case is solved?"
"Because it was LT. Galloway that did it."
"What?" Tom said. Sure he had a special loathing for the man, but he didn't think he was capable of murder least of all of the brother he'd been trying to save from Tom's investigation.
"We found a jar of caffeine powder under his bathroom sink with gel caps and latex gloves. Forensics says it's the same as the capsules we found in Patrick Galloway's vitamin bottle." Patterson said.
"Were his prints on any of that?" Harry asked.
"No, but they weren't wiped clean either. He used gloves. Of course he's denying it. They always deny it." Clark said, looking at Tom. Tom made eye contact and didn't look away until Clark did.
Harry didn't miss the interaction. "Don't you two have paperwork to fill out?" He said sharply.
"Yes, sir," Patterson said.
Harry glared at them as they walked away.
"It's alright, Harry," Tom said. He had expected it, honestly.
"No, it's not." Harry said "You're coming to dinner tonight." He told Tom. "Frannie's orders."
Tom laughed quietly. "I don't-"
"Have any intention of making me go home and explain to my wife that you're turning her cooking down in favor of takeoutt because some idiot gave you the hairy eyeball at work."
Tom threw his hands up in the air. "I surrender." He said. "What time?"
"6:30." Harry said "And no calling at the last minute with a lame excuse. In the mean time find that writer."
"We're on it." He said.
He and Cassie spent the next several hours searching the internet and finally calling the publishing house and arguing with their legal department, then arguing with another set of lawyers and back to the publishing house to finally get the information in question. They eventually came up with the name Sebastian Graham.
"You're in luck," Cassie said. "He lives in New Orleans."
"How is that lucky?"
"Harry might spring for an extra day." She said with a shrug.
"Have you met Harry Lipschitz?" Tom asked shaking his head. "Come on I'll give you a ride home." He got up and grabbed his jacket. "Want me to pick you up in the morning?"
"Please," Cassie said.
Tom arrived promptly at 6:30 with a bottle of wine and knocked on Harry and Frannie's front door. Rita answered and let him in.
Cassie opened her front door to find Will Adams standing there with a little boy's lost expression. "Will, Hi."
"Hi." He said. "I wanted to ask this when we were working together but I thought under the circumstances it was a bad idea. Now that we're not working together I thought I'd ask…"
"Ask me what?"
"Can I take you to dinner?"
Cassie thought about it for a moment. Tom had made it plain that he was with Maura no matter what a mistake that was going to turn out to be. Maybe it was time that she started dating again too. "Yes. I'd like that. Let me get my purse."
Tom sat on a chair in Harry's backyard, while Frannie put the finishing touches on dinner.
Rita wandered out to join him, having been shooed out of the kitchen.
"Did they send you out here to join me?" He laughed quietly. "I hope they aren't trying to play matchmaker."
"Not the way you think., Rita said. "It's been rough coming back to work hasn't it."
Tom shrugged "Not as bad as I expected, not as good as I'd hoped." He said honestly.
" You know Harry believes in you." She said.
"I wouldn't blame him if he didn't. I did shoot the man." Tom said.
"Sure, but there was a gun and you had reason to shoot him. Yes, you were set up but that doesn't change the moment of the shooting at all."
"So Harry filled you in huh? I have to ask, are you relocating to Palm Beach again?"
"Only for a visit." She said "I'm going to be the new captain of homicide at the 101st precinct back home. I wanted to visit Chris's grave, and to get all the advice I could get from Harry."
"Congratulations., Tom said. He figured his career was going to stagnate where it was. There were worse things, he liked working Homicide. He couldn't help but feel a little envious though.
"Thank you. So… do you have any regrets?" She asked.
"About which? The shooting? Always." He said "Even the good shoots where I'm not the patsy. I'm not John Wayne and this isn't the wild west. Does it stop me when it needs to be done? No. If you mean about becoming a cop, never. I won't ever willingly leave the job until I'm too old to do the job. What about you?"
"My only regret is how much time Chris and I spent denying what we felt for each other. I used to think it was one of those things you put on a Hallmark card. That romantic sentiment of not wasting a single moment. But it's true. You never know when that chance or choice is going to be taken away from you. I shouldn't have to be raising my son alone. He should know his father from more than pictures and visits to his grave. Maybe if we'd wasted less time, maybe Chris would have gotten to hold his son."
"If I can ask, why did you? Wait I mean?"
"Rules, regulations, not wanting to ruin the friendship, the partnership we had. Neither of us exactly had a solid romantic track record. You know the usual reasons people wait." She said. "Some people love to give advice. I'm one of them." She smiled "Don't put off what makes you happy, don't waste time trying to force yourself into the mold made by other people's choices for you. They aren't living your life. You are."
"Dinner's on the table.", Harry said from the back door.
Cassie laughed. She was having a good time. If you had asked her back during that dreadful two months when Tom was not her partner and Will was if she could enjoy the man's company she would have laughed for a completely different reason. The amazing part was that they hadn't talked about work or Tom Ryan once.
He drove her home and parked in front of her house. "I had a good time tonight." He said.
"Me too., Cassie said. "Would you like to come in for a drink?" She asked.
"Yeah. I would." He said. They both knew that it wasn't a drink she was inviting him in for, but certain rituals had to be observed.
She unlocked her door and let him inside. "I have Rum, Bourbon, and a bottle of wine. Do you have a preference?" She asked.
"Normally I would say bourbon but I think tonight wine is a better option."
"Do you?" She asked with a smile, "And why would that be?"
"Because it goes better with this." He stepped in close, one hand went to the small of her back, the other twined in her hair as he kissed her.
Tom drove Rita to her hotel after dinner. "You've given me a lot to think about." He said.
"I meant it." She told him. "I think it would be a good move for you."
"You're right. It would be. But I'm not the only one affected by it. Can I let you know on Tuesday when I get back?" Harry had agreed to give Tom an extra day in New Orleans so that he could interview the writer.
"Absolutely. Sam and I will be flying back to California Tuesday night. Even if you need more time you have my number."
He pulled into the parking garage. "Do you need my help getting Sam up to your room? He's seriously passed out." He said glancing into the back seat.
"Thanks. It's hard to get him and the car seat in without waking him first."
She got out and eased her son out of the car seat. He woke briefly but once his head was on his mother's shoulder he was out once more.
Tom unfastened the car seat and followed her in. Once in her room, she unlocked the door and put her son on one of the beds. Tom set the car seat inside, beside the door.
"Good night, Captain." He said.
"Good night, Tom."
Cassie kissed Will's back and traced the wounds she found there. "How many times have you been shot." She asked.
He turned over to face her. "We're not going to have one of those lethal weapon three moments are we? Comparing scars and war stories."
"No. I've been lucky so far. I've never been shot"
He smiled a little at that. "Three times in the torso… twice in the back once in the front that went through and through. So that's why there are three scars on the back. I took one in the left leg. I've had my arm grazed twice. Knifed once, and I'm pretty sure that if you sift through the hair you'll find where I've had a dozen or so stitches over the years from being hit in the head."
"You're lucky to be alive." She said. "Are you sure you don't want to transfer back to homicide?" She laughed a little "It might be safer dealing with everyday ordinary killers. Clearly, the mob wants you dead."
He laughed a little at that. "If that was the case, I'm pretty sure I'd be dead."
