Danger

Chapter 14

Later that evening, the weather had turned nasty, which was not unusual for Chicago. As night fell, the strong winds caused tree branches near Daniel's house to scrape the windows, giving an eerie effect to the house.

The thought of leaving his warm, dry house wasn't appealing for Daniel as he finished the salad and muffin that Lewicki had left for him for dinner. He was skimming through articles in a medical journal, planning to spend the rest of the evening on that. Anything except thinking about Kate.

Of course that was almost an impossibility. The only way he could stop thinking of her was to think about the case. He therefore attempted to concentrate on the significance of HYSTICS. His mind couldn't help drifting back to those seven letters. The only clue he had was the timing of the letters. They started and ended with the appearance and murder of Hilda Jones. Was that a mere coincidence?

He was immersed in thought when he heard a thud at the window of the kitchen door. Was that a tree limb or had Lewicki forgotten his key? he wondered. The rain had picked up and along with the wind,sending horizontal sheets of water down his backyard.

Daniel got up and went to his rear kitchen window and peered into the darkness. He couldn't see anything except the blackness of the night. Perhaps the thud was the falling of a loose tree limb or patio furniture. He berated himself for wishing Lewicki was here. He was a grown man, surely he could weather out a storm by himself!

He turned and was about the leave when he heard the same sound again, making his nerves jump. This time he turned on the outside backyard light and squinted into the storm.

At first he saw nothing in the wind-whipped rain. Then lightening struck and for a split second he looked startled as he saw Jenny Clayton's face pressed against the pane of the window. He watched as her hand came up and began pounding on the glass.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Dr. Pierce! Dr. Pierce!" her voice sounded muffled against the sound of the pouring rain and through a thick glass, "Let me in, please! It's pouring out here!"

Daniel could only stare out. He wanted to turn away, but she continued pounding. As she stood in the rain, there was water running down her face and matting her hair. she looked desperate.

"Please, Dr. Pierce! I'm scared!"

Daniel's inner voice told him to walk away, but her face looked so pale and frightened. Looking out again, this time he tried to see beyond her to make sure no one was behind her, especially her husband, Tom Clayton. She seemed to be alone, so he opened the door slightly. Immediately he felt Jenny pushing the door further in, as Daniel backed away slightly. She shook herself, paying no mind that the raindrops were dripping on his kitchen floor.

"Oh my gosh! brrrr!" it is COLD out there!" she stated, rushing in.

"Jenny, what is it?" Daniel wanted to know, "Are you in any sort of trouble?"

Jenny was now shaking the water off of her from her hair. When she looked back up at Daniel, she had a strange, peculiar smile on her lips.

"Oh noo, Dr. Pierce; I'm not in trouble," she paused ominously, "...but you are."

Before Daniel could stop her, she opened the back door again and suddenly Tom Clayton's huge body loomed at the doorway. He stepped over the doorway and forcefully closed the door behind him. Meanwhile the wind began as howl as more rain came thundering down.

Daniel backed away and drew a deep breath, "I think the two of you should leave," he said bravely.

It was Tom Clayton who answered him, "We're not going anywhere, Pierce. It's just too bad you stuck your nose where it didn't belong."

"Is that what this is about?" Daniel tried to rationalize as he stepped further back, "What did you expect me to do when there was a murdered woman in front of my house?"

Jenny then spoke, "But you couldn't leave it alone, could you? You had to tell Stone about our possible involvement in Jones's death."

"Our? As in the two of you?" Daniel hadn't considered Jenny's part in this.

"Of course," Jenny said, "You involved us when you didn't understand what we've been through."

"You're right, I don't understand what both of you have been through..." Daniel stated, trying to buy some time, as he quietly took another step backward, "so why don't you tell me?"

"You don't know what it's like," Jenny's tone was frustrated, "... being sent here, there and everywhere by the federal marshals! We had our family, our lives taken away from us. We were forced to start over again...and then again and again. I'm tired of all this!"

And with that, she produced a gun she had hidden in her pocket and pointed it directly at Daniel.

Even Tom looked surprised, "Jenny, what are you doing? We came here to talk with him!"

"It was you who had killed Hilda Jones," Daniel announced to Jenny with finality.

"Don't you see what your snooping has done, Dr. Pierce?" she said, her voice hard, "we've been living with phony names for so long I'm starting to forget my real name! And then all the sacrifices I've had to make in order to fit in. It's been hell, I tell you, hell. I wanted this to be the place the place I'd settle down. For good. And it would have been if you had not interfered!"

She started to take aim with the gun.

The phone rang.

"Who's that?" Tom looked alarmed.

"Probably his FBI girlfriend, " Jenny said coldly as she turned to Daniel, "Don't answer that."

"If I don't answer that, Kate will come over. You want that? Because she will," Daniel said, "especially since she knows I'm all alone here."

"Maybe he should answer it," suggested Tom, "we don't want her to become suspicious."

Jenny looked angry as she gestured at the phone with her gun, "Go ahead and answer it, but put it on speaker phone and just talk enough to let her know you're fine," she warned, "No funny business, or I swear, I will shoot you through the heart!"

Daniel acknowledged as he took the five steps needed to answer the phone.

"Hello?" he took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. Jenny gave him a threatening stare, as she aimed the gun at his heart.

"Daniel?" Kate's voice was such a comfort, "I just spoke to Detective Stone and he refuses to cooperate. Don't worry though, I plan to bring in Clayton myself for questioning. I believe you."

"Thank you." Daniel said curtly, watching the gun very carefully..

"Uh, Daniel," Kate sensed it immediately, "you sound funny...are you alright over there?"

He shuddered when he heard Jenny Clayton release the safety and pull back on the hammer.

"yes, sorry...I just have a lot on my mind..." he said, "I 'm right in the middle of preparing my lecture notes."

"Oh? Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"You know how intense I get," Daniel interrupted, "but I appreciate your call, and I have to go, now."

She slightly paused, "Oh... sure. Good-bye, Daniel."

" Bye." He quickly hung up.

"That's better," Jenny sneered, as her gun was still aimed at Daniel, "Just so you know, I don't want to kill you, Dr. Pierce, but you understand that I can't let anyone else put together that Tommy and I were involved in any kind of murder."

Tom Clayton came up behind his wife, his cold eyes watching her, "Okay, Jen," he said, "if you're going to do it, just do it. Let's just get this over with."

"Of course he wouldn't be worried about the murder," Daniel said, as he took another a step backwards and was now in front of the kitchen's swinging door which led to the living room.

Jenny peered at Daniel, her curiosity piqued, "And what is THAT supposed to mean?"

"He wasn't the one who killed Hilda Jones," Daniel explained, "One thing that always bothered me was the angle of the knife, the way it had been jabbed into HIlda Jones's chest. Your husband is a tall man and Hilda was much shorter. The knife went straight in, parallel to the ground. Someone your husband's size would have brought the knife in a downward motion. No, it had to have been someone similar in statue. And if I can figure that out, the FBI will, too."

Jenny's gun hand began to shake in anger.

"That proves NOTHING!" Jenny was almost yelling, "that woman was stalking us! Everywhere we went, everywhere we turned around, she was there. A reminder of what happened eons ago at a different place. She was driving me nuts!"

And with that, her hand had stopped shaking. She knew what she wanted to do and Daniel knew that too. The room in the kitchen seemed smaller and smaller. Daniel figured if he were to do something, it better be now. With one swift breath, Daniel quickly turned and bounded towards the kitchen door. It swung just as Jenny fired, BANG! and the bullet hit the door as it swung back and forth, back and forth.

Meanwhile Daniel ran into the living room. He quickly grabbed pillows and a statue and hid behind the sofa as he heard the kitchen door give burst open with a hard swing and loud footsteps could be heard.

He flung one pillow in a direction away from himself and he heard the firing of the gun in the direction the pillow had been thrown.

"You can't hide, Dr. Pierce!" yelled Jenny, "You might as well make it easy for all of us and come out!"

Now squatting he moved to behind a table. Then threw another pillow, moved back, and then the statue. He heard two more shots. Daniel had nothing else in his hands. There were two of them and one had a weapon. They could easily find him and corner him. Daniel closed his eyes and his last thoughts would be of Kate.

Suddenly he he saw flashing red lights coming through the curtains of his living room and the slamming of doors.

"We've got company!" Tom announced.

Jenny turned to her husband, "Damn it!"

But Tom was already making his escape by heading to the back kitchen door. When he opened it, Probert was there, waiting for him, his gun drawn. Meanwhile, the front door burst opened and Kate's voice could be heard loud and clear.

"FBI! Put your hands up!"

Jenny had no choice but to put her hands up as other agents descended on her, Probert produced a handcuffed Tom Clayton and both the Claytons were led away. Once everyone was gone, Kate holstered her gun and went over to Daniel.

"You okay, Daniel?" she asked, looking at him with deep concern.

"I'm fine, Kate," Daniel stated, "But Lewicki is going to give me a hard time about the mess in the living room."

Kate knew he was just rambling to settle his nerves, "I figured something was wrong when you mentioned your lecture notes. I knew you had completed them in Boston."

At the memory of Boston, Daniel's pulse raced before he breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm glad you picked up on it."

"Of course I would," stated Kate knowingly, "especially since you never bother looking at them, anyway."

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THE MYSTERY OF 'HYSTICS' WILL BE REVEALED NEXT CHAPTER!

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