"I really didn't appreciate that." The voice Henry had never wanted to hear again spoke from the phone. "I'll have to return the favor at some point."
"Haven't you done enough?" Henry demanded, struggling to keep his tone and body language neutral and his voice down. Abe watched him from his seat at the chessboard.
"Of course not, I've just started and you haven't learned your lesson yet."
"What lesson would that be?" Henry snapped.
"All in due time, discipulus meus, all in due time."
"I am not your student." Henry took a careful breath, thinking of Abe.
"Of course you are. I'll be gone for a while, but I didn't want you to think I was leaving for good. Jo should be there soon. Give her a hug and kiss for me."
"Look here! Leave her out of this!" Henry exploded. Adam laughed and hung up.
Abe's face turned white as a sheet. "That's Adam isn't it? Henry, don't lie to me." He stood abruptly, then collapsed as his ankle twisted underneath him. Henry dropped the phone and rushed to his son's side. "I'm alright, I'm alright." Abe snapped, not very convincingly. He let Henry check his ankle, grimacing as his prodding fingers poked a tender area. "It's just a turned ankle, that's all." Abe insisted, before prodding Henry about the phone call. "Tell me everything."
"Yes, that was Adam. He just wanted to make sure that I knew that he was going to watch me for a while."
"That wasn't all," Abe pointed out.
"I don't think he approves of my relationship with Jo. That and he likes to poke every vulnerability he can find." Henry shook his head. "It doesn't look broken, but I think you should have it x-rayed just to be sure."
Abe ignored him, "He doesn't care about mere mortals Pops. It's you he's trying to hurt - to kill, just to see if it's possible. If you can die and stay dead, then he'll know he can die too." Abe's voice was strained.
"Maybe," Henry agreed, sitting back on his heels. "Or maybe he's bored out of his mind with tormenting normal people and thinks tormenting me might be more entertaining." That he suspected Adam was attempting to recreate him into his own image he didn't dare say out loud. Instead Henry just helped Abe back into his seat.
Just then there was a knock on the door. It was Jo and Mike Hanson.
"Adam's gone," she gasped, "I tried calling, but the line was busy."
"It was Adam," Abe volunteered, still a little pale.
Jo watched Henry's face. It was obvious that he was stressed out by whatever Adam said, but there was something more. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"He's watching us," Henry said, "and told me to give you a hug and a kiss from him. He knew you were close."
Jo and Mike stepped out of the store and melted into the shadows. As much as Henry wanted to go with them he didn't dare leave Abe in his condition.
"We should move Pops," Abe spoke as Henry fetched an ace bandage and wrapped his ankle. "Maybe Mom was right. Some place in the country where there are fewer people." Abe reached for his arm. "Please Pops; I can't bear the thought of that man killing you."
"Hush, Abraham. That's not his goal yet. Please don't dwell on it." What Henry didn't say was that every one of Adam's victims that passed through his morgue had been brutally tortured first. When Henry finished with Abe's foot, he peered out the shop window, straining to catch a glimpse of Jo. She would be the one Adam would go after now. This was the torture stage of Adam's game.
"Moving to the country wouldn't slow him down," Henry continued, keeping his tone as soothing as possible. "He'd just hurt Jo and then come after us," he turned his attention back to Abe. "Divide and conquer, remember? So we should stand fast and cling to those we treasure dearly. The very last thing we should do is run."
"I agree," Jo spoke up from the door leading to the rear entrance. "Did you leave your back door open?" she asked Abe.
"No, it's always locked."
"Did you ever figure out how he got that pistol from your safe?"
"No," Abe said. Then, "I'm calling a lock smith."
Jo waited for Mike to finish his sweep of the upstairs.
"All clear." He called from the top of the stairs. "It's not as easy to peer in up here." Mike explained to the Morgans before turning to Jo. "Lieu called back. Someone will be over to take our statements regarding Adam. She'll send someone to watch Henry, but in the meantime she wants us to stay put."
"I really don't need a babysitter." Henry protested as he and Jo helped Abe up the stairs, he would have said more but Jo shot him a look. He shut his mouth, there was no point arguing with her.
"Don't complain," the old man scolded as they all helped him into his favorite chair. Henry pulled over a footstool for Abe's feet. "And don't fuss over me," Abe swatted Henry's arm as he tried to plump Abe's pillow next. "You'll just make me cranky. Shoo. Go talk detective stuff elsewhere." Abe put on his best crotchety old man glare. Henry swallowed a sigh and turned to his companions instead. He caught a look of quiet amusement on Mike's face while Jo seemed worried.
"Let's wait in the kitchen, shall we?
It didn't take the officers long to show up. A young patrolman Henry didn't know who remained outside and the same IA Investigator who had quizzed him just that morning. He could feel the muscles in his face tighten.
"Let's skip the pleasantries," the investigator began, pulling out his notebook and spearing Henry with a no-nonsense glare. "How did you know Adam was involved in the pugio case?"
"He was at the murder scene. After the officers left me with Zander, Adam stepped back into the room holding his knife, warned me not to get between him and his dagger, and then threatened to kill anyone who got in his way."
"Lt. Reese said you told her that Adam," he read from his notes, "'killed Abigail and threatened to kill Jo.'"
Jo looked at Henry surprised.
"That's what I said." Henry could feel his temper slipping.
"Is that why you gave Adam the pugio?"
"I didn't give Adam…"
"Come on, Dr. Morgan!" the investigator snapped. "We have witnesses who saw you near the abandoned tunnel, Adam was found near there and the dagger was recovered there. It was in your possession, you saw Adam, Adam wanted it, had threatened you for it, then Adam was found seriously injured, the dagger recovered nearby – and we're supposed to believe that you just took it for a second opinion from a specialist who doesn't even know you and doesn't live anywhere near where you were seen? Is that really what you want us to believe?"
"I might have dropped it when I saw Adam," Henry stated carefully and the investigator narrowed his eyes. "But I had no intention of jeopardizing the case. I just wanted him to leave me alone!"
"Why didn't you tell the police about Adam?"
"Tell them what? That a lunatic immortal was stalking me, sending me harassing messages that no one else saw, showing up at crime scenes to threaten me and those I care about without revealing himself to another soul? Would you have believed me? Or would you have locked me up and thrown away the key?" Henry demanded.
The investigator blinked, rubbed his face with both hands, and released a frustrated sigh. "I see what you mean. Did he really disappear in a flash of light?"
"Yes." Henry, Jo and Mike said in unison. Henry continued, "It's how he routinely evades the police."
"There is a note on his file that he's an extreme flight risk." Mike offered. "Of course that note was made back when we thought that he just liked to run around in his birthday suit. No one put much effort into watching him to see how he did it."
"Do we know for an absolute fact that he isn't dead?"
"Oh he's very much alive," Abe spoke up from the doorway where he was leaning against the frame for support. "Adam is fixated on my roommate. He comes and goes when he likes and pretty much wherever he likes. Like a tv show villain with a writer in his pocket, he gets away with a host of improbable things. Only Adam is very real."
Henry rushed to help Abe to a seat. "You shouldn't be up Abe."
"This guy was buggin' me." Abe glared at the IA investigator.
"I'm not trying to be an ass; I just detest being lied to," the investigator replied.
"That's understandable." Abe conceded somewhat mollified.
"Is there anything else I should know?" the investigator asked Henry.
"You wouldn't believe me either way."
The man closed his notebook and put it away before asking: "How can I convince you that honesty is still always the best policy?"
"People have redefined truth to mean only that which they are capable of believing." Henry's voice was bitter.
"I see," the investigator replied. "I'll keep in touch," and he left.