8
Tennyson
Being woken up in the middle of the night by his handsome husband was one of Tennyson’s favorite things. Being told by that same handsome husband that the chief of police was in their house waiting to speak with him was not one of Ten’s favorite things.
After Ronan woke him up. Ten hurried to get dressed. He checked on the kids, who were thankfully still asleep and hurried downstairs. Jude and Cisco were sitting at the kitchen table, while Ronan paced, restlessly.
“Hey, guys, what’s up?” Ten asked. He walked to the electric kettle and turned it on. Making tea would give him something to do while Cisco explained what he was doing in their kitchen at half past three in the morning.
“Warden Jones is dead,” Ronan said.
Ten felt gut-punched “What? The two of you were there to keep that from happening, right?”
“No one came to the door, Ten,” Cisco said. “The killer was able to ring the doorbell wirelessly while he used lock pick tools to open the back door. He snuck up on Jones and stabbed him in the neck with some kind of a syringe.”
“We heard the bell ring and ran up to the house,” Jude continued. “Jones opened the front door and fell out into Ronan’s arms. We did CPR, but he was gone.
Ten stood there feeling as if he were caught in an episode of The Twilight Zone.
“There was no other surveillance on the house. My guys are looking for security footage from neighbors’ houses to see if we can find an image of this person and see where they came from and where they went after Jones was dead.”
“I appreciate the update on what happened tonight, chief, but why the hell are you and Jude here? Ronan could have easily filled me in.” Ten didn’t mean to sound snippy, but nothing made sense about this late-night debrief.
“Two men connected to law enforcement were murdered on consecutive nights. I don’t think this killer will stop at two bodies. There are going to be more, and I think I’m going to be one of them.” Ronan wore a haunted look.
From the day Ten met him, Ronan had been a drama queen.
He loved to stir things up. Loved it even more when his histrionics earned him attention.
Based on Ronan’s demeanor he wasn’t looking for attention.
He was serious. Dead serious. Ten slumped into an empty chair at the kitchen table.
His mind spun with the ramifications of Ronan’s declaration.
“Why do you think you’re on the killer’s hit list? ”
“Tell Jude and Cisco about the client you saw this morning before Jones burst in waving his letter. Don’t leave out any details.” Ronan got out of his seat when the electric kettle clicked off. He grabbed mugs from the drainboard and started making tea.
“Why do you think that strange client has anything to do with-” Ten stopped dead in his tracks.
His mind’s eye replayed the client’s words and knew what Ronan was getting at.
“Carson called me on Sunday night. He said he had a client who needed to schedule an emergency reading with me and was willing to pay double. I took this week off to get the kids ready for the start of school. I didn’t want to do the reading, but Carson said this man would only work with me, so I agreed to do it.
There would still be plenty of time to get my errands done with the kids and get ready for Aurora to spend the night. ”
“Aurora’s here?” Cisco asked. “What about Wolf and Lizzie?”
“Fitz and Jace left Aurora with us while they’re out of town. Wolf and Lizzie are home with Cope.” Ten wondered why Cisco was asking about the kids, then it hit him. If the killer truly was coming for Ronan next, Cisco wouldn’t want the kids, or himself, for that matter, anywhere near the house.
Cisco nodded. “Sorry to interrupt. Please continue.”
“When I got to the shop, Carson gave me a folder with the client’s intake form.
We ask for general information; name, address, phone number, email, and so on.
In all the years I’ve worked at West Side Magick no one’s ever refused to fill out the form, until yesterday.
All that was typed into the client’s form was the name Dan Rogers, which we assumed was a fake name.
He listed no other information other than that he’d requested an emergency session with me. ”
“Why would you, or Carson, accept a client that refused to divulge even the most basic details about themselves?” Cisco asked.
“We’re not the police. We don’t run background checks or ask for character references when we book appointments.
” Ten shrugged. “We respect our clients’ privacy.
Some people don’t want it to get out that they visit psychics.
Others are on vacation and looking for some harmless fun.
Then there are people who are trying to find out if we’re the real deal.
Those clients never give real information, so that we can’t out them in return.
To be honest, I never really thought about it much before today. ”
“Okay, so this client comes to see you,” Cisco urged Ten to keep talking.
“When he arrived, I couldn’t read him at all.
I offered my hand to shake, but he refused.
Again, not out of the ordinary with clients who are looking to prove I’m a fake.
I asked why he’d come to see me and Rogers seemed surprised that I didn’t already know.
He taunted me for a few seconds. I asked if there was a spirit he wanted to reconnect with.
Usually when people come to see me, the spirits show up and introduce themselves to me.
With Rogers, there was no one in the room but the two of us. ”
“Is it possible a spirit was there and somehow kept out of sight?” Jude asked, taking a sip of his tea.
“Anything is possible, but at that moment, I didn’t sense any spirits.
Like I said, I asked if there was someone he wanted to reconnect with and he said, ‘As a matter of fact there is someone I’d like to reconnect with, but your husband made that all but impossible.
’ Rogers told me Ronan was responsible for his pain and asked how I could sleep next to a man that hurt innocent people.
When I asked him which innocent person he was talking about, Rogers insisted I knew not only who he was, but who the spirit was as well.
When he was talking to me, he called me Tenny, which is a name only Bertha Craig really ever calls me. ”
“Do you know who this man was, Ten?” Ronan asked.
“I don’t and told Rogers as much. He insisted I did know and grabbed my hand to prove it. Rage slammed into me like a tidal wave. I’ve never felt that level of pain and hate before. Then I saw a series of images. They flashed by so fast that I’m sure I missed some.”
“What did you see?”
“I saw a headstone, handcuffs, a police officer kneeling beside a prone body, and an image of Ronan standing with his hands clenched into fists.” Ten held his hand up when Cisco looked like he was going to ask a follow up.
“I couldn’t read the name on the headstone, and I only saw the cop from behind.
I have no idea who he was, just that it was a man.
As for Ronan, he looks like that a lot. I have no idea when or where that particular image came from. ”
“Jesus,” Ronan muttered, sounding like he was praying.
“You’ve got security cameras inside the shop. I’ll get with Carson in the morning and see if we can get still images of the man so Ronan can identify him.”
“Carson went through the footage while we were in the conference room with Warden Jones. He showed the images to me. I didn’t recognize the man.” Ten tapped his phone and opened the photo app. “Here he is. There are three pics of him.” Ten pushed his phone toward Ronan.
Ronan picked up the phone. “I can’t tell you who this man is, but he looks familiar. I don’t know how or where I’ve seen him before.” He passed the phone to Jude.
“Huh,” Jude muttered. “I’ve seen him before too.”
Cisco leaned over Jude’s shoulder. “I’ve never seen him before.
Send me the photo and I’ll run it through facial recognition first thing tomorrow morning.
I’d do it now, but Luca hates it when I’m out this late at night.
” Cisco stood up. “Try to get a good night’s sleep and we’ll come back at this in the morning.
Jones’s autopsy is scheduled for eight. I made a note in the file that the ME needs to test for all manner of drugs that can stop the heart and vanish from the body quickly.
The EMTs took a blood sample at the scene, so hopefully whatever killed Jones will still be in his blood. ”
“Thanks for your help, Cisco,” Ten said, walking the chief toward the front door.
“You know why I asked about the kids,” Cisco said softly.
“I do. You’re worried about them if Ronan’s right and he’s next on the killer’s list.” Just saying the words made Ten feel like he was going to throw up.
Cisco nodded. “Pack go-bags for all four of you and Aurora. If things go sideways, we’ll get you all into a safe house for the night.
I’ll let Cope know the same thing. Jude and Ronan have been working on cases together for the last seven years.
Chances are if someone’s coming for Ronan, they’re coming for Jude too. Possibly Fitz.”
“I was thinking the same thing. Are you going to call him to let him know what’s happening here?”
“Not yet. When you send me the photos of Dan Rogers, send them to Fitz and ask if he knows who the man is. Don’t give him any other information.
Send the pics to me now, but wait until the morning to send them to Fitz.
I’ve put two cars on the street tonight to keep an eye on both houses.
This prick only strikes after he sends his letter, but I imagine they scout the neighborhoods of potential victims.”
“Okay, I’ll take care of it.”
“I hate that you and the kids are being put through this. I know you can’t see who Rogers really is, but do you think Everly would? I hate to ask, but if she could provide a name or a connection with Ronan.” Cisco sighed.
“Everly’s going to know something is up with Ronan.
To be honest, I’m surprised she’s not down here now insisting on being filled in.
I’ll show the pics to her and see what she says.
She understands so much more now, not only about her gift, but about Ronan’s job.
She’ll never forgive me if something happens to Ronan when she could have prevented it.
We’ve had discussions about not treating her like a child when it comes to her gift.
I agreed to stop doing that. This will be the first time I put my money where my mouth is. ”
“Make sure all the doors and windows are locked. Turn on the alarm system. Call me if you need anything and I do mean anything.”
Ten nodded. “You said that the killer was able to ring the doorbell remotely. Can our alarm system be disarmed the same way?”
“Can the alarm be controlled by an app on your phone?” Cisco asked, his frown deepening.
“Yes.”
“Then assume it can be hacked. Technology is a wonderful thing until people learn how to use it against us. You might want to go old school and get wooden poles to stick in the windows and sliding glass door so they can’t be opened from the outside.”
“I’ll do that first thing in the morning. We probably should have done that anyway after what happened with Autumn Miller throwing the brick through our window.”
“I’ll see you in the morning, Ten.” Cisco gave his shoulder a squeeze and walked out the door.
Ten took a seat on the steps and set his head into his hands.
He felt like his entire life was falling down around him.
In all the years Ten had worked with Ronan, he’d never see his husband hurt people on purpose.
Yes, there were times when he’d interviewed people he’d thought were suspects who turned out to be uninvolved with the crime they were investigating, but he’d never intentionally arrested or helped put anyone in prison who was innocent.
It was possible that Dan Rogers, or whoever the fuck he was, knew Ronan and had someone he loved sent to prison.
He knew friends and family got upset by prison sentences even if the time was earned and the person guilty, which of course opened up a huge suspect pool of ex-cons, family, friends, and lovers.
How the hell were they going to be able to comb through all of these people quickly? Everly. As much as Ten hated to admit it, his daughter might be the only thing standing between Ronan and a deranged killer.
The thought of that scared Tennyson to death.