Chapter Twenty-One
Late-night phone calls were part of the job, but they still stopped Joe Farnsworth’s heart every time, usually because they involved some sort of trouble. He grabbed the phone off the bedside table and started to get out of bed, so he wouldn’t disturb Marti.
She stopped him with a hand on his arm. “I’m awake.”
“Sorry.” He took the call from Jake. “What’s up?”
“Sam called me to ask if anyone had thought to get a warrant for Conklin’s house in regard to the missing messenger bag. With your permission, I’m going to wake up a judge to request a warrant tonight because Conklin’s wife was in to see him earlier.”
Jake didn’t have to spell out the need for urgency, especially after the wife’s visit. “Do it.”
“I’m on it.”
“The messenger bag you’re looking for… The last time I saw it, he had the Kiss Me I’m Irish key chain I brought back from Ireland for him attached to it. Not sure if it was still there that last day, but I figured I’d mention it.”
“That’s good to know.”
“Keep me posted?”
“You got it.”
Joe ended the call, but kept the phone in his hand, almost as if he expected it to ring again momentarily.
Marti turned over to face him. “What’s going on?”
“We’re going to get a warrant to search Conklin’s house.”
“Oh, Joe. Dear God. Has it come to that?”
Per his orders to the others, he hadn’t told her, but it would only be a matter of time before the news got out.
“We arrested him earlier. He says he wasn’t on G Street the day of Skip’s shooting.
We have two witnesses who can put him there, one of them a man who ran back to offer aid to Skip and has checked in with Conklin every year on the anniversary of the shooting.
We’d never heard his name before this week.
And one of the paramedics who was on the scene told Sam that he gave Skip’s messenger bag to Conklin.
It’s never been seen again. That’s what Jake’s call was about.
We’re getting a warrant to search Conklin’s home for the bag and anything else that might be relevant. ”
Marti’s expression registered shock and horror. “You have to be kidding me with this.”
“You have no idea how much I wish I was kidding.”
“Why would he withhold that information for all this time? Skip was his friend.”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” He paused, considered and decided to tell her what’d happened recently with Wallack.
It went against everything he believed in to tell tales out of work, even to her, but this one needed to be shared if only to help him wrap his head around it.
“This isn’t the first time he’s kept something to himself that he should’ve shared. ”
“What else?”
“He knew Kenny Wallack was missing for two weeks before we found out. Sam went to his house looking for him in the middle of the night. His wife freaked out thinking he had to be dead if she was there at that hour. That’s when we found out he’d been missing for two weeks.
She’d reported it to Kenny’s close friend, Conklin, who kept it to himself. ”
“Why didn’t he tell you?”
“He said he was afraid Wallack had fallen off the wagon again and he was trying to protect him.”
“And you believed that?”
“I didn’t know what to believe, but I suspended him for a week for not following proper procedures in reporting a missing person. Ever since then, he’s been keeping his distance.”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing. He’s always been one of your closest friends and advisers.”
“I know, and because of that, his downfall could spell mine, too.”
“How so?”
“It’s well known that we’re close friends, and if my deputy chief and longtime friend is crooked in some way, that’s going to rain down on me.”
“That’s not fair! You knew nothing about any of this.”
“The argument will be made that I should’ve known. The buck stops with me, honey. You know how that works.”
“It’s all so unbelievable.”
“I know. For me, too. Our academy class was known for being super tight—me, Jake, Skip, Conklin, Wallack, Steve Coyne. I was closer to Jake and Skip than the others, but I always thought any of them would have my back.”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about Steven since I saw Alice at the funeral. The poor thing was so broken up over Skip’s passing.”
“She would be. Skip was so good to her after Steven was killed, even at the expense of his own marriage when he was with Brenda.”
“It’s strange that both Steven’s shooting and Skip’s are unsolved.”
Her innocuous comment hit him like a fist to the gut. Was it possible the two shootings were somehow related, even coming several decades apart? The question had him reaching for the phone again.
Marti sat up in bed. “Joe? What is it?”
He put through the call to Jake, who picked up on the first ring. “What’s up?”
“Marti said something.” It would be no surprise to Jake that he’d shared the latest developments with his wife.
“What’d she say?”
“About Steve Coyne and Skip both being part of unsolved shootings. It made me wonder.”
“If they’re related somehow?”
“Exactly.”
“Jesus, Joe. I can’t even let my mind go there.”
“I think our minds have to go there after recent events.”
“You can’t possibly think…”
“I don’t know what to think!”
Jake took a deep breath and blew it out. “Something like this… It could bring us all down if it somehow comes back to Conklin.”
“Believe me, I know.”
After a long pause, Jake said, “Let me think about this. I need time to process it. We’ll talk in the morning?”
“See you then. Call me if anything breaks overnight.”
“I will.”
Joe ended the call and plugged the phone back into the charger. He reached for Marti, and she snuggled up to him, putting her arm around his waist and resting her head on his chest.
“No matter what happens, everything will be all right. We have each other, and that’s all we need.”
He tightened his hold on her. “I know.” She was all he needed, but he wished he believed her when she said everything was going to be all right. He had a bad feeling about where this investigation was leading.
Sam’s first order of business in the morning was a text to her mother. Give me a call when you’re up and about.
Her phone rang ten minutes later as Sam was getting dressed. “Hey.”
“Morning.”
“Do you have time to grab coffee this morning?”
“Absolutely. Do you want to come by my place? I’ve got coffee and corn muffins.”
“That sounds good. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Looking forward to it.”
They ended the call, and Sam finished dressing in jeans, a sweater and running shoes in anticipation of pounding some pavement as she followed up on leads from the tip line.
It wasn’t what she wanted to be doing, but it was what she was allowed to do.
Keeping busy was critical, especially when all she wanted was take to her bed and pull the covers up over her head to keep everyone away.
Everyone except Nick, of course. There was never a time she didn’t want him close by.
A soft knock sounded on the door to the room she used as a closet. She opened the door to Nick, who held a steaming mug of coffee fixed the way she liked it. “Step into my boudoir.”
Nick came into the room, shut the door and handed over the coffee. “How is it that you can make four little words sound so sexy first thing in the morning?”
“It’s my special talent.”
“One of your many special talents. I’ve been thinking about some of your other special talents that were on full display last night.” He leaned in to kiss her, sending shivers down her spine.
“I did some rather good work last night, if I do say so myself.”
“All your work in that department is good work.”
“Glad you think so. You’re my best customer.”
“I’d better be your only customer.”
She smiled at him, amazed that he could make her laugh and smile and think about things other than the pervasive blanket of grief that hung over her. “Where are my children?” He’d taken the early shift, getting the kids up and dressed so she could sleep in a little.
“Having breakfast with Shelby and Noah.” His gorgeous hazel eyes skirted over her face, looking for signs of trouble. “How’re you doing, babe?”
Sam took a sip of the coffee and put the mug on a nearby shelf. “I’m okay. Trying to stay busy so I don’t give in to the urge to take to my bed and pull the covers over my head.”
“No one would blame you if you needed to do that for a few days.”
“That’s not my style.”
“Not usually, but you’ve never lost your dad before.”
“No, but we’ve also never been closer to finding out who shot him either, and I can’t sit on the sidelines while that’s going on.”
“Understandable, as long as you promise me you’ll take good care of my wife. I love her more than anything, and I know how bad she’s hurting right now. If you need to walk away, do it. And if you need me—at any time—you call me, and I’ll come running.”
Touched by his sweet words, she caressed his freshly shaven face. “You can’t come running. The Secret Service won’t let you.”
“Let them try and stop me if my wife needs me.”
Sam rested her head on his chest and sighed as his arms came around her. “You always know what I need.”
“That’s my superpower.”
“As awful as it is to lose my dad, I’d be out of my mind without you to prop me up.”
“I’ll always be here to prop you up. No matter what.”
“That makes everything better. Thank you.”
“I’m so sorry you’re hurting, sweetheart. I wish there was more I could do for you.”
“I know, but I keep telling myself he’s free, and that brings comfort. He’s running around up there in heaven, dancing like a fool and throwing big parties with not a wheelchair in sight.”
“That’s a good way to think of him.”
“It’s the only way I can stand to think of him not here anymore.” She looked up at him. “How do you think Scotty is doing?”
“He’s quieter than usual, but he seems okay. We’ve been talking a lot about Skip and things we both remember. Last night I told him about the day I met Skip and how I was sure he was going to have me killed for being in your bedroom. He loved that.”