Chapter Twenty-One
As they walked, Sam withdrew her phone to call Freddie and was annoyed when his voice mail picked up. “Damn it, Freddie.” He ought to have something by now. She called him again, and again it went straight to voice mail. “What the hell?”
“What’s wrong?” Valerie asked.
“My partner isn’t answering his phone.” Sam wasn’t sure if she needed to do something about that, or if he was maybe on a call or in a dead zone.
She’d try him again in a few minutes. He’d better pick up or else.
In the meantime, she shot him a text. Answer your fucking phone or you’ll be a grasshopper forever.
“That’s our car,” Valerie said, pointing to a black sedan.
“Mrs. Cappuano,” Vernon called out to her.
Sam turned to him.
He gestured to a black SUV. “We’re happy to provide transport wherever you need to go.”
“Thank you, but I’m all set.”
“We’d prefer that you ride with us.”
“I understand that, but I’m good.”
The agent stood with his hands on his hips, annoyance coming off him in tangible waves.
Sam took Valerie by the arm and headed toward the car. “Hurry, before he does something stupid like try to force me to go with him.”
“You have to deal with this every day?”
“Nope. Just today and yesterday. Hopefully, they’ll be gone by tomorrow when the fuss dies down about Nick not running.”
Valerie followed Sam into the car. “Um, I don’t think it’s going to die down that fast. You have no idea how upset people are, do you?”
“I tend to operate on a need-to-know basis, and that falls into the category of don’t want to know. I understand people are disappointed, and I certainly get why, but it’s what’s best for him and us right now.”
Sam’s phone rang with a call from Malone. “Excuse me. This is my captain. What’s up, Cap?”
“Gonzales has been released from rehab. He’s on his way home with Christina now and expected here at zero nine hundred tomorrow to meet with me, the chief and Faith Miller.”
“Am I invited?”
“That’s why I’m calling. Thought you might want to be there.”
“You thought right.”
“I also pulled the Worthington file. It’s on your desk.”
“Thank you.”
“Finally, I have two very unhappy individuals who’ve been on ice since yesterday, their lawyers here and charging by the hour, waiting on you.”
“I’m ten minutes out, and they’re first on my to-do list. Do me a favor?”
“Anything for you,” he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“Ask Patrol or Montgomery County Police to check on Cruz? Whatever is quicker.”
“Why?”
“He’s not answering his phone, and he should be.”
“Calling him now, hang on.”
In the background, Sam could hear the call go straight to voicemail.
A chill of fear chased down her spine. “Let’s get Patrol out to check on him.
He’s got my car in Potomac.” She gave him the address.
“He was going to see the wife of Mark Townsend, who was one of Ginny McLeod’s victims. We decided to split up so I could get back to HQ to interview the husband and Realtor. ”
“I’m notifying Patrol. Hang on.”
Acting on pure fear, Sam leaned forward to ask the Uber driver if they could divert to Potomac.
“He can’t do that,” Valerie said.
“Can you pull over, then?”
The driver pulled to the curb.
“Come on,” she said to Valerie.
On the sidewalk, Sam waited for the Secret Service vehicle to come to a stop and then got into the back seat, moving over to make room for Valerie.
“I need to get to Potomac as fast as you can,” she said. “It’s urgent.”
As Vernon made a U-turn in traffic and activated flashing lights, Sam prayed that Freddie hadn’t done something stupid like leave his phone in the car while he interviewed Mrs. Townsend.
She’d promised Valerie some time on the front lines and could only hope she wasn’t taking the young woman into a nightmare.
The woman eyed Freddie with suspicion. “Tell me why you’re here.”
He sat on a sofa in the living room while she paced and waved the gun around.
“Did Mark send you?” She had stringy brown hair that hadn’t been washed in a while and was so thin, her collarbones stood out under a loose-fitting T-shirt.
Her hazel eyes were big and wounded, her cheeks sunken in, her complexion sallow.
Once upon a time, she’d probably been stunning. Now she appeared unwell.
“What? No. I’m investigating Ginny McLeod’s murder and—”
She shocked the shit out of him once again when she slapped him across the face. “Don’t you dare speak that evil woman’s name in my house!”
Freddie rubbed at his face. “Ma’am, assaulting a police officer and holding him at gunpoint are both crimes punishable by years in prison.”
“Do you honestly think I care about that? My life is already ruined. What the hell difference will it make if I ruin your life, too?”
Freddie knew he should’ve been afraid before then, but he’d figured he’d find a way out of this the way he always did. The possibility that she might kill him just because scared him. “It’ll make a difference to me, my wife, my parents and friends.”
“You shouldn’t have come here.” She stared at him with unseeing eyes that indicated a serious departure from reality.
“I realize that now.”
“Mark is fucking her.” She tightened her grip on the handgun and glared at a spot on the wall behind him. “That bitch Tina. He’s fucking her.” She turned her glare on Freddie. “Did you know that?”
Freddie wasn’t sure whether to admit he knew or pretend he didn’t. He made a snap decision. “Who’s Tina?”
“The woman my husband is fucking! Her husband killed himself, and now she’s stolen my husband. And Ginny… It’s all her fault! None of this would’ve happened if she hadn’t taken the money. She did this. She needs to pay.”
“Do you know who hurt Ginny?”
“Ginny is hurt?” Now her eyes glittered with what could only be called glee.
“Ginny is dead.”
“Good. She didn’t deserve to live among decent people.”
“Did you hurt Ginny?”
“What? No. I wanted to, but I haven’t left the house in months. I can’t… She… She took that from me, too. She took everything.”
Freddie kept his gaze fixed on the gun, waiting for an opportunity.
His cell phone had been ringing repeatedly, which meant Sam or hopefully someone else from work was trying to reach him.
He hoped it was Sam. She would do something about the fact that she couldn’t get an answer.
For a fleeting second, he thought of Elin, but when despair threatened to overtake him and cloud his judgment, he forced himself to focus on Mrs. Townsend.
“What’s your name?”
“My name? It’s Hattie.”
“I’m Freddie. Freddie Cruz. I’m a detective with the MPD, and I’m married to Elin. We just got married a little over a month ago.”
“Marriage is for fools.”
“Maybe so, but I like it so far. I love my wife very much. I waited my whole life to meet her, and when I did, I knew almost immediately she was meant for me. I love her, and she loves me, and if you kill me, you’ll ruin her life along with mine.
I promised her I’d never let that happen, and I don’t want to break my promise to her. ”
“You can’t trust her. The minute something goes wrong—and it will—she’ll forget all about why she ever loved you in the first place.”
Well, that was a rather depressing thought… “It doesn’t always work that way.”
“Yes, it does. We were fine until Ginny stole our money, and Mark decided if he was going to be poor, he was going to be poor with someone else. That never would’ve happened without her taking everything from us.”
“Why did you decide to invest?”
“Because! She made us an offer no one could refuse. One hundred percent return on investment? Who wouldn’t do that?
” As she spoke, she waved the gun around in a way that added to Freddie’s anxiety.
“I know what you’re thinking. We were stupid to be taken in by her, but you would’ve done it, too.
Double your money in two years? Anyone would’ve done it!
” She came closer to Freddie, the gun aimed at his face.
He couldn’t believe this was happening. He’d come to ask her some questions and had gotten pulled into a nightmare.
“Tell me the truth. You would’ve done it, too, wouldn’t you?”
Staring at the gun, he said, “Absolutely. Anyone would have. You’d be crazy not to.”
His answer seemed to please her. Thank goodness. She dropped the gun to her side as his phone rang again.
“If I don’t answer that, they’re going to come looking for me.”
She seemed to think about that for a second. “Get rid of whoever it is.”
Freddie released the deep breath he’d been holding while waiting for her to give him permission. He grabbed the phone from his back pocket and took the call from Sam, giving thanks to the Lord above that it was her. “Hey.”
“What the fuck? Why weren’t you answering?”
“I told you before.” He made an effort to keep his voice calm and flat. “I don’t care about you. I never have. Stop bothering me with your lies.”
“Freddie… I’m coming. We’re coming.”
“That’s good. That’s what needs to happen. Now don’t call me again.” He returned the phone to his pocket. “All set.”
“It’s already happening to you, too. People from outside your marriage will want to ruin it.
They’re jealous because you have something they want.
That’s what happened to us. Other women wanted my husband, but we were fine until that bitch stole everything from us.
Mark never looked at anyone else until Ginny ruined us.
And now…” She paused, blinked, her eyes full of tears as she looked at Freddie with utter desolation. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“You turn to your family and your friends to get you through it, and you rebuild your life. It’s what people do when things don’t work out like they hoped. They start over.”
“I don’t want to start over.”
“You have to. It’s the only way forward. Things didn’t work out with Mark. So find someone else who will love and appreciate you.”
“How can I do that when I can’t even leave the house? That never used to be a problem, but now…”
“What did you do before?”
“I owned a bookstore, but after Ginny took the money, I couldn’t afford to stay open.
I had enough for a year, but when we realized the money was gone and the investment was a scam…
That store was my whole world, and then it was gone.
Fifteen years of work, gone.” Her helpless shrug tugged at him. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Yes, you do. You get a therapist to help with the agoraphobia. You get a lawyer to help with the divorce. You sell this beautiful house and get yourself a nice cozy little apartment you can easily afford on the proceeds from the sale. Then you set up an online profile, and you meet other people who’ve been disappointed in past relationships and find your happy second chance. You can do it, Hattie. I know you can.”
“That sounds nice,” she said with a small smile that softened her demeanor. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It won’t be easy. It’ll take a lot of hard work and emotional upheaval, but at the end of it, you’ll come through stronger and more able to face whatever happens next.
And you’ll be rid of a husband who dishonored you by turning to another woman.
Think about how amazing that new life will be and how vindicated you’ll feel when you pull it off without him.
He doesn’t deserve you, but there’s someone out there who does. You need to find him.”
“You think I can find someone else?”
“I do, but first you have to give me that gun and let me go. Otherwise, you’re going to end up in big trouble.
We can chalk this up to a misunderstanding, but only if you give me the gun.
” He held out his hand while giving her a pleading look.
“Please, Hattie. Give yourself a chance to be happy again by doing the right thing. Give me the gun.”
In the seconds it took her to make up her mind, Freddie’s entire life flashed through his mind, the good, the not so good, the beautiful, the ugly.
The highlight reel ended with Elin’s exquisite face smiling at him the way she did all the time, as if he was the center of her world. He was, like she was for him.
“Please, Hattie. Don’t do something that can’t be fixed. We can still fix this, but if you hurt me or continue to hold me against my will, I can’t help you.”
“You’ll help me?” she asked softly.
“I swear to God.”
Another moment passed during which Freddie never blinked as he held her gaze.
She handed him the gun.
He quickly removed the bullets. “Now give me mine, too.”
Reaching behind her, she withdrew his weapon from the back of her jeans and handed it to him, leading with the business end.
He quickly turned it toward a far wall and then put it back in his holster, relieved to know he’d live to see another day. “I want you to have a seat while I go talk to my team. We’re going to get you some help, okay?”
“You won’t leave, will you?”
“Not until you have what you need. I promise, Hattie. I’m going to help you.”
“Th-thank you,” she said, sobbing. “I’m sorry about the gun and that I hit you.”
“It’s going to be okay. Give me one minute.
I’ll be right back.” Taking both weapons with him, Freddie backed out of the room, since he had no way to know if there were other weapons, and frisking her might damage their fragile accord.
He pulled his phone out and called Sam. “All clear,” he said when she answered.
“What the hell happened?”
“I’ll tell you when I see you. In the meantime, I need Dr. Trulo, and it has to be here. Can you ask him to come? This isn’t a criminal thing. It’s a mental-health situation.”
“Did she pull a gun on you?”
“We’ll talk when I see you.”
“Yes, we will, and I’m almost there.”
“How’d you get here so fast?”
“Two words: Secret Service.”