Chapter 9 Tails Never Fails
Waverly
“It’s too quiet. I don’t like it,” Duncan grumbled, waltzing into my office with Noah on his heels, shortly after the morning briefing.
“Did you really just say the Q word?” I glared at him from behind my desk. “When the shit hits the fan, it’s yours to deal with.”
I’d never admit it, but I agreed with him.
Two weeks ago, Finn took me away for the weekend.
Since then, nothing—and I mean nothing—had happened.
No threats. No break-ins. But, also no leads.
Even Mac had struck out. His guys hadn’t been able to find any signs of Cain Lewis in Shadow’s Edge at all.
In my experience, it was the calm before the storm when you should pay the most attention.
That’s when things got missed. And when lives were on the line, there was no room for error.
“Fine by me.”
I motioned for them both to have a seat and closed my laptop. They deserved my full attention.
“What do you have for me, Noah?”
Besides being a hell of an agent, Noah Anderson was also a profiler. We were lucky. His genius level IQ had come in handy more than once.
“I’m not sure anything I’ve come up with will surprise you much.”
“Understood.”
Crossing his ankle over the opposite knee, he gave me his eyes. “We’re looking for a male, between the ages of twenty-five and sixty, with a military or law enforcement background.”
“And with that, you just described every man I know.”
“Sorry, boss. I did warn you.”
“Ignore me, Noah. Keep going.”
“Psychologically speaking, the guy doesn’t have a conscience. He knows the difference between right and wrong, he just doesn't believe the rules apply to him, or worse, he doesn’t care. Also, he's likely left-handed.”
“How can you tell?”
“It’s all conjecture at this point, Duncan. But when I studied the photo of the vandalism on Finn’s car, the O appeared to be written in a clockwise manner. Classic signs of a left-handed writer.”
“Anything else?
He shook his head. “Keaton went through the red light camera videos from the day of the accident. No sign of the black truck matching the description. It’s like it vanished into thin air.”
We figured the truck would be a dead end. It was reported stolen by a farmer an hour before it tried to run Finn off the road. The driver could’ve easily dumped it in the woods somewhere, then walked back to town or called for a ride.
It wasn’t much, but we’d solved cases with less. Eventually, our perp would make a mistake. I just had to pray it happened before someone got hurt.
“Anything else going on?” I asked Duncan once Noah left the room.
He brought me up to speed on the insurance fraud investigation, which had turned into an absolute disaster. Lanie and Koen would have their hands full sorting out that mess for a while.
An alert from my phone interrupted our discussion.
Picking up the device, I saw the notification was from the security company which had been monitoring my house since the break in.
At Shayne’s insistence, I agreed for cameras and motion sensors to be installed.
It seemed her paranoia might have paid off.
Clicking on the app, my blood pressure went through the roof at what, or more precisely, who was standing in the middle of my living room.
“That motherfucker,” I growled, pushing back from my desk while simultaneously grabbing my Glock out of the side drawer.
“What’s going on?”
Rather than tell him, I flipped my phone around to show him the screen.
“Oh fuck.”
Understatement of the century. I’d received countless calls and texts from my father since our last conversation.
All of them went unanswered. He was pissed and feeling the heat.
If anything, I figured he’d show up at my office again.
What I did not expect was for him to let himself into my house with his nonexistent key.
“You’re not coming.”
Storming past Duncan, I opened my office door hard enough it smacked into the wall behind it.
Curious glances were thrown my way from the team, but I ignored them as I pushed outside and clicked the unlock button on my key fob.
I was fired up and on a mission. Heaven help anyone who stood in my way.
“Do you think confronting him alone is a good idea?”
“He’s my burden to bear, Duncan.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Climbing into the car, I gripped the steering wheel tight for the count of three, then flipped on the blinker and pulled out into traffic. Unfortunately, this conversation was a long time coming. I’d wanted it to be on my terms; however, it seemed that was no longer an option.
I considered running lights and sirens for the ten-minute drive to my house, then thought better of it. The Senator was an annoyance on a good day, never an emergency. Had I known who else was waiting for me, I’d have gone with my first instinct.
“What are you doing here, Shayne?”
My best friend was leaning up against her car, which was parked along the curb in front of my house; an amused look plastered on her face.
“I’m your emotional support human.”
“That’s not a thing.”
“It is for the next five minutes or however long it takes you to kick the Senator in his tiny dick. Fair warning, I’ll bite if you try to pet me.”
“Noted.” I failed to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. “Now, what’s the real reason?”
“Duncan called. We flipped a coin.” She joined me, walking at my side toward the front door. “I won. Tails never fails, bitches.”
“You don’t have to come in. I can handle whatever bullshit he slings my way.”
“No doubt, but the point is, you don’t have to do it alone.”
“All right. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“If anyone needs a warning, it’s the Senator. He fucked with the wrong woman.”
“I see you woke up and chose violence this morning.”
“Damn straight.”
“Me too.”
“Hell yes!”
“Let’s put it to good use.”
I turned the knob and prayed to God she’d left her weapon in the car and had a shovel in the trunk. Things were about to get messy.
The smug bastard was sitting on my couch. He didn’t even bother standing when we walked in, just started bitching right away.
“Took you long enough.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I must’ve missed the part where I invited you into my home.”
“If you’d answer the phone when I call, then I wouldn’t have to resort to such drastic measures. I’m a busy man, Waverly.”
“Then by all means”––I waved my arm toward the door––“get out.”
“We have things to discuss. Family things.” His gaze swung to Shayne.
“She is my family.”
“She’s a cop,” he spat, like the word tasted bad on his tongue.
“So am I,” I yelled back.
“Everyone just calm down.” Shayne stood between us. “Say what you need to say, Senator. I’m not here in any official capacity.”
“This is why I never wanted kids.” He narrowed his eyes on me. “You’ve never appreciated what I’ve given you.”
“What exactly have you ever given me, besides grief?”
He sprung up off the couch; spittle flying from his mouth as he got in my face.
“You’re here, aren’t you?”
“No thanks to you.”
I was pushing it, I knew it, but I couldn’t stop. I’d had enough of his bullshit.
“It’s all your fault.”
“Find another scapegoat, Dad. Your criminal behavior is on you, not me. Get the hell out.”
I turned to show him the door, then I’d help the FBI nail his ass to the wall. How dare he?
“She’d still be alive if it weren’t for you.”
My body swayed like he’d landed a physical blow. Maybe he had. It sure felt like it. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. All I could do was listen while he ripped my world apart.
“They found the cancer when your mother was pregnant with you. I told her to have an abortion and get the treatment like the doctors wanted, but she wanted a baby. She wanted you when all I wanted was her.”
Shayne grabbed my hand. Her hold was the only thing keeping me tethered as images of my mother swirled in my head. At the time, I was too young to understand how she deteriorated so quickly. Now I did. Her cancer wasn’t new, it had already been diagnosed.
“She’d be alive today if it weren’t for you. You owe me.”
“Fuck off, Senator. Waverly doesn’t owe you shit.”
“You can’t talk to me like that.”
“Funny. I just did.”
This wasn’t happening.
“Waverly.”
He grabbed my arm, spinning me around, and I just reacted. My fist swung out, connecting with the left side of his chin. His head snapped to the side and he stumbled back a few steps.
“Damn, Senator Mitchell.” Shayne shoved me behind her, taking a protective stance. “Are you okay? That was a hell of a fall you just took.”
“What?” He wiped a trickle of blood from his lip.
“That’s the story I’ll give to the police as an eye witness, should you decide to be stupid.”
Their words drifted into the background as I remembered her funeral. My tiny body shook when they lowered her casket into the ground. It was only me and Aunt Carolyn. I remember the words she said like it was yesterday, I just didn’t know she’d meant them literally.
“She loved you more than life.”
“Hey. You need to take a breath before you pass out.”
Shayne knelt in front of me, snapping her fingers. How I’d ended up sitting on my ass against the wall, I had no clue.
“I’m not joking. Give me a sign of life or I’m calling an ambulance.”
“Where is he?”
“Thank fuck.” She lowered herself onto the floor next to me. “You had me worried.”
“Where is he, Shayne?”
“He got a text, then took off like his ass hadn’t just been kicked. Nice shot, by the way. How’s your hand?”
It hurt like a bitch. I’m sure my knuckles would be bruised later, but damn…the pain was worth it.
“I’m good.”
“Lies. But you will be. Come on.”
She stood, reaching out a hand. I took it and let her pull me up.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
Finn