Chapter 11
Eleven
Michael was getting really sick of dead ends. No sign of Colter McCord. They were stuck waiting for info for Donner’s case, and now this.
“The insurance company angle is a bust.” He leaned around his computer screen to see Finn’s reaction.
Finn just shrugged. “It was worth a shot. Every angle we eliminate means we’re one step closer to finding the truth.”
“The eternal optimist.” Michael sighed and went back to his computer.
He closed the open files. It had only taken a couple calls to find out they all used different insurance companies.
Michael walked over to Finn’s desk, which was covered in photos from the convenience store.
He glanced over them. One with the cabinet where Eddie had hidden.
Others with papers scattered on the counter and floor with Isaac Carter’s blood—Michael paused.
Something in the back of his mind perked up, but he couldn’t put a finger on anything out of the ordinary or a connection with the other crime scenes.
But anything to get ahead, to feel like they were making progress at this point, was needed. “We should pay Isaac another visit. Hopefully he’ll be more awake by now.”
“Good idea. I’ll drive this time.” Finn snatched the keys off Michael’s desk.
At the hospital, they found Isaac Carter had been moved to a different floor. “They moved him out of the ICU? That’s good, right?” Michael asked the nurse on the fifth floor.
“He’s doing better. Still pretty rough, but yes, it’s always a good thing to move down to the second floor. You’ll find him in 283.”
But walking into the room, it was eerily silent.
“Why is it so quiet in here?” Finn stopped in the doorway.
Michael swung the curtain back, revealing an empty bed. “Because no one is here.”
Finn groaned. “He’s running.”
“Then we’d better catch him fast. He’s probably going into hiding.”
Michael and Finn jogged back to the parking garage and left.
Michael found Isaac’s address and navigated while Finn drove.
Just outside the downtown area, in a quiet neighborhood of mid-century Cape Cod cottages and bungalows, they pulled up at the Carter house.
Finn purposefully blocked the driveway of the modest ranch home.
A silver Toyota Camry parked outside the garage had an open back door.
Finn and Michael walked past it on their way up to the porch.
As Finn lifted a fist to knock, Stephanie Carter opened the door and froze. She had a suitcase in hand.
“Going somewhere?” Michael asked.
She stayed quiet.
“Is Isaac here?”
She continued her silence, but a panicked glance behind her told them everything they needed to know.
Michael tried to keep the irritation out of his voice, but Carter was making this more difficult than it needed to be. “He should be in the hospital. He wasn’t cleared to leave yet.”
“I tried to tell him that, but he’s stubborn. By all means, try to talk some sense into the man.” She backed up and allowed them inside.
Isaac sat in a blue recliner. He didn’t look so great. His pale skin had a sickly sheen to it, and his breathing was ragged.
“Where’s Eddie?” Finn asked the sister.
Isaac sat up. “Leaving. We haven’t done anything wrong, so let my sister and son leave, and you can let yourself out while you’re at it.” His words were spoken through a closed bite. He’d obviously found his voice, despite his jaw being wired shut.
“We’re trying to help you out. We need your statement.” Michael pulled out his notebook and stared Carter down.
“If you want to help, then let them go.”
“And where exactly would they be going?” Finn stood in the doorway, blocking Stephanie’s exit.
“None of your business.”
Isaac might not want to talk, but Michael was done waiting. “What can you tell us about the break-in? Do you have any idea who did this to you?”
Carter remained stoic.
“Believe it or not, we’re the good guys.” Michael stepped closer. “We’d like to find the people responsible for beating you up and traumatizing your child.”
“The men wore masks. I don’t know who they are. I have nothing more to say.”
“But you probably know who they work for, don’t you?” Finn parked himself on the sofa, facing the recliner. “Why did they do this? Why try to intimidate you?”
Still, Isaac said nothing.
Time for a different tactic. “We want you and Eddie to be safe. Let us help you.”
“Eddie will be safe. My sister is taking him as soon as you leave.”
Michael didn’t want to strong-arm the guy and use the whole obstruction-of-justice play, but they needed something here. And the sweat beading on the man’s upper lip and forehead said he was probably in a lot of pain.
“I’m gonna level with you, Carter. Eddie might know something, but if you speak to us, we won’t have to question your son, and you could protect him from having to remember the horrible experience.”
“If he’s really in danger, then the longer you prevent him from leaving with my sister, the more danger he’s in.” Isaac’s nostrils flared as he glared at them.
Yup. This guy was scared. He had to know something.
“How about this? We let your sister and Eddie go. You tell us what you know and let us check you back into the hospital. You’re not looking so hot.”
“Yes, please.” Stephanie rushed in and grabbed her brother’s hand. “You know I’ll keep Eddie safe. But he’s already lost his mother. He needs you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Not if you don’t get back to the hospital! Stop being so stubborn.”
Looked like Stephanie had a determined streak too.
Michael and Finn waited out the sibling stare-down.
Isaac closed his eyes a moment and swallowed. When he opened them again, he glared at Michael. “You’ll let them go and not ask me where?”
“We just want all three of you safe.”
“Fine. Let them go first. Then I’ll go with you.”
Michael really didn’t want to negotiate, but at least it was a step in the right direction.
“Here’s my deal: She takes my card, and I have her word that if there’s even a hint of anything not right, she’ll call me right away.
” Michael dug into his jacket pocket and held out his business card toward Stephanie.
“You have my word.” She took the card. “Now, please, get him to the hospital. I’ve already changed one bandage. He’s bleeding again.”
Isaac groaned. “Not till I say goodbye to Eddie.”
Within a minute, he was hugging his son tight, a tear escaping. “I’ll be with you as soon as I can. Listen to Aunt Stephanie, okay? Daddy loves you.”
Through more tears, Eddie nodded. And when Stephanie took his hand, he went willingly.
Brave kid. Michael knelt in front of him. “I’m gonna take care of your dad. I promise.”
Eddie plowed into Michael’s chest and squeezed. His sobs cracked open the hidden places in Michael, cementing his resolve to keep his promise no matter what.
Finn cleared his throat. “I’ll go move the car.”
Right. Michael swallowed past the tightness squeezing his throat. He set Eddie back on his feet and gave him the closest thing he could muster to an encouraging smile. “I’ll see you, bud.”
Stephanie led Eddie away.
“Don’t forget to stop at the bank with the deposit,” Isaac said to his sister. “I don’t want any late fees.”
With a small nod, she left.
They took Isaac back to the hospital. Once the nurses had him situated and were done scolding him for leaving, Michael and Finn went back to his bedside.
“I’ve given him some pretty strong pain meds. He’s not going to be awake for long,” the nurse said as she left the room. “He needs the rest.”
“We’ll be quick,” Finn assured her.
Michael approached. “Your sister and Eddie are safe?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now let’s go back to the day of the break-in. Walk us through it.”
“I don’t remember much of anything.”
“Really? Nothing? Nothing the men were wearing? Nothing they said?”
Isaac turned away and stared blankly out the window.
“Mr. Carter, we’re here to help. Obviously you think your sister and son are in danger. We can protect you.”
“I’ll be fine.” His eyelids closed.
“We had a deal. What did those men want?” Michael didn’t like to raise his voice, but their window was closing fast.
“They wanted to…clean.”
“What?”
“Not…clean enough.”
The last word was almost a whisper. Isaac’s breathing steadied out. The soft snore meant their time was up.
No! Not when they were so close.
Michael tried to nudge his arm. “Carter!”
Finn sighed. “He’s out, Mick. Guess we’ll have to figure this out on our own. But we should request extra security for him.” His partner turned and left the room.
That wasn’t a bad idea. “We’ll be back tomorrow,” Michael said to Carter. He wasn’t going to give up that easily when this man knew something.
After setting up a private security detail, the rest of the workday was a bust. Back at the office, they went over more of Donner’s financial statements for the last two years and found nothing helpful.
Questions plagued Michael as he left the office and drove home.
Who had beaten up Isaac Carter and why? What had Gary Donner gotten himself into that killed him?
He really wanted to get Dani’s take on the finances, but he hated to do that to her.
She was already up to her eyeballs in accounting stuff at the trucking company.
Even if he wouldn’t mind an excuse to see her again. Hear how her day had gone.
But that was useless.
He turned on the radio to find the latest news on the Rockies. His mind drifted as his vehicle approached a downtown intersection. Orange cones surrounded a bucket truck fixing a sign. The Eagle Rock Credit Union.
Michael stopped at the red light and watched the digital ad on the credit union sign.
A fundraiser for saving some animal, low-interest auto loans, and a picture of a man in a dark blazer with sparkling white teeth all flashed in five-second intervals, each with a bright-orange logo in the corner of the ads.
That was it!
A car behind him honked.
Michael continued through the intersection and used voice commands to call Finn.
“Miss me already?” Finn chuckled.
“I think I found another connection with our cases.”
“What’s that?”