Chapter 18 #2
“Jake.” Theo let out a long, frustrated breath.
“The truth is, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.
My mind is a mess. I have all these thoughts telling me it’s all wrong.
Magic is wrong, taking Olivia as my lover is wrong, just being here is wrong.
I don’t belong in your world any more than I belonged in mine.
I’ve always felt adrift—lost, I suppose—except when I’m with her. She’s the only thing that feels right.”
“I don’t know what to say, Theo,” Jake muttered. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to find yourself dumped three hundred years into the future with all our different rules and expectations.”
“I don’t know what to think or feel half the time,” Theo replied. “All I know is I have to keep Olivia safe.”
“Even from you?’”
“I am no danger to her.” Theo scowled. “I would never hurt her.”
“And I’m supposed to just accept that? When Olive called and said you’d be staying a few extra nights, I gotta tell you, man, I was worried.”
“I understand.”
“However,” Jake continued, “as much as I don’t like it, it’s Olivia’s life and her decision. But I swear to God, man, if you hurt her, I will kill you, and they will never find your body.”
“I would rather die than hurt her.” Theo stared back at Jake, his dark eyes direct and guileless.
Whatever Jake had been looking for in Theo, he obviously found because he gave a small nod, as if some sort of agreement had been reached between them.
Theo nodded also and turned to refill his cup.
“There is something else.” Theo changed the subject. “I’m concerned about Olivia.”
“We all are.”
“No.” Theo shook his head. “I mean specifically in relation to Chief Walcott. We were in the pub last night and he went after her in public. He waited until I was in the restroom and caught her while she was alone, made threats about arresting her.”
Jake frowned. “He doesn’t have any grounds to and he damn well knows it.”
“Exactly,” Theo agreed. “He’s crossing a line now.”
“I have to admit, he’s been different down at the station too,” Jake mused. “He’s been even more erratic and confrontational, and others are starting to notice it now.”
“You don’t think he’ll actually hurt her, do you?” Theo asked. “I’d hate to have to go to prison for killing the chief of police.”
“I get the uncomfortable feeling you’re not joking.”
“I’m not going to let anyone hurt her, not even a man of the law.” Theo scowled.
“I know.” Jake shook his head. “But this isn’t the seventeenth century. You can’t just go around killing people. Besides, I don’t think he’d actually physically hurt her, but then again, I just can’t gauge him anymore. He’s obsessed. Why’d he go after her anyway? What did he want to know?”
“He wanted to know where she was yesterday afternoon.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed.
“I heard you two gave Hanson the slip.” Theo paused with his cup halfway to his mouth. “Louisa told me,” Jake clarified. “After all, it was my sister’s car you borrowed.”
“That’s true.” Theo drained his cup once again.
“Where’d you two go anyway?”
“I’d better let Olivia explain that to you.” Theo sighed. “She’s already irritated with me.”
“Do I want to know why?”
“Probably not.” Theo shook his head.
“About the chief,” Jake considered. “Maybe Olive should call Erica and get her to file an official complaint with the mayor’s office. If he’s got someone above watching him, it might force him to toe the line.”
“Or it might push him entirely the other way,” Theo countered.
“Maybe, but then she has both of us. We just need to keep an eye on her.”
“There’s one more thing.” Theo’s gaze locked with Jake’s. “I want you to teach me to shoot a gun.”
“Do I need to worry about you shooting the chief?” Jake’s brow rose.
“I’ll try not to,” Theo replied dryly.
“Then why?”
“Because we still don’t know what is in the woods, and there’s a murderer on the loose,” Theo pointed out.
“Fair point,” Jake conceded. “Okay, I’ll stop by tomorrow morning and we’ll get started.”
“Started on what?” Olivia padded back into the kitchen, pulling her hair into a ponytail.
“Nothing.” Jake noticed the file tucked under her arm. “What’s that?”
“Take a look for yourself.” She dropped it on the counter in front of him.
Jake watched as she walked past Theo and took a mug down from the shelf.
Theo’s eyes dropped down to her ass for a moment before he turned and flipped the kettle on.
Jake continued to watch them. Olivia dropped a teabag in her mug as Theo turned to the refrigerator and took out the milk before refilling his coffee.
Olivia took down the sugar and scooped a spoon into her mug and two in Theo’s mug.
As she turned to put the sugar back, he squeezed the teabag into her cup and removed it while she added milk to both her tea and his coffee, stirring it before handing it to him.
She scowled at him. “You shouldn’t mainline coffee, it’s not good for you.”
He smiled at her as he took a sip.
Jake was startled at how in sync with each other they were and how they didn’t seem to be aware of it. Shaking his head in amusement, he turned his attention to the file in front of him.
“Is this what I think it is?” He frowned suddenly as he scanned the first few pages.
“The files from the original murders.” Olivia slipped onto the stool beside Jake.
“How?”
“I got it yesterday.” Olivia sipped her tea.
“This has something to do with where you two disappeared to, doesn’t it?”
Olivia nodded, putting her cup down and flipping to the pages pertaining to James Talbot.
“Victim number four, James Talbot,” she began.
“Someone specifically highlighted this victim. I figured there was something special about this one. I read through his file, and the single thing of note was that he was the only victim who didn’t live in Mercy.
He lived in Salem with his parents. So, we decided to drive out there and see if his family still lived there. ”
“And do they?” Jake asked.
“His mother does.” Olivia picked up her mug again.
“His father passed away some years ago, but she was happy to speak with us. It turns out James Talbot didn’t always live in Salem but was born and raised in Mercy.
He went to school with my father and Thomas Walcott. The three of them were best friends.”
“Thomas Walcott?” Jake blinked in surprise. “As in…Chief Walcott?”
Olivia gave a nod. “There’s more though. Chief Walcott and James Talbot were lovers.”
“What?” Jake said sharply. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. Mrs. Talbot has letters to prove it, and my father was the only other person who knew the truth. The night James was murdered, he was supposed to meet the chief in secret. Apparently, no one but my father knew James was going to be in town that night.”
“Maybe that’s why he has a problem with you,” Jake mused. “He must blame your father somehow and, by extension, you.”
“He pretty much said that to me last night,” Olivia confirmed.
“He basically accused me and my dad of being a murder tag team. I think, in his mind, my father committed the original murders, and I took up where he left off until Dad busted out of the nut house. Now he thinks we’re having ourselves a little joint murder spree. ”
“For fuck’s sake.” Jake pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Christ, not only is that ridiculous, but I also had no idea that he—
“Prefers the company of men?” Theo answered, his brow furrowed.
“Yeah,” Jake murmured. “I mean, I knew he wasn’t married, but we all just figured he was married to the job.
He obviously goes to great pains to hide his preference.
I’ve never even had a hint that he was gay.
It wouldn’t matter to any of us, though.
I wonder why he feels as though he has to hide it? ”
“There could be many different reasons.” Olivia shrugged. “He could be ashamed or have family that wouldn’t approve. He could’ve felt that it would hinder his career, or maybe he’s just a very private person. Who knows.”
“You know, this makes him very dangerous. If he believes your father murdered the person he was in love with, a person he has been unable to mourn publicly for the last twenty years. He is going to take it out on you if he can’t get to your father.”
“Yeah,” Olivia murmured. “I’d pretty much figured that out. He’s not about to let this go anytime soon, and while he’s fixated on me, he’s not looking for the real killer, whether it’s my father and his partner or not.”
“Olive”—Jake frowned—“I really think you need to speak with Erica and put in an official complaint about Chief Walcott.”
“That will probably only make him worse.”
“But it will mean that there is someone keeping an eye on him,” Jake insisted. “It will give you some measure of protection.”
“I guess so,” Olivia answered, although she didn’t look convinced.
“Do you have any idea who sent you the file?” Jake scanned through the notes. “Do you still have the packaging it was sent in?”
“Yes.” She sipped her tea.
“I’ll check into it. Maybe I can find where it was sent from. Was it through the postal service or a courier?”
“Courier,” she answered.
“I might be able to trace it then, if this is the former chief’s copy, that would mean it was possibly sent to you by the pale haired man working with your father. But why would he want you to know about your father’s connection to the victim?”
“I have no idea.” Olivia shrugged. “To be honest, the whole thing’s giving me a headache.”
Jake fell silent as he studied the case notes intently. “Jesus.” He paled as he read through the later victims’ autopsy reports.
“Yeah, it’s pretty grim.” Olivia agreed.