Chapter 6 #3
Brendan gave them a grave nod. “But you found him! I’ve heard all the news, and Ainsley has kept me up with everything going on.
I mean, as far as his personal relationships went, George was a great friend, and he was madly in love with Ainsley.
He wanted her moving out to his place before they were married, but not until all the Gen-Zec stuff was over.
He was afraid for her and never himself.
” Brendan paused, shaking his head. “I wish I had something to give you! Some clue. But around here, everyone loved the guy. He was non-political, just a man who liked to look at right and wrong.”
“All investigators are looking at Gen-Zec—” Grant said.
“But I understand the CEO might have been guilty, that he sped up so he could crash himself into a tree!” Brendan said.
“That’s all still being investigated,” Shelly told him. “But there’s a good possibility someone rigged his car, hoping to make him the scapegoat.”
“Oh!” Brendan said. “But the news is all about what happened at George’s, and that all turned into George being found barely alive.
The stuff about the guy crashing into a light pole on purpose!
Oh, yeah, and truly the saddest! A veteran, a man who served our country, homeless and murdered because someone apparently believed no one was going to care about a homeless veteran.
You know, that was another of George’s pet peeves—our treatment of our veterans.
And he’s right! Who deserves more than those who volunteered to offer up the ultimate sacrifice for their country? ”
“Amen!”
Shelly and Grant murmured the word in unison. She glanced over at him, smiling.
In a strange way, she’d discovered in very little time—or eons of it, thinking of the length and intensity of the hours they’d spent together—that they were on the same page often. And that was good for a partnership.
Brendan smiled and nodded, looking at Shelly. “Well, Special Agent Shelly Mahoney, I can promise you I will immediately call if I can think of anything, hear anything … whatever. George is my friend. My very good friend. And you guys must have been going all day. Dinner. I promise you, my food is—”
“Your food is delicious!” Shelly assured him. She shrugged, smiling, and told him, “We had lunch here earlier.”
“Oh, right, with Ainsley! Okay, well, have a seat. My special tonight is a salmon dish, special ingredients in the sauce and …” Brendan began.
“Sold!” Grant said, arching a brow at Shelly.
“Great. Thank you,” Shelly agreed.
Brendan stretched out a hand, indicating his hostess. The young woman nodded and started to pick up menus for them.
“They know what they’re having!” Brendan told her. “Just get them to a nice seat!”
The hostess led them to a seat. A new crew of waitstaff was on duty, so their waiter didn’t seem to be apprehensive. In fact, he apparently knew Grant, welcoming him “back” and assuring Shelly that everything was going to be great.
They both opted for coffee.
Not a great bedtime drink, but one that might get them through the last hours of their day and night.
“Rome,” Shelly murmured. “The Eternal City. But—”
“Something must be going on there, and Angela always seems to have the instincts of an amazing witch. If she’s sending us over there now, there’s a reason.”
“Hard to fathom what it might be. I mean, okay, a man was killed and another man confessed to the crime and then killed himself. It was accepted that he did so because suicide seemed better to him than incarceration?” Shelly asked. “It’s not out of the realm of sane theories.”
“Not at all. It’s just that he didn’t do it.”
“But you didn’t hold his hand, you didn’t see—”
“I know whoever attacked George Maynard did so wearing a black cape and hood and mask, or something that was rigged so that when George saw him, what he saw was a massive black shadow.”
Shelly frowned. “But he is alive; George is alive. I hope that doesn’t mean—”
“I believe George is going to live. He’s out, of course, completely sedated, but I guess that means the soul can reach out when nothing else in the body can give indications to others about what they’re thinking or what happened or …
” He broke off, shaking his head. “I’d be fighting Angela if I thought we’d get more once the man was conscious.
But I saw what he knows—what he saw before he was knocked out.
And we have a second crew of agents arriving—”
“Right when we’re leaving,” Shelly said.
“Which is important. They wouldn’t be under Jackson’s domain if they weren’t excellent at what they did. They just worked a major case up in Salem, Massachusetts. We’ll get to know them soon enough. For now—”
“Just eat my salmon and shut up?” Shelly asked.
He laughed softly.
“Yeah, well, I don’t know about you. I could really use some sleep!”
“Right. Sleep.”
Except that wasn’t in the cards. They finished eating; they said their goodbyes and thank-yous to Brendan.
They headed to the house on Aviles and discovered that the agents joining them were already seated at the table, studying information on their computers.
It was still going to be one hell of a long night!