“You can’t come along because this stuff is starting to affect you. You didn’t sleep last night, did you?” he asked.
“There are lots of nights I don’t sleep,” I said defensively.
“Yeah, well, tonight won’t be one of them. I think it’s time you took a step back, Abby.”
“No way,” I said, standing my ground in the hallway. “I’m going to the hospital. I’ve come this far, Duffy. You can’t leave me out now.”
Duffy gave me a look that said he would if he could, but I held his stare until finally he shook his head and said, “Fine. Come on. But you’ll wait in the lobby until I’m done talking with her.”
“Deal.”
“We’ll call Ellie and have her meet us there. Kelly may want her close by.”
“Should we also call Kelly’s parents?” I asked as we walked out the front door.
“She’s an orphan,” Duffy said, rounding to his side of the patrol car.
“What?”
“Yep. Her mom died of cancer when she was real young, and her daddy died about three years ago. The guy committed suicide. He hanged himself in the bathroom. Kelly found him.”
“Man! That girl has been through it all, hasn’t she?”
“Yeah, she really has. And she’s never been the strong will-of-steel type. You blow on her, I think she’d fall over.”
“Poor thing,” I said, my heart going out to her.
Duffy called Ellie; she and Nina agreed to rush immediately to the hospital to lend Kelly some support. He tucked his cell away, and just as we turned onto the street where the hospital was his radio bleeped to life, and a dispatcher rifled off some codes that didn’t make sense to me. Duffy looked startled by the announcement and immediately reached for the radio. “Dispatch, this is car three-eighty-one, over.”
I was watching him as we cruised toward the hospital, and that was when my intuition chimed in and I knew we weren’t going to make it into the parking lot.
The dispatcher rifled off another set of codes, and all I caught were the words “…escapee in State Bank building on Lincoln,” and, “all units in the area please respond.”
Duffy slowed the patrol car as he took a quick glance in the rearview mirror, then pulled a U-turn and hit the lights and the siren. “Hang on,” he said as he punched the accelerator, and my body jerked back into the seat as we sped down the street. He slowed only slightly as he made a sharp right, and I glanced at his face as he concentrated on weaving in and out of the downtown traffic.
“It’s Eddie,” I said as my intuition buzzed.
“Yep,” Duffy said, taking another hard right.
“Don’t let him get hurt, Duffy,” I said as we screeched to a halt in front of a large brown building with the nameplate COLORADO STATE BANK on the front.
“Stay put,” he said, his face rigid and firm as he reached over and hit the release for the shotgun next to the radio.
I gasped a little as he lifted the gun from its perch. “Duffy,” I said, “do you really need that?”
“I mean it, Abby,” he said, giving me a hard, firm look. “You stay put until I get back. You hear?”
“I hear,” I groused, and with that Duffy was out the door and running into the building.
I crossed my arms and sat back in my seat, watching as other patrol units surrounded the building and escorted people out. I hated to think about the explosiveness of the situation happening inside. Heaven forbid if Eddie were hurt—or worse—by the police. I shuddered to think what it would do to Ellie, especially if her brother were involved.
Just then I noticed a large van pull up to the building, and when the back doors opened half a dozen men in blue windbreakers with the initials FBI jumped out and jogged into the building.
I grimaced as I realized that if Eddie pulled any kind of stunt inside Denver’s State Bank he’d be committing a federal crime on top of all the other things against him. I looked up at the building, squinting in the morning light to see if I could make out anything happening through the windows, then up toward the roof. There I got a little lucky, as I saw the barest glimmer of movement, but nothing solid. Curious, I got out of the car and headed over to a curb, hoping to catch a glimpse of the action.
I was walking with my hand held salute style above my eyes, peering up at the roof, when I bumped into someone on my left. “Excuse me,” I apologized as I looked to see who I’d bumped into. I gasped as I recognized the face staring panicked and wide-eyed back at me.
“Come with me,” Eddie said, and grabbed my elbow in a viselike grip. “And don’t even think about sounding an alarm,” he added menacingly.
“Uh…uh…uh…” was all I could blubber out.
“Move!” he hissed, and yanked on my elbow.
Scared by his wild eyes, I didn’t resist, and we moved along briskly down the street and away from the safety of the police. “Why are you kidnapping me?” I asked him in a shaking voice.
“They’re searching for a single white male. They’re not going to think twice about a couple walking down the block,” he answered. He groaned as we stepped up onto a curb and I noticed that he was working very hard to hide a limp.
“I heard your leg was burned,” I said. If I could get him to converse maybe I could talk some sense into him.
“I’m fine,” he said, and moved me into an alley.
“Eddie,” I said, trying to reason with him. “Why make things worse for yourself? If you turn yourself in now, I’m sure they would go easier on you than if they capture you later.”
“They’re not going to go easy on me, Abby. You said so yourself when you did that reading for Ellie. You said you saw me in big trouble. They think I murdered Gina, and I’m not going to jail for something I didn’t do.”
We came to a stop then, and Eddie pulled me behind a Dumpster in back of a restaurant. He shoved me against a wall as he peered up and down the alley, waiting to see any sign of law enforcement. “No,” I said in an even and calm voice. “What I said to Ellie was that you would need a good attorney. Which, let’s face it, you now need more than ever.”
“I had no choice,” Eddie barked, then quickly lowered his voice. “My cell mate, Biggins—you know him as the guy who attacked Hadley Rankin—started a fire in our cell. I was asleep when he pulled that little party trick, and the next thing I know there’s a lot of smoke and yelling and the doors fly open. I start running with the other prisoners when Biggins grabs me and pulls me in another direction. We were almost to an exit when one of the guards spotted us and came after us. That was when Biggins jumped him and almost got his gun. The guard got free and came up shooting—at both of us. I didn’t hang around to explain, and followed Biggins.”
“We know you were severely burned, Eddie,” I said, pointing to his leg. “Why did you guys head into the fire?”
“Because I was being shot at, Abby, and it was the only way out.”
“So you got clear of the building, and what? Saw Kelly and kidnapped her?”
Eddie blanched. “We got clear and I started to head to the front of the building. My leg was bad and I needed to get to a hospital. That’s when Kelly saw me, and also when Biggins jumped her. He grabbed her keys and threw her into the trunk. I got in the passenger side when he got in the car and told him I was coming along. I figured it was the only way I could protect Kelly.”
“So how did you end up at the hospital?” I asked.
“Biggins saw my leg and said I was more liability than help to him. He pulled up within a block of the hospital and told me to get out. I said I wasn’t leaving without Kelly, and that’s when he kicked me in the leg until I fell out of the car.”
Eddie’s face was contorted with guilt, and I knew he was telling me the truth.
“She got away from Biggins,” I said to him. “She’s at the hospital right now, she’s alive and she’s safe.”
“She is?”
“Yes. Duffy and I were on our way over there when we got the call that you w
ere in the neighborhood.”
“Thank God,” Eddie said as he let out a sigh. Just then we heard voices at one end of the alley, and Eddie pushed my head down as we ducked low behind the Dumpster. When the coast was clear he stood up again, keeping a firm grip on my arm as he looked nervously around.
“Did you have anything to do with Gina’s disappearance?” I asked.
Eddie swiveled his head around to look me right in the eye and said, “No, Abby. I had nothing to do with it.”
“I believe you,” I said, as I now understood what my guides had been trying to tell me all along about Eddie’s crime. He had nothing to do with Gina’s murder. The breakout was what my crew had been hinting at. “And in my reading for Ellie, I didn’t see you going to jail forever. Maybe it’s better if you turn yourself in and explain what happened.”
“I’m not taking that risk,” he said firmly. “They may not have been able to prove that I murdered Gina, but I’m positive they can pin the breakout on me.”
“But what about your career? You’ve worked your whole life to be a doctor. Why would you throw that away?”
“There are plenty of rural communities out west that would welcome a local doctor and not ask a lot of background questions. I’d have to give up a lucrative living, but that’s not why I became a doctor anyway.”
“What about Ellie?” I asked.
Eddie cut me a look, his lower lip quivering just a bit as he said, “She’s better off without me.”
“But what about the baby?”
Eddie released the grip he had on my arm, his mouth dropping open slightly as he asked, “What baby?”
“The one Ellie’s carrying. Congratulations, it’s a girl,” I said, giving him a smile.
“You’re lying,” he said, even as tears formed in the corners of his eyes.
“Eddie,” I said in a soft, soothing voice. “Haven’t you noticed all the signs? The way Ellie’s been bolting to the bathroom lately? And the little extra weight she’s put on recently? And when was the last time she had a cycle? You two live together, so I’m sure you know when it’s her time of the month.”
“She’s pregnant?” Eddie asked me as his eyes searched mine for any hint of a lie.
“Yes. She’s almost three months along now. But I’m terribly worried about her. She’s been under so much stress that if you disappeared too it could put her right over the edge. She wants to stand by you. She needs the father of her baby, even if he’s on trial. Even if he’s in jail. She needs you.”
Eddie stepped away from me, and I noticed his breathing had quickened slightly. His hands were balled up in fists, and his face showed so much agony that my heart went out to him. “Why didn’t she tell me?” he murmured.
“I don’t know,” I said to him. “Maybe because she was so nervous about the wedding, she just wanted to handle that until it was over, then surprise you with the news on your wedding night. Personally I can’t think of a nicer wedding present, can you?”
“Shit!” he swore as he paced painfully up and down in front of me.
“Come on, Eddie. Do the right thing here. Let’s walk back to Duffy’s car and get inside and wait for him to come back. He’ll make sure you don’t get hurt.”
“I didn’t kill Gina, Abby.”
“I believe you,” I repeated, looking him dead in the eye. “I know it wasn’t you. And I will do everything I can to help you. My sister has even retained the best criminal defense lawyer in the state on your behalf. I have a really good feeling about him. I think he’s going to be able to help you. But you have to take the first step here.”
Eddie paused and looked down the street, lost for a moment in his own thoughts. “What the hell am I doing?” he asked.
“Going back to the car with me,” I said gently, and moved to take his arm. “Come on. You can do this.”
Eddie hung his head then and allowed me to lead him out of the alley. We walked slowly, because I knew his leg must hurt something fierce. We made it without incident back to the patrol car. Duffy was still inside the bank building with the other police, searching for Eddie.
I opened the back door for Eddie and he got in, gentle as a lamb. I climbed into the front and we waited patiently as we listened to the chatter on the radio.
“I should probably call him,” I said to Eddie as I reached for my cell.
“Can you hold off on that?” Eddie asked. “I’m not officially back in police custody yet, and I’d like to savor these last couple minutes of freedom if you don’t mind.”
“You got it,” I said, and tucked my cell away.
About fifteen minutes later we saw Duffy come out of the bank building. He looked frustrated as he trotted over to the car and got in without looking in the backseat. “Son of a bitch got away from us,” he groused a he locked the shotgun back into place.
“You don’t say,” I said casually.
“Damn it!” Duffy swore. “When I catch up to Eddie, I’m personally going to open a can of whoop-ass on his butt for being such an idiot! He should know better!”
“Uh, Duffy?”
“Jesus, you’d think those brains would come with some common sense, but nooooo!”
“Duff,” I said again.
“My sister can sure pick ’em,” Duffy continued, paying me no heed. “If I had a dime for every loser she dated, I’d retire!”
“Yo—Sheriff McGinnis,” I said waving, my hand at him.
“This one I thought had some potential! He sure got one over on me, though,” Duffy complained as he put the car into gear and pulled away from the curb. “Must’ve been the résumé. The guy graduates from Harvard and I’m suckered in.”
“Yale,” a voice from the backseat corrected. “I graduated from Yale, not Harvard.”
The patrol car’s tires screeched as they came to a sudden halt, and Duffy’s head whipped around as he stared in shock at his newest passenger. “Holy shit!” he said when he spotted Eddie. “How the…?” he said, turning to me. “What the…?”
“I must confess, Sheriff,” I said, grinning at the look on his face. “I may not have exactly stayed put when you went inside the bank.”
An hour later I was still waiting for Duffy in the lobby of the sheriff’s station. I had tried calling Ellie twice, but her cell kept going to voice mail. I knew she’d want to know that Eddie was safe and back in jail. Well, maybe not the “back in jail” thing, but at least he was safe.
When we’d gotten to the station Eddie had announced that he would talk only to Duffy. He further stated that he was willing to give a statement about his escape, but he would wait for his attorney before he even commented on Gina’s murder. Except, of course, to say that he didn’t do it.
While I waited for Duffy to take Eddie’s statement, I fished around in my purse, looking for something that could entertain me. I came across the small manual that came with my phone and, bored out of my gourd, I began to read it. “Huh,” I said as I came across a section marked SPEED DIAL. “So that’s how you do that.” I got out my phone and plugged in everyone I knew into the speed-dial phone book. That was only about eight entries, and I sighed heavily as I thought about the small social world I lived in.
The truth was that ever since my best friend, Theresa, moved to California some months back, I’d been something of a hermit. I’d lived vicariously through my boyfriend and hadn’t pushed myself to get out there and make new friends.
It occurred to me that if I wanted to move to Denver, I could take advantage of the social scene around Ellie. She knew lots of people, and she was always telling me of the parties she threw, the luncheons she had, and the get-togethers she was planning.
Maybe hanging out with someone like that was exactly what I needed. Maybe if I had Ellie as a mentor I could work on expanding my social group. After all, there really wasn’t anyone left to hang out with back in Michigan, now that Dutch and I were finito.
Speaking of which, I mused, if I entered his number into my speed dial I’d
have at least nine people in my phone book. I frowned at the idea. That might be too much temptation. However, what if I were hit by a bus and the authorities went looking through my cell phone trying to find a name to contact, and they saw that I knew only eight people? Granted, one of those eight was my ICE and was the same number as my sister, but still, wouldn’t they think I was pathetic for having so few friends?
That did it. For vanity’s sake I entered the number to his cell and hit the 9 button to encode the speed dial. “Who you calling?” I heard a voice ask to my right.
Tilting my head up, I smiled as I saw Duffy walking toward me. “Hey, guy. No one,” I said, and snapped the phone closed. “Everything squared away?”
Duffy sat down in the chair next to me, a file held loosely in his hands. “For the moment. We’ve got him back in the clink, and we’ve sent for a doctor to take another look at that leg. He may need a graft.”
“A skin graft?”
“Yeah, there’s a small section on his leg that doesn’t look so good.”
“Ouch,” I said, wincing as I put my cell away. “So did he tell you how Biggins forced him to break out?”
“Yes, and the tape from the cameras in that section of the jail back up his story.”
“The tape survived the fire?”
“The cameras record to a DVR located off premises. I can access them via our intranet.”
“Technology,” I said, shaking my head in awe. “So that means that once Eddie’s cleared of Gina’s murder, he’ll be free to go?”
“You’re convinced he didn’t murder Gina?” Duffy asked me.
“Yep. He had nothing to do with it. The whole intuitive message about him being forced to commit a crime was the breakout.”
“I hate to burst your bubble there, honey, but we’ve got another link between Gina and Eddie.”
“What?” I asked as my intuition buzzed in that I wasn’t going to like it.
“The credit card used to reserve Gina’s plane reservation to California was issued to Eddie O’Donnell, and it was in the wallet we found at the crime scene.”
“No!” I said, and my heart sank. “How can that be?” I murmured, puzzling over it, because my intuition insisted Eddie was innocent. Then, I thought of something. “What if Gina stole Eddie’s wallet, and used his credit card to book her reservation? That could also be why it was found at the crime scene!” I said excitedly.