Forgive Me, Alex (28 page)

"Ultimately, we know that the other side of every fear is a freedom." – Marilyn Ferguson

~~~~~

"Tony, what in the world do you think you're doing?"

Back in the interrogation room at the station, the chief's tone served as a good indication of his mood; he was as disappointed as he was angry. I liked him, and hated disappointing him, but Diana rose above all other considerations. If the authorities wouldn't save her, if indeed she weren't already dead, then I'd allow no one to prevent my saving her.

That included the chief.

"When I left here earlier," I said, "I had the distinct impression that nothing serious would be done about Norton. You're all determined to focus on me as your prime suspect, but the girl I love is still out there, perhaps alive and perhaps not. I cannot sit idly by and allow her to suffer."

"And you thought that we would allow that?"

I considered my response, not wishing to be insulting or just plain stupid, but if they were doing something about Norton, I was unaware of it. "I realize there's only so much you can do within the boundaries of the law. I don't blame you for that, but I'm limited by no such boundaries."

"Like
hell
! If
I
overstep those boundaries, it probably means my job. If
you
do it, you'll end up in jail. Do you hear me?" He jabbed a finger my direction. "This is not a game, Tony. This is deadly serious."

I yelled, "Don't you think I know that?" I paused for a moment to take a deep breath and relax. "I'll happily go to jail if it means getting Diana back safely."

"Damn it, Tony, you don't know what you're doing here."

He stood and paced before the mirror. Might someone, perhaps the FBI agents, be keeping us under observation on the other side of that glass? No matter.

He sat again, sighed heavily, and leaned in close. "You know, I've decided to lay it all on the table. I'll play it straight with you, but I want you to do the same for me. Okay?"

How far was I willing to go? "Yes sir."

"I've been thinking about you a lot lately, ever since that day at the morgue when you identified Alex, particularly after seeing how your father responded. I wanted to help you, but I wasn't sure how to do that."

"I know. You're one of the good guys. I knew that almost immediately."

He smiled. "Thanks. Frankly, I was amazed at how well you handled the whole situation, while your father could only manage to vanish into a bottle."

I stirred, but he held up a hand and continued. "Please understand, I don't mean to throw stones at your father. We all have our limits, and I expect that he'll come back to himself soon enough, but you... you've been a different story, impressive for someone so young and inexperienced."

How should I react to this unexpected exchange? He sure wasn't talking as someone who thought of me as a suspect. Besides, I hated compliments. "Thank you, sir."

"But here's the thing, since I'm being perfectly honest about everything: you may
not
take the law into your own hands. What would you have done if you'd followed Norton to a remote location and found Diana or one of the others?"

I shrugged. "Whatever was necessary."

"Does that include killing him?"

And there was the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. Good thing they hadn't looked in the trunk of my car, where they'd have found my swords and black garb.

I took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in my throat. "You know, he killed Alex, and then he
butchered
him and dumped him in the river like so much chum."

"You don't
know
it was Norton."

"But don't you see? I do."

"How can you possibly know? Even we don't know that yet. There's no evidence to support it."

"To bring to trial, you mean."

"I mean no evidence, period!" He shook his head and sighed. "So please tell me how you know such a thing."

"Some things you just know."

"Dah! Something isn't jiving here, Tony. Is there something you're not telling me? We agreed to be straight with one another, remember?"

Uh-oh.
What should I say? I couldn't—

"Did you also know we had a man watching Norton, prepared to follow him?"

Shit!
He must have been south on Mohawk, hidden from me by the Norton house. "No. Did I screw that up?"

His frustration eased. "No, I can't put that on you since Norton apparently spotted our man right off. Then he looked around and spotted you. He thought you were one of us."

I breathed easier knowing— "Excuse me?"

"He thought you were also a police officer."

I considered that for a few seconds. "So that's what that display was outside my car. I wondered about that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Chief, do you really believe that?"

"What, that he thought you were a cop? I don't know. He appeared sincere enough, genuinely surprised by who you were."

I snorted. If everything I believed was true, and it was, then that
couldn't
be true. How could I get the chief to reach the same conclusion?

"You know," I said, "he watched Diana quite intently at that park, and he definitely saw me with her. Then at the bowling alley, once again, he saw me with her. I know because the way he stared at her made me uncomfortable, and I made eye contact. He looked right at me and held the gaze. He looked angry."

I let that sink in. "And how did he know where Diana lives? I've been thinking about that. He must have followed us from the bowling alley. I spotted him again, staring right at us as we sat in the parking lot, so there's no question he knows my car and my face."

He mulled it over while staring down at the table, then looked up and said, "You remember that much of him?"

I shrugged again. "Been thinking about it a lot lately, trying to remember. And like I said, the creepy way he watched Diana freaked me out a little."

He nodded, though he still seemed a bit suspicious—not of me as the killer, but that I wasn't telling him everything. Smart guy.

"You still believe he thought I was a cop?" I said. "That he didn't know
exactly
who I was?"

Now that I'd said it aloud, and as it came together, I understood it much better myself. He'd parked down the street from my house on the day of Alex's funeral, when Diana and I had gone to the bowling alley. I couldn't tell the chief but—

Oh shit! Norton probably followed me. He found Diana because of me. It was
my
fault.

The room started to spin, to wobble and—

"Are you all right?"

"Huh?" I focused again on the chief. "Oh... yeah, I'm fine."

I took a deep breath, and couldn't contain a huge sigh. "As I think about it out loud here, it occurs to me that he probably found me through my car. He must have seen it at the park that day. He
did
watch us awhile. So he finds
me
, hoping to discover Diana that way because he doesn't yet know who we are. I'm not sure how Alex comes into it. Perhaps he found me earlier and was watching our place. I don't know. Maybe it was—What do you call it?—a crime of opportunity."

Sonuvabitch, now it all makes sense! It had to—

Oh, Hoopster, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, Alex.

The chief remained quiet, but I could see the wheels turning.

I stiffened up and clenched my fists below the table, digging my fingernails into my palms. "To answer your earlier question—I owe you that much—I'll say,
'Absolutely.'
If I had to, I could cut Mitchell Norton's heart out!"

He leaned back in his chair with the front legs slightly off the floor, stared at the ceiling, locked his hands with fingers intertwined, and rubbed his thumbs together.

I could almost imagine smoke piping from his ears.

When he sat forward and looked at me again, both his look and his manner had shifted. "Tell me," he said with a laugh, "did you ever consider becoming a cop?"

His lightened mood surprised me. I remained silent.

"You've painted quite a picture. Everything you've said is at least plausible, yet somehow, I have this nagging suspicion that you're still not telling me
everything
. Why is that?"

"I don't know what to tell you. I've said all I know to say."

Talk about dancing around the truth.

"Okay," he said. "I'll let it go for the moment. Excuse me."

He turned to the two-way glass and nodded, motioning with his hand for the observers on the other side to come into the room.

Only one entered, Special Agent Jackson. There was no sign of Agent Monroe. He nodded his greeting as he sat across the table, and leaned over with the hint of a smile, and with a look of determination that I didn't fully understand.

"Perhaps," he said, "I have misjudged you, young man. Whatever the merits of your theories, you don't appear to be acting as someone who might have committed these crimes."

He looked at the chief before resuming. "Do you mind if I tell Tony what you told us earlier, Bill?"

The chief shrugged, and Jackson again focused on me.

"Chief Radlon told us that after the day at the morgue, when you identified your brother's body, he no longer thought of you as a suspect. He said you were either the world's most accomplished actor, or you were truly innocent of that crime. I considered his opinion, but needed a little more prodding to accept it. You fit the bill, the natural suspect, but.... well, I've changed my mind. I think the chief had it right all along."

The chief and I exchanged a silent acknowledgement, and I responded to Jackson. "Thank you. That's all well and good, but what exactly do you plan to do about Norton and, more importantly, about getting Diana back?"

I looked back and forth between the two men.

"You know, I do believe what you said earlier," Jackson said. "I mean... you
would
kill or die for those you love, if you must. Wouldn't you?"

I figured he expected no response, and I obliged.

"You must be a good friend to have around in a pinch, yet I can't help wondering if that won't get you into hot water at some point. The law doesn't commend vigilantes, Mr. Hooper. It sends them to prison."

He still hadn't answered my question, and I didn't respond to his statement.

He returned his attention to the chief. "Okay, Bill, you had another meeting with Norton. Any new thoughts about him?"

"I considered quoting Shakespeare, but I thought it might be lost on him. He did protest far too much.'" He paused to adjust his uniform. "The man is just
off
. I wish I could give you more."

"Every good law enforcement officer develops instincts over the years, and I'm inclined to trust yours on this. All right, let's assume that Tony's theories are accurate and that Mitchell Norton is our perpetrator. Do we proceed from the assumption that he's responsible for Alex Hooper and all four missing kids?"

"I'd say so, Arnie. Once I ruled out Tony as a suspect, I assumed that one man was responsible for everything. Nothing else makes sense. I might feel differently if we were in Chicago, but not here in Algonquin."

"Of course. That's why you called us."

"Yeah." He turned up his hands. "Algonquin has made the big leagues."

Holy shit, are they suggesting Norton is a serial killer? Diana!

They continued to talk as though I wasn't in the room. I remained quiet, invisible, in the hopes that they'd continue to do so.

They discussed their options for tracking Norton, and Jackson said he'd arrange to bring in some special surveillance equipment tomorrow. They'd have a special van and two other vehicles, along with communications gear to set up a radio relay. He said they needed to put a man on the ground, meaning on foot, somewhere near the Norton house. The chief told him about the woods along Pioneer Road, which they agreed would be a good spot.

"Excellent," Jackson said. "Why don't we start fleshing this out? I'll make some calls tonight to get the equipment rolling. By tomorrow night, we ought to be able to begin our full surveillance."

Tomorrow night? Were they kidding? What about tonight?

As if reading my thoughts, Jackson continued. "Bill, can you get a man near Norton's house tonight? I'd like to put Agent Monroe with him, if that's okay."

"Consider it done."

"Very good." Jackson turned his gaze to me. "Young man, you've heard a good deal more than we typically share under such circumstances. If Norton turns out to be our man, we'll owe you our thanks. I suppose that's why I allowed you to stay."

"Thank you," I said.

"As long as we're laying it all out, I'd like to say a couple more things. I believe Norton will be nervous about today's encounters. He'll want to keep it under wraps for a while. I doubt our people will see anything tonight, and that may be a good thing given what transpired today. Norton is likely anxious to tie up any loose ends and go underground. That means it will be more dangerous for Diana if he approaches her. We definitely want to be there for that. If Diana is hidden away somewhere, it may be uncomfortable for her, but she'll last another day."