Jamie Hill Triple Threat (78 page)

Nate tossed up his hands. "Inspect away, I've got nothing to hide. In the interest of full disclosure, I did go shopping at the mall this afternoon and bought myself a new pair of jeans. Just so anyone checking out my exorbitant spending knows."

Reeder glared at him. "This may be funny to you, Special Agent, but its serious business around here. Curtis is in a butt load of trouble right now. So make all the jokes you want, but why don't you go someplace else to do it? We don't need your kind around here."

"My kind?" Nate blinked, shocked. "What kind is that? I'm a decorated veteran and a well-regarded bureau supervisor with an extremely high rate of closed cases. You don't need that around here?"

"You're a smart ass," Reeder snapped. "I know you FBI people think you're better and smarter than all the rest of us out here in the real world, but guess what? We solve cases too. Our homicide department also has an extremely high rate of closed cases. So don't come at me with the 'you couldn't have done it without me' attitude."

Nate inhaled and blew it out, trying to calm himself. It would have been so easy to take a swing at Reeder's fat head and punch the jackass right in the nose. In fact, that initial reaction had earned him a lot of kitchen duty when he was a young soldier in the army.
I'm smarter now
. He still wanted to punch bigoted, arrogant people who said stupid, spiteful things, but he didn't act on it nearly as often. He steadied himself and spoke clearly. "I apologize if my attitude comes across as irreverent. At this moment, I'm very concerned for Melanie and perhaps that's clouding my judgment."

Reeder ignored him and glanced around the room. "It's getting late. You all need to go home. There isn't anything you can do here tonight. When they're done questioning Curtis, they've advised me they'll send her home. They won't keep her here any longer than necessary." He turned and went back inside the office.

The other detectives murmured amongst themselves, trying to decide what to do.

"Go ahead," Cappie told them. "You all have to work tomorrow anyway. Mel's going to need you then, maybe more than she does here tonight."

"Okay, but if you need anything…." Stone touched Cappie's arm.

"I know where to find you. Thanks Henry." Cappie patted his hand.

Stone turned to Nate. "Sorry about jumping on you. I'm just upset and confused about all this."

"I understand. I am too. And I'm not taking it lightly. I'm really not. I guess I've just always used humor to diffuse situations."

Stone looked at Cappie. "Who does that sound like?"

Cappie smiled. "My daughter."

Marshall and Becker said their goodbyes and they walked out with Stone.

Cappie returned to his seat and slumped down.

Nate sat across from him.

The silver-haired man glanced up with surprise on his face. "You don't have to stay, you know."

Nate shrugged. "I've got nothing to go home to. An empty house."

Cappie raised a brow. "You mean hotel room?"

Nate sighed.
Might as well come clean
. "To be honest with you, Mel let me sleep in her spare room the first night I was in town. We found the arrangement convenient, so I never checked into the hotel."
It's the truth, if somewhat lacking in pertinent details.

"Spare room. Right." Cappie rubbed his temples.

Nate decided to change the subject. "Mel tells me you were injured in the line of duty. Mind my asking how it happened?"

His eyes rose to meet Nate's as he replied, "Convenience store robbery. Two perps. My partner and I chased them for several blocks. My guy, a scrawny little white kid looking to be barely legal age, darted into the street. I ran after him and got mowed down by a cabbie who didn't see me. Shattered my leg in four places."

Nate grimaced. "I'm sorry."

Cappie shrugged. "Damndest thing. Kid I was chasing came back after I got hit and held my head in his lap until the ambulance got there."

"No." Nate couldn't believe it.

"Stayed with me the whole time."

"Wow. Whatever happened to that kid?"

Cappie smiled. "He's walking a beat on the west side. Working his way right up the ladder. I see a detective shield in his future."

Nate smiled. "Don't suppose you had anything to do with that."

Another shrug. "Couldn't forget him after what he did. Visited him in jail a few times. Mentored him once he got out. He just needed some direction. Didn't have parents to speak of. Fell in with the wrong crowd."

"And now he's a cop."

"He was never convicted of a felony," Cappie explained.

"Probably would have been if you hadn't interceded."

The man nodded. "Fate stepped in that day. My life hasn't turned out exactly like I'd planned, but it's been a good ride. If I could change anything, it'd be the cancer that took Mel's mother from us a few years back. That's my biggest regret."

Nate nodded. "Some things are out of our hands, that's for sure. I must compliment you—you and the Mrs. did a fine job raising your daughter. She's one smart, tough cookie. She'll come through this, and be just fine."

Cappie's face hardened. "Somebody set her up. We need to find out who."

"Burton Webb is behind it, of course. He won the lottery a couple years ago and bribed two doctors to get his son released from the state hospital. Why is anyone surprised that he'd try to do the same thing again?"

"But who did he bribe? We both know it wasn't Mel. She's the fall guy. What about those CSI buffoons? Weren't they the last people known to have their hands on the evidence?"

"Surely they're checking that out." Nate glanced toward the office door, willing it to open with Mel walking through.

"I suspect they are," Cappie glanced at him. "And don't call me Shirley."

Caught by surprise at the lighthearted comment, Nate laughed. "I can see where your daughter gets her sense of humor."

They both glanced up when the door opened, but it was Sergeant Winkie who walked through, with a pizza box in his hands. "Mel thought you might be hungry. She said none of you had eaten dinner."

Nate checked his watch.
Nearly eleven
. He hadn't thought about it, but he was hungry. "Did Mel eat?" he asked.

Winkie nodded. "A little. She nibbled. Drinking pop like crazy." He set the box and several napkins on the seat next to Nate. "She's doing okay."

"Any idea when you'll cut her loose?"

"Not for a while yet." He retreated inside the office.

Nate and Cappie eyed each other. Nate took a napkin and a slice of pizza, and passed the box over.

"Thanks." Cappie did the same. "How did you end up in Texas? I don't hear an accent, so you aren't from there."

"No, Sir. Born and raised in Iowa. Grandparents still live there, in a little town called Bloomington. Population less than two hundred."

"Two hundred?" Cappie chuckled. "What in the world did you find to do there?"

Nate grinned. "Make mischief, mostly. Lots of places to play out in the country. We were only a few minutes away from Ames, so civilization wasn't too far away."

"Bet you kept your folks on their toes."

Nate's heart lurched. He hadn't even talked about this with Mel, but it felt right sharing the story with her father. "I was raised by my grandparents. Never knew my father. My mother died when I was two. Sometimes if I try real hard, I think I remember her. Then I wonder if I'm just seeing the photos we had sitting around the house. She was young and pretty, with long dark hair. In the pictures she was always smiling. Ironic, because I don't think she had that much to smile about."

Cappie took another piece of pizza and passed the box back. "She had you. That had to brighten her final days. Kids are a blessing."

Nate screwed up his face. "Maybe. I wouldn't know. Never spent any time with kids."

The older man laughed. "Now you're sounding like Mel. Not sure she has much use for them either. I keep trying to change her mind. Grandchildren are on my bucket list."

"Good luck with that." Nate gulped and ate another slice of pizza.

"You seem to have turned out okay, for a mischief-maker. Heard you say you were a decorated veteran."

"Six years in. Served in Kosovo and Bosnia. Not the worst deployments I could have gotten, but still not easy."

"They never are. I spent a year in Viet Nam."

Nate wrinkled his face. "Was that as bad as I've heard?"

Cappie shrugged. "I had a pretty easy assignment, so I didn't see the worst of it. Made it home with nothing more than scratches. I had a strong support system here, so I survived just fine. Many didn't."

"That's an understatement. I'm glad it worked out for you."

"Thanks." An ornery expression crossed his face. "Took a Kansas cab driver to finally get the best of me."

Nate chuckled. "Whatever happened to
that
guy?"

"Lost his job, of course. The small company he drove for went belly up before they had to pay any of my medical bills. Last I heard, the driver was making pizzas at the Italian Grotto Restaurant. No idea if he's still there. Mel and I don't go there, just in case."

"I'll keep that in mind." They finished off the pizza and Nate threw their trash into a corner can. He bought them each a can of pop and they were tossing them back when Mel finally appeared.

"Mel!" Cappie hobbled to her side. "You okay kid?" He folded her into his arms.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Beat, but fine. I just want to go home and sleep."

"That sounds like the best thing." Cappie put his arm around her and walked her to Nate. "Think you can arrange it?"

Nate smiled. "I can. Come on. I'll take you home."

She didn't look him in the eye. "I'll call you tomorrow, Cappie. I won't be working, so I'll have plenty of time." Mel walked out ahead of him.

Nate followed, giving her space. He climbed into the SUV and drove to her house.

"You shouldn't have stayed there," Mel finally said. "It's late, you have to be tired. What time's your flight in the morning?"

This wasn't how he'd hoped to break the news, but he had to tell her. "I'm not leaving tomorrow. I made arrangements to stay through the weekend. I was going to try and convince you to take a day or two off, so we could spend more time together."

Mel sighed. "I'm sorry you went to that trouble. I think you should just go. I'm not going to be fit company, at least until after my Internal Affairs hearing."

"Go?" His voice rose an octave. "Are you nuts? I've done everything in my power today to make it so I could
stay.
I'm not
going
anywhere." He parked in her driveway and they got out, entering the house.

"I know." She motioned to the roses on the table, and the gifts sitting there. "And I'm sorry your romantic evening got sidetracked. But I can't think about that now. I've been accused of a very serious crime." She took a breath and the words came tumbling out. "I don't know how much they told you, but someone deposited two hundred thousand dollars into my bank account today. All the evidence against Webb is gone. Martin went home sick and isn't answering his phone or doorbell. And to top it all off, Sheila flaked on us. They took her to the station after the hospital and all she would say was that Webb hired her for twenty-four hours. He didn't hurt her, they had consensual sex a few times, and he tied her up in between."

"Are you serious?" Nate shouted. "What was she thinking?"

Mel shook her head. "I know she was scared. What I don't know is if someone got to her before she was questioned. She denied everything, and as of this evening isn't answering her phone."

"Oh my God." Nate dropped into a chair. "Burton Webb is behind this, you know. IA has to realize that."

"They do. They just think he used me to do his dirty work. I tried to tell them if I was going to take a bribe, I wouldn't deposit the cash in my one and only bank account. Somehow, that didn't appease them."

Nate chuckled grimly. "No, I'm sure it didn't."

Mel paced the floor, waving her hands. "It didn't come out right. Nothing I said seemed to come out right. They kept asking the same questions over and over again, worded a little different each time. As if they were trying to catch me in a lie."

"It's an interrogation tactic. I'm sure you did fine, because you had nothing to lie about."

"I'm exhausted. I want a hot shower and bed. I'm sorry I can't offer you more than that, Nate. I'm mentally drained and right now I've got nothing left to give."

Nate's gut clenched to see her so downtrodden. He hoped a good night's rest would lift her spirits and help her to see things differently in the light of day. Yet in his heart, he feared sleep wouldn't be enough.

He stepped in front of her and touched her chin. "I don't want anything from you. I'm tired too. I'd be happy holding you for the rest of the night while we get some sleep, but if you'd rather not, I can bunk in the guest room."