You Can't Hide (47 page)

“You can say that again,” the second man said and held out his hand. “We haven’t met. I’m Robin Archer. I’ve known Tess a long time.”

Aidan’s eyes widened as he shook the man’s hand. “You’re Robin?”

Jon’s mouth curved in wry amusement. “I told you Tess and I were only friends.”

Aidan cleared his throat. “So you did. I hear you make soup, Mr. Archer.”

Robin grinned engagingly. “She hates it, I know. That’s why I keep bringing it.”

Aidan blew out a breath. “Well.”

Jon sucked in one cheek. “Well.” Then he sobered. “What have you found out, Detective? Tess told us today that the man you’d thought had done it, didn’t.”

“We’ve got some strong leads. I’l let you know something as soon as I can. Dr. Carter, can I talk to you for a moment?” Aidan took him aside. “Since you told me about her father, I wanted you to know he was in town and they are talking.”

176

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

Jon sighed. “She told me. She also said he’s got heart disease. She’l need support in the months ahead. To get him back, and now this… Poor Tess.”

“I have some other questions, if you don’t mind. Can you tell me about Phillip?”

Jon’s brows bent. “You think he’s involved in this?”

“I have to ask the questions. This is somebody with a very personal grudge.”

“But Phillip?” Jon sighed. “He and Tess met in med school. He was only part of our group because of Tess. The rest of us didn’t like him too much, but we never let Tess know. I never saw the attraction, but she seemed to love him. I always thought it was because he was so unlike her father. Her dad’s dramatic and loud and Phillip wasn’t either of those things.”

“Was he violent?”

“Phillip?” Jon seemed genuinely astonished. “Never that I saw. He was control ed. Fastidious. Tess found out he’d been cheating, two weeks before the big day. Man never even denied it. Just packed his bag and walked away.”

“That’s what Tess said,” Aidan said thoughtful y and Jon’s astonishment grew.

“She told you about Phillip? It took TNT for me to get that much out of her.”

But she’d told him easily as he’d held her in his arms. Tonight, he’d do the same. Trust her with the things that hurt. “Do you know who the woman was?”

“No. Phillip and I never talked. He’s rather… conservatively tied. I don’t have his home address, but he works at the Kinsale Cancer Institute.”

“And his last name?” Aidan’s smile was wry. “I know him only as ‘Dr. Damn-him-to-hell.’”

Jon laughed softly. “I like that better. It’s Parks. Phillip Parks.”

“One last question. You mentioned your group-who else is in it?”

His eyes widened. “You can’t possibly… I suppose you have to. Even me. Well, it used to be bigger, but people have moved on. Tess and me and Robin and Amy, of course. Gen Lake, Rhonda Perez, but neither of them come often anymore.”

“Who’s left the group in the last… six months?”

Something flickered in Jon’s eyes. “Jim Swanson.”

“Why did he leave?”

John hesitated. “He went to Africa to do a tour with Doctors Without Borders.”

There was more to that story, Aidan could tell. “Suddenly?”

“He said he’d been thinking about it for a while. Seemed sudden to the rest of us.”

He was sure Jon knew more, but decided to press from a different angle. He’d ask Tess later.

“Thank you, Dr. Carter. I appreciate the information.”

“You can ask me anything, Detective. After Robin, Tess is my best friend.”

Thursday, March 16, 10:45 P.M.

“Come here, Tess.” Her father patted the cushion of Aidan’s sofa and she curled up next to him, her head on his shoulder.

“So, was it good? The ziti?” She’d planned a more elaborate meal, but going down to the police station this afternoon had forced her to throw together an old standby.

“Nearly as good as your mother’s,” he said loud enough for her mother to hear in the kitchen. Then whispered, “Just as good. So where is your young man?”

“Still out on call.” The call had shaken Aidan. For almost two hours she’d been trying not to think about who it could be this time. “It happens when you’re dating a cop.”

“He seemed… nice.” The word was grudgingly uttered, but made Tess smile.

“He is nice.” She listened to him breathe. “Dad, don’t take this wrong, but go home.”

His shoulders tightened. “Why?”

“Because you need to be close to your doctors.”

“Uh-huh.” He kissed the top of her head. “Why, Tessa? I can handle the truth.”

She sighed. “Because you’re not safe here. Three of my friends are dead. Aidan’s sister was hurt this afternoon. I just got you back. I don’t want to see you get hurt, too.”

177

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

“If you come with me, I’ll go.”

Tess frowned at him. “That’s not fair.”

He shrugged. “So sue me. That’s the deal, Tess. I’l go home if you do.”

“You’re going home because you should be near your cardiologist. I’m staying here because I am home.” And it was odd that the picture that flashed in her mind was this very room. Living in Eleanor’s apartment had been wonderful, but Aidan’s house felt like a home. “Plus, I’ve got Aidan to watch out for me.”

“And I’ve got Vito, so we’re at an impasse. Did you say you made cannoli?”

She laughed. “You’re a stubborn man.”

“I know.” He pushed to his feet. “It was nice seeing Amy again. Almost like old times.” Amy had stopped by after Harrison’s viewing and shared their dinner. Seeing all their faces around the table really
had
felt like old times.

“She didn’t have to stay away because I did,” Tess said.

Her father pul ed the cover off the cannoli. “She didn’t.”

“Michael!” Gina came to her feet and snatched the plate from his hands. “He’s not supposed to have that,” she added more gently.

“One won’t hurt.” He looked at her mother with puppy dog eyes. “Tess made them.”

“What do you mean, Amy didn’t stay away?” Tess asked.

“No,” her mother insisted and put the dessert away.

Her father sighed. “Amy came home every Thanksgiving. I thought you knew.”

Tess shook her head. “I didn’t. I spent Thanksgiving with the Spinnellis. Amy said she was spending it with friends from law school.”

“She didn’t want to hurt you, Tess,” Vito said uneasily, then backed up when Dol y sat up and growled. “That dog is a menace.”

“No, she’s just telling us Aidan is home.” A few seconds later she heard the garage door. Her stomach rol ed, worrying about who he’d discovered dead, a note pinned to their coat. “Excuse me.” She slipped into the garage, needing a minute alone with him. Aidan got out of his car and his shoulders sagged when he saw her. “Tess.”

“Who was it?”

His mouth twisted. “Danny Morris’s mother.”

“The little boy,” she murmured. “His mother was killed?”

Even from ten feet away she could see the cold anger in his eyes. “Killed herself. She left a note. Said she felt guilty that she hadn’t protected him. That I was right.”

She wanted to go to him but sensed he needed to be alone. “About what?”

He dropped his chin to his chest. “I knew she knew where the father was. Monday night, after the asshole’s pal hit me in the bar, I went to her house. Told her she was protecting a monster. Asked her what kind of mother would do that.” He looked up, his eyes anguished. “I pushed her too hard.”

“No, Aidan, you didn’t.” Unable to stay back any longer, she put her arms around his shoulders, pul ed his head to the curve of her neck. “You didn’t tell her anything she didn’t already know. And if she hadn’t cared about her son, nothing you said would have made any difference. Did she tell where you could find her husband in the note?”

His head lifted, their eyes inches apart. “Yeah, she did, but he wasn’t at any of the spots. How did you know?”

“I’ve seen it before. A person will often try to set things right before they take that final step. Sounds like she tried.”

His jaw tightened. “She should have stayed alive to testify against her husband.”

“You would have,” she said quietly and his eyes flashed.

“I wouldn’t have allowed some bastard to murder my son.”

“Not everybody does the right thing, Aidan. And not everyone is strong.” She kissed him, tenderly. “I’m sorry.”

Wearily he dropped his head back to her shoulder. “Do you know a Sylvia Arness?”

178

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

She shook her head, dread again descending to grip her gut. “No.”

He straightened, grasping her upper arms. “You don’t? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Her heart was pounding now, so hard it hurt. “Why?”

His grip tightened. “African American woman, age twenty-three?”

“No. Aidan, tell me why.”

“Because she’s dead. Howard and Brooks from our unit responded just as I was leaving the Morris scene. They called me when they found the note pinned to her coat.”

Her throat closed. “Be judged by the company you keep?”

“Yes. You’re sure you don’t know her? Sylvia Arness was the name on her ID.”

Slowly she shook her head. “Maybe it’s a copycat.”

“Maybe. Will you come downtown and take a look at her so we’l know for sure?”

Woodenly she nodded. “Of course. I have to tell my folks I’m leaving.”

He stopped at the door. “You’l give your father a… scare looking like that.”

Heart attack
. He’d been about to say “heart attack” and checked himself. Drawing herself tall, she closed her eyes and focused. When her eyes opened, he nodded. “Better. He’l still know something’s wrong, but it won’t scare him.”

“Thank you,” she murmured. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“You’re entitled.” He pushed open the door and greeted her waiting family with a tired smile.

“I’m sorry I was gone so long. It was another case.”

Tess came into the kitchen behind him and met Vito’s eyes, saw he understood.

“Dad, it’s getting late,” he said. “Let’s go back to the hotel.”

Michael sat down in the kitchen chair, his jaw cocked stubbornly. “I’m not blind and I’m certainly not stupid. Tell me the truth, Tess.”

She squeezed Aidan’s hand. “Thanks for trying,” she murmured, then looked at her father.

“Dad, Aidan did have to go out on another case. But as he was leaving it, something else came up that may or may not be related to me. I have to go help them out. Please go with Vito. You need to rest. I’ll call you, I promise.”

Michael rose, his chin lifted. “You won’t let her out of your sight, Reagan?”

Aidan shook his head. “I promise.”

Thursday, March 16, 11:20 P.M.

Spinnelli and Murphy met them at the morgue.

“If this is a copycat, this could get ugly very fast,” Spinnelli said.

“I want to know how a copycat would know about the message,” Murphy grumbled. “We kept that out of the press. Until now. The crowd around Arness saw it.”

Tess’s body was rigid against Aidan’s side. “Let’s get this over with.”

Johnson was waiting next to the metal table on which lay a person covered with a sheet. “She was shot at nine-fifteen. It looks like it was point-blank. The bul et was heavy caliber, probably a forty-five. It entered in her back, right at her heart and tore straight through.” His expression was kind. “If she felt any pain, it wasn’t more than a minute.”

“But she would have been afraid,” Tess murmured, her eyes fixed to the sheet and Aidan knew in her mind she was there with the woman as she faced her death. It was what she did. She entered her patients’ minds with them, lived their fears. Because she cared. It was an odd place to have that realization, standing in front of a corpse.

“The gunshot brought people running. There was a lot of confusion, so nobody saw anything,” Aidan said. “CSU is still combing the scene.”

“Wait.” Murphy held up his hand. “When he shot Rivera it was a twenty-two and Julia thought he’d used a silencer. Why use a forty-five at a time when people were around?”

“He wanted her to be found quickly,” Aidan said.

“But he took the time to pin the note to her coat, knowing people were coming.” Spinnelli’s mustache bunched in a frown. “That hardly sounds like our careful killer.”

179

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

Tess straightened her spine. “Please, can we just go ahead? I’m ready.”

Aidan squeezed her waist as Johnson pul ed back the sheet, exposing the woman to her shoulders and for a moment Tess just stared.

“I’ve never seen…” She stopped. “Wait. Where was she found?”

“On the UI campus. She’s a-”

“Student there,” Tess finished for him, her voice nearly toneless, the color draining from her face. Johnson quickly pushed over a chair and he and Aidan lowered her to it. Tess moistened her lips. “I said ‘hello.’ That’s all.”

Aidan crouched down to look up into her face. “When?”

“Yesterday. I needed new boots. Because you had all my clothes and my shoes.”

Spinnelli gently squeezed her shoulder. “You met her in the shoe store?”

Stunned, she nodded.

“How did you know she was a student?” Murphy asked.

“She… she was flirting with Vito. The girls always flirt with Vito. I’d picked out my boots and was going to the register and she was behind me. I said ‘hello.’ After we left, I teased Vito and he said she was just a college kid. She’d told him so. I only said ‘hello.’” She barely inhaled, her breaths were so rapid and shallow. “That’s al .” Her hand covered her mouth, her eyes far away.

“And now she’s dead. Oh my God. How can I warn people I don’t even know?”

Aidan knew how. “It’s time we took the offensive. Tomorrow I’l call Lynne Pope at
Chicago
On The Town
. We owe her a favor and I’l give her an exclusive.”

“You’re gonna be a star, Ace,” Murphy said, tongue in cheek. Aidan gripped Tess’s knee. “Are you okay with this? Everyone will know.”

She looked so lost his heart nearly broke. “Nobody will want to talk to me,” she murmured.

“They’l hide when I walk down the street.” Then her eyes lifted to Sylvia Arness’s face and her lips firmed. “But they’l stay alive. Do you have Pope’s card?”