CHAPTER 16

EDDIE listened diligently to the chastising rant blasting through his cell phone. At times like this, he hated technology.

“Look,” he said to the caller, “I told you, I don’t have time for that right now.” Anger fumed hot inside his head. “I’ve got my hands full tracking down a stalker who’s on the verge of turning into a killer.” He disconnected the call with a heavy flick of the “end” button and placed the device beside him on the car seat.

Something about Blake Switzer’s demeanor—just before and right after the rattlesnake incident—nagged at Eddie. Maybe it had something to do with his belief that Switzer wasn’t capable of solving the case before the stalker decided to quit playing games and do away with Rio. For real.

Maybe he just didn’t trust Switzer. The thought had crossed Eddie’s mind, more than once, that perhaps Switzer didn’t want to solve this case.

Even if no one else did, Eddie saw the increasing anger burning in the guy’s glare each time he witnessed Rio and Eddie together. If Switzer wasn’t directly responsible, was he angry enough at Rio to feed her to the wolves?

Eddie wanted to get rid of that growing doubt highlighting Switzer. If he let it blossom into full-blown suspicion—sooner or later he’d have to admit that if Switzer’s jealousy was capable of such repercussions, then so was Naomi’s.

Is there anybody that you don’t suspect right now? He questioned his sanity. Hell, who was he kidding? He didn’t trust anybody. Not after some fruitcake had managed to place a deadly snake in Rio’s car, and do it right inside the parking garage of a federal building.

Things had gone from bad to worse. He needed to get his hands on the file detailing Switzer’s investigation. He needed to know just how serious this guy was about solving the case, and what kind of evidence he might have in his possession.

Once Eddie figured out where his colleague’s head was, then he could determine which team Switzer was on. Friend or foe.

Back at the Federal Complex, Eddie poked his head inside Gabe Dalton’s office. “Sir...” He waited for a response from his boss. When Gabe glanced up from the mountain of paperwork, Eddie asked, “Do you have a minute?”

Gabe propped one elbow on the desk and motioned Eddie inside. “Aren’t you supposed to be protecting Laraquette, LaCall?” he said, his voice brimming with abrupt reproach.

“Bradley is with her, sir.” Eddie’s tone, much more docile than usual, prompted wide-eyed surprise from Gabe.

That probably meant Gabe hadn’t seen through him yet. Truth be told, Eddie was a lot more worried—maybe frightened was a better word—than he was letting on.

Gabe motioned toward the empty chair. “What’s on your mind, LaCall?”

Eddie sat, trying to find the right words. He couldn’t just come out and say, “I suspect everybody, including Switzer.” That wouldn’t work. He had to find a different approach.

“Well?” Gabe’s tone was short. “Let’s hear it.”

After a short pause, Eddie said, “I want to know the status of Switzer’s research into this Atkins guy.”

“How many times do I have to remind you?” Gabe said. “You aren’t assigned to this case.”

“Then tell me off the record,” Eddie urged his boss. “Do it for your goddaughter.” He gave Gabe the most scrutinizing stare he could muster. “I’m sure Rio’s father put his faith in you for a reason?”

Gabe sighed heavily. Eddie sensed a calmer side of his boss emerging, as if someone had lifted a huge weight off his back.

“James Laraquette and I served together during the latter part of the Vietnam War.” A faraway look glazed over Gabe’s eyes. “We were basically on cleanup duty. The war had been over for a couple of years. Back then we were escorting prisoners and Nationals alike. One of those civilians had a gun and he was intent on freeing the POWs.” Gabe paused, his distant gaze intensifying. “I felt like I was in the middle of some bad dream. The gun was aimed as James’s head. He didn’t see it. I did.” Gabe sat silently for a brief time and Eddie could only imagine that he was reliving the incident. In an instant, his face brightened and his eyes lit up. Like he’d emerged from his nightmare. He glanced at Eddie. “Most people would say he’s indebted to me. There are other cultures who would say...when you save a man’s life, you’re responsible for it.”

“So doesn’t that also make you responsible for Rio’s life? Indirectly.” Eddie negotiated—a tactic he thought Gabe might relate to—for the information he sought.

Gabe hesitated. A look crossed his face that said he wasn’t sure if he had the prerogative to speak so freely of someone else’s lives. “I don’t know how much Rio has told you about her mother.” A new look molded Gabe’s countenance into supposition.

Why did everybody think Laraquette was an open book with him? “I’m well-aware that she left when Rio was a baby. And she was pregnant with another man’s child when she took off.” Eddie offered up what he knew. Instinct told him now was not the time for keeping a confidence. Not if he wanted to unmask the threat to Rio.

After another slight pause, Gabe said, “Rio has no natural recollection or memory of her mother. Audrey disappeared when Rio was less than two.”

“What happened?” Eddie asked, in cop mode.

“James came home, after being overseas for about six months. His daughter was about a year and a half, and his wife was three months pregnant.” Gabe summed up the story with a slight shrug. “What do you think happened? He took Rio and threw Audrey out on her ear.”

“So the courts gave him custody based on her infidelity?” Eddie drew the logical conclusion.

Gabe shook his head, sadly. “There was no court battle. Audrey pretty much disappeared into thin air.”

“The woman didn’t even put up a fight?” Eddie found that notion a little unsettling.

“Not the least bit. James hadn’t made his fortune in real estate yet. Between you and me...Audrey probably figured the new guy was a better catch. And he probably didn’t want anything to do with Rio, so she left her daughter and her failed marriage behind.”

The full impact of what her mother’s disappearance must have done to Rio became clear, with crystal clarity. Eddie hated the thought of anyone hurting Rio in any way, for any reason.

“You’re telling me, after all that?” Eddie donned his most dramatic façade, hoping to appeal to Gabe’s common sense. “You’re okay with feeding her to the wolves now?”

“You drive a hard bargain, boy.” Gabe closed the file in front of him and slid it across the desk.

Eddie picked up the manila folder and looked at the file’s label.

Case Number: SH10543. And in parentheses underneath, it read: (Rio Laraquette Stalking).

* * *

In James Laraquette’s penthouse office in the sky, he studied his daughter sitting on the couch with her back to him, staring out the window.

Large droplets of rain slapped against the west wall of windows directly behind her. A streak of lightning crackled across the sky. A thunderous roar followed, seconds later.

She didn’t flinch.

That bothered him. What had stolen her concentration so wholly that she didn’t notice the thing that had frightened her most as a child?

“Sweetie…” James approached his daughter and sat at her side. “What’s up? The storm isn’t even scaring you.”

Rio tipped her head and rested it against the couch and sighed loudly. She turned to him, bearing a slight shrug and a glimpse of indecision. “I was just trying to let him be the man.” A hint of guilt flickered in her eyes.

So that’s it? She had taken the blame and strapped it to her shoulders. Too bad he couldn’t give her a pill to alleviate that ailment. But this was an affliction that would have to run its course.

“You know...” She glanced away, fighting the sadness tugging at the corners of her mouth. “He lost everything in the fire, including his truck. The insurance company hasn’t cut him a check yet.” She rambled on with her explanation and looked back at James with guilt-filled eyes. “He’d lost so much, so I let him drive. I was just trying to give him something to feel like he was in control.” Tears glistened the edges of her eyes. “It could have easily been Eddie that sat down in the driver’s seat of my car today.” Fear muddied her tears. “If anything ever happened to him because of me...” Her words trailed off as if the thought had abandoned her. Perhaps the implication was too much to bear.

“You’re not responsible for what some maniac out there is doing.”

“True,” she said with a hint of doubt. “But that wouldn’t have helped much if Eddie had taken my fall today.” She sucked in a deep breath.

Instantly, her tough-girl persona emerged. That was a guise James didn’t relish seeing. She’d learned, early on, how to put up a wall by plastering on a poker face.

And that was James’s fault.

“I wasn’t fair to you when I forced your mother out of your life.” Overwhelmed by his folly, James looked away. He still carried the baggage cram-packed with culpability. It had weighed heavily on his heart for years.

“Well, it’s not like she put up a fight, refusing to leave me behind!” Rio scoffed at the notion that was her mother.

It was just like Rio to let him off the hook. Maybe she was afraid that he too would desert her.

“I’m going to try, right now, to make up for a tiny fraction of the injury I’ve caused you.” He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dried her tears. “Eddie’s the kind of guy that needs to play the part of the man. And you’re the kind of girl that needs a guy like Eddie.” He drew a breath, the tears she cried wrenching at his heart. “He worships the ground you walk on...and I have a sneaking suspicion the feelings are mutual.” A jovial laughter carried his words away.

“It’s that obvious, huh?” She made a feeble attempt at laughing and a cackle got caught in her throat.

“He’s your match, Rio. He complements you in every way.” Although happy for his daughter, James felt a twinge of envy because he’d never experienced reciprocal love. “Get through this anyway you can. And above all else...hold on to him.” He refused to let his own shortcomings get in the way of Rio’s happiness.

“He’s so hell-bent on protecting me.” Her tears subsided. “How do I keep him safe?”

“Just be you, Rio,” James said. “You’ve got some damned good instincts. The best, I’m told,” he added with a chuckle. “Just let the detective in you remain front and center and you’ll do fine.” Nodding, James stood and crossed the room, heading back to his desk.

“Thanks for the pep talk, Daddy.” She took a deep breath, as if his words of wisdom were encouraging her. “But actually, that’s not really why I’m here.”

“There’s more?” His curiosity soared as he settled back at his desk.

“A bit.” She nodded. “I’ve got a project I’m looking into, and I’m going to need your help getting it off the ground.” Her tone was strong, yet a hint of pleading resided in her words.

“Does my help involve money?” James’s question was meant as a joke. In all her twenty-five years, Rio had never asked him to fund frivolous endeavors. In fact, she rarely came to him for anything monetary.

He’d funded her college education and showered her with a vintage Corvette as a graduation present. There was a time when he used to give her a monthly allowance, but she’d stopped cashing the checks long ago. While he did own the building she lived in—furnishing her with a safe place to stay—the other tenant rents he collected easily covered the cost of her apartment. In the end, it didn’t feel like he’d given her anything in years.

“Yes, Daddy. I need money,” she said. “Lots of it.”