Chemical Attraction (24 page)

He gently released her grip and held her sideways on his lap. She clung to him just as tight. “Are you hurt?” he asked. She shook her head. They sat quietly for a few minutes. “What happened?” he finally asked.

She relaxed her hold slightly. “I woke from a nap and heard voices in the hall. It sounded like someone dropped to the floor. When I heard the crash of Pat’s apartment door, I ran for the window and made it to the fire escape as my door splintered open. I didn’t know if he heard me or not, so I hid here.”

“Did you hear them talking?” he asked, breathing in her hair.

“A man said, ‘You know too much’.”

“Do you think you were the target?” he asked. “We thought you were dead. Shit. Matt still thinks it’s you.” He dialed one-handed and caressed her arm with the other. “Hey, it’s me. Just listen for a minute. I’m on the roof of the building next to you. I’m with Madeline. She may have been the target. Can you keep the neighbor’s identity under wraps until we talk? Yeah, I want to keep her hidden. Call me when you’re finished. We’ll stay put,” he said, hanging up.

“I was so afraid, Joe. I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you to pick me up.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“At my meeting, seven men wore red ties,” she replied, sobbing.

Forgetting about murder and abduction, he scanned the river’s gentle flow and felt the slight breeze through the trees. He held her tightly. God, he had thought she was dead. She could still get hurt. He wasn’t sure he could go through that searing pain again.

Sitting on the gravel roof, he took a deep breath. “Didn’t I tell you when we first met that you needed to do what I said? That could have been you with a bullet in your head.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He let his hands drop away from her. He needed to stay focused. She had him too damn distracted. “How can I protect you if you don’t listen?”

“You’re right. I should have.”

Shifting her off his lap, he stood. “Agent Pierce, you should have known better. You could have been kidnapped like Eva or worse, killed.”

While Joe paced, Madeline pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. How did this get so out of hand? This was her fault. She had involved Joe’s sister and he was so angry. She put her head down to hide her tears. Her knees stung. After everything she’s been through, she can add almost taking a header off the roof to the list. Looking at her scrapped legs from the cement ledge, she blurted out a laugh. The stress was making her batty.

“What’s so damn funny?”

She needed to lighten the mood before she became an emotional mess. “It may have been my fault I didn’t wait for you, but it would have been yours if I fell off the building. You really shouldn’t distract a person trying to jump from one roof to another.”

Folding his arms, he glared. “Yeah, and that’s the other thing. You wouldn’t have made that jump.”

She stood by the ledge. “I’m athletic. I would have,” she replied as he walked closer.

“Are you high? No way, that’s at least eight feet.”

She backed up a couple of steps for a running start. “Do I have to prove it to you? Because I will.”

He sighed. “Don’t make me shoot you.”

She stepped into his open arms and kissed his cheek. “For the record, I’ve saved your life twice to your saving mine only once.”

“And I’m fine keeping it that way,” he said as his cell rang. “Yeah? How are we getting down? Okay, will you bring Madeline’s sandals with you? Yeah, we’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“What did he say?”

“We need to be over there.” He pointed to the building on the other side of hers. “Matt’s blocking off the street, so we can go down the fire escape without being seen.” They walked to the ledge with the three-foot gap. “I’ll go first. Do not fall. That’s an order.”

She watched him step across the gap. She smiled as he waited to catch her. “Can I have a kiss if I don’t fall?”

Nodding, he unnecessarily grabbed her as she jumped. He kissed her cheek. “I’ll kiss your lips when we’re safely on the ground.” They walked across her roof toward the last building on the riverfront. Looking at the five-foot space, Joe swore. “Are you sure you can do this?”

“I want that kiss,” she replied.

She flew over the gap and landed on her bare knees. She brushed the grit from her bloody scrapes and watched Joe jump. His expression was not amused.

“Joe. I didn’t want to think about it.”

They peeked over the edge. Eva had parked Joe’s car next to the fire escape ladder. They quickly descended, and quietly rode back to the house with Matt following at a distance. Once in the garage with the door down, she looked at Eva. She not only had a half-purple face, but her eyes and nose were red. Feeling her own tears again, she slowly followed Eva into the house.

Eva motioned her into their bedroom. “Sit down and I’ll clean the cuts on your hands and legs.”

“I’m okay, really. I’m sorry I scared you.”

“Sit and let me help,” Eva replied, going into the bathroom. On the edge of the bed, Madeline waited. Eva retrieved her medical bag and a damp washcloth and continued, “I didn’t know what was going on. Joe’s cell rang as we pulled up to your apartment. He raced up the stairs. I followed, but Matt blocked my way telling me you were dead. I’m glad you’re safe and he finally told you.”

“Told me what?” she asked, wincing from the antiseptic sting.

“Never mind, you’ll need to keep those clean or they’ll get infected.”

With the women in the bedroom, Joe sat with his elbows on the kitchen table, his face in his hands. Matt walked in a few minutes later. After putting his utility belt on top of the refrigerator, he reached for two cold bottles of beer. He set one in front of Joe and guzzled half of his.

“What’d she say happened?” Matt asked, leaning against the counter. Joe chugged his beer and explained what she’d heard. Matt nodded. “Do you want to talk about her?”

He didn’t dare look at him for fear of losing control. Instead, he stared at the label on his beer bottle and shook his head. “I died a little,” he whispered.

“I know the feeling.” Matt patted him on the shoulder before he left for the bedroom.

Alone in the kitchen, Joe finished his beer with a deep sigh. His cell went off in his pocket. “Hey, David, is everything okay?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah, I’m just checking in with you guys. Anything new?”

He sat back in his chair. “Not really, how’s it going?”

“Uncle Stuart’s kicking my butt on his X-Box. Lily loves Mrs. Folkert. They’ve been in the kitchen baking all day.”

“How’s your Aunt Taylor doing with the baby?”

“She’s great. I’ve been telling her all about you and Madeline. She and Mrs. Folkert are planning your wedding already.”

“They’re what?” He bolted from his chair. “Just what are you telling them, David?”

He laughed. “Uncle Joe, that’s payback for pressuring me to come here. It was actually Aunt Taylor’s idea. Pretty funny, huh?”

“You’re hysterical, David.” Seeing his sister coming down the hallway, he spoke to her still in range of the phone. “Hey Evie, what’s David’s girlfriend’s name? Kim Kilmer, right? Where’s your phonebook?”

He held the phone away from his ear as David yelled, “Uncle Joe! No! I’m sorry! Stop!”

Joe handed the phone to his sister. “Hi, honey, what’s going on? No, he’s right here grinning at me. What did you say? Oh, that is funny.” Chuckling, she walked back into the bedroom with Joe’s phone.

“What was that all about?” Madeline asked alone with him in the kitchen.

“David’s just checking in,” he said, walking over to his scraped-up girlfriend. “It seems your aunt is teaching Lily the art of baking.”

“I’m glad that worked out.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Are you going to stay mad at me?”

“Are you going to stop doing stupid stuff?”

She stepped back. “You think climbing onto the roof to get away from a killer was stupid? And hiding on the next building was stupid?”

“No, it was stupid to walk the mile to your apartment alone,” he replied, folding his arms.

“For your information, I found a ride to my apartment. I left two messages on your cell. It’s not my fault I couldn’t get through.”

“You should have waited for me. It was safer there,” he said, raising his voice to match hers.

“You don’t know that. Today, I pissed off the administration. Seven of those men wore red ties. We already know that Red Tie Guy is from BennTech and had a hand in Eva’s kidnapping. I even made a list of the men’s names, but it’s in my purse at the apartment. So, don’t you dare call me stupid.” She started to cry and continued to ramble. “I already know I’m an idiot and so does Pat Simko. She died because she lived in the apartment across from me. How am I going to explain this to the people at work? It’s my fault that Bill’s secretary’s dead.” She turned to see Matt and Eva standing in the hall overhearing their clash. Covering her face, she passed them and shut the bathroom door down the hall.

“Jeez, Joe, you can’t tell her you love her, but you can call her stupid.” Eva shook her head. “She’s stressed out. Go apologize.” Joe left as she opened the freezer door to pull out some ground beef. Setting it on the counter, she turned to him. “You brought her purse with you, right?”

“Yeah, it’s on the dryer with her sandals.” Eva stood perfectly still. “Honey, are you okay?” Matt asked, alarmed by her stance.

She gripped the counter. “Did Madeline say Pat Simko?”

“I think so. Why? Do you know her?”

She stared at him. “Tricia Simko is Jack Adam’s assistant.”

“Joe! Madeline!” he bellowed.

“What?” Joe stood in the doorway with Madeline behind him.

“Madeline, you said Pat Simko is the secretary to the CEO?” She nodded. “Is her first name Patricia?” he asked.

“Yeah, she goes by Pat at work,” Madeline replied, wiping her eyes with a tissue.

“Tricia Simko worked for the vet,” Eva stated.

Joe grabbed four more bottles of beer from the refrigerator as they sat down at the paper-covered table. “Can we assume Tricia and Pat are the same person?” Joe asked. “I didn’t see her face. What does she look like?” He frowned as Madeline described her. “Did you bring that DVD with you?”

“No, it’s in my purse.”

Standing, Matt grabbed it and her sandals off the dryer. Joe walked into the living room with the disc. They waited for him to push play. “Is that her in bed with Larry?” Joe asked.

“Yuck, yeah,” Madeline replied as Joe played Larry’s statement.

“So how does this all connect?” Matt asked after watching Larry refer to the red tie man.

“Jack introduced Tricia at the banquet as his assistant,” Eva said, turning away. She walked back into the kitchen with the group following.

“I don’t understand,” Madeline replied, sipping her beer. “Pat works at BennTech as Bill’s secretary.”

“Have you seen her there lately?” Joe asked.

“You know, I haven’t seen her for a couple of months.”

Matt sat back in his chair. “I’m not sure if the sheriff interviewed her after Jack’s death.”

“How does this information help us?” Madeline asked.

Eva looked at Matt. “It connects BennTech with Jack’s vial.”

“What vial?” Joe asked.

“Jack called me before the explosion. He left me a vial as a clue. Eva tried to look at it on his microscope,” Matt said

“What were you doing at his office?” Joe asked.

He explained about them breaking into the vet’s office, their visitor with a gun, and Eva’s stone trick to get away.

“You think the animal attacks involve this vial?” Madeline asked.

Eva retrieved it from the refrigerator. “I didn’t see anything on the slide.”

“I’ll take this with me tomorrow,” Madeline said, turning it over in her hand.

“No, you won’t. You’re supposed to be dead until we figure this mess out,” Joe said.

“Are you telling me what to do?”

“Yeah, I am. Have you forgotten that I’m the agent in charge?”

Ignoring them, Matt pushed the discussion forward. “This morning, I stopped at the hospital to visit the boys. They were gone.”

“What?” Joe and Eva asked.

“The nurse showed me their discharge paper with Sheriff Benton’s signature,” he said as Joe and Eva calmed down. “He eventually told me that he didn’t sign it. I have no idea what happened to those boys. The sheriff finally clued me in about something else that could connect this vial, the meth, and BennTech. Madeline, do you know John Bokan?”

“Yeah,” she said slowly. “He was my assistant. Why?”

“He called the sheriff two months ago. John told him about some new drug to manipulate the brain and about the higher incidence of meth in the area. John was the man attacked by the emus.”

Madeline stared at the vial. “My project is to develop a drug that could be imbedded into the brain to help reestablish neural growth, but John wanted to focus on one to affect the Limbic System.”

“Which controls our emotions,” Eva added.