Mystery: The Card Counter: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) (8 page)

“Look, I’m very sorry about what happened out there.”

“I know.”

“I had no idea you guys were in here.”

“I know.”

“Thanks for the pizza. I hadn’t eaten anything at work.”

“Well, you did pay for it.”

“I know, but still … you even got my favorite.”

“Disgusting, but also very true.”

I paused for a moment. “Usually I don’t get like that with your mother, even when you guys are not around. It’s just been a stressful weekend.”

“Does that excuse what you said?” she asked.

“No,” I answered. “I guess not. I’m sorry.”

“Shouldn’t you say that to Mom too?”

“Don’t worry. Her lawyer will make sure I regret it even more.”

“Dad.”

“I don’t expect you to understand. I hope you never will.”

“Was it really that bad?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re the one who left, you tell me.”

This was the moment I’d really regretted since the separation. Because I left the girls when I left their mother, they naturally blamed themselves as the final straw on my getting fed up. I really wasn’t in the mood to get into it, not after how badly I’d behaved. “It’s complicated, but that’s between your mother and me. You and your sisters had nothing to do with it.”

“I’m not a child. You can talk to me about it.”

“I didn’t want to bash your mother like this.”

“You’ve already crossed that line,” Cassie corrected me. “Might as well let it all spill. Why are you so angry at her?”

I paused for a moment. “It’s Karl.”

“What about Karl?” Cassie asked. “After you left, did you expect mom to become a hermit and never date anyone ever again?”

“Of course not,” I answered.

“Then why all the hate for Karl and Mom?”

“Because they were an item for a lot longer than you know,” I answered. “They had been dating for almost a year before I left.”

I could tell by the look on Cassie’s face that she had no idea. She’d known her mother had cheated, but she’d never known there was a long-standing affair; we’d managed to keep that much from her, as somehow it had seemed much worse, much more shameful, to both Beth and I. Yet, inside her head it all started to make sense, the one reason why I’d finally walked out the door and didn’t look back, and scuttled the marriage without hesitation. Her mother was unfaithful, even more than she’d imagined. “I had no idea. I thought...I thought it was just a short, a one-night... I didn’t know it was like that.”

“I said it wasn’t your fault.”

“So you found out about it.”

“Yes. I moved out the same day.”

“Why?”

“I left because I was betrayed by the one person who swore to love me her entire life. I couldn’t stay with her anymore and look her in the face. It wasn’t a mistake on her part, Cassie.  At some point, she made the conscious decision she was okay with being unfaithful to our marriage vows.” I paused for a moment and thought about it. “I hated her. I didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. She made me feel bad about my job because of the long hours I worked. When I resisted her requests to make more time, she found someone else who would give her what she needed. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to give her what she wanted, but I was a very busy guy. I had responsibilities˗”

“Dad,” Cassie interrupted. “You’re doing good work out there. I’ve never complained about you being away from the house to work. The work you do is hard and often unrewarding.”

“That’s not true,” I corrected her. “What I do is easier when I know that it makes the city a safer place for you and your sisters. You girls are the drive that keeps me going when things get tough.”

“Really?”

“Well, that and the money.” We both laughed. While I wasn’t poor, I wasn’t exactly a rich man either. “I’m more dedicated now than ever because it’s your campus that’s being attacked. I need to find this person to make everyone safe, including you.”

“The killer is attacking our students, specifically?” Cassie asked.

“It seems that way, but there’s a specific pattern,” I replied. “He’s attacking a specific kind of student. Athletes.”

“Should I be worried?” Cassie asked.

“I said athletes. Your field hockey team doesn’t count.”

“Dad,” Cassie said, soberly. It was a serious question and she expected a serious answer from her father.

“You’ll be fine,” I replied. “I have the football team locked away at a hotel on the other side of town. They’re the targets. Right now, the student population should be safe tonight if my hunch is correct. That’s all confidential, by the way.”

“Does that mean I can head back and meet some friends to study tonight?” Cassie asked.

I could tell she didn’t want to hang out because of what had happened with her mother, and I couldn’t blame her. At the same time, I also knew she wasn’t going to be ‘studying’ on a Saturday night. “All right, but please stay together as a group. I don’t want any of you running off on your own. All right?”

“All right, Dad,” Cassie said as she gave me a half hug. I didn’t mean to toss her mother under the bus by telling the truth, but at the same time, I wasn’t going to lie to my children.

I never claimed to be perfect, but there was nothing I did that would warrant going out and looking for someone else behind my spouse’s back. I was out there working hard to support my family, keeping the city just a little bit safer at the same time, for the people and my children.

I called her a cab, and gave her enough cash to get home. I watched her walk out to the cab and even waved as it pulled away. I’m not sure if she saw me, but I did it anyway just in case. Once Cassie was on her way back to campus, I wandered back into the kitchen and tidied up again before finally heading to bed.

The other girls were already in bed, as things were quiet and the lights were off in their room, so I decided to do the same. There was no telling if my work would wake me up again, forcing me to leave early, so I decided to go to bed as early as possible so I could at least have a little energy if I got that call. Part of me wanted to check on the girls and even apologize if I got the chance, but good judgment got the best of me and I walked right by, and didn’t disturb them. I didn’t even bother to change, and instead just laid down in bed, and passed out in less than a few minutes.

At first I wasn’t sure how long I was asleep, but I wasn’t woken up by my phone, which was a good sign. I’d gone to bed worrying if someone else would die and I’d have to go back in. That didn’t happen, which gave me the impression that moving the team and coaching staff to a secure location had seemed to help, for now at least. When I opened my eyes, it was a lot brighter, which, according to my astute detective skills, meant that the sun had risen and it was morning.

When my vision focused, one of my daughters was at the side of the bed, staring at me. “Abbey, is everything all right?”

“You were very mean to Mommy,” she replied.

I immediately sat up and quickly rubbed my eyes to clear my sight and to give myself a moment to figure out the correct response. “I’m very sorry about that, baby. Daddy was just angry. The next time I see your mom, I’ll apologize.”

Abbey paused for a moment and then finally smiled. “Okay.” I smiled back and then asked her what she would like for breakfast. She paused for a moment and then quickly answered, “How about some eggs?”

“How about your favorite omelette?” I suggested.

“Okay,” she answered. She gave me a hug and left the bedroom to give me a little space while I got out of bed.

I took a deep breath, hopped out of bed, and went to the bathroom to freshen up. After I brushed my teeth, tossed a little water on my face, and left the bathroom, I realized that Sandy was still in her room, reading a book. “Aren’t you coming down to help with breakfast?”

She looked up from the book, some cheesy vampire romance novel for teens. “I thought I was grounded. What’s the point?”

I paused for a moment and thought about it. “Are you sorry for what you did?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“Do you plan to keep your mother and me in the loop on your studies?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’re done,” I answered. “Come on down and help make breakfast. You don’t burn the toast as often as I do.”

Her answer couldn’t be more obvious as she quickly put down her crappy book and led the way down the stairs to the kitchen. I fried up some mushrooms and bacon before starting the girls’ omelettes. I then stuffed the mushrooms and bacon into the omelettes while cooking them in separate pans. I used to work in a diner when I was younger, so cooking stuff like this was second nature to me.

I flipped a few omelettes while Sandy happily made some toast. Abbey poured some orange juice and things seemed as normal as they had been during the good times of my marriage. Usually on Sunday mornings, Beth and Cassie would sleep in and I’d wake up with my two youngest and cook breakfast with them. Things seemed that happy again as we worked well as a team, like we had many times before. When I was finished making everyone’s eggs, we sat down at the table and talked about boys, school, and other feeble things while we ate.

It was only a matter of time before the hard questions came, but I was silently ready for them. Sandy asked first. “Dad, why are you so mad at Mom?”

“She did something really bad,” I simply answered. “You know that.” That was about as far as I was willing to go with that.

Usually I was good at keeping secrets, but like their mother, when I first knew her, I had a hard time keeping secrets from the girls. I felt bad when I lied to them, but I often had to because I didn’t want to scare them with the insane and horrifying things my job forced me to see and work around. What I did for a living wasn’t pretty, but I happened to be rather good at it, so I preferred to do it rather than force someone else to endure it on my behalf. Flo seemed to be a natural, as well. As I thought about her, something must have psychically alerted her because I got a text message from my partner less than a minute later. It read:

All players and staff are safe. No reports of an attack on campus.

I took a deep breath and sighed. The girls could tell I’d read something on the phone that made me do that. I could tell by the looks on their faces that they were worried that I’d been summoned back to work. “This is a good message. They just told me that everything was all right and I’m not needed. Not yet, at least.”

The girls were happy for that and our day continued on a peaceful note as we cleaned the kitchen and watched one of the movies Cassie had rented.  It was a dumb movie, but I enjoyed watching it just because it was with the girls, and there was nowhere else I’d rather be at that particular time.

Since they’d put up with a lot, I decided to do something nice for them. “Pack up your things and toss them in the car. We’re going to hit the mall for some shopping and lunch before I drop you off at your mom’s house.”

The girls were even more excited about this idea as they bolted upstairs to get ready. While they were upstairs, I gave Clive a call. It took a few seconds for the line to pick up. “Clive, it’s your bro.”

“Did you get called in?” he automatically assumed. I kind of deserved that.

“Not this time,” I answered. “I’m taking the girls to the mall for lunch and a little shopping. I thought you might like to join us. You’ve been a big help and I want you to join us for lunch. My treat.”

There was a short pause. “You want me to come along just in case you get called in.”

“That, too,” I admitted, “but right now things are quiet, and my captain knows I’ve got the girls – they’re going to do their best to not call me in. I don’t want to tempt fate, though, if you know what I mean. Anyway, after helping this weekend, you deserve to be taken out for lunch, too.”

“I also deserve a new football jersey,” Clive replied.

Now it was my turn to pause. “Fair enough.” Not only did Clive deserve a reward for being there for me, but I’d forgotten his birthday a few months ago, so this was a good opportunity to remain in his good books, especially since it was only a matter of time before I’d need his help again. Seemed like a small price to pay since he’d been so helpful, more so than the average brother.

I picked Clive up at his place after the girls got ready, and we were at the mall in no time. We did a fair bit of window shopping. The girls were never usually the kind to ask for too much, but I felt very guilty about what had happened the night before so I was less resistant when they asked for things this time out.

I never heard much from Flo when I was at the mall, just an odd text message from the hotel about the players grumbling about not being able to leave and do whatever they wanted. Some players liked the idea of being locked up as they didn’t have to study for mid-terms. Leave it to them to take advantage of someone trying to kill them. I’d have been willing to bet that they’d forgotten any textbooks and study materials on purpose, either as an excuse to get out or an excuse not to study.

Making exceptions was too risky. The killer had no idea where they were and I preferred to keep it that way, at least until the feds got into town, which was most likely by the following day. Collins needed to convince his supervisor ˗ hopefully not too hard ˗ to get mobilized, and then it might take a day or so to call people in.

I knew the drill, and as long as our potential targets were safe, we could afford to wait. This was actually more of a gamble, but I kept that thought to myself. While there was a chance the killer would refrain from killing if the potential targets were out of sight, there was always a chance the killer would take their anger out on someone else and change the M.O. to satisfy their urge to kill. As I wandered through the mall with my girls, I watched the phone to make sure that wasn’t the case. At this point, no news was good news. They weren’t going to call and interrupt unless someone showed up dead.

The afternoon went well. The girls and Clive were all very pleased. I dropped Clive off at his place first before taking the girls home. It was the usual Sunday ritual, with the girls giving me a kiss on the porch before taking their stuff inside. I never went in because I didn’t want to interact with their mother. I’d done enough the night before, and I could tell she didn’t want to talk either, as all I got was a glare and then the door closed without so much as a peep from her. Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, I went back to my car and took the time to send a quick text message to my partner: