“Cal called me. I didn’t just turn up. Why are you two here?”
“To follow up on last night. Time to get some answers from Benton.” Rook settled back on the bench. “I’d have told you T.J. and I were headed over here if you hadn’t sneaked out this morning while I was in the shower.”
She shrugged, pushing back a wave of heat that had nothing to do with the temperature in the courtyard. “You didn’t have the kind of doughnuts I like.”
“I didn’t have any doughnuts.”
“That’s what I’m saying.” She pointed toward the ornamental grasses. “There are spiders in there. Big ones. Of course, you’re from this area, so you’re probably used to them.”
“Mac -”
“Cal wanted to talk to me about a private matter.”
Rook leaned closer. “What private matter?”
She told him about Cal and his woman-of-the-moment at the lake, and her conclusion that there’d been other incidents. Rook listened without interrupting, and when she finished, she said, “It’s sordid behavior, but not illegal.”
“Did you recognize the woman he was with?” Rook asked.
“No.”
“How long has Cal known you saw them together?”
“Since I moved to Washington – about two weeks after I saw them. I considered pretending I hadn’t seen anything, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t trust him not to raise the stakes. I figured at least if he knew he’d been caught, he’d knock it off.”
Rook didn’t respond right away.
“What?” she asked.
“Are you sure you didn’t feel violated yourself? You grew up on that lake. Judge Peacham’s been a strong figure in your life -”
“Sure. I felt violated, too. So?” But she pressed ahead, not wanting to delve into her childhood on the lake. She opened up the sketch. “Cal now thinks our guy looks familiar.”
“Do you believe him?” Rook asked.
Mackenzie shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be more manipulation, but it doesn’t make sense that he’d lie. It doesn’t make sense he’d take a woman to Beanie’s lake house, either.”
“Why not? It’s quiet, isolated. Your parents are in Ireland. Most of the other people out there would be tourists. And if you like the idea of secretly sticking it to your soon-to-be-ex-wife -”
“That’s a sick way of thinking.”
“Who else might know about Cal’s flings?” Rook asked.
“Gus, maybe. He looks after the place when Beanie’s not there. But I haven’t said anything to him – to anyone except Cal, and now you.”
T.J. returned, not even remotely winded. “He took off. We can try him at his office.”
“He wasn’t dressed for the office,” Mackenzie said. “Of course, it’s Friday. I suppose he could stop in. He didn’t tell me where he was going.”
“I’ll wait in the lobby, where it’s air-conditioned and there’s cover if there’s a tornado,” T.J. said.
The bench was starting to feel very hard, but Mackenzie figured she’d let Rook and T.J. be on their way, then be on hers. But Rook didn’t move. She glanced at him. “Thinking?”
“Yeah. About last weekend at the lake. Did you put me in the room Cal and his brunette used?”
“I don’t know which room they used. I assume they used the downstairs bedroom.” In other words, Bernadette’s room. Mackenzie grinned at Rook and said, “I put you in the room that gets the bats.”
After T.J. and Rook left, Mackenzie returned to the lobby of Cal’s building, where the doorman, who had to be at least seventy, gave a low whistle. “You better take a few minutes and cool off.”
“I’m red?”
“Tomato-red.”
She made a face, although she wasn’t surprised. During training, she was known for getting red and splotchy during physical exertion. No matter how fit she was, heat had a way of turning her red. “It’s about a million degrees out there.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He seemed untroubled. “Need some water?”
“I’ve got some in the car.” She opened up the sketch and smoothed it out on the desk in front of him. “Any chance you’ve seen this man?”
He studied the drawing. “I don’t think so. Maybe.”
“Take your time,” Mac said.
“Does he live here?”
“You tell me.”
But the doorman frowned, straightening. “Are you a cop?”
“I’m a federal agent.” She showed him her credentials and gave him her name. “You’re…”
“Charlie. Charlie West, ma’am.” He glanced back at the sketch, rubbing his chin with one hand. “What’d he do?”
“He knifed two women in New Hampshire.”
His hand dropped from his chin. “We don’t have anyone like that around here, Agent Stewart.”
“Deputy Stewart, sir. Just focus on the face. Is it familiar?”
“I don’t know.” He held up the paper. “Mind if I keep this?”
“Not at all. But if you see this man, don’t approach him. Call the police. You should consider him armed and dangerous.” She handed him her card. “If you have any questions or think of anything, call me, okay?”