“Well, isn’t that nice to know. Except if it had been me, I would have succeeded and he would be six feet under.”
“The captain pulled me off this case. Off the books or not, he told me to drop it. That we were wrong and there is nothing there.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Harley growled.
“I argued and was told if I didn’t drop it, I would be fired.”
“So what did you do?”
“I lied. Told him I dropped it. With that being said, we are on our own, and until we have some actual solid evidence, I can’t even take it any higher. My contact in the FBI says he will help with whatever he can, but that he is being blocked on his side as well.”
“Well, this is just a big bucket of sunshine, isn’t it?” Harley scoffed, and took another drink of coffee. “So what do we do?”
“Same thing we were doing before. We have to find information. Have you been able to get anything other than the bracelet?”
“No. We were going to stake out his house, see if there was any way we can get in undetected. If we can manage to find whatever device he is using to send and receive information off the bracelet, then we might find something to pin him and Tom.”
“Well, I say that sounds like a solid plan.” Zach lifted his hand for the waitress. “Their pancakes are the best here.”
Norah got the impression that Zach was a good, honorable man, but that he also was used to getting his way. She wouldn’t go so far as to say he bullied, but he definitely pressed for it. There were no excuses in Zach’s world. She could see why he and Harley had been friends; both men wanted the truth at all costs and would pursue it regardless of the road blocks put up to stop them.
They were two men she was glad were on her side.
“Peanut butter?” Zach watched in disgusted fascination as Norah slathered her pancakes with the butter and then the peanut butter.
“Trust me, man, it’s not as gross as it looks,” Harley said with a smile, and went back to his omelet.
“That’s good, because it looks pretty disgusting.”
“Want to try?” Norah held up the small cup of peanut butter the waitress had given her, and Zach nodded his head.
“Why the hell not?” He took a small spoonful and spread it on the corner of his pancake.
Norah watched as he took the bite, and then she grinned triumphantly when he smiled at her.
“Not bad, McNamara. Not bad at all.”
“As sad as the story is—and trust, me I don’t want to be depressing—I started using the peanut butter because it was the only type of spread we had in the house when I was growing up. I ended up getting attached, and now I can’t eat my pancakes without it.”
“That is sad, but it ended deliciously.” Zach smiled at her and continued eating. Seemed Zach was quite the charmer.
“You had better stop flirting with her or I may just have to hit you again.”
Zach let out a laugh. “I’ll be ready for you this time.”
“Again?”
“Harley here sucker punched me at the precinct the other day.”
“You asked me for it.”
“That part is true, I did.”
It was Norah’s turn to laugh. The two of them behaved as best friends would, and she wondered if either realized it.
“So, not to be a downer,” Zach said, pushing his plate away. “We are trying to find your friend’s next of kin, any idea where they are?”
Norah felt the familiar lump in her throat at the thought of Reagan. “She has a brother, but he was heavy into drugs, so they didn’t talk much. She got letters from him, though. The last time I talked to her she told me that he had checked himself into a rehab facility.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Six months.”
“Thanks, Norah.” Zach reached across the table and patted her hand gently. “We’ll find him.”
She nodded and started pushing her food around her plate as memories of Reagan swarmed her mind.
* * *
“YOU OKAY?” HARLEY asked as they walked back to the car.
“Yeah. I was just thinking about Reagan.”
“I’m sorry, Norah. Zach shouldn’t have brought her up.”
“No, I’m glad he asked me about her brother. I’m happy that they are trying to find him, Reagan would want it.” She cleared her throat, and Harley wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Zach seems like a good man.”
“He is. Can be a giant pain in the ass when he wants something, but he’s a straight arrow cop and doesn’t mess around when he sinks his teeth into something.”
“You two used to be pretty close, huh?”
“You could say that. I met him my first day at the academy. He had already been in for a while, but was there for some event. We hit it off, and when I graduated, they partnered me with him. He showed me the ropes, and we stayed friends until the day I got fired.”
“That must have been hard.”
Harley opened the car door for her and she climbed inside.
“It was. I looked up to him and he fired me. Well, had a hand in it, I suppose.”
“But at least there was a reason for it.”
“True. Seems I’ve been deep undercover the last few years.” He winked at her and then walked around to the driver’s side.
* * *
“HOW’D IT GO?” Gerry asked as they walked back into the safe house.
“Good. Zach doesn’t have any new information for us, but I told him about the bracelet. Norah and I are going to head over to Matthews’s place now and see if we can find a way in.”
“Want me to go with you?”
Harley looked to Norah, who still refused to even look at Gerry.
“Nah, we got this one. Thanks, though.”
Gerry nodded and turned to Norah. “Can we talk?”
“No thanks.” She headed for the bedroom.
“Give her a little more time, Gerry. She’ll come around,” Harley reassured him, and patted his shoulder.
“I hope so.”
“I’ll talk to her, all right?”
“Thanks, Harley.” Gerry smiled sadly at him. “You two be careful, all right?”
“We will be. We should be back in about two hours. I don’t want to be there too long.”
* * *
“WHAT ARE WE looking for?” Norah asked as she peered through binoculars at Clayton’s estate.
“We need to see if there are any weaknesses in security.”
“He has more guards than he ever used to,” she noted.
“He has more to be worried about now with you on the run.”
“I suppose, although I’m not really sure why. It’s not like I know anything.”
“Not a risk he will want to take.” Harley glanced at her and then focused back on Clayton’s compound. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine, why?” She set her binoculars down and looked at him.
“Norah, seriously. How are you doing with what Gerry told you?”
“A little angry. But I understand why he wouldn’t have said anything when he first found out. I was not in the frame of mind where I would have listened. I wish he would have told me when you took me to him, but then again I still probably wouldn’t have believed him.”
“And now?”
She sighed. “I want to believe him, and on most levels I really do. But I’m just not all the way there yet.”
“For what it’s worth, I believed him when he told me. You look similar, and Gerry isn’t a man who lies.”
“I’ll get there, Harley.”