Scarlet Nights p.22 Read online

  “And what about later? After the case is over?” The captain wanted to ask whether this marriage was Mike’s idea or the girl’s, but he didn’t.

  Instead, he insisted that Mike return to Fort Lauderdale ASAP so they could set up their plans concerning the fair. They were going to fill the grounds with armed men and women, all of them in disguise as locals. Stefan would be released, and when he got to Edilean, his every move would be watched.

  To the captain, this was enough. Mike had done a good job in finding out information and setting up a time and place where they could possibly see the Vandlos together. The girl, Sara Shaw, would be protected. And best of all, from what Mike had said, she wouldn’t be running back to Vandlo out of some misplaced sense of loyalty.

  The idea of using the tarot cards as bait was excellent, and he said so.

  “You can thank your favorite author for that,” Mike had said. “It was his idea.”

  “We need for you to come here right away to brief us and draw some maps,” the captain replied. What he was really thinking was that it was Sunday night and it wouldn’t be possible for Mike to marry his little country girl before he left. Maybe a week in Fort Lauderdale would make him see that the case could be solved without the drastic action of marrying the victim.

  But Mike had reported to work this morning wearing a wedding ring.

  “So you did it,” the captain said.

  “Couldn’t see any other way. If Vandlo wants whatever it is he thinks Sara has, he won’t be able to get it by marrying her.”

  “Unless he kills you,” the captain said.

  Mike gave a half smile. “That’s the idea, and I plan to make myself highly visible at the fair. I think I’m going to enter a rope jumping contest with a twelve-year-old national champion.”

  Mike’s physical skills were well known—and treated with awe. “I’m sure you’ll win.”

  “Maybe. This kid is supposed to be good.”

  The captain smiled, but it didn’t go to his eyes. He knew Mike was evading the issue. “I want to know about this girl you married. What’s she like?”

  “She …” Mike hesitated. He wasn’t about to embarrass himself by talking about how much he enjoyed being with Sara, how she made him laugh, how much he already missed her. He shrugged. “Church on Sunday, good at baking, makes her own clothes. That sort of thing.” He had an image of Sara climbing the tree branch over his head. He remembered her tears and her smiles. And then there had been their wedding night. No, he was going to keep his thoughts to himself. “Small town girl.”

  The captain wasn’t like Mike; what he felt showed on his face. “When the case is over we can help you get out of this. We’ll make sure your pension won’t be in jeopardy. You can—”

  Mike stood up. “Is that all? I’ve got a lot of people to talk to and things to do.”

  “Yeah, sure,” the captain said. “There’s a general meeting at two. See you then.”

  Mike left the office to go back to his own desk.

  The captain left his door open, and all day he heard men and women coming by to say hello to Mike. He was popular, and since they rarely saw him, when he was there, everyone wanted to visit. Mike’s workouts were legendary so anyone who’d been in a gym in the last six months wanted to show him their biceps. All day there was talk of quads and delts, glutes and triceps. But after that lead-in, what they actually wanted to know was if the rumor that Mike had married a victim was true.

  The captain heard the same questions over and over. “Drugs?” they’d ask, meaning was his new wife a user. “Any convictions?”

  Mike politely answered their questions but gave no real answers. As usual, he kept his thoughts to himself.

  The women teased Mike a lot. One said she would have paid some con artist to cheat her if it meant Mike would rescue her with a marriage.

  “Help me! Help me!” one very pretty rookie cried, her hand to her forehead. “Save me with a wedding ring.”

  Mike bore it all good-naturedly, but as the day wore on, the captain saw that his smile diminished. But the captain didn’t think it was the teasing that was getting Mike down. There was something else bothering him, but the captain couldn’t figure out what it was. His guess was that Mike was realizing that he’d made a big mistake.

  Mike’s actions had been noble as all hell, but the reality was that he was now facing a divorce. If the girl wanted to fight him and say that Mike had tricked her into the marriage, he stood to lose a lot financially.

  At two, there was a meeting in the big conference room. As soon as they were seated, a Secret Service agent took over and began outlining the plan to infiltrate the Edilean Fair.

  Mike was leaning back in his chair and turning his new wedding ring around and around on his finger. And with every turn, the captain’s frown deepened. Maybe it would be better if Mike didn’t return to Virginia, he thought. It was enough that he’d married the girl. Mike was right when he said that since she was married to someone else, Vandlo couldn’t get to her. Now all they had to do was assign someone to stay at her side, and when Vandlo tried anything, they’d step in. This way, Mike’s life wouldn’t be in jeopardy.

  When the Secret Service guy had asked a question, the captain was so distracted he’d asked the man to repeat it. It was obvious that no one else was worried about Mike’s safety, but the captain was.

  The door opened, the captain’s secretary came in and handed him a note. What now? he thought as he opened it.

  Mike Newland’s wife is downstairs and she says she has the tarot cards.

  Captain Erickson had to read it twice before he believed it. His first impulse was to slip out and see the girl for himself. Maybe he’d take her into an empty room and talk to her about what Mike had done for her, “above and beyond” what he needed to do.

  But as the captain sat there thinking about what he should do, he knew that what he most wanted was to see how Mike felt about the girl. Today Mike had been moody, even morose. Was it because he knew he’d put himself in an impossible situation?

  The captain turned to his secretary who was waiting with her usual impatience. “Go get her and bring her up here,” he whispered.

  “Here? To this room?”

  “Yeah,” the captain said. “In here.”

  He moved to the other side of the table, across from Mike, so he could see out the glass doors. It took a while for his secretary to get down the stairs and lead the girl up through the rabbit warren of doors and long hallways of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.

  When the captain first saw Miss Sara Shaw coming toward them, he sat up straighter. He’d seen a photo of her, but she was prettier than that, with her blonde hair neatly about her shoulders. In a state where women constantly wore tank tops and frayed blue jeans, Miss Shaw’s prim yellow dress was a throwback in time.

  The detective next to the captain saw her, and he too stopped listening and stared. He punched the guy next to him, and soon they were all watching Sara walk toward them.

  By the time she got to the door, the only person not looking at her was Mike. He seemed to be in his own world as he toyed with his ring and stared into space.

  The speaker opened the door for Sara. “Can I help you?” he asked, smiling broadly.

  Sara only had eyes for Mike. Taking the few steps to his chair, she stood there watching.

  It was a while before Mike heard the silence in the room. When he looked up, he saw Sara standing in front of him.

  “Shamus and Luke finished these and I brought them to you,” Sara said, holding out the stack of tarot cards.

  Mike just sat there, looking at her.

  “I think we should—” the captain began.

  He stopped talking when Mike abruptly stood up, grabbed Sara in his arms, and twirled her around. The cards went flying about the room.

  “You’re here!” Mike was saying as he kept hugging his wife. No one had ever seen Mike so happy. “You’re really here!”

  When