Part 11

Tom squeezed himself flat against the wall, as close to the door as he could get, waiting for Georgie to come through it. His heart pounding, Tom prepared to launch a surprise attack. Time shifted into slow motion. The doorknob turned. The madman stepped through and into the hall. Tom grabbed the surprised captor's arm and pulled, driving his knee into the man's stomach. Georgie fell to the floor, unable to catch his breath. Tom bolted through the open door to find himself in another long hallway. There was another door at the end of it with a large window, revealing the world outside. Tom had nearly reached the door to freedom when he heard his captors approaching from behind. Tom prayed as he turned the handle. The knob refused to budge, and hope died once again. It was locked. Gasping for air, he turned to face his pursuers. With one hand still on the doorknob, he backed against the door and waited for them to catch up.

Georgie was the first to reach the cornered detective. He stopped just out of Tom's reach. "Come on, son. There's no place for you to go, no way out. Just come on back nice and peaceful, and we'll forget this little incident ever happened. You have my word." He kept his tone calm and reassuring, but anger burned in his eyes.

Tom remained in the doorway, a trapped animal with nowhere to run. He came up with only two options and neither held a great deal of promise. Trying to overpower the two men in his weakened condition was certain to meet with failure. His only other option was to surrender. He couldn't allow himself to even consider the consequences of that one.

Georgie slowly retrieved his pocketknife and extended the blade. "Don't make me do something that we'll both regret." After several tense moments, Tom sagged against the door, admitting defeat. "Move," Georgie commanded, motioning with the knife for Tom to return to the room from which he'd fled. Tom reluctantly pulled himself out of the doorway and using the wall for support slowly started back to his prison. As they reached the room, Georgie suddenly grabbed Tom and spun him around, throwing him hard into the wall. Using his forearm to pin Tom's shoulders against the wall, he put the knife firmly to Tom's throat. "Unlike your father, I keep my word. You won't be punished this time. But rest assured, if you make another attempt to escape, the consequences will be quite painful. Do you understand?"

Tom strained to answer "Yes." Satisfied with his answer, Georgie relaxed his hold and backed away, gesturing for Tom to proceed inside. As the prisoner moved to comply, he was awarded with a violent shove from behind. He landed on the floor, face down, between the cot and the chair. Tom's attempt to rise was met with a knee in the middle of his back. His head was roughly jerked up as Georgie grabbed a fistful of Tom's hair. Pressing the knife to Tom's exposed throat, the madman hissed "Get back on the cot. Don't even think about trying anything. Then we're going to talk."

*************

When Cassy arrived at the station the next morning, her armed escort in tow, Harry was already there ahead of her. She went straight to his office for the latest news, intending to call Tom's father as soon as she'd gotten it. She'd managed to convince Lyam to stay in Boston for the time being by pointing out that running his restaurant would keep his mind occupied and that he'd have nothing to do in Palm Beach but sit and wait for news. It was only after she had promised to check in at least twice a day with updates on the investigation that he had reluctantly agreed. The first thing on her agenda was to find out what progress had been made in finding out how the mysterious envelopes were being delivered. Next was the matter of the missing repairman and his van.

Harry was in the middle of a phone call when Cassy stuck her head through the open door. He motioned for Cassy to enter and gestured for her to take a seat. Several minutes later, Harry still hadn't finished the call and she began to tap her fingers on her chair. A piercing glare from Harry quickly stilled her. Again becoming impatient, Cassy rose from her chair and started to pace. Another piercing glare from over the top of his glasses sent her quietly back to her chair once more. When Harry finally ended the phone call, he slowly replaced the receiver in its cradle. Not saying a word, he removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. Though it had seemed an eternity to Cassy, in reality it had been only five minutes since she'd entered the office. She leaned forward in her chair, waiting for him to begin speaking. Harry stared silently down at the middle of his desk. Unable to contain her apprehension over her captain's silence, she demanded, "Who was that, Harry? Was it about Tom? Has something happened?"

The sound of Cassy's voice brought Harry back to his senses. He slowly lifted his head to look her directly in the eye for the first time in nearly twenty-four hours. She was chilled by his tone as he quietly replied "I know who has Tom--and why."

*********************

Georgie removed his knee from Tom's back and maneuvered him to the cot, keeping a firm grip on the detective's hair. The attempted escape had sent the burning sensation in his shoulder into a raging inferno. White-hot knives seared through it as his arms were roughly yanked to the waiting restraints. While Georgie secured Tom's wrists to each corner at the top of the cot, Dr. Leonard moved to secure his ankles to the bottom corners. As the older captor turned his attention to putting away his pocketknife, the doctor remained at the foot of the cot. His eyes roamed over the captive's body in a way that made Tom's skin crawl. Tom tried to shift away from Dr. Leonard's gaze, catching Georgie's attention once more. Noticing the apprehension on his prisoner's face, Georgie hissed at his partner, "Doctor." Taking note of the older man's tone, Dr. Leonard abruptly turned and left the room.

Georgie pulled the room's only chair up next to the cot and settled into it. The older captor had relaxed when the doctor left the room, but Tom remained wary. "Given the eventual outcome of your situation, I feel that you have the right to know the entire story. So I'm going to tell you exactly what your father did to my family. Then I'll explain the rest of the rules. I don't want any more misunderstandings. Are you ready to listen?" Tom silently nodded, and the madman continued. "My name is George Stein. I used to have the life every man dreams of--a gorgeous wife, a perfect son and daughter, and a career that I loved. My nightmare began shortly after I transferred to the 87th precinct." As the shock of his last statement registered on Tom's face, Stein laughed at his prisoner. Contempt mixed with his amusement as he continued. "Don't look so shocked. Yes, son, I was a cop. A damn good cop. That's what makes the whole mess so fucking absurd," he growled, his face contorting into a vicious snarl. Consciously relaxing his features, he resumed his tale. "I'd just been promoted to detective, so the captain assigned me a more experienced partner. Joe Keller was a living legend, about 5 years from retirement. He seemed like a great guy and really taught me a lot. For the first six months things couldn't have been better..."

*****************

Cassy was trying to give Harry the time he so obviously needed to collect himself before beginning his explanation, but her need for information was getting the best of her. Harry, who seemed to sense the moment she totally lost patience, glanced over at his phone and began to speak. "That was a buddy of mine from New York. He did some digging, and with the description we got from the air conditioning company, he was able to come up with an ID. The guy's name is George Stein. He was a detective at the 87th the same time I was there. He had a reputation for being a hothead. He'd been with us for couple of years when one day he goes berserk and kills his wife. Shot her with the same gun he'd bought her so she could protect herself when he was working late. It was one of those things nobody saw coming. He'd just been reassigned a new partner, who said he hadn't seen any signs of trouble on the job. But his former partner testified that Stein was suspicious of his wife, thought she was cheating on him. Everybody just figured he didn't know the new guy well enough to confide in him. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life. He got out six months ago. On a Governor's pardon."

"What! The guy kills his wife and the Governor lets him out? Why? There's got to be more to it than that." Cassy was getting more and more uneasy. Harry hadn't looked her directly in the eye since hanging up the phone.

"The Governor let him out because he didn't do it." Harry paused to let the words sink in.

"He didn't do it? But I thought you said..."

"Stein's former partner was Joe Keller. He was almost a legend, bigger than life. Had a spotless reputation, so nobody questioned the story about Stein being suspicious of his wife. Seems when Keller died last year a journal was found in his safe deposit box. He'd been dirty for a very long time. Tried to recruit Stein, but George refused. He figured no one would take his word over Joe's, so he didn't turn him in. He didn't have any proof to back it up. Stein asked for a new partner and got one. Seems the wife was worried about Keller causing trouble for George, though, and called him over for a chat. They got into an argument and Keller killed her. Framing Stein was the perfect solution. With his reputation, he figured that no one would question his story. He was right; no one did. So George went to prison." Harry shifted in his chair, turning away from Cassy.

"Okay, so he was framed. What does this have to do with you?" Cassy's impatience was again surfacing.

"Stein tried to tell me about Keller. I didn't believe him, but did a little checking. I didn't find anything. I thought he was just looking for a way out."

Cassy could tell Harry was holding something back. "I don't get it Harry. Why go after Tom or me? Why didn't he just come after you? What was all that with the nursery rhymes and talk about his son? There's more to this than you're telling me."

Harry's voice broke as he struggled with his guilt. "His kids...it's all my fault. He's right. Everything is all my fault. If I hadn't been so damned sure he was guilty...it's all because of me. And now Tom's the one who's gonna end up paying for my mistake."

End Part 11

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