Heron Park Read online

  They pulled into the precinct lot, parked, and walked toward the door as Hank and Phil were heading out.

  “You guys got anything?” Hank asked.

  Cassie told him about their trip to Josh’s and explained what he said about the dogs.

  Hank buttoned his coat up to his chin. “All right, maybe another look at the K9 handlers would be a smart move. You guys handle the questioning and scheduling of getting them in here while we’re out.”

  Ugh. Nothing she hated more than questioning her own. Never made for comfortable locker room chat. “Where you guys off to?”

  Hank blew into his cupped hands. “Gary White just called, he’s at Heron Park. We were at his place this morning but he said he wanted to speak with us again.”

  “Did he say what about?” Cassie asked. “Why the park?” Her breath fogged the air. It was getting colder, the snow closer.

  “He’s training some dogs over there or something. Didn’t say why he wanted to talk with us again, but the station has been flooded with pointless leads. Gary White is probably more of the same. We’ll call and let you know.”

  Cassie went up the precinct steps and reached for the door.

  “Hey, Izz, have fun on your date tonight,” Phil called out. “Maybe you could question him over some shrimp cock-tail.”

  Cassie winced.

  Izzy spun around. “How the hell did you hear about that?”

  “Oh, you know, group of us guys were chatting about it with him at the bagel store this morning. Poor guy was really excited. Don’t worry though, we warned him about your left hook.” Phil laughed, dodging to his right as Izzy swung at him. “Hey, he’s a nice guy, no one wants him to get hurt.”

  Cassie grabbed her arm to lead her in, scowling at Phil in the process. “Let’s go. He’s just jealous.”

  “I swear that man gets my blood boiling. I’m not that bad. Now they probably scared the guy. It’s not like I would beat up my date for no good reason.”

  Cassie gave her a sideways glance as they headed inside and up the stairs. “Ahem. What about…?”

  “That doesn’t count.” Izzy threw her arms in the air. “That guy tried to cop a feel in the middle of some hole in the wall restaurant. He was asking for it.”

  “Izz, he touched your leg and you broke his nose. He had to go to a plastic surgeon to get it fixed. You’re lucky the guy was so scared of you he didn’t press charges.”

  “I just figured I’d give him a real reason to chew with his mouth open.”

  Cassie laughed. “You really are a piece of work. Where’s this guy taking you tonight?”

  “Hopefully, he’s picking me up for an 8:00 reservation at the new steak place in Islip. That is if ass-face didn’t talk him out of it.”

  “Fancy. It’s hard to get in there. Your dad help out on that one?”

  “No, my date knows the owner. I swear if he doesn’t show up, Phil better be ready to lose a few teeth."

  ~~~

  “Did Hank say anything else?” Izzy asked, breathing hard as they rushed to her car and jumped in.

  Cassie slammed her door, trying to keep her hope at bay. “No, just that they may have found the boat.”

  Izzy put the car in drive and peeled out of the precinct’s parking lot. With the siren blaring, they got through town in no time. They pulled in next to Hank’s truck. He walked over as they climbed out, his cell to his ear. He nodded, said something into this phone and frowned.

  “What's going on?” Izzy asked.

  “They found a small motor boat,” Rick’s voice came from behind them.

  Cassie caught herself before she squealed in surprise. She’d been so jumpy lately. Her pulse pounded from just the little fright.

  She looked toward the woods. Or maybe her heart was bouncing against her chest because Rick was standing nearly on top of her. His aftershave had a sweet masculine smell. It made her toes curl. “A boat? Is it his? Who found it?” She blurted, hoping her face didn’t give away her thoughts about him.

  Before he could answer, Hank walked over. His face grim. “Think this may be a waste of time. Some kid just came forward, said the boat was his.”

  “How did he know we found it?” Izzy asked.

  Hank put his hands in his pockets. “His dad has a police scanner.”

  Rick shook his head and lit a cigarette.

  The smell made Cassie’s head swirl. She wished she’d relied on gum or the patch instead of going cold turkey. Why did every lead result in a dead end? A puff of smoke blew in her face. Her blood pressure rose. “What the hell, Sanders, don’t blow that crap in my face!” She took a few steps away from him.

  “Sorry.” He smirked, making a big show of blowing a long column in the opposite direction.

  Hank clamped his lips together. “Don’t take it personal, Rick, she quit a few months back. Anyway, Gary White found the boat while working with one of his dogs. She bolted after a rabbit, and he didn’t catch up until he hit the beach. Thought the boat was a tree trunk at first.”

  “Is the kid coming down?” Rick asked.

  “Yeah.” Hank pointed to a small red car pulling in the lot. “That should be him now.”

  The boy stepped out of the car flanked by his parents. He looked to be no older than twelve. His mop of sandy hair blew in the breeze.

  Hank shook the parents’ hands. “Thanks for coming by. What’s your name, son?”

  The boy shuffled his feet then looked up at Hank. “Robert Landon.”

  “Well, Robert, can you tell us how you came to own this boat?”

  The boy looked up at his father. “One of my friends found it two weeks ago. He lives on the other side of the park near the water in West Islip. It drifted onto his beach.”

  A glimmer of hope flashed across Hank’s face. “When did he give it to you?”

  The boy looked from Hank to his mother. He sighed. “The same day. My parents said I couldn’t have it. That I was too young to be on the bay by myself. But I took it anyway and hid it in the marsh with a tarp over it. I must not have dragged it up far enough though. When I went looking for it yesterday it was gone.”

  “Do you mind coming with us and making sure that it’s the one your friend gave you?”

  “No, I don’t mind. Sorry if I caused any trouble, sir.”

  “It’s all right, Robert.” Hank patted his shoulder. “We really appreciate you being so brave and coming forward the way you did.”

  After the boy identified the boat as the one he had for the past two weeks, they let forensics at it. Within minutes they were shouting. “We’ve got something.”

  Cassie and Rick made it to the side of the boat first. A splatter of brown stained the floorboards under the wooden seat. Looked like dried blood to her.

  “Hank.” Rick smiled. “Those boys may have just found our killer’s transportation. Let’s move it out of the elements and back for more testing.”

  Cassie let the excitement swell in her stomach. Even though the kids had been playing on it for the past two weeks, the fact that Robert had a tarp on it meant they could very well find something that belonged to their killer. One solid clue, that’s all they needed.

  CHAPTER 16

  Cassie woke the next morning and indulged by laying in bed an extra few minutes. She’d been up every half hour through the night, checking her phone, waiting for the call that they’d found another body. It never came. Maybe the public had finally listened to them and hadn’t ventured to the park.

  Her thoughts drifted to the boat they’d found. The blood from under the seat was in the process of being tested at the lab. They’d also found large amounts of dog hair. It looked to be the same as the hairs found on both female victims. A bloody paw print at the bow of the boat matched the mold from outside Cassie’s window.

  Now they’d found what seemed to be their killer’s transportation, she wondered if that meant he’d be changing his escape plan. Would he be changing parks? No human prints were found except the boys�
�� and Gary White’s. Did that mean their killer sent the boat adrift on purpose? It seemed as soon as they answered one question, four more would arise.

  She stretched her legs to the footboard, and sat up, letting the comforter fall from her chest. She shivered. Snow jumped on the bed and into her lap. “Okay, okay. Let me up and I’ll let you out.”

  Snow charged off the bed and ran from the room. Cassie threw on a robe, placing her gun in the pocket, and headed for the kitchen. She started the coffee then unlocked the door to let the dog out.

  The weathermen for once were right about the storm. The flakes were coming down hard. Drifts at least four feet high had accumulated along the railing of her back deck overnight, blocking off the entry to the beach.

  Snow stuck her head out.

  “Go on,” Cassie urged.

  The dog ran forward, leapt blind over a drift and landed chest deep in white powder. She seemed surprised at first, sniffing and poking at her camouflaging surroundings. Then she began to leap and pounce, rolling around in her newfound playground.

  Cassie figured it would take the dog some time to find a spot to relieve herself and decided to take a quick shower. She placed her gun on the counter and let her robe drop to the bathroom floor. The streaming, hot spray relaxed every nerve in her body. Her nipples hardened as she ran a lather of soap over them.

  By the time they’d finished hauling the boat out of the woods, Izzy only had a half hour to get ready for her date. Cassie hadn’t been on a date in over eight months. And sex? Well, she recalled it involved both people being naked but after that, her memory was a little fuzzy.

  Every man she’d been with said she didn’t need to do much. She could just stand there naked and it would throw them into overdrive. Yeah whatever. Bunch o’ liars. She always thought it was just a high school thing, but even now, men would say just about anything to get in a woman’s pants.

  Izzy commented all the time about Cassie’s lack of sex. Whenever Cassie was in a bad mood, Izzy blamed it on the fact she hadn’t gotten laid, or the ‘high-hard one’ as she called it. If her partner ever found out how long it’d really been, she’d probably be hiring Cassie a man-whore.

  She smiled, stepping out of the tub. Maybe she should just tell her. Or better yet, hire one herself. It’d be like ordering the perfect pizza. Tall, dark hair, muscles. She ran a brush through her hair. Oh man. She’d just ordered Rick Sanders for dinner. Time to get her mind out of the gutter.

  She walked into her bedroom, flipped on the TV and dropped her towel. The weatherman said something about three to four inches an hour. Great, it was going to be fun driving today. Sam said he’d plow her driveway before he left. Thank goodness for that or she definitely wouldn’t be picking up Izzy at eight. She wouldn’t be going anywhere.

  Thinking about Sam made her smile. He’d been asleep when she’d gotten home last night, but he’d left her a note and take out in the fridge. She missed him. Missed having dinner with both him and her father every few days. If Izzy could make the time to go on dates the least Cassie could do was make some time for her father and Sam.

  She plucked her long johns from the shelf in the closet, struggled into them and threw on the clothes she’d hung from her door. She turned the TV off and was about to step into the hall when Snow’s barking had her reaching for her gun.

  A light rap on her front door slowed her racing heart. She strapped on her belt, placing the gun in its holster. She heard a familiar voice speaking to Snow as she neared the front door.

  What the hell was Rick doing here? She hadn’t been serious about the perfect man-whore pizza, not really anyway. Why didn’t he just call? Goosebumps rose on her arms. A prickle on her neck. She opened the door. Phil and Hank stood behind him.

  Hank’s eyes were red and began filling with tears. Phil looked as though he hadn’t slept in days. His hair was in disarray, and he had dark circles under his hooded lids.

  Cassie’s gaze came back to rest on Rick. Realization slammed into her.

  “Cass,” he said, his voice a whisper. “He got Izzy.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Cassie stared at Rick from inside the doorway, her eyes blank. Rick glanced over his shoulder at Hank and Phil, hoping one of them would step forward. Neither man moved. Should he comfort her or give her space?

  The silence stretched on. It was so complete, so quiet, Rick could hear the soft wet splatter of the snowflakes pilling up on the drifts behind him. His heart thumped against his chest.

  “Where is she?” Cassie asked.

  “We don’t know, we didn’t find a body.”

  Cassie trembled. “Are… you sure he has her? She went on a date last night, maybe she stayed at his house.”

  A moment of sorrow washed over Rick. Since he didn’t trust his voice, he nodded.

  “We need to go find her,” she whispered. “I’ll get my coat.” But her body stayed rigid, she made no attempt to move.

  Cassie grabbed onto the doorframe. Her knuckles turned white. Rick came forward to help support her and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She buried her face against his shoulder, her tears soaking his shirt. Hank and Phil came up behind him and they huddled around her.

  She pulled back. Her blue eyes rimmed in red. They locked on Rick’s face. She took a long quivering breath. Her voice unsteady as she spoke. “I-I’d like to know everything. Please, just give me a few minutes, okay?” Tears trickled down her cheeks. Rick brushed them away.

  He held onto her elbow and led her inside, toward the hallway. They stopped outside the bathroom. “We’ll be right here, take your time.” He closed the door behind her. His eyes clamped shut as he heard the thump of her body collapsing to the floor.

  “Cass!” Hank rushed forward as her cries turned to sobs.

  Rick blocked his way and gripped his arm. “Let her get it out. She’s tough, she asked for a few minutes, we should give her that.”

  Hank flinched as another sob escaped through the walls. He ran a hand through his hair and took a seat on the couch.

  A scratching at the front door caught Rick’s attention. He tensed, and moved toward the sound. A low howl rose in pitch from outside and he relaxed. They’d left the dog out. He opened the door, and Snow’s wet body brushed against his pants as she charged for the bathroom. She sniffed under the crack, then lay down to wait for Cassie.

  Rick sat in an armchair. He was more than a little surprised at Cassie’s reaction. A part of him had prepared to have to talk her out of going to look for Izzy. Like he’d done with Phil. To explain how they needed to let the officers do their job. That Cassie would be more use on the puzzle-solving side than searching the town.

  But she seemed to realize this without anyone telling her. He guessed that at this point anyone sane who worked the case knew what the outcome would be to Izzy’s abduction. Hitting the streets would be a waste of time since they didn’t even know where to begin to look.

  “Phil.” Hank’s voice broke the quiet.

  The detective continued to stare blankly at the wall.

  “Phil,” Hank said again, louder.

  Phil finally looked at Hank with glazed eyes.

  “You left your phone in the car.” Hank motioned toward the front door. “Cassie’s going to want to hear the message.”

  Phil rose to his feet and half stumbled, half walked to the door.

  Hank shook his head as he watched him go. “He’s had a lot to drink. Wasn’t about to stop him. He chugged down half a bottle of Jack in an hour.”

  “I figured that out by the smell of him. You want me to take him home?”

  “No, I’ll take him once we get the story out of him one more time.” Hank’s eyes filled with tears and he wiped his face. “Not sure if him and Cass are gonna be able to stay on the case. Hell, I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to.”

  Rick frowned at him. “That’s up to you, but if they’re able, I’d say it’s better for them to remain active. Our killer’s already invested in a
ll of us. Bringing in another team would just mean new bodies to try to protect. It’s tough enough as it is. Even with the extra patrols, and the officers sitting outside your houses every night, he was still able to get Izzy.”

  “Yeah, but if it hadn’t been for that damn accident, Izzy’s officer would’ve been where he was supposed to be. Fucking snow.” Hank glared out the window.

  The flakes seemed to fall harder at his words. “Hank, although I’d love to be able to blame someone other than ourselves for not protecting her, the officer heard his dad had been in an accident right down the street. Any of us would’ve wanted to make sure he was okay.”

  “I know, but – ”

  The bathroom door opened and Cassie walked out. A numbing pain rose in Rick’s chest at the sight of her tear-swollen face. She must have read his sympathy because she gazed right back at him and squared her shoulders, appearing tougher than the men at this point. Rick knew Phil was unable to handle his emotions, but from the look of Cassie, she would make sure she did.

  “I’m okay. Thank you,” she said.

  Phil stumbled inside. He walked sideways, handed his phone to Rick and slumped into the nearest chair.

  Cassie made four cups of coffee and handed them out. She sat next to Hank and grabbed his hand. The dog came up to her side and Cassie patted the couch. The pit bull jumped up, placing her head in Cassie’s lap.

  There was no sense for Rick to even ask Phil to tell his part. It wasn’t only the alcohol that was making him look like a doped up mental patient, Phil was in shock and guilt stricken. Rick glanced at his notes. “Izzy got home from her date with Officer Arnold at 10:30. She called Phil around 10:45, told him to come by at midnight for a drink. I believe Phil said her exact words were, Arnold was a tool, and she wanted Phil to spend the night, keep her company because at least he wasn’t a pussy.”

  “Wait.” Cassie stared at Phil. “You and Izzy had something going on? Why didn’t she tell me?”

  Phil’s cheek twitched, but he made no other move to show he’d heard her.