Chill Factor

“I beg you to give me the benefit of doubt.”

“All right, Tierney,” she said. “I’ll give you the benefit of doubt if you can explain these.”

Lying at her feet were the handcuffs she’d found in one of the backpack’s zippered compartments along with the pistol. She kicked them forward. They slid across the hardwood floor and came to rest against his stocking feet. He stared down at them for a long moment before raising his head and looking at her, his gaze implacable.

“That’s what I thought.” Keeping the pistol in her right hand, she used her left to punch in Dutch’s cell number. The phone was still dead as a stone, but she pretended that the call went through to his voice mail. “Dutch, I’m in grave danger from Tierney. Come soon.”

“You’re so wrong, Lilly.”

She slid the phone back into her coat pocket and gripped the pistol between both hands. “I don’t think so.”

“Listen to me. Please.”

“I’m through listening. Pick up the handcuffs.”

“How can you possibly think I’m Blue? Because of a pair of handcuffs and a ribbon?”

She’d heard Dutch refer to the unknown suspect as Blue. Hearing it fall so casually from Tierney’s lips caused her heart to thud against her ribs. But that wasn’t what struck terror in her.

It must have shown in her expression. “Come on, Lilly,” he said softly. “You can’t be surprised I know the cops’ nickname for the culprit. It’s a small town. Everyone in Cleary knows.”

“Not that,” she said, wheezing loudly. “I hadn’t even mentioned the ribbon.”

• • •

Special Agent Wise’s question was out of context, or so it seemed to Dutch. For a moment he was flummoxed. “Ben Tierney?” They’d been talking about his investigation into Millicent Gunn’s disappearance when, out of nowhere, Wise asked if he knew Ben Tierney.

He divided a puzzled look between Wise and Begley, but he might just as well have been looking into the eyes of two dolls. Theirs were that planar and opaque. “What’s Ben Tierney got to do with the price of tea in China?”

“Do you know him?” Wise asked.

“Face with a name, that’s it.” Then, suddenly, he was seized by a chill that had nothing to do with the outdoor temperature. He felt that unease he used to feel when entering a building where a suspect was believed to be holed up. You knew something bad was bound to go down, you just didn’t know what form it would take, or how bad it would be. You didn’t know what to be afraid of but knew enough to be afraid. “What about Ben Tierney?”

Wise looked down into his coffee and carefully balanced the spoon on the rim of the saucer.

His avoidance was more telling than anything he might have said. Dutch’s heart clenched. “Look, if he’s involved in this—”

“How well does your ex-wife know him?”

Dutch’s gaze swung to Begley, who’d fired the question at him. Blood rushed to his head. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“We understand that they’re acquainted.”

“Who led you to understand that?”

“How well are they acquainted? What’s the nature of their relationship?”

“There’s no relationship,” Dutch said angrily. “She met him once. Why?”

“Just curious. We’re checking out several angles to—”

Dutch banged his fist on the table hard enough to rattle cutlery and dishes. Wise’s spoon fell off the saucer and clattered onto the table. “Cut the bullshit and tell me what you know about this guy. You’re big, bad FBI agents, but I’m a cop, goddammit, and as such I’m entitled to your respect, as well as any information you have pertaining to my investigation. Now what about Ben Tierney?”

“Calm down,” Begley commanded. “And just so you know, I don’t condone foul language and taking the Lord’s name in vain. Don’t do it in my presence again.”

Dutch slid from the booth, reached for his coat and gloves, and put them on with jerky, angry motions. Then he leaned down and thrust his face close to Begley’s. “First of all, fuck you. Second, get this, you sanctimonious prick. If you’ve got an interest in Ben Tierney related to the disappearance of these women, I need to know it, because as we speak, my wife is marooned in our mountain cabin with him.”

For once they showed reactions, which ranged from surprise to a degree of alarm that caused Dutch to fall back a step. “Christ almighty. Are you telling me that Ben Tierney is Blue?”