Simple Genius

As soon as he said it, Michelle’s entire body went lax, as though someone had pulled the plug on her heart. At first he thought she was going to faint. Then she rallied and sat up straighter in the chair.

“My father planted that rose hedge,” she said in an automatic tone.

“Right. An anniversary present. But someone cut it down.”

“Some kids, mad at my dad.”

“That’s one theory.”

She stiffened again, but didn’t look at him.

“Hazel noticed a change in you too back then. Can you remember why?”

“I was six, how am I supposed to know?”

“Well, you remembered the rose hedge. And you remembered that your father planted it and that someone cut it down.”

She snapped, “Maybe I brutally murdered someone when I was six and I’m repressing it. Would that satisfy your curiosity?”

“Are we going back to wisecracks already? I was hoping you’d hold off for at least ten minutes based on my big, pull-no-punches speech. I don’t drag that one out very often.”

Now she looked at him and her gaze was curious, hungry. “So why’d you use it on me?”

“Because I see you slipping away, Michelle,” he said quietly. “And I don’t want you to reach the point of no return.”

“Dammit, I’m here, Horatio, I’m working, thinking, helping Sean and a little girl who needs someone right now. How bad can I be? Tell me, how bad can I be?”

“That’s a question only you can answer.”

For a moment Horatio thought he could see her eyes moisten, and then they became hard and dry. “I know you’re trying to help me. I know Sean is too. I’ve got issues, I know that too. And I’m trying to deal with them. I’m trying to stay productive.”

“That’s all well and good. But while you’re staying productive you’re not addressing those issues. You’re ignoring them, Michelle.”

Her tone became defiant. “You say I changed at age six? Well my life hasn’t turned out too badly. Were you ever an Olympian? Or a cop? Did you ever guard the president? Well, I did. Did you ever save someone else’s life? I have. More than once.”

“I’m not saying you haven’t had an exemplary life. What you’ve achieved has been extraordinary. What I’m talking about is the future. What I’m talking about is self-destructive behavior. What I’m trying to make you understand is that at some point you have to pay the piper.”

She stood. “Are you telling me that everything I’ve done in my life is tied to something that might have happened to me when I was a kid? Are you possibly trying to say that to me!” She screamed the last word at him.

“No, I didn’t say that. You did.”

Just as Viggie had, in an instant Michelle was gone. He heard her truck start up and shoot gravel out as she sped off.

Horatio rubbed his temple, walked outside, hopped on his Harley and followed her. This time he wasn’t letting the lady go.

CHAPTER 52

“AT THE VERY LEAST I think you should have me cover your back, Sean,” Sheriff Hayes said. The men were in Hayes’s personal car heading toward Williamsburg.

“That won’t work, because Whitfield knows what you look like.”

“One of my deputies then. Whitfield is not the kind of guy who’s going to let you screw around with his wife.”

“He doesn’t seem to have a problem with his wife frequenting bars and getting hit on. It wasn’t like it was the first time she’d been in that place.”

“But he knows who you are too. If he sees you around her, he might think you’re trying to spy on him.”

“But he doesn’t know that I know she’s his wife. If he or his muscle shows up, I act surprised and go on my way.”

“You really think a guy like Whitfield is gonna buy that?”

“Probably not, but if you have a better lead we can run down I’m listening. Hell, I have no idea if she’ll even be there tonight. This could be a complete wild-goose chase.”

“But even if Messaline knows something, why would she tell you?”

“I’m not exactly a novice at getting information out of people.”

“But you said she blew you off the first time.”

“That was the first time.”

“So you really believe Whitfield had something to do with Monk’s and Len’s deaths?”

“Monk died on CIA soil. Whitfield made a special point of calling us off the case. Even got the DDO on my butt. And from that same plot of land somebody took a shot at me. And planes flying without lights land there in the middle of the night.”

“Planes?” Hayes said.

“They come right over Babbage Town. And they’re big jets, easily capable of intercontinental flight. No one knows who’s on those flights. And there was hush money funneled through Congress to build what was termed a new dorm for agent trainees at the Camp, even though they have lots of housing there already.”

“What do you mean ‘termed’?”

“A building can be lots of things. Including an interrogation center. Even a torture chamber.”

Hayes almost drove off the road. “Are you out of your damn mind? That’s totally and completely illegal in this country.”

“Maybe Monk saw prisoners no one knows about getting their organs tickled by electrical current. What better motive to kill the man?”

“I can’t believe that. And what about Len Rivest?”