Cloaked in Blood Read Online Free PDF Page B

is
important, Johnny.  Exactly how far did you go to help Dad
arrange his death?”
    Confusion etched his brow. 
“What?  Helen, I had no idea what he planned to do.  All
I did was make a phone call.”
    “To?”
    “His old desk sergeant, some guy down in
Clearwater, Florida.”
    “And you never thought for a second that he
was up to something?”
    “Not with the message he asked me to…”
Johnny’s voice faded suddenly.  “Shit.  He played me
again.”
    I couldn’t have suppressed the grin if I
tried.  “He’s good at it, Johnny.  Don’t feel bad. 
Dad was very good at what he did back in the day.  I think I
told you once that my father is a forensics natural, a profiler
without being trained.  He knew he could tap into your
gratitude over his phone call to do whatever he asked.  Now
what was his message?”
    “I thought he was telling the his
remaining advocate not to be surprised if he didn’t survive
incarceration much longer, that in some strange way, he was telling
me too that he’d sacrifice himself to protect you if need be.”
    “Don’t doubt that he would, Johnny. 
But on the other hand, I have a very well-founded fear that Dad
protecting me from the outside is more his style than dying to keep
me safe.”
    “So that old desk sergeant must’ve freaked
out and called.”
    My eyes widened.  “Or perhaps he was really the other law enforcement visitor.”
    “No, Helen.  Your father had two before you showed up, remember?”
    “So this desk sergeant helped make Dad look
like he died?  Why would he do that if he thought Dad was
innocent?”
    “Because he not only thought Wendell was
innocent, he was convinced that the man had been wrongfully
imprisoned.”
    I groaned.  “We need to talk to Mike
Lucero.  Seriously, Johnny.  I’m not sure Dad was
completely honest with me about who visited him.”
    “Let’s ask David.  Surely he won’t hide
how the bureau learned about my visit.  If someone really went
to see Wendell, if the FBI sent a man in, David has no reason to
hide that from us now.”
    I shook my head.  “Are you nuts? 
If we start asking David about who visited my father and why, it’ll
shine a spotlight on something we really don’t want them looking at
too closely.”
    “Then be sneaky about it, a little less the
David influence and a lot more the Wendell,” Johnny
suggested.  “He said the guy’s name was Noah.  Let’s ask
David if someone by that name is working the Marcos case.”
    “He’ll want to know why.  And if that’s
how he found out you visited Attica last fall, it’ll make him
wonder why we’re suddenly concerned with my father’s
visitors.  Let’s not forget that I’m the earliest known
possible victim of these human traffickers in Darkwater Bay, nor
does this case really have a link back to Marcos.”
    “Then let me ask.  He’d be more likely
to think we uncovered something in the investigation that I don’t
want to share with you, something that might possibly point a
finger at Wendell as part of this –”
    “No!”
    “You don’t have to shout,” Johnny
grinned.  “But I wish you’d be objective and think about this
rationally, Helen.  Do you think that we didn’t discuss the
possibility that Wendell was part of your abduction?”
    “I know we discussed it,” I scowled at
him.
    “Not us, us.  David.  Crevan and
Dev.  We did talk about it.  It was part of the
process.  I’ll tell David that I was going through the old
file and saw some obscure reference to an unknown visitor that
Wendell had, some guy named Noah from the FBI.”
    “Can I be part of this conversation?”
    “Not if he’s gonna believe that I’m keeping
you specifically in the dark regarding that aspect of the
investigation.”
    “Johnny, you can’t do this to me.  I
–”
    He pressed one finger over my lips. 
“Shh.  I didn’t say you can’t hear the conversation.  He
just can’t know that you’re listening.  Can you stay