Fencing You In Read online

  “I need to ask you some questions.” Reese took a notebook out of his pocket. “May we come in?”

  Harvey stepped out of the house and pulled the door shut behind him. “What can I do for you?”

  Reese maintained a calm expression. “Do you know Tess Grady?”

  Harvey gave a casual shrug. “I know a Tess, but I don’t know her last name. She works at Nectars downtown.”

  “Ms. Grady was last seen in your presence at Jo-Jo’s last night,” Reese said. “Is Tess here with you?”

  With a surprised look that Gage was sure the man faked, Harvey said, “I haven’t seen Tess for some time now. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I wasn’t in Jo-Jo’s last night.”

  Reese studied Harvey. “Do you mind if we take a look around?”

  Harvey smirked. “You need a warrant for that, officer.”

  “Detective.” Reese kept his gaze on Harvey. “There’s a warrant on the way. You might as well let us in now.”

  With another shrug, Harvey folded his arms across his chest. “We can wait.”

  Gage felt a burn deep in his chest. He wanted to climb up the stairs and drive Harvey to the ground with one punch and let him have it until Harvey admitted what he’d done with Tess.

  “You said you weren’t at Jo-Jo’s last night,” Reese said, “yet we have a witness who places you there shortly before Ms. Grady’s disappearance. Can you explain that?”

  Harvey shrugged. “Had to have been someone who looks like me.”

  “Where were you last night between nine and midnight?” Petrova asked.

  Harvey jerked his home over his shoulder, at the house. “Home watching TV.”

  “What was on?” Petrova asked.

  “The news and then I fell asleep in my chair,” Harvey said. “I’m not sure what was on afterward as I was asleep.”

  “Was anyone with you?” Reese asked.

  Harvey gave a lazy smile. “Just me and the TV.” He looked from Reese to Petrova. “I gotta take care of a few things. When you get your warrant, you just let me know.”

  Reese grabbed Harvey’s arm before the man could turn away. “Don’t go anywhere, Norton. We’re going to be taking you down to the station for questioning.”

  Harvey narrowed his gaze “I don’t have to go anywhere.”

  Reese gave a tight-lipped smile. “We can take you now and do our search with you at the station, or you can stay and chat with us.”

  Harvey folded his arms across his chest and gave that same shit-eating grin. “If that’s what it takes to get rid of you.”

  Gage remained tense, his entire body tightly coiled and aching as he watched Reese continue to ask Harvey question after question, intending to trip him up. Harvey was good, though. He just brushed it off and had an answer for everything.

  It was a good forty-five minutes before Reese got a call. He drew out his cell phone and moved away to take the call. In a moment he pocketed his phone and turned back to Harvey. “Subpoena will be here in fifteen minutes.”

  Harvey didn’t budge.

  Within twenty minutes, a cruiser came up the dirt road and an officer brought the folded up subpoena to Petrova who slapped it against Harvey’s chest. Harvey grasped it then looked it over as Reese, Petrova, and four police officers entered his home.

  Gage followed a distance behind then tried to make it up the porch steps without flinching with each step as he put weight on his bad leg and held his right arm to his side.

  “Where are you going?” Harvey narrowed his eyes as Gage reached the porch.

  Gage lowered his voice. “So help me, Harvey. If you’ve hurt Tess, I will kill you.”

  “Threatening me?” Harvey smirked. “If anyone’s going to die, it will be you.”

  For a long moment Gage looked at Harvey. “You had me shot, didn’t you.” He said the words as a statement before the thought had even fully formed.

  Something flickered in Harvey’s eyes. “If I’d wanted you shot, you’d be dead.”

  “That’s the problem, isn’t it,” Gage stated. “You sent someone to kill me and he failed. So you’ve taken Tess to get even.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself.” Harvey leaned up against a post on the porch, his arms folded. “I don’t give a shit what happens to you. Though I can’t say it would have hurt my feelings any if you had died.”

  Gage gave Harvey a hard look then turned to go into the house. Harvey blocked him with a hand to Gage’s wounded shoulder. Pain screamed through him. He stepped into Harvey, elbowed him in the gut and swept his foot beneath Harvey’s.

  With a shout of surprise the man went down, hard. “You sonofabitch,” Harvey said. “I’ll—”

  Gage was already in the doorway of the house. He looked over his shoulder at Harvey who was getting to his feet, his face red with anger. “You’ll what?” Gage asked. “Kill me?”

  He turned his back on Harvey and walked into the house.

  The police were tearing it apart, looking for Tess and searching for clues.

  “Where are the keys to your truck?” Petrova said to Harvey and Gage looked back at the man.

  Harvey had a smug expression as he dug the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to the detective who caught the set and passed them on to a police officer.

  Gage went into the house, looking for something that would tell him Tess was here. He knew it with everything he had that she was somewhere around this place. He hoped to God she was all right.

  The house looked like it hadn’t been updated in decades. There was still dark wood paneling on the walls and the couches were dark brown corduroy, the carpet gold shag. There were no pictures on the walls but there was a mostly empty bookcase with just a few newspapers and magazines stacked up on one corner.

  Almost everything was coated in a layer of dust with the exception of the paneled walls, which looked relatively clean.

  Gage walked around, staying out of the officers’ way as he searched what he could with his gaze and avoided touching anything.

  He realized his chest was aching, a pain there that had nothing to do with his injuries. It was a pain he knew wouldn’t go away until they found Tess.

  After he looked over the living room, he went on to the kitchen, which was sparse. Dirty dishes filled one sink, a used frying pan on the stove that looked like it had the remnants of hash browns in it. And on the counter was a large plate of what looked like egg salad sandwiches with an unopened package of chocolate cookies next to it.

  Gage frowned. Why would Harvey need an entire plate of five sandwiches? The man couldn’t eat that many, could he? Gage moved his gaze to the nearly full pitcher of iced tea on the counter with two plastic tumblers. One of the tumblers had a lid with a straw through it and the other one was filled with tea. Sweat rolled down the sides of both tumblers as well as the clear plastic restaurant-style pitcher. Harvey was expecting someone.

  Reese walked into the kitchen. Gage looked at his cousin. “Looks like Harvey might be planning on entertaining,” Gage said.

  With a thoughtful nod, Reese examined the food and pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. “It certainly does.” He frowned as he looked at the cup with the straw and picked it up. “Feels full and it’s cold,” he said and pried off the lid. “It has ice.”

  He put the lid back on and turned to Gage as he set the cup on the counter. “We’ve turned this house upside down. No sign of her.”

  Gage clenched his teeth. “He’s done something with her. I know it in my gut.”

  “My gut doesn’t trust the man, either.” Reese put his hand on Gage’s shoulder. “We’ll keep looking a little longer. There’s a shed out back that I’ve got a couple of men going through now.”

  Gage nodded. Statistics showed that the longer an abducted child or adult was missing, the less likely he or she would be found alive.

  He refused to believe Tess was dead.

  Detective Petrova was standing with Harvey in the front doorway. Harvey had a furious look o
n his face. “They’re wrecking my house.”

  “Get over it.” Reese walked up to Harvey and studied him. “Expecting company?”

  Harvey looked taken off guard by the question. “No.”

  Reese jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Then why the food and drink in the kitchen?”

  “I was just about to have lunch,” Harvey growled.

  “Uh-huh.” Reese took a notebook out of his pocket and jotted a note. “And you planned on eating five sandwiches and drinking out of two separate cups?”

  “I was hungry and besides, I make a lot and what I don’t eat I wrap up and eat later. And I drink a lot.” Harvey shrugged. “The sooner you hurry and get the hell out of my house with your dumbass questions, the sooner I can eat.”

  “You’re going to come down to the station so that we can ask you a few questions more,” Reese said. “Guess you’ll have to put off your egg salad.”

  “Why the hell should I go with you?” Harvey scowled.

  “You were placed at the scene,” Reese said. “We need to ask you a few questions and while we’re at it we’ll have you examine some security tapes. If you weren’t there, then maybe you’ll recognize someone who was.”

  Harvey looked furious but he said, “Let me put the food away.”

  “Gage here will take care of it for you.” He nodded to Gage. “Won’t you?”

  “Yep.” Gage nodded.

  Harvey narrowed his eyes. “I don’t want him in my house.”

  Reese shrugged. “He’s just being a good neighbor. Helping you out.”

  Harvey gave Gage a hateful look and Gage watched as Reese took Harvey by one arm and started escorting him down the stairs.

  Reese turned to Gage. “Get a ride with Officer Suarez. I mentioned to him that you might need one.”

  Harvey jerked his arm away. “I can walk by myself and I can drive myself there, too.”

  Gage watched as Reese walked Harvey to his truck and had a few words with him. Then. Reese and Petrova climbed into the front of their vehicle and headed the car down the dirt road, following Harvey’s truck.

  After the taillights had vanished from sight, Gage turned around and headed back into the house for another look.

  Chapter 35

  Gage stayed behind a while when Reese and Petrova went in with Harvey for questioning. Instead of wrapping the egg salad sandwiches and putting them in the fridge, Gage tossed the sandwiches into the garbage. He studied the cup with the lid and straw, wondering what the significance of it was. Why would Harvey have two glasses of iced tea, one with a lid and a straw?

  Unless he had a prisoner flat on her back who couldn’t raise her head enough to drink without spilling liquid.

  The thought made Gage’s gut burn. Could that be it? Could Harvey have Tess somewhere here, tied down?

  With that possibility in his mind, he spent time searching the house with Officers Suarez and Taynor, but found nothing. His shoulder and thigh ached as he searched, but he ignored the pain.

  When the officers declared the search to be over, Gage reluctantly went with them. He wanted to keep looking but he didn’t have a choice when the officers insisted that he leave at the same time they did.

  Something told him that Harvey had Tess. Somewhere. But they’d searched everywhere imaginable around the old Anderson place. Where could Harvey have taken her?

  Suarez and Taynor dropped Gage off in front of the police station. Harvey’s beat-up truck was parked near the front entrance.

  Gage went to his own truck that was parked down the street. He climbed in but drove it to a small mom and pop café across the street from the police station. He could have walked but he wanted to be able to get into his truck as fast as possible if he needed to. Before he got out, he reached into the glove compartment and snagged a bottle of Advil, took out a couple of tablets for the pain, and swallowed them dry.

  His stomach rumbled as warm smells of fried chicken hit him as he walked into the café. He took a seat by the big plate glass window where he could watch the front door of the police station.

  Since dinner last night, he hadn’t had anything more than a couple cups of coffee at the police station this morning and two packaged sweet rolls out of a vending machine. It was already afternoon and he was starving. He ordered a large plate of half a fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and biscuits, along with a large glass of iced tea. He figured he was in for the long haul and he cleaned his plate.

  It was a good three-hour wait before Harvey came out of the police station and it was already starting to get dark. Gage watched as the man looked left then right, as if checking to see that no one was around, before climbing into his beat-up old truck.

  Gage had already paid his tab but dropped an extra tip on the table for taking up the booth for so long. He followed Harvey in his truck at a good distance, and on the way out of town, Harvey stopped at a supermarket. Gage parked a good distance from Harvey then headed into the store.

  It wasn’t easy following Harvey without being noticed, but the man seemed to be focused on his own thoughts. Gage was wearing a ball cap instead of a western hat, a T-shirt, jeans and an athletic shirt. With his height and size it wasn’t easy to blend in, but somehow he managed.

  He watched as Harvey picked up supplies that included food, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and feminine hygiene products. It was the latter that made Gage’s skin prickle. There could be no reason why he’d be buying something like that if there wasn’t a woman involved.

  Once Harvey looked over his shoulder in Gage’s direction and he thought Harvey had spotted him, but the man turned back to the cashier and paid for his purchases.

  Gage had a feeling Harvey would be heading back to the Anderson place, but he didn’t know for sure. He could be holding Tess anywhere. Gage gave Harvey a bit of a head start and then followed him.

  It was getting darker as they walked out of the supermarket’s front doors. Harvey loaded his groceries into the truck and climbed in and started it. By the time Harvey had loaded everything, Gage was in his vehicle and wasn’t far behind as Harvey drove out of the parking lot.

  Gage hung way back because the road out to the Andersons’ didn’t have much traffic and Harvey might notice him. When the man turned down the road to the Anderson place, Gage kept driving past so that Harvey wouldn’t suspect anything.

  After a few heartbeats, Gage turned around, went back to Harvey’s drive, killed the headlights, and parked near the end of the road. He reached into his glove compartment and drew out the pistol he kept there. He kept the weapon loaded with only snake shot that was designed to kill rattlesnakes, and didn’t have any regular ammunition with him.

  The pain and stiffness in his right shoulder made it almost impossible to use his arm at all. He’d probably be as good at using the gun with his left hand as a lame duck with a crutch. He made sure the safety was on before he stuffed the gun in the waistband at the back of his jeans.

  When the truck had been locked up, he started walking up the rough road to the house. His limp made him grind his teeth, as did the throbbing ache in his shoulder.

  The darkness made it harder to walk up the rough road to the house. A wind had kicked up and tugged at his ball cap.

  Harvey’s truck was parked in front of the darkened house, and only one window was lit on the south side, approximately where Gage remembered the kitchen to be. Gage made his way to the window from which the glow spilled onto the ground.

  When he reached the window, he eased up to it and peeked through a part in the curtains. Harvey was putting the lid back onto the one tumbler and inserting the straw in it. Gage watched as Harvey took his time making several sandwiches and wrapped them in plastic wrap.

  He looked distracted as he put the sandwiches into one of two plastic grocery bags and left the kitchen, heading in the direction of the living room with both bags. He left the cup with the straw on the countertop.

  Gage hurried to look into the living room
windows, but there was no light and the curtains were drawn tight. In the stillness of the night, Gage thought he heard the loud thump of a heavy door coming from inside the house.

  He waited, hearing nothing but silence coming from the house now. He carefully tried the front door, not wanting Harvey to notice in case he was in the living room. Locked.

  Gage went around to the back of the house and tried that door. To his surprise, it was unlocked. With his left hand, he slowly turned the knob, then used the same hand to draw his weapon. He waited a heartbeat and slipped into a utility room with a washer and dryer, wind following him inside. He shut the door against the wind and it howled through the cracks in the doorframe.

  After walking through the utility room, he checked to make sure Harvey wasn’t in the kitchen as he peered around the doorframe. He’d seen the man walk out, but he may have returned. When Gage saw the kitchen was empty, he slipped inside. He glanced at the counters and saw only breadcrumbs, the cup with the straw, and a small water spill.

  He headed to the living room, and again peered around the corner. No sign of Harvey. The house was dark and silent, but enough light came from the kitchen into the living room that Gage could make his way around without tripping over anything. Everything was as he remembered except for the couch, which had been pulled a couple of feet away from the wall. The cops must have looked behind it when they were conducting their search and hadn’t put it back.

  The house was old and full of creaks and groans in the wind and he felt a draft as he went down the hallway where the bathroom was. The living room, bathroom, kitchen, and utility room were the only rooms downstairs.

  He silently searched the rest of the downstairs and found no signs of Harvey or Tess. Harvey was in the house, somewhere. Whatever it took, Gage would make Harvey tell him where Tess was.

  Steps creaked as he made his way upstairs and searched for Harvey and Tess. Moving up the stairs made his body ache even more and he felt weaker than he’d ever felt in his life. But determination kept him going. Determination and love for his woman.