Chapter 156

“You said he was Grace’s ex-husband?” Captain Whitlock fell back in his chair.
“Yes,” Will’s gripped the edge of the desk. He hated how all of this was making him feel. It was like a partially healed scab was being picked at. It was a past injury flaring up, the phantom pain of a lost limb. Old hurts. Hurts that should have been forgotten long ago now all rose to the surface. And he hated it. He swore he was done with those feelings. But now they were back in full force.
“What do you know about their relationship?”
“I can’t do this right now,” Will said, looking at his fists. Their relationship. Those words were like a knife twisting in his gut. Ugh! I hate this! Why does this still hurt?
“I’m sorry,” the captain said. “But we don’t have the luxury of tiptoeing around your feelings right now. I know this is hard, and it probably hurts. But to be honest, I don’t care. Now, answer the question.”
Will’s eyes flashed up at the captain, filled with anger and anguish.
“She contacted me while I was in Italy,” he almost snarled.
“After you and Emma had just been married?” Captain Whitlock raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t judge me. There were… circumstances about that marriage. Either way, I didn’t want to see her. But she said that she needed someone to keep her from… Hurting herself.”
The irony. She had run to him once to prevent that. But in the end, she had forced him to witness it. His eyes were dark and stony as he fought to keep his emotions in check. Part of him wanted to give in. To breakdown and just give in to himself. Anything to make these feelings go away forever.
Captain Whitlock softened as he realized what was going on in Will’s mind.
“Sorry. Why was she seeking such an intense escape?”
“She was running from him. She said their marriage was in shambles and that things had gone horribly wrong, that he was cheating on her.”
“That was it? He wasn’t hurting her?”
“She said ‘no’ when I asked. She insisted he hadn’t touched her.”
“Did you believe her?”
“No. I wanted to, though. I really wanted to. But she was afraid of him. That much was clear. Other than the fact that he was unfaithful, she never revealed anything about their relationship” His body sagged with a heavy sigh and his hands released the edge of the desk. “The second she came back, she tried to pick me up where she left me, like nothing had happened. That should have been my first hint. There was no regard for any feelings but her own. But I was so caught up in my own heartbreak that I did the same thing. We were just two broken people looking for someone else to fix us.”
“Hmm,” the captain mused. He held his chin while pondering the somberness of this situation. Will was not going to be able to speak on that subject. He was too close and too emotional. He was a pot of boiling water, ready to bubble over. “What else did Grace leave in that box along with that album?”
“There were tickets to Costa Rica, and a pistol.”
“And what did you do with those items?”
“I gave the tickets away. The pistol is here with me,” he said, setting on the desk between them. It was in a plastic Ziploc bag.
“I’m glad you had the wherewithal to bag that gun up. I’ll have that submitted to evidence. But I wish you hadn’t given the tickets away.”
“Why? You want to go to Costa Rica? After all this is over, I’ll send you there myself. You deserve a damn vacation. Maybe we should all go.”
The captain laughed. It was a small spot of mirth that they both needed.
“I may take you up on that. But no that isn’t why. Those tickets could have had a clue. The date, the flight number, the time… something on those tickets could have led us to Ghost.”
“I see. Well, I gave them to my assistant. She probably made copies of them. I’ll have someone check.”
“Good. We need every possible lead. Anything that could lead us to him or close to him.”
“Do you really think we need to actively search for him? He wants me. Why don’t I just… tell him to come and get me?
“Set yourself up as bait? You’re kidding. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?” the captain’s voice rose.
“As dangerous as blindly trying to find him?” Will challenged.
“No one is ‘blindly trying’ to do anything. This man is a criminal. A murderer. What you’re suggesting is risky, reckless, and just plain stupid,” he chastised. “This man is deranged. The worst the world has ever seen.” The captain pulled out a fancy leather-bound notebook and waved it in Will’s direction. “This is Robert’s journal. This alone would have been enough to lock that coward away for life He’s implicated many other people, and we are working on apprehending those smaller targets. But interestingly, there isn’t a single entry about Ghost in here. Not one. Every entry in here makes it seem as though Robert was the mastermind of the entire plot. But we know that isn’t the case. What does that mean to you?”
“Fear.”
“And control. It tells me that Ghost oversaw every part of this ordeal. And this,” he flipped to the last page. “Solidifies that it was truly. Every. Part.”
Will looked at the page. In red ink, the words, MY CLAWS RUN DEEP, leapt out at him. But it didn’t scare him. It was a challenge. A direct call out to him.
“Why are you telling me this? What’s the point of all of this?” Will’s frustration crackled and jumped as though an electric fence had been switched on underneath his skin.
“I need you understand how serious this is. This isn’t some hostile take over of a company. This isn’t some building project. We aren’t talking about mergers and acquisitions.,” the captain explained.
“You don’t think I know that?” Will leaned over, his hands bracing himself on the desk. It was as the air in the room was getting thin. This is too much. Everything is too much.
“No. I don’t think that you do.”
Will pounded his fist on the table.
“Yes, I do! That doesn’t mean I have to fucking okay with it! I’ll do whatever it takes to end this.”
Captain Whitlock had known Will a long time. They had their dance, along with Alex, and he thought he was done with both of them. He feared that he couldn’t predict the outcome. There was a chance that someone could get hurt. After this was over, there would be no disentangling. Their journey could be over soon, but he would be stuck traveling the road with them. Even if they managed to catch Ghost and bring him to justice, he suspected that the cost would be high.
“Excuse me, Captain Whitlock?” a young police officer popped his head into the office.
“We’re in a meeting, Nathan. Is anything wrong?”
“Is the owner of the Maserati in here?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” Will answered. “Is something wrong?”
“Oh. Um… well, it’s blocking the spot for the police cruiser. Are-are you able to move it?”
“Here,” Will fished his keys out of his pockets and tossed them and the younger man. “Go ahead and move it. Drive it around the block if you like.”
“Really?” The young man’s face lit up as he caught the keys.
“Sure,” a small smile tugged at the end of his lips. “Just don’t scratch her.”
“I won’t! Thank you!” he ran off with youthful glee.
“He’s a sweet kid. Not the greatest, yet. But he’s eager and smart. He’ll be great as he learns more,” Captain Whitlock said when the young officer was out of earshot. “That was nice of you.”
“It’s just a car,” Will shrugged. “There are more important things.”
A few seconds later, a loud explosion rocked the entire station. Loud shouts filled the air. The two men ran out of the office and saw the pandemonium that had gripped everyone. From the window, they could see wild flames and thick, black smoke rising.
“Oh no, Nathan!” someone shouted as they ran back in.
Fuck. Will pushed past the panicked group and ran to the door. The sight shocked him, and he felt his blood run cold despite the extreme heat just a few feet in front of him. His sleek, black car was now engulfed in fire.
People were gathered around. The levels of carnage were things he’d only seen in movies. There were people with their faces covered in angry burns; others had injured limbs. A few even lay motionless on the ground. This isn’t happening. Sirens wailed in the distance, signaling help was on the way. Everything moved in slow motion. The scent of burning metal and flesh turned Will’s stomach.
“What happened?” Captain Whitlock shouted over the chaos.
“We saw that sexy ass car out here, and Nathan got the keys to go move it,” another young officer explained with tears in eyes and panic in his voice. “We all wanted… we all wanted to see. But when he turned the key… when he turned the key…” the young man sobbed. “Some people were too close and got caught in the explosion.”
Captain Whitlock looked over at Will.
“I think you were already bait and didn’t even know.”