The Perfect Husband - Lisa Gardner [121]
“Stephanie, please go to your room.”
Stephanie got up quickly, looking relieved to escape. Then Martha turned to Edith.
“How do you know?”
“I see things,” Edith confessed in a rush. She’d never said so out loud before. It eased the pressure in her chest. She said more firmly, “I see the dead.”
Martha’s eyes widened. Edith waited to see shock, disgust, or even a faintly repelled look. Instead, Martha’s gaze grew sharp and intensely curious.
“You see the dead?”
“Yes.”
“Do they talk to you?”
“No, they just appear, so tortured, as if there’s something they need me to understand.”
Martha leaned forward and clutched Edith’s hand. Her grip was surprisingly strong.
“Tell me,” she whispered. “Tell me everything.”
IN THE BEDROOM Samantha took her ear away from the door. She’d been trained how to dial 911 and give her full name, address, and phone number. But she didn’t have a phone in this room and she no longer knew her address or phone number. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do now.
Finally she walked over to the bed she’d been given just a few days ago.
She sat on the edge and stroked her dolly’s hair. “It’s all right,” she told her baby. She patted the pretty pink doll again. “Mommy will come. Mommy will come and everything will be all right.”
TWENTY-FIVE
THE POLICE WERE trying to make up for past mistakes. Now the officers filing in for the briefing had to show their badges at the door. All three task force leaders stood next to the receptionist, personally identifying each man. With this system it took forty-five minutes to assemble the group.
Tess sat at the front of the room, J.T. beside her. Marion sat toward the back and Tess was still trying to decide if the distance was intentional. For the past twenty-four hours Tess and Marion had hammered away on Special Agent Quincy and Lieutenant Houlihan until they agreed to Tess’s plan. Last night Tess felt triumphant; finally something would happen. This morning she watched the news, saw her daughter’s picture flash across the screen once more, and simply felt terrified.
“All right, people,” Lieutenant Houlihan said, “listen up.”
Quincy strode into the room, looking harried, and Houlihan scowled. Quincy did a small double take, and instead of walking to his chair in the front of the room, promptly took a seat next to Marion. Houlihan got on with it.
“As you know, we have formulated a new strategy for catching Jim Beckett. In the front of the room here, we have Beckett’s ex-wife, Tess Williams, whom many of you know from before. Two and a half years ago she agreed to sit in her house and wait for Jim Beckett’s return. We agreed to protect her and catch her husband. We didn’t fulfill our end of the deal so well. Now she has volunteered to do the same once again, and, people, this time we’re going to get it right.
“We have three teams in this room. I’ve already briefed your supervisors, who will cover the details with you later. This is what you need to know now. Task Force A will continue canvassing for Samantha Williams and Jim Beckett. I know the hotline is still getting hits. Plus, it has been suggested that you follow up on the validity of Beckett’s family’s death certificates. You’re moving from an eight-hour to a twelve-hour shift—”
There were a few tired moans.
Houlihan continued ruthlessly. “Yes, people, your life sucks. Next, Teams B and C are assigned to Tess Williams with everyone rotating eight-hour shifts. You have three main objectives: Scout and secure Williamstown, watch the safe house, and remain mobilized for a full-fledged assault. Officers will be deployed in pairs. Some of you will walk beats, others of you will keep watch from unmarked cars. We will have ten officers deployed at all times. The FBI will coordinate surveillance and wiretapping. Also aiding you will be the SWAT team. We can’t keep them on full alert indefinitely, but they have agreed to give us three snipers to cover the rooftops. As you will read in your reports,