The Perfect Husband - Lisa Gardner [125]
It’ll be all right, kid. I’ll take care of Sam. Houlihan and Quincy will catch Beckett. It’ll be all right, kid.
Quincy returned with the chairs and they all took seats. Moments later Lieutenant Houlihan joined them. His face was still gray and his forehead lined with frustration, anger, and pain.
“No blood,” he said without preamble. “The head was cut off immediately after death, frozen to slow decomposition, then left in the ventilation shaft. You can access the shaft via the roof. Son of a bitch must’ve crawled in the morning we were all still at the crime scene and left his little present.” Belatedly he glanced at Tess and Marion. “Sorry,” he muttered.
“It’s okay,” Tess said as she gripped her cup more tightly. “I’m getting used to these conversations.”
“How did he get Special Agent Quincy’s cell phone number?” Marion was eager to establish that she was part of the law enforcement group and not some weak-kneed female observer. “Surely your number is unlisted, sir.”
“Difford had it,” Quincy said. “Wilcox too. Beckett either found it on their persons or asked them for it.”
That made everyone in the room visualize just how he would “request” information, and they all shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. Tess found herself looking at J.T. again. His gaze was locked on the far wall, but she could see that his jaw was tight. He wouldn’t worry about himself, it wasn’t his nature. But she imagined he could vividly picture Jim Beckett attacking either her or Marion. She had made that horror part of his world. It seemed so blatantly unfair.
“Why just the head?” she asked after a moment.
“I don’t know,” Quincy replied.
“Scare tactics,” J.T. stated. “Demoralize the troops.”
Quincy frowned but didn’t argue. It was obvious the straightlaced agent didn’t approve of a mercenary.
“He still has Difford’s body,” Marion pointed out.
“Perhaps,” Quincy shrugged. “No one’s checked the trunks of their cars.”
They all fell silent, and the air was heavy and strained.
“Do you think you should also be under watch?” Tess spoke up softly. “You keep saying I’m the target, but he’s focused on most of the people who helped catch him before. That was me, Difford, and you, Quincy.”
“It bears consideration.”
“What if he uses the safe house as a ruse? The police are watching me in it, so he seizes the opportunity to get you. That would be something he’d do.”
“Absolutely.” Quincy thrummed the table with his fingers. “I’ll be in the surveillance van with Lieutenant Houlihan for most of the watch. They can guard my back.”
“Snipers?” J.T. quizzed. “Three’s nothing for a town.”
“Williamstown is small,” Lieutenant Houlihan interjected. “You can walk from one end of it to the other in just twenty minutes. Basically it’s a collection of old buildings that make up Williams College, with some historic storefronts for the tourists. Tess’s house is on Elm Street, ten minutes from Main Street. The whole block is old, restored row houses. We’ll position the snipers on the corners, providing aerial coverage of the street.”
“One corner will be uncovered.”
“True, but visibility is pretty good. We’ll put one guy mid-block on the right with the other two on the left-hand corners, forming a triangle around Tess’s house. It should keep the roof clean.”
“And the officers on duty?” J.T. persisted skeptically. It was obvious he didn’t think much of the police or their efforts.
“We’ll have a main surveillance van, two unmarked cars, and three pairs of cops walking the city. It’s a college campus with a lot of young coeds. We’ll warn everyone of the danger and maintain a strong police presence throughout the campus. Williams College security and the local police will also provide regular patrols.”
“Uh-huh. Won’t a surveillance van parked outside the house be a bit obvious?”
“It won’t be on Elm. Arnold, Hall, Maple, and Linden all intersect. We’ll pick one of the streets as a starting point and move around between