Identity Crisis(102)

‘How did you find him?’ Garrett asked.

‘I pulled a few strings,’ Wade said. ‘Convinced some of the friends I know in media that it might be time to check for porn on the computers of their employees. They got my meaning.’

Garrett knew that as low key and mild-mannered as Wade Crittenden appeared to be, the man had friends in high places and endless resources of the human kind, of the technological kind, and of the kind that came with Pneuma Inc.’s very deep pockets.

‘You’re sure it’s him?’ Kendra asked.

‘All of the emails were there on his computer, and he’s admitted to writing them.’

There was a timid knock on the kitchen door and Don stuck his head in. ‘You two need to see what’s on television,’ he said.

‘Keep me on,’ Wade said. ‘I’ll watch from here.’

Just as they settled onto the sofa in front of the big screen TV, Kendra’s Blackberry rang. It was Dee. ‘Thank God! Ken, are you all right’ Her voice was breathless, urgent. Kendra owed her a huge apology. She’d literally stolen the Audi when Dee was in the shower. Before Kendra could respond she continued, ‘Did Wade call? Did he tell you they’ve caught the stalker?’

‘I’m fine. Garrett has him on speaker phone now. I’ll call you back,’ she said, as she looked up to see a man being taken away from the Web-Z offices in handcuffs, his face covered by a jacket he had pulled over his head. She shut off the device and laid it on the coffee table next to Garrett’s, her attention now riveted to the voiceover.

‘Bill Gleason was arrested early this morning for threatening the life of romance novelist and winner of the Golden Kiss Award, Tess Delaney. Since Tess’s first ever public appearance at Friday night’s award ceremony, rumors have been rife about her early and mysterious exit from the ceremony with Garrett Thorne, younger brother to Ellison Thorne, CEO of Pneuma Inc. Since that time, Ms. Delaney has been holed up at Garrett’s house insisting, during several conversations with the press, that her stay with Thorne was nothing more than him providing a quiet place for her to finish writing her next novel. Speculations arose early on the first day of Ms. Delaney’s confinement that there was a threat to her life, speculations confirmed by presenter and literary critic, Barker Blessing. Those speculations were denied – no doubt for the protection of Ms. Delaney.’

The same reporter at large, who had been on hand the first day Kendra had awoken in Garrett’s flat, was once again back in the bookstores, asking how people felt about the stalker’s arrest.

‘I’m so relieved they found him. It must have been so terrifying for Tess.’

‘How could anyone do such a thing?’

‘I suspected that something wasn’t right after that interview with Barker Blessing.’

There were several more similar one-liners from the bookstore frequenters, many with Tess Delaney novels in tow. Then the report returned to the voiceover.

‘So far Tess has made no comment, though she was seen arriving in a blue Audi a short while ago looking rather distressed.’ Sure enough, there was footage of Tess piling out of the Audi and forcing Garrett and Don back into the house.

‘The press is hoping for a statement from Tess Delaney and Garrett Thorne soon.’

‘You’re sure?’ Garrett asked Wade.

‘This is the man who wrote the emails, yes,’ Wade said. ‘He hasn’t admitted to breaking into your house or being in the woods behind Ellis’s house, but the police are still questioning him.’

Carla’s fingers cramped from the cold rain and from the murderous grip she had on her iPhone. When her editor picked up she said. ‘Phil, is it true about Gleason?’

Phil Gibbs puffed out a breath that sounded like a small explosion against her ear. ‘Dena Parish found the emails,’ he said. ‘She was using Gleason’s computer to send a quick message. I mean, we were going to check everyone anyway. Request by Wade Crittenden. Didn’t even know he knew Tess Delaney, but then he does know Ellison Thorne’s brother, so I guess that’s how he fits into this. Wade’s a police force within himself, you know? He’s the go-to man for most of the police departments in the Northwest, even though criminology’s not his thing. Still, he’s Wade Crittenden, isn’t he? If he says make it so, no one’s going to argue. Turns out he was right again. It was someone in the press.

‘Anyway, like I said, Dena found the emails by accident. Gleason said it was nothing, but they didn’t sound like nothing to me. Scary shit, Flannery. Scary shit. Hard to believe he was right here in our midst spewing out all that horrible stuff all along and we didn’t know it. I mean, I thought he seemed awfully interested in what was going on with the Tess situation, but then who wasn’t? Jesus, he was even out there with you quite a bit, wasn’t he?’