Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

proud of her . I want to be mad at her . Saying those things about Kim . They can’t be true . They just can’t .
    She didn’t set me up . She didn’t fake wanting to be with me, just to give me over to Doug . Whoever the hell he is . She didn’t . She couldn’t .
    Could she?
    ‘Hey, kid.’ It was that Fed. Novak. Ford continued to ignore him. Maybe he’ll go away . ‘ You okay, Ford? You might as well say something to let me know you’re all right, at least physically, otherwise I’m capable of annoying you until you do. It’s one of my special skills. So one more time. Are. You. Okay?’
    Ford blew out a breath. ‘Do I fucking look okay?’
    ‘No, you fucking look like shit. But you’ve been through a lot in the past two days. I figure you’re entitled. You got any questions?’
    ‘Like what?’
    ‘Like, did your mother tell the truth?’
    Ford turned his head to stare at the Fed. Novak leaned against the doorframe, appearing calm, but there was an intensity to the man that hummed under the surface.
    ‘Come closer, please,’ Ford said politely and Novak complied, coming to the side of Ford’s hospital bed, holding his gaze steady so that Ford could study his eyes. Each iris was two different colors, brilliant blue and chocolate brown, split right down the center. He looked like a comic book superhero, too brawny and rugged to be real. ‘Do they hurt?’
    ‘My eyes? No. Because you’ve had a bad day, I’ll allow you one more personal then you gotta get back to business. Got me?’
    ‘Yeah. What causes this . . . uniqueness?
    Novak’s lips twitched. ‘You are your mother’s son, aren’t you? Flatter and dig in one motion. It’s a genetic anomaly that runs in my family. Not contagious, not fatal, just cosmetic.’
    ‘Okay.’ Ford had many more questions, but he’d been allowed only one, so he respected the limit and got back to the subject he knew the Fed wanted to discuss. ‘ Is she telling the truth?’
    ‘Yes. In fact, she left some things out, either because she simply forgot or because she didn’t want to hurt you more.’
    ‘Tell me, then. Please.’
    ‘All the stuff about Kimberly having a record for theft is true. We don’t know how she met this Doug character, yet. We know they’ve worked together on several heists – important to your story is the theft from a state trooper’s gun safe. That’s where Doug got the taser gun he used on you. Kimberly was an acquaintance of the trooper’s daughter. That’s how she got her entrée to the trooper’s house.’
    ‘How did she know the safe’s combo?’
    ‘Planted a webcam in the heat vent above the safe. Turns out she and Doug have used this method several times since. We have a list of guns they’ve . . . purloined.’
    ‘Are they . . .’ Ford swallowed hard. ‘She and he . . . ?’
    ‘Lovers? Probably. Recently? That I don’t know.’
    ‘Hell.’
    Novak looked sympathetic. ‘Pretty much sums it up.’
    ‘So Kim did set me up, just like my mom told me.’
    ‘Yeah. I’m sorry, Ford. Your mother’s PI dug up a lot of this information. See, he has huge motivation to catch Doug.’
    ‘Finding me. Right?’
    ‘Partially. This is the other thing she didn’t tell you. I feel like you should know. She wanted to hire a bodyguard for you.’
    ‘I said no.’
    ‘So she hired one anyway.’
    Ford’s eyes widened. ‘She did what ?’
    Novak lifted a shoulder. ‘You’d find out sooner or later. The BG worked for Maynard. Name was Isaac Zacharias. Maynard’s a pal of yours, right?’
    ‘Yeah, we’re tight. Mainly because he’s just my mother’s friend. I don’t have to call him “daddy”. Unlike some other people who were touching her way too much tonight.’
    Novak arched his ultra-white brows. ‘Not bad, trying to dig dirt on Joseph Carter. I got nothin’ there, other than he seems to care for your mother a great deal. So, back to Maynard. That night you were taken? His pal gets killed. Doug nearly severs his head right off his neck.’
    Ford’s gripped the bed rail when the room began to spin. ‘Holy shit.’
    ‘Exactly. That’s why Maynard’s a man with a mission. Zacharias was his old partner when he was a cop. Not sure your mother knew the severed head bit. I think Carter was trying to protect her from hearing it.’
    ‘Oh my God. Poor Clay. That poor man . . . Zacharias. He died protecting me.’
    ‘That was his job. He also fucked up, though, just so you know it