Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

makes you so sure?”
    “Gladys came down to the station and ID’d a photo of him.”
    “What photo? How come I didn’t know any of this?” Panic was creeping into her voice.
    “Do you remember a few weeks back when we were at Paula’s? Beverly showed us the photo of her and her girlfriend at the beach.”
    “I remember. But they were the only ones in the photo.”
    “On the next page, there was a photo of two vacationers standing in line at the casino. Kurt was there, in the background. I thought it might be him, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to worry you. I showed it to Tom, but there really wasn’t much that could be done. When he showed it to Gladys today, she didn’t hesitate to identify him as the man she had seen off and on throughout the summer in that canoe, in the marsh.”
    Max was now shaking and Jack could see the fear in her eyes. “So he’s been here all summer, watching us?”
    “Seems so.”
    “You son of a bitch! A hired killer is stalking us and you don’t tell me!” she said.
    “Max …”
    “Don’t! You should have told me.”
    Patti walked in at this moment and said, “Told you what?”
    Before Max could reply, Jack turned to her and said, “It’s nothing, Patti …”
    Max cut him off. “Nothing! Nothing, my ass! Patti, it seems that the guy who broke in last night and nearly killed Cat is the same psycho who was stalking Daniel before he killed him ! And Jack didn’t think that this was important enough to tell me!”
    “Patti. We only just found out. I wasn’t holding anything from her,” Jack protested.
    “You did.” And with that Max turned and walked out back.
    Jack looked at Patti.
    She said, “Sit. I’ll be right back.” Then she followed Max out back.
    The moment she left, the slip printer began to spit out drink orders. There was no sign that either Max or Patti would return anytime soon, so Jack got up and made the drinks. As he was working behind the bar, Courtney walked in.
    “Jack, what are you doing here? Where’s Max?”
    “She’s out back. She needed a moment and I’m covering for her.”
    She waited until a waitress had breezed through and grabbed the drinks. Then she asked, “What did you do?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Jack,” she said sharply. “What’s going on?”
    “She’s pissed at me because she thinks I kept something from her.”
    “Did you?”
    “No! I didn’t.”
    “So what is it?
    “I can’t …”
    “Jack Beale. We’ve known each other for way too long to play these games. Spill it.”
    “Fine. She’s pissed because I didn’t tell her that it was Kurt who broke in last night and hurt Cat. It’s not one hundred percent, but close enough.”
    “Kurt? … As in the creepy guy who has been hanging around for the last few months and probably killed Daniel? That Kurt?”
    “That one.”
    She went silent and just stared at him. “You’d better tell me what’s going on.”

CHAPTER 84
    WHILE JACK WAS in the bar dealing with Max, Kurt was still heading back on I-495.
    He glanced down at his bandaged hand. The new dressing looked better, more professional, than the strips of pillowcase he had been using, but it still hurt like hell. He knew that it had to be infected. Crimson lines were beginning to creep from his wrist up his arm. Soon aspirin and ointment would not help much. He would need to get some more serious antibiotics somehow. But first, he needed to get something else.
    He remembered that in Lowell, there was a university and that’s where he would get what he needed. The rain continued off and on, forcing the traffic to be slower than normal. That gave him more time to search for the correct exit.
    Kurt followed exit 35C onto the Lowell Connector. Exit 5B was next as he followed the signs to the university. He crossed the Merrimack River and turned right onto Riverside Street. In less than a half mile he arrived, along with another intense downpour.
    At University Ave. he could see academic buildings to his right. To the left he saw a sign for Suppa’s Pizza and Subs. His stomach rumbled, he checked his watch, and took the left-hand turn. He needed to have something to eat, and he guessed that it would be a good place to ask for directions as he waited for his order.
    “Sure. Go back down University, right out front. Turn left on Riverside. Just a couple of blocks down on your right will be Olney Hall. That’s where the chemistry department is.”
    “Thanks.” Kurt took the brown paper bag from