The sun was situated just above the horizon when Cassidy stopped her car in front of David’s condominium complex. The time was 6:47pm and the evening rush was nearly at an end. David and Cassidy remained mostly quiet during the drive from Tony’s stash house in Queens to Midtown Manhattan. After inquiring about Cassidy’s well-being, David did not know what to talk about, and Cassidy was too preoccupied with thoughts about what just happened. She was also considering the possibilities of what could happen.
“I’ll tell Stefan to hurry over to this Jeremiah’s house and clean it up,” David advised shortly after the car came to a stop.
David did not know that Stefan, Helga, Sorin and Adrianna were already at Jeremiah’s home. Nadja did not have time to tell him that, and he and Petru had not spoken to any of the other Dacia Vampires. It was David’s supposition that some of their members were on their way to Jeremiah’s house now, and he concluded that the fire at the commercial building made the cleanup they needed to do urgent; the police would surely go to Jeremiah’s home when they discovered he was the owner of the building that Cassidy had set ablaze.
“No, don’t do that,” Cassidy softly countered with a shake of her head. “They need to stay away from that house now.”
Cassidy’s pensive expression was a clear indicator to David that she was in deep contemplation about the situation. Rather than challenge her thinking, he chose to wait for Cassidy to speak her mind.
“There are more of them out there,” Cassidy announced after a moment of thought. “Jeremiah’s neighbor spoke of seeing two separate women at his place and possibly more.”
“Are you sure they’re immortals?” David queried.
“No, I can’t be sure of that,” Cassidy answered with little thought to the question. “But what I am sure about is that Jeremiah Kingston was killed early this morning.”
“So, you’re saying the killer wasn’t McGuire or whoever else was in that building we came from,” David surmised out loud.
“The neighbor said that two women, one man and possibly more left Jeremiah Kingston’s house early this morning,” Cassidy advised. “And they left in Jeremiah Kingston’s car. I didn’t see Jeremiah’s car in the parking lot of that building we just left.”
David knew from his experience as a vampire that Jeremiah Kingston’s killer had to be a vampire too. He knew that no one or two or seven mortals could have done to a vampire what Cassidy described.
“Can you use your resources to find the car,” David asked after a quick thought.
“No,” Cassidy sharply rejected. “I would have to put out an APB, and I need an excuse to do that.”
“Okay, tonight we keep an eye on Kingston’s home and the building we just left and see who comes knocking,” David suggested.
“I don’t think that’s going to work either,” Cassidy pondered.
“Why?” David politely queried.
“Whoever killed Jeremiah Kingston ran, and I don’t think they were running from the police,” Cassidy assessed.
“They’re running from McGuire,” David concluded based on Cassidy’s assessment.
“That would be my bet,” Cassidy agreed.
“So, what do we do?” David asked.
“We wait,” Cassidy responded with a sigh. “When Queens North finds out who owns that building that—I—just torched, they’re going to be knocking on Jeremiah Kingston’s door. And when they find his body, they’ll send out an APB for his car. And when they find it…” she trailed off with a sigh.
“You think it’s game over?” David questioned with a knowing look.
“There’s has to be fingerprints all over that house,” Cassidy concluded.
“All the more reason why we need to get in there,” David insisted.
“There’s no time,” Cassidy sharply countered.
“How much time is there?” David queried in a hurry.
“Two, three hours, leave it alone,” Cassidy advised with a shake of her head. “If one of you gets caught in there, that’s just going to make it worse,” she said with insistence. “Give me your cellphone,” Cassidy instructed in a tone that suggested she was changing the subject.
David was confused by the request and hesitated.
“I lost mine in the fire,” Cassidy responded to David’s look of curiosity.
“Oh,” David acknowledged as he pulled out his cellphone, unlocked it using the facial recognition system and then extended it to Cassidy.
When Cassidy had David’s cellphone in hand, she dialed out to the NYPD’s main number. That was the only number to the NYPD that she had committed to memory. Once the call connected, Cassidy used her name and badge number to negotiate her way through two switchboard operators before being connected to her squad room.
“Manhattan South Homicide,” Dt. Vera Washington greeted.
“This is Cassidy,” Cassidy sighed annoyingly into the cellphone. “Connect me to Hale,” she instructed gruffly.
“Tremaine?” Vera returned with surprise. “Why are you calling in through the switchboard?”
“I lost my cellphone,” Cassidy testily replied. “Just put me through to Hale.”
“Hale is busy explaining to the lieutenant how Kathryn Dryden eluded our surveillance,” Vera returned in a rude voice. “So, you can stay home and deal with your personal issues,” she finished with finality.
An instant later, the call disconnected. Cassidy pulled the cellphone back from her head and looked at it to verify that Vera had hung up on her.
“Bitch,” Cassidy cursed at the cellphone.
“Is there a problem?” David asked in response to Cassidy’s angry epithet towards his cellphone.
“No, no,” Cassidy answered with a distracted delivery. “There’s something else I have to deal with,” she continued while quickly bringing David’s cellphone up to make a second call.
Cassidy’s thoughts had suddenly shifted to her other responsibilities and the time of day. She was considering the possibility that her return home would be late at night if things went as she hoped. Cassidy knew that her children would be taken care of by her neighbor, Valerie Bower, but she also suspected that her return home could occur at a time that was too late to be knocking on Valerie’s door. With this thinking in mind, she used David’s cellphone to dial her mother. After a few seconds of ringing, the call picked up.
“Hi, mom, I’m going to be working later than I expected,” Cassidy quickly spoke into the cellphone. “I might not be able to get home until late tonight.”
“Cassidy?” Margaret returned with a touch of astonishment in her tone. “Where are you calling from?”
“I lost my phone,” Cassidy returned quickly. “I’m calling from a friend’s phone.”
“You lost your cellphone,” Margaret quickly countered before Cassidy could say more. “That doesn’t sound like you. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, mom, I’m fine,” Cassidy impatiently answered. “Can you keep Cynthia and John tonight?”
“Yes of course,” Margaret returned as if her answer was obvious.
“Thanks, mom,” Cassidy returned with an abundance of appreciation. “If I’m back before eight, I’ll swing by and get them.”
“Okay, honey,” Margaret responded with air of indifference. “You be careful.”
Cassidy quickly said goodbye to Margaret, disconnected the call and extended the cellphone back to David.
“I have to go,” Cassidy promptly announced with impatience.
“So, I’ll see later?” David queried with his hand on the door handle.
“I don’t know. Maybe—I don’t know. I have something else to deal with,” Cassidy fumbled out in a hurry.
“Okay,” David accepted as he opened the front passenger door.
David could see that Cassidy was heavily distracted by something and that she was not going to share what that was. Seeing that there was nothing more to discuss, he got out of the car, closed the door and started to look through the window for any parting words or waves, but the car was in motion by then.
Cassidy’s abrupt departure had nothing to do with David. Her thoughts were focused on Kathryn Dryden. In short order, Cassidy did the math on Kathryn’s sudden disappearance. She reasoned that Kathryn had only one card to play if she was planning to remain inside her multimillion-dollar home, the loose end had to be tied off.
Initially, Cassidy was unsure about what she should do about Kathryn Dryden. She knew where Kathryn was likely to go, but she did not know how to explain her possession of that knowledge to her superiors. It was that dilemma that had distracted her. She finally decided that debating with herself was a waste of time, so she went after Karl Volker on her own. Telling her team where Karl Volker was located became moot when she gave David’s cellphone back and drove off.
Arresting Karl Volker was the thing Cassidy had to do before Kathryn Dryden got to him. In Cassidy’s mind, it was a race. She was counting on Kathryn to avoid any form of transportation that would leave a paper trail or a witness who could identify her. Cassidy knew that if Kathryn was cognizant of those concerns, then mass transit was the means of travel she would use. She calculated that there just might be enough time for her to get to the Hoboken Rodeway Inn before Kathryn.
Cassidy steered her car through the streets of New York City at a hurried pace, traffic signals and speed limits were the only restraints to the pace of her driving. After several minutes of zigzagging, hard stops and quick accelerations, Cassidy raced through the Lincoln Tunnel. When she came out on the other side, the sun was well below the western horizon and only a faint glow of red light remained along the horizon.
Cassidy continued her frantic pace through the streets of Union City, New Jersey, and down toward Hoboken. She was halfway hoping that a patrol car would stop her so that she could recruit its occupant into being her backup, but she also worried the officers would delay her with questions and calls to their superiors and to hers. Cassidy consciously avoided dwelling on the matter during the three-mile drive from the tunnel exit to the Rodeway Inn. Her transit time was quick because of the sparse post-afternoon rush hour traffic, and because not see a single patrol car crossed her path along the way.
When Cassidy turned her car into the driveway leading to the front of the inn, she slowed to look over the half dozen individuals moving about in the area. She was just starting to turn into a parking space for the inn when a man came out of the front entrance followed closely by a woman wearing a tan baseball cap and sunglasses. The woman was too concealed by her headwear and position behind the man to be identified with just a glance, but the man had the height and features to make him a possible for Karl Volker. With these general features alone gave Cassidy cause to stop the car to examine them. Seconds into her observation, Cassidy shoved the gear shift into park, jumped out of her vehicle and drew her gun on the couple.
“Hold it right there, Volker,” Cassidy yelled while aiming her handgun directly at him.
Despite her attire, Cassidy made the woman as a match for Kathryn Dryden, and concluded that the man had to be Karl Volker. Any residual skepticism she might have had went away when Volker came to a sudden stop and grasped the handle of the handgun he had shoved into the back of his pants beneath his jacket.
“Don’t do it, Karl,” Cassidy commanded while holding a bead on the center of Karl’s torso. “NYPD, don’t do it.”
Karl was reluctant to pull the gun out with Cassidy so close and with her gun aimed at his chest. He examined Cassidy with an expression of alarm and distress. Kathryn’s hands were out by her sides and slightly raised. She also had a shocked expression as she slowly moved away from Karl and the line of fire. After a long pause, Karl looked to Kathryn for instructions.
“It’s over, Volker,” Cassidy yelled out. “Show me your hands—slowly.”
Karl briefly looked at Cassidy in response to her command, and then turned his gaze back to Kathryn. His expression was a mix of fright and confusion. He did not know what he should do, and he did not know what Kathryn wanted him to do. Her silence and gradual distancing away had him perplexed.
Kathryn Dryden was confused, but she was calculating quickly. She knew that there were video cameras inside and out of the inn. She saw them when she first arrived, and she was fully aware of the camera high on the wall capturing everything in the parking area. She also noticed the growing crowd of bystanders focusing their cellphone cameras on them. She quickly decided that she needed to stay quiet and uninvolved in the unfolding drama.
Karl briefly looked at Cassidy in response to her command, and then he turned his gaze back toward Kathryn. His facial expression was a mix of confusion and fear. He did not know what he should do, and he did not know what she wanted him to do. Kathryn’s silence and slow move away had him perplexed.
“Don’t look at her, Karl,” Cassidy loudly warned. “She wants you dead. You’re just a loose end to her.”
Karl gave Cassidy a quick look, and then he turned his gaze back to Kathryn with a wild expression of surprise and disbelief.
“Do you really think she was about to give up her multi-million-dollar Lenox Hill home for you,” Cassidy yelled at Karl.
Cassidy paused to give Karl time to consider what she just said.
“She’s not denying it,” Cassidy stridently continued. “She can’t. Not in front of these witnesses.”
Karl quickly looked toward Kathryn and waited for her to give a response. Shortly, he noticed a slight shake of her head in panic. He then turned his eyes back to Cassidy with a hint of resolve on his face.
“Don’t do it, Karl,” Cassidy roared at Volker. “Think it through. That’s exactly what she wants. You’re the proof that she hired you to kill her husband. With you dead she’s going to make up some lie about a jealous ex-boyfriend, and then she’s going to sell it to the court,” she emphatically explained.
Once again Karl turned his attention back to Kathryn with an amazed expression, and once again Kathryn responded with silence and a barely perceptible shake of her head. As Karl held his attention on Kathryn, she continued to shake her head while inching further away.
“Think it through, Karl,” Cassidy yelled while holding her bead on him. “You’re blown. We’ve got you at the scene of the crime. You shoot me, you’re a cop killer. Your chances of living long enough to go to prison go down considerably. Your way out of this with the least amount of jail time is by surrendering and turning state’s evidence for a reduced sentence. Think it through, Karl. Think it through.”
Halfway through Cassidy’s spiel, Karl turned his attention back to her and relaxed. Cassidy took a moment to notice that she was starting to win him over.
“Put the gun on the ground, Karl,” Cassidy commanded forcefully.
Karl took a moment to consider Cassidy’s order, and then he began to slowly pull his arm out from beneath his jacket.
“Slowly,” Cassidy loudly ordered as a warning.
Karl froze for a moment to heed Cassidy’s words, then he slowly slipped his hand and the gun out from beneath his jacket. When the gun was out in front of him, Karl stooped down and set the weapon on the ground. Then he stood straight up and raised his empty hands up over his head. As he was doing that, Kathryn went into her purse at a frenzied pace, pulled out her revolver and pointed it at Karl.
“Don’t do it, Kathryn,” Cassidy yelled as she turned her weapon on her.
“No,” Kathryn called out tearfully. “He killed my husband.”
“If you shoot him, I shoot you,” Cassidy warned. “Put the gun down.”
Karl was startled to see Kathryn pointing a gun at him. He was even more surprised to hear her claim that he murdered James Dryden. All his doubts and questions about what was happening went away the moment she said those words. He knew that Cassidy wanted him to give evidence against Kathryn, and for the first time he was convinced that Kathryn wanted him dead. Now worried that Kathryn might pull the trigger, Karl began to inch away from her.
“He killed my husband,” Kathryn loudly whined as she inched toward Karl.
“Mrs. Dryden, I will shoot you if you pull that trigger,” Cassidy shouted at her.
As Cassidy spoke, the first sounds of police sirens could be heard approaching from a distance. Kathryn became visibly more panicked by the sounds of approaching police cars, her eyes kept fidgeting back and forth between Cassidy and Karl.
“Put the gun down, Mrs. Dryden,” Cassidy gruffly ordered.
“He killed my husband,” Kathryn whined in desperation. “He needs to die for what he did,” she added as tearfully as she could.
“I’m ordering you, Mrs. Dryden, put the gun down,” Cassidy commanded as she inched forward.
It was seconds after Cassidy shouted that last command when the first patrol car screeched to a stop just inside the driveway in front of the inn. The police officer inside the car jumped out with his gun at the ready, took a defensive position behind his car and directed his weapon at Cassidy, his closes target.
“Police,” the first officer loudly yelled. “Put down the guns.”
Cassidy was already complying with order while yelling back at the officer.
“I’m a cop—NYPD. These people are under my arrest.”
While she was speaking a second and third patrol car screeched to stops just inside the driveway.
“Put the gun down,” the first patrol officer ordered for a second time.
Cassidy had already placed her gun on the ground. The second order was for Kathryn who was hesitant to do as she was ordered. Reluctantly, she lowered the gun then set it on the ground.
“I’m an NYPD police officer,” Cassidy yelled out again. “I’m arresting this man and this woman.”
Just as Cassidy finished speaking, three more patrol cars screeched to a stop and all the uniformed officers within them jumped out with their guns drawn. They immediately followed the lead of the patrol officers already there and moved in to complete the arrest of all involved.
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and then Add to home screen.