The Dashwood Tapes

He heard a phone ring somewhere in the house. He rolled over and was just about back to sleep when she appeared at his bedroom door.

"Get your pants on. We gotta go."

"What's up."

"Stu just called. The fire department is at your house. It just blew up."

He rolled out of bed and as he reached for his pants he realized he was standing stark naked in front of her. Shrugging he pulled on his pants and grabbed a shirt and his shoes.

"Let's go. She was still standing in her shorts and singlet top.

"Wait. I need to dress too."

She came back wearing jeans and a t-shirt. By now he had on his shirt and shoes. They jumped in the car and she spun the tires at the bottom of the driveway as she sped down the street.

"What happened?"

"Don't know. Stu called and said the Fire Marshall was looking for you."

They rounded the corner and they could see the spectacle of flashing lights in front of his house. As they pulled up and he jumped out of the car a uniformed officer came toward them.

"Sorry Sir, you need to get back in your. . . "

"Fuck you junior that is my house."

He pushed past the officer who was about to reach out to stop him when Rafferty grabbed the officers arm and badged him.

"That is detective Stevens and that is his house."

The cop nodded and went back to being a presence.

Steve looked at what had once been his house. Now it was a shattered blackened hulk. Pieces of it were scattered clear to the street. The fire officer saw him and came forward.

"You Stevens?"

"Yeah."

He pointed out to an SUV parked in the street.

"The Fire Marshall wants to talk to you."

He walked over to the SUV, dodging parts of his house. As he walked by he saw part of his department shooting competition trophy.

At the SUV, he stopped and the guy inside looked up.

"Stevens?"

"Yeah"

"What the hell were you storing in there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Whatever you were storing blew this house apart before it caught fire."

"I didn't have anything like that in there."

"You don't reload or have explosives?"

"Hell no."

"We thought for a while that you were inside. Your car is pretty ruined and since it is here, we assumed you were inside and we would be putting you in a body bag."

"I have been staying with a friend."

The Fire Marshall looked past him at Rafferty."

"OK"

Just then one of the fire officers came hurrying up.

"Tim, you better come look at this."

The Fire Marshall got out of the car and followed the officer into the still smoldering wreck of the house. Steve stepped in behind them. The officer shown a flash light down into the rubble about where his bed would have been. Embedded in a piece of wood was a section of pipe about 3 inches long. The Fire Marshall bent down and looked at it carefully."

"You have a lot of enemies?"

"I been a cop a long time."

"Looks like one of them was looking for a little payback."

They sat in the car and watched the forensics guys combing through what was left of the house. It hadn't taken them long to locate several more pieces of a pipe bomb. Most of it was in the area of the bedroom, probably where he would have been sleeping had he been home. Rafferty caught his eye.

"You think this is connected?"

"Think about it. The night that we get the paperwork on the subpoena? We haven't exactly been shy about letting everyone know I was working on this, especially that slimy lawyer, Cogborn.

"I will move out of your place tonight. No reason to put you in this kind of danger."

"The hell you will. We are in better shape with two of us. Everyone knows I have been everywhere you have been. If they are after you, I will be next."

She made sense. He slammed the car door.

"Let's go. We can't accomplish anything here. Let's get back to your house."

She nodded and pulled away. He took one last look at the ruined house and car. Well, he thought, that closes the book on that part of my life.

She wheeled into the driveway and into the garage. The door started down and they both stepped from the car. As he looked up he noticed something not right. The back door was ajar and he knew he had closed it and locked it.

"Rafferty. Door!"

She glanced up and immediately he saw the Glock appear in her hand. Where the hell did she keep that thing in those tight jeans? He eased forward and pushed the door open carefully. He felt her come up behind him and a light touch on his shoulder. He eased into the room checking corners. They quickly cleared the house, determining that there was no one hiding in ambush. Then they took the time to really examine the house. His computer was thrashed. Someone had stomped on it. All the papers in his briefcase were scattered about the room. She came back down the hall.

"Better come look at this."

He followed her back down to her room. The entire place had been turned upside down. What caught his attention was the mattress. I had been slit open from each corner diagonally creating a gaping x shaped hole. On the mirror was a ominous warning written in bright red lipstick.

"You could be next."

"Do you really wear that shade of lipstick?"

Her eyes opened in shock.

"That is one hell of a question to ask at a time like this."

Shrugging, he gave her a wicked grin.

"Just wondering. I have always liked women wearing slut red lipstick and cum fuck me heels!"

She gasped in exaggerated exasperation.

Chuckling he tossed her a phone.

"Better call the forensics guys and call Stu. This is getting out of hand fast."

While they waited for the forensics techs to show up, a car pulled up in front of the house. Steve watched as a single figure got out. He recognized the silhouette and opened the door as it approached.

Stu walked in without a word and looked around.

"What the hell is going on Steve."

"Sit down Stu and I will fill you in."

As they sat Rafferty came in from the kitchen. Stu looked up.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. A little pissed off."

Stu's practiced eye watched her for a moment before he turned his attention back at Steve.

"Now what have you stirred up?"

Steve started laying out what he knew. He then pulled out the member list of the Dashwood Group and began pointing to names. Stu's eyes got wide.

"Shit Steve. This could blow up like a nuclear weapon."

"Yeah. I know. The only problem is I don't have a clue how to smoke out whoever is behind this."

Stu picked up the papers and thumbed through them.

"Well, you have rattled someone's cage hard enough that they are hitting back. What is your next move?"

"I don't think we can stay here at least for a while. I'm going to move us. Tomorrow I intend on grabbing this tiger by the tail and shaking."

"How?"

Steve picked up the papers, turned a page and pointed to a name. Stu looked at the name and he cringed like he had been hit with a bat.

"Jesus Steve. Are you sure you want to do that? I don't know if I can protect you if you go there."

"It's the only avenue I have at this point. I have known him a long time. We will see if that counts for anything."

Stu stood up and looked around.

"Are the forensics guys about done?"

"Yeah. Not much to find. The place was clean. It was a pro job."

"Ok. I'm heading out too. Where are you going?"

"Stu, not that I don't trust you, but right now I don't trust anybody. I'll let you know how to get in touch with us tomorrow."

"You not using your cellphones?"

"I'm not sure that these people don't have that wired in as well. They are staying here."

Stu nodded.

"This is getting pretty cloak and dagger."

"I get the impression that we are dealing with people above our pay grade."

"It looks like it. Stay in touch."

Steve watched as the door closed behind Stu.

"Pack a bag for three or four days."

She nodded and headed to her ransacked bedroom. His bags were still mostly packed so he just grabbed what he had already and met her in the kitchen.

"Leave your cell phone here. We will pick up a couple of burner phones tomorrow. Tonight, we are going to ground."

They climbed into the car and backed out of the driveway. Steve was watching carefully to see if anyone fell in behind them. He didn't think that anyone could have bugged the car since it had been with them all day. He didn't see anyone and he started to relax.

"Where to?"

He thought for a minute.

"Head downtown. There are a couple of hotels down there. Not the best in the world, but they don't ask questions and I don't think anyone will look for us there."

She drove quietly for a few minutes.

" I heard you talking to Stu. What do you have planned?"

"Better you don't know."

"Steve, I am your partner."

He cut his eyes toward her. She was right.

He told her what he had told Stu. She looked at him aghast.

"You really think that is a good idea. I mean, that sounds like you are planning on walking into the lion's den and smacking the lion right on the nose."

"Could be. But somehow I don't think so."

He pointed to a rundown old hotel near downtown. She pulled in to the parking garage and parked. They got out and headed to the lobby. He checked them in and came back to where she was standing.

"Come on Mrs. Smith. Let's go upstairs."

They got on the elevator and rode upstairs, got out and he led her down the hall. He opened the door, turned on the light and stepped aside. She didn't know what she had expected, but what she saw was probably less. The furniture was worn and shabby. The lamp was missing the shade. She looked in the bathroom and could see that the towels were threadbare at best. Then it dawned on her.

"There is only one bed."

"Married people don't get two beds and those that register as Mr. and Mrs. Smith sure as hell don't get two beds."

She looked around. No couch, no other chair and the bed was just a standard double bed, not even a queen size.

"Ugh. . . so how is this going to work?"

"We go to bed and we get some sleep. In the morning, we pick up a couple of burner phones and then we head to headquarters. While we are there, you go up to the offices and see what else has come in. Check with the Fire Marshall and forensics and see if they have found anything. I will take care of my business."

She sat her bag down on the lopsided dresser.

"You think this bed is ok."

"Sleep with your clothes on if you want. I have slept in worse. I am exhausted and I want to get at least a few hours' sleep before we start again in the morning.

He tossed his bag into the corner and started removing clothing. In less than a minute he has stripped to his shorts and pulled the covers back on the bed. He sat down and looked at her.

"Well?"

She took a deep breath as she pulled off her top and her shorts. She went to her side of the bed and sat down in her bra and panties. She pulled the covers back and looked. It seemed to be clean. She slid under the covers, hugging the very edge of the bed.

He rolled his eyes, turned off the light, put the Glock on the nightstand and closed his eyes.

At some point, he woke and found a warm soft body snuggled up close to his back. He smiled, closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

The shaft of light peeking in through the tear in the curtains hit her right in the face. She squinted and looked. She began to remember the night before and then realized she was spooned up against his back, her arm over his chest and her head buried close to his shoulder. She rolled away quickly.

She lay on her side of the bed and tried to get a handle on what was happening to her. A week ago she was a rooky detective. Here she was, shacked up in a dive hotel with what some people considered a rogue cop. Her house had been vandalized and . . . and she wanted desperately to roll back over next to him. She bit her lip and concentrated on going back to sleep.

He finally roused and raised upon one elbow. He reached for his watch, squinting to read the dial in the dim light. He rolled over to see if she was asleep and found her laying on her back, the sheet clutched under her chin and her eyes closed tightly.

"Rafferty, you don't fake sleep very well. Do you want to shower?"

She opened one eye and looked at him.

"I suppose so."

"Then get to it. I want to be out of here in 30 minutes."

She rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. He heard the water running and he lay back, laced his fingers behind his head and began to study the peeling paint on the ceiling.

He heard the shower stop and looked over to see her come out of the bath, wrapped in a towel. He rolled onto his feet.

"You get dressed while I shower."

He turned on the shower and was grateful that at least the place seemed to have unlimited hot water. He spent an inordinate amount of time standing under the shower and letting the water just cascade down over his head. When he finally came out of the shower she was sitting on the edge of the bed dressed in a skirt and blouse and her requisite heels. He ran his eyes up and down appreciatively.

"I am going to get dressed. I don't mind if you watch, but I just want to warn you."

He dropped the towel and dug around until he found underwear, a pair of slacks and a polo shirt. He slipped on his shoes without socks, grabbed his every day carry and stuck the Glock in the holster inside the waist band of his trousers. He stuffed his gear back in his bag and turned to look at her.

She was sitting with her back to him.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

She jumped up and grabbed her bag and they headed down to the car.

Their first stop was a drugstore near the hotel. He went in and purchased a pair of cell phones and loaded them with minutes. She watched and once they were back in the car she stopped him.

"I saw you pay for these with a credit card. If someone is looking for you won't that be a dead giveaway?"

He grinned and showed her the card. It had his wife's name on it.

"She had her own line of credit, her own bank account, everything. No one will think to look for her credit card. Besides. the way I figure it, she is dead, I don't have to pay the bill!"

She shook her head in disbelief.