Beyond the Mask Read online

  “That’s why you’re going to be the new Undersheriff,” Frank said. “You get it.”

  Michaels walked out the door, and Frank wondered how he was going to leave this place. It was his place. Then he thought of Adams being beaten to death with a candlestick and that blotted out all other thoughts.

  Eighteen

  I.

  Frank walked into his house and found Bentley on the couch in front of the television. Only this time he wasn’t really watching the T.V., because his attention was focused on his phone.

  “What are you doing?” Frank asked.

  Bentley looked up. “Playing this new game, it’s called Angry Birds.”

  Frank snorted as he took off his coat and his gun and hung them by the door.

  “It’s not a new game.”

  “New to me,” Bentley said. “I was thinking about making dinner for us. As a thank you.”

  Frank paused on the way to walking to the kitchen. “Actually, I’m getting dinner out tonight.”

  Bentley looked up. “Really? You’ve got a date, Frank?”

  “Sort of,” Frank said. He detoured from the kitchen to sit on his chair. He and Bentley had seemed to fall into the same routine as an old married couple. It was disturbing in a way, but Frank had so much else to think about.

  “What does that mean?” Bentley asked. He had put the phone away and was focused on Frank.

  The added attention was something that Frank could have done without. It’s not that he was averse to lying, sometimes it had to be done, but Bentley was nearly a human lie detector and Frank wasn’t sure if he could pull of a deception for very long.

  “I’m meeting a woman and we’re going out for dinner.”

  “Why do I feel like this should interest me?” Bentley asked. “Romantic situations are something that I’m very rarely interested in, but this seems like it should be important to me.”

  “I don’t know,” Frank said.

  Bentley wrinkled his forehead. His eyes slitted to near pin pricks in his face. “You’re lying to me, Frank. Maybe for the first time, too. What is it that you’re hiding?”

  Frank bolted up from the chair and walked from his sunken living room towards the stairs. Before he reached them he turned around. Bentley’s eyes were still on him.

  “What business is this of yours? I’ve taken you in, hell I’ve let you help out with the case and for what? So that you can grill me at every opportunity. Everybody thinks I’m crazy to even be talking to you. Why can’t you just leave things alone?”

  Bentley’s eyebrows rose. “It’s that important? Fine, then don’t tell me, Frank. I hope you enjoy your night out.”

  Frank stalked up the stairs.

  It was during his shower that the guilt started to set in. Water pounded down on his head running into his eyes as he replayed the conversation.

  Trusting Bentley was insane, and yet he did trust the kid. He had been an enormous help on the case and he was one of the reasons that they might actually catch Ellison. Not only that, but every mistake that Frank had made, Bentley had been there to recommend the opposite course of action. His insight into the case was staggering when you thought about it.

  Still, it was Katie’s decision. Bentley had no right to know that she was in town or where she was if she didn’t want him to.

  When he was finished with his shower, Frank walked to his room and opened his closet.

  First he selected a plain white shirt and a dark blue blazer. He set them on the bed and let his towel drop. Standing there naked, he looked at the ensemble he had selected.

  It was too formal. He put the shirt and blazer away and opened the middle drawer of his dresser. He looked through the T-shirts there, but none of them seemed formal enough.

  “Why is this so hard?” Frank whispered.

  He opened the closet again. There were several polo shirts, he took out a red one and tried it on. Standing in front of the wall mirror he turned his body so that he could see how it looked on him.

  “Damn it.”

  He took the polo off and put it back.

  Then he took out the white shirt and blue blazer again and put it on. Formal or not, he thought it looked best.

  Frank descended the steps. Bentley was still on the couch and he was once more playing on his phone. Frank could hear the cry of a bird as Bentley launched it towards some structure or another.

  “Listen,” Frank said.

  Bentley didn’t raise his head, but his finger stopped the back and forth motion on the phone.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.”

  “I understand,” Bentley said.

  There was no emotion in his voice and Frank felt a chill run down his spine. It was as if they had traveled back to ten years ago and Frank was once again face to face with a kid he’d never met before. A kid who was capable of murder.

  “I’ve been under a lot of stress today. I had to make a deal with Hatchet to get Adams released and it’s left me bitter.”

  “What deal?”

  Frank sighed. “I don’t know-”

  “You want to tell me, Frank. You want to tell someone, so just spill it.”

  “He wants my job. He doesn’t want me to run for re-election.” Frank snorted in derision. “And he wants me to endorse him.”

  “And you agreed to that?”

  “I had to. If I hadn’t, Adams would have been put into general population until he was released. He could have been killed down there.”

  “Hatchet might have seen to it,” Bentley said.

  “He wouldn’t do that.”

  Bentley smiled. “If you don’t think so, then you’re not as good of a detective as you used to be.”

  “I don’t know what I am anymore,” Frank said.

  “Hatchet might have pissed you off, but that’s not why you got angry at me. You don’t trust me,” Bentley said. “Anger is always a reaction to another, deeper, emotion. This time that emotion is fear, Frank. You’re afraid of me knowing the answer because you still don’t trust me. That’s fine, I know I need to earn your trust.”

  “Bentley, this doesn’t have anything to do with trust.”

  He turned from his phone and focused his eyes on Frank.

  “You can tell me that if you want, Frank, but we both know that it’s a lie. You know that I want to see her.”

  “Who?” Frank asked. It came out in a startled little laugh. The kind of sound that people make when they’ve been caught in a lie.

  “Katie,” Bentley said. “I know that’s who you’re going to see. It makes sense; she needs to be here to arrange for her mother’s funeral. She’s the only person that you would be so frightened of me finding out about.”

  “She doesn’t want to see you,” Frank said.

  “I know that. But I also know that I need to make amends. In the end, you might not be able to keep me away from her.”

  “What does that mean?” Frank asked. The chill had become a blizzard.

  “It means that Katie needs to tell me off in person. If she does that, then I can let her go and try to continue my healing process. You can’t make people accept your apology, but you have to try.”

  “I think it’s best if you stay away,” Frank said. “Maybe try and call her when she gets back home.”

  “You might be right,” Bentley said. “I guess I have a lot to think about. Enjoy your date.”

  II.

  Frank walked into the lobby and instantly cheered his decision to wear the blazer.

  Katie had changed from the summer dress to a more formal number. It was a black dress that ended an inch or two above the knees. The neckline plunged down to reveal a tasteful amount of cleavage.

  Katie saw Frank and smiled. She strode over to him and he couldn’t help but notice the wiggle in her step as she expertly navigated the carpet of the lobby in her black heels.

  “I think I was afraid you weren’t going to come,” She said and then wrapped her arms around him.


  He felt the press of her body against his and enjoyed it for a second before he pulled back.

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I wasn’t exactly nice to you when we talked last time.” Katie bent her head and Frank could see the blush on her cheeks. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay,” Frank said. “I’m sure I deserved it.”

  Katie looked up and her eyes were almost alarmed. “You don’t deserve anything except for my gratitude. If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be alive right now. You know that I understand that, don’t you?”

  Frank put a hand on her shoulder. He felt the warmth and the softness of her skin against his rough palm.

  “I know,” he said. “But the biggest reason you’re alive is because of your strength. You need to know that I admire that very much.”

  A half smile appeared on her face. “I was stupid. I was taken in by him, charmed by him and I believed him. I didn’t see what he was, but you did.”

  “I didn’t have much of a choice,” Frank said.

  “When I heard that you were living with him, I was just afraid that you were making the same mistake that I did. But you’re smarter than I was.”

  “You know he wants to see you.”

  Katie recoiled. “That is not going to happen.”

  “I know. I told him. He wants to apologize. Says it’s part of his therapy or something.”

  “Well that’s a part of his therapy that he won’t get to complete,” Katie said.

  Frank nodded. “Let’s not talk about him anymore. I know exactly where I want to take you.”

  Katie held out her hand. For a second, Frank just looked down at it, then he clasped it in his and led her out of the lobby.

  III.

  They sat across from each other at an intimate, two person table near the back of the restaurant. The lighting consisted of a small, lantern-like bulb above their table. There were a few sconces on the walls, but that was the extent of the illumination.

  “After college I started teaching,” Katie said. “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life yet, but I had an English degree and wasn’t writing any books so I pretty much had no choice.”

  “I think you’d make a good teacher,” Frank said. He took a sip from his wine glass.

  Katie demurred, but nodded her head at the same time. “I am a good teacher. After a year or so I discovered that I liked it and I was good at it. Isn’t it nice when you can find something like that?”

  “It’s what everyone wants, I suppose.”

  “There are other things that people want,” Katie said. Her voice was barely above a whisper and the smile that she gave him was severely sexy.

  “I don’t know how good I am at my job, but I do know that I love it. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

  That brought on thoughts of Hatchet and how he was going to have to step down. Katie saw his frown and affected one of her own.

  “Don’t worry about that, Frank. You’re a wonderful detective.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Katie’s face turned stern and all at once he both saw how much she really was her mother’s daughter and how effective of a teacher she probably was.

  “Don’t give me that aww shucks attitude. You are a great cop. The best, probably.”

  “If I was the best, I’d have this guy already.” And Rick would still be alive, he didn’t add.

  “You can’t blame yourself for every psychopath that walks the streets. You’ll get him. I know you will.”

  Frank took another drink. “Hopefully, tomorrow. I’ve got a good idea of where he’s going to try and strike.”

  “Let’s not talk about this,” Katie said. “Let’s talk about what you’ve been up to in the last ten years.”

  Frank sighed. “There’s not really much to tell. I’ve been working.”

  “How did you end up becoming the big time sheriff? I know you and Mom talked a bit over the years, but she never said much about it.”

  “We kept in touch,” Frank said. “You’re Mom was a great woman.”

  Katie reached out and Frank took her hand with no hesitation this time. She squeezed and he squeezed back.

  “Thank you for that.”

  “It’s the truth,” Frank said.

  “Tell me what happened after I left for college.”

  “Well, Chief Denholm had a heart attack. He lived, but he retired. We still keep in touch every now and again. He’s in Florida, and I hear he’s quite the bridge player.”

  Katie smiled and squeezed his hand again. “You don’t like to talk about yourself very much, do you?”

  “Not as a general rule.”

  “Come on. I want to know. Don’t make me beg.”

  Lightning bolts ran up and down Frank’s leg. “I took over as chief after that. Did pretty well. I think, anyway. Then the old sheriff decided to take a job in the private sector. Some kind of private security outfit, if I remember correctly.”

  Frank shook his head. “I don’t even know how I got talked into it. The governor called me one day, I remember that. He said to me that it would be a good idea if I ran for Sheriff. Said that the people needed to feel safe and that I would be able to provide that comfort.”

  “I can see that,” Katie said. “You’re a natural protector and you care about people.”

  Frank could feel the heat of his own blush and pushed through it. “So I threw my hat in the ring as they say and nobody was as surprised as I was when I won.”

  He shrugged. “Since then it’s just been working cases and trying to close them. We have a respectable solve rate, certainly better than they do over in Los Angeles. Of course, they have a lot more crime to deal with.”

  “What about your love life?” Katie asked.

  Frank felt the squeeze again and more lightning shot through his body.

  “Not much to tell there, at all. I’ve dated here and there, but I never seemed to have time for it.”

  “I haven’t done much dating either,” Katie said.

  “Now, I find that hard to believe,” Frank said. “Good looking girl like you.”

  “Flatterer,” Katie said. She smiled and tossed her hair back. Frank watched it fall back into place, like an amber waterfall.

  “Is it flattery if it’s the truth?”

  Katie didn’t answer that. What she said was, “I had opportunities and I took some of them, but it’s not easy to get close to someone else. There’s so much inside my head all the time. So much to explain to someone.”

  “I can understand that.”

  “I went out on a few dates with one man and we went to his house afterward. We started to kiss-” Katie paused. “Do you not want to hear this?”

  “It’s fine,” Frank said.

  “Well we started kissing and then he started to try and do a little more. I stopped him. Not because I’m a prude or because I don’t enjoy sex, it was because I wasn’t comfortable with him yet.”

  “Because of what happened to you?”

  “Yes. Because of what he took from me. Every time I’m with a man I think about when I kissed Bentley.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Frank said.

  Katie offered a lame smile. “It’s not your fault. Anyway, I need to be very comfortable with someone before I let it get passed kissing and most men don’t understand that.”

  “Times have changed,” Frank said.

  Katie shook her head. “Not times, Frank, people. People have changed. They’re different then they used to be. Not you though.”

  IV.

  After the meal, Frank parked the car and helped Katie out. He took a moment to admire her legs in the black stockings as he took her hand.

  “I had a wonderful time,” Frank said. “It was really great seeing you.”

  “I’m glad that you showed up. And I’m glad that you’ll be there tomorrow. I think I’m going to need you there.”

  For a second, Frank was unsure of what she was
talking about and then he remembered the funeral. He had told her that he would be there at 10 o’clock. Prime time for the patrol.

  “Anything that I can do for you, I will be happy to do,” Frank said.

  “I hope you don’t think I’m being foolish, but do you think you could walk me to my room? I suppose I’m being a goose but…”

  “Not at all,” Frank said.

  Katie held out her hand and Frank took it.

  They rode the elevator in silence to the eighth floor. Frank got out first and checked the hallway as Katie exited the elevator.

  “I’m right down here,” she said.

  She led him down to the door numbered 817. Instead of a key, it had one of those electronic slots next to the door. Katie fished in her purse and brought the card out.

  Frank turned, meaning to walk back to the elevator, but Katie’s voice stopped him.

  “Since you’re here, do you want to come in for a drink?”

  She was standing outside the door, one of her heeled feet stuck in it to keep it open. Frank looked up the curve of her thigh to the curve of her bosom and then to her face. So pale, so sure, her eyes radiated out at him.

  This was wrong. Katie was young enough to be his daughter. They had never had a close relationship. He saved her life once and then, in the years after, he had checked in on her and her mother every once in awhile. A phone call here or there. Once, Sheila had invited him to dinner. A few times he stopped by just to say hi. Other than that, Katie had pretty much been out of his life since after the trial.

  “Okay,” Frank said.

  When they were inside with the door closed, Katie stood next to him. She didn’t make any move to get a drink, didn’t make any move to go anywhere.

  They stood that way for a few seconds and then Frank took the plunge. He sensed that it was what she wanted.

  He leaned forward and kissed her. At first, he started high sucking her top lip between his.

  Then her hands were on him. They were at his chest, running up and down, pushing his blue blazer back. Frank moved his shoulders back and let it hit the floor.

  Their lips came together and they made that sweet vacuum between them. Her tongue swirled and kept finding the sensitive parts of his mouth, causing tingles to run up and down his body.