CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE. I can't believe he wants to meet at a goddamn park

" I can't believe he wants to meet at a goddamn park! It's like twenty degrees, " Rick complained, as he pulled his coat tighter around him.

" It's thirty-six and sunny. My God, I never realized you were such a wimp."

" It's Sunday morning. I should be watching ESPN pregame, nursing my third cup of coffee. Not out here, " he said, motioning to the nearly empty park.

Nicole watched their exchange with amusement. She wasn't the least bit cold, and judging by Jake's opened coat, neither was Jake. There wasn't even a hint of a breeze, and the blue, blue sky was sparkling and cloudless. It was actually a lovely morning.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jake spotted the flash of the red Volkswagen bug through the trees. It came to a stop on the other side of the park. Steven was careful, she'd give him that. Actually, she thought he'd probably watched too many spy movies as a kid. " There he is, " she said.

" Good. I'm ready to get this over with. Because I gotta tell you, Jake, I got a bad feeling on this one."

" Me, too, buddy, " she murmured.

Steven walked up, barely nodding at them before continuing down the hike and bike trail, leaving them to follow. Jake walked shoulder to shoulder with him, keeping quiet until the trail snaked into the trees, hiding them from the openness of the park.

" I know who the stalker was."

They all stopped. Jake looked at Nicole and Rick, then back to Steven. " Who? "

" Matthew Gregory."

Jake's eyes widened, and Steven nodded.

" Yes, Lieutenant Gregory's son."

" I didn't even know he had a son." Jake nervously ran fingers through her short hair, her eyes locked on Rick's. " He had his own son killed? "

" Not exactly, " Steven continued. " You won't believe all the shit I found out. One trail led to another." He motioned to a park bench. " Better sit down. Especially you, Dr. Westbrook."

Nicole was suddenly frightened, and she was thankful for Jake's comforting presence. She looked expectantly at Steven, waiting.

" Ten years ago, a woman named Rebecca Gregory sought therapy. She spent one year with Dr. Dorothy Peterson." At Nicole's shocked expression, Steven continued. " After that one year, she was referred by Dr. Peterson to a young colleague. You, Dr. Westbrook."

" Do you know who he's talking about? " Jake asked.

Nicole shook her head. " No. Nine years ago? No."

" But you still have the files? "

" Of course."

" I'm not sure of the initial reason she went to Dr. Peterson, nor am I certain of what your sessions revealed, Dr. Westbrook. But the medical records for Matthew Gregory indicate that he was sexually abused by his mother."

Jake stood up. " What medical records? "

" As a teenager, he spent eight months at the Trinity Clinic, " Steven said. " There was nothing in his early records to indicate abuse." He looked at his notes. " He was admitted again in 1999. One week after Nicole's stalker was allegedly killed. The medical records from that time indicate the abuse."

" Wait a minute. You're saying this kid was the stalker, his father knew about it so he staged a killing and had him locked up in a mental facility? "

" It's even better than that, Jake. Rebecca Gregory was found murdered. She'd been brutally raped, disfigured."

" What do you mean? " Rick asked. " Disfigured how? "

" Her breasts were cut off."

" Jesus Christ."

" No prints, no evidence, no motive--and no suspect. The case was never solved."

" When was this? " Jake asked.

" December, 1998."

" Nicole, when did you first notice a stalker? "

Nicole rubbed her hands together. She was suddenly very cold. She had a brief memory of an early case where she suspected the mother was having sex with her son. But she'd heard such horror stories over the last nine years, and that one hardly stuck out anymore. She could recall nothing about it.

" It was in the spring of ninety-nine. There's a park not too far from my house, in the foothills. I used to go out there to jog. I noticed him for three afternoons in a row. He was just... creepy. So I stopped going there. Then I would see him on the streets, on my way to the office, on my way to the gym."

" But you said you didn't know what he looked like, " Jake reminded her.

" No. He was always watching from a distance. He had dark hair. That's all I could tell."

" We're positive he was the stalker? " Jake asked Steven.

" Yes. It's documented in his medical file."

" So why stage a killing? By cops, no less? It makes no sense."

" I don't know. Maybe Gregory didn't think Dr. Westbrook would let it go unless she thought he was dead. Maybe he was protecting his son from jail time. Hell, maybe he was protecting his own job."

" So he finds four cops he can trust. Was it a setup? Did he know Matthew would be at Nicole's house that night? "

" We'll probably never know that."

" Was the kid in on it or did they really shoot him? " Jake continued.

" There was no mention of physical injuries."

Jake turned around again, eyebrows raised. " That still doesn't tell us who deleted the 911 call."

" I would say it's probably the same person who discharged Matthew five months ago."

" Discharged? He's out? "

Steven nodded. " Someone hacked into their medical files and put a discharge notice on Matthew's record. It happened at night, during shift change. By the time his doctor showed up the next morning, he was long gone."

" And Lieutenant Gregory? "

" He was notified the next day."

Jake stared. " And what are the chances that Matthew Gregory is a computer geek? "

Steven grinned. " Considering he was suspended twice in high school for hacking into their system to change grades, I'd say pretty good."

It was Rick's turn to pace. " This is all too fucking unbelievable. If he hacked into the 911 system, then that means he knew what the lieutenant was up to."

" Not necessarily, " Jake said. " If the plan was for him to appear to have been killed, I doubt they would have let it go so far as to have Nicole even call 911. Just because you're a hacker, doesn't mean that you're going to be able to delete the info that you want to delete." She looked at Steven. " Right? "

" Absolutely. You hack into someone's system and just because you're able to view data, doesn't mean you can always manipulate it."

" I'm guessing the lieutenant did this on his own, then talked the kid into deleting the 911 call."

Steven nodded. " That'd be my guess, too."

" After it was done, Lieutenant Gregory had him shipped back to Trinity Clinic, hoping he could just wash his hands of the whole thing."

" What about the mother? " Nicole asked quietly.

" No prints, no fibers." Jake looked at Rick. " Where have we heard that before? "

" So you think... he killed his own mother? "

" Yeah. And so does the lieutenant. Why else would he go to such great lengths to hide the kid? "

Nicole cleared her throat. " And you think he's now killing my patients? "

" For whatever reason, Nicole, you are the catalyst. And yes, I believe he's our murderer."

" Surely to God, Gregory knows what's going on, " Rick said. " We've had five murders. He's almost nonchalant about them."

" Steven, any hint as to where Matthew Gregory might be? "

Steven shook his head. " There are no credit cards issued in his name, no bank records. So, unless he's using his computer skills to obtain cash, someone has to be funding him."

" How old is he? " Rick asked.

Steven looked at his notes. " He's twenty-four."

Nicole shook her head. " Still practically a kid, " she said quietly.

" A kid who has killed, " Jake reminded her. She stood in front of them, hands shoved into her coat pockets. " We have two things to do. One, we have to let Captain Zeller know what's going on. Hopefully, we have enough to convince him about Lieutenant Gregory's involvement. And two, we need Nicole's files on Rebecca Gregory." Jake met Nicole's eyes. " We can get those files, right? You won't hold them back for privacy's sake? "

" You can have the files for your investigation. Other than that--"

" That's fine. We'll deal with that when the time comes. I'd like for you and Rick to go to your office today, now, and get the files.

And I want Steven, if he's willing, to go with me to talk to Captain Zeller. He's going to want to know how you found this shit out."

" I'll go, sure. I just hope I don't get busted for hacking the system."

" Rick? Nicole? "

" Sure. We'll swing by there, " Rick said. " Meet you where? "

" My place."

As they walked back along the trail, Jake bumped Nicole's shoulder, causing the quiet woman to look at her.

" You okay? "

Nicole attempted a smile. " I'd feel better if I was staying with you."

" You'll be fine. Rick won't let anything happen to you."

" No. I don't suppose he would." She shrugged. " It's just so unbelievable, you know. Maybe once I read the files, it'll make more sense."

" We might understand it more, but I doubt it will ever make sense to us."

" I know you're upset about your lieutenant. It must be a huge shock to you."

" That's an understatement. He's well-respected, and I'm going to have a hell of a time convincing Captain Zeller of all this."

Nicole moved her hand between them and captured Jake's fingers. " I guess a relaxing day with steaks and football is out, " she murmured.

Jake smiled. " Do you even like football? "

" Not really. But I would have liked spending time with you."

" I thought you'd be sick of me by now."

Nicole stopped and quickly stole a kiss from Jake, unmindful of Rick and Steven's presence. " After the way I made love to you this morning, how could you think that? " she whispered.

Jake felt her temperature rise as she fell into Nicole's eyes. Jake was awakened this morning by a warm mouth suckling her breast. Before she was fully awake, that same mouth had moved down her body and Nicole's hands had spread her thighs before Jake's eyes had even opened. By the time she was conscious of what was happening, Nicole's tongue had found its way into her wetness.

" Oh, yeah. Did I thank you for that... wake-up call? "

Nicole squeezed her hand and continued walking. " You can thank me later, " she whispered.