Guardian Angels – Ambivalent - 20

Detective Massey chuckled. "That's walking a fine line, but I'll go with it. However…" He paused, looking thoughtful. "You changed your name when, Mike?"

"Two years ago, so I could get into the Thirty-Day program."

"Good. That works. I let it slip to the reporters that I checked you out and discovered your real name was Michael O'Donnell and you changed it after you ran away from home."

"How could you check, and why would you?" Mike asked.

"I'd figure, because you were a runaway, you wouldn't have wanted your family to find you. So, being the smart cop that I am, I ran your name through the system and found out you'd legally changed it from O'Donnell to Desmond."

Looking a bit panicked, Mike said, "But you won't really do that?"

"No. I'm sure I wouldn't find anything. However"—Massey looked sternly at Mike—"it might be a good idea if you did go the legal route at some point if you want to avoid trouble in the future. Another officer might not take your word for it that Desmond is now your legal name." Then he shook his head. "How did you manage to get me to go for this—this plan you've concocted?"

"You want to catch Mr. Keefe."

"I do. I don't like killers. Especially hired ones. Now we just have to make certain he doesn't manage to get his hands on you."

"That's why I'm around," Paddy said.

Massey looked doubtfully at him. "What sort of experience do you have?"

"I'm a licensed private investigator, working for Vic Kingston."

Massey nodded. "I know who he is and have dealt with him a time or two, so that gives you legitimacy. I didn't realize he'd begun adding people to his firm."

"We're old friends," Paddy told him, not blinking an eye. "I came to town, needed a job, and he hired me on an as-needed basis."

"All right. I'm still going to put someone else on Mike, just to be sure he's well protected. You can't be with him twenty-four seven."

"I could be if we were rooming together."

"What?" Mike stared at Paddy.

Paddy shrugged. "It's one option. They umm…raised your rent. You need a roommate to share the expense now. That is if there's more than one bedroom."

"There is, but…"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Well no. But…"

"If I assigned a man to you," Massey put in, "he'd be watching from outside. Having Mr. O'Brian on the premises might not be such a bad idea. We can presume from the fact that Mr. Keefe managed to open the well-secured door to the shelter's basement that he has above average breaking and entering skills"

"Vic's boyfriend is a security expert. I'm sure we can get him to upgrade the protection on Mike's apartment," Paddy told Mike.

Mike snorted. "What security? All right. If we can catch Mr. Keefe all this will be worth it."

"Exactly." Paddy turned to Massey. "How soon can you get the story to the TV stations and the newspaper?"

"It should hit the five-o'clock news tonight, and the paper in the morning. I will put a man at the shelter. Probably as a new volunteer."

Paddy chuckled. "The shelter's going to wonder what's going on. Two in a couple of days."

"Just people willing to do their civic duty," Massey replied with a grin. "Now, unless you two have any more wild ideas, I do have a job and they like me to handle all my cases, not just Micky's."

"Okay. We'll keep in touch," Paddy said as he got up.

"I will too, and with luck we'll catch this bastard before he attacks another innocent kid."

"Or me," Mike muttered.

Paddy nodded. "Or you."