Guardian Angels – Ambivalent - 31

Link called Mike the next morning to say he'd pick up him, and Paddy, around eleven-thirty. He arrived right on time, meeting them at the front door of the apartment building to escort them to his car.

"You looked tired," Link told Mike, concern lacing his words.

"I didn't get much sleep."

"Oh?" Link glanced between Mike and Paddy.

Paddy chuckled, following them down the walk to the car. "I had nothing to do with that."

"He didn't," Mike agreed hastily. "I was tense and kept twisting and turning, dozing off then waking up again."

"Understandable." Link patted his shoulder then went around to the driver's side of the car. Mike took the passenger seat and Paddy got in the back.

"I think we're in for rain," Mike commented, looking out at the fast rolling clouds descending on the city. "Be ready for an invasion."

"That bad?" Link asked.

"Yeah. Kids will be looking to get off the street to somewhere dry."

Link nodded, grumbling that Mike was right about the rain when the first raindrops started hitting the windshield.

* * * * 

They were halfway to the shelter when Paddy's phone rang, followed seconds later by Link's. They both checked the Caller ID and answered, Link waiting to do so until he'd pulled off to the side of the street.

Paddy listened intently for a moment then said, "You're sure, Vic?" The reply must have been positive because Paddy swore softly before hanging up.

Link's conversation took a bit longer. When he finished talking he looked at Mike, then glanced at Paddy. "I presume your caller told you the same thing Detective Massey told me?"

"I'm sure he did."

"Okay, would one of you mind telling me what's going on?" Mike asked tightly.

Link nodded. "We now know who Mr. Keefe really is. A few hairs and a partial fingerprint were found at the scene where the kid was pushed down the stairs. The hairs had been dyed from light brown to black. Neither pieces of evidence conclusively pointed to Mr. Keefe but the presumption was they came from him. The forensics team ran the partial and came up with a list of possible names. Mr. Kingston had been in touch with Detective Massey and sent him the information he'd gathered on your family, Mike, at Massey's request."

It took Mike a moment to get what Link was saying. Then he shook his head. "Mr. Keefe is not my uncle. I'd have recognized him. And even if I hadn't, because it's been a long time since I saw him, he'd have recognized me."

"There's one other male in the picture," Vic said. "Your sister's fiancé, Owen McKim."

Mike appeared shocked, sighing deeply, scrubbing one hand over his face. "So she is involved in…in what's been going on."

"Not necessarily," Paddy replied, reaching over the back of the seat to grip his shoulder. "Tell him what Massey found out, Link. Vic was a bit sketchy on the details."

"Owen McKim has a history of fleecing gullible young women. He finds a victim, becomes engaged to them and then convinces them to loan him sizable amounts of money. Once they have, he disappears. When the victim realizes what's happened she's usually too embarrassed to file a report, although in some cases a family member has in her stead."

"But Amanda doesn't have any… Oh my God."

"Exactly," Link said. "From the reports Mr. Kingston gave Detective Massey, your sister met Mr. McKim about a week after your father's death."

"Vic presumes," Paddy added, "that McKim probably accessed the probate files and found out that she stood to inherit a fair amount of money if you weren't found or if you died."

"So he worked his way into her life and then came looking for me to get me out of the picture."

"That's what it looks like at this point. Now all we have to do is find him," Paddy said.

Link nodded. "Which isn't going to happen sitting here." After pulling out of the parking space onto the street, they drove to the same lot he'd used the day before. By the time they reached the shelter the skies had opened and what had been a light rain turned torrential.