“I hear that the Chicago area is getting some storms. Hope your weather clears out soon,” Derek said, cutting off his thoughts and giving the conversation a logical ending.

“Weather? There’s not a cloud in the sky around the whole area.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

His head was swimming. Each time he reached a conclusion, another thought changed the course of his thinking and suggested an alternative. As he drove the three hours the trip to Alexandria Bay would take, Derek rode in absolute silence.

His phone was turned off and stuffed inside of a lead- and aluminum-lined bag that prevented any signals from getting out or into his phone. Though he usually would spend his windshield time listening to music at the highest volume a car’s system could pump out, the radio in his rental car was silent.

“Not raining in the Chicago area,” he thought to himself. He had confirmed the weather report using his MyRadar app on his iPhone before shutting it down. The only place of interest that was experiencing a “summertime storm” was the greater New York City area. Chicago and almost the entirety of Lake Michigan were enjoying a beautiful summer day.

“How could he be in New York if he has his father’s ex-military people watching him? Is it possible that the whole family is involved in these murders and that there are no ‘goons’ protecting Thomas since he doesn’t need protection?”

The miles passed. Each mile marker bringing Derek further away from clarity.

Derek had grown comfortable with silence, though he still would prefer to have someone to be with in most situations. Someone to talk with. Someone to enjoy the silence with. Lucy made him comfortable with silence. When they first met, Derek felt compelled to always keep a conversation going. Failing that, Derek would either whistle, sing softly to himself, or have either the radio or television on in the background to break up the absent silence.

“We don’t always have to be talking, you know,” Lucy stated. “You don’t have to worry about keeping a conversation going all the time. Sometimes I just like to sit with you and not have to say anything.”

“But everyone always says that communication is the key to a lasting marriage,” he rebutted.

“Sometimes, the best way to communicate is just to be with me in silence.”

He tried to just sit and not talk with her, but he found it harder than Lucy expected.

“Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, I am really interested in hearing what you have to say?” he asked one evening after sitting next to Lucy on their couch silently for over an hour.

“Have you ever considered that the reason you always want to talk with me is that you are afraid of what I might be thinking about when not talking?”

Lucy was talented at reading people, especially Derek. His attempts to keep his fears and insecurities hidden were in vain. If he asked a strange question, she always could figure out what Derek was really trying to uncover.

“Until you learn to listen more than you speak, you’ll never make a good detective,” she told him once after he found out that he didn’t get the promotion with the Columbus Police Department he was expecting. “God gave you two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion.”

Derek worked on being comfortable with silence. After a while, he actually grew to look forward to times when he and Lucy could just sit together and digest their days in silence. As long as she was in the same room as he, Derek could go hours without muttering a single sound.

“It’s nice. Isn’t it?” she asked one night. “To just be together and not have to always struggle to think of something to say.”

Derek glanced at his wife as he sat across their living room and raised his index finger to his lips.

“Shhh,” was the only response he offered in answer.

Lucy smiled.

Derek remembered that night. How they laughed together. How they talked about starting a family some day. About their upcoming vacation to Maui and how Lucy would someday be able to stop working as a children’s counselor and be able to stay home and raise their kids. He remembered how they made love that night and how wonderful it felt to just hold her. There was no way of knowing that the next day, Lucy would be dead.

As he continued driving through the twisting roads of the Adirondack Park, Derek could clearly see and hear the events of Lucy’s final day.

The call came in over his police radio while Derek and his partner, Bill Manner, were on routine patrol. They responded along with at least twenty other patrol officers, lead investigators, Derek’s lieutenant and Captain, and the two hostage negotiators.

The call came through as “10-42, 10-43b, First Metropolitan Bank. 423 North Main.” Officer Manner new to the police force asked Derek what the codes meant.

“Robbery in progress, and shots fired. Looks like we are headed to a bank robbery.”

When Derek arrived on scene, he was approached by his Captain. The look on his face was one that sent immediate concern warnings to Derek.

“Officer Cole, I need you to stay back from the scene.”

“What’s happened?” he asked, his voice dripping his fear.

“Your wife is in the bank with the gunman. He’s already shot the kid she was with. Hostage negotiators are trying to establish communications with the suspect now. You need to stay back.”

“Captain, I know this bank like the back of my hand,” Derek pleaded. “I do security for them on my off days.”

“Officer Cole, I need you to stay back and let the experts handle this.”

“If he’s already killed one, why wait and give him time to shoot someone else? I could get in the back entrance without him ...”

“Cole,” his Captain interjected. “I need you to let us handle this one. You running in through back door with your level of emotional involvement will probably end poorly. Let the experts handle this.”

Derek could see into the bank through the front window and could make out five, maybe six people all prone on the floor. Towards the teller counter, he could see the gunman holding a woman in front of him with his gun pressed to her temple.