Burning Bridges

Friends all tried to warn me, but I held my head up high
All the time they warned me, but I only passed them by
They all tried to tell me, but I guess I didn't care
I turned my back and left them standing there

All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore ~ Theme Song Kelly’s Heroes

 

“I have no idea where he went,” Beth said for the third time. “What do you want to do now?”

Trixie sighed and pushed a hand through her curls. “This is bad news, Beth. Do you think …” she hesitated, reluctant to form the thought. “Do you think Riker’s an agent for IRMA?”

Beth shook her head. “No. I don’t.” She considered her next words carefully. “It would have been much easier for me to do what I was going if Ben had been on IRMA’s side. He's being used, and by more than one person.” She'd already revealed the identity of Ben’s date for the Junior League Fundraiser to Trixie, corroborating Sean’s and Amy’s photographic identification, added to that of a rather frenzied florist.

“You don’t think he was turned?” Trixie pushed.

“Belden! He’s not an agent for the CIB. You can’t turn someone who’s not an agent.”

Trixie flushed. “He got the codes,” she defended herself. “And he has a government phone. If he got the code from her that's one thing, but there is no way in hell she could have given him the phone.”

It was Beth’s turn to be embarrassed as she conceded Trixie's point. “We already decided IRMA has help from inside the CIB. We have everything on his phone,” she pointed out. “Don't you think we can figure it out from that?”

Trixie shook her head. “I’ve already figured it out. There’s only one person that makes sense at this point.” A knock on Trixie's office door interrupted the pair. “Boss,” Sean spoke hesitantly. “You're going to want to see this.”

Trixie and Beth both stood to move to the conference room.

“Is she coming?” he asked in shock.

“She is,” Trixie confirmed without explaining. “What do want to show us?”

Amy had the properties for Ben’s phone displayed on the wall monitor in the conference room. “Boss, the information on Ben’s phones would make someone think that you were the person who gave him the phone in January.”

Trixie's jaw dropped. “But I didn't even have my own phone in January. This doesn't make any sense! Why would it look like ...”

She stopped as the realization dawned on her. Her expression grew grim as she looked around the room. “It looks that way so I’ll be framed if this operation isn’t successful. Unfortunately, that confirms what I already suspected. Ben has been used since the beginning.” She couldn’t stop the sick feeling in her stomach and wanted nothing more than to leave the room and run away. But Trixie Belden didn’t run away from anything. She took a deep breath. “That explains almost everything.”

“Almost everything?” The three of them echoed almost in a chorus. “What's left that you don't know already?” Amy was the one to ask.

“Where in the hell Mike and Jim got the name ORCHID? It's the only thing that doesn't make sense, and don’t tell me it’s a coincidence.”

“It’s not a coincidence,” Beth said smugly. “I know exactly where they got it and you're not going to believe me when I tell you!”

Trixie looked at her in surprise. “Try me?” she said.

“There's a ton of software out there specifically designed for the management of schools,” Buffy explained. “And all good software developers give their projects code names, right?”

Trixie nodded.

“According to Mike, this software does more than school management. It represents some sort of shift in education administration. To quote Mike, the sheer amount of online resources and capabilities help the infrastructure data integrate in a new environment.

Okay,” Trixie said after a prolonged silence. It's good software. I still don't see --- Oh!”

Beth grinned. Online Resources and Capabilities Helping Infrastructure Data. They are such nerds!

“Be careful,” Trixie laughed. “One of them is my nerd.”

“Fair enough,” she replied. “So what are you going to do now?”

“We pack it in for the weekend. She waved at her two colleagues. “Let's call it a day. I have an appointment this afternoon and we all have a full day tomorrow.” She shuddered, remembering all that Diana had scheduled for her and Honey the next day. “We have a job to do at the fundraiser and I have a pretty good feeling Ben’s date doesn’t have a clue that we had his phone.”

“Are you going to connect the dots for us?” Sean asked. “Or are we going to pretend we've been following all this?” He directed a look at Beth Patterson.

Trixie gave him a hard stare. “You really don’t know at this point? Obviously, it’s not her.”

“No kidding,” Amy murmured. “We know who’s working with IRMA, and we think we have enough proof, but we still haven’t connected all the dots. How did you figure it out? Are you going to fill us in?”

“Someone besides Jim and Mike had to know the name of their software, do you agree?”

Both nodded.

“Who would either of them told?”

The two junior agents looked at each other in puzzlement. “We don't know, we thought they didn't tell anyone.”

“Bingo!” Trixie gestured towards them both. “But someone still knew. So …” She moved her finger to point at Barnes. “What did you do when you finished your software, the program that told us the guilty party was Reid Beckhart?”

“I brought it in the office to test it,” he said. “You said it ...” he stopped as it dawned on him. “They had it tested,” he finished.

Trixie smiled. “And who does software testing?”

“Ed Buchanan’s company, Triad Software!” Freeman grinned.

“And we know who told us not to look at Torch and Triad,” Sean finished. “It all makes sense.”

 

 

“Honey?” Ben blinked as he stared at his cousin standing in his doorway. “What are you doing here?”

After Trixie left her to meet someone else, Honey decided to hang out around Ben’s apartment. She had her own idea that he would turn up at his home. Her instincts proved to be correct and she waited only long enough to allow him to get inside the door before she followed him.

“I came to return your phone,” she replied. She held out the unit she’d taken from his desk. “It was a nasty trick, but I was angry and … well, I was angry.”

He stared at the phone as he tried to absorb the situation. Of all the scenarios he’d run through his head it never crossed his mind that Honey Wheeler would have swiped his phone. He pushed a hand through his hair and finally looked at her. “I guess I deserved that.”

He reached out to take the phone but she pulled her hand back. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah, well, you see the thing is –” he stopped and looked over his shoulder before taking a step closer to Honey. She was forced to take a step back as the fumes of alcohol overwhelmed her senses.

“I sort of maybe had a lot to drink,” he admitted slowly. “I’m not fit for company right now.”

“I see. Since when am I company?” she asked.

“Honey –“ he started. Seeing the determined expression on her face, he stopped. “Come on in.” Stepping back inside the apartment, he pushed the door open and motioned for her to enter.

The large bottle of whiskey on the counter was the first thing she noticed. He hadn’t wasted any time since arriving home.

“Since when do you drink before lunch?” She crossed to the counter and picked up the bottle of whiskey.

“I’m not working today,” he replied.

“Neither am I,” she shot back. “But I’m not drinking. What’s going on, Ben? What’s wrong with you? Why did you play that trick on me with the papers? I understand you love a good joke, you always have, but you could’ve really put a kink in my relationship with Trixie. She’s going to marry my brother and that’s the last thing we need.”

“Your adopted brother,” he muttered as he moved to take the bottle from his hand.

“Now wait just a damn minute!” She yanked the bottle back. “Jim Frayne is my very own full-blooded adopted brother! How dare you say that?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah … whatever.” He noticed the flash in her eyes too late, and there was no time to dodge her hand. The slap cracked across his face and they stared at each other, neither believing that she’d dared to touch him.

Tears welled in her eyes as his hand automatically moved to his cheek. They both spoke at the same time.

“Ben, I’m so sorry—” Honey started.

“I guess I deserved that—” Ben began.

Just as they’d started they both stopped and Honey burst into tears.

“Shit!” Ben mumbled as he managed to take the bottle of whiskey from her and place it back on the counter. He then folded her into his arms, embracing her and patting her back.

“I deserved that and more, Honey,” he tried to comfort her. “Don’t cry. Shit! I don’t have a clue what to do when you cry. You never cry in front of me, not ever. Not even when you had to eat that crappy salty oatmeal. I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t cry.”

The sobs began to subside and he led her to his sofa, encouraging her to sit down.

“Obviously, I’m not the only one with problems,” he concluded when she finally stopped. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. “I’m moving back to Chicago for a while,” she finally managed.

“Chicago? Why Chicago?”

“I’ve agreed to lead Jed’s case for his murder trial,” she explained.

“What the ---” he stopped just in time. “You’re kidding me! You’re going to defend that asshole?”

“I thought you liked Jed?” she sniffed as she pulled away from his embrace and made herself comfortable on the large, wine-colored leather sofa. “You never said anything to me before about him. Why are you against him now?”

“I dunno,” he shrugged. “He just always seemed to be a lot more like my Dad than like your Dad.”

Honey took a moment to digest that tidbit before she replied. “I guess that’s fair enough. I didn’t see it at the time but he was a bit of a …”

“Pompous jerk?” Ben finished for her.

“Benjamin …” She drew the name out slowly, the warning clear in her tone. “That may be true, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve representation. Nor does it mean he’s a murderer.”

“It doesn’t mean he’s not a murderer either,” he shot back. “Come on, Honey. Are you sure you want to do this?”

She nodded furiously. “Ben, right now there are a lot of things in my life that give me pause, but the decision to represent Jed isn’t one of them. I know he’s innocent. Just like I know you, Jim, Brian – none of you could murder someone either.”

He sat down next to her with a decided plop. “Jim and Brian, yeah I know what you mean. But don’t be so sure to lump me in with those two honorable he-men. I might surprise you.”

“You surprise me all the time.”

He gave her a puzzled look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Quit your job. Come with me to Chicago to work on Jed’s case. We’ve never had an opportunity to work together at all. It would be fun.”

“Quit my job,” he echoed. “That’s a pretty big step, Honey.”

“Come on, you know you hate it there. You only took it because Uncle Sir thought that was the best firm to work for. This is a high profile murder case. Who knows where the exposure might lead.” She was definitely wheedling.

“I can’t, Honey. Not right now, I need to …” He stopped. There was no way he could tell her any more. “I have something I think I need to fix,” he finished. “It involves some work here, in New York.”

“Could you wrap it up in a couple of weeks and then join me?” It was obvious she was not going to give in without a few more tries.

“Maybe,” he admitted. “But it would take me a few days to even find that much out.”

“And if you could, would you? I mean if you could wrap it up, turn in your notice, you could be in Chicago by Memorial Day. That wouldn’t cost us too much time.”

“I haven’t passed the Illinois bar exam,” he protested.

Honey snorted. “File for reciprocity. Come on, Ben. You know you want to. Wheeler and Riker, we would be unstoppable.”

He grinned. “First,” he pointed a finger at her. “It would have to be Riker and Wheeler. And second …” He leaned closer. “We’d win even if that asshole was as guilty as hell!”

 

 

Trixie briefed her team on the security protocols in place and expectations for the fundraiser the next evening. Once Sean and Amy had wrapped up the files and departed he office Trixie and Beth were left to talk freely. “Seriously, Beatrix. I don't mind going with Barnes to the fundraiser.”

Trixie gave her a hard look. “You knew who it was, don’t pretend like you didn't. You knew on the boat, but you wouldn’t say so don’t think I’m falling for your story.” She took a step closer. “Where’s Jared Somer?”

Beth shook her head and looked away. “I don’t know.”

“Yes you do,” Trixie pushed. “Don’t give me that.”

“He left me!” she yelled.

“That’s one way to put it.” Her voice was hard. “It’s time to come clean, Beth. It’s only you and me, and I didn't want to say anything in front of the others. Tell me what you did with his body.”

Beth gasped and her face paled. “How did you know?” She whispered, her fingers covering her mouth.

“When you were so anxious to keep that computer and you didn’t care about the files. That meant there was something else on there. That’s when I realized that while the yacht didn’t have a security system, Harold’s laptop did. You managed to shut down the computer before the police got there, but you didn’t have time to get rid of it. You wanted the webcam files because they showed who shot Harold Langham.”

Beth’s eyes widened. “I promise you that I didn’t shoot Harold. I swear it to you, Beatrix. It was Jared.”

Trixie studied her closely. There was just enough ring of truth for her to believe Beth was speaking the truth.

“What happened?”

“Jared and Harold were involved in a confrontation on the yacht. Jared already knew that Harold had figured out about the money. He decided to tie up loose ends.”

“How did you know?”

“Someone at the funeral service asked me about Jared. They’d seen him outside. That’s how I knew. So I left and followed him to the Lillibet.”

“And yesterday on the boat, why were you there, why did you want to borrow the Lillibet?”

“I came back to get the computer and get rid of Jared’s body.”

“Where was it?”

“Fastened to the anchor,” she replied. “Beatrix,no one can know. If it ever gets out, IRMA will put a price on my head.”

“I know,” she said quietly. “And if we’re not careful they’re going to put one on Ben’s. We need to warn him before tomorrow night. Are you serious about going to Jim’s fundraiser?”

“I tried already, Beatrix. Ben has a date. He’s going with her. I can still go with Barnes.”

“Go with Mike King,” she said. “Set the tongues wagging. It will be just the distraction we need.”

“You’re crazy! There is no way in the world that Mike King is going to be seen with me in public.”

“He will,” Trixie assured her. “He already knows you didn’t sleep with his father.” She reached over and grabbed Beth’s hand, making sure she was looking her in the eye.

“Beth, our only chance is to work together. Right now, we have to trust each other. It’s our only hope.”