Past Imperfect

by Remington Kane

  Jessica took out her phone, pulled up a photo of Ballou, and compared it to the one taken of the man dining with Nicole.

  White leaned over and made an observation. “Their heads are the same general shape, other than their chins.”

  “The eyes are the same too, if you ignore the color. And look at their mouths, they’re both wide.”

  “Yeah, but the blond man’s lips are fuller, and the ears are different.”

  “A plastic surgeon could have done that, along with changing his nose and chin. Speaking of ears, see if you can get a close-up shot of the man from the side. Concentrate on his ear. People can be identified by the shape of their ears.”

  White took back the camera and zoomed in on the man at the house. He had to wait for more than a minute to get the right shot. Once he had it, he looked at Jessica’s phone. She had brought up a mugshot of Ballou that showed him in profile. Jessica had expanded the photo to focus on his ear. They compared the pictures. The photo on Jessica’s phone screen was blurred but defined enough to make out the contours of Ballou’s ear. The photo taken of the man with Nicole was a good match, and White could see no difference between the two ears.

  “Could that really be Kent Ballou?” he said.

  “I think so. But I’ll want more proof before we do anything to him.”

  White pointed over at the house. “Our proof is sitting on the table down there. If that is Ballou, his fingerprints are all over that juice glass he was drinking from.”

  “You want to go and get that glass?”

  “I could be down there and back within minutes. Then we’ll send the glass to Lawson and see what results we get.”

  “I want to come with you.”

  “I could move faster if I’m alone, and we don’t want to risk the maid clearing the table before I get there. You could also keep a lookout for me up here.”

  “You’re right. I’ll stay. But be careful.”

  “I’ll be back soon,” White said, and then he was off. As always, the man appeared to glide rather than walk.

  White reached the house at its rear and studied the two cameras in view. They swung back and forth to cover more ground, but their timing wasn’t synchronized. There was a four and a half second gap of time when neither camera was recording a certain spot. That spot was located about thirty feet away from the outer entrance to the sunroom. He would have less than five seconds to scale the wrought iron fence and make it inside the sunroom before being captured by one or both cameras. He doubted it was enough time but was ready to make the attempt.

  From where he was, he could see into the sunroom on an angle. Whoever the man with Nicole was, she appeared to be happy in his presence. White marveled at the ability of some to forgive their lovers any transgression. If the blond man was really Ballou, Nicole Price had to be aware that he had killed many times during his robberies and had slain an innocent couple in order to rob them. It didn’t matter to her.

  Jessica was the same in some ways. He had abducted her with the intention of raping and murdering her. After he had realized that he couldn’t go through with it, she had not only forgiven him, but she had helped him to see that he wasn’t beyond redemption.

  White loved his wife for many reasons. The fact that she believed in him when even he himself doubted his worth, was one of them. Nicole must have that same type of love but without the faith that there was someone there who deserved it. She knew who and what Ballou was and loved him anyway. White wasn’t sure if that was love or some sort of sick pathology.

  The blond man rose first before helping Nicole up from her chair. They left the sunroom through a door on the right and entered a hallway. From having been on a tour of the home the previous day, White knew that the hall led to the living room off the main staircase.

  White looked up at the cameras again and waited for them to reach the apex of their individual arcs. When the time came, he rushed forward and jumped for the fence. His long legs and exceptional strength propelled him to the top and he dropped to the other side to land in a crouch. He had less than two seconds to get out of sight.

  The glass door of the sunroom was locked with a deadbolt. White gripped the knob and leaned a shoulder against the door. The wood surrounding the lock groaned, then splintered, and he was in the room. That act had taken just over three seconds, which meant he’d been filmed by at least one camera.

  If anyone had been watching a monitor connected to that camera, they would have seen a tall, hooded figure shove open a locked door.

  Unable to change the fact that his presence in the house might have been noted by someone, White went to work completing his task. He grabbed a wad of napkins and wrapped them loosely around the glass that the blond man had been using.

  He left the sunroom fourteen seconds after entering it and headed back toward the fence. Since he hadn’t avoided being seen by the cameras on his way in, there was no reason to attempt to avoid them on his way out. White scaled the fence, landed on the other side, and headed away from the house. Initially, he ran off in a different direction from the path leading back to Jessica. Once he was certain that he was out of the range of any cameras, White would readjust his course and return to their hilltop observation post. The tactic would buy them time if anyone attempted to give pursuit.

  Breaching the home’s security was worth the risk. If the blond man seen with Nicole was Kent Ballou, they now had evidence that could prove it.

  The cameras weren’t the only surveillance equipment guarding the house. Unknown to Mr. White, he had also activated a motion detector near the fence. The invisible beam of the detector was positioned eight feet off the ground. If it registered movement, there was a good chance that something or someone was scaling the fence. Once triggered, the sophisticated detector sent off an email to Marcus’s phone.

  The big man was twenty-nine miles away in the apartment of the nurse he had gone out with the night before. Since they hadn’t fallen asleep until well after midnight—being otherwise engaged—the two had still been asleep when his phone alerted him. The tone it made was the one he’d designated to the motion detectors at Nicole’s house. Hearing it made Marcus’s eyes fly open.

  His lover’s arm was draped across his chest. He slid it off and sat up, while reaching for his phone.

  “What is it, baby?” the woman mumbled with her eyes still closed. She was a young black woman with exceptional legs and a dazzling smile. Marcus had met her while he’d been at the hospital with one of his men who’d been cut during an altercation with a junkie.

  “It’s work,” Marcus told her. As he spoke, his thick but dexterous fingers flew over his phone and pulled up the latest video from the cameras that were located near the motion detector. He swore aloud when he saw the hooded figure force open the door to the sunroom. As he searched the interior security cameras that led off that room, he was surprised to find that the intruder had never left the sunroom. Returning to the exterior cameras, Marcus saw the tall man leave the sunroom only seconds after entering. He froze the video and studied the hooded figure. Although he couldn’t see a face, he had a good idea who he was looking at.

  “White.”

  “What, baby?” the woman said, thinking that he had been talking to her.

  Marcus leapt up from the bed and grabbed his clothes. “I’ve got to go to work.”

  “Oh, okay. Do you want some coffee before you go?”

  “There’s no time. I’ll call you soon.”

  Two minutes later, Marcus was in his car and making calls. He might not be able to get back to the house in time to stop White, but he could call people who could. He also had to warn Nicole and Ballou.

  Jessica had watched her husband scale the fence and break into the house. They had been together since they were teens and she still marveled at his strength and natural athletic ability. She was in shape, but he had scaled the fence five times faster than she could ever hope to. And she could have leaned on that locked door all day without forc
ing it open.

  She greeted him with a kiss when he came up to her holding the glass wrapped in napkins.

  “We need to leave the area as quickly as we can. I was captured by the cameras.”

  “They won’t know who you are since you had your hood up.”

  “There could still be people on their way here. While you take the car and drive somewhere to ship that glass off, I’ll set up with the camera at a spot where I can still keep an eye on the road leading to the house. Since it’s the only way in or out by car, I’ll be able to see if Ballou makes a run for it. If that happens, I’ll have to stop the car.”

  “The man we saw with Nicole might not be Ballou. We can’t harm him until we’re sure.”

  “I won’t harm him. But if he is Ballou, I won’t take the chance that he’ll get away.”

  They gathered up their sleeping bags and headed for their car. The vehicle was parked along the private road and hidden behind a broad row of hedges.

  Inside the house, Nicole and Ballou were staring at the splintered wood that had once secured the locked door leading to the sunroom. They had been contacted by Marcus and told what had happened. Marcus instructed Nicole to send the maid, cook, and caretaker away for the day. If his men arrived in time to stop White from leaving the area there would be activity that the hired help shouldn’t see. Thanks to their remote location they wouldn’t need to worry about anyone else hearing gunshots, unless there were hikers about, as there sometime were, but given that it was nearly winter, the odds of that were slim.

  Nicole had followed Marcus’s advice and told her staff to enjoy themselves in the nearby city. They left with enough money to get hotel rooms and amuse themselves for the day. The cook and the caretaker had been with Nicole since her husband had been alive. They knew enough not to ask questions and to just do as they were told. The maid was new, but she’d been smart enough to close her mouth after opening it to ask questions. The older and wiser cook had shot her a look of warning that the younger woman took to heart. Without bothering to pack a bag, the trio drove off in the pickup truck the caretaker used.

  Ballou wore a puzzled expression as he considered what Marcus had told them about the intruder. “Why break in and then leave right away? Could something have scared him off?”

  Nicole was also perplexed, but when her eyes fell on the table, she noticed something. “There’s a glass missing. White was after your fingerprints.”

  Ballou moaned. “And he has them.”

  “Not for long he won’t. Marcus is on his way, and he’s sent the men here ahead of him. The doctor and her husband won’t get the chance to get away.”

  “You think Dr. White is with her husband?”

  “They’re a team. Where she goes, he goes, and I’m betting it works the same in reverse.”

  Ballou turned to leave the room. “Let’s get our hands on some guns.”

  White and Jessica were within sight of the end of the private road leading to the estate when a black Cadillac Escalade turned onto it. White could see the silhouettes of two men in the front seats and knew there might be more in the back.

  A second vehicle, a pickup truck, entered after turning onto the road from the other direction. The passenger in that vehicle had a shotgun sticking out the window.

  White hit the brakes and came to a sliding stop, then placed the car in reverse. Beside him, Jessica removed a gun from her purse. Thomas Lawson had arranged for the car they were driving. He had his people leave a pair of handguns in the glovebox, along with six magazines of ammunition.

  “We’re outnumbered,” Jessica said. “What should we do?”

  White answered while keeping his eyes locked on the rearview mirror as he navigated the vehicle while going backwards.

  “I’m going to stop the car as soon as we reach a curve in the road that will hide us from view. After that, we get out of the car and head into the trees on the right.”

  “We should split up, otherwise I’ll slow you down.” Even as she said the words, Jessica expected her husband to disagree. But he surprised her.

  “Yes, we’ll split up. Run as fast as you can and make noise while I hide myself from them. That will allow me to come up from behind them and have the element of surprise. With you at the front and me at the rear they’ll be forced to divide their attention.”

  Jessica laid her hand on one of his, which was gripping the steering wheel. “Be careful.”

  “We’re at the curve. Hold on!”

  White slammed on the brakes again as he brought the car to a stop across the roadway. By the time Jessica opened her door to get out he was already on her side of the vehicle. He placed an arm around her and guided her into the trees as the sound of their pursuers’ engines grew louder.

  “Run! Run as fast as you can and don’t stop until you hear the first shot.”

  Jessica took off at a sprint then leapt over the gnarled roots of a wide tree. White watched her for only a moment before seeking a place to conceal himself. Out on the road, the Cadillac’s brakes screeched too late and there came the sound of it colliding with the car White had left blocking the road. A second collision occurred when the pickup truck hit the rear of the Caddy.

  White lowered himself behind the trunk of a fallen tree as several doors on the vehicles opened and closed. That was followed by the sound of the driver of the Escalade cursing as he took in the damage done to his ride, whose front was bent inward.

  Another voice chided him. “The hell with the grille, Frank. If we don’t catch these people, Marcus will have our asses. Get moving!”

  The first man grunted, as a third man pointed into the trees. “They went that way. You can hear them.”

  There were five of them. They took off in a rush to give chase, as they were eager to hunt down their prey.

  Behind them rose up a true predator from his place of concealment. White stalked after the men trailing his wife as silent as a cheetah hunting gazelles. And he was every bit as deadly.

  Chapter 17

  After eating breakfast, Samantha spent time on the front porch with a set of headphones on. Most people would look at her and assume the young teen was listening to music. To encourage that impression, she occasionally bobbed her head and mouthed words, as if she were singing along.

  Instead, she was listening to an audiobook discussing the psychology of fashion.

  Across the street, Ben Wagner had gazed out his window at her more than once. She’d caught another neighbor looking at her too. Eric Reed had come out onto his porch to grab the town’s weekly newspaper, which had been thrown out a car window by the man delivering them. Reed’s paper had landed at the foot of his steps.

  When he spotted Samantha, Reed sent her a shaky smile then lowered his head. Samantha thought that was an odd reaction before realizing that it was understandable. Reed had been wrongfully accused of being a pedophile and spent time behind bars because of it. Being anywhere near a young girl while no one else was around probably made him nervous. He returned inside his home without glancing her way again.

  When the front door opened across the street, Samantha expected to see Wagner headed toward her. Instead, she saw his teen bride, Cara, coming her way. Their infant daughter was perched on the girl’s hip and sucking on a pacifier.

  “What’s your name?” Cara asked.

  “I’m Samantha.”

  “I saw you talking to my husband yesterday. Do yourself a favor and stay away from him.”

  Samantha brought her hands up to the level of her waist so that she’d be ready to defend herself if Cara became violent. She then lowered them again, thinking that the girl wouldn’t risk getting into a fight while holding her baby.

  “Your husband was just being friendly.”

  “Ben isn’t friendly; he’s a pervert. Look at me. I’m fifteen and I have a kid already. Do you want to wind up like me?”

  Cara’s words surprised Samantha. She decided to see if she could find out more about Cara’s feelings. />
  “If you think he’s a pervert then why did you marry him?”

  “It was my mother’s idea. She threatened Ben with rape charges if he didn’t marry me and give her money every month. I went along with it because I knew I wouldn’t be able to take care of my baby by myself. Listen, I know he seems nice and he makes you feel grown-up, but all he wants to do is have sex with you. He likes girls around our age. Well, your age. Since I turned fifteen, he’s been leaving me alone more. Thank God.”

  Samantha moved closer to the girl and spoke in a low voice. “You hate him?”

  Cara answered in a harsh voice. “Yes. And I hate myself because I fell for his bullshit about how grownup I was. I was a kid. I’m still a kid, but as soon as my daughter is old enough for school, I’m going to get a job and leave that asshole. I swear I will.”

  “That will take years.”

  Cara shrugged. “What else can I do?”

  The baby became restless and tugged at her mother’s hair. Cara turned to walk back across the street while talking over her shoulder. “I have to feed Daniella then put her down for her nap.”

  Samantha watched her go. Cara had spoken to her to save her from falling victim to Wagner’s charm the way she had. It was a kindness that she didn’t have to do. If the chance arose, Samantha would return the favor.

  Jessica was picking out the larger of the trees to weave around in case one of the men chasing her decided to stop running and fire off a shot. The trees would not only grant her a degree of cover but would restrict their view. The men believed that they were chasing two people, if they were to get a clear look at her running alone, they would wonder where her husband was.

  As fast as she was moving, she had to assume that the younger men behind her were gaining on her. That wouldn’t be a factor once her husband decided to act.