by W L Knightly
She looked down at her phone when it buzzed in her hand and noticed it was her father calling. “Hey,” she said, stepping away from the banks and assessing what had happened to her shoes. “Now’s not a good time if you want to yell at me.”
“I’ve never yelled at you, Josephine.”
“That’s a lie. You’ve raised your voice, and it’s the same thing.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at a crime scene. We found a body in the river.”
“A body? Male or female?” His voice was steeped with concern.
“Male,” she said. “And I think it might be the man Jake asked you about.”
Her father was quiet a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was lower than before. “Why would you think that?”
She couldn’t speak about the case with him. There was some information she didn’t need circulating and especially knowing her father’s role in the original crime that triggered it all. “I’m not at liberty to discuss the investigation with you. You know I’m not allowed.”
“It makes no difference. I called because I’m not going to send your brother’s address.”
“Dammit, Dad, I need it. You’re going to anger Jake, and he’s already threatening to take action against you for obstruction.” She looked where Jake stood talking to one of the officers, and Sam stood with him, listening. Neither had noticed she was on the phone as far as she could tell, so she turned her back to them.
“If you think I’m worried about that little shit, you’re mistaken. I was trying to say that I’m not going to send the address because he’s not at home. He’s in Spokane at the moment with a lady friend.”
“Where is he staying?” Her heart raced, knowing he was so close to her. If all she’d heard was true, she didn’t want to meet that abomination.
“That, I don’t know. You’ll have to trust me and give me time. Can you do that, Josephine?”
She wasn’t sure she had a choice. She took a deep breath and glanced back over her shoulder at Jake, who was still caught up in the conversation. If she told him, he’d come down on her father, and it would only drive a much bigger wedge between them. “Fine, I’ll trust you. But please, don’t let me down.”
Her father’s tone softened as he spoke. “Darling, I’m aware I’ve let you down in the past, and trust me when I tell you that’s the last thing I want to do. I love you, and I want a chance to prove your trust is not misplaced.”
She took a deep breath. “Thanks, Dad.”
They ended the conversation about the time Jake looked up, and she brought the phone from her ear. “Any luck? Word from your dad?”
“Nothing,” she said. “I left a message for him about the address, and I thought I’d call one more time about Preston while we’re on this end of town.” His neighborhood was closer to them than the station.
“Sounds good. Maybe you should tell him to give his lawyer a call. He might make himself useful after all.” Jake smiled, and she felt a sting in her heart that she’d been dishonest with him, but she knew if she told him the truth, he’d only make things worse.
Chapter 23
Michael
Michael eased back in his chair after talking to Josephine and hoped that she would keep her word. He had gotten her to trust him, and if things worked the way he wanted, he had bought some time to get business lined out with Stan. Then he could have Kellen Madden handled before she could solve the case and bring him and his son back into the public eye.
It had been so unfortunate that Madden chose that particular time for his revenge plot, and he hated that Josephine was so close to all of it, but he had thought he’d done all he needed by removing the casefiles. Little did he know that things would take a turn, but he was walking a thin line between both of his children and a ghost from his past.
It had been plenty of time for his son to have dealt with Stan, and he decided to give him another call and find out if he had, but as he picked up the phone, another ghost reared his ugly head.
“Preston, where the hell have you been?” he asked as he answered the phone.
“I extended my vacation when we had a layover in New York. My wife wanted to go to the theater, and I try to keep her happy. As it turns out, you’re not the only one who’s been trying to reach me. I had a message to call Detective Thomas, but that couldn’t be right. The man was supposed to retire, and your daughter was taking his place.”
“He’s training her,” said Michael. “And with Madden creating a case to investigate, now he’s around indefinitely. At least until the case is solved, so he says. If you ask me, he’s sniffing around my daughter for a different kind of partnership.” The washed-up detective wasn’t good enough for his Jo, but then, not many men were.
Preston cleared his throat on the other end of the phone. “Well, I thought I’d reach out to you before I sat down to call him.”
“I appreciate it, but please tell me you haven’t made it back home.”
“I just got back into town today. I thought I’d go up to the office and get my messages, but if I’d known there was such an urgency for me, I’d have stayed home.”
“You should consider leaving town again.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” said Preston. “Does that mean you haven’t handled things the way we discussed?”
The plan was for him to leave town and Michael would have Clay kill Kellen Madden. “My daughter is down at the lakeside this very moment with the bloated corpse of Clay White.”
“How did that happen?” Preston’s voice boomed through the phone. “You mean you didn’t get it done?”
“I’ve been trying to reach you for days to explain, but you’ve been ignoring everyone.” He had told Preston to keep an open line of communication.
“I told you when I left that I was going to be out of reach. I trusted you to take care of this and have it done by now.”
The fact that things had gone south was not expected. “I know that was the plan, but things change. Madden is a lot smarter than we thought. He’s not the broken man we expected, operating out of grief. He’s got his shit together better than we do.”
Preston mumbled something under his breath. “We were so glad to figure out what was going on, and a lot of good it did us to have the jump on the police.”
He and Preston had figured it out when Madden killed Gaines and Daniels, Mathews solidified it, and by then, they had they already had their plans in full swing.
“I’ve already got another plan in place, but you need to leave town. Take your wife back to the theater or anywhere. Be creative. Women love that spontaneous bullshit.”
Preston huffed. “I don’t need your advice on women. I need you to get the job done. I have a meeting before I go. I can’t get out of it. But I’ll send my wife ahead. Joanie is going to be upset that we can’t travel together, so I might have our daughter go along with her.”
“I should also inform you that Chief O’Connor was murdered. He got to him before I could do anything.”
There was a gasp from the other end of the phone. “What? What the hell is going on with this world? A good man like O’Connor can get taken down.” He made a sound of disgust. “I’ll have my wife check on his. She’ll be devastated for her friend. And what the hell happened with Clay White?”
He remembered the moment the bullet went into Clay’s head. “I’m not sure. I sent him out to deal with Madden. The last I heard, he was at his house, and then the next, my daughter is saying they found a man and she thinks it’s him.”
“She thinks, or she knows?” he asked with a suspicious tone in his voice.
“Let’s just say we’re pretty sure. Of course, they’ll have to doublecheck.” He couldn’t tell him that he was the one who put Clay there. The fewer who knew that he had gotten blood on his hands, the better.
“Oh, I see. Then tell me, what is your plan?” Michael could feel his lack of faith and tried not to take it personally. He wouldn’t trust himself e
ither.
“I’ve got another man, and he’s going to have it all resolved soon.” He heard someone coming up the hall. “Let me call you back. But answer your goddamned phone.” He was paranoid that everything was going to blow up in his face soon, and he had to look like everything was normal.
He ended the call and then waited to see if the person was coming to his office or not. When he heard the custodian whistling, he realized that he’d ended the call for nothing, but rather than call him back to continue the lecture, he dialed his son’s number.
“Hey, pops.”
“Can’t you grow up for once? I always know you’re up to something when you have that blasé tone in your voice.”
“I’m just feeling good. Spokane does good things for me. It’s my lucky place.”
“That’s not what you were saying three years ago when your ass was on the line.”
“Well, it’s a new day, new perspective.”
“I take it you and Kendra ended things. What was the new girl’s name?”
“Dannie. She’s hot and sucks a mean cock.”
He was thankful that the whole Kendra thing was done. “Now you can go home. There’s nothing keeping you in Spokane. Take your cocksucker with you.”
“No can do. She’s a career girl. Loves her job and she’s pretty settled in. Besides, I have plans for her.”
Michael had chills go up his spine. To hear his son saying such things about women made him wonder if he was capable of killing again. He had gotten over the worst of his drug addiction, but he knew it wasn’t the drugs giving him those tendencies.
“Jake Thomas contacted me. He wanted me to give your address. I am dragging my feet, but it’s getting harder. They know we’re connected through the other case, and they know he hasn’t been home. He could be stalking you.”
“Thanks for the warning. I’ll keep my eyes open. Hey, I’ll call you later, okay?”
“No.” He wasn’t going to let his son get away from him. “Wait a second. I didn’t call for that. I wondered if you’d taken care of Stan yet.”
“I’ve been trying to find him, but I haven’t had any luck.”
He was going to have to contact the man himself. “Have you even pulled the money from your account?” He knew he would check it as soon as he got off the phone.
“Um, I did some.”
“Some? You can’t fuck around with this. I need you to pay Stan and then get the fuck out of town. Stop thinking with your dick and do what you’re supposed to, son.”
“Okay, fuck. I’m on it. Stan’s a busy guy is all.”
“I’m trusting you to do the right thing, Kyle. Don’t make me regret it.” He sank in his seat just hearing the words come from his lips. This was Kyle. The fucking kid had been a thorn in his side since the day he was born. His temperament, his greed? It was always easy to leave home for business. Never had he wanted to be around Brenda and Kyle, not even in the early days. He was such a noisy baby, up all hours with colic. He had never been able to handle that shit enough to bond.
“You worry too much. I’m on top of the fucking world right now.”
“You’re high.”
“Not that kind of high. High on life, old man. Be happy for me. You’re always trying to shit on my party. Be something besides a dick for once in your life. It must be really painful.”
“What? Watching you self-destruct?” He had given up fearing his future long ago.
Kyle laughed. “No, I meant the stick that’s shoved up your ass. Pull that fucker out for five goddamned minutes and be my father, would you?”
“Be your father? You mean your patsy? Your pushover? Your scapegoat? No thanks. It’s getting where you can’t even see when someone is trying to pull you out of the fire. You keep jumping back in. There is a killer out there, and you’re in his sights. Doesn’t that bother you in the least?”
“Why would it? I’m going to handle it.” His son had that cocky indestructible tone that he’d gotten many times through the years when he was about to crash and burn.
“Pay Stan. That’s all you have to do. And stay off the coke, Kyle. Get yourself right.”
“Maybe I want to do things my way. I might have a plan of my own. I mean, two can play his game, right?”
He realized that was why he was still in town. He had his own agenda. The anger washed through him. “Dammit, Kyle. Don’t make me come back there for you. You need to let me handle it.”
“Why? Are you afraid my sister will have to arrest me? Don’t want her meeting me, do you?”
“Is this about her? Because I do hope you meet her. I hope you’re still alive to be able to. I hope that the first time she sees you isn’t when you’re being cut down from the rafters of some shitty hole in the wall homeless retreat.”
“No, you’d just rather me hang myself, wouldn’t you, Dad? It’s okay if I fade out, disappear, as long as it’s not messy. Wouldn’t want to do anything to soil Daddy’s reputation.” His laughter gave Michael chills. He was already off the deep end. And worse, there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it in DC.
“I’m coming back to Spokane. Do me a favor and wait for me before you go and do anything stupid. If you want to be a part of my plan, we’ll do it together, but I call the final shots.”
“Aw, a father and son project. Just like old times, when the world was young and all was innocent. Sure, Dad. I’d like that.” He ended the call.
As the line went dead, Michael gripped his phone tightly. “Son of a bitch!” He wasn’t sure what to do, but he knew he had a few more meetings before he would be excused to go back. He had a feeling that whatever his son was up to, he was going to be too impulsive not to act fast.
The only thing he could consider was asking Detective Thomas for help.
Chapter 24
Jake
Another day had gone by without a word from Preston, so Jake decided to cruise by his place on the way in. He was excited to see movement and knew the sign of activity had to be because the man was home. And he couldn’t wait to get to the office to tell Jo about it.
As he walked into the station and down the hall, he noticed the light was on in the office, and the door was open, which meant that Jo had made it in.
When he rounded the corner, the first person he saw was Sam, sitting in his chair and sipping coffee. He put the cup down to reveal a big smile that was no doubt for Jo, and the two seemed so cozy, a mood which suddenly changed as he walked into the room.
“Hey, Jake,” said Sam. “I was just telling Jo about the woman. Her name is Melissa Peyton. We found an old address label on one of those letters to Madden in the military.”
Jake realized he would have seen it if he had only kept looking through the stack of greeting cards. “Good catch.”
About that time, there were footsteps down the hall, and Sam’s eyes widened. “Dammit, close the door,” he whispered.
Jake reached for the door a moment too late. Dannie stepped up and put her hand out to stop him. She glanced over at Sam, turning away in disgust. “Jake, do you think you could stop by my desk and talk to me when you’re not busy with this loser?”
Jake and Jo both looked at Sam who narrowed his eyes. “Fuck you, Dannie. Save your shit for someone who gives a fuck.”
“Wow,” she said. “You know you care. You’re the one who was getting all jealous. Don’t be bitter because I found someone else. You should have made your move, but no, you didn’t want a commitment.”
“Commitment or not, you would still have fucked that guy. No ring is going to make you keep your fucking legs closed, unless it’s clamped around your knees, and even then, you’ll just bend over and take it in the backdoor.”
“Whoa,” said Jo. “TMI.”
“Hey, settle this shit on your own time,” said Jake, not wanting to hear it either.
“Sorry, man,” said Sam as Dannie walked away, shooting him the finger. “She just makes me so crazy. She met some guy at lunch the other day and banged
him. She said he’s a writer. Probably some shady fucking reporter, but you can’t convince her. Then she tells me and says Vegas is off. I mean, I had already made up my mind that it wasn’t going to work, but damn, wait until it’s over, you know?” He got up and drank the last of his coffee. “Damn, she ruined the taste of my coffee.” He shook his head and left the cup on the table. Then he walked toward the door.
“Thanks for bringing this by.” Jo fanned the envelope, blowing the loose strands that brushed her face.
“Yeah, no problem.” He disappeared down the hall.
Jake shut the door and then walked around to his side of the desk. When Jo put the paper down, he reached for it. “So, we have our girl. Now we just need to find her.”
Jo leaned forward and moved her keyboard closer. “I’m going to see if she’s in our records. Maybe she’s had an arrest, a ticket, something that might have an address.”
“If we’re lucky, which, I’m not so sure I want to jinx us.”
Her fingers danced across the keyboard much quicker that his own hen peck ever had. “I wouldn’t speak so soon,” Jo said with a smile. “Guess who has a lead foot.”
Jake was so shocked that he got up and walked around to the other side of the desk and leaned in over her shoulder. “Pull up the personal.”
“I am,” she said, letting her fingers do their thing again. “Here. Shit.” She sagged as he read the address.
“It’s the old residence. Which means she must have lived there back then.”
“Or she did at one time, and she didn’t change it on her license. So, we’re back to square one. The important thing is, we have her name, and we’re bound to find her somehow through one of our databases, but I’ll make a folder for her. Physical and on here.”
She turned to her drawer, and Jake wondered what she was going for. He hadn’t had any type of system in place, and his desk had been a mess. Now he glanced down to see the hanging file folders were all in a neat row.
