Drawing Dead

by Carolina Mac

  “Hi, Mrs. Powell. How is the poker case going?”

  “Not well, and Blaine thinks I’m in Vegas to catch my breath after my divorce. He isn’t to know about me working the case.”

  “I’ve been told that, and he won’t hear it from me. Can I help with something?”

  “Yes, please. I know you did some background digging on Kristal Ducharme for me, but I need more. She’s my prime suspect now.”

  “Did something happen?”

  “Lance Ogilvie is dead, and I’m sure Kristal killed him. She was with him last night.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “I need connections, Lily. Do you have a list of all the victims in this case?”

  “Yes, I do. I’m keeping up with the police reports.”

  “Okay, good. See if you can connect Kristal with any of the other victims. Did she know them—even a long time ago? Whatever you can find.”

  “Okay, I’ll do it right away. I received an email a short time ago from Lieutenant Zystra, saying that Ron Hamilton died of alcohol poisoning. It’s been ruled an accidental death and no charges will be laid against Amanda Singer.”

  “Okay, I see. I was wondering about that. His death was different from all the rest. Okay, so Ron isn’t one of our victims.”

  “Doesn’t look like it,” said Lily. “I’ll call as soon as I have something for you.”

  “Thanks, Lily.”

  Travis slouched at the end of the table nursing his coffee. Annie brought him up to date and told him about Ron Hamilton.

  “Shit, he just drank too much?”

  Annie shrugged. “That was the ruling.”

  Travis drained his cup, stood up and offered Annie his hand. “Ready to go to the morgue?”

  MISTY WAS in tears when Blaine drove her home from the courthouse. He opened the door for her and patted Hoodoo on the head. “Let me get you a glass of wine, sweetheart. You could use a drink.”

  “I wanted to go to Tulley’s for lunch when you offered, but I’m such a mess, I couldn’t eat a single crab cake.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll take you there for dinner one night this week and you can fill up on crab cakes and lobster.” Blaine opened the fridge and took out a bottle of Chardonnay.

  “You’re too good to me.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  I want you to touch Fisher’s shirt and give me a clue.

  Misty’s cell rang in her purse. She grappled for it and answered just in time. “Yes, I’m home now. An hour will be fine. Thank you.”

  Blaine raised an eyebrow. “Another showing?”

  “Nope. She’s presenting an offer. Could you stay and read it over? You can pretend you’re my attorney.”

  “I am an attorney.”

  Misty giggled. “I forgot, if I even knew that about you. You have so many letters after your name, I guess you could have legal letters too and I’d never be the wiser. Now you won’t have to pretend.”

  “Guess not.” Blaine scowled. He hated it when any mention was made of his accomplishments. “I might as well have a beer if I’m staying to pretend I’m your lawyer.” He crossed the kitchen, grabbed a Corona from the fridge and leaned against the counter as he chugged half down.

  His cell rang on the table. Misty glanced at it and said, “It’s Farrell.”

  “I hope he found something at the river.” Misty handed him his cell. “Hey, bro. Anything?”

  “Yeah, but not anything we want. Another body. The homeless guy was caught up in weeds down apiece from the bridge.”

  “Shit. Did you call it in?”

  “Yeah, the Chief didn’t sound joyful, but he’s sending the troops.”

  “Secure the scene until they get there, give your statement, then take Red home, clean up both dogs and sleep for a couple of hours.”

  CHARITY WAILED, and Tyler called from the bottom of the staircase. “Are you getting the baby, Jesse?”

  No answer.

  “Jesse, where are you? Are you up there?” Tyler didn’t hear any footsteps and he didn’t wait. He took the stairs two at a time and as he passed Jesse’s bedroom on the way to the nursery he saw his brother laid out on the carpet. “Fuck, no.”

  He ran into the room and dropped to his knees. “Jesse, Jesse, don’t be dead.” He turned his head to the doorway and bellowed at the top of his lungs. “Brian. Brian, I need you. Hurry. Hurry up.”

  Footsteps pounded along the upstairs hall and Brian ran into the room with Bobby right behind him. Brian grabbed the defibrillator off the wall and motioned for the boys to get out of the way. He hooked Jesse up and at the same time hollered, “Bob, call 911, and tell them to hurry. Charity screamed louder. “Ty, get the baby.”

  Bobby stepped into the hall to make the call and Tyler ran to the nursery. He scooped Charity out of her crib, her little face red from screaming for so long. Ty hugged her to his chest. “Don’t cry, baby. I’ve got you. Don’t cry.”

  Tears rolled down Tyler’s cheeks as he stood in the doorway of Jesse’s bedroom holding Charity close to him. Her chubby little arms were wrapped tightly around his neck and her tiny fingers entwined in his long hair.

  The paramedics strapped Jesse to a gurney and carefully transported him down the curved staircase. “Good thing you had the defib here at the house, Doctor Quantrall,” called the taller of the two. “We might not have been in time.”

  Looking pale and distressed, Brian nodded. “I’ll get dressed and be right behind y’all.”

  “We all better get dressed,” said Bob.

  “I’ll change the baby,” said Ty, “You better call Paulie, Bobby.”

  “Yep, doing that now.”

  Tyler had Charity changed and dressed when Bob stuck his head in the nursery. “Wendy’s coming over with Paul. She’ll stay here and watch Charity.”

  “She hasn’t had her breakfast,” said Tyler. “She’s hungry.”

  “Get dressed,” said Bob. “Wendy will feed her.”

  “I… I don’t want to leave her, she’s so upset.” Charity had stopped crying but was sucking in little gulps of air and shivering. Tyler gazed down at her tear-stained face and choked out the words. “Da tried to come, but he couldn’t.”

  “See how she is when Wendy gets here. Do what you want, Ty, I’m going with Paulie to the hospital.”

  TRAVIS SLIPPED a strong arm around Annie’s waist as they walked through the door into the cool stillness of the Clarke County morgue.

  “Did you bring Kristal Ducharme in for questioning, Lieutenant?” asked Annie.

  “Umm… I’m not at liberty to discuss an open investigation with you, Mrs. Powell. On the other hand, if Deputy Bristol was to ask me that same question, I have to say, yes. I’m holding her upstairs. She’s given a statement but based on her record and what you’ve told me, I’m letting my best interrogator have another crack at her.”

  “I hope you get solid evidence, Lieutenant.”

  “My wish also.” Zystra led the way into the morgue. “Which drawer is Lance Ogilvie in, Sammy?” he called to the pathologist.

  “I’ll show you. I just got him squared away.”

  The doctor strode across the cold concrete and pulled open drawer fourteen.

  Annie gazed down at Lance thinking how much Race had resembled his father, and how much Jackson looked like both of them. Her ears buzzed, and she turned towards Travis about to say something, then everything went black.

  Travis grabbed her up into his arms before she hit the cement. “You can take that as a positive ID, Lieutenant,” he said as he carried her towards the door.

  BLAINE LEFT MISTY thinking about the offer that her realtor had presented. He had quickly scanned the documents, and everything seemed to be in order. With her half of the equity, she could easily buy a smaller place and manage on her own.

  I hope she doesn’t ask me about renting my house again. It might cause a problem if Carm wants to move back there.

  He turned up the CD player and listened to the demo Ann
ie had made with her band. He was one of the few who was lucky enough to own a copy. He played it in his truck when he was alone, and it never failed to raise his spirits.

  He arrived at DPS for McIntyre’s autopsy and met the Chief in the hall outside his office. “Am I late, Chief?” Blaine asked as they went downstairs to the morgue together.

  “Doc will wait for us. What’s the rush anyway?”

  Blaine’s cell rang on the bottom step and he checked the screen. Tyler.

  Tyler rarely calls me.

  “Hey, Ty, what’s up?”

  Tyler didn’t speak right away, and Blaine’s heart sped up double time thinking something had happened to his partner. “Is it Jesse?”

  “Can you come, Blacky?” Tyler whispered the words and Blaine knew it was bad.

  “I’m coming.” He turned to Chief Calhoun. “It’s Jesse.”

  “Fayette Memorial,” said Ty. “Cardiac Unit.”

  “Ten minutes, and I’m there.”

  The Chief was winded at the top of the stairs. “How bad is it, son?”

  “Don’t know. Tyler sounded scared. We better hurry.”

  Twelve minutes later, with the siren whining and strobe lights flashing, Blaine parked in the ‘no stopping’ zone in front of the hospital entrance. Upstairs, an orderly directed them to the cardiac unit and the designated waiting area.

  “How bad is it?” Blaine asked Bob who was sitting with his head in his hands.

  “He was lying on the floor when Ty found him. Brian defibbed him at home. He brought that thing home and hung it on the wall and Jesse laughed at him. Saved his life today.”

  Blaine let out the breath he was holding. “Thank God. Does Annie know?”

  “Don’t think so. She’s away, isn’t she?”

  “I’ll call her,” said Blaine. He pointed to a chair and the Chief, a little red in the face, sat down. Before he called Annie, Blaine introduced Bob and Paul to Chief Calhoun.

  “Nice to meet you boys. There’s a couple more of you?”

  “Brian is in with Jesse,” said Bob, “and Ty isn’t here yet.” Bob looked up, “Not true, he’s here now.”

  Tyler sat down next to Bob and cuddled Charity close to him. “Any news?”

  “Nothing yet,” said Bob.

  Blaine stepped into the corridor and called Annie. It rang twice and then Travis picked up.

  “Hey, Blacky. How’s it going?”

  “Not worth a goddam, Trav. Jesse had a heart attack this morning and I thought Annie should know. He’s in the cardiac unit at Fayette Memorial.”

  “Shit. He was pale when he left here yesterday.”

  “Too much for him. Can I talk to Mom?”

  “Umm… nope. Not right now. She… um… fainted when we had to ID Lance Ogilvie in the morgue.”

  “What? Lance Ogilvie is dead?”

  “I’m afraid he is.”

  “How, was it his heart?”

  “That’s the way they’re leaning, I think.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “He was found dead in his bed in his suite at the Gold Mine, similar to the other cases we’re working on.”

  “We? Now that Jesse isn’t there you’re all alone, aren’t you?”

  “I think I’ve got coverage, although I haven’t seen any of the Junkers lurking around.”

  I can’t tell you that Annie is the lead on this one.

  “I don’t like you there alone, Travis. Get Annie to give you some back up, if you need it.”

  “Good idea. I’ll ask her.”

  “Find out when she’s coming home. I need her.”

  “I’ll have her call as soon as she’s feeling a bit better.”

  “Thanks, Travis.”

  Jeeze, Blacky, I hate being split up like this.

  Travis pressed end, and Annie’s cell rang again. “Hey, Lily, any luck on Kristal, the fake killer bitch?”

  Lily giggled. “Sounds like you don’t like her much, Travis.”

  “She’s so fake looking, she’s creepy.”

  “I found a couple of things. Do you want to write this down?”

  “Yep, let me get one of the hotel pens.” He walked over to the desk. “Okay, ready.”

  “She was arrested once a few months ago by the fraud squad and the report cited a guy name Nick Valadero as her partner in whatever scam they were pulling off.”

  “Okay, Nick Valadero. Got it.”

  “This is the address listed for him in Vegas.”

  Travis wrote it down. “No home address for Kristal?”

  “Not that I could find.”

  “Okay, this is great. Thanks, Lily.”

  “Will you be back soon?”

  “Hope so. The fun has gone out of fun city.”

  ANNIE WOKE from her nap feeling a little better, but still filled with anger over Lance’s murder. She’d get that bitch Kristal if it was the last thing she ever did.

  Travis was talking on her cell when she emerged from her bedroom and walked into the living area of her suite.

  “Was that Lily, sugar pop?”

  “Yep, she got good stuff for us on Kristal and her partner. A guy named Nick Valadero.”

  “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

  “Now, I’m getting somewhere. You have to go home.”

  Annie shook her black mane of hair. “I can’t go home. I’m on a job.”

  “Jesse had a heart attack this morning and Blacky wants you to come home.”

  Annie stood still and stared at Travis, the wheels turning in her head. “I know you think I’ll just go running off home to sit with Jesse, but I’ve got experience in this area. For the first two days I won’t be able to see him anyway. I’m assigned to this job, and if I hope to get another one I have to finish this one properly. Let’s get the goods on Kristal and her partner, finish up and both go home.”

  “Not what I thought you’d say, but I want to finish and go home too.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ZACH HUMMED as he cleaned out Lamar’s fridge. He checked all the ‘best before’ dates and tossed everything past due into the trash can, then sat down at the table and made a list of what he liked to eat. A lot of stuff Mary used to make for him like date squares and lemon tarts, he never had once in the last eleven years at the hospital. Off he went grocery shopping at Kroger’s with Lamar’s wallet full of drug money.

  He parked the car in the ramshackle garage when he returned, hauled the six bags of groceries to the back porch, then went back and covered the car with the blue tarp. It was handy having a car. He hadn’t driven for years, and his license had probably expired, but he still knew how. A skill was a skill.

  His memory was sketchy and that annoyed him sometimes. He remembered some areas of his life and not others. Most of his years in the military had been erased. The only time details of his past became crystal clear was during the nightmares. Doctor McIntyre said that was part of his illness.

  He sang as he brought the groceries into the kitchen and put them away. “Mary had a little…”

  A knock on the front door startled him. Nobody knew he was here. He’d ignore it and they’d go away. Probably more of Lamar’s drug kids.

  Another knock. Harder this time.

  Can’t they see the tape? What kind of idiot is out there?

  He crept into the tiny living room, pulled the dusty drape back an inch and peeked out. “Looks like a Girl Guide. Wonder if she’s got any cookies?”

  He opened the door, the yellow taped stretched across the opening, and there she stood in her little uniform.

  “Want to buy some cookies, Mister?”

  “How much?”

  “Five dollars a box.”

  “How many boxes you got, little girl with curly hair?”

  “Only have seven left, then I can go home when I get them all sold.”

  Zach smiled down at her. Somehow, she reminded him of Mary. “Give me all of them, and you can go home.” He peeled off thirty-five dollars and hande
d the money to her.

  “Thanks, Mister. You’re my best customer of the day.”

  Zach backed into the hallway with seven boxes of cookies stacked in his arms. “Hope these are good,” he mumbled to himself.

  TYLER SAT at Jesse’s bedside rocking Charity in his arms. He’d been there for his allotted five minutes and it was time to go back to the waiting area. Jesse had to rest.

  “As soon as your daddy opens his eyes, he’ll want to see you, baby girl.”

  Charity grabbed her elephant from Tyler and shoved its ear in her mouth.

  “I’ve to go, Ty,” said Blaine, when Ty came out of the unit. “The Chief needs to get back to headquarters. Call me if anything happens. I’ll be back tonight.”

  “Brian said Jesse is stable,” said Ty. “After visiting hours tonight maybe we’ll go for a beer. Molly can listen for the baby.”

  “Sounds good,” said Blaine. “I could use a break.”

  ANNIE AND TRAVIS cruised by Nick Valadero’s address in the north end of Las Vegas. He lived in a cream stucco bungalow with a red tile roof and a yard full of stubby palm trees in a maze of other cream stucco bungalows with red tile roofs and yards full of stubby palms. In his one-car drive sat a shiny, new red vette. Nick must be doing something right—or very, very wrong. No employer listed on his file.

  Travis parked half way down the block and turned off the engine of the Jeep.

  “Helluva nice car,” said Annie. “He must have a few bucks.”

  “Maybe I can get a tag on it later,” said Travis, “then we could keep tabs on him.”

  “Do you think Kristal lives here with him?” asked Annie. “Maybe they’re a couple as well as partners in crime.”

  Travis shrugged. “They might be a couple as well as partners—hell they might even be married. If I could get a tag in the house we’d get answers to a lot of questions.” Travis lowered the window and lit up a smoke. “You okay to sit for a half hour?”

  “Sure, I’m good,” said Annie. “Never done much surveillance, but I can do it as good as the next person.”

  Travis looked across the console at her and grinned.

  They sat across the street for forty-five minutes watching and nobody went in or out of the house.