Brick looked over at her.
“I think you want to kill that Mexican woman even more than you want to kill Tanner.”
Ariana touched the scar on her face.
“I want them both dead.”
CHAPTER 14 – One of us
“What do you mean she’s here?” Carter Mason asked his brother.
They were in their office together at their tavern. Carter had been in the middle of filling a drink order at the bar when Randall whispered to him that Jessica White was in Colorado. After that, they went into their office to talk.
“Jessica White is not only in Colorado, but here in Boulder.”
Carter’s eyes flashed a look of fear.
“She’s here looking for us?”
Randall pointed at the TV in the corner of the room. The picture was paused, but showed Jessica White walking through an airport terminal.
“I don’t know if she’s after us or not; I just saw this footage of her on the news as she arrived at the airport. A reporter was there earlier doing a live story on airline safety and recognized her. When the guy shouted to her and asked if she were here investigating the recent murders, she just said ‘No comment’ and kept going.”
Carter wiped sweat off his forehead.
“I saw on the news earlier that she solved some series of murders in Ohio. The damn woman is dangerous and we need to get rid of her as soon as possible.”
“That’s not the worst of it,” Randall said, and he hit the play button on the paused television.
Carter watched the scene that Randall had described earlier, but when the cameraman pulled back to a wider shot, Jessica’s husband came into view.
Carter pointed at the screen.
“That guy... he’s like us.”
Randall grinned.
“You see it too? Good, I thought I was imagining it, and yeah, he’s like us, and if we can sense him, he can sense us. That’s the secret to Jessica White’s success at catching killers. She’s married to one, and the bastard helps her.”
Carter dropped into a chair.
“What do you think, does she let him kill as much as he wants as long as he helps her catch other killers?”
“That would be my guess,” Randall said.
“But why come to Boulder? We’ve never killed inside the city limits.”
“Likely because it’s a central location, she can’t be on to us yet.”
“We have to let Styles know about this.”
“I called him on the throwaway phone,” Randall said. “He was glad he didn’t have to travel, and said that he’d do the hit as soon as possible.”
“How is he going to find her?”
“He says he knows a lot of people who work in the hotels. Once he finds out where Jessica White is staying, she’s as good as dead.”
“Why did you call Styles? Horrigan should have been the one to do that.”
“Jim didn’t answer his phone.”
Carter stood and paced around the office.
“I don’t like it; things are moving too fast and are happening too close to home. I know we thought that Jessica White might come here someday to consult, but why now?”
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that it’s strange, that’s all.”
“We need to clean house,” Randall said. “Horrigan is a loose end.”
“I agree; should we have Styles kill him too?”
“No, I’ve got a better idea. I’ll kill Horrigan and plant his body near where Styles lives. That way, if he ever tries to burn us, we can take him down too.”
“Have you looked outside; there’s nearly a foot of snow and more on the way.”
“Not a problem: I’ll bury him in the woods, under the cover of the pine trees.”
“When do you want to do this?”
“I’ll do it tonight while Styles is busy killing Dr. White.”
“All right, but be careful, and Randall, be cool.”
Randall cocked his head.
“What’s that mean?”
“I know you, and I know that you like to hunt to relieve stress, but we can’t kill while that bitch and her husband are in town. I am not going to prison because you can’t control yourself. If a body turned up now we’d be screwed.”
“Give me some credit, hmm?”
“All right, little brother, now go find Horrigan.”
CHAPTER 15 – Work can wait
Unaware that Jim Horrigan was in a police station trying to make a deal that would place him and his brother under the scrutiny of the law, Randall was on his way to see Horrigan in Salina.
Randall drove past the parking lot of a sports bar and spotted a woman having an argument with her boyfriend. The couple was familiar, particularly the young woman.
He’d been eyeing the same blonde for weeks at his own bar, and now here she was again. He had checked her ID the first time he served her and had been able to tell that it was a good fake.
If Randall had to guess, neither the girl nor her boyfriend were more than nineteen, while the boy was the younger looking of the two.
Randall pulled to the curb at the edge of the parking lot and watched the pair argue in front of the bar’s entrance. Both of the teens appeared to be intoxicated, if not plain drunk.
There had been another couple outside smoking cigarettes when Randall first spotted the blonde, but when the bickering couple became loud, they tossed their cigarettes into the snow and went back inside the bar.
The blonde and her boyfriend were several rows of cars away, but Randall could still see them through a gap in a line of vehicles. He could also hear them thanks to their volume. It seemed the girl was accusing her boyfriend of being interested in another girl and the kid was denying it.
When the guy took her by the arm and suggested they talk in the car because of the weather, the girl broke free of his grip and walked off towards the exit.
Her boyfriend threw up his arms in frustration and shouted.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“Someplace where I don’t have to see you.”
“Don’t be stupid! It’s six miles back to your mom’s house.”
The girl gave him the finger and kept walking.
The kid watched her go through the swirling snow and then cursed and rushed to his car, while slipping and falling once on the way. He was as blond as the girl was and, Randall thought, almost as feminine, as the young man’s hair was long and his build, thin.
When the boy went to get his car and catch up to his girlfriend, Randall made his move.
He had decided to ignore the promise he made to Carter that he wouldn’t kill until Jessica White was dead, because he was a man ruled by strong emotion and fervent desire.
Also, Randall had a plan.
He caught up to the boy just as the kid was opening his door to get in. Randall grabbed a fistful of the long hair and slammed the kid’s head atop the car’s roof with enough force to dent the metal.
When Randall let go of the hair, the kid slid down into the snow and didn’t move. There was a lump beginning to rise on his forehead, but the young man was still breathing.
After looking around to make certain that no one else had exited the club, Randall scooped the boy up, laid him across the front seats, and slammed the car door.
The snow was a blessing, as it cut down on the passing traffic and kept the bar’s patrons inside, where it was warm.
Randall was headed back to his truck when an idea struck him, one that would make his plan more successful, and he grinned at the cleverness of it.
He returned to the unconscious kid and, after opening the door, he reached in and dug his fingernails across the boy’s face hard enough to draw blood.
When the girl went missing, the boy would have some explaining to do. Not only would he have fresh scratches on his cheek, but also, several witnesses saw them leaving the bar while arguing.
Add in the couple who had their smoke br
eak interrupted by the bickering pair, along with the video evidence that the police would gather from the camera positioned above the bar’s entrance, and the boy would be lucky to get life in prison.
Randall dragged the kid from the car, popped the trunk, and dumped him inside. For good measure, he gave his skull another thump against the trunk lid.
As he left the bar’s parking lot, Randall made sure to keep his head down while letting the camera above the front door film the car leaving in a rush.
Randall was having so much fun that he was giggling, and after leaving the lot and getting out of camera range, he pulled the car over and parked.
He could just see the girl’s slim form silhouetted against the falling snow. She had gone a good distance, as her angry stride covered the snow-laden ground.
Heated by anger and booze, she had headed out on her trek, and although she had boots on, the girl was wearing a short skirt. Her jacket was thin, made more for style than warmth, and Randall was certain that she had to be freezing.
He gave her a few more minutes and then he drove towards her with the car’s high beams on to blind her.
She was looking back over her shoulder when Randall approached, and he didn’t stop the car until he was just a few feet past her.
She ran to the car, feet slipping in the snow, and then ripped open the passenger door and climbed inside with a scowl.
“What took you so damn long to—” The words died in her throat as she saw that it was Randall behind the wheel, but she soon found her voice again. “Who are you, and where’s Gary?”
“He’s in the trunk.”
“What?”
Randall punched her, hard.
The blow rendered her unconscious while bouncing her head off the side window.
Randall studied her to make certain that she was out, and then he looked around. The nearest house was fifty yards away and on the other side of the road. Headlights approached from the opposite direction, but between the car’s high beams and the falling snow, visibility was poor.
After the car drove past, Randall turned his vehicle around and went back towards the club, but before reaching it, he pulled the car into the parking lot of a vacant store that used to be a bakery.
Randall searched his surroundings with a keen gaze as he stepped out of the car and wished that the night were darker.
The sun, which was hidden behind the storm clouds, had set while Randall was in the midst of abducting the girl, but the winter whiteness that covered everything gave the night a luminescence that unnerved him.
After leaving the car locked up, Randall rushed back to his truck on foot and drove it back to the vacant lot.
As he backed his truck up beside the car, with his passenger door lined up with that of the car’s, his heart skipped a beat as he realized that the girl was gone.
Randall was in such a rush to find the girl that he forgot the vehicle was in reverse. The truck lurched backwards, but after ramming his foot down on the clutch, Randall shoved the shifter into neutral. He then pulled up on the parking brake and rushed over to the car.
The girl was still inside the car, but she had slid down onto the floor.
Randall released a laugh of relief and opened the passenger doors on both the car and his truck. The girl felt even lighter than she looked as Randall transferred her into the truck, and once she was inside, he slid off her jacket.
The pink denim of the jacket was speckled with fresh blood from her bleeding lip. Randall stuffed it under the car’s passenger seat, and then went to get the kid from the trunk.
The boy was still out cold, but let out a moan.
Randall placed him behind the wheel of the car, and the boy mumbled something.
It was a name, Shauna, and Randall guessed that it was the name of the blonde.
Seconds later, Randall was out of the lot and headed for the cabin where he and his brother played their games and did their killing.
Jim Horrigan can wait. Randall thought. It’s time to have a little fun.
CHAPTER 16 – Nice night for a walk
Jim Horrigan left the police station and was surprised by all the snow that had fallen in the time he’d been inside.
His car was parked two blocks away and so he marched through the snow to reach it. His daughter was staying with Susan’s mother. Horrigan planned to go see her in the morning, but doubted that he would be allowed more than a few minutes with Beth, because Susan’s mother disliked him.
Susan’s mother, a retired real estate agent named Gloria, had told Horrigan on the phone that she was done with her daughter. She also said that she would petition the courts for custody of Beth.
Horrigan couldn’t let that happen. First, he would trade the information he had about the hit on Dr. White to keep Susan out of prison, and then he would work on getting Susan back in rehab. Horrigan’s dream was that someday he, Susan, and Beth could be a real family, but at the moment that someday was looking far off.
Horrigan was shivering by the time he reached his car. He wasn’t dressed for the snow and the cheap jacket he wore did little to keep out the cold wind. The weather was also cutting down on the traffic, although he spotted more than one car with ski equipment secured atop its roof rack.
He had lied to Randall and Carter when he said that he hadn’t looked inside the envelope after Tanner had given it back to him.
Who wouldn’t look? It was just human nature, and having your name inside that envelope was as good as a death sentence.
Horrigan had never heard of Dr. Jessica White, but he read about her on his phone while he was stopped for gas on the trip back from Nevada. What he had learned about Jessica made him wonder why Randall and Carter wanted the woman dead.
He considered that one or both of them might be the nut that had been killing women lately, but he couldn’t buy them as serial killers because they owned a bar.
As far as Horrigan knew, serial killers were all the weird loner type of guy.
He would still give the cops their names if it meant keeping his ex-wife out of prison, and he would have to give them the hitter’s name as well.
He was playing a dangerous game and knew it. If Randall, Carter, or Styles learned what he was up to, they’d kill him in a second.
Horrigan felt the heat circulate through the car as he drove and the numbness began to leave his fingers and the tip of his nose. He drove slower in the snow, but was still back in Salina in a short time.
After trudging through the snow to his front door, he was home at last.
Horrigan was about to flip the lights on with one hand while closing the door with the other, when something hit him on the back of his head and he was swallowed by darkness.
***
At the hotel she was staying at, Jessica opened her door after looking through the peephole, to speak to the officer assigned to watch over her.
The cop was there as a precaution, because despite what Horrigan had stated, there was little evidence that someone had actually taken out a contract on Jessica.
The cop was a rookie who looked so young that he made Jessica feel old. He also used the word “ma’am” when he spoke to her, which didn’t help.
This time he appeared with an older cop at his side, a female who was in her thirties.
“Hello Officer Jones, is there a problem?”
“No ma’am. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going off duty and that Officer Barkley here will be taking my place.”
Jessica greeted Officer Barkley with a smile, but the woman was looking past her and into the suite.
“Dr. White, where’s your husband?”
“He went out for a walk.”
Officer Barkley raised an eyebrow.
“In this weather?”
“He had an errand to run.”
***
Horrigan woke to the sound of slapping and realized that it was coming from his face, as Jessica’s husband smacked him back to consciousness.
�
�Stop hitting me. Who the hell are you?”
“You told the cops that there was a hit out on Jessica White. Who wants her dead and who took the contract?”
Horrigan’s head was pounding, but at least the slapping had stopped.
His back was against the closed front door of his rented home and the man was holding him by the collar while nearly lifting his feet off the floor.
Horrigan blinked in the sparse light drifting in from the streetlamps, which was reflecting off the snow. When he saw the eyes of the man holding him, he whispered in surprise.
“Tanner?”
“That’s not my name.”
“You sure look like him, at least your eyes do. But yeah, you’re taller aren’t you, and I think you’re better looking too.”
“I’m not here for compliments. Who wants Jessica White dead?”
“Beat me all you want, but I won’t say shit. I need to make a deal with the DA.”
Horrigan felt his feet leave the floor as the tall man lifted him higher, and was still using only one hand to do it. The man’s free hand flickered down, and when it reappeared, it was holding a knife.
“You won’t be able to make a deal if you’re dead, and if you don’t answer me that’s what will happen.”
Horrigan’s mind raced as he searched for a believable lie to say. When he looked into the man’s eyes, eyes that were so much like Tanner’s, he decided to use the hit man’s name.
“Tanner! The hit man gunning for Dr. White is named Tanner.”
“Is that why you thought I was Tanner? Is he here in Boulder?”
“I’m not only here in Boulder,” Tanner said. “But I’m right in this room.”
Tanner had climbed through the bedroom window he’d earlier left unlocked, and was just in time to hear Horrigan lie about him. He was standing in the bedroom doorway with his gun raised.
Mr. White reacted immediately.
He dropped the knife, gripped Horrigan with both hands, and tossed him through the air at Tanner.
CHAPTER 17 – Taken!
Shauna Roberts came to and found herself naked with her wrists secured together behind her back. She was propped up against the rear wall of a makeshift cell and shivering from the cold. A ball gag was in her mouth and held in place by a leather strap that was secured at the rear of her head.
The Contract: Kill Jessica White Page 6
