by Debra Webb
She drew back, licked her lips, loving the taste of him. “I hired Buddy to look into my parents’ accident.”
Dan trailed a finger down her cheek. “You believe there’s something more than what the trooper’s report said or is this about Spears fascination with you and your past?”
She braced herself. “One of the photos in that lockbox I found in the Brownfield home was of my father. Amanda says he’s her father. Sylvia’s doing the DNA to... see.”
Dan appeared to digest her words, and then he nodded slowly. “Do you think there’s some truth to Amanda’s story? The photo could’ve been planted. Spears visited your Aunt Wanda a couple weeks ago. She told you she showed him old family photos. He may have taken one or more.”
Jess wilted against his chest. “I don’t know. Buddy thinks that’s the case.”
“Glad Corlew and I are on the same page.”
Despite his nonchalant words, she felt the tension in Dan. He and Buddy had been rivals since high school. They were the two hottest guys in Birmingham back then, only from different sides of the tracks. The football rivalry was legendary. On some level, their competitiveness continued into adulthood.
“I should have told you before I told him.” After her parents died, she had learned to keep her personal life compartmentalized. First, as a kid so she didn’t have to talk about her dead parents or her foster parents and then later in the pursuit of her career. It was easier that way. “I guess I’m as guilty of wanting to protect you as you’ve been of trying to protect me. With the Allen investigation, Prescott’s complaint, and Dority’s allegations against you, I didn’t want to add this on top of all that until I was sure. I haven’t told Lil either.”
For an instant disappointment flickered in his eyes, then it was gone. “I’m glad you told me. I know this was about protecting me and not about a lack of trust.”
“Of course it wasn’t about trust!” The last thing she wanted was for him to feel she didn’t trust him. “I couldn’t bear the idea of you seeing me in that light.” She hadn’t admitted that part to herself until a moment ago. “I’ve worked really hard at not being the poor little orphan girl. Adding a father with a sketchy past is difficult to swallow.”
“Jess.” He took her hand in his, kissed it gently, the pain she felt reflected in his eyes. “I’ve never looked at you that way. All I’ve ever seen is this strong, intelligent, and beautiful woman who stole my heart in high school and still has it.”
“It’s ridiculous, I know.” She blinked at the burn in her eyes. Dammit, she hated getting emotional like this. “I haven’t thought about my childhood in decades until now. I should have seen this coming. We all have our Achilles Heel and Spears found mine.”
“You and Lil went through so much as kids.” Dan caressed her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “If our children are as strong as the two of you, they’ll do well in life.”
“Thank you.” It was time to come clean with the rest. “There’s one more thing you should know about my deal with Buddy.”
Dan arched a skeptical brow. “I hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means.”
“It means,” she went on, “he’s looking into who’s trying to frame you. So is Gina.”
“Oh hell, Jess.” Dan dropped his head back on the sofa. “The last thing I need is Buddy Corlew trying to fix things for me.” He frowned at her, clearly not happy. “Have you forgotten that interview he did with Gerard Stevens? Corlew thinks I screwed him when he was fired from the department. He might be your friend, Jess, but he isn’t mine.”
How did she explain? “Whatever grudges Buddy held in the past, he doesn’t feel that way now. He admires you and wants to help. He knows this is wrong, Dan. I think this entire situation opened his eyes about a lot of things.”
Dan was obviously not convinced. “Have you considered that maybe he’s the reason things keep getting worse?”
“You have every right not to trust him.” She hoped she wasn’t that far off the mark about Buddy even if the idea had crossed her mind once or twice. “Maybe it’s time to put the past behind you and see Buddy for who he is now. He was arrested because he was trying to help us, Dan.”
“His arrest was related to what you asked him to do?”
Jess nodded. “I think that says a lot, don’t you?”
“I’m not making any promises where Corlew is concerned,” Dan warned, “but in the future I will attempt to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
She couldn’t ask for more than that. “Your decision is more than fair.”
“I hope you’re right about him.”
“I am.” If, by some bizarre twist of fate, she were wrong, she would make Buddy pay in ways he couldn’t fathom in his worst nightmares.
“Gina has plenty of sources, it never hurts to have her on our side.”
“That was my thinking.” Jess inhaled deeply, loving the scent of him. She traced the pattern on his tie and couldn’t wait to help him out of the rest of his clothes.
“Gant and I were playing phone tag all day, any news from him?”
Jess filled him in on Amanda’s claims about her meeting with Spears. “Gant is still skeptical, but I believe Spears is right here in Birmingham. If Amanda is telling the truth, he may have Rory Stinnett and Monica Atmore with him.”
Dan tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear. “All the more reason for you to be extra careful in all you do, Jess.”
Two weeks ago, she would have been annoyed by his advice. “You won’t get any argument from me.”
He squeezed her hand. “Good.”
Her cell chimed and she pulled it from her hip pocket. Hopefully, the pizza was here. The text wasn’t about the pizza delivery. Katherine Burnett.
“Your mom sent us the addresses of several houses she thinks we should see.” Jess showed him the text.
“You talked to Mom about houses?”
“She said she keeps an eye on all the best properties. I thought we could use the help.” She forwarded the text to Dan’s phone.
The broad smile that broke across his face had her heart fluttering. “I would like that very much.”
Jess caressed his strong jaw. “Me, too.”
“I was thinking about Jessica for a girl’s name.” He kissed her chin.
His talented lips moved down her throat and she shivered. “So we’re picking out names now, are we?”
“Jessica Lee,” he murmured.
Jess smiled. Let Spears keep digging around in her past. Whatever unpleasant truth he found, it didn’t change who Jess Harris was.
“I like that name,” she whispered between kisses.
By the time the pizza had arrived, they had decided on Daniel Thomas for a boy—as if there had been any question.
This, Jess decided, was normal.
7
Parkridge Drive, Homewood, 9:30 p.m.
Lori had notes scattered all over the table. It had been another burger and fries dinner night. She felt a little bad that they hadn’t found time for a decent meal in days, but this case was getting to everyone on the team.
Chet sat on the other side of the table watching her and sipping his beer. He’d been doing that for the past ten minutes and hadn’t said a word.
She looked up at him and smiled. “What?”
“You shouldn’t wear that shirt.” He nodded to the blue button-down one she’d found in the back of his closet. He’d worn it to Chester’s birthday party and then hung it back in the closet without washing it. She’d taken it off the hanger to wash it, but then she’d gotten lost in Chet’s scent.
“Why?” She lifted her chin and eyed him boldly. “I like wearing it.”
“Seeing you in that shirt makes me want to do things,” he warned, “you probably don’t want to do right now.”
They’d had sex last night and this morning. “Are you saying you want to have sex right now?”
“Now. Later.” He shrugged. “Anytime, anywhere.”
Her body
reacted to his words, going hot in an instant. “We should talk about the case first otherwise we won’t get to it.”
“Works for me.” He allowed his gaze to linger on her lips before going on. “The reverend left perishable food in his fridge. His bed was unmade. Dirty clothes still in the hamper. It’s as if he walked out of the house one day and never came back. The neighbors hadn’t noticed anything amiss since his grass is cut by a lawn service. He doesn’t subscribe to the newspaper so no papers piled up at the door. His mail goes to a post office box.”
“He took his cell phone.” Lori picked up from there. “So he wasn’t trying to hide from everyone.”
Chet nodded. “Since we didn’t find it, I got a warrant for his phone records. That’ll take a couple days. For now, the only calls we can confirm are the ones with the wedding chapel coordinator.”
“His wife died twenty years ago. He has no children or close family.” Lori ached at the idea of spending part of her life without Chet. That was the thing about falling in love, everything that mattered to you changed. She’d fought it every step of the way. She hadn’t been ready, maybe she still wasn’t, but she was there—madly, deeply in love with this man. “His church was his only family.”
“Henshaw hadn’t been to church in two months,” Chet countered.
“You’re interviewing members of the congregation?”
He nodded. “I spoke to the current pastor and a couple of people he said were close to Henshaw. No one has heard from him. All three have tried calling him with no luck. No one noticed anything unusual about his behavior before he stopped showing up for services. Whatever happened, it was sudden and without warning.”
“What about his vehicle?” Lori hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary in the twelve-year-old Corolla except the evidence that the reverend did a lot of eating in his car.
“Nothing from the lab yet on the Corolla. I don’t expect them to find anything.” He tossed back another swig of his beer. “Spears and his followers are too smart for that kind of careless mistake.”
“You didn’t find any connection to the key at his home?”
“If Henshaw had whatever the key unlocked, he took it with him to the chapel.” Chet turned the sweating bottle around in his fingers. “Which means, Spears has it now.”
Lori exhaled a frustrated breath. “Did you hear anything on Chief Burnett?”
Chet set the bottle aside and pushed his hands through his hair. Lori wished she were closer so her fingers could follow that same path. Watching him move did things to her. Things that made her want to forget about work and climb over this table to get to him.
“Rumor is,” Chet shot a disgusted look at the ceiling, “for what that’s worth, the powers that be want him out and all this bullshit with the Allen case is making it easy. Prescott’s keeping her mouth shut. Her attorney must have warned her to stop slandering Burnett until her complaint is investigated.”
Lori wanted to slap that redheaded witch. Lieutenant Valerie Prescott was pissed that she hadn’t been promoted and given Allen’s position after it became clear he wasn’t coming back. Before that, Prescott had been angry about Jess being chosen for the division chief position over SPU instead of her. The lieutenant had it in for Burnett. She was a good cop, but there was more to being a division chief than being a good cop. She lacked the leadership skills necessary to rise to that level, not to mention the personality to inspire others.
“I don’t think Prescott’s complaint will hold up,” Lori argued. “Chief Burnett has always been more than fair.”
“No question about that,” Chet agreed. “The whole situation definitely sucks for Burnett. He lost his home, the woman he loves is being threatened by a psycho serial killer, and his job is hanging by a thread. Oh yeah, and we can’t forget that one of his ex-wives is claiming he was dirty when he worked in the mayor’s office.”
Lori pushed her notes aside. “Sometimes I hate this job.” When justice didn’t prevail, it made her want to toss the badge and gun and walk away.
“Speaking of things I hate, Cook signed up for the detective’s exam.”
Lori wasn’t sure which part of what Chet said startled her the most. “You hate Chad?” Chad Cook was a great guy and a good cop. Jess had asked her and Chet to help him prepare for the detective’s exam. Unfortunately, there hadn’t been time.
“No.” Chet knocked back the last of his beer. “I hate Hayes.”
Lori frowned. “O... kay. You lost me.”
“Hayes has been prepping Cook for the exam. That’s why he signed up to take the test.”
On one hand, Lori understood she should be grateful that Clint had picked up their slack, but she got what Chet was talking about. “He went behind our backs.”
“All he had to do was say, hey, you guys are a little busy right now, so why don’t I work with Cook so he’s ready for the exam?” Chet shook his head. “No. He keeps it a secret to make us look bad to the chief. I’ve got that dude’s number.”
Lori wanted to believe differently but Clint had been going out of his way lately to be an ass. “I don’t get it. What does he hope to gain by alienating the two of us?”
“Brownie points with the chief, I guess.”
And Lori had given the guy a recommendation. She shook her head and held her hands up. “You know what? Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to being a team player. Forget the hidden agenda and be happy for Cook. He deserves a promotion.” It made her feel better to let it go.
“I’ll try. No guarantees.”
Chet was never going to like Hayes because he’d helped Lori with her sister all those years ago. It wasn’t the idea that Clint had helped, it was the shady way he’d gone about it. To some extent, it was jealousy. Her man loved her and she liked that. “Did you hear from Sherry today?”
“She called right before five. This time I got to talk to Chester.”
Chet’s ex had taken his son and disappeared. She claimed she was afraid of the escalating situation with the Spears case and frankly, Lori believed her. Sherry wanted to protect her son. The problem was she had gone about it the wrong way. She should have discussed the move with Chet first. Chester was his son, too. He should know where the boy was.
Chet deserved better. Lori would never take him for granted. Never. She stood and started unbuttoning the shirt. “Is it hot in here or is it just me?”
Chet grinned. “Hard to say. It’s pretty damned hot.”
With the shirt hanging open in invitation, she moved around the table and took his hand. “Follow me, Sergeant, I have a couple of new tricks I want to show you.”
By the time they reached the bedroom, she’d peeled off his clothes and wrapped her legs around his naked waist. He rolled onto the bed with her still in his arms. On his back, he bracketed her hips with his strong hands and pulled her down onto the part of him that was rock hard. Her body screamed for release but he held her still. Wouldn’t let her move. Their desperate gasps for breath were the only sounds.
When she started to squirm, he rolled again, tucking her under him, his body still one with hers. He left a trail of kisses along her throat, massaged her breasts with his long fingered hands. Finally, he drew back, an inch or two, waited and waited... then he sank back into her again.
She came.
He kissed her slowly, his thrusts equally slow until they both shuddered with release.
With her body still quivering, he started all over again.
8
Birmingham Police Department
Tuesday, September 7, 10:00 a.m.
“I’ve asked you this once already, Chief Harris, but I’m going to ask you again.” Chief Black looked directly at her as if he might change her mind by sheer force of will. “Are you certain you don’t want your union rep or your attorney present? Detective Hendrix is right outside the door. He has expressed his concern about my continuing this questioning without his presence.”
Jess had known both
Deputy Chief Harold Black and Lieutenant Kelvin Roark, his cohort in these proceedings, about the same length of time. She’d met them both in the course of her work as deputy chief of SPU. Roark was Black’s second in command, which was the extent of her knowledge of him.
Black, however, she understood perfectly. He didn’t like her and he didn’t like the way she did things. Mostly, he’d said he didn’t like the idea that she brought trouble to Dan. She couldn’t discount his concerns. The question was, to what degree were Dan’s troubles related to her and the business with Spears versus the result of Black’s renewed desire to be chief of police.
There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Mayor Pratt and his cronies had dangled that carrot. Dan was no longer playing by Pratt’s rules and the mayor wanted someone who would. Harold Black had been waiting in the wings for years. How far would a man his age, nearing sixty, go to advance the final years of his career and take his retirement pension to the next level?
As for Hendrix, the union rep, she didn’t know him at all, but she imagined he and Black were friends. The two probably had a beer together now and again. No, she preferred to keep this investigation into Allen’s disappearance among as few people as possible. The more folks involved, the greater the likelihood of leaks.
“Am I a suspect?” Jess tossed out the question to annoy Black. She was a person of interest, of course. There was nothing to challenge there. If he hadn’t deemed her a person of interest, Black wasn’t doing his job.
Visibly exasperated, the older man sighed. “You are not. We have no suspects in this case at this time. What we do have are several persons of interest, such as yourself. Are we clear on that, Chief Harris?”
“We are absolutely clear, Chief Black.”
“On the morning of Friday, August sixth,” Black began, “Captain Allen’s cell was picked up by a tower near your home address. Did you see Captain Allen at any time that morning?”
“I did not,” she said in answer to his question. “I had no idea he’d been anywhere near my apartment until days later.”
