Mystery: The Card Counter: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery)

by James Kipling

  “They were not assaults, just another form of torture,” I replied. “That has to be a clue to motive. We have to keep digging!”

  There was a brief pause as Collins took the new intel in. “So when we were scouring the neighborhoods for men covered in blood fleeing the Bennett house…”

  “We should have been looking for a woman with blood on her,” I finished.

  “Dammit! We’re going to have to start a new profile,” Collins cursed.

  “Not entirely,” I quickly corrected. “I might have a lead here. Go to Officer Jones, who is doing research on deaths on campus the year we are focusing on. We need everything you can get on Jasmine Roberts. I got a hunch her death might have something to do with all of this.”

  “All right, seems like as good a place as any to start,” Collins replied. “I’ll get my people to start a new profile with the information we now have.”

  “Do not include the cards in the profile,” I added, knowing that would upset some of Collins’ people. “Leave them out as much as possible. Its only purpose is to confuse us and have us chasing our tails.”

  “I’ll try, but that will be more difficult now that the info about the cards has gone public,” Collins stated. “We’re going to get a lot of questions about it.”

  “Ignore them for now, but when you talk to the press, act like they are your central focus. If this is the decoy, and I think it is, admitting that we’re focusing on them will make the killer confident, and then she might make a mistake.” I could feel my eyes getting really heavy. “I’m going to hit the sack. I’ll interview the boys tomorrow since I’m going to be here all day anyway. I’ll contact you if I find out anything that helps our cause.”

  “Good night, Walker,” Collins said before disconnecting.

  I looked back at Cassie and laughed. “Just because you’re a grown woman doesn’t mean I want to talk about it. Understood?”

  “All right, Dad.” Cassie huffed in embarrassment as she turned over in her bed and tossed the sheets over her head.

  “Good night, pumpkin,” I called back to her as I reached up and turned off the light. As I stretched out on the sofa, which wasn’t too bad compared to some sofas I had been banished to during my tenure as someone’s husband, I kept thinking about Jasmine Roberts and whether or not her situation might have fueled the chaos that was going on in my city right now.

  This was something I was going to have to interrogate the players about the next day. There was no way in hell that Cody was Wally’s only bud on the squad. He was an all-star quarterback that had a legitimate shot at being a first round pick. Everyone on the team was likely kissing his ass right, left, and center during his days on campus.

  This, however, was the source of our problem: no one wanted to rat out a star player, even a dead one. This would present a problem for most people, but I was a father of three girls and nothing would infuriate me more than if I had to endure what Jasmine’s parents went through the year she took her own life.

  If Wally and his buds did do something evil to Jasmine and it was never reported to the police, and likely swept under the rug by a university that cared more about college sports than justice for a young woman, I would have a hard time resisting the urge to burn down the football stadium.

  If that was my little girl that was hurt so much by this boy that she felt she had no choice but to take her own life by overdosing on prescription medication, I would want to take my gun and stick it into Wally’s mouth, and then spend the next several minutes debating the pros and cons of pulling the trigger. It’s the last thing I thought of before slowly nodding off to sleep. Any parent would do that.

  14

  When I woke up the next morning, the sun was out and Cassie had already gotten up and taken off for breakfast with Melvin. It was something I was going to have to come to grips with, especially considering she was now old enough to drink and vote.

  Fathers never want their kids to grow up, but time slows down for no man or woman in this matter, and they were all growing way too fast for my liking. I hopped out of bed and went straight for the bathroom. I didn’t have my kit there, so no shaving that day. I just straightened out my hair and went downstairs for breakfast.

  I was still wearing the dress pants and shoes that I’d worn to last night’s date, but left the jacket and tie behind and rolled up the sleeves of my shirt to look very casual. I also left my gun behind in the room, but still had a backup piece strapped to my ankle should I need to have it. One reason why Flo and I had picked this hotel was because there was a huge restaurant in the lobby that served killer buffets, which would keep things varied and allow everyone to eat without having to leave all the time, or constantly complain.

  I strolled into the big banquet hall and most of the players were already down and having breakfast. I walked up to the buffet and grabbed myself some scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and a few sausages before heading for the tables. I had a few to pick from but there was one in particular I was looking forward to crashing. As I sat down across from her, I could see the look in Cassie’s eyes that let me know I was not welcomed there. But I could sit where I liked because I was in charge of everything going on there. “Melvin! It’s nice to see you again.”

  “Good morning, Mr. Walker,” the young man said as he was making a genuine effort to be polite. I think it had more to do with the fact that I was most likely packing heat more than that I was his girlfriend’s father.

  Cassie, on the other hand, looked less than impressed. “Really, Dad? Can’t you sit with the other officers over there?”

  “I could, but that wouldn’t be nearly as fun as hanging out with you two lovebirds!” I said with a smile as I started to eat some of my bacon.

  “Should I tell Mom you’re eating bacon again?” she asked.

  “What I eat is no longer her business,” I replied. “I could have Irish Cream with my coffee every morning and there isn’t a thing she could do about it.” I finished off a sausage and took a sip of coffee before continuing. “Seriously, as much as I would love to tease and pester you throughout breakfast, that’s not why I’m here.”

  “Is there anything we can do?” Melvin asked. I could hear Cassie sigh, knowing that she was less than impressed that I wasn’t giving her and her boyfriend a chance to have a peaceful breakfast together.

  Given the circumstances, I couldn’t care less about her privacy at this moment. “Melvin, I need to know what other players were close friends with Wally. Someone I can grill about the things Wally did two years ago.”

  “Oh,” Melvin said, as he seemed reluctant to rat out his friends.

  “Unless you prefer to stay here for another four weeks,” I countered.

  “You might want to speak with Joey,” Melvin then responded. “He and Wally were good friends until two years ago according to what I was told. They had a falling out just before I starting attending. Chances are he might know what you’re looking for, as he was around a lot during those times.”

  “Thank you very much,” I said as I rewarded them by grabbing my plate and moving to another table where the coaching staff was sitting. As I put down my tray, the men looked up at me as if I wasn’t welcome. I responded by flashing my badge. “Don’t think you’re going to stay here without answering a few questions.”

  “Okay,” one of the older men said. “I’m Dick Vessel. Assistant Coach.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” I said as I resumed eating. “How long have you been working at the university?”

  “Ten years,” Dick answered.

  “Then you’re the man I’m looking for,” I responded. “Something big happened to Wally two years ago. He had something more than a falling out with friends and I have a feeling that, whatever it was, the university went to great lengths to cover it up.”

  “What makes you say that?” Dick asked.

  I pulled out the email that was sent to Wally and gave it to him. As I watched Coach Vessel read it, his face flushed and I co
uld tell this was the first time he had seen the letter. “I take it by the look on your face that you had no idea he was getting letters like this for months prior to his death?”

  “No idea,” Vessel confirmed. “There is a chance he might have told the head coach. It wasn’t uncommon for star players to turn to him with something that might be sensitive.”

  “Might also explain why he’s dead, too,” I added.

  “It might,” Vessel said as he put down his fork. He had suddenly lost his appetite. “How much longer do you think we’re going to be holed up out here?”

  “It depends on how honest you are with me,” I answered. “The more you give me to work with the quicker I might be able to end this.”

  “What do you need to know?” Vessel repeated, as he seemed eager to go home himself. I couldn’t blame him either. While the food wasn’t that bad, this place was hardly the Ritz.

  “We need to include Joey in this conversation. I hear he and Wally had a falling out that year and I need to know why.” I waited patiently as one of the other coaches left the table and came back a few moments with one of the other players. “Joey, take a seat.”

  “Who are you?” he demanded, not holding back on the attitude.

  “The man who might get you out of this detention,” I said as I waved the badge in his face. “I need to know what happened two years ago between you and Wally. I heard you two were BFFs until something happened.”

  “I really don’t want to talk about it,” Joey confessed.

  “I really don’t care.” My patience was wearing thin. “Wally is dead, as are others, and you guys are next on the killer’s hit list if you don’t talk to me. The sooner we find this person, the sooner we can all get the hell out of here.”

  Joey paused for a moment. “It happened at the annual party after the fall semester.”

  “The one at the sorority house?” I asked.

  Joey nodded. “Yeah, that party.”

  “What happened there?” I asked.

  “Wally and the boys got completely trashed that night, which we weren’t allowed to do with a bowl game coming up in less than a month,” Joey said. I could tell the coaches were less than impressed, but hardly surprised. “Wally was the star of the team, and not only did he do whatever he wanted, he rarely if ever took ‘no’ for an answer from anyone.”

  “Even from someone like Jasmine Roberts?” I asked.

  “Especially from someone like Jasmine Roberts,” Joey confirmed. “He wanted her big time that night and things got out of hand quicker than we anticipated. By the time I got in there, it was already too late.”

  “What the hell happened?” I asked. I had a good idea based on how he described it, but I needed him to confirm what my gut was telling me.

  “Wally was hitting on Jasmine most of the night, but she wanted nothing to do with him. Later in the night, when he was seriously trashed, he and a few of the guys cornered her in her own room and he forced himself on top of her.”

  “Dammit,” one of the coaches cussed to himself.

  “This doesn’t make sense,” I said as I tried to piece it all together. “This would explain why someone would want to go after Wally, but why the whole team?”

  “Well … when Wally was finished with Jasmine, the other players that were helping him all got a turn as well,” Joey answered. “By the time me and a few guys showed up to break it all up, she... she’d been raped several times over. We really don’t know how many of those bastards got their hands on her in there. None of us really stayed friends with that group after that, but we didn’t know what to do, either. You gotta understand they were the top dogs on the team,” he said softly, obviously feeling some guilt that he hadn’t been able to do more. As he ought to be.

  “And then two months later, Jasmine took her own life,” I added.

  “I had no idea this happened,” Coach Vessel said, clearly disgusted.

  “I believe you,” I said as I kept taking notes. “This might be the trigger for our killer. The incident that is stoking the flames as this person tries to avenge what happened to Jasmine.”

  “It would certainly explain a lot,” Joey admitted. “I wish I could’ve been there to stop Wally. That’s why the two of us stopped speaking. Many think it was because of the spending scandal, but this happened around the same time. I didn’t give a shit what gifts he got – I just couldn’t believe they’d ganged up on Jasmine like that.”

  “How did this not make the news or get to the Dean?” I asked.

  “The Dean knew about it,” Joey answered. “University officials convinced Jasmine not to tell the police by threatening to close her sorority house.”

  “So she was forced to keep quiet?” I repeated. They had forced her not to bring this to the press or the police. The star quarterback who was destined for the big leagues and fame would have had his career cut short if he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

  The fact that the press was too busy reporting on the spending scandal, it must have made it easy for them to shove this under the carpet. Then players started to transfer to other colleges and those were the players that were attacked in other states. I hated it when I was right, that this city was in fact ground zero for this killer and she had come back to finally finish things and settle the score. “Thanks, Joey, you’ve been very helpful.” I dumped what was left of my food and exited the banquet hall as quickly as I could. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Flo, who I hoped was up and possibly back to work after getting the night off.

  She picked up after a few rings. “You’re lucky I’m already awake.”

  “After talking to the players, I’ve narrowed the field for you,” I said as I walked into the lobby. “Jasmine Roberts is our connection to the killer. She was attacked by the players and assaulted two months before she took her own life.”

  “That would certainly explain the sexual assaults,” Flo concurred.

  “This person wants these players to go through what she did before they die, to experience her pain and know what they did to her.” I took a deep breath. “Flo, go out and visit the Roberts house as soon as possible. They might be able to narrow the field by telling us who took her death the hardest.”

  “Good call,” Flo said as she grabbed her coat. “I’ll head out now.”

  “I’ll try to get hold of Agent Collins and brief him on what we have.” I hung up and went back to my room. I holstered my main gun under my armpit and put my suit jacket back on. I was getting so close to breaking this case, I was itching to get there soon, but I needed to stay here until I could get another detective out to take over the babysitting duties.

  I texted Captain Bancroft and asked him to send someone out ‘cause I was close to breaking the case. That would get him moving. I needed to get out of here, but had to be patient. I did a quick head count after breakfast to make sure no one had snuck off again. After what had happened to Cody and his friends, everyone was present and accounted for.

  I then went back to the lobby and waited for someone to relieve me at the hotel. About an hour later, I was really beginning to lose my patience. I was ready to jump on the line and call the Captain, but hesitated when I saw Agent Collins arrive. He was there with several other agents. “Peyton, what’s going on?” I quickly asked.

  “There’s been a development,” he answered. “I’ll leave two of my men here to watch the kids. You need to come with me.”

  I followed Collins to his car. “What’s happened? Another body?”

  “How long has it been since you heard from Flo?” he quickly asked.

  A chill went up my spine. “I haven’t heard from her since I called her this morning. I told her to go out to the Roberts’ house to interview her family.”

  “Flo was attacked,” Collins said.

  “What the hell happened to her?” I demanded.

  “Someone ran her down with their car,” another agent said as he pulled the van out into traffic and drove away.

 
“Holy fuck!” I shouted out loud. “Where is she?”

  “Mr. Roberts came out and called an ambulance, and she was taken to General,” Collins answered. “She never got a chance to interview any of them. Someone came into the road and ran her down as she was crossing the street in front of the Roberts house.”

  “Do you think this was our suspect?” I asked.

  “Why was Flo out there?” Collins asked.

  “I think we found the trigger that may have started all this,” I answered.

  “Let’s move to the Roberts’ house,” Collins shouted to the driver. “It’s clear our suspect doesn’t want anyone to speak with the Roberts family.”

  “How is Flo doing?” I asked, more concerned for my partner than the family at the moment.

  “We don’t know,” Collins answered. “It’s pretty bad. They’re going to try to get her into surgery very soon.”

  I felt bad about what had happened to Flo. She should have taken a back-up unit with her, but obviously thought this was just a routine interview and felt it wasn’t necessary since we were already stretched thin.

  She’d made a mistake and might pay for it with her life. The suspect was likely watching the Roberts’ house, so when he or she saw Flo walking towards the house, our person ran her down to prevent her from getting to the truth.

  I was anxious to get to the Roberts’ house and find out for myself what was going on. As the truck pulled up, I instructed the driver to park on the same side as the house and to cover us as we stepped up to the house.

  There was a good chance our suspect could be watching so I pulled out my piece and kept it at my side as I stepped out of the van and walked through the Roberts’ front yard. I rushed up to the door and knocked, waiting a few moments. Finally a man around my own age came and answered the door. “Mr. Roberts?”

  “Who are you and what the hell do you want?” Mr. Roberts asked.

  “My name is Detective Jake Walker. I need a word with you.”

  “Is this about that officer that was run down earlier today?” he asked.