Violets Are Blue

by Velvet Vaughn

  Nick honked when a car started to pull in their path. He swerved but didn’t lose speed. "I still don’t see how you figured out she was the killer."

  Jake had to raise his voice to be heard over the screaming siren. "Violet’s office was fingerprinted when she noticed missing items. If you remember, there were several sets on her desk, chairs, files and even phone. But the only ones that were found on the drawer pulls were hers and Chris Stark. Violet brushed it away, saying Chris had probably been looking for something. But why would she try a drawer knowing it was locked? And then it hit me…the third victim, Rayann Jefferson, was a willing participant at first."

  "The lesbian."

  Jake nodded. "She was failing Ms. Stark’s class. She must have thought she could seduce the teacher into a better grade."

  "Because she assumed she was hitting on a woman."

  "Exactly," Jake said.

  "Her girlfriend swore she would never seduce a man."

  They were almost to the warehouse so Turner flipped off the siren. "You think he dresses up as a woman to mislead police?"

  "No," Jake said with a shake of his head. "I think he truly believes he is a woman. I’d say he had some kind of multiple personality disorder with at least two separate identities. That’s why Christine didn’t remember purchasing the knife, the male personality—the killer—bought it."

  "The professor is the good side and the killer is the bad," Nick summed up.

  Jake pulled out his cell and opened the email attachment Milt forwarded to him. "According to her background, she attended high school in Biloxi."

  "Same city as Kim Markham."

  "Yep. She spent the next few years in college earning her Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate Degrees."

  "So school kept her busy and she didn't feel the urge to kill. She really is a professor, then?"

  "Apparently so," Jake confirmed. "Her jobs in South Carolina and Pennsylvania were at universities."

  Jake shoved his phone into his pocket as they squealed to a stop. Both doors flew open at the same time and they raced up the stairs to the entrance. Jake tugged on the door and cursed when it didn’t open.

  Nick pulled out a long object from his pocket. He stuck it in the lock, jiggled it and the door sprang open. They clutched their weapons as they dashed down the hall, looking for the number of Chris’s unit.

  "There." Jake indicated the open door. With a nod of the head they burst inside yelling, "Police, freeze!"

  When they got no response, Jake indicated for Turner to check the bedroom while he searched the kitchen. He checked every door and space big enough to fit a human and came up empty. Then he spotted Violet’s jacket and purse. She was here somewhere. "Did you find anything?" Jake called out.

  "In here," Turner replied. Jake sprinted to the bedroom and stuck his head in a closet where Nick stood motionless, dreading what he would find. "Jesus Christ," he muttered, barely able to keep from throwing up.

  Turner pointed to the pool of blood on the floor. Jake crouched down to inspect the spot, really fighting the urge to vomit. "Could be his," Turner said in reassurance.

  From his position, Jake noticed the small spots on the carpet. "There’s a trail," he said, straightening. He began to follow the drops. They led out the door and down the hall. Milt Baker and Arch Keller came rushing through the entryway, followed by two uniformed cops. They hadn’t heard them approach, their sirens silenced per Jake’s orders. Nick indicated for them to fall in line as they tracked the blood to the fourth floor.

  Jake eased the door open to discover a space draped in darkness. Turner found a block of wood to prop open the door. "Dooney, Carter, give me your flashlights," he said quietly. The two officers removed the high powered lights from their belts and handed them to Turner. He gave one to Jake. "And your walkie-talkie, Dooney." The man handed it over. "You all wait here while Kincaid and I ascertain the situation," he whispered. "I’ll radio you when we locate them."

  Jake snapped on the light and picked up the trail quickly, careful to make little noise. He stopped suddenly, almost causing Turner to crash into him. He trained his beam on the body gently swaying from the rafters.

  "Shit," Turner muttered. "Todd Timms."

  They bypassed the corpse and followed the drops up the stairs. They came across another larger puddle. Someone was losing a lot of blood.

  Jake and Turner looked at each other as a loud scream resonated. "That way," Turner indicated. Jake leaped over a pile of wood and took off down the dark hallway, jerking to a stop when he saw Chris reach for a wood gate on a freight elevator and slide it above his head. He leveled his gun as Chris took a step forward.

  #

  Time stood still for Violet as Christopher’s eyes widened in horror, glancing from her to the missing floor, his arms wind-milling to no avail. With a superhuman scream, he pitched forward and plummeted to the bottom of the empty elevator shaft, the scream abruptly silenced by a heavy thud and a grunt.

  "Violet?"

  She looked up in a daze. "Jake?"

  "Violet, honey, are you okay?"

  "He’s dead," she said.

  "I know, honey. Come here." He held out a hand.

  She stood gingerly and inched along the ledge. He reached into the opening and grabbed her, hugging her for dear life.

  "I’m so sorry Violet. I didn’t protect you and he never should have gotten to you."

  "You didn’t know," she said woodenly. "None of us knew."

  Nick flashed his light down the bottom of the shaft. "Yep, dead all right."

  Violet and Jake peered over the edge, following the beam of Turner’s light as it illuminated the very broken and very dead body of Christopher Stark. One arm and one leg were bent at odd angles, but it was the impaled lever protruding from his back that guaranteed his trip to hell.

  "It’s really over this time isn’t it?" she whispered, clinging to him for dear life.

  "Yeah, baby," he murmured, one arm anchoring her to him, the other hand stroking her hair. "It’s really over this time."

  EPILOGUE

  A long narrow road cut through dense forest, opening to a clearing featuring a two-story cedar and stone house. In the back, green grass gradually gave way to brown sand, where soft waves of a serene lake licked at the edges. Zeus frolicked along the shore, chasing ducks that mistook the calm water for a place to rest.

  Jake chuckled as one brave duck stretched to an impressive height and squawked at the dog, wings flapping. Zeus yelped and fled to the safety of the porch.

  Jake sat on the swing next to his wife and gathered her to his side. "Hey baby."

  "Hey yourself," she said, nestling close.

  "Why are you smiling like the cat that got the canary?" he asked between nibbles.

  "Because I’m so happy," she said. Suddenly her smile flipped upside down and she sobbed, "I never thought I could be so lucky."

  Jake took her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Hormones running amok?"

  "Yes," she wailed.

  "Ah, baby, don’t cry." He placed a hand against her swollen belly and rubbed. "I never thought I would be so fortunate either. I married the most beautiful woman in the world. She is carrying my child."

  "We have a magnificent home surrounded by wonderful friends," she finished. "Life couldn’t be any better."

  Jake thought back to the last six months and all that had transpired. After the tragedy in Vermont with Willie Jack and Chris, life slowly returned to normal. They packed up Violet’s house, selling it for a tidy profit, and sent the moving van to Indiana. Jake and Violet enjoyed a leisurely drive home, visiting the Adirondacks, the New York wine country and Niagara Falls. A small wedding was held with just Jake's family, his COBRA co-workers, and Nick and Maya, who took off right after the nuptials to elope in Vegas. The honeymoon was a week in Tahiti where Violet swears the baby was created. Though they hadn't planned on starting a family this soon, they were both over-the-moon excited.

  Both Turners were ta
lking about quitting the police force and joining him at COBRA Securities. They had been offered positions and they had already been looking at houses in the area, so it was just a matter of time before they moved. Olivia Larrson won several awards for her coverage of the case. Her in-depth interview on Violet’s life garnered national acclaim and she was offered a prestigious job in New York. Before she left, she pulled some strings and got Carlos Perez a job as a photographer with the local newspaper. His career was thriving as well.

  Jake was able to track down Melissa for Violet. Her mother packed up and moved the family out of town right after the kidnapping. She forbid Melissa from having anything to do with Violet, who bowed to her wishes. It was enough to know Melissa was safe and living in Boston.

  Violet was able to make peace with her mother, too. Maya's revelation that Loretta had died guarding her whereabouts from Willie Jack erased a lifetime of neglect. When faced with a life or death decision, Loretta had made the ultimate sacrifice and given up her life to protect her daughter.

  Loretta had been buried without ceremony in a small graveyard with only a tiny plaque to mark her final resting place. Violet used some of the profits from the sale of her house to have her moved to the cemetery next to Daisy and her dad. The new marble headstone matched the other two and Violet felt relieved to have all of her family resting together in one place.

  Hugging the woman he loved a little tighter, Jake said "No, life couldn’t be better. In fact, I’d say our life is pretty darn nice."

  # # #

  About the Author

  Velvet Vaughn is the author of The List, The Fan, and Committed, the first three books in the COBRA Securities series, as well as the Christmas Novella, A Christmas Miracle. The fifth book in the COBRA Series, Trust No One, will be published soon.

  Connect With Velvet

  Website: www.velvetvaughn.com

  Facebook Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/authorvelvetvaughn

  Blog: http://www.velvetvaughn.com/blog.html

  From Velvet

  Thanks so much for purchasing Violets Are Blue. I hope you enjoyed the story of Violet and Jake. The next book in the series, Trust No One, will be released this fall. It's the story of Kendall Buckley and Dorian Demarchis. Kendall is the roommate of Olivia Larrson, the reporter from Violets Are Blue. Dorian is a former Navy SEAL, current COBRA Securities agent. Sparks fly from the moment they meet as they partner to uncover a ghastly crime.

  If you would like to read the story of one of the characters from my books, let me know. You can reach me through the contact page on my website or my Facebook Fanpage. I'd love to hear from you. And be sure to like my Fanpage—I'll be having giveaways.

  Thank you again for your support!