A Killer Past

by Maris Soule

  ‘No, David.’

  Knowing David hadn’t totally thrown her to the wolves – or in this case, to Jose Rodriguez – made Mary feel better. Actually, it made sense. David didn’t want her dead, he wanted her back in the agency. And what better way to convince her to return than to force her to use her training. If she’d killed Rodriguez, she wouldn’t have been able to stay in Rivershore.

  Too bad for David his plan didn’t work. She hadn’t killed Rodriguez, and so far only Rossini knew anything about her past. And just a little at that. If she could keep him on her side, Mary Harrington had a future.

  New energy in her step, she carried her empty tea mug to the sink and dumped the chicken drumstick in the garbage. ‘David said you’ve been having trouble with this gang. You need to get a warrant, and check out Mr Rodriguez’s place.’

  ‘You’re now dictating police business?’

  He sounded a bit miffed. Not a good way to keep him on her side. She softened her suggestion. ‘Didn’t I hear Rodriguez was in jail and only released a couple years ago? Wouldn’t he now be on parole?’

  She could tell from his look that Rossini understood what she was saying; nevertheless, she added, ‘Does this county have any drug-sniffing dogs?’

  Rossini frowned. ‘If Burrows planted drugs, we won’t get a conviction.’

  ‘I don’t know if David planted any drugs, but he doesn’t make mistakes. If you find drugs, you’ll get your conviction.’

  Once Rodriguez was back in jail, she doubted if any of that gang would bother her again. She’d also bet a search of Rodriguez’s home would reveal the whereabouts of her nunchuck, but she wasn’t sure how to ask Rossini to give it back. Which was really a shame.

  ‘Now, is there anything else?’ she asked.

  ‘We’re not through,’ he grumbled, but he did get up. ‘I’m going to question those three boys and Rodriguez. Something’s going on that you’re not telling me.’

  ‘I doubt they know anything.’ She smiled and headed for her front door. ‘You’re the one who knows more than you should.’

  One down, and one to go, Mary thought as she watched Rossini get into a police car and drive off. Now all she had to do was figure out where Peter Dubois was staying.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  AT THE HOSPITAL, Jack found Wally standing in the hallway outside of Rodriguez’s room. ‘Your car’s parked outside,’ Jack said, stopping beside the chief. ‘You talked to him yet?’

  ‘I have.’ Wally smiled. ‘He’s saying she lured him to her house, and then she got him down in her basement, and started hitting him with a crowbar.’

  ‘How’s he explain the broken window near her back door, or the knife we found on the basement floor?’

  ‘Says they thought she was in trouble and broke in to help her. As for the knife …’ Wally chuckled. ‘He says he had that for protection.’

  ‘Didn’t do him much good.’ Jack waited for a nurse to walk by before going on. ‘You heard from Phil? What are those guys saying?’

  ‘Haven’t heard a word.’ Wally pointed at a sign down the hall on the wall. ‘No cellphones allowed. I’ll step outside and call him in a bit, but I’m waiting for the doctor to come back with the initial tox screen. I’m pretty sure the knife Rodriguez was carrying is a violation of his parole, but if he’s also using, maybe we can tie him to that delivery we stopped. I’d sure like to find some drugs in his house.’

  ‘Mary thinks we should check the house right away.’

  ‘Mary?’ Wally gave him a sideways look.

  ‘Mrs Harrington.’ Jack shook his head. Even he couldn’t believe he was taking advice from a citizen. ‘She seemed to feel we’d find something, especially if we had a drug-sniffing dog; but we’d better act fast.’

  ‘She know something we don’t?’

  ‘Not that she would admit, but that friend of hers, Burrows, was at Rodriguez’s house this morning.’

  ‘Think he planted something?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Well, only way we will know is if we look.’ Wally pointed toward the front of the hospital. ‘Take my car and head over to Paw Paw, find out who Rodriguez’s parole officer is, tell him what’s up and what we need. Once you have a search warrant, grab Phil, Mendoza, and VanDerwell. Have them go with you to Rodriguez’s place.’

  Ella called almost immediately after Sergeant Rossini drove off. Mary didn’t really want to talk to her friend, not right then, but considering the fact that Ella had probably saved her life, Mary resigned herself to a long conversation.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, over and over. And she meant it. Sure, she’d taken care of the Rodriguez guy, but she might not have been as lucky with the remaining three gang members. No telling how long they could have kept her trapped in the basement, or what might have happened if all three had come down those steps at once.

  ‘You know, I wasn’t the only one who called 911.’

  ‘So I’ve heard.’

  ‘Our Neighborhood Watch is working.’

  ‘Thank goodness.’ Mary meant it. She considered herself lucky. Sure, the survival training she’d received so many years before and the fact that she went to the gym on a regular schedule had helped, but if she hadn’t kept a crowbar in the basement, and the guy Rossini called Rodriguez hadn’t been so cocksure he could take her with that knife, their confrontation might have turned out differently.

  ‘I heard you clobbered one of them,’ Ella said.

  ‘He fell down the stairs.’ Mary wanted that version told, and knowing Ella, it would be repeated to anyone who asked – and even those who didn’t ask. ‘Broke his arm and knocked himself out.’

  ‘I know how much you dislike going down to the basement,’ Ella said. ‘Did they force you down there?’

  ‘No, I was putting something away.’ Something she no longer had. Mary had wanted to tell the crime-scene people the box was hers, but she’d remained silent as they carried it to their van. Much good her silence had done. Rossini knew the weapons were hers.

  Damn, she’d said too much to him. Blame it on shock … and anger. She’d nearly spilled the beans, told him everything. Thank goodness she came to her senses in time.

  ‘I can’t believe how calm you sound.’ Ella seemed surprised by that. ‘I’d be a basket case if someone broke into my house.’

  ‘It all happened so fast, and with you calling 911 …’ Mary let her words trail off. David had also called 911, but it was Ella’s call that got action. ‘Thank you,’ she said again.

  ‘I’m just glad I saw them sneaking around your back yard. They must have parked on the other street and cut through your neighbor’s to get to your place.’

  That made sense. ‘I didn’t have any idea what was up until I heard them break the laundry room window.’ Even then she hadn’t been sure what was going on.

  ‘Are you going back to your son’s house tonight?’

  Mary hadn’t thought about that. Did she want to spend the night in her house, all alone? Anyone or anything could climb through the laundry room window while she was sleeping. But go back to Robby’s house? Spend more time with Clare? That morning her daughter-in-law had once again asked Mary if she’d found the information Clare would need to trace the Smith’s family tree. The woman just wouldn’t let that subject be.

  ‘No, I’ll be here,’ she said. At the moment she had the door to that back room closed, blocking off the cold air coming through the broken window, but she needed to get the glass replaced or something covering the opening before dark.

  ‘You could spend the night here,’ Ella offered. ‘I have that extra bedroom, if you don’t mind sharing it with the cats.’

  Mary did mind sharing it, and it wasn’t just the number of cats that Ella owned that bothered her. Even with two litter boxes, the smell in the house – especially in that room – was overpowering.

  ‘Thanks for offering,’ she said. ‘I’ll stay here. But I do need to call someone about the broken window, so if
you don’t mind, I’m going to hang up now.’

  ‘Oh, sure … certainly.’ Ella sounded disappointed. ‘I understand. I’m glad you’re all right.’

  Another thank-you, and Mary was finally able to hang up. She’d just started to get up to find her phone book so she could look up a glass repair shop when the phone rang again. She hoped it wasn’t another neighbor calling. If so, she’d have to be polite and once again explain what happened, and she might never get that window fixed.

  But it wasn’t a neighbor on the phone. It was her daughter-in-law.

  ‘Oh, thank God, you’re finally off the phone. Mother Harrington, is Shannon there?’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  IT TOOK JACK an hour to contact Andy Crouse, Rodriguez’s parole officer, and another hour before they had a judge’s signature on a search warrant, but by mid-afternoon a convoy of Rivershore police cars was heading for Jose Rodriguez’s house, followed by one parole officer and one assistant district attorney.

  No drug-sniffing dogs were available.

  Neither Todd Mickelson, the assistant DA who had insisted on coming along to oversee the operation – which, in Jack’s opinion, meant he was along to make sure they didn’t screw up – nor Andy Crouse were to enter the premises until Jack and the other officers were sure the house was clear. And, just in case one of Rodriguez’s gang members showed up unexpectedly, Mickelson and Crouse were to wear bulletproof vests, just like the rest of them.

  They arrived at Rodriguez’s house without lights or sirens and parked down the street. One by one, they moved into position, Jack taking the front door, while Officers Mendoza, VanDerwell, and Carlson covered the sides and back.

  When a knock produced no response, Jack tried the doorknob. To his surprise, the door was unlocked. He let the others know the situation and then entered the house, calling out his presence. Quickly he cleared the single-level ranch-style house. Finding no one inside, he opened the back door and let Officers Mendoza and VanDerwell in and then signaled for Mickelson and Crouse to join them.

  Room by room they went through the house, looking through cabinets and drawers, tearing the couch and chairs apart, cutting open the mattresses. At first Jack was glad they didn’t find anything too easily. He didn’t want Rodriguez yelling it was a set-up, that drugs had been planted by the Rivershore Police Department. But after forty-five minutes of searching with no results, Jack began to fear they’d find nothing at all.

  The look the assistant DA gave him didn’t help. Mickelson wasn’t saying anything, but it was clear he thought the search was a bust. And then Officer Mendoza called them into the master bedroom and pointed out how one of the drawers in the dresser didn’t seem as deep as the others. They found several bags of weed under the false bottom, but Jack wanted more than a few bags of marijuana, and urged them all to keep looking.

  It was Mickelson who discovered the hidden storage area under the living-room floorboards, probably because the man weighed over three hundred pounds. Mickelson had basically called it a day, and was waddling toward the front door, ready to get in his car and drive back to his office, when Jack heard a board creak under Mickelson’s leather shoes. Jack didn’t mind that the assistant DA received the credit for finding the cocaine. Considering the way the drugs were concealed, Jack was also pretty sure David Burrows hadn’t planted that evidence.

  All in all, they found twenty pounds of cocaine, nine bags of marijuana, and two hundred grams of crack cocaine. Jack was smiling when he called the chief. Rodriguez wouldn’t be coming back to Rivershore for a long time.

  ‘Was Shannon supposed to come here?’ Mary asked her daughter-in-law.

  ‘No. I mean, I thought one of her friends was driving her home, but DeeDee said Shannon never showed up at her car after school. So I thought maybe she got a ride to your place. You know, so she could see her car again.’

  ‘Give me a minute,’ Mary said and put down the phone. She walked over and looked out the front window. Shannon’s car was still parked in the driveway, its tail light and back fender hanging at an odd angle. If Shannon had come to the house, she hadn’t driven off in her car.

  As she stared at the Fusion, a sickening sensation twisted through Mary. What if her granddaughter did come to check on her car? What if she arrived when those gang members were breaking in?

  But no, she told herself. That would have been too early. Rodriguez and his boys had hit her place close to the lunch hour, way before school let out.

  Mary started back to the phone, then stopped. They were assuming Shannon disappeared after school. What if she did get someone to drive her over during her lunch hour? What if she was at the house when Rodriguez and his boys arrived?

  Mary knew the police had taken the four away. Could there have been a fifth gang member? One who grabbed Shannon?

  One person might know.

  Mary hurried back to the phone. ‘Clare, I’m going to hang up and call a neighbor. I’ll call you right back.’

  She didn’t give her daughter-in-law a chance to object. A click of a button and the press of another made the disconnect and automated the call to Ella Williams. As soon as Ella answered, Mary asked her question. ‘While you were watching my house today, did you see Shannon? Did you see anyone grab Shannon?’

  ‘No. I haven’t seen her since last night. Why, what happened?’

  Mary wasn’t sure what had happened. That was the problem. ‘You said you saw those boys sneaking around my house. How many did you see?’

  ‘I don’t know. Didn’t they take three away in a police car and one in the ambulance?’

  ‘Could there have been another one?’

  Ella hesitated before answering. ‘I … I’m not sure. I don’t think so.’

  ‘But you’re sure you didn’t see Shannon?’

  Again Ella hesitated before she spoke. ‘I did go to the bathroom,’ she admitted. ‘I’d already called 911, and I took the phone with me, but I just couldn’t hold it anymore. I just had to pee, so I wasn’t away from the window all that long. If she came while I was in there, I guess I could have missed her. Why? What’s wrong?’

  ‘She didn’t go home,’ Mary said, not sure what to think. ‘Clare’s all worried. She thought maybe she came here, but if you didn’t see her …’

  ‘If she came while I was in the bathroom …’ Ella didn’t finish. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘It’s not your fault.’ Mary didn’t want her friend blaming herself. ‘She probably never came here. She’s probably over at another friend’s house, or maybe she went to see Robby. He said he’d get her car fixed as soon as possible. She probably went to see him, to make sure he was doing that.’

  It sounded logical, yet it didn’t sound like something Shannon would do … go see her dad without telling her mother. And how would she have gotten there?

  ‘I’m going to call Clare back,’ Mary said. ‘Maybe Shannon’s home by now.’ She certainly hoped so. ‘Again, thanks for your help earlier.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Ella repeated. ‘I shouldn’t have gone to the bathroom.’

  ‘It’s not your fault,’ Mary assured her, eager to get off the phone. ‘I’ll talk to you later.’

  She called her daughter-in-law back as soon as she’d hung up on Ella. ‘Still no Shannon?’ she asked.

  ‘No.’ Clare sounded tense. ‘I’ve called all of her friends. I even called Robert. No one has seen or heard from her.’

  Darn, Mary had hoped her granddaughter and son were together. ‘Well, I don’t think she came here. We had a little excitement earlier today, and I’m sure someone would have seen her if she’d been around.’

  ‘What do you mean, “a little excitement”? What’s going on, Mother Harrington?’

  Mary knew she might as well tell Clare exactly what had happened. Although she doubted the break-in would be on TV, she was sure something about it would be in the weekly paper. ‘Some kids broke into my house.’ she said. ‘The police were here. I’m sure, if Shannon had come by, sh
e would have come inside to see what was going on.’ Unless she came before the police arrived. ‘Do you know if Shannon attended her afternoon classes?’

  ‘Of course she attended them. They had testing all day. Besides, my daughter does not skip classes.’

  Mary rolled her eyes. She had a feeling Clare didn’t know half of what Shannon did. ‘What about her boyfriend?’

  ‘Oh, they broke up. Would you believe, he had some wild idea about the two of them traveling through Europe for a year or two. We told Shannon there was no way we were going to allow that, and she might as well forget him.’

  ‘Call him,’ Mary ordered, knowing Shannon hadn’t forgotten the boy. ‘I’ll bet she’s there.’

  ‘Why would she…? We told her … Oh, all right.’

  ‘Then call me back and let me know she’s safe.’ Mary knew she wouldn’t relax until she knew Shannon was OK, until she was sure one of those gang members hadn’t grabbed her.

  Less than two minutes passed from the time Mary hung up until the telephone rang again. She’d barely had time to grab the telephone book and turn to the yellow pages section for glass repair. Clare started talking immediately. ‘She’s not there. He said he hasn’t seen her since last hour of class.’

  So Shannon was in school through that last hour. That more or less eliminated one of the gang members grabbing her.

  ‘He said she got a ride with someone driving a black car,’ Clare said. ‘He couldn’t tell who was driving, just that Shannon got into the car on her own.’

  A black car. Mary tensed. Shannon had seen a black car driving up and down Maple on Halloween night. Both of them had seen it. And the car was back the next day, parked just down the street. Maybe it belonged to one of the gang members. Maybe they did have Shannon after all.

  ‘Clare, I think you’d better call the police. Ask for Sergeant Rossini.’

  By the time Jack returned to the police station all he wanted to do was write up his report and head to the Shores for a cold beer. Allison had already left for the day, but she’d been busy while everyone was searching Rodriguez’s house. A pile of ‘While You Were Out’ slips sat on his desk, all marked ‘Urgent.’