one that killed Tracey Newman.”
“No shit! Are you serious?”
“Yeppers. I wouldn’t joke about something like
this.”
“Parker!” Tom called out to his partner who was
standing by the bathroom door talking to one of the
techs on the scene.
Parker looked in his direction and raised one finger
to let Tom know he heard him; he wrapped his
conversation with the young woman he was talking to
and headed toward Tom and Dr. Greer.
“Yeah? What is it?”
“Did you look at the gun Don Russet used to do
himself in?”
“Not yet. Why?”
“Look at it, and then tell me it isn’t weird that he
blew his brains with a gun which is exactly like the one
used to slay Tracey Newman.”
“No way!”
“That’s what I said too.”
“We’ll need a ballistic report.”
“Can you please take care of that, Parker?” Tom
replied while he reached into his jacket pocket to
retrieve his mobile phone.
Parker agreed and walked off, and Tom took the
call.
“Lieutenant, this is Officer Marion in St. Louis. I
called the department and was told that you are out on a
case, but when I explained it was an emergency they
provided your mobile number. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No problem. What’s happening?”
“A missing person’s report was filed today. It’s a
child related to someone who was found deceased in
your state.”
“Alexis?! Alexis Howard?”
“Yes, Sir. Her parents found out she wasn’t in her
room at dinner time, and they searched the area but the
kid wasn’t found. We understand that you are looking
for a man who might be involved with the case, and
there is speculation that he might have traveled to the St.
Louis area. One of our men also found a cigarette lighter
near the window we believe the girl exited the house
from. The lighter bears the emblem of North Carolina
State University.”
“Oh God…” That was all Tom could say. Could the
pictures of Tracey’s family found in
Jack Little’s
apartment be more than a coincidence? Were some of
those pictures of Alexis?
“We are looking around here, and of course we
issued an Amber alert a short while ago. We are hoping
that you can maybe check on things from your end.”
“You bet. I’m going to check out Little’s place right
now.”
“Thank you. Her family is very distraught.”
“I believe it. Please keep me posted if you find
anything.”
After hanging up, Tom got Parker’s attention and
called him to where he was standing. “Alexis is missing.
She is Tracey Newman’s little sister. I am going by
Little’s apartment to see if I can find anything.”
“Damn! What a filthy bastard! Do you want me to
go with you?”
“I don’t think it’s necessary. I’m just going to take a
quick look at the place, and maybe talk to Mrs. Jenkins
if she is around.”
“I am going to stay here until Dr. Greer leaves, then
I will report back to the station. Call me if you plan on
going in.”
After Tom left, Mrs. Russet went outside to one of
the rocking chairs on the veranda and dialed a number
from her mobile phone. “Hey, I can’t talk for long, since
the police are here, but Don is gone. That good-fornothing finally did something right and killed himself.
The police believed that Don and I were happy and that
I am heartbroken over his death -- they had no idea of
what that bastard put me through. He and his little
whore both got what they deserved.”
Chapter 17
Henriette Jenkins was watering her flowers when
Tom pulled up in front of Jack Little’s apartment, and he
was happy to see that the sick plant she was tending to
was finally starting to show signs of recovery and new
growth – the leaves looked stronger, and their color had
changed from puke green to a healthy emerald. Tom
wasn’t sure why such an insignificant detail made him
smile, and he promptly decided that watching life of any
kind thrive after several hours spent dealing with death
at its worst was the welcome change he needed to shake
the feeling of finality and embrace the pleasure of new
beginnings.
“Good evening Mrs. Jenkins.”
“Good evening, Detective….I’m sorry, I’m no goo’
wi’ names. You was here da otha’ day with them two
people.”
“Lackey. Lieutenant Lackey, Ma’am.”
“Yes, I rememba’ you.”
“I see your plant is doing well, Mrs. Jenkins. My
mother always said that plants like good people.”
“You is a good young’un, if you rememba’ what you
mama says.”
“Yes Ma’am, I try. You haven’t seen your tenant
back the last day or two, have you?”
“No, Sir. I seed a woman goin’ in, though.”
“Was it the same woman who came with us the
other day?”
“I dunno. My eyes ain’t good no mo’.”
Tom knew that he should call Parker before going
in, but if Jack Little or this mysterious woman had taken
Alexis inside this place, there wasn’t a moment to lose.
Following procedures was important – that much he had
learned in his many years on the force – but common
sense and gut instinct were sometimes even more
important.
“You haven’t seen a little girl being brought in, have
you, Mrs. Jenkins?”
“A chil’? None that I’ve seen, but I go to bed early,
so maybe I didn’t see her. I didn’t know he has a little
girl.”
“He doesn’t. I need to go back inside the apartment.
Is it okay with you?”
“It don’ botha me none. Turn off the light when you
leave.”
“I will. Thank you Ma’am. I have a key.”
Mrs. Jenkins didn’t reply, and went back to water
her recovering plant, humming an old spiritual song
while Tom quickly climbed the few steps and opened
the door with a copy of Mary Townsend’s key.
The apartment was smoldering hot and an
unpleasant odor of mildew attacked Tom’s nostrils the
moment he walked in – he hadn’t noticed such a
pungent smell the last time he was at the apartment, but
that was probably because at the time the air conditioner
hadn’t been off for long. With most of the appliances
unplugged, the silence in the room was unnerving and
almost unnatural for someone used to the white noise of
electro domestics, and it was only interrupted by a
constant drip in a nearby sink. The blinds were closed,
giving one the feeling of being trapped into a pocket of
void untouched by the urban scene on the other side of
the sealed windows.
Tom moved around carefully, his hand firmly
/>
gripping his gun. To his disappointment, there was no
sign of Jack Little – even if he was aware that finding
him here with Alexis was wishful thinking, his heart had
held on to the slim hope. He glimpsed at the kitchen and
saw that the pantry door cracked open, so he went to
open it all the way, but nothing seemed out of place. He
left the kitchen and headed for the back rooms, briefly
inspecting the bathroom on the way – again, everything
looked as abandoned and as tidy as the last time he was
here. When he entered the bedroom, however, he
thought he heard a faint sound and his heart jumped to
his throat. “Little, are you in here? If you are, come out
with your hands over your head where I can see them!”
He listened for sounds, but all he could hear was the
faucet continuing to drip its redundant song.
He looked around the room for anything that could
indicate a human presence and he noticed a little corner
of black fabric on the floor at the other end of the bed.
He kept his gun pointed and walked closer, and for a
moment he thought of calling Parker, but as he walked
around the bed he saw that the protruding black fabric
was part of a small backpack lying right beside a
baseball cap. He pulled a pair of gloves from his jacket
pocket and slipped them on before touching the
backpack. Inside, he found a set of medical scrubs and a
piece of paper with Shannon’s room number. “Holy
shit!” He thought out loud, “it was Jack Little who tried
to kill Shannon…”
He reached inside his jacket to pull out his mobile
phone, but before he could dial the number for Parker he
heard another muffled sound, this time behind him. He
turned around quickly and pointed the gun in the
direction of the sound, but it was too late. Before he
could see anything, he felt a tremendous blow on the
side of his face, and everything went black.
#
Kathy hung up the phone and looked at the clock –
ten-thirty at night. Where could Tom be? When she last
spoke with him earlier in the afternoon he said that he
was going out on a call and would probably be later than
usual getting home, but being this late without a phone
call was very uncharacteristic for him. There were many
times when Tom had to stretch his hours to meet the
demands of his job, but he always diligently called
because he knew Kathy would worry. Tonight he didn’t
call – the last time Kathy heard from him was around
five o’clock, almost six hours ago. She hated to disturb
him at work if he was busy, but anxiety was quickly
setting in, so she dialed the front desk and was glad
when Lana Briggs – one of the few officers she had
previously struck a friendship with during a Christmas
party – answered the phone.
“Hi Lana, this is Kathy Spencer, Tom Lackey’s
girlfriend.”
“Hey Kathy! Long time no see. How are you?”
“I’m doing great, thanks; I hope you are. I am
calling to see if Tom is still at work. He called me
around five to say he was going out on a call and I
haven’t heard back from him.”
“That’s strange…he and Parker went on a call
together, but Parker came back several hours ago and
already left for the day. Do you have his mobile
number?”
“I’m afraid I don’t, unless I can find it in Tom’s old
address book.”
“I don’t think it would be in there, Kathy. Parker got
a new number not too long ago. Hold on, let me get his
number for you.”
Kathy waited until Lana came back on the line and
gave her Parker’s number, she thanked her friend and
hung up. She keyed the number and pushed the talk
button, and was grateful when Parker picked up.
“Parker, this is Kathy Spencer, Tom Lackey’s
girlfriend.”
“Hi Kathy, is everything okay?”
“I hope so. I am sorry to call so late, but Tom hasn’t
gotten home yet, and I am calling to see if you might
know where he is.”
“I haven’t seen him since about seven tonight,
Kathy. Have you tried calling the station to see if he’s
still there?”
“Yes, and I spoke with Lana Briggs. I hope you
don’t mind that she gave me your number. She hasn’t
seen him at all, so I don’t think he went back to the
office after the call you went on together.”
Parker thought for a minute before he spoke.
“Hmmmm…he said that he was driving by a suspect’s
house to see if he was back in town, but he was only
supposed to check the place from the outside and maybe
talk to the landlord; it wouldn’t have taken him this
long.”
Parker’s words made Kathy’s blood congeal in her
veins. “Is the suspect the guy who was harassing Tracey
Newman?”
“You know about him? You might not want to share
that any further, since Lackey isn’t supposed to talk
about police business with anybody.”
“I wouldn’t tell another soul but you, Parker. Isn’t
this the guy who’s a suspect in the hospital attack?”
“Wow, Lackey really has a loose tongue.”
“Never mind that, Parker; is he?”
“Yes. You haven’t heard it from me, though. You
probably also know that Lackey was concerned about
him being back with Tracey Newman’s little sister. She
disappeared today, and we found a receipt for a bus
ticket for St. Louis in this guy’s apartment.”
Kathy felt dizzy. “Oh my God…is Alexis missing?”
“Oh, you know her too?”
“I took care of her a few times while she was in
Raleigh, since she has a passion for photography. How
long has she been missing?”
“Since earlier this afternoon. We got a call from St.
Louis because we are working on her sister’s case.”
“Where does this man live?” Kathy asked,
frantically searching for a pen and a scrap of paper to
write down the address.
“I’m sorry, Kathy, but I am not at liberty to give you
the address. I’ll tell you what…I’ll go and I will call you
as soon as I find out something.”
“Please, Parker, don’t forget. I just know that
something isn’t right.”
After ending the conversation with Parker, Kathy
couldn’t stop pacing the floor in the kitchen. She was
too nervous to sit and too upset to stop moving. What if
something happened to Tom? How would she cope with
that?
When the phone rang, her heart exploded in her
chest, and she could barely hear the other voice on the
line.
“Mom, are you okay?”
“Yes, Honey, I’m sorry. It’s Tom. He hasn’t come
home yet, and his partner said that he went alone to a
suspect’s house earlier today.”
“Oh my God! Are you serious?”
“I wouldn’t joke about somethin
g this serious,
Caroline!” The moment her snapping words left her lips,
she apologized. “I’m sorry, Sweetheart. I didn’t mean to
reply the way I did. I’m just upset.”
“It’s okay, Mom. I understand completely. Let me
get off the phone so you can keep the line free. Call me
as soon as you hear something.”
Kathy hated to shut out her daughter, since the few
times a week they spoke were precious to her, but she
was entirely too distraught right now to participate in a
conversation of any kind. “I will, Sweetie. Sorry again.”
“Don’t mention it, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
She ended the call and looked for the news channel
on TV. Most of the segments were about city
management and the impending drought which was
typical of North Carolina this time of year; nothing
important caught her attention, so she turned off the set
and tried to focus on the novel she had been reading.
She read the same page twice, without being able to
retain a single sentence, so she put the book down and
went to make a cup of coffee – she didn’t need the
caffeine, but a warm beverage might just be what the
doctor ordered right now. With the TV off, the silence in
the room was deafening. Kathy normally loved being
alone, and she treasured her quiet moments, but right
now she would have given anything she owned for the
phone to ring; unfortunately it didn’t. As soon as the
coffee finished brewing, she poured a cup and went
outside on the patio to sit on one of the new loungers
she and Tom bought three weeks ago. The night was
still, and a lone bird who seemed to have his days and
nights mixed up sang a melancholy tune from a branch
nearby. An ambulance siren screamed in the distance,
and Kathy closed her eyes and whispered a prayer.
#
Parker pulled up in the parking spot directly in front
of Jack Little’s apartment and looked around for
Lackey’s car. There were three vehicles parked in the
small lot, including one with flat tires and a cracked
window, but Lackey’s car was nowhere in sight. He
wondered which of the units was Mrs. Jenkin’s
residence, and he damned himself for not having that
information handy. Lackey was the one who used to
keep everything with him, while Parker left his work life
at the office every time he went home for the night. He
called the night desk to see if someone could retrieve the
Killer in Sight (A Tom Lackey Mystery) Page 24
