Killer in Sight (A Tom Lackey Mystery)

by Sandra Carrington-Smith

photos show a slingshot, and others a circle.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “I’m not sure, Parker, but those may have been the

  last images that Tracey Newman saw before she died.”

  “Bring them by the station in about an hour, Kathy. I

  should be there by then.”

  Kathy didn’t know why she suddenly felt better, but

  she suspected that Parker’s unexpected acceptance of

  this possibility was a factor. She gathered the photos and

  put them back inside the folder, before heading to the

  bathroom to take a shower.

  #

  Parker looked at his watch – eight o’ clock in the

  morning. He doubted that Eduardo Carlos was coming

  home. He left a business card stuck in the door and was

  getting ready to leave when an elderly man sporting a

  checkered flannel shirt and high-water trousers came up

  the stairs and almost ran into him. His choice of clothing

  seemed odd in this blistering heat, but in his long career

  on the force Parker had seen even stranger things and he

  readily decided that the old man probably suffered from

  low blood pressure. He probably didn’t know Eduardo

  Carlos, but there was no harm in asking.

  “Say, Good man, would you know the man who

  lives in this apartment?”

  “Yago? I sure do. Who wants him?”

  “No, I’m sorry, we must be talking about different

  people. The name of the man I am looking for is not

  Yago, but Eduardo Carlos.”

  “That him. His name is Eduardo, but his friends call

  him Yago. With a ‘Y’.”

  Parker didn’t want to even know the reason why

  someone would choose such a nickname, so he asked

  another question instead. “Do you know where Yago is

  right now?”

  “He probably at his girlfriend house.”

  “Interesting. You wouldn’t know her name by any

  chance?”

  “The name escapes me, but I know where she

  lives.”

  “Yeah? Where is that?”

  “1420 Wintry Lane. I know it because I had to take

  Yago there a few times, when his car broke down.”

  “Thank you, Sir! I really appreciate your help. If

  you see Yago with a ‘Y’, tell him that Sergeant Parker

  would like a word with him.”

  “Sergeant Parker? Is Yago in trouble with the law?”

  “No, he’s not. We’re just old friends.”

  “Oh good. I don’t like cops too much myself…”

  At other times, Parker would have inquired further

  as to why this old man had a problem with the police,

  but right now he was in a hurry, and he couldn’t waste

  any time indulging conversations unrelated to the case;

  besides, his mind was already working overtime to

  figure out how the man could wear those clothes in this

  blistering heat without breaking into a sweat. He

  thanked the old man again and headed to his car. More

  suspects were floating up to the surface, and Parker

  knew that the game was becoming more complicated by

  the minute. He wanted to go straight to the girlfriend’s

  house, but a quick look at his watch told him that Kathy

  was probably already on her way to meet him at the

  station, so he postponed his plan until after her visit.

  #

  Mirna Thompson had just clocked in and taken her

  place behind the glass window at the ticket counter of

  the bus station in downtown St. Louis when she spotted

  a little girl sitting alone. She was very small and

  delicate, and Mirna – a grandmother of three – felt

  instantly irritated at the fact that the little girl’s mother

  would have left her there alone, even if she was only

  down the hall visiting the restroom. Did that woman not

  watch the news? – Small children are taken every day,

  sometimes even under their parents’ eyes. She made a

  point to watch over the little girl until her mother came

  back, and to keep a better eye on her she decided to

  close her window and pretend to be organizing

  paperwork; she certainly didn’t want to get distracted

  and

  miss

  anyone

  with

  malevolent

  intentions

  approaching that child.

  The little girl hugged her knees, and laid her head

  on them, her small backpack on the seat next to her.

  Mirna watched as her tiny eyelids fluttered and her left

  hand reached out to dig inside the pint-size luggage. She

  pulled out a small brown teddy bear and placed it

  between her head and her knees. Mirna looked at her

  watch – almost nine –o’clock, exactly twenty minutes

  since she clocked in – and the child’s mother was still

  gone. She had enough of this nonsense. She stood up

  and walked out of the booth, determined to find out why

  the little girl was left unsupervised for so long. She

  slowed down her step as she approached the row of

  seats, hoping not to scare her.

  “Sweetheart,” she called gently, “are you okay?

  Where is your mommy?”

  The little girl looked up with sleepy eyes, and took a

  moment to focus on Mirna’s face, but her voice was

  clear and infused with resolve. “My mommy is at home.

  I am going to see Kathy.”

  “What do you mean your mommy is at home?

  Who’s here with you?”

  “My friend Lily.”

  “Well, where did Lily go?”

  “She’s here. We are going to see our friend Kathy in

  North Carolina.”

  “That’s nice. Why don’t you come with me,

  Sweetie?”

  “Thank you, but my mom always tells me I

  shouldn’t talk to strangers.”

  Mirna smiled. “I’m not a stranger; my name is

  Mirna, and I work here. I can get you some lemonade or

  some Coke if you want.”

  The little girl’s eyes opened wide. “Can I have

  Sprite?”

  “You certainly can. Come on.”

  Mirna placed a protective hand over the little girl’s

  shoulder as they walked by a homeless man laying at the

  edge of a corridor. The smell of urine, disinfectant and

  sweat, all combined in one disgusting package, lingered

  in the air.

  The little girl crunched her nose. “It stinks in here!”

  “Yeah. Bus stations are not a good place for little

  girls, especially when they travel alone.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To my supervisor’s office. She will help keep you

  safe.”

  They walked together through a door that opened on

  a series of cubicles, and continued to one of the larger

  enclosures.

  “Wow, this place looks like a beehive!”

  Mirna laughed and knocked on the glass door.

  When she saw her supervisor waving her in, she opened

  the door and led the little girl inside.

  “Who have we got here?” The woman asked

  smiling.

  Alexis took charge of the conversation and readily

  introduced herself. “My name is Alexis. My friend Lily

  and I are going to
see our friend Kathy who lives in

  North Carolina.”

  “I see. How old is Lily?”

  “I don’t know. She is a girl like me.”

  The blond woman arched her eyebrow, and she and

  Mirna exchanged a look.

  “Why don’t you wait here a minute, Alexis? We’ll

  be right back.”

  “Okay. Can I have my Sprite now?”

  “Of course, Honey. Let me get one for you.” Mirna

  walked to a small cooler at the far corner of the room

  and got a can of Sprite.

  While Alexis was busy opening her drink, the two

  women stepped outside. Mirna spoke first. “I think we

  should call the police, Lois. It sounds like we have a

  little runaway on our hands.”

  The other woman nodded. “Please call from

  Derrick’s office while I keep her entertained.”

  #

  “Sorry I’m late, Kathy. I had to stop for a cup of

  coffee on my way in. I had no sleep last night.”

  Kathy sat in the chair across from the desk and

  smiled. “It’s okay. I guess it makes two of us not

  sleeping last night.”

  “So, what photos were you talking about on the

  phone?”

  Kathy opened her case and pulled out the folder

  containing the photos.

  “Here they are. I also included a few shots I have

  taken at my house; I’d like to know if you see the same

  thing I saw in them.” She lined all the photos on the

  desk, starting with the ones of Tracey Newman’s face.

  “Holy crap! If I didn’t know better, I’d say this is a

  woman screaming.”

  “Look at it closely, Parker. Do you know this

  woman?”

  Parker put on his reading glasses and took a better

  look. His mouth opened as he focused on the image, and

  he raised his eyes to meet Kathy’s. “What is this? Did

  you photoshop these?”

  “No Parker. I took those shots around my house to

  make sure my camera wasn’t broken. Who does the

  woman look like?”

  “Well, I’ll be damned, Kathy. She looks like Tracey

  Newman.”

  Kathy could easily detect the shock on Parker’s

  face, and she watched him as he swallowed repeatedly.

  “Now look at these – Dr. Greer let me take some photos

  of Tracey’s eyes with my iriscope.”

  “Your iris-what?”

  “Iriscope. It’s like a special camera that holistic

  doctors use to detect illness in the body by identifying

  irregularities in the iris of the eye. When I took shots of

  Tracey’s eyes, of course, her pupils were completely

  dilated, so I didn’t think anything would come out, but I

  got these.” She pointed at the line of photos featuring

  the slingshot and the small circle. “According to my

  theory, those are the last images that Tracey saw before

  dying, but unfortunately I can’t make them out. She

  wouldn’t have looked at a slingshot before dying.”

  Parker sat back in his chair and was quiet for a few

  minutes. Kathy could not read what he was thinking, but

  she could almost see imaginary little wheels spinning in

  his head. He picked up one of the photos and put it

  under his desk lamp; he turned on the light, and studied

  the image carefully, then he looked up at Kathy.”

  “What if this is a charm or a pendant that was

  hanging on someone’s arm or neck, Kathy?”

  That thought never occurred to her, but the image of

  Tracey seemingly pointing to a necklace on the

  bathroom counter in one of the photos flashed through

  her mind. And what about the small circle? She wanted

  to ask Parker that, but was afraid to break the spell of

  possibility that was opening in his mind.

  “A charm of a slingshot?”

  “No, but it could be a pendant with someone’s

  initial! A letter “Y’ rather than a slingshot. Look, I’ve

  got to go, Kathy. I will call you later. Forgive me if I

  can’t walk you out – do you mind if I keep this photo?”

  Kathy shook her head, still recovering from the

  surprise of Parker’s reaction.

  Before she could say anything, he was gone.

  #

  The first thing that Tom noticed when he woke up

  was the smell of mildew and naphthalene that pervaded

  the room. His head was hurting and he could taste

  something salty on his lips, but when he tried to move, a

  wave of pain shot across his entire face and he

  grimaced. It was pitch black in here, and hot as Hades.

  He couldn’t move his hands or his feet, and he felt wet

  material from his shirt sticking to the sparse hair on his

  chest.

  Suddenly the light came on, and felt as a knife

  jabbing at his eyeballs. Someone else was in the room

  but Tom couldn’t move or turn his head to see the figure

  insinuating toward him. He could hear the steps on the

  concrete floor coming closer and he wondered if the

  shallow breaths he was taking were going to be his last.

  The man walked in front of him, and he and Tom

  locked eyes for a moment.

  “What do you want from me? Why am I here?”

  The man’s laughter was malicious. “You have a way

  of getting in my business, Lieutenant, but we are taking

  care of that today.”

  “Who are you?”

  “My friends call me Yago. Are you my friend,

  Lieutenant?”

  Tom didn’t reply.

  “Everything would have gone well, you see, if

  Shannon Brinkley didn’t start poking her nose into

  things she had no need to get into.”

  Tom knew he had to buy time if he hoped to

  survive. The knife protruding from the man’s right hand

  was definitely a good incentive to bring the gift of gab

  out of him.

  “What did Shannon do?”

  “Too bad for her that she found out something she

  wasn’t supposed to know. And besides, she isn’t very

  nice to Mary.”

  Tom already knew the answer to his questions, but

  he asked anyway. “So her overdose wasn’t accidental?”

  The man laughed, the sound of his voice filling

  every pocket of this humid, forsaken place.

  “Accidental? I wouldn’t think so, Lieutenant. It wasn’t

  too hard to slip some pills into her drink.”

  “Did you kill Tracey Newman?”

  “I was going to, you see, and then that bitch got

  away. But she died anyway.”

  Tom was confused by that statement. “What do you

  mean by that?”

  Yago’s teeth reflected the light coming from a single

  light bulb hung on the ceiling. “You are too curious,

  Lieutenant, and curiosity unfortunately killed the cat.”

  #

  Parker turned on his lights and siren as he punched

  the gas. He sped through the beltline traffic and was

  glad that he had at least avoided the rush-hour

  congestion. When his mobile phone rang, he thought of

  not answering, then changed his mind and clicked the

  talk button along with the speaker.

  “Parker.”

  “Sergea
nt, this is Lana Briggs. St. Louis called and

  asked to speak to Lackey – they have Jack Little in

  custody.”

  “No shit! That’s great. Did they leave any other

  information?”

  “No, they just said to call back.”

  “Hold on to that number for me, Lana. I’ll call back

  soon.”

  He ended the call and pulled up in front of the

  residence, not sure if he had the right address. The home

  was pristine clean, with flowers in the yard and a white

  picket fence. He parked in the driveway and walked to

  the door, all along admiring the delicate pansies planted

  in the flower bed running the whole length of the

  walkway. He knocked twice and waited for someone to

  open, but there seemed to be nobody home. He knocked

  again and then walked around the back of the property

  praying not to meet a guard dog – an accident from his

  youth had left him wary of pooches of all sizes. The

  back yard was just as manicured as the front, with grass

  so green and fresh-looking that Parker had to fight the

  urge to lay in it.

  He was ready to turn the corner and get back around

  to the front when he thought he heard something. He

  listened carefully but no other sound came through. He

  took one more step, and another muffled scream pierced

  the classy silence of the neighborhood. This time he

  knew he hadn’t imagined the scream. It was a man’s

  voice, and although he couldn’t be sure it was Tom’s

  voice, his gut instinct told him it was. He had to get

  inside. All the doors were locked, and none of the

  windows were open, so he stopped for a moment and

  tried to gather his thoughts. He was aware that Tom’s

  life was in his hands right now, and any mistake could

  be fatal.

  Chapter 19

  Shannon had no idea of where she was when she

  first awakened. She tried to focus on her surroundings

  but her eyelids felt exceptionally heavy and she could

  only keep them open for a few seconds at a time –

  although there wasn’t much light filtering through the

  blinds, to her aching eyes it felt like a breath of fire. Her

  muscles felt like heavy weights, and her first thought

  blended with a memory from her childhood when she

  had tried lifting the heavy grocery bags from the trunk

  of her mother’s car to prove her strength.

  Something was stuck in her mouth, preventing her

  from calling out. She desperately tried to raise her arm

  to remove the object in her mouth but was too weak to