“Rachel?”
“It was a bust,” Rachel lied.
“We’ll find another lead,” Peak said.
“When did you become the optimist?”
“Most killers think they're in control. Their hubris is their downfall. I’ll meet you at the station in a little bit.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Rachel ended the call and slammed her fist on the steering wheel. The horn beeped. She thought about Albert and how she wished she could strangle the life from him.
She returned to her large Queen Anne home that seemed more hollow and ominous than usual. She showered off the mud and dirt from her bruised skin and put on a fresh set of clothes. Grabbing some painkillers from her cupboard, Rachel returned to the police department, seeing officers with big grins and bearing good news.
“What’s going on?” Rachel asked Officer Jones as she limped toward her desk.
“Albert’s girl just confessed to killing him and John Parkman.”
Rachel felt the world tilt. “Jennifer?”
Jones grinned widely. “Go see for yourself.”
Rachel raced to the interrogation room and peeked through the window. Seated at the aluminum table was none other than Lexi Heavens. Her black mascara tears stained her pretty white face. Her blonde hair was wavy and wet from the rain. Rachel rushed into the observation room nearby and turned up the audio feed.
McConnell talked to Lexi directly. Rachel had never seen him this active in a case before.
“I told you,” Lexi shouted. “He called me after the house fire and I killed him!”
“That doesn’t answer my question, Ms. Heavens. Why did you kill him?”
Lexi averted her eyes. “He told me about the girls he killed. He bragged about them like they were hunted deer. When he called me for help, I was so mad a-and horrified that I stabbed him, and I kept stabbing him until he stopped breathing.”
McConnell jotted down a few notes on his legal pad. “Why kill John Parkman?”
Lexi sniffled. “We… we were having intercourse.”
“That’s not what the autopsy said.”
“Not that night,” Lexi protested. “Weeks ago, but Al told me that the mayor knew about the murders. I was so furious that I thought I needed to kill him too.”
Rachel covered her mouth. This can’t be happening.
“Did you know any of Jacobson’s victims?”
“No,” Lexi moped. “But I felt their pain.”
“And the dolls? Why leave them at the crime scene.”
Lexi opened her mouth, searching for the right words to say. She found them after a minute. Her voice was shaky. “I-I needed a signature. It was my way of warning other killers what would come to them.”
McConnell put aside his pen. He spoke calmly. “Lexi, do you understand the severity of this confession? You are looking at two life sentences and possibly the death penalty.”
Tears rolled down Lexi’s face. “I understand. I killed Albert Jacobson and John Parkman, and I’d do it again if I had the chance.”
McConnell stepped into the hall and shook his head.
Rachel approached him. “Tell me you don’t believe her.”
The lieutenant clicked his tongue. “She knew the case details by heart, up to how many times she stabbed each victim.”
Rachel’s face went red with anger. “Did she tell you about the five men and woman killed across the country? The ones that had near matching porcelain dolls at the crime scene?”
“No,” McConnell replied. “But the girl is twenty-eight years old, and she just threw away her life by openly confessing to two homicides, both of which were town officials. No one does that type of thing without knowing the consequences.”
Rachel felt her blood pressure rise. “The real killer must be backing her into a corner. No one in their right mind would confess to those charges.”
“No one in their right mind would kill,” McConnell said stoically. “Rachel, I know it’s not the perfect confession, but we traced her cellphone GPS. She was at the Yellow Moon Motel where John was killed. That’s not a coincidence.”
“And where Albert was killed?”
“Her cellphone was at her home. It wasn’t moving, which means she probably left it there.”
“McConnell, the evidence doesn’t add up,” Rachel argued.
“What other suspect do you have?”
Rachel opened the mouth to say the name Jennifer Blankenship. With the evidence in the treehouse, the case could be closed at this very moment. Rachel imagined the Roper killing her endlessly. She couldn’t speak the name.
After a moment of quietness, McConnell spoke up. “We live in an interesting world where the unexplainable happens every day. I know Lexi Heavens doesn’t seem like the true killer, but much of the evidence fits her. As you well know, Detective, most cases aren’t black and white, and many times threads are left hanging.”
McConnell gave her a pitying smile and walked away.
Peak arrived as McConnell stepped into his office. “What’s going on?”
Rachel couldn’t escape the bitter taste in her mouth. “Lexi Heavens just confessed to two homicides.”
“Oh,” Peak said, lowering the coffee from his lips. “Why?”
“I don’t know, but she knows specific information about each kill. McConnell’s going to charge her.”
“If there’s no hard evidence on Jennifer apart from the fact that her grandfather’s a doll maker, it’s logical to believe Lexi’s confession.”
Rachel gawked at him. “Don’t tell me you believe that?”
“I don’t,” Peak said plainly. “But the mob is searching for someone to lynch for their beloved mayor’s death. Ms. Heavens just offered herself as tribute. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
“We can find proof that she’s being blackmailed.”
“Best do it quick. She’ll be in the big house soon enough.”
Rachel looked in both directions, making sure no officer had eyes on them. “Cover me,” she whispered to Peak before darting inside the interrogation room.
Defeated, Lexi rested her forehead on the table with her hands slack at her sides. Rachel unplugged the camera in the corner of the room and took a seat. Her leg bounced under the table.
“Lexi, look at me,”
The beautiful girl with a little trailer park charm turned her glossy gaze to Rachel. Lexi’s face was pink and puffy from crying.
“I know you’re innocent,” Rachel said.
“I’ve never been innocent,” the girl replied.
“Did a woman threaten you into saying these things?”
Lexi cast down her eyes.
“I know you think you’re doing the right thing, but we are so close to catching the real killer. If you just hold out a little longer--”
“You don’t know anything,” Lexi snapped.
“I know what it’s liked to be forced to do things against your will. I know what it’s like to feel powerless against someone else. You don’t have to be like that.” You don’t have to make my mistake.
“Do you have a child, Detective?” Lexi asked.
“No,” Rachel replied.
“Then shut the hell up.”
“I’m trying to help you and your family,” Rachel barked.
Lexi rested her forehead back on the table. “Leave me alone.”
“Lexi--”
“LEAVE ME ALONE!” the girl screamed.
Rachel stood from her seat. “Don’t you do this, Lexi.”
“Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!” The girl continued screaming. Rachel marched to the camera, plugged it back in, and stormed out of the room.
“That much luck, huh?” Peak said.
“Save it,” Rachel typed in Lexi Heavens into the police database. She pulled up the girl’s list of relatives, found the name of her daughter, searched through the medical records for her birth certificate, and took down the name of the father. She matched it to Garrett Hodges
, a local with partial custody over Lexi’s daughter.
“If we can have this Hodges guy convince the police that Lexi is being blackmailed, then we can pursue the real killer.”
“And who's that?” Peak asked.
Rachel didn’t reply. She zipped up her leather jacket and headed out the department's door.
9
TROUBLE
Forty-four miles from Highlands, the duplex stood among a number of lookalike buildings reminiscent of a redneck Truman Show. The smell of rain clung to the air. Clouds hid the late afternoon sun. If Albert Jacobson was true to his word, Rachel had sixteen hours to kill Jennifer Blankenship.
Rachel and Peak’s arrival got the neighbor’s Boston Terrier yapping. Within a few moments, the rest of the neighborhood mutts bayed and barked. The locals didn’t mind. Dog ruckus seemed like a usual occurrence.
Rachel knocked on the door and waited. Despite the effects of her painkillers, Rachel’s back seemed to pulsate with her heart and sting at the touch of her shirt. When she changed clothes after the treehouse discovery, some grim instinct prompted her to turn back to the tri-fold bathroom mirror and examine the purple blob from her shoulders down to the small of her back. The bruise left her skin scraped and red. Her elbows suffered a similar fate.
Worse, the pain medication opened her eyes to dozens of Orphans. On the drive over, gory men and women walked across the busy street haphazardly. Rachel drove through three of them, pulled over, and gave the keys to Peak. More Orphans watched her from rooftops. They were still as statues but followed her with the turning of their heads. Dozens of screams and conversions sounded with every passing Orphan. The Sense fluctuated, pulling at her in random directions each time a screaming spirit approached.
Rachel’s world had become a madhouse.
Peak must’ve noticed because his coal eyes were guilty, and a tight-lipped, pitying smile rode his gaunt face. Rachel didn’t need to tell him that nothing could be done. He already knew. She’d told him of the visions plaguing her and about the smoothie at home she so desperately wanted to drink. However, she kept her mouth closed regarding any detail about Jennifer and the amount of damning evidence found in her treehouse. Lying to a friend was never easy. Lying to your best friend was brutally painful.
Rachel peeked through the window and caught an eyeful of closed blinds. “He sure takes a long time to answer his door.”
Peak tapped her shoulder and pointed at Garrett Hodges, holding his daughter and quietly exiting his backyard. “I believe I know why.”
The detectives traded looks and split up. Rachel jogged to the right side of the house and Peak to the left. Hand on her holstered gun, Rachel climbed the dog fence and moved stealthily along the duplex’s flank.
Garrett Hodges spotted her and froze like a deer in the headlights. Though young, there was a cotton patch of hair on his black beard. A black cross was tattooed under his ocean-blue eye. By the way he looked over his shoulder at the woods, Rachel could tell he was about to do something very foolish.
“Don’t run, Mr. Hodges,” Rachel warned. “I’m really not in the mood.”
Detective Peak approached from the left side of the building. The three of them formed a triangle in the backyard.
The little girl turned her doe eyes up to her father. “Papa, what’s happening?”
“Nothing, sweetie,” Hodges replied.
“Have you told him we’re on his side?” Peak asked Rachel, but loud enough for Hodges to hear.
Hodges took a step back.
Rachel unbuttoned the top of her holster.
The man lowered his daughter. His trembling hand rested on her shoulder. “What’s the issue, Officers?”
Peak stared at him with apathetic eyes. “Your ex-girlfriend confessed to two murders this afternoon. Hear anything about that?”
Hodges tensed up. “Horrible, horrible, horrible news.”
Rachel took a step forward. Hodges took a step back. “I’m not in the dancing mood, Mr. Hodges. I know you and your family are being threatened. The police can get you and your daughter someplace safe, but only if you tell the truth about Lexi’s involvement.”
Hodges cast his eyes to the wet grass.
Dogs continued barking. A teenager with a sideways hat and vomit on his chin walked by Rachel, mumbling to himself. Rachel felt the standing hairs on her neck and arms follow his trek. She shifted her focus away from the Orphan and back on Hodges.
“I don’t know anything about any threat against my livelihood or my daughter’s.” Pain cracked Hodges’ voice.
“That sounds a little rehearsed to me,” Rachel replied. “What do you think, Peak?”
“Sure does,” Peak added.
“What’s the goal here, Officers?” Hodges shouted. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to come down to the station and tell us all about your baby momma’s wonderful personality. Otherwise, Lexi is going to jail for a long time for a crime that she didn’t commit.”
Hodges’ face went red in frustration and he wagged his finger. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Why are you yelling, Papa? Where’s Mom?” the little girl asked.
“She’s fine. Everything is fine,” Hodges looked up at the detective. “I don’t appreciate you scaring my daughter.”
Rachel scoffed. She spoke as clearly as she could. “No one can hurt you if you’re on our side. We can take you to the station right now.”
“I can’t.” Hodges replied and looked over his shoulder.
“Why not?” Peak asked.
Hodge bounced his eyes to the neighbor’s house and back to the detectives. Rachel studied the nearby duplex. No light showed through the windows. There were no cars in the driveway, yet the man wouldn’t stop looking at it. “I can’t. You understand?”
Rachel and Peak traded glances. Without a word, Rachel sidestepped to the neighbor’s home.
Hodges’ eyes went wide and glassy. He shook his head, but only for a second. “Please, Officers. Go back to your car. There is nothing for you here.”
Rachel scanned the surrounding residences in search of anything or anybody out of the ordinary. The barking persisted. The howls raised in pitch. A legless man dragged himself across the asphalt road. Rachel couldn’t trust the Sense. Danger and Orphans were one.
“I am not being threatened,” Hodges explained, forehead sweaty. “Lexi’s actions are her own. Now go.”
Something moved in the duplex nearby. Orphan? Rachel couldn’t risk it. She drew out her gun. Peak mimicked her action.
Tears trickled down Hodges’ horrified face. “Lexi killed those men!”
The little girl’s expression scrunched up and she began to cry.
Rachel’s attention bounced between the house and the man twenty feet away. The burnt man had returned to smell the back of Rachel’s neck. The smell of burned flesh filled her nose. Mayor John Parkman gurgled near one of the houses, his neck leaking crimson down his pinstripe suit. The pandemonium left Rachel blind to the desperate father reaching his hand around to the back of his jeans.
Peak cursed. She turned her attention away from the chaos and to her partner. He aimed his gun at Hodges. Snot-nosed and crying, Garrett Hodges aimed a pistol back.
The barking intensified along with the little girl’s crying. Snot and tears ruined Hodges’ face. “She’s guilty. Okay? Okay!”
“We’re on your side, Garrett,” Rachel explained, forced to raise her voice over the number of mumbling Orphans convening around Hodges, almost as if they were waiting to accept another dead spirit.
“Surrender your firearm,” Peak commanded with a cool calmness as he started moving forward.
Garrett jabbed the gun at the air. “Don’t move!”
Peak planted his feet. His posture mimicked perfect police stance: both hands on his Glock 19, pelvis pushed back slightly, his eyes on the weapon’s iron sight. Relaxed, Peak said, “Surrender your weapon or I will shoot you.”
<
br /> There was no more movement in the duplex. Did she leave? Rachel asked herself. Was Jennifer ever there? Rachel felt her Sense pulling at her from the building, stronger than any Orphan. Her heart rate quickened. Rachel faced the problem at hand. “Garrett. Don’t be an idiot. Think about your daughter. You really willing to screw her up for life for this?”
The gun trembled in Hodges’ hand. Barely able to keep his bloodshot eyes open, his shoulders sank. Weeping, he tossed the pistol aside like trash. Peak rushed at him, stepped on the pistol, and kicked it back. Hodges fell to his knees and squeezed his daughter in a frantic embrace. Peak lowered his weapon, pausing in front of the scene. He blinked a few times, hiding the gloss in his eyes.
Dogs bayed.
Rachel twisted to Peak and then the neighboring duplex.
“You got this.” Rachel dashed to the building’s back door. She outran the little dog biting at her ankles and slammed her shoulder into the door.
It busted open, rocking her entire body. She staggered into the dark house. Straightening up, Rachel swept her weapon’s barrel across the furnished room. Steadying her breathing, Rachel moved across the quiet floor and pressed her back in the place where the living room met the hall. She peered around the corner. Family photos lined the corridor. Rachel stepped in, keeping her eye on the two sealed bedrooms and the ajar bathroom door. She dipped into the bathroom, gave it a quick sweep, and aimed back into the hallway. She started for the first bedroom. She took one hand off the pistol and twisted the doorknob. When it opened a crack, Rachel kicked it open the rest of the way before pressing her back against the hallway wall. A bead of sweat snaked down the bridge of her nose. She aimed the pistol at the opposite door, making sure she wouldn’t be flanked. The second bedroom remained closed.
Rachel peeked into the first bedroom. The door swayed from the impact of her foot. Adrenaline and the Sense were one and the same. A moment passed. She stepped inside, spotting a bed, a shuttered door closet, night stands, and dresser with an inactive TV on it. Rachel cleared the corners and lowered herself to check under the bed. No one.
She peered at the closet, but not before twisting back to examine the hall and still-closed second bedroom behind her. She grabbed the circular knob on the closet door. Her heart skipped a beat as she swung it open. Her gun aimed at shirts and coats.
The Haunting of Rachel Harroway- Book 2 Page 9
