by Jordan Dane
“Hey, what the hell is this?” he blustered.
“I’ve got Flexicuffs on my belt in a dispenser. Use ’em.” Jess ignored Burke and took charge, directing her comment to Alexa. “That radiator should work.”
Before Burke made a fuss, Jess said, “There’s a reason we wanted the music up loud, Jason. Think about it. And don’t make me shoot you.”
Alexa got to work and cuffed him to the radiator. She used the plastic restraints Jess carried with her for multiple arrests. With his hands tied to opposite ends, he sat with hunched shoulders and his butt on metal. For good measure, Alexa bound his ankles, too.
They’d have his undivided attention now.
“What’s this all about? It ain’t right, you comin’ in here like this.”
“We wanna hear what you’ve got to say about Mandy,” Jess told him.
“Mandy? How do you know her?” Staring into the Colt Python, Burke didn’t wait for an answer. “Hey, I got an alibi. I wasn’t anywhere near that motel. The cops know all about it.”
“Yeah, that’s what we hear, but humor us. She ever live here with you?”
Jess holstered her weapon, and Alexa backed off, giving her room to “work.”
“Yeah, but she moved out a month ago. We had a fight.”
“I find that hard to believe. An easygoing guy like you? What was the fight about?”
“Money. It was always about money.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“I saw her a few days before she was killed. She tried to make me feel sorry for her, but I’d had enough of her act. That scrawny bitch used men to get what she wanted.” He sneered. “All she cared about was cash to feed her habit. And she didn’t give a rat’s ass what she had to do to get it neither. She was playin’ that asshole, the guy who killed her. I seen him with her. Who knows what she did to piss him off?”
“Try again, asshole. ’Cause that damned tune ain’t gonna play with us.” Jess stepped closer. And when he flashed another arrogant smirk, she reached for a shiny gold ring that pierced his eyebrow and gave it a sharp twist.
“Damn it, bitch!” he spat.
Burke had squirmed and pulled his head back. Now the ring dangled loose, nearly ripping through his skin. Blood trickled down his cheek, mixing with sweat.
“Oops. You shouldn’t have moved, slick.”
“You better hope I don’t get loose,” he threatened.
“Actually, I hope you do.” She fixed her eyes on him. “In fact, I’m counting on it.”
To make her point, Jess retrieved a knife from her boot. Dim light from a nearby lamp reflected off the blade. And his eyes grew wide.
“Hey, you don’t need that. What do you want to know?”
“The truth, Jason. We just want the truth.” After he settled down, she asked, “Besides hooking, did Mandy have other ways to earn coin? And don’t bother to lie ’cause I’ll know it.”
When Burke didn’t speak fast enough, Jess reached for another pull tab.
“Okay, okay. Just lay off the metal.” He jerked his head, trying to stay clear of her hand. “Right before our fight, Mandy came into some dough.”
“I thought you said the fight was over money, not having enough.”
“It was more like, she lived under my roof, and I wanted my share.” He shook his head. “I never actually saw her stash, but I always knew when she was holding out on me. I figured she scored big bucks off a guy. When I asked her about it, she didn’t have much to say. We fought. She left. End of story. She packed her stuff and took off when I was at work.”
“So you were wanting a piece of her action. Real nice, slick. You have any ideas on how she got the money?”
“Blackmail, lady. That little bitch was blackmailing someone. At least, that’s what I figured out after I asked around, but no one could tell me nuthin’ for sure.”
“Any ideas who she was bleeding?”
“The guy who killed her, that’s who. He looked like he had deep pockets. Real used to money, you know what I mean?”
“But you don’t know this for a fact.”
He shook his head. “No, but I had a bad feeling about that kid from the first time I saw him. He didn’t look right. I always thought he was obsessed with Mandy for some reason, the way he kept coming around. I thought she put an end to that, but I guess not. Not if they were at a motel when he whacked her.”
Even a jerk like Jason Burke could damage Harper’s chances in court. He’d seen Seth with Mandy and could testify that Seth had been obsessed with her. Jess clenched her jaw. And Burke’s story had a ring of despicable truth since the bastard hadn’t tried to hide the fact he wanted to cut in on her action, whatever it was.
And if Mandy had put the squeeze on someone for money, Burke asking around might have called attention to what she’d done and put a target on her back. Plus the girl’s drug habit had been eating her alive. Jess had seen it more than once in her line of work. And common sense would be the first to go when it came to the choices that the strung-out girl had made to feed her nasty habit.
Mandy had put herself in the line of fire—and she’d dragged Harper with her. Knowing Seth, he would have done it again and again if it meant he had a shot at saving her. And being the son of Detective Max Jenkins, her boy genius had a strong measure of the hero gene in his DNA. She’d seen it in Harper before.
“All I know is, it kept her in crank for a while,” Burke kept talking. “Then one day, she came to me, acting real scared.”
“When was this?”
“I don’t remember. I was a little wasted at the time.”
“What was she scared of?”
“I don’t know. But coming to me, she had to be desperate,” he admitted. “She wanted to move back and crash here, but I had enough of that bitch, and I told her so.”
“Real compassionate of you, big man.” Jess pressed the blade to his cheek. Having learned his lesson about moving, Burke stiffened and held his breath. A white crease on his skin filled with blood, tiny beads of red. “Go on.”
“Damn it! I swear, that’s all I know. You gotta believe me.”
“Yeah, like you believed Mandy when she came to you for help?”
She looked at Alexa.
“Cut him loose…and step aside.”
Until now, Alexa’s expression had been unreadable. But by the look on her face, her companion clearly had an issue at letting Burke go without giving them a head start. Yet to her credit, the woman never said a word. Jess handed her the knife and Alexa freed the man.
Burke stood and rubbed his wrists, glaring at her. With her body tensed for action, she handed Alexa her gun, not taking her eyes off Burke.
“You wanted loose, asshole. Now what?”
Burke came at her, bristling with anger—and the man was done talking.
CHAPTER 13
All Jess thought about was taking a long, hot shower to get the smell of Jason Burke off her. She reeked of sleaze.
She shook her right hand and checked her bruised knuckles as she accompanied Alexa outside. They walked through the center courtyard toward the front of the complex. Inky darkness had spread its shadows and transformed the neighborhood into a real creep-fest. And the familiar drone of traffic off the interstate had never let up.
“You got anything to say?”
“Nope, nada.” Alexa shrugged, not stopping and looking straight ahead.
“The guy had it comin’. He came at me. And I figured if he got a few bruises from a woman, he’d be less inclined to say anything.”
The blonde pursed her lips and nodded, “Yeah…good call. Sounds logical to me.”
Jess expected more of a reaction.
“Hell, you’d think a guy with two nipple rings could take a little pain.” She ran a hand through her dark hair and made sure her Colt Python was secure.
“An astute observation.”
A moment of silence drifted by, but Jess couldn’t stand it any longer. She stopped in fr
ont of Alexa and had to say it.
“You think I lost it in there. And you’re planning to report that I’m a loose cannon and not fit for your team, aren’t you?” She pointed a finger. “You know, I may not work and play well with others, but I’ve got skills…on occasion.” She jutted her chin out. “And nothing sticks in my craw worse than getting counted out before I’ve had a chance to prove myself.”
“Are you done?” After she nodded, the woman crossed her arms and cocked her head. “Now…are you ready to listen?”
“Can I get back to you on that?”
Alexa rolled her eyes as an eighteen-wheeler blasted its horn from the freeway. When things quieted to a dull thunder, she gave her opinion.
“You are a loose cannon, Jessie. And I think you know that, but your instincts are solid. We’d make a good team, and I could use the help.” A faint smile curved her lips. “Most days, I like working alone. I think you’re the same, but I gotta say it. You and me were in sync with Burke, and it felt good. And I’ve seen you in action. I don’t know how Garrett does it, but he can really pick ’em.”
Alexa walked by her, leaving her stunned.
“Besides, I think I’d be a good influence on you…if you’re willing to learn,” the blonde said over her shoulder.
“And a few pointers from me would up your game to an acceptable level…at least enough for me to consider taking you on,” Jess countered.
Ego aside, Jess had thought they’d made a good team, too, but it surprised her to know the more sophisticated blonde agreed. They were complete opposites, yet when it came to working Burke, everything had gone real smooth. The woman anticipated her moves—for the most part—and went with the flow. Jess liked that, especially when Alexa cut Burke loose without even a question. And getting him to crank up the music had been a stroke of genius.
Jess had always worked alone and wasn’t sure she could be a team player like Alexa had said, but questioning Burke with her had definitely come easy. Of course, it would take much more to convince her to join Garrett Wheeler, but she was curious about his proposal, at least enough to hear the man out. And the idea of having resources to back up her agenda had appeal.
She could wield justice on a grander scale. And do it her way—giving Lady Justice a whole new reason to wear blinders. Yeah, she liked that idea, real fine.
“Slick set of wheels, bounty hunter.” Alexa had stopped by her blue van, given it the once-over, and asked, “Can you drop me off?” The blonde disappeared behind the rear of the blue whale, giving the van a thorough inspection.
“Yeah, but don’t be slammin’ my ride. Not when you’re beggin’ for a hitch,” she said as she hit the speed dial on her phone. “I gotta make a call first.”
She held the phone to her ear and plugged a finger to her other ear, listening. On the second ring, her friend answered.
“Hey, Sam. It’s Jess. Where are you?”
“I’m at work but heading out. What’s up?”
“Can you meet me at my place? I’ve got new developments on Harper’s case. I can be there in thirty.”
“Yeah, perfect.”
Alexa caught her eye and gestured that she wanted to be included. Jess shot her a questioning look but decided it couldn’t hurt to have the extra help for Harper’s sake.
“Oh and Sammie, I’ll have someone with me. Alexa Marlowe is in town. You have a problem with that?”
Her friend didn’t reply at first, then said, “No, not really. If you think it’s okay to talk about Harper’s case in front of her, then I’m good.”
“Yeah, thanks. See you soon.” She ended the call, and said to Alexa, “You remember my friend Sam Cooper, a local vice cop?”
“Yeah, sure.” The blonde climbed into the van. “I hope you have munchies. I’m starving.”
“I got you covered. No problem.” She lied.
As she drove, Jess felt good about how things had gone at Jason Burke’s place. She had a possible tattoo match from what the bartender at Dirty Monty’s had told her. And CPD could run down Burke loaning his car out, but Mandy’s blackmail scheme had caught her by surprise.
Whoever the girl had demanded money from—for whatever reason—the mark would have had motive to kill her, especially if she’d gotten greedy. Blackmail always brought out the worst in folks. If Burke’s story held up, she’d have a slim lead on Mandy’s killer, someone who had framed Harper in an elaborate ruse.
But from here on, she’d be treading on thin ice—hunting a crafty killer who knew how to get away with murder.
“All you have is beer and condiments,” Alexa said, staring into a nearly empty fridge with her face awash in its light. “I thought you said you had food.”
“Who do I look like, Rachael Ray?” Jess replied over her shoulder to the blonde in her kitchen.
“Actually you do kind of…” Sam grinned, but stopped short when she saw the perturbed expression on her face. “Never mind.”
With Alexa in the other room, Sam ventured a more personal topic.
“Have you heard from your boy genius?” her friend asked, hugging a sofa pillow to her chest as she sat next to her on the sofa. “You haven’t talked much about Seth since his bail hearing.”
Sam had read her well. Good friends had a nasty habit of doing that. She hadn’t told Sam about Harper’s connection to the man who had rescued her all those years ago. There was something much too personal about it. The only person she wanted to talk to was Harper. She needed to confront him, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to do it.
And talking about it with anyone else, even Sam, would only gain her a liberal dose of pity. Only Seth had the answers she needed, and she wasn’t sure she could look him in the eye without losing her temper. His betrayal still carried its sting.
“He’s left me messages, but we keep missing each other.”
To change the subject of her avoiding Seth, Jess gave Sam the CliffsNotes version of her encounter with Jason Burke. And she left Alexa’s name out of it, a fact that hadn’t been missed by the blonde in the kitchen. In the midst of foraging for food, Alexa looked over her shoulder and winked. Her only reaction.
She told Sam about Burke’s possible tattoo match based on the recollection of the bartender at Dirty Monty’s and about Burke loaning out his car to anyone with cash. But she saved Mandy’s blackmail for last.
“You think there’s anything to the blackmail thing? I mean, not about her hitting up Harper, but someone else?” her friend asked.
“It could explain everything, but the DA would love to get ahold of Burke,” Jess said. “The guy may not be much, but his testimony could hurt Harper’s chances with a jury. I’m gonna check my sources, but maybe your boys in blue can chase down these other leads, huh?”
“Yeah. And I’ll tell Ray, too, Jess.”
Sam took out a pad and pen from a pocket and made notes as Alexa’s voice came from the kitchen.
“Hey, do ramen noodles expire…ever?”
Jess fought back a smile, and Sam shook her head. With her crazy work hours, she wasn’t much for stocking her pantry except with food that had the never-ending shelf life of Spam.
“We’re gonna find out what happened that night, Jess. You’ll see. Seth isn’t going down for something he didn’t do.”
Her friend’s reassurance was as good as a hug, but Jess felt antsy, as if she were spinning in circles with a clock ticking on Harper’s life. And although Sam had an unshakable idealistic belief in the justice system, it was an opinion she didn’t share. She’d seen it fail too many times, and being cynical came far too easily.
“What’s with the drawerful of unopened fortune cookies?” Alexa called out from the kitchen again. “Isn’t that bad luck?”
Sam pursed her lips and nodded. “She has a point.”
“Don’t encourage her.” Jess rolled her eyes, and Alexa interrupted again, still conducting an inventory of her kitchen.
“Malt-O-Meal?” The woman chuckled. “What are you…t
en years old? Did you get a supersecret decoder ring with this?”
Jess finally had enough and got up to deal with her hungry guest.
“Quit rummaging through my kitchen.” She grabbed the half-empty bag of chips Alexa carried in her hand. “Go sit. And I’ll make something to stop your whining.”
Alexa joined Sam in the small living room and slumped into a chair. The cop shrugged and raised both eyebrows in commiseration, but didn’t say a word. Jess flipped the overhead light on in her kitchen and rummaged through her pots and pans for what she needed. Idle chatter filled the next ten minutes until she came out with a serving platter of chips and dip.
“Will this work?” she asked, setting the hot snack and napkins on her coffee table.
“Uh, sure. Looks great.” Alexa grabbed a chip and tried the dip. “Hey, not bad.”
She waited until the blonde had her mouth full before she asked, “Now that we can get down to business, if I give you some names, can you run financials and a thorough background check on them? Sammie needs a warrant, but it sure would be nice to avoid the red tape. Can you deliver that?”
Not one to waste time, Jess thought it would be a good idea to test the resources Garrett and Alexa claimed to have at their fingertips. And working on Harper’s case with her new wannabe ally would also give her an opportunity to try Garrett’s resources on for size, to see how they’d fit.
Alexa wiped her mouth and nodded. “Yeah, I could do that. But my people’s turnaround is going to depend on how many names you give me.”
Jess wondered what it would feel like to have “people,” but if Alexa came through with help for Harper, she might take it as a good sign for the prospect of their working together in the future. Trust started with a single step. And that first step never came easy for her.
“That won’t be a problem. I’ve only got a few names for you now. The smoker, Nipple Rings, and Mandy.”
“Sounds like a porn flick,” Sam said as she handed her a sheet of paper from her notebook and a pen.
Jess wrote the names Nadir Beladi, Jason Burke, and Amanda Vincent. Following the trail of blackmail, it would involve tracking any money that had changed hands. And the murder victim might be the cog to the wheel. The list was a start.
