Debra Webb - Depraved (Faces of Evil Book 10)

by Unknown

“Having Burnett under surveillance would explain why Jess and I suddenly stopped seeing him around until just a few days ago. I think he’s been tailing Burnett for an opportunity to set him up. He found that chance with Dority.”

  “Then why take Nina Baron?” Chet countered. “He’s got Burnett where he wants him. Why grab Nina? Why not Burnett’s third wife, what’s her name? You know, Andrea’s mother.”

  “Annette Denton.”

  “Yeah, Annette. Wouldn’t she be easier to manipulate? Why take someone from that clinic? How does he expect to use Nina?”

  Lori shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m thinking Nina is some sort of insurance. Jess said something about Nina’s meds. If she’s off her meds long enough she might have some serious problems. Delusions and paranoia are real worries. Especially if she’s being manipulated by someone.”

  “There has to be some reason he chose her over Annette,” Chet argued. “We should ask the chief if something happened while Burnett and Nina were married that maybe caused the divorce or foreshadowed some event Spears wants to set up.”

  “Whatever it was,” Lori said, “you can bet the Barons kept it quiet.”

  “Even though we set him back I’m still worried Spears has some sort of big finale coming real soon.” Chet’s arms tightened around her.

  “I don’t think that part of his plan has changed.”

  Chet shook his head. “No, I mean something different from the way we figured this would play out. The whole taking six women the way he usually does when he sets a game in motion is out the window. His big finale with the chief being victim six isn’t going to happen now.”

  “Now there’s only Nina.”

  “You can bet he has a plan.” Not knowing that plan scared the crap out of Chet and he wasn’t easy to scare.

  “We know Chester is safe,” Lori reminded him.

  “But you’re not.” Chet was worried that Spears would come after Lori. Part of him wanted to tie her up and lock her away some place safe. Then she’d only kick his butt when he let her loose again.

  She stroked his jaw with soft, cool fingers. “None of us will be safe until this is over.”

  “I’m worried,” Chet admitted.

  “We’ll get through this. Spears’s plans are falling apart. Look at the risk he took going after Burnett’s dad, and the way he appeared to act on pure impulse when he murdered Campbell. He’ll make another overt move soon and then maybe he’ll make a mistake that will get him caught.”

  “I want him dead.” Chet wasn’t going to sugar coat his feelings on the matter. “If I get a shot I’m taking him out.”

  Lori considered his words for a long moment. “I’m with you. He doesn’t deserve to live.”

  Chet searched her eyes. “We should talk to Corlew. With all three of us working together we should be able to figure out a way to draw him out.” His words were barely a whisper. It was crazy but part of him couldn’t help feeling that Spears watched and listened to every move and sound they made.

  Lori chewed her lip for a moment. “I’ve considered the possibility myself. We’d need bait.”

  Bait was the big ass obstacle Chet couldn’t see how to get past. “He wants Burnett. Maybe we should talk to him, too. We all worked damned well together on Friday.”

  “Jess would never forgive us. I couldn’t keep something like that from her. I felt like I was betraying her the other day. I can’t do that again.”

  “Even if it meant saving her life?”

  Lori leaned her head back on the sofa. “What if we helped Burnett get himself killed? He and Jess are having a baby. Do we really want to be in any way responsible for that kind of tragedy?”

  Chet heaved a disgusted breath. “You’re right. Just wishful thinking, I guess.”

  “Do you want to talk about something not so depressing?” Lori grinned up at him.

  “Does it include having sex?” He really, really wanted to make love to her. If he was lucky, he’d be making love to Lori every day for the rest of his life.

  Lori straddled his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Possibly.” She pressed down against him and he groaned.

  “Anything you want baby, just name it.” He slipped both hands beneath her tee and traced the waistband of her slinky panties.

  “We need to set a firm date for the wedding. I was thinking June. That’s plenty of time for my mom and sister to help me plan everything. Jess will be back on her feet after having the baby. I want her to be my matron of honor.”

  “Wow. I guess I need to figure out a best man.”

  Lori glared at him.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he recalled they’d talked about this already, “Cook is going to be my best man and Chester will be the ring bearer.”

  Lori relaxed against him once more. The heat between her thighs was setting him on fire. “My sister will be a bridesmaid, too, so we’ll need one more groomsman.”

  “It won’t be Hayes.” Chet still wanted to kick that guy’s ass even though he’d been behaving himself the past couple of days.

  “You could ask Burnett.”

  Chet made a face. “He’s cool and everything, but that would be weird.”

  “I’m having my mom give me away.” Lori looked a little sad at the thought of her father. “Seems right since my dad’s not here to do it.”

  “That’s a great idea.” He curved his palms over her bottom. She shivered. “Do we have to do it in a church?” He hoped that wasn’t going to be an issue. The last church wedding he’d had hadn’t ended so well.

  “I was thinking of an outdoor wedding. Something not so frilly and complicated.”

  “We should go that route.”

  She slid her hands down his chest. He was the one shivering now. When she reached into his sweat pants and wrapped her fingers around him, he groaned. She pulled him free of the waistband and guided him to her. He moved her panties aside just enough to nudge his way into her heat. Man, she was on fire.

  Lori pressed down onto him and everything else vanished from his mind.

  Whatever else happened he had to keep her safe.

  15

  Cedar Hill Cemetery, Midnight

  Buddy shut off the headlights and the engine of his Charger. Roark had called this meeting and Buddy had no clue why. Normally he wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but this abrupt call made him antsy.

  Roark was up to something.

  Why the hell wasn’t he getting out of his car? The bastard asked for this meeting. What was he waiting for?

  Another thirty seconds ticked off before the driver’s side door of Roark’s vehicle opened. Buddy could hardly make out his form. It was cloudy as hell and the moon wasn’t shining through for shit. Roark had insisted on meeting in this damned cemetery where there wasn’t the first lamppost. He was up to something for sure.

  With his hand on his Beretta, Buddy tensed as his passenger door opened. As soon as Roark was seated and the door was shut, he relaxed. Since the guy didn’t have his weapon drawn he wasn’t planning to shoot just yet. There was no way he could know that Buddy had been taping their conversations. Buddy hadn’t played those tapes for anyone. Not even Jess.

  Time to find out. “I haven’t slept in two days, Roark. What’s this about?”

  “You’ve been playing me.” Roark’s right hand came around with a .22 leveled on Buddy.

  Well, hell. He must have had the damned thing up his sleeve. Probably stolen from the evidence room. He’d shoot Buddy with it and then put it back. Eventually the ballistics would lead to the poor dumb bastard who’d had the .22 in his possession last. It wouldn’t be the first time Roark had pulled that kind of stunt.

  “What the hell, Roark?”

  “Keep both hands on the wheel, Corlew,” Roark warned.

  Clenching the steering wheel, Buddy went for broke. “I don’t know what’s got you so pissed off, but it sure as hell doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

  “You’ve been playing me,�
� Roark repeated.

  Buddy stared at him, tried to read his face in the near darkness. Where was the damned moon when he needed it? “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Frank Teller got all the charges against you dropped. How did you get Teller for a lawyer? You like to brag about being this big deal PI, but I know for a fact you don’t have that kind of dough, which tells me you had help. Since when have you and Burnett been such good friends?”

  Buddy should have known that would come back to bite him in the ass. “You think I’m stupid, Roark?”

  “Well, I don’t know. That depends on what you say next. I thought we were friends. I’ve helped you out when you needed it and you’ve done the same for me. Now I’m not so sure whose back you’re scratching.”

  Roark had covered for him a couple of times back in the day when Buddy had been on the force. He’d let his drinking get out of control and showed up for work inebriated. Roark had even taken care of a few missing reports Buddy had failed to submit during those bad years. But there had always been an ulterior motive, Buddy just hadn’t known it until Roark started his anti-Burnett campaign. Roark could pretend they were friends, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.

  “Look, Burnett put Teller on my case without asking me. Then he comes around slapping me on the back like we’ve been friends forever.” Buddy grunted. “Yeah, right.”

  “Then why’d he send his lawyer over to help you out?”

  “He wants me to try and lure Spears out.” Buddy laughed. “Dumbass thinks just because I got some inside info from that crazy Amanda Brownfield that I can get Spears’s attention. He’s desperate to protect Jess.”

  Roark laughed until he lost his breath. “You mean Burnett hasn’t figured out yet that you’re the last person he should be asking to help Jess? Doesn’t he know you want her for yourself?”

  Buddy struggled with the anger that lit inside him. “Doesn’t matter now, does it? They found that pic of Dority with that Spears’s follower. Burnett’ll be cleared.”

  “Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions. The mother’s testimony is solid. As of right now, if you ask me, Burnett is still suspect number one. It’ll be official soon enough.”

  Buddy turned toward Roark and pumped as much worry into his tone as he could dredge up. “If we need to do something else to ensure the case against him is airtight, just tell me. I’m your man.”

  “Burnett is going down, Corlew. End of story. Whether he’s charged with murder or not his career in law enforcement is over. And I’m finally getting that promotion. I need to get my time in as captain before I retire.”

  Buddy faked a laugh. “You’re not that old, man. What’s the hurry?”

  Roark shook his head. “Damned diabetes, high blood pressure. It just keeps piling up. The next thing I know they’ll be forcing me to retire. I want to retire with my time in as a captain, by God. I deserve it.”

  “The health stuff sucks, but that’s good news about the promotion.” Buddy needed the guy to spit out whatever it was he knew about Burnett. He was ready to be done with this a-hole. “I still say that photo will clear Burnett.”

  “You ever watch that old Hitchcock movie Rear Window?”

  “Course.” Buddy wasn’t actually sure but it sounded familiar.

  “There’s just one thing that could clear Burnett of Dority’s murder and no one is ever going to know. Trust me on that.”

  “Whatever you say, Roark. Hey, maybe you can tell Black to cut me some slack from now on. He’s always busting my balls.”

  “You keep me informed on what you hear from Burnett or his woman and I’ll keep our new chief of police off your back.”

  “I can do that,” Buddy assured him.

  Roark got out and walked back to his car. The man should have retired long ago in Buddy’s opinion. But then again the job was all he had. His wife had left him years ago. She’d turned his kids against him, to hear Roark tell it. Being a cop was all that mattered to him. The idea made Buddy feel a little bad about what he was doing. He shook it off. Roark had made his own bed. Buddy couldn’t let him destroy Dan. Jess would never forgive him if he did.

  Sometimes it was hard being such a nice guy.

  When Roark had driven away Buddy shut off the hidden recorder. He googled Rear Window and read the synopsis of the movie.

  “Well, well.” Buddy shook his head at the idea of what the guy had done. The bastard had some balls, he’d give him that. “Gotcha, Roark.”

  16

  Birmingham Police Department

  Tuesday, September 14, 10:00 a.m.

  “We’re ready to proceed when you are, Lieutenant Colbert,” Frank Teller announced.

  Dan had dropped by the hospital to check on his dad first thing this morning. The doctors had agreed that he could go home tomorrow. His dad couldn’t wait. After that, Dan had gone by Nancy Wolfe’s office to sign a few more documents. She would set up the closing as soon as possible. Though no financing was necessary, there were still steps that had to be taken. Purchasing the house outright required using a serious portion of his trust fund, but having no mortgage on the property guaranteed Jess didn’t have to worry. The seller had only been too happy to accept their offer. As soon as this meeting was concluded he intended to take care of the vehicle purchases. He hoped Jess would have time at some point today to try out a couple of options. Then there was furniture shopping—

  “Let’s begin.” Anne Colbert took a seat at the conference table and arranged her notes. “This proceeding is being recorded so please identify yourselves.”

  Dan resisted the urge to shake his head. “Chief of Police Daniel Burnett.”

  “Franklin Teller, counsel for Chief of Police Burnett.”

  “As you know,” Colbert began, “this is an Internal Affairs investigation to determine whether you, Chief Burnett, have violated any department policies with respect to your conduct in the Captain Ted Allen and Meredith Dority cases. This is not a criminal proceeding. If the department believes that it has sufficient evidence against you it will be for the DA’s Office to determine how to proceed.”

  For the next half hour, Colbert questioned Dan about the timeframe around Captain Ted Allen’s disappearance.

  “I understand that you believe, then,” Colbert said, “that someone planted Allen’s cell phone and wedding band on or near your property?”

  “Yes,” Dan answered. “Both items were discovered in areas easily accessed by the public. In fact, the phone was found on the street amid garbage that had spilled from my trashcan. The ring was in the barbecue grill that sat on my rear patio.”

  “You will note,” Frank added, “that around that same time frame, Chief Burnett’s home was broken into and recording devices planted. Clearly, someone had trespassed on his property and carried out a number of criminal activities.”

  “Please, Mr. Teller, refrain from making comments unless you have an objection. Chief Burnett is capable of responding to my questions.”

  “Yes, Lieutenant.”

  “Chief Burnett, have you at any time during the Allen investigation attempted to or impeded the investigation that included evidence potentially detrimental to you?”

  “No, I have not.”

  “Have you cooperated in the Allen investigation with respect to evidence that could be detrimental to you?”

  “Yes, I have.”

  “Have you, at any time during the investigation, ordered anyone in the department to compromise the investigation in any way such as by the destruction of evidence?”

  “No, I have not.” Dan held his mounting fury in check. As necessary as he knew this proceeding to be the entire ordeal felt absurd.

  “Did your belief that Captain Allen had tried to kill Deputy Chief Jess Harris cause you to treat the investigation into Captain Allen’s disappearance differently than you would have otherwise?”

  “Definitely not.”

  Colbert turned to the next page in her many notes. “T
he one concern I have is the complaint Captain Allen purportedly intended to file against you.”

  “That complaint was never filed,” Frank argued.

  “Clearly,” Colbert replied dryly.

  “From the beginning,” Dan offered, “I acknowledged the friction between Captain Allen and Deputy Chief Harris and worked in my capacity as chief of police to correct the issue. Captain Allen was not happy with my reprimand for his disrespect to a fellow division chief who is also his superior. I believe the unfiled report was his way of responding.”

  Colbert wrote more notes on her pad. “Moving on to your involvement in the Meredith Dority case. Given the allegations against you by Ms. Dority and your relationship with her, am I correct that you have had no role in the investigation, other than to respond to the department’s questions?”

  Dan braced for tougher questions. This part of his troubles was far more complicated. “Yes, that’s correct.”

  “You were married for a brief time approximately nineteen years ago?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did the marriage end under amicable circumstances?”

  “Yes. In fact we continued to work together for several years after the divorce.”

  “You’ve stated previously that you have no idea why she decided to assert allegations against you related to your work as liaison between the mayor’s office and the Birmingham Police Department, is that correct?”

  “Yes. The news was a total shock to me and all who know me.”

  Frank passed a manila envelope across the table. “You’ll find more than a dozen character witness statements in this file. Most of the witnesses worked with Chief Burnett during the time in question.”

  Colbert accepted the file and placed it with the others. “Thank you, Mr. Teller. I reserve the right to question any and all witnesses.”

  “Of course,” Frank agreed.

  “On the morning of Ms. Dority’s murder,” Colbert began, “you visited her. Was this in your capacity as chief of police?”

  “No.” Dan wished a thousand times he could take back his actions that day. Not only would he have held onto his temper, he would have insisted on staying longer and checking on her mother. Maybe Meredith would still be alive if he’d been concerned with her motives rather than his own.