Biloxi Blue (The Biloxi Series Book 2)

by Jerri Ledford

  “It’s been going on for a while.” Greg leaned forward in his chair, propped his elbows on the table. “We started hooking up just after she came to work here. I’m married,” he twisted the ring on his left hand. “It’s not something I’m proud of, but she made it impossible to say no.”

  “She threatened to tell your wife?” Kate felt her intuition tickle. Had Greg Harrington killed Beth because she was tired of being the sex toy and wanted more? Maybe she threatened to tell his wife so they could be together?

  “No.” Harrington didn’t hesitate with his answer. “She was happy with the relationship the way it was. It was…” his eyes rolled up as he searched for the right words. “Mutually beneficial.” He sounded so smug Kate wanted to smack him.

  Evidently, Caleb did, too. “Mutually beneficial?” Disbelief colored Caleb’s question. “Are you that good that a woman would want nothing more than sex with you? And how many women do you find ‘mutually beneficial,’ Mr. Harrington?”

  “Hold on. You’ve got this all wrong.” Harrington stared back at Caleb. “You didn’t know Beth Martin. She wanted sex, with no strings attached. That’s all. She was cute, young. What man in his right mind would turn that down?”

  “So, you have an alibi for the night that she was murdered?” Kate asked.

  “I do. I was at dinner at Salute in Gulfport with my wife and her family. It was her grandfather’s birthday. He’s 89.”

  “You know we’ll be confirming that. And talking to you wife.” The satisfaction in Caleb’s voice was unmistakable.

  “Just call the restaurant,” Greg’s voice was pleading. “They’ll confirm.”

  Neither Kate or Caleb spoke. Greg’s head rotated back and forth between them. “Please don’t tell my wife.” His voice sounded pitiful, and for half a second Kate felt sorry for him. Then it was gone. His bad choices were his own. It wasn’t her responsibility to protect him from those decisions.

  “Mr. Harrington is there anything else that you can tell us about Beth Martin that might help this investigation? If you have any information that will help us, now is the time to speak up.” Kate leaned forward, relaxed. The confidant who really just wanted to be helpful, when the truth was, she wanted to smack him or shake him. What was it about men who thought it was acceptable to cheat on their wives? With younger women? The whole thought infuriated her.

  Greg was quiet for a tick longer than Kate thought he should be. He stared at his hands, twisting the wedding band on his right hand over and over. Finally, he shook his head. “No. We hooked up. We weren’t close.”

  Kate wasn’t satisfied with the answer. There was more, but she knew she wasn’t going to get it out of Greg right now. But she would figure it out. Whatever Greg Harrington was hiding, she would find it. She didn’t think he’d killed Beth Martin. He seemed like a weak man. A follower that was all about appearances. But Kate knew enough not to take that feeling as gospel. Only once she knew what Greg was hiding would she truly know whether he killed Beth. Still, she would stake her badge on the fact that it wasn’t him.

  NINETEEN

  David Andrews, Caleb’s previous partner also happened to be Jack’s closest friend. They’d served together in the military and kept in touch after. Luck brought them back into the same region, and mutual respect kept them in contact. Over the years, they’d spoken often about cases they were working on and life, in general.

  “Jack, trust me,” David’s voice came through the mobile headset in Jack’s ear. “Caleb will find out what’s going on. Soon. It will come together.”

  Jack leaned against the tail end of a police cruiser. “David, I do trust you, but we need to find out who killed Darnow and what’s going on in this department before this all blows up in our face. The department can’t afford the publicity that would generate.”

  “Man, you really need to relax. Caleb will get the job done, but you have to allow him room to do it. You know I wouldn’t have recommended him if I didn’t have complete confidence in his abilities.”

  Jack did know that. He trusted David with his life. By extension, he would have to trust Caleb as well. With Kate’s life, too. That was the hard part. If anything happened to her, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to deal with it, and now, with rumors of a Mamoncetes cleaner in town and Kate not with him, he didn’t feel like he could protect her. That didn’t sit well with him. He also wasn’t certain he could trust Caleb to protect her. David said he could, but for the first time since Jack had known David, he just wasn’t sure.

  Jack shook his head to clear that thought away. He had to keep a clear head, and not let his own doubts overshadow what was happening. It was the only way to protect Kate. The whole reason he was keeping her at arm’s length was to protect her. She had no idea about the investigation, so at least on that side, she was safe. He would talk to Caleb about watching her back.

  “So, have you thought any more about what we discussed?” Leave it up to David to be direct. He was the kind of person that could make a decision in less time than most people took to choose the clothes they would wear for the day. And once the decision was made, he was full steam ahead.

  My polar opposite. “I’ve been thinking about it.”

  “But?”

  “But nothing.” Why did Jack feel so defensive? This was a big decision. One that shouldn’t be made on a whim.

  “Come on Jack.” David sounded frustrated. “You know it’s the best thing for you. Lisa’s going off to college. She’s not going to want to live with you. You and Kate are getting married. This is the perfect opportunity to start over.”

  Jack didn’t respond. After a few seconds, David tried a different approach. “What does Kate think about it?”

  Kate didn’t know. “We’re not exactly on great terms right now.”

  One more thing he was hiding from her. Jack knew he wanted out of police work, and David was trying to convince him to go private. David owned his own investigation firm and he wanted Jack as a partner. Most of the time Jack found the idea appealing. He was ready to be done with working for someone else. He was finished with the politics of a department.

  Then there was Kate. The uncertainty of their relationship. The uncertainty that a job change would bring. Being a private investigator meant not always knowing where the next paycheck would come from. Would he be able to provide for Kate and Lisa as a man should provide for his family? It also meant he would have to work a lot of less than stellar cases.

  David didn’t work divorce cases, but when there was no government or corporate contract, he took on more routine jobs, like missing persons. Jack would probably get stuck with a lot of those in the beginning. Would he get bored? Could he handle the mundane life of a private investigator? What if he and Kate couldn’t work things out?

  If something doesn’t change, you’re going to lose everything.

  Jack knew it was true. He could see his world crumbling around him already. Even if he wanted to stay, his job probably wouldn’t survive this investigation. Lisa would be leaving for college in a few months. And things with Kate were…Really, they weren’t. He may have already lost her. The thought pinched at his soul.

  Something had to change.

  “I’ll have an answer for you soon, man. I just need a little more time.” Jack hated how weary he sounded.

  David must have picked up on it, too. “Okay. No more pressure. For today. But you know this will be good for you. Both of you.”

  Jack nodded his head in agreement, though he didn’t say anything. It probably would be good for them.

  If Kate sticks around when the dust settles.

  They finished up their conversation with small talk, and Jack promised again that he would have a decision soon.

  He finished the call just as Kate’s blue-gray Charger rumbled through the gates and into a parking spot in front of the doors.

  Just the sight of her car caused a knot to form in his gut. His heart lurched. Last night was hard, and his emotions were
raw. Seeing her just made it worse. He wanted to chase her down, wrap his arms around her, and tell her everything. He couldn’t. He knew that, and frustration gnawed at his chest, making it hard to breath. How could he protect her from both threats without putting her in danger in some way?

  Would she be able to forgive him when this was all over?

  Kate and Caleb emerged from the car. She shot a quick glance at Jack. Even from this distance he could see the anger on her face. He didn’t blame her. She had every reason to be angry with him.

  Worse, once everything went down at the precinct, Kate was still in the crossfire. He couldn’t prevent that. Just the fact that she had been his partner would make others think of her as a traitor, just as they did him. You can’t turn your ‘brothers in blue’ in, even when they have committed a crime, and expect anyone to ever trust you again. Kate would be guilty by association.

  She walked straight into the building without looking his way again. Jack knew she was avoiding him. Sadness weighed his shoulders down. He could only hope she would understand when he was finally able to tell her everything. If she would listen. She might not, because by then the damage would already be done.

  Caleb leaned against the car, and waited for Jack to draw near.

  “Jack.” Caleb stayed where he was.

  Jack got the impression Caleb had something on his mind. He stopped and waited.

  “We need to talk. Away from here.” Caleb kept his voice low, but the seriousness in his tone ratcheted Jack’s anxiety level another notch higher. He nodded over his shoulder, indicating Caleb should follow.

  They climbed into Jack’s personal truck and were almost five minutes away from the precinct before Caleb spoke again.

  “That woman is infuriating!” Caleb’s voice came out tight, full of anger. It caught Jack by surprise, but only for a moment. Then he chuckled. Kate was infuriating. She never did what he expected.

  “She is,” he said. “What did she do?” He bit the question off before adding “now.” The moment of brevity released some of the tension he’d been feeling. The pressure on his chest and shoulders eased a notch.

  “She has no concern for her own safety.” Caleb crossed an ankle over a knee and as soon as he settled, his foot started bobbing. Both hands lay flat on his knees, but Jack got the impression that he had to concentrate to leave them there.

  “Explain.” Jack already knew Kate had run Caleb off the night before when he went to warn her about the Mamoncetes cleaner. Caleb had called him as he left, threatening to sleep in the parking lot of her apartment all night. Now, Jack wondered what else was on the man’s mind.

  “She won’t listen to reason.” Frustration edged Caleb’s words. “I tried to get her to stick close to the precinct today, but nothing would do her except to be out there.” He swung an arm toward the windshield, indicating the world around them. “The whole time we were at Ingram Logistics I was expecting someone to take a shot at her.”

  Jack pulled the truck into a vacant parking lot and navigated toward a shady spot in the back that gave him a good view in all directions. He parked strategically to keep an eye on their location and then turned to Caleb. “That’s it?”

  “Isn’t it enough?” Caleb nearly growled. “She won’t listen to reason. She doesn’t know her place!” His hands balled into fists in his lap.

  The declaration shocked Jack. “What does that mean?” He asked Caleb, his voice sharper than he’d intended.

  Caleb was quiet for a moment, then he laughed. “Yeah, that sounded bad, didn’t it?” The demeanor Jack has seen over the last few days returned. “Sorry man. I’m frustrated. I didn’t mean that like it sounded. I just meant that she won’t listen to reason.”

  Jack chewed on that. He didn’t believe Caleb’s explanation, but he wasn’t sure how to respond. Kate would listen to reason, but you had to be reasonable. Had Caleb been unreasonable? Had he been demanding? She would bristle at that.

  Jack wished she would stay at the precinct where he could keep an eye on her, but he also knew that she was investigating a case. She had a job to do, and she wasn’t going to be intimidated. She would push through and do what needed to be done. He knew she still felt like she needed to prove herself, and nothing was going to stand in the way of her doing the best job she could.

  “Would you have done any different in her shoes?” He asked Caleb.

  “No, but…” Caleb’s voice trailed off.

  Jack waited, and when he didn’t continue, asked, “But what?”

  Caleb shook his head. “Nothing, I guess. She’s a cop. I’m a cop. We have a job to do. I guess it shouldn’t matter that she’s a woman.”

  Shocked for the second time in as many minutes, understanding began to settle into Jack’s brain. “So, you think because she’s a woman she shouldn’t be out on the street doing her job?” Heat crept up his neck, to his hairline, making his ears burn.

  “I just think she should be more careful is all. It’s my butt on the line, too.” Caleb spat the words out with finality and then sat brooding in silence.

  Jack considered what Caleb said, mulling over his own anger at the other man’s reaction to Kate doing her job. Was there a sexist side to Caleb Castille? How had Jack missed that? Why hadn’t David Alexander mentioned it? He bit back the urge to chew Caleb out. What good would it do? Probably none, and it would make Kate’s job that much harder.

  After several minutes of silence, Jack sucked in a deep breath and released the air, along with his anger, in a slow exhale. Emotion would do him no good. Might as well try to make something useful out of this conversation.

  “How are things with the internal investigation?” He didn’t look at Caleb. Didn’t want the sight of the man to make him lose his own precarious control.

  “I’m working it.” Caleb’s voice was lighter, his hands relaxed again. “I’m still trying to get in with some of the other guys. It’s harder because Kate and I have been on this Ingram Logistics investigation since I got here.”

  Jack nodded. He wanted this internal investigation to be done. Soon. But he knew that Caleb would need time, and so far, he’d had very little time when he wasn’t tailing Kate on the investigation. In retrospect, partnering him with Kate may have only made it more difficult for him to get to know the other detectives. Not only because of the investigation, but also because of Kate’s past. Many people in the precinct didn’t want her there. But with the timing of Kate coming back to work, it made sense to put them together.

  “Try making some kind of remark about not liking Kate. Ask about her. Let people know you’re unhappy being partnered with a woman.” Jack wondered how far from the truth that might be. He hated suggesting that Caleb be devious about Kate, but he knew that it would help him get into some of the other detectives’ good graces. Kate didn’t have a lot of friends in the department.

  The thought saddened him. Maybe if he took that position with David Alexander, Kate would follow. They could work together in the private sector, then she wouldn’t always have to try to prove herself worthy of her badge. He knew she was trustworthy, and David would trust her because Jack did. She’d saved his life. Twice. All Jack really wanted anyway was to be her partner for the rest of his life.

  “You mean because of her past?” Caleb’s question brought his attention back to their conversation.

  Jack shouldn’t have been surprised that Caleb knew about Kate’s past, but he was. Caleb would have done his homework on all the detectives in the department. He would have looked to see if there was anything in their past that might point to them being part of a vigilante ring or a group of corrupt cops. He needed to know as much as he could about the people he was investigating. Still, Jack hated that Kate’s past was still following her around.

  “So, you know about that, huh?”

  “I do.” Caleb’s voice was steady. “I knew about it before, but she told me some of it, too.” He drummed his fingers on his jean-clad thigh.

  That su
rprised Jack even more than anything they’d discussed to this point. Kate just volunteered the information to a virtual stranger? It had taken her almost a year to come clean with him, and then he’d only found out because of a case they were working. What made her tell Caleb within days of meeting him? Did she already trust him that much? Or was she being reckless? The questions made Jack’s chest tight again. What was going on in her head?

  “Good.” It was the only word Jack could force out as he contemplated what he’d just learned in the context of what happened over the last few days. His troubles with Kate. The Mamoncetes cleaner. What was going on? Would Kate put herself on the line on purpose? Or was she just tired of pretending to be something she wasn’t?

  Caleb cleared his throat, interrupting Jack’s thoughts again.

  “I want to go through Kate’s case files,” Caleb said without preamble or explanation.

  “You think she’s involved in this?” Jack couldn’t believe what he thought Caleb was getting at. He gripped the steering wheel so tight the plastic groaned in protest.

  “I think I need to do my job, and Kate’s files are as good a place to start as any.”

  He was right, Jack realized, but it didn’t make him feel any better. Kate was not a vigilante. He could put that thought out of Caleb’s brain right now.

  “Fine.” Jack said. It would do no good to argue. In fact, it might make it look like he was trying to protect Kate. To hide something from Caleb. Besides, if Jack didn’t cooperate, Caleb could just go over his head. “Anything else?”

  “Yeah,” Caleb said after a pause. “I need the name of a good computer forensics person. Someone not on your staff.”

  Jack gritted his teeth. “Why?”

  “Because I need someone to look at the bits and bytes of these files for patterns that I might not be able to recognize. Someone who can see the backside of the electronic files to tell if they’ve been tampered with.”

  Jack closed his eyes. The realities of an internal investigation and the desire to tell Caleb where to go warred inside his chest with such ferocity he thought his chest might split open. Why was Caleb wasting time on Kate? Couldn’t he look elsewhere and move this investigation along?