by Darcia Helle
Jesse said, “You know better, Bennett.” Then he handed the man his business card before going in search of Kara.
Jesse found the nurse’s station on the second floor surgical wing. He asked the tall nurse behind the desk, who seemed ready to buckle under the weight of her paperwork, about Kara Covington. She gave him the patented look all nurses seemed to have. They must have practiced in front of mirrors in nursing school. She said, “Are you family?”
Technically the answer to that would be no. Then again, what truly constituted family? He didn’t think the nurse would want to get into a long philosophical debate on the matter, so he gave the simple answer. “Yes.”
The nurse appeared unconvinced. She also had the look of the overworked and over-stressed. That probably worked in Jesse’s favor. She said, “Mrs. Covington is still in surgery. I would expect it to be another hour or so before we can provide any information.”
“You must know something,” Jesse said. “Even off the record. How bad is she?”
“Bad,” the nurse said softly. “But I believe she got here in time.” She motioned to a small waiting room down the hall. “You can wait there with her husband if you like.”
Husband? Jesse was thrown by that remark. Covington was out of jail already? And here?
He muttered a thank you to the nurse as he strode down the hall. He turned into the room, ready to slam Alex Covington’s head into the wall. But only one man sat inside and it was not Alex Covington. Adrenaline raced through him. He eased his clenched fists open. Then the light bulb in his brain switched on and he got it.
“Marc?” Jesse said.
The man nodded. His face was ashen, his eyes puffy. He sat on the edge of a chair, ready to pounce up or crumble to the floor.
Jesse sat on the chair beside Marc. He introduced himself, which seemed to put Marc slightly at ease. Then he said, “The nurse said Kara’s husband was in here.”
Marc offered a hint of a smile. “Lauren had asked someone to call me. I guess the nurse assumed I was Kara’s husband. I didn’t correct her because I figured she wouldn’t let me see Kara otherwise. Stupid damn hospital rules.”
“I hear you,” Jesse said. “I fibbed a bit as well.”
“How’s Lauren?”
“Lots of stitches but no internal damage. She’ll be okay.”
“Thank God.”
“Kara’s bad?”
Marc nodded. “Lots of internal damage. That’s all I know.”
“You know what happened?”
“Just that someone broke into my condo and attacked them.” Marc swiped a hand through his hair. “I should have had better locks. An alarm system. Something.”
“It’s not your fault,” Jesse said. “I’m pretty sure Alex Covington did this.”
“But Kara killed the guy. With my gun. Something good, anyway. So it couldn’t have been Covington.”
“Someone he hired. Covington doesn’t get his own hands dirty.”
Marc studied Jesse a minute. He said, “How sure are you?”
“No proof but I’m damn sure,” Jesse said. Then he told Marc the condensed version he’d been getting so good at reciting.
“That bastard,” Marc muttered.
“Yeah.”
“I knew he was capable. The way he’d beat Kara. The bruises. But I let myself believe that since she’d gotten away from him…” Marc’s voice trailed off. He shook his head. His eyes threatened tears and he looked away. “I let myself believe she’d be safe. That was stupid.”
“I did the same,” Jesse said. “I talked to the cops. They’ll get him.”
“Kara was right,” Marc said. “Covington always finds a way to get what he wants. But this time…” Marc’s voice choked off into a sob. He took a slow breath before continuing. “This time he won’t get away with it. The bastard is going to suffer. He won’t ever hurt her again.”
“You don’t want to be doing anything crazy.”
“Crazy? Christ, you know what he’s done. Crazy would be allowing it to happen again.”
Jesse nodded. He understood. But, still, he didn’t want Marc to wind up in prison. Or dead. The guy was much more suited to museums and walks in the park than fighting twisted psychos.
“I know how you feel,” Jesse said. An image of Lauren lying on that hospital bed flashed through his mind. He cleared his throat. “Trust me. I know the anger. The guilt. But you can’t go after the guy. You’d kill him, if you were lucky. You’d also end up in jail. That wouldn’t help Kara.”
Marc met Jesse’s eyes. “I’ve got to do something,” he said.
Desperation rattled in Marc’s voice. Jesse wondered if his own voice held that same edge. He said, “I know. Just not that. I want this guy as badly as you. I’m working with the cops to take him down. Let me handle it. Don’t let him destroy your life. Don’t let him take away the only good thing Kara has.”
Marc gave a slight nod. Jesse wasn’t convinced. Of course, he wasn’t exactly convincing himself. Killing Covington seemed a much more efficient option at the moment. Not to mention the pure pleasure of watching the bastard die.
Jesse exchanged numbers with Marc and promised to be in touch. Then he headed back to emergency room to be with Lauren.
Jesse was directed to a private room on the fourth floor. Lauren lay tucked beneath a crisp white sheet. She was restless, occasionally mumbling indecipherable words, but she didn’t wake.
Time ticked on. Jesse stood by the window watching heavy fat snowflakes melt against the glass. He thought of everything he’d done up to this point. He’d wanted Covington so bad. Should he have let it go? Walked away?
The attack had been focused on Kara. Clearly she’d been the intended target. She’d left Covington. He’d retaliated. Jesse had nothing to do with that. He couldn’t have prevented it.
That knowledge did nothing to ease his guilt. Maybe all the digging he’d done had pushed Covington over the edge. Maybe none of this would have happened had he not gone to the D.A.
Logically Jesse knew he’d had few alternatives. Once he’d refused the job, Covington wasn’t about to let go. He didn’t know how to play nice. He didn’t take no for an answer.
“Jesse…”
Jesse turned, forcing a smile. “Hey babe.” He moved to Lauren’s side. “How do you feel?”
“Where’s my mom?”
“Another room. She’s doing well.”
“You’re sure?”
Jesse pushed a strand of hair from Lauren’s face. He let his fingers trail gently along her cheek. “I’m positive. I talked to Marc a few minutes ago. Your mom’s out of surgery and her condition is stable.” Jesse left out the fact that her condition was also critical.
“She saved my life,” Lauren said.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
Lauren closed her eyes. She was silent for so long that Jesse thought she’d fallen back to sleep. Then she looked at him, her eyes clouded with pain and fear, and told him exactly what had happened, down to the smallest detail.
“I think she killed him,” Lauren said.
Jesse nodded. “She did.”
“Good.”
They both fell silent. Jesse couldn’t seem to find the right words to tell her how he felt. He was pretty sure the words didn’t exist.
Lauren lifted her arm, frowned at the bandages. “He did it, didn’t he?” she said. “My father hired the guy that attacked us.”
Jesse didn’t answer. He couldn’t. No words would come.
Lauren held his eyes with her own. “Jesse?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes you do.”
Jesse touched Lauren’s hair. He wanted to do something to make things better. Anything. “Don’t worry about that now,” he said.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m okay,” Jesse said. “I’m not the one… I’m fine.”
“You can’t do it, you know.”
“Do what?”
“Kill my f
ather.”
Silence hung between them. How did she manage to read his thoughts so perfectly? And she was right. But he had to. He couldn’t let Covington live. Not even in a jail cell for the rest of his life.
“You’ll end up in prison,” Lauren said. “Please don’t do that to me.”
“Don’t worry about it, okay?”
“I wouldn’t visit you in jail.”
“Yes you would.”
“Okay. But I wouldn’t like it.”
Jesse managed a smile. “You’d like the conjugal visits.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Please don’t. He’s not worth it.”
“Lauren?”
“Yeah?”
He couldn’t find the words. What could he say? He was sorry he wasn’t there to protect her? Sorry he’d pushed her father too far? Nothing he could say would change what had happened. “I love you,” he finally said.
“I love you, too.”
Jesse’s mind raced. He couldn’t stand it any longer. He had to do something. He had to at least find out what the cops knew, if anything. Find some proof. “I’ve got an errand to run,” he said. “You want me to bring you back anything?”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back in an hour. Get some rest.”
“Please don’t do it, Jesse.” Tears welled up in Lauren’s eyes and slid down her pale cheeks. She tried to wipe them with bandaged hands.
Jesse gently wiped the tears with his fingertips. “Don’t cry. I promise I won’t do anything. I just need to get some answers.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
Alex stood by the wall of windows, staring down at the busy city below. He’d been released on an absurdly high bale two hours ago. Since then, he’d been alternately pacing his office and checking his watch. The job should be completed by now. He should have heard something.
He tapped his knuckles gently against the thick glass. Eliminating Kara relieved an enormous stress from his life. He’d no longer need to worry about her speaking to the press, saying things publicly that, true or not, could seriously damage his reputation and career. That left only Lauren and she wouldn’t talk. His daughter may be willful and stubborn but she was not stupid.
Handled correctly, he could spin the story in his favor. Play it up with the media. Claim he was being stalked, that whoever had attempted to kill him had now murdered his wife.
Alex smiled at that. He had no doubt that the tragedy would also give him what he needed to sway Lauren back to his side. In her distraught state, she’d be easily malleable. He’d convince her that he was being persecuted. That Ryder had somehow caused the horrible cycle of events. Perhaps he’d send her on a vacation to Europe, get her out of the way for a month of so.
The plan for dealing with Forenzi was already in motion. That only left Ryder to contend with. The unstable domino who’d been throwing everything around him off balance. The one who’d almost brought Alex’s entire world tumbling down around him. He’d worked too hard to climb to where he now stood. No one was going to take it away from him.
Eliminating Ryder would bring immense gratification. Alex intended to witness the event from beginning to end. He wanted to see Ryder squirm, hear him ultimately beg for help, watch him endure as much suffering as possible before being allowed the mercy of death.
Ryder’s body would never be found. No body. No evidence. No murder.
As for the plethora of evidence Ryder had cleverly pieced together, that would be eliminated as well. Alex had contacts currently working to see that the evidence would be lost, the methods of its origins tainted and questionable. The star witness would have disappeared. The cloud of suspicion would follow Ryder.
Luckily for Alex, his closest contacts had led him to the perfect replacement for Forenzi. An ex police officer whose loyalty followed the dollar and who knew how to work the system. No more children’s games.
Alex’ private line rang. He snatched the phone from his desk. “How are things, James?” he said.
“Not good, Alex,” Captain James Barnes said. “You might want to consider a quick trip out of the country. Permanently.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Kestler’s dead.”
“What?”
“You wife and daughter are in the hospital.”
Alex collapsed onto his chair. “My daughter?”
“Apparently she was in the condo at the time.”
“What the hell happened?”
“Kara shot Kestler. Details are sketchy. The investigation is going on now.”
“What do they know?”
“Not much yet,” Barnes said. “They I.D.’d Kestler. They know he used to be on the force. That’s it, as far as I know.”
“It won’t come back to me.”
“Unless the idiot said something to Kara or Lauren, you know, before. To let them know why he was there.”
Alex smashed his fist on his desk. “Running is out of the question. What the hell happened with Kestler? He was a cop. He should have been able to handle himself.”
“I don’t know.”
“How bad is my daughter’s condition?”
“Knife wounds,” Barnes said. “I heard she’s stable. Your wife is critical. I have no details.”
Alex took a moment to absorb that information. Kestler had attacked them with a knife. He’d specified that he wanted Kara to suffer. Of course he hadn’t expected Kestler to be unable to handle a woman. Or even two women. The amount of complete incompetence around him was incomprehensible.
Lauren would live. She’d be traumatized, which meant he should have even less trouble manipulating her. Perhaps Lauren being with her mother would work to his advantage. Not that he had wanted her hurt. Yet it was done. And he could use it to spin things in his favor.
Naturally Kara had to die. Hopefully that would happen of its own accord. If not, he’d find a way to ensure she didn’t leave the hospital. Not alive, anyway.
Alex smiled as a thought occurred to him. Kara’s new lover would make the perfect scapegoat for today’s tragedy.
“Alex?” Barnes said. “You still there?”
“Yes, I’m here,” Alex said. “I apparently have a few details to attend to. Finding competent help is proving more elusive than ever before.”
“You sure you don’t want to take a vacation?”
“James, don’t be ridiculous. I am far from defeated. Any news on the disposal of evidence?”
“No. I’m sorry. The place is in an uproar, Alex. You may want to seriously reconsider your decision to stay. I hear the skiing is amazing in Switzerland.”
“Not at all humorous,” Alex said. “Just remember, James, I will not go down alone. Connecting you to me will be an easy step for a worthy investigator. You may want to keep that in mind.”
Barnes sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll do everything I can.”
30
Jesse strode past a few empty desks, past a female officer who watched him curiously, and stopped at Tim’s desk. “Are they charging Covington with this?” he said.
Tim looked at Jesse for a long moment. “I’m not sure what’s going on at this point.”
“I’m sorry,” Jesse said. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“It’s okay. How’s Lauren doing?”
“Hell.” Jesse picked up a pencil, tapped it against the desk, dropped it. “She’s in rough shape. But she’ll be okay. Her mother… I don’t know.”
“I hear her mom’s the one who killed the guy.”
“Yeah. Any I.D. on him yet?”
Tim took a sip from a mug of muddy coffee. “I’ll tell you. But not until you sit and swear you won’t make a scene.”
“Which means I’m not going to like this.”
Tim said nothing. Jesse blew out a heavy breath. He sank onto the wooden chair beside Tim’s desk. “I’m sitting. And I won’t make a scene.”
“Guy’s name was Andy Kestler. Used t
o be a cop.”
Jesse’s body tensed. He wanted to react. He wanted to rip the damn police station apart until he found every last scum on Covington’s payroll. But he did nothing. Tim worked in this place. He had to keep his cool.
After several deep breaths, Jesse found he was able to speak without shouting. “What do you know about him?”
“Thirty-seven years old. Quit the force, in a matter of speaking, about two years ago. Looked like he might’ve been dirty but no one would talk. You know how it is.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“He was well liked by some of the guys. Still has connections around here, so be careful what you say and who you say it to.”
“Always am.”
“Yeah, like I believe that,” Tim said. “Anyway, I heard Kestler went into private security.”
“That could mean a lot of things.”
“Indeed.”
“Any ties to Covington?”
“I don’t know.”
“They’ve got to know Covington ordered this,” Jesse said. “Eldridge doing anything?”
“You know it isn’t quite that easy.”
“What you’re not telling me is that Covington’s out, right?”
“Released a couple hours ago.”
“And Forenzi?”
“He suddenly clammed up,” Tim said.
“This is fucking nonsense,” Jesse said. He stood and began pacing a short path beside Tim’s desk. “What the fuck is Eldridge doing? How fucking stupid -”
Tim rose. He put a hand on Jesse’s arm, stilling him. “Get hold of yourself,” Tim said. “Losing control in this building will not help you.”
“I’m going to kill the bastard.”
“Stop talking.” Tim glared at Jesse. “Come with me.”
Tim led Jesse to an empty cove in the back of the room. Tim kept his voice low and his eyes fixed on Jesse. He said, “You can’t storm in here and announce you plan on killing Covington. Christ, Jesse, you know better.”
Jesse nodded, though he wasn’t truly listening. Lauren’s bloody body was constantly flashing before him. She’d trusted him to protect her. He’d let her down. He should have been there for her. He should have seen this coming.
