by Joanna Wayne
Susan headed to the bathroom, stopping to retrieve her toothbrush and toothpaste and the light robe that had never been worn last night.
Last night. Warmth flooded her, as the memories rushed in. The ride on the thrill-a-minute roller coaster. She’d worried about regrets. They might come one day, but all she felt this morning was a warm and tingly sensation caressing her senses.
Tomorrow could bring anything. No, today could bring anything, but she would handle it. She always had. The difference was that now she would be handling it with the warmth of fulfillment glowing inside her.
She was gargling when the front door burst open and the chilly draft swept through the area.
“So you finally got out of bed.”
“A few minutes ago. Where did you get off to?”
“To find coffee. I even have hot biscuits to go with it.”
Susan poked her head around the corner. “Compliments of the little woman, I presume.”
“The best little cook this side of the Mississippi.”
“Do me a favor, Jack. Don’t ever refer to me like that.”
He bent down and kissed her. “Don’t worry. I saw those lumpy pancakes you made Timmy the other morning.”
“That’s not what I meant.” She swatted him with the hand towel and picked up the cup of coffee. It was hot and strong and black, the way she liked it. “What are the roads like this morning?”
“The sun is melting the ice fast, and the temperature’s supposed to make it into the high thirties today. Another hour, and the roads should be clear except for icy patches over bridges.”
“So now all we have to do is track down Jessie Bailes.”
“Mission accomplished. The phones are back in service She’s off today, but she suggested we stop by her place. I told her we’d be there at nine.”
Susan looked around for her watch, finally spying it beneath a wadded paper napkin smeared with whipped cream. She checked the time. “Fifty-five minutes from now.”
“She lives close. Apparently she has a place on the lake our buddy was telling us about last night.”
“Does she know why we’re coming?”
“I told her we wanted to know about J. J. Darby. She said we’d come to the right person. From the sound of her voice, she’s eager to talk and to see you again.”
“I always liked her.”
“Apparently the feeling is mutual.”
Susan picked up a biscuit and took a bite, and she had to admit, it did put her packaged-mix pancakes to shame. She finished it off and licked the crumbs from her fingers. Breakfast was the one meal she usually skipped, but this morning she was starving. The night’s exercise had been good for her appetite as well as her heart.
“You better get moving,” Jack warned. “We don’t want to be late for the appointment, and we have a long drive back.”
She swallowed the last of the coffee. “It will only take me a few minutes. I just need to grab a quick shower.”
Susan adjusted the water, letting it run until it was comfortably hot. She stepped out of her robe and under the spray. Wet and warm, she ran her fingers down the flesh of her stomach and along her thighs.
Last night Jack had touched her like that, only his touch had left her burning with desire. Had he awakened this morning thinking about how it had felt to make love to her last night? Or had he only thought of calling the nurse and finding out everything he could about J. J. Darby?
It amazed her how he shifted from one, part of his life to another, setting each inside circles that never seemed to overlap. It was a skill she’d never learned, never needed until Rebecca and Timmy had come to live with her. Before that, her professional life had been the only one she had.
Soaping the cloth, she ran it over her body, coating her skin with a layer of frothy suds. Still, it would have been good for her ego to know that Jack hadn’t been able to totally set aside his memories of last night. A word, a look, a touch. Anything more than the perfunctory kiss he’d given her would be nice.
She spun around as the shower curtain slid open and Jack stepped in behind her. Without a word, he pulled her to him, the water splashing over their heads and running in bubbling rivulets between their bodies.
“So you didn’t forget me,” she said, finding his lips.
He kissed her, warm and wet and wild, and the passion she’d thought well spent last night roared to life.
“No use to waste water,” he said, his voice husky with desire. His mouth traced a path down her neck, and he cupped her breasts in his hands, pushing them up and tracing the nipples with his tongue.
“I’m all soapy,” Susan said, her voice caught in the breath that held in her throat.
“You’re right.” He moved lower, down her stomach, his fingers and tongue like a torch against her skin. Moans of pleasure tore at her throat, and her insides quaked until she thought she might erupt with her need of him.
“Oh, Susan, Susan. What will I do about you? You make me forget the few rules I have.” He straightened and pulled her to him. His hands were trembling as he guided himself inside her and claimed her once again.
But all Susan knew was that for the first time in her life she had bonded intimately with another person, not just physically, but emotionally as well. And nothing had ever felt this good before.
NURSE BAILES’S house was set a good half acre from the road, nestled in a clump of pines a few yards from the lake where bream and catfish were said to be plentiful. Jack imagined they were, judging from the long dock that jutted into the gray water and the two fishing boats that looked ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Before he stopped the car, the welcoming committee the nurse had warned him about showed up. Two Dobermans, the size of small horses, dared him to open the door.
“They look ferocious. Do you think they bite?” Susan asked.
“Either that or they’re proud of their molars.”
This time Jack followed instructions, tooting his horn and waiting until Mrs. Bailes came to the door and called the dogs. Even then he stepped out cautiously. The petite, middle-aged woman didn’t seem too brave herself where the dogs were concerned.
She ushered Jack and Susan inside the house and thankfully shut the dogs outside. Her friendly drawl followed them down a narrow hall and into a spacious glass-enclosed room. The view was spectacular. Sunbeams danced in flickering formations of gold across the surface of the blue-green lake. But there were several downed limbs lying in her yard, the remnants of last night’s ice storm.
“Your husband must be a fisherman,” Jack said, admiring a huge bass mounted over the fireplace.
“We both are. The bass was my catch. I brought him in last year over at Toledo Bend.”
“Nice catch.” He read the inscription under the fish. “Beats my best by more than a pound.”
The nurse walked to a table near the window and held up a carafe. “Would anyone like coffee?”
They both answered yes, and Jack waited until she’d poured three cups and set the tray of coffee, spoons, sugar and cream on the table in front of them. A cozy little party. It was time to liven it up.
“So, Mrs. Bailes, I’d like you to tell me about J. J. Darby. I understand he was sent to another facility when he tried to kill you.”
“Call me Jessie,” she said in the same friendly tone, but the smile vanished from her face. She stopped stirring her coffee and set the cup back on the table. “He’s escaped, you know.” Deep grooves settled around her eyes, as her expression grew grim. “I’ve lived in fear since the day I heard about it. That’s why we bought the dogs.”
“Has he tried to contact you?” Jack asked, his mind homing in on every nuance of her responses.
“Yes, he called here about a month ago. I was home alone.”
“What did he say?”
“He said I had turned against him, and that he had to kill me.”
“Did he say why?”
“Not this time. But when he attacked me in
the Center, he claimed I was in league with Kelsey McKnight, and that we had conspired to keep him locked away when he’d never been found guilty.”
“Tell us about his behavior patterns,” Susan encouraged. “Anything you can remember.”
The room was toasty warm, but Jessie shivered and wrapped her arms across her chest. She stared out the window a few seconds before she turned back to Susan. “J.J. was whatever he wanted to be. He could convince most people that he was as sane as they were until they got to know him. He’d go for weeks, laughing and joking with me, and then he’d change in an instant. He’d say something horribly vile in the same tone he’d used to joke with me. He could make my blood run cold, and he knew it.”
“Was there any particular event or situation that would set him off?”
“Change. Any type of change in scheduling or sometimes in the weather. Most of the time it was Kelsey who bore the brunt of his obscene behaviors.”
“Why didn’t Dr. McKnight send him away earlier?” Jack asked.
“Kelsey thought Darby was making progress, that he was going longer and longer between his wild spells.”
“My father thought he could cure even the most violent offenders,” Susan said, turning to Jack.
“And he frequently did,” Jessie said.
“What other characteristics did you notice about Darby?” Susan asked. “What did he like to do?”
Jessie sipped her coffee and stared into space. “Darby is a brilliant man. He was always cooking up elaborate schemes to lead the other inmates into trouble. He had a way of getting people to do whatever he wanted them to.”
Jack scribbled furiously in his notebook and then turned back to Jessie. “How was he able to attack you? There must be precautions taken to prevent the inmates from attacking the staff.”
“There are. Whenever the inmates are in the open areas, the guards are there. But J.J. got past the guard and hid outside the drug room. When I unlocked the door and went inside to prepare the evening medications, he followed me. He had a cord he’d found in the kitchen, the tie from a box of fruit that had been delivered that morning. One that should have been accounted for and destroyed.”
“So, he tried to strangle you.” Susan said.
“Yes, and he would have succeeded if I hadn’t been able to grab one of the needles from the tray I’d prepared. I plunged it into his arm. In the split second it took him to yank it out, I broke away from him and managed to escape.” Jessie lowered her head and massaged both temples. “I just want it to be over. I want him caught before he comes back to finish what he started with me. And before he hurts someone else.”
“If I have anything to say about it, he will be,” Jack promised. “Can you give me a description of him?”
“I can do better than that. I have a snapshot that was taken at Guest and Visitor Day just before the attack. I had it duplicated so that I could give copies to the local lawmen. I can give you a copy if you like.”
“That would be a great help.”
She left the room for only a few seconds. When she returned, she carried the picture between two fingers, as if she could barely stand to touch it. She handed it to Jack.
He studied the details. The man’s head was shaved and his face was half hidden under a scraggy beard. He looked to be about forty-five, medium build, no signs of scars or tattoos.
“How tall was he?”
“Five feet ten and a half inches, and he weighed a hundred and eighty-five pounds. I know exactly. I took his height and weight the week before he tried to kill me. I remember the day well. He’d been laughing and teasing me about how I got to check out all the men. The next minute he was describing how he’d like to wrap his hands around my neck and kill me.”
“A real Jekyll and Hyde,” Jack commented.
“Exactly. He’s the type of a man who can appear normal one minute and turn deadly in the blink of an eye.”
“If I recall correctly, that was pretty much what I told the judge years ago,” Susan said. “I never had a minute’s doubt I’d made the right recommendation about J.J. He was never mentally fit to stand trial.”
“Or to walk free,” Jack added, tapping his pencil on his notebook. “But he is.”
The questioning continued for another hour, but little new information was revealed. It was difficult for Jack to buy that this man could possibly be tied in with Gabriel, but stranger things had happened. Two facts Jack had learned in his years with the NOPD. Never turn your back on danger, and never close your mind to any possibility.
He wasn’t taking any chances. No matter what the Chief said, this case would not be closed nor Susan and the children’s protection ended until he was sure the right man was in jail Not even if he had to twist a few arms and call in some favors to make sure they were never left unguarded.
Jack broke into the conversation, thanking Jessie again for her help. She walked them to the car, while the dogs sat under a tree watching them.
Nice guard dogs, but Jack wouldn’t give two cents for the protection they’d offer against a man like J.J.
Jessie shook his hand and hugged Susan. “Oh,” she said, breaking away from the hug. “I almost forgot to tell you. When I was cleaning out your father’s old office closet the other day, I found a box of notes and letters you’d sent him. Would you like to have them?”
“You mean he kept them?”
“Hundreds of them. Some of the cards were ones you’d made him in grade school. I can have them shipped to you if you’d like.”
“Thanks, Jessie. I think I would like to have them.” Susan brushed a hand across her eyes, and Jack saw the moisture gathering in their depths. Yet another side of Susan McKnight.
He squeezed her hand and then rounded the car, got in behind the wheel and, putting the key in the ignition, brought the car to life. Six hours and no mishaps and they’d be home.
And with any luck, by that time someone would have located J. J. Darby. Every police department in the state had already been put on the alert. In a few hours, they’d also have a picture.
But physical appearances could change rapidly, and usually did when a man was on the run. Clean-shaven, with a full head of hair, Darby would look like a different man.
Jack picked up the cellular phone and punched in Casanova’s number. The detective answered immediately, but he had nothing of interest to share. This time no news was not good news. In spite of the all-pointsbulletin that had gone out yesterday, there was no record of anyone having seen Darby since he’d ridden a laundry truck out of the hospital.
7:00 p.m.
JACK SAT AT HIS DESK with a cup of tepid coffee and a cold oyster po’boy at his elbow.
“I thought I might catch you here,” Casanova said, stepping in the door and tossing a stack of papers on Jack’s desk. “I got a very interesting phone call concerning Bobby Chambers while you toured the great white north with the dragon lady.”
“And?”
“The caller was none other than Mr. Gregory Taylor.” Casanova pulled out his pocket notebook and read. “In light of recent news developments, he felt it necessary to inform us that Dr. McKnight’s secretary, Mr. Bobby Chambers, called him three weeks ago offering to provide him with information about his wife’s indiscretions in exchange for cash.”
“You don’t say. Put out a little cheese and all the rats come out.”
“I don’t know how this fits in with Hornsby’s killing two women, but it makes interesting material for the case file.”
“I’d say it does.” Jack grabbed his coat. “Come on, Casanova, let’s go calling.”
“I guess that rules out the dinner I was about to go eat.”
“Unless Bobby Chambers invites us to dine with him.”
7:10 p.m.
BOBBY CHAMBERS LOCKED the office door and looked around to see if anyone was watching him leave. Satisfied that the streets were clear, he ran to his car.
Everything had happened so fast. He hadn’t even had a chance t
o cash the check in his pocket. He didn’t dare do it now.
Sweat popped out on Bobby’s forehead in spite of the temperature. He slid behind the wheel of his car and started the engine. He had some business that had to be taken care of tonight. The first stop would be at the home of his boss.
Chapter Twelve
Wednesday, December 22
7:15 p.m.
“Auntie Mom, what time do we need to leave if we have to be at City Park by eight?”
The bowl of leftovers Susan was sliding into the refrigerator wobbled in her hands. She’d completely forgotten Rebecca’s class was singing carols tonight at Celebration in the Oaks.
She and Jack hadn’t made it back from North Louisiana until four, which meant she’d had to cancel an entire day’s appointments. And the natives were restless. She’d returned phone calls and agreed to see the two patients tonight who’d put up the biggest fuss. Now it was either disappoint Rebecca or call and cancel them again.
“We’d have to leave in about fifteen minutes, and it’s very cold outside. Would you rather stay here and watch your new Christmas movie?”
“I don’t mind the cold. I can wear my hat and gloves and everything. Anyway, they need me to sing. My teacher says I have strong vocal cords.”
“Your teacher is right.”
The eager look on Rebecca’s face made saying no to her very difficult. But work couldn’t be put off. Maybe Lucy and the guard-dog cop could take them.
“Missy Sippen’s whole family’s going to come and hear her sing, aunts and uncles and everybody,” Rebecca said, pushing wayward bangs out of her face. “But I told her I only need you, Auntie Mom.”
Okay, that settled it. If her two demanding patients had a true emergency, she’d see them later, midnight if she had to, but she was not going to let Rebecca down this time. After all, it was Christmas.
Good grief. Now she was starting to sound like Jack.
