The Appointment Killer

by Remington Kane

  “I’ll meet you at the brokerage,” Troy said.

  Guy Tyler wrinkled his brow in confusion. “Al Cooper? Yes, I know Al Cooper. He installed our safe years ago when my father opened this branch.”

  “When was the last time you saw him?” Troy asked.

  Instead of answering, Tyler looked at Colleen. She gazed back at him serenely while remaining silent. Troy had to fight the urge to smile. Colleen had been right. The switch of being questioned by a different partner was bothering Tyler and leaving him puzzled.

  “Um, I saw him uh, today. We had lunch together. Why? Is there a problem?”

  “Are you two friends?”

  “I wouldn’t say that; we just happened to run into each other.”

  “Are you aware he’s done time for burglary?”

  “I am, but it’s in his past.”

  “He broke into a safe. In fact, he’s a recognized expert at safes.”

  “I know… is there a point to this, Agent Carson?”

  Troy smiled. “Sorry, it’s just that we’re at that part in an investigation where you gather as many facts as you can. Some of the questions may seem random and pointless, but you never know what might come out in conversation.”

  “Such as?”

  “Does Miss Varona know Al Cooper?”

  “No, Nikki never met Al.”

  “Too bad, he might have been helpful in locating her.”

  Troy asked a few more questions before assuring Tyler that they would locate Nikki, and then he said that he and Colleen were through.

  “Ah, before you go, how did you become aware of Al Cooper? Did someone mention that they’d seen us this afternoon?”

  Troy feigned confusion. “Why are you so certain that Mr. Cooper didn’t reach out to us?”

  Guy Tyler swallowed hard, then asked, “Did he contact you?”

  Troy smiled again. “As I said, Mr. Tyler, we’ll be in touch.”

  Once they were in the parking lot, Colleen gave Troy a playful punch on the arm.

  “I see why Erica likes you; you’re a natural at this.”

  “He was nervous, right? I didn’t just imagine it?”

  “Something is going on between him and that locksmith. Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s connected to this case.”

  “Okay, but it’s still worth checking out.”

  “Maybe it has something to do with the political angle and Hakeem Webb’s bid for congress. Nikki Varona might have gotten caught in the middle of something bigger than theft.”

  “We have to find her,” Troy said.

  “She’ll show up,” Colleen said. “Let’s hope she’s still alive when she does.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  FEDERAL PLAZA, NEW YORK CITY, MONDAY, JULY 15th

  After stepping on the elevator with Jason, Ted Marx waved goodbye to Erica while sending her a wink. She had to resist the urge to give him the finger.

  “Did you learn anything new from Marx?”

  “He admitted that he and Heather Gray had been lovers in the past, and he was with her earlier today at his apartment building. He said they spoke for a short time and then she left.”

  “Heather is a victim of rape. Jason Warwick said that it happened when she was fifteen.”

  Erica swiveled her head toward Owens as the significance of the news hit home.

  “Could she be our killer?”

  “It’s a possibility, but we’ll know more after we’ve looked into her background. I’ve put in a request; we should receive a file soon.”

  “What was your impression of Jason?”

  “He’s got issues of his own concerning Heather that go back years, and he believes that she’s been teasing him, for what reason he didn’t say.”

  “I only saw them together once, but I noticed the way she was looking at Jason; her interest seemed genuine. Then again, she was with Marx a short time ago.”

  “Maybe she’s attempting to make one of them jealous by using the other one,” Owens said.

  “Or she and Marx could be setting Jason up for something, perhaps the murders.”

  “He could be in danger if that’s true. We also need to find out who raped Heather when she was younger. That man would be a target if she’s involved.”

  “Whoever the killer is, they’re inventive in their methods. We’ve had a drowning, an electrocution, and a poisoning.”

  “And the tampering with Richard Behan’s brakes and gas pedal might be added to that list, although I doubt it.”

  Erica nodded. “It’s almost certain that Behan was murdered by his son-in-law as an attempt at a copycat killing. Besides, Behan wasn’t a child molester like the other victims, perceived or otherwise.”

  Owens’ phone made a sound and he took it out and looked at the screen. As he read, a smile appeared.

  “The judge granted the electronic surveillance on Ted Marx. The next time he gets an email from the killer, we’ll know about it when he does.”

  “That’s if he’s not sending them to himself somehow.”

  “That’s a possibility, and oh, concerning that last email he received, the one that came from the housekeeper’s daughter.”

  “What about it?”

  “The woman denies sending it and says her laptop was stolen two weeks ago from the parking lot of a supermarket.”

  “Did she report it stolen?”

  “No.”

  “Then it sounds like she’s lying to cover herself.”

  Owens patted his stomach. “I’m hungry, let’s go to lunch.”

  “Okay, but I’m ordering a salad. I’ve gained two pounds since this case started.”

  “Is it that, or did being in the same room with Ted Marx ruin your appetite?”

  “A little bit of both,” Erica said.

  The information they needed concerning Heather was ready when they returned from lunch. Erica and Owens each read a copy of the file.

  Heather Elizabeth Gray was born on November 1, 1992. She had two older brothers and grew up in DeWitt, New York. Heather had been a disciplinary challenge for her parents and teachers since turning thirteen.

  The rape occurred when she was fifteen. She had gone to a party in Kingston with a group of older friends and there were drugs and alcohol. In the suit filed against the defendant, a then thirty-three-year-old lawyer named Keith Pardo, Heather stated that she believed Pardo took advantage of her while she was drunk. It was Pardo’s home in Kingston where the alleged assault took place.

  An investigation followed and Pardo was found innocent for lack of proof. A distraught Heather had left the bed where the assault occurred and ran home to shower. Her need to expunge Pardo’s scent off her had unwittingly destroyed evidence of the assault.

  There was also a female witness named Minnie Brown who claimed under oath that she had spent the night with Pardo, and that Heather had left the party earlier than stated. The same woman alleged that Heather had been passing herself off as nineteen.

  Keith Pardo was never prosecuted; however, Heather swore under oath that he was the man who had raped her. As for the woman who had provided his alibi, an investigator hired by Heather’s family uncovered the fact that the woman paid off debts totaling more than thirty thousand dollars around the same time as the rape was said to have occurred. There was never an explanation given about where she’d received the money.

  Erica put down the file. “This sounds like Heather was denied justice, and I’d like to talk to this Keith Pardo.”

  “I agree. I also want to speak with the alibi witness, Minnie Brown. Her contact information was included; she’s right here in the city, while Pardo lives up in Kingston.”

  “Closer or not, I think we should speak to Keith Pardo first; if we interview Miss Brown and she calls to warn Pardo, we’ll have lost the element of surprise.”

  Owens nodded. “You make a good point, so why don’t we track them down tomorrow and look for Heather instead. Knowing what we now know, it should be an interesting intervi
ew.”

  Erica grabbed her purse. “Let’s go.”

  Heather wasn’t at home, which was a third-floor apartment in the East Village, but her roommate was. The woman was named Patty Summers. She was twenty, a waitress, and wanted to be an actress. Owens thought she was beautiful enough to be a star, as Patty was a natural blonde, tall, and well-formed, with a southern accent and huge blue eyes.

  “Heather’s not here. I think she went to see some guy.”

  “Did she mention a name?” Erica asked.

  “Maybe, but I was drying my hair and couldn’t hear her real well.”

  “She’s not answering her phone; is there a possibility she left it behind by accident?”

  “I’ll go look in her room, you two come in out of the hallway.”

  After stepping inside the apartment, Erica padded behind Patty as she walked around a corner and into a bedroom. It was Heather’s bedroom, and Erica wanted a look at the space. If she’d been hoping to see anything incriminating, she was to be disappointed. Heather’s room held a bed and a dresser with a TV hung on the wall. The carpet looked clean and there were no clothes left lying out.

  Erica spoke as she walked over to the closet. “These rooms are a good size for Manhattan, how’s the closet space?”

  Patty joined her at the closet. She hadn’t caught on that Erica was spying.

  “The rooms aren’t bad, but the closets are a joke, they’re so shallow you can’t fit a hanger in there unless you turn them sideways.”

  “Too bad,” Erica said. There were no smoking guns in the closet, only clothing, a pair of pink suitcases, and an old guitar with one string hanging loose.

  “I don’t see her phone. So maybe her battery died,” Patty suggested.

  “Thanks for checking,” Erica said.

  As she and Patty returned to the living room, Owens smiled at Patty and handed her a card.

  “When you see Heather, please ask her to give us a call.”

  “I will,” Patty said, as she took the card.

  Erica and Owens left the apartment and headed for the stairs.

  “Anything?” Owens asked.

  “No, nothing unusual, and you?”

  “Patty keeps a messy room, but the kitchen was clean. I guess it would have been too easy to find Keith Pardo tied up and gagged in Heather’s pantry.”

  “What if the guy she went to see tonight was Pardo? Maybe we shouldn’t wait until tomorrow to head to Kingston.”

  “I guess not.”

  “I’ll drive,” Erica said.

  “If Heather is after Keith Pardo, she’s got a good head start on us. I hope we don’t find out he’s Victim #4.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  NEW YORK CITY, TUESDAY, JULY 16th

  The “guy” Heather’s roommate said she had gone off to visit was Jason Warwick. Heather had never been to Jason’s apartment; however, he had pointed out the building to her once when they had driven by it while going to the party they’d attended.

  Heather had been sitting on the front steps for over an hour when Jason appeared. Heather was wearing a sexy green dress that matched her eyes and makeup had been applied to heighten her already exceptional looks. The perfume she wore was exotic, and her long red hair hung loosely. Foot traffic in the area was light, but several men had walked by and one tried starting a conversation with her. Heather told him she was waiting for her boyfriend and the man moved on.

  Jason didn’t become aware of her until she stood and walked toward him. His breath caught in his throat when he saw how beautiful and enticing she appeared.

  When Heather saw the look on his face, she knew that she had gotten the reaction she’d wanted, but the words that followed it weren’t expected.

  “You’re so damn beautiful on the outside, Heather; why are you so rotten on the inside?”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I know you’re sleeping with Ted Marx. I saw the two of you going into his building earlier.”

  Heather shook her head in a frantic motion as she moved closer to Jason. “I’m not sleeping with Ted, Jason… I went there to ask him to remain silent.”

  “Silent about what?”

  “Our past, yes, Ted and I were lovers once, back when I was drinking, but that ended years ago. Until yesterday, I hadn’t seen him in months.”

  “But why keep it a secret at all?”

  “I thought knowing that I’d been with your boss might weird you out.”

  “And why would you care about that?”

  Heather made an exasperated sound. “You’re going to make me come right out and say it, aren’t you? All right, I cared because I didn’t want to scare you away. I’m… I’m falling for you, Jason, and I want to be with you.”

  Jason took a step back and studied Heather. His sexual experience was limited, but he recognized when a woman was dressed for seduction, and Heather fit that criteria in spades. The woman was so beautiful, and he felt desire rise within him. Then, memories came, remembrances of the many times she’d put him down and told him he wasn’t good enough, and that he was a joke.

  Jason shook his head as he held up a hand. “No, something else is going on here. I know you, Heather. Yeah, I’ve gotten taller and have gained some muscle, but there’s no way you would ever really like me, not me. You’re after something, or you’re up to something, but it’s not me that you really want.”

  Heather’s mouth opened in surprise at the vehemence in Jason’s tone and the sentiment of his words. She moved toward him until they were almost touching and gazed up into his eyes.

  “I knew that I must have hurt your feelings back when we were teens, but I caused some real damage to you, to your self-esteem. I’m so damn sorry about that, Jason, sorrier than you’ll ever know.”

  “You made me feel like something you stepped in, and you did it in front of Lila.”

  “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned her. You really had a thing for her back then… did you two ever get together?”

  “Lila never returned my feelings for her. My guess is that she never trusted anyone enough to let them get close. You were harmed by your rape, Heather, but Lila was destroyed by hers.”

  “She was so young when it happened, and it was so brutal. I remember crying when she told the group what had happened to her.”

  “You cried? But you were always teasing her.”

  Heather made a face of disgust. “I was such a miserable little hellion back then, and I regret so much.”

  “About Ted Marx…”

  “Yes?”

  “You once told me that you had trouble trusting men because of your rape, but Mr. Marx is hardly kind and compassionate, if anything, he’s crude. Of all the guys you could have slept with, why him? Was it his money?”

  Heather stared at Jason for several seconds, then she spoke after releasing a sigh.

  “I don’t want anymore secrets between us, so I’m just going to admit the truth. When I was drinking, I was promiscuous. The alcohol dulled the emotional pain I was feeling and helped me to forget, and the sex made me feel wanted, and normal. Ted Marx was just one of the many men I’ve been with over the years. When I stopped drinking, I also stopped sleeping around, and I went back into therapy. I was planning to spend a year alone to find myself before I started thinking about dating again… and then I met with you to apologize for the way I wronged you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since then. I don’t want my old life anymore, Jason. I want a relationship, not a one-night stand.”

  Before Jason could back away from her, Heather craned her neck upward and kissed him on the lips.

  “I want you, Jason.”

  Jason’s breathing increased as his heart raced, and passion welled within him. He took Heather in his arms and embraced her.

  “This can’t be real.”

  “It’s real, and I’m not the girl you remember. I’ve changed, Jason, you can trust me.”

  Heather kissed Jason again, and al
l doubt and distrust left his mind. They moved up the steps of his building and into his apartment.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  WASHINGTON, DC, TUESDAY, JULY 16th

  It was Tuesday evening, day two of the case, and Colleen and Troy had yet to make contact with Nikki Varona. Instead of going home from the office, Troy decided to play a hunch and followed Nikki’s best friend, Darcy Miller.

  The previous day, after learning how close Nikki Varona was to Darcy, Colleen and Troy interviewed Darcy at the clothing shop she worked at. It was late on Monday afternoon and they caught her just as she was leaving work for the day. They spoke in the small parking lot behind the store as Darcy leaned back against her car, a red Chevy Malibu.

  Darcy Miller was nineteen and nearly as beautiful as Nikki. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was one of eight children, unlike Nikki, who was an only child.

  Darcy said she had no knowledge of where Nikki might be and prayed that she was all right.

  “I haven’t heard from her since early this morning.”

  “What did she have to say about the accusations against her?” Colleen asked.

  “It’s her boss, that guy named Guy, Nikki said that he’s trying to frame her.”

  “She’s claiming that Guy Tyler took the things from the safe?”

  “No, she took them, and she says she still has them, but she was only doing what her boss told her to do.”

  “Why would he tell her to take the petty cash and the hard drive?”

  “Nikki said that he was going to call her and tell her where to deliver those things before she came to work. The next thing she knew, the jerk was calling her up and telling her that she was going to be arrested for stealing. Nikki freaked out. There’s no way the cops would take her word over someone like her boss.”

  Troy and Colleen exchanged glances. Nikki’s story was weak. The camera aimed at the safe and other cameras on the property clearly showed that Nikki took the cash box and the hard drive from the safe before walking them out to her car and driving off. Even if Tyler had asked her to take them, what was to be gained? It didn’t make sense.