TIED TO MURDER (Det. Jason Strong(CLEAN SUSPENSE Book 5)

by John C. Dalglish

“She was hit by a car,” she moaned, and started crying even harder. “I’m sorry!”

  Jason put his arms around his wife. “It’s okay. Is she gone?”

  Sandy shook her head against his shoulder. “No.”

  Jason pushed Sandy back so he could see her face. “Where is she?”

  “At the vet. They’re doing surgery to repair her leg. I just got home a few minutes ago.”

  Jason took another deep breath of relief. “She’s gonna make it?”

  Sandy nodded. “But she’ll probably limp now. It was my fault.”

  Jason pulled her close to himself again, tighter this time. “It’s okay. Tell me what happened.”

  She began her story, sobbing sporadically as she tried to calm down.

  “I went out to get the mail and didn’t make sure the door was closed behind me. She must have pawed at the door and got it open. When I got back to the house, I saw the door ajar, and turned around to see her wander into the street. The car tried to stop, but it clipped her rear-end. I didn’t even stop to call anyone. The driver helped me load her up, and I took her straight to the vet.”

  Jason knew how attached his wife had become to their big ball of white fur. He could only imagine the guilt she was feeling, but it was still just an accident.

  “Sandy, accidents happen and you know that. She’s a smart dog who found her way outside. It could’ve just as easily happened to me.”

  She wiped at her face. “I heard her yelp, and she kept looking at me with those big eyes. It was awful!”

  His wife’s cell phone rang, and she lunged for it.

  “Hello?”

  Jason watched as relief washed over Sandy’s face. She nodded up and down a few times, said ‘thank you,’ and hung up.

  “The vet said she came through surgery in good shape. They’re going to keep her for the night, and we can bring her home tomorrow afternoon.”

  “There, you see? Everything is going to be okay. We’ll go get her together.”

  “Okay.”

  Jason cuddled his wife, and a thought ran through his head. If this is how they felt about their puppy, he could only imagine the impact their new baby would have on their lives.

  *******

  The next morning, as Jason was dressing for work, his phone rang.

  “This is Strong.”

  “Jason, it’s Nina.”

  “Morning Nina, got something?”

  “Yeah, I think. You on your way in?”

  “Just about to leave.”

  “Okay. I’m back in town. See you when you get to the station.”

  He hung up and turned to see Sandy leaning in the doorway of their bedroom.

  “Are you still going with me to pick up Penny?”

  “Absolutely. I’ll call you later with my schedule, and we’ll figure out when we can meet.”

  She walked across the bedroom and kissed him. “Jason Strong, you’re the best. I think I’ll keep you.”

  He laughed. “Good thing, because you’re not getting rid of me. You’re stuck!”

  He kissed her back and headed for the door.

  *******

  When Jason arrived at the station, Vanessa was standing in doorway of Lieutenant Patton’s office. She waved him over before moving in and sitting down, letting Jason take her place against the door frame. Jason found Nina Jefferson already sitting in the office.

  “Hi, Nina. Morning, Lieutenant.”

  The lieutenant nodded. “Nina was just telling me about some investigating she did for you in Austin. I think you’ll be very interested to hear what she discovered about Marcus Winston.”

  Jason turned toward Nina as she began to go over the story again.

  “After you called, court was suspended for the day, so I decided to do some checking on your guy. I talked to three different detectives in my old precinct, and not one of them could recall encountering a Marcus Winston.”

  Jason began mentally crossing Winston off his suspect list. “Well, that’s good I guess.”

  She continued. “There’s more.”

  “Okay, shoot.”

  “So, I went to talk to someone I know over at City Hall. She’s an old friend who works in the permits office. I asked her about Orchid Village, and she gave me a blank stare. She double-checked, but there are no permits granted for any development by that name.”

  Jason’s mind started spinning. “Maybe they’re calling it something else.”

  Nina shook her head. “I thought the same thing, but the only large complexes currently under construction are some downtown office buildings.”

  “That means, if there’s no Orchid Village, then there likely isn’t any construction office, and Winston’s alibi would fall apart. Anything else?”

  “Nope, that’s it.”

  “Good stuff, Nina. I owe you!”

  She laughed. “I’ll add you to the list!”

  The lieutenant hadn’t said anything while Nina recounted the story, but when she was done, he smiled at her. “Good work, Detective.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Patton turned to Jason. “Any suggestion on further tearing at this guy’s alibi?”

  “Yes, sir. Will you get a subpoena for Marcus Winston’s phone records?”

  “Okay, on what grounds?”

  “If there is no Orchid Village under development in Austin, we need them to verify his alibi.”

  “I’ll take care of it.”

  Jason turned and went back to his desk. He sat down, opened the file on Marcus Winston, found the owner’s phone number, and dialed.

  “This is Marcus. I’m unable to take your call right now, so wait for the beep, and leave a message. Thank you.”

  “Mr. Winston, this is Detective Jason Strong with SAPD. I have a few more questions for you. Please call me here at the station, I would appreciate it.” Jason left his number and hung up.

  He scanned the file, and found the number for Norma Waters. She picked up on the second ring.

  “Hello?”

  Again, Jason noticed the lack of a business-like answer. “Ms. Waters, this Detective Jason Strong with SAPD.”

  There was a pause.

  “Yes, Detective. How can I help you?”

  “Is Mr. Winston in?”

  “Well, no. I haven’t heard from him today.”

  “Ms. Waters, I noticed I don’t have the address for the construction office in Austin. Could you give it to me?”

  Again a pause, longer this time.

  “Well Detective, there isn’t an office of the typical sort. I run everything for Marcus out of my home.”

  Jason wasn’t tipping his hand. “Oh, I see. Okay, how about the address of the new Orchid Village complex.”

  “Sure. It’s…” The phone went dead.

  Jason called back. Busy.

  He tried three more times, getting a busy signal each time. The phone was either off the hook, or she was trying to reach Winston.

  *******

  A while later, the fax machine came to life. Vanessa went over and started pulling pages off one at a time. Ten minutes later, she came back with a thick pile of paper.

  “Lieutenant got the warrant. I hate going through phone records. It takes forever, and this guy talks a lot.”

  Jason gave her a half-smile, and she sensed his mood. “What’s with you? You seem a little down.”

  “Penny was hit by a car yesterday.”

  “Oh, no! Is she okay?”

  “She had surgery last night and the vet said she’ll be okay. Sandy blamed herself and was pretty torn up though.”

  “What happened?”

  “Penny followed Sandy out to the mailbox, wandered into the street, and before Sandy knew what happened, she got hit.”

  “Scary.”

  Jason nodded. “All I could think was what if it was our child?”

  Vanessa’s face softened. “You can’t think like that, Jason. I know there’s a temptation to ask the what-ifs, but life is full of them.�
��

  He knew she was right. “Of course. Thanks.”

  She smiled at him and changed the subject.

  “Now, let’s divide these phone records up. I’m not doing all the work!”

  He laughed. “Okay, okay. Give me the half you don’t want.”

  *******

  They pored over the phone records all day, only stopping to grab lunch. During a mid-afternoon break, Jason called Sandy and arranged to meet her at the vet by four.

  At three-thirty, he pushed his chair back. “That’s it! Enough staring at tiny print for one day.”

  “Are you going to meet Sandy?”

  “Yeah, and I imagine once we take Penny home, I’ll probably stay there and call it a day.”

  “That’s fine. I’m gonna put a little more time in before going home.” She looked down at her notes. “So far we’ve confirmed Winston was out of town on each of the days we’ve looked at.”

  “Yeah. Or maybe just his phone was out of town.”

  “You think the girlfriend in Austin might have had it for an alibi?”

  “Don’t know, but until we physically put him in Austin, he’s still a prime suspect. He has the best motive, money.”

  “True enough.”

  “See you tomorrow.”

  Chapter 15

  Sandy was waiting for him when he got to the vet’s office. She got out and hugged him. “I hope she’s not in too much pain.”

  He touched her face. I’m sure the vet has taken good care of her, and she’ll just be glad to go home.”

  They walked into the office and Sandy spoke to the receptionist. “We’re here to pick up Penny Strong.”

  Jason thought it was odd that the vet used their last name, but after all, she was a member of the family.

  “Great. I’ll let Dr. Simpson know.”

  She got up, disappeared into the back, and a few minutes later, the vet came through the double doors with Penny.

  Her big white tail wagged as soon as she saw Jason, but as if she instinctively knew, she hobbled right over to his wife. Licking Sandy’s outstretched hand, Penny seemed to be telling her everything was okay.

  Sandy ruffled her white coat and leaned over to exam the cast. It ran from near the dog’s hip, all the way down her leg, and over her foot. Dr. Simpson handed the leash to Jason.

  “Here she is. She’s not good as new, but I think she’ll be fine. She had a dislocated fracture to the tibia, so we had to surgically reset it, and she’ll be wearing the cast for several weeks.”

  Jason shook the doc’s hand. “Thanks very much. I imagine she won’t be moving around much.”

  “Nope. You can let her out to go to the bathroom, but then she needs to come right back inside. My assistant will make a follow-up appointment with you.”

  When the vet had gone, and they’d made the appointment, they headed to the car. Jason realized Sandy had still not said a thing, nor left the dog’s side. As he loaded Penny into his car, he asked her if she was okay.

  Sandy smiled. “I am now. I’m just glad to have our baby back.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Me, too.”

  *******

  He sat in his vehicle watching the front door of his last target’s home. The mission would be done after tomorrow night. Finally, he would be able to focus on other things. His quarry this time went to bed earlier than any of his targets so far. The apartment was dark and quiet by nine o’clock each night.

  Parked at the end of the cul-de-sac, he saw lights turn down the road, and he was ready. Lying down on his seat, he waited for the SAPD patrol car to drive by, a searchlight scanning the area.

  The patrols were almost hourly now, and he’d be glad when he didn’t have to dodge them any longer.

  Of course, he knew he had created his own problem. Murder never stayed a secret.

  He sat back up as the patrol car left him in the darkness. Tomorrow would be the first time he’d target two people in the same night, but they were both in the same apartment, and he was confident in his plan.

  He would have to be quiet. No mistakes.

  *******

  When he arrived the next morning, Jason found Vanessa already working on the phone records. The door to the lieutenant’s office swung open just as Jason sat down.

  Captain Garcia came out, nodded at the two detectives, and continued to the elevator. The captain wasn’t on the third floor very often, and when the lieutenant came out to get coffee, Jason let his curiosity get the better of him.

  “Captain stop by to rattle your cage?”

  The lieutenant smiled. “Nope. Actually, I asked him to come by.”

  Jason waited for more information while the lieutenant filled his coffee cup and walked back in his office. He closed the door behind him without further comment.

  Vanessa chuckled. “Guess that’s all you’re gonna get.”

  “Guess so.”

  *******

  Willie knocked on the door and waited.

  “Who is it?”

  “It’s Willie.”

  The door swung open and Ruby stepped out, giving him a subdued hug. “Hi, Willie. Grace is almost ready.”

  He followed her into the apartment to wait. Ruby wore a long black dress, black shoes, and, in typical Ruby flash, a wide-brimmed black hat. Willie was all in black himself, except for the white shirt beneath his jacket. It was too warm for a tie.

  It was the third time in as many weeks they had been dressed in these clothes, and the funerals weren’t getting any easier. Today, they buried Tabby: the worrier who tried to keep them all safe, but in the end, couldn’t keep herself from harm.

  Grace came out of her bedroom, dressed much like Ruby, but without the hat. The strain of the last few weeks showed on her face. Like everyone, they wanted the maniac stopped, but they also wanted to know who he was.

  And they needed to be able to sleep without jumping at every noise.

  Willie bowed to his friends. “You ladies both look very nice.”

  Grace touched his face. “Thank you, Willie. You’re very sweet.”

  The women gathered their purses as Willie opened the door for them. It was time to say goodbye to their friend.

  *******

  Vanessa had just gotten back to the station with some lunch. They were still going over the phone records, making sure they hadn’t missed something. Jason took a bite of his hamburger and set it down. Something was bothering him.

  They’d gone through almost every call on the day of each killing. Nothing out of the ordinary. Regular business calls, but nothing absolute, putting Winston in Austin. Nobody to call and ask ‘Did you see him?’

  “This is getting us nowhere.”

  Vanessa looked up from her salad. “Okay, so what then?”

  “We need to examine the days before and after each killing.”

  “That’s hundreds of calls!”

  Jason grinned at her. “You got something you’d rather be doing?”

  “Yes! In fact, probably a dozen things.”

  Jason shrugged. “Me, too. Guess that’s why they pay us the big money.”

  “Strong, they may be paying you ‘big money,’ but definitely not me!”

  He laughed and went back to the phone records, this time focusing on the day before each killing.

  *******

  It was nearly six in the evening when Jason looked at his watch. He called Sandy to let her know he would be late. They’d found something important.

  Jason looked over at Vanessa, who was running a computer search on a phone number. The number she was checking was called multiple times the day before each killing.

  Even more suspicious, Vanessa matched the same number to a single call on the day after each murder. It was always a call to Marcus Winston’s phone.

  The computer search finished.

  “Got it! Oh, crap!”

  Jason drummed his fingers on his desk. “Mind sharing?”

  Vanessa jumped up and headed for the elevator. �
�Jose Jimenez.”

  Jason was right behind her.

  *******

  Willie made sure Ruby and Grace were safely in the apartment before turning to leave. Ruby grabbed his hand. “Stay for dinner?”

  He smiled at her. “No, I’m tired. Thanks anyway.”

  He kissed Ruby on the cheek and went to the door. “Lock this behind me. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  Grace followed him to the door and touched his arm. “We’ll be fine. Sleep tight.”

  He left, and she locked the door. When she turned around, Ruby was watching her. “Nobody can sleep these days.”

  Grace nodded. “I know.”

  Chapter 16

  The two detectives finally arrived at Jose Jimenez’s small home around seven. Unfortunately, the evening rush hour had been in full swing when they left the station. The name ‘rush hour’ was definitely a misnomer. Jason thought ‘Standing still hour’ was a better description.

  Jose lived on a quiet street in Harlandale, a working-class suburb in South San Antonio, nearly forty-five minutes from Orchid Village. The house was adobe red with brown shingles, and as you would expect from a gardener, the yard and flowers were beautiful. An Orchid Village truck sat in the driveway and Jason parked behind it.

  “Looks like we caught him at home. Let’s go see what his reason is for all those calls to Mr. Winston. I doubt they were gardening questions.”

  The two detectives came up the manicured front walk and pushed the doorbell. A middle-aged Hispanic woman answered the door. She wore a yellow housedress, covered with a red-checkered apron. The apron sported a large amount of baking flour.

  “Hola!”

  “Hola,” Jason answered, and then gestured toward Vanessa. “Este Detective Layne y Detective Strong. Habla Inglés?”

  The woman’s face clouded over. “Un momento, por favor.”

  The door closed and Jason looked at Vanessa.

  “Is your Spanish any better than mine?”

  “You were speaking Spanish?”

  He rolled his eyes just as the door re-opened to reveal a young girl, Jason guessed her to be six or seven, standing in front of the woman.