***
After learning that Oscar Carlson had been murdered, Pierce and Jake spent time questioning the people who lived near the scene of the crime. They had little luck, as most of the people were still at work on a Monday afternoon.
They decided to return early the next day rather than try to track down people on the phone. It was always preferable to speak to someone in person when possible. Pierce had told Jake that he would act as lead on the case. Jake smiled at the news and Pierce knew that his partner could handle it.
One of Jake’s first decisions was to speak with Reba Miller again. When Reba learned that Carlson had been murdered, she invited the detectives inside and they talked over coffee.
Pierce and Jake took their coffee black and found it to be exceptional. Reba Miller told them that it damn well should be, since she paid a ridiculous amount of money for the special blend she preferred.
***
“No, I really can’t think of anyone who would have wanted Oscar dead. I disliked him for crowding me with his house, but other than that I liked him. He was good with those kids too.”
Jake leaned forward and stared at Reba Miller.
“Did you kill Carlson?”
“No! Like I said, I hated that he built his house so close, but... I really did like him. It’s why I was always doing something outside when he came home from work. It gave me an excuse to talk to him.”
Jake relaxed and leaned back.
“All right, what about arguments with some of the kids’ parents, did that ever happen?”
“No, those kids are all from homes where their parents aren’t involved. If you’ve seen them, then you’ve seen how they’re dressed. Oscar used to feed them too, I’m sure of it, because he’d always come home from the market with enough food for a family.”
“He was a very good man as far as we can tell. But Miss Miller, are you certain that you’ve never seen anyone angry with him?”
Reba Miller looked off into space for a moment, but then met Jake’s gaze.
“Oscar came home bleeding once, oh, about a month ago. It was just a small cut on his cheek, but I don’t know where he got it. He wouldn’t tell me.”
“Which cheek?” Pierce said. “The left one?”
Reba touched her left cheek and nodded.
“Yeah, the left cheek. Why is that important?”
“He may have been punched,” Jake said, “and most people are right-handed.”
“Now that you mention it, he did have a bruise after he stopped the bleeding, his face was also swollen for a day.”
“When he came home with this cut, was he walking or driving?” Jake asked.
“Oh, walking, Oscar had walked home from his shop, like he usually did.”
Pierce and Jake shared a look, as both of them wondered if Oscar’s attacker could also be his murderer. If so, that person likely lived in the neighborhood where the homes’ rears faced the trail through the forest.
They thanked Reba Miller for her time and for the excellent coffee. They then returned to their car and discussed the case.
“You were right about Miller, Rick. Now that we’ve gotten to know her, I don’t think she killed Carlson.”
“We need to canvas that neighborhood near the trail. Someone back there must know something.”
“I agree; I also want to talk to those kids again. They seemed to know Carlson well and spent a lot of time with him, maybe one of them will know who hit Carlson.”
“Carlson’s sister said that she would be back at the store on Thursday. I’m sure the kids will be there then. Also, Carlson might not have been hit, that cut could have been the result of an accident.”
“Yeah, but it helps us to assume it wasn’t,” Jake said.
Pierce smiled.
“Where to now?”
“Let’s go back to the station. I want to see that coroner’s report before we call it a day.”
“Good, we may learn something that can help us narrow down the list of possible suspects.”
Jake smiled as he started the car.
“I like being in charge of an investigation.”
“Get used to it; you’ve got a lot of years ahead of you.”
“Speaking of that, is it true about the lieutenant?”
“Yup, Coke is retiring.”
“Wow, it’ll be weird not to have him around.”
“While we were at the station, Coke told me that he recommended me to take his place.”
“Seriously? That’s great, although, I’ll miss you as a partner.”
“I said no to the offer. I’m not the type to sit behind a desk.”
“It’s a good bump up in pay though, isn’t it?”
“A huge bump, but money isn’t everything and I know that I’d be miserable if I did paperwork all day.”
“Hmm, so who do you think they’ll pick?”
“I recommended your wife.”
“Stacey? Yeah, she’d be good, and she’d love to get off nights, but then she’d be my boss.”
Pierce chuckled.
“You’re married to her, Jake; she’s already your boss.”
Jake sighed.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but the department wouldn’t go for that. It’s why we don’t even work the same shift anymore.”
“I’d forgotten about that. But you’re ready to partner up with a rookie and I hear the North Ward needs a homicide detective.”
“The North Ward is actually closer to my house, but wouldn’t they want you instead?”
“I doubt it. You’ve got years ahead of you and if Stacey gets promoted, you’d need to make a change anyway. You’d be a natural choice as their head homicide detective.”
“Wow, this is a lot to think about, but right now, it’s all supposition.”
“Not all of it. Coke is definitely leaving and the North Ward needs an experienced detective.”
“Does Stacey know she’s in the running to make lieutenant?”
“I think Coke will tell her when she goes on shift tonight.”
“That pay bump would be great. Christy will be in college before we know it.”
“Tell me about it. We’re already saving for the girls, but I’m sure the costs will double or triple by the time they’re old enough to go.”
Jake shook his head as if to clear it.
“Enough with the personal stuff; we’ve got a case to solve. I don’t suspect her in the least, but when we get back to the station, I want to look into Leah Meyers, Carlson’s sister.”
“See, this is why you’re ready to run an investigation. You’ll leave no stone unturned.”
“Oh, I’m ready, Rick, and we’re going to catch whoever killed Oscar Carlson. Believe it.”
Pierce smiled.
“I do, partner, I do.”
CHAPTER 8
In New Hampshire, Dave Owens rode along with five other inmates as he was being transferred to the old county jail.
He was inside an armored van and being guarded by a pair of US Marshals who were assigned to the JPATS program. JPATS was an acronym for the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System.
Owens was the only one being dropped at the old jail, which was across the highway from the hospital. The other four prisoners would be ferried a dozen miles farther to the new county jail near the courthouse. Those four men all had pending hearings in court on the following morning.
Owens and the other prisoners were shackled by chains that had been run through bolts in the floor. One of the other men was also wearing a bullet-proof vest, and it made Dave Owens wonder what his crimes were.
Owens, along with Jack Murphy, had slain nearly twenty people, mostly young women, many of whom were teens. During the time when the newspapers were full of lurid stories about them, he and Murphy had been layered in protective gear whenever they were transported.
He smiled ruefully to himself, thinking about how he was yesterday’s news. After eight years in prison, he no longer rate
d such precautions. But then, most of the people who wished him harm, such as his victims’ families and friends, were hundreds of miles away in New Jersey.
Owens’ family was also back in New Jersey, or so he assumed. The truth was that none of them had ever come to visit him in prison. He had signed a confession and led the police to the bodies of his victims. There was never any doubt that he was guilty.
Owens’ face reddened as he thought back to the day that he had been deceived into confessing by Detective Ricardo Pierce.
Owens hated Pierce with a passion. Pierce had deceived him into believing that there was damning evidence against him, video evidence that showed Owens killing his boss, Karen Dunham.
Such a video had existed, Dave knew it, because he had seen it with his own eyes. What he didn’t know is that every copy had been destroyed.
That was when he made a deal with Ricardo Pierce, and Pierce had lied and broken his word.
Owens squeezed his eyes shut as he recalled the look of betrayal on Jack Murphy’s face. Owens had shoved Murphy under the bus to make a deal with Pierce. Jack Murphy had been his best friend for as long as he could remember, and they had been closer than most brothers were.
Jack had been his best man when he’d married, had celebrated the birth of his children, and seen him through the loss of his mother to Alzheimer’s disease. Jack Murphy was a part of him, and he had betrayed Murphy in an instant on the strength of Pierce’s promise.
Pierce had sworn to Owens that he would be serving his sentence near his family so that he could at least have visits from his girls, his daughters. Dave Owens didn’t give a damn about other young women, but he was a devoted father to his daughters and loved them more than life.
That was why Owens betrayed Jack Murphy, why he sold his friend down the river, simply for the chance to stay in contact with his daughters. They were the two people he loved most in this world, and they became lost to him forever.
Pierce was the person Owens blamed, but his wife also played a part in keeping him from his daughters. His wife, Janet, had visited him in jail only once, and that was when she cursed him for the things he’d done.
She also told him that he had ruined his daughters’ lives and that she was changing their names and moving out of the area.
Owens had to be restrained by the guards upon hearing that news, but he still maintained hope that he could get his wife to allow him to see their children. His daughters, Kathy, who had been 14, and Sammi, 16, had adored their father.
Despite everything they discovered about him, Owens had prayed that he could maintain a relationship with them. That would have given him a reason to live.
Owens hoped that the girls might have come to visit him once they reached adulthood, and still held on to that dream. They had both been of legal age for years and he hadn’t received so much as a phone call.
He wrote letters often, but didn’t know where to send them to. True to her word, his wife had changed her name along with his daughters’ names and now they were off somewhere living new lives.
And yet, Owens still believed that he could have maintained contact if Pierce hadn’t lied and promised that he would be imprisoned near his family.
The truth was that Pierce hadn’t lied, not really. Dave Owens was sent to Gateway Prison and was less than a twenty minute drive from his former home. That lasted only a few weeks, as the prison was soon condemned and deemed structurally unsound. Owens and the other inmates were scattered to different federal facilities and Dave Owens found himself in New Hampshire.
But Pierce had promised him that he would serve his sentence in New Jersey. Ricardo Pierce had tricked him into betraying his best friend and had lied to his face.
If Owens had it within his power to destroy Pierce, he would do so in a heartbeat.
***
Owens first sight of the old jail made him frown.
The building looked ancient. The private roadway leading to it had been full of potholes and the grass around the building appeared to have been neglected for years.
However, several hundred yards away sat a new and gleaming hospital, and Owens knew that he would learn his fate inside that building.
But he was dying, Owens was certain of it. His appetite was nonexistent most days and he had lost over thirty pounds in a matter of weeks. If not for the meds the prison doctor had him on, he knew he would be in great pain.
Owens also had nothing to live for, and maybe a long and painful death was karma for the things he had done. If so, he didn’t care. Hunting the night with Jack Murphy were some of the best times of his life, and if he could, he would do so again.
A guard was herding him towards the double rows of cells inside the jail when Owens grew alarmed. Of the twelve cells, only two were occupied. Both of the men in those cells were mean looking as hell.
Owens grew relieved when he was placed in a cell by himself that was across from the men. Owens soon settled on the bottom of a set of bunk beds. Once the guards had left, the two men continued to stare at him.
“You’re here for the hospital, aren’t you? Yeah, you look like shit,” one of the men said. He was the larger of the two men and his hair was dark.
“What do we do now that we have an audience?” the other man said. His hair was as blond as Owens’ hair used to be, but Owens’ hair had grown darker during the years of his imprisonment and was the dirty blond it usually only turned in winter.
“I don’t care what you guys do,” Owens told them, although he wondered what it was that they didn’t want him to see.
The big man let out a sigh.
“It don’t matter if he’s here or not. We have to keep working.”
The blond man pressed his face against the bars and spoke to Owens.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m sick. They’re taking me over to the hospital tomorrow for tests.”
“You’re from the prison, I can tell that from your clothes, but what are you in for?”
“Murder... I’m in for life.”
“Life? That’s good. It means you’ve got nothing to lose by helping us. Listen to me. You’re going to see something and you damn well better keep your mouth shut.”
Owens nodded at the man.
After staring at him for a little longer, the man climbed up to the top bunk and reached out to grab the light fixture in the ceiling. Like everything else about the jail, the fixture was ancient.
It had twin receptacles for incandescent bulbs and was fastened against the ceiling with a circular metal plate that looked like it was made of nickel. The man reached out and slipped three fingers between the edge of the circular plate and the plaster ceiling.
Owens’ fellow prisoner strained to pull the light fixture free while stretched out at an awkward angle. After he gave a final tug, the fixture popped loose amid a rain of plaster dust and hung from the ceiling by two thick strands of copper wire. The wire was covered with a dull-colored insulated cloth that Owens guessed contained asbestos. If so, what of it? He was hardly worried about lung disease given his current prognosis.
Darkness lay beyond the hole in the ceiling, but even in his cell, Dave Owens could both feel and smell the stale and musty air that was coming from the opening.
Owens looked over at the big man, then gazed up at the man who had pulled the fixture free.
“Where does that lead to?”
The man smiled.
“That’s what I’m about to find out.”
The man leapt from the top bunk and grabbed an edge of the hole. His face contorted in pain when one of the lit bulbs brushed against his ankle, but then, he pulled himself up and into the open space, and was gone.
The other man, the big one, began laughing.
“We’re getting out of here, oh hell yeah we are.”
Owens said nothing, but he was filled with renewed hope. His cell had a ceiling fixture identical to the one the man had torn loose. If he could get free, he could possibly find his da
ughters and see them both one last time.
Dave Owens smiled, as suddenly, he had something to live for again.
CHAPTER 9
Pierce returned home late in the afternoon and found that Jimmy and Ginny had stopped by. Then, he remembered that they had planned to have dinner together.
He picked up each of his daughters and hugged and kissed them, before setting them down and watching them run off to play with Jimmy’s son, Josh.
After kissing Val hello, he spoke to his guests.
“I’m going to take a quick shower and change my clothes, guys.”
When Val said that dinner wouldn’t be ready for an hour, Jimmy grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and followed Pierce upstairs.
“I’m going to sit on the balcony. Rick, once you’re ready, come join me. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Trouble?” Pierce said, as he unfastened his tie.
“No, this is a good thing; at least, I hope you’ll think so.”
Pierce placed the trigger lock on his handgun and put it away and out of reach of his daughters.
“That sounds interesting, but give me twenty minutes. I want to shave too.”
***
By the time Pierce joined Jimmy out on the balcony, he saw that his friend had drained the beer bottle. There were clouds gathering, as another storm approached. They had been getting soaked off and on for weeks, along with much of the northeastern section of the country. However, the southern part of New Jersey had been without significant rain during that same period. There was a threat of fire in some areas because of all the dry weeds and wilting undergrowth.
Jimmy lit up a cigar and asked Pierce a question.
“When will you have your twenty in?”
“Ah, in about two months.”
“Have you thought about getting out now that you’ve earned a full pension?”
Pierce laughed.
“With two kids? No, I still need to work.”
“Of course you do, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay a cop.”
“What’s your point, Jimmy? I know you have one.”
“Come work with me, Rick. I was a cop once, so I can guess how much you’re pulling down. I bet you you’ll make more money as a P.I.”
Angels (A Detective Pierce Novel Book 3) Page 4
