by Debra Webb
Leslie nodded adamantly. “I don’t want to leave. This is the only place he really knows.”
“I’m assigning surveillance, so you’ll see an officer in an unmarked car parked in the street in front of your house. I’ll just feel better knowing you’re safe until we get Devon home.” On the slim chance Devon had wandered off on his own or decided to run away for some reason, there was still the risk that Gabrielle Grayson’s killer had seen him and would be looking for him here.
Leslie nodded her understanding. “What happens now?”
“Let’s make a list of anyone he might try to contact or places he might try to go. Is there a favorite toy store or bookstore? A doctor he’s visited enough times to remember the location?”
Leslie gave the name and address of his physicians. The name of the mall they usually shopped at, though those occasions were rare. The names of their few friends, all of whom they hadn’t seen in ages. Leslie had no time for a social life.
When they had exhausted the young woman’s ideas on the subject, Jess moved on to the one other detail she needed to cover. “One last question, Leslie.” Jess dreaded asking but, until they knew more, no rock could be left uncovered. Every possibility had to be explored.
Leslie waited expectantly.
“Did anything happen between the two of you that might make Devon want to run away?” More tears spilled down the girl’s cheeks. Jess felt like a wicked old witch for making her feel worse.
“I complain every day about how much trouble he is. Every single day. Yesterday was no different. So, yeah, he had every reason to want to run away. But he never did. He always stayed right here as if he were the one protecting me instead of the other way around.”
Urgency welled in Jess. She wondered if Leslie understood that she had just made the situation crystal clear.
Devon Chambers hadn’t left his sister because he was angry or afraid or for any other reason. He would never leave Leslie willingly. Devon was victim number two in this grisly case.
Dear God, would they be able to find him before it was too late?
7:00 p.m.
Jess stood next to her Audi in the city’s parking garage. Burnett had promised it was waiting for her, keys under the mat, and here it was. She should get in the car and start the engine so the air-conditioning could begin the struggle of cooling down the interior. Or at least she should turn around and thank Burnett. Somehow she just couldn’t work up the enthusiasm. Instead, she stood here melting in the heat.
A woman was dead and the one possible witness to her murder, a child who’d already seen more than his fair share of pain and loss, was missing. Vanished. No one had seen him. No one had reported a small boy wandering around.
He was just gone. And his sister was terrified.
Jess was terrified.
She had to find that child… alive. If anything happened to him, his sister would never forgive herself.
Jess knew a little something about that. She had ignored Lil a million times. Like the voice mail she had left two hours ago. Jess had been busy, that was true. But she hadn’t wanted to talk to her sister just then. She’d wanted to hear the latest update from a distance… via voice mail. It was easier that way.
Lil’s personal physician, Dr. Collins, was concerned with her test results. He had mentioned potential problems ranging from clinical depression to various forms of cancer. There were numerous other possibilities in between and lots more testing to be done. He agreed with last night’s ER physician, that relevant family history would be helpful.
That was one problem Jess wasn’t looking forward to solving. It wasn’t that she minded going to see their one known living relative and demanding answers. She didn’t. Jess would do anything for her sister. It was the idea that two doctors had insisted on the importance of this step. Made Jess wonder if both men were leaning toward the worst and just didn’t want to suggest as much until they had evidence. Jess did that all the time in her work.
She didn’t want her sister to be that sick.
“We can do this another time.”
Jess shook off the disturbing worries and turned to Burnett—Dan, they were off duty now. She’d almost forgotten he was right behind her. “I need to do it now. I might not have time later.” With the Grayson case and little Devon missing… she really didn’t have time now. But she had to do this for her sister.
Dan moved up beside her. “Let me take care of this. I can do this for you and Lil.”
She wished he wouldn’t get so close. Especially right now. She was weak. Really weak. And that deep, familiar voice made her want to lean into him and squall her eyes out. “This is something I have to do.” She took a breath and reached for the car door but then hesitated. “I’m glad you’re going with me.”
“You’re exhausted. Why don’t you let me drive you?”
Before she could argue he was guiding her toward his SUV. He hit the remote and the vehicle started well ahead of their arrival at his reserved parking slot.
“Your fancy Mercedes is going to stick out like a rose in a patch of weeds.”
He opened her door and motioned for her to climb in. “I don’t think this will be the first high-end vehicle they’ve seen in that neighborhood considering what the pimps and drug dealers are driving these days.”
He had a point there. Jess settled into the passenger seat. The air-conditioning vents were already blowing out cool air. Now there was a good reason to have keyless start. She’d have to think about that when she got around to buying a new ride. In about ten more years.
Rush hour was over. Rush hour… what a misleading concept. Both the morning and the evening rush hour traffic issues lasted two hours at least. That didn’t even include road construction. As far back as she could remember one street or the other in Birmingham was always under construction, causing bottlenecks or detours.
Dan slowed for a turn and Jess dragged her thoughts back to their destination. Wanda Newsom lived in the Druid Hills neighborhood—the same one where much of the city’s gang troubles were taking place. Jess hadn’t discussed her drive-by of her aunt’s home the other day with Dan or anyone else. Last week’s case had drawn her to the neighborhood and she’d ended up going by Wanda’s house. Jess had no idea why she’d bothered. Temporary insanity maybe. Morbid curiosity mostly.
Nope, she hadn’t said a word to Dan but he clearly knew the way. He’d done his research. That was the kind of guy he was. She was learning that side of this older version of Dan. He was far more grounded and steady than he’d been two decades ago. He was strong and brave. And incredibly handsome and a generous and ambitious lover.
Not the path to go down just now, Jess.
She wondered if Wanda had changed in all these years. She considered the idea that according to DMV records, her aunt had never remarried and never moved. She’d married young, before her older sister, Jess and Lil’s mom. But her husband had gotten killed on a military operation in the Middle East. After that, Wanda had turned to drugs and eventually prostitution. She never had any children. She was alone.
Jess supposed she lived on Social Security these days or maybe a VA check. She was a widow after all. How else was a sixty-plus-year-old prostitute going to make a living?
Why hadn’t she ever gotten help? Why hadn’t her only sister helped her? Giving her mom credit, you couldn’t help someone who didn’t want help. If a person was determined to commit the same mistakes over and over again, there was no diverting their path. Jess and Lil had been too young to know or understand whatever had been going on between the two sisters.
Jess wondered if she would end up alone like Wanda.
“Do you think,” she asked, breaking the silence that had settled inside the car, “we become more and more like our parents as we get older?” Or like any other close blood relations, she kept to herself.
“I think,” Dan said as he made the final turn onto the street where her aunt resided, “that we exhibit characteristics related to
how and where we grew up. If you’re asking me if your aunt being old and alone is a path you’ll follow, the answer is no. I won’t let you take that path.”
Jess laughed. “I have your word on that, do I?”
“Unconditionally.” He parked at the curb.
Jess unfastened her seat belt and turned to him. “Let’s make a pact right now, Dan. Like we used to.” This was crazy. She knew it was crazy but she couldn’t stop herself.
He turned to her, those blue eyes as familiar to her as her own. “All right. Shoot.”
“When we reach sixty, if we’re both still single, we’ll get married and live together just so we’re not old and alone.” She’d said it. By God, she’d said it. She held her breath and waited for his answer.
A frown of confusion claimed his face even as humor sparkled in his eyes. “Are you proposing, Jess?”
“I’m proposing that we not spend our sixth decade of life, and onward, alone. That’s what I’m proposing.”
He reached across the console, offering his hand. “Well then, you have a deal.”
Jess closed her hand around his and gave it a shake. “Good. No need to worry about that anymore.”
She was out of the SUV by the time he came around the hood. Jess squared her shoulders and headed for the unknown. Dan stayed right beside her. She would not end up like this. Wanda’s ancient Toyota sat in the drive. The yard was overgrown and two pots with dead geraniums sat on either side of the steps. Dan knocked for the third time before a female voice demanded, “Who is it?”
“Chief of Police Daniel Burnett,” he said before Jess could respond.
The door opened just far enough for the woman to view the credentials Dan flashed. Then she opened it the rest of the way.
“Whatever happened, I don’t know anything about it. I stay in the house,” she was saying, “except…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at Jess, really looked at her, for the first time. “Jessie Lee?”
“Yes… ma’am. It’s me.” Jess’s mouth had gone so dry the words scarcely squeezed out. “I apologize for arriving unannounced, but I have some questions for you if you have a few minutes.”
For one long moment Wanda stared at Jess as if she’d seen a ghost. Jess kind of felt the same way. Wanda, though her lifestyle showed in her face, looked so very much like Jess’s mother, Helen. If Helen were still alive she would be sixty-five now. Wanda would be sixty-three in October, according to the DMV. Her blond hair was gray. Her brown eyes a little faded. She was too thin. Jess couldn’t remember her mother being that thin.
“Come in.” Wanda backed up and opened the door wider. “You’ll have to look over the mess. I wasn’t expecting company.”
The place looked the same as it had three decades ago. Tattered sofa and chairs. Magazines and newspapers piled about. The whole house smelled of Lysol. Her aunt might have been a lady of the night, but she’d been almost phobic about cleanliness.
Dan waited until Jess had taken a seat on the sofa, then he settled next to her. “I appreciate your time.”
“I usually have Bible study on Tuesday nights,” Wanda said, breaking the tension. She sounded a little nervous, excited almost. “But so many people are trying to get in that last vacation before school starts.”
Bible study? Maybe Wanda had changed. Better late than never. “I wanted to ask you a few questions about my mother and father.”
Wanda blinked. “Okay.”
There was a distinct loss of enthusiasm in her voice. Even with that one word Jess heard it, saw it on her face. “Can you tell me if either one had any health issues or maybe if my grandparents on either side had any”—she shrugged—“heart issues, cancers, anything like that?”
“Helen and Lee were completely healthy as far as I know,” she said, her attention wandering all over the room. “Our parents, yours and Lily’s grandparents, died young. Your grandfather died in a work accident. He was an ironworker over at Sloss.”
Jess didn’t remember having heard that story. All those times she’d been to that old place she’d had no idea her grandfather had worked there back in the day. That he’d died there gave her a chill.
“Your grandmother died in childbirth having our little brother, who didn’t make it either. If either one of ’em had any health problems I didn’t know about it. We were poor. Medical attention was something generally reserved for life and death situations.”
She hadn’t known any of that either. “What about aunts, uncles, or cousins?” Jess pressed.
Wanda shook her head. “My mother was an only child and I never knew any of my father’s family.”
“What about my father?” Jess was named after her father, Jessie Lee. “Any health problems on his side that you know of?”
“Your father never spoke of his family. He moved to Birmingham for college from down around Mobile and, to my knowledge, Helen never met a single member of his family.”
What kind of people didn’t know their own family? Jesus Christ. Jess wanted to scream her frustration. But she wouldn’t show it to this woman for anything. No matter that she usually had Bible study on Tuesday nights, she was still the same woman who had chosen her life of drugs and crime over two little girls when they needed her most.
“What about you, Ms. Newsom,” Dan asked the question Jess was too mad to ask. “Have you been diagnosed with any health issues that you would be willing to talk about? We realize we’re invading your privacy a bit, but any information would be appreciated.”
God, he was a born politician. Jess wasn’t showing any appreciation for a thing this woman said or did. Tuesday night Bible study, for heaven’s sake. Wait until she told Lil.
“The usual,” Wanda said. “Arthritis. Found out I have a cataract last week. That’s about it.” She turned to Jess. “Is something wrong with you or your sister?”
The fake sincerity in her voice made Jess want to puke. “We don’t know yet. Lily is having some testing done. The doctors suggested we get as much family history as possible.”
“I hate to hear that,” Wanda responded. “Tell her I’ll be praying for her.”
Jess shot to her feet. “Well, I have to be going now.” She had to get out of here. Right now. Or she was going to say something Dan would likely regret.
Dan stood. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Newsom.”
Wanda followed them to the door but Jess didn’t get a word of what she said to Dan. Jess had to get out of here. Her heart was pounding. Her stomach was churning. Her throat kept closing, blocking her ability to get air into her lungs.
Jess stormed the length of the cracked sidewalk and straight up to the waiting SUV. From somewhere behind her Dan started it. She climbed in and faced forward, absolutely refused to glance back at the woman or the house.
“Take me to my car,” she ordered. “I don’t want to talk about this. I just want to go away from here.”
“I understand.”
Thankfully he proved as good as his word. He didn’t argue with her or ask any questions. He drove her to the Audi and gave her a hug before walking away.
Jess got into her faithful old car and drove to her new home. Dan followed her. She’d expected he would. At her door she’d disengaged the new locks, stuck one hand in her bag to get a grip on her Glock, and then gone inside. She hadn’t managed a decent breath until she’d confirmed the place was clear.
When she closed and locked the door, Dan had driven off. She watched from the window until his headlights disappeared. This day had been too long.
After stripping off her clothes she climbed into the shower and scrubbed her body. Her stomach roiled each time the remembered smell of Lysol revisited her senses. Memories from that awful year she and Lil had spent with Wanda swirled in her head over and over like a bad movie. That was one part of her past she’d just as soon never think of again.
After she’d practically skinned herself, Jess let the evidence and facts of the Grayson case fill her head. A sense of calmness settled ov
er her.
Call her a coward, but that was the one place she felt most comfortable… deep inside a case. It was funny how she felt more at home immersed in the elements of a homicide than she did with the people who were part of her personal life.
10:00 p.m.
This was exactly what she’d needed.
Jess taped a note onto the section of wall between the two windows on the east side of her apartment that overlooked the main house. She quickly scribbled another observation about Devon Chambers and his sister, Leslie, tore it out of her notepad, and taped it on the wall.
She stood back then, took off her glasses, and considered the duplicate case board for the Grayson investigation she had created on the wall of her place.
“That’s perfect.” She could put a desk right there. She considered the floor space beneath where the biggest dry erase board that would fit, maybe a six-footer, would hang. As soon as she had some free time during normal business hours, she needed to round up those items and maybe a small sofa.
The stuff she had in Virginia was being sold with her old house there. None of it would work in this place anyway. Besides, she wanted a fresh start. This was a new beginning for her professionally and personally. Nothing about her old life would fit.
Which was exactly why she had been ignoring calls from Wesley all evening. And two from Dan. The one conversation she hadn’t avoided was the one with her sister. Lil was feeling a little better. She wasn’t surprised that dear old Aunt Wanda didn’t know jack.
Speaking of Jack. Jess moved back to her makeshift board. She needed more in-depth info on Sergeant Jack Riley and his wife. They were closer to the Graysons than anyone else. Since Jess hadn’t been able to meet with the wife, Sarah, today, she was hoping that would happen tomorrow. Since Grayson’s mother-in-law had finally arrived in the city, he and his son would be staying with her rather than the Rileys. Made setting up interviews simpler. Jess also needed to talk to Grayson about his neighbors, Leslie and Devon.
