Hunter had another sip of wine and chuckled as he listened to Andy share a story about Jake from their childhood. It made his heart happy to see Andy with a smile on his face.
“You should have seen it!” Andy laughed, shaking his head. “It was just this little puppy—this sweet little dopey thing. I think he was a cocker spaniel or something. We’d just gotten him, and Jake was terrified of him. Every time that dog would come near him, he’d squeal and run as fast as he could.”
“He never told me about a killer cocker spaniel.” Maddie giggled. “I always wondered why he’d never gotten a dog.”
“That was actually the last dog our family had.” Andy remarked. “It was such a traumatic experience for poor Jake that we decided it would only be fish and birds from there on out. We didn’t even know if he could handle a cat.”
Hunter looked around the table. Kasi was grinning between bits of potato. Russell was chuckling as he refilled wine and water glasses. But there was one person missing…
He glanced at his watch.
Kari’s been gone over ten minutes. That seems a little odd. I’d better go look for her.
He stood up. “Hey, guys. I’m going to hit the restroom quick. Russell, did you say it was upstairs in your room?”
Russell nodded. “Yeah, but I think Kari might still be in there? Sorry about the other bathroom being broken. Not the ideal situation for a dinner party, but what can you do?”
“I’ll go see if she’s done,” Hunter informed, putting his napkin on the table and heading toward the stairs.
For some reason, he was worried about Kari even though she’d only been gone a few minutes and was in the same house as he is.
“Jake’s murder has got you all worked up, man,” he told himself. “What could possibly happen to Kari when you’re just rooms away?”
When he walked into Russell’s room, the first thing he saw was Kari, standing by his bed and reading a book.
What in the world is she doing? Taking a break from dinner to read one of Russell’s novels? Hunter wondered.
“Kari?” he asked.
Her head snapped up, her eyes wide. “Oh my gosh, Hunter! Thank goodness it’s you!”
His heart sped up as he saw the look on her face. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She held up the book. “Does this look familiar to you?”
With a jolt, he realized what she was holding. “That’s Jake’s rhyme book! We’ve been looking everywhere for it! Where did you find it?”
He quickly crossed the room to her and took the book out of her hands. He ran his hand over the cover.
Dragon’s Dope Rhymes. Yep, this is the real thing,” Hunter confirmed.
“You’ve been looking for it?” Kari asked. “Why?”
“Jake always had it on him,” Hunter explained. “But no one could find it after the murder. We searched everywhere and asked everyone.”
He flipped through the pages and then looked up to meet Kari’s eyes. “We even asked Russell. He swore he hadn’t been able to find it either.”
“Oh, no. What does that mean?” Kari inquired, a look of horror on her face.
“It might not mean anything,” Hunter answered, though even he didn’t believe his words. “Maybe he just found it and was going to tell us tonight.”
“Look at this, though,” Kari said, pointing out the multiple revisions in red pen. “And this one.” She turned to one of the songs in the back that had been slashed through with red ink.
“It looks like it was originally about Jake’s parents, but it’s been changed to be a tribute to Jake. Russell gave Kasi and I a flash drive the other day and told us it was his new track he’d written after Jake’s death. THIS is the song, Hunter!”
Things were looking worse and worse for Russell, but Hunter just couldn’t wrap his mind around the implications.
Russell and Jake loved each other. They were like brothers, and they were about to be signed by one of the biggest record companies in the country. There was no reason for Russell to kill Jake.
“They were best friends!” he told Kari, shaking his head. “I just don’t believe he could do anything to hurt him. There must be some other explanation.”
“Well, I’d love to hear it!” Kari said.
“And I’d love to tell you.”
They both looked up when they heard the deep voice. Russell was standing in the doorway, a gun in his hand.
“I knew I should have moved that stupid thing before I had you all over for dinner,” Russell explained. “But I didn’t think anyone would go snooping through my drawers.” His eyes narrowed on Kari. “You just can’t mind your own business, can you?”
“Russell, what’s going on?” Hunter demanded, holding up the notebook. “Why didn’t you tell us you had this? You know we’ve been looking for it.”
He was doing his best to stay calm and ignore the gun in Russell’s hand. If he could get him to talk, he might have a chance to disarm him.
Russell laughed, but there was no humor in it. “What’s going on? What’s going on is what has always been going on since we were kids: Jake stealing the spotlight. Even now, with him dead, everyone is down there talking about him.”
“What are you talking about?” Kari asked in disbelief. “You two were a team!”
Russell gestured to the bed with the gun. “Why don’t you two take a seat?”
Hunter took Kari’s hand and pulled her down on the bed next to him. He knew it was best to stay compliant until he could see his opportunity.
So, he began to question Russell. “Were you jealous of Jake, Russell? Was that it?”
Russell snorted. “Everyone was always talking about how Jake was the better rapper, how I was riding on his coattails. You don’t think I heard all the talk? You don’t think I saw all the social media posts? It was all Jake, Jake, Jake! Jake is such a good writer. Jake is such a good rapper.”
“But, you’re good, too!” Hunter told him. “Jake was always saying how he could never have made it without you. You were his support system, Russell! You guys never would have gotten that contract offer if it wasn’t for you.”
Hunter’s mind was racing furiously. Russell was about five long strides away from him, too far for him to make a move without risking getting himself or Kari shot. Maybe if he could make a loud noise, someone from downstairs would come up to investigate.
But then, that would put more people in danger, Hunter considered. Best to just keep him talking.
“The contract?” Russell said, shaking his head bitterly. “Yes, the stupid contract. I was so excited the night of the festival when Max wanted to talk to us. This was our big break! It had finally come! All those years of being in Jake’s shadow were finally over!”
“What happened?” Kari asked softly. “Russell, what happened that night?”
“The contract wasn’t for us,” Russell spat, gesturing at the multiple pictures of him and Jake with the gun. “The contract was for him. Max wanted to sign Jake as a solo artist. He didn’t want to sign the Fire Spitters.”
Kari gasped. “Oh, no. That must have been so horrible. After all those years of hard work…What did Jake say?”
Hunter reached over and squeezed her arm. She was clearly thinking the same thing he was. Keep Russell calm by being sympathetic and encouraging him to talk.
Russell gave them a humorless grin. “Oh, he told me he wouldn’t take the contract without me, but I knew that would change. As soon as he thought it through, he was going to leave me behind. How could he not? All that fame and fortune just a step away? He was going to take it, and I was going to be left with nothing.”
“Jake wouldn’t have done that to you,” Hunter defended. “You know him better than that. He would have figured something out.”
“You know, I am sick and tired of Jake always figuring everything out.” Russell took a menacing step forward. “It was my turn to make a move, my turn to make something happen. So, I did what I had to do. Just like
I’m going to do now.”
Chapter 26
Kari
Kari couldn’t believe it. Jake’s killer was not a rival rapper who had been humiliated by him in a rap battle. No, the killer was his best friend and partner.
“I can’t believe you!” she cried, anger rising in her chest. “You killed him for his rhyme book?”
Russell smiled. “Well, I guess you could put it that way. I knew that I needed to do something to get the contract instead of Jake. Killing him wasn’t enough. I also had to prove that I could write rhymes just as well as he could.”
“But, you can’t!” Kari yelled. “You’ve never been able to write like Jake, and you never will! What are you going to do when you run out of Jake’s rhymes?”
Russell shrugged. “I’ll have the contract signed, so who cares? Maybe I’ll find someone else who can write, and I’ll pay him to write my rhymes for me. Once I have that contract, lots of doors will open up.”
Kari heard a rumble beside her and turned to see Hunter, his face red, making a strange growling sound deep in his throat.
Uh-oh, he’s gonna blow, she thought.
Afraid he was about ready to lunge at Russell, she put a restraining hand on his arm.
“Jake would not have taken that contract without you,” she stated, turning back to Russell.
She knew she was repeating what Hunter had already pointed out, but she had to keep him talking. The more they could stall for time, the more chance that someone would come upstairs.
“We talked about it,” Russell shared. “He tried to convince Max to include me in the contract. He even told me he’d turn it down if it wasn’t for both of us. That was Jake for ya—always trying to do the right thing.”
“So, then, why did you kill him?” Hunter asked in a strangled voice. “He wasn’t going to sign that contract without you! He was always supporting you, always being a good friend! You’re right—he was always doing the right thing. He didn’t deserve this.”
“He would have changed his mind,” Russell sneered. “Max made it pretty clear that they were only looking for a single rapper. Jake would have thought it over and taken the deal—anyone would have. In the music industry, it’s every man for himself.”
“You don’t know that,” Kari protested. “Maybe Max would have changed his mind. Or maybe you could have used the offer as leverage with another record company. You didn’t have to kill him.”
“I think you’ve wanted him out of the way for a long time,” Hunter asserted in a low voice. “Just like you said, you were always in Jake’s shadow. You hated it, didn’t you? From the time we were kids, Jake got all the attention. You were just an afterthought.”
“He got me where I needed to go,” Russell said, his casual tone of voice infuriating Kari. “I’m a realist, Hunter, and I’ve always known I wasn’t as talented as he was. But when I realized he was going to move on without me, I knew I had to do something. I wasn’t going to be left behind, not after all these years.”
“He was your friend,” Hunter emphasized, his voice strained. “He was my friend. And you killed him over a stupid contract.”
“Stupid?” Russell responded; his eyes wide. “What I’ve been working for my entire life is stupid? Nah, man. It’s everything! Getting that contract is worth every sacrifice. I had to kill Jake to achieve my dream, man. There just wasn’t any other way.”
He shook his head, the smile coming back to his face. “You’ve stalled long enough. Both of you need to go. I won’t let you ruin this for me.”
He raised the gun and pointed it at Kari.
Kari saw a flash of movement behind Russell, then gasped as a barefoot Kasi flew into the room and placed a hard kick to the back of Russell’s knees. He fell to the floor with a yell, the gun slipping from his hand. Kasi quickly kicked it to the other side of the room, then put her foot on Russell’s head.
“Are you okay?” she asked her sister breathlessly.
“Oh, my gosh!” Kari yelled, springing up from the bed. She was about to run to her sister when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Hunter, his face a mask of relief.
“Can you run out to my car and grab my handcuffs?” he asked Kasi. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“I’ll go get ‘em,” Kasi said, removing her foot from Russell’s head so Hunter could pull him to his feet. “How did you like my kick? Those self-defense classes have come in handy!”
Kari let out a long breath. “Jeez, maybe I should start going to more of those with you. How did you know we needed help?”
“I thought you’d both been gone a little too long,” Kasi told her. “I wanted to come up and make sure you weren’t canoodling in the closet or something.”
She gave both of them a wink, and Kari couldn’t help but giggle. Not long ago, both girls would have been horrified to confront a killer, let alone take one out. However, things had changed in Mills Township and in the girls’ lives, too.
Danger seemed to be in the cards for them now, and they’d gotten much better at handling situations like this.
“We weren’t canoodling,” Kari corrected. “Great word, by the way.”
“Well, I see that now,” Kasi answered. “I was also wondering where Russell had run off to. When you guys didn’t come back, he started acting really nervous. He got up right in the middle of our conversation and walked out without a word. I knew something wasn’t right.”
“Thank goodness you did,” Kari told her sister. “I’m not sure what his plan was, but he sure seemed ready to use that gun. How did you know he was in here with us?”
“When I came up the stairs, I heard you guys talking,” Kasi narrated. “I took off my shoes so he wouldn’t hear me, and I snuck up to the door. That’s when I heard what he was saying.”
She held up her cell phone. “I recorded his confession, by the way. Though I doubt we’ll need it since he confessed to one of Mills Township’s finest police officers.”
“Thanks, Kasi,” Hunter told her. “Can you go grab those cuffs? I need to call this in.”
“You bet!” Kasi replied, hurrying out of the room.
Kari looked at Hunter, who had his hands on Russell’s shoulders.
“Should we take him downstairs?” she asked. “Let the others know what’s going on?”
Hunter nodded. “Grab that gun,” he instructed her. “Hold it on him just in case he decides to try something.”
Kari picked up the gun, surprised at its weight.
I wonder if I should take some shooting classes, she considered. With the way things are going in this town, it might make sense.
Ten minutes later, Russell was safely cuffed, and Hunter had taken him to his car.
“I just can’t believe it,” Maddie said for the tenth time, wiping tears away. “Jake adored Russell. He was always talking about how much he appreciated him, and how he’d never be where he was without him.”
Andy shook his head, his jaw clenched. He hadn’t said a word since they’d brought Russell downstairs and revealed what he’d done.
Kari put a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry, Andy,” she told him gently.
“I’ve known Russell almost my whole life. He spent more time at our house growing up than he did at his own,” Andy recalled. “He was like a brother.”
He took a deep, shuddering breath. “And he thought nothing of killing Jake over a record contract.”
“He fooled us all,” Maddie commented, coming over to give him a hug. “We all thought he was a good guy, especially Jake. He was so trusting.”
“You just never know what people will do for money and fame,” Kari told them. “Maybe Russell was a good person at one point but being in the music industry changed him.”
“At least, now, he’ll get what he deserves,” Andy said. “And my brother never had to know about his betrayal. That, at least, we can be thankful for.”
Chapter 27
Kari
“I still can’t believe this,�
� Kari said to her sister.
It’s half an hour later, Pete Michaels and another Mills Township officer had just finished questioning them about what had happened in the upstairs bedroom.
“Have you heard from Hunter, yet?” Kari asked Pete. “I know I shouldn’t be worried, but I just want to make sure he got Russell back to the station okay.”
It had been a long and disturbing day, and the only thing Kari wanted to hear was that Hunter was safe and sound.
“I just got a call from him,” the other officer said. “Russell is safely behind bars, and Hunter is starting the paperwork, which I’m sure he loves.”
Kari smiled at him in relief. “Thank you so much for letting me know.”
She had wanted to accompany Hunter to the station, just to make sure he had a second pair of eyes in case Russell tried anything, but he hadn’t let her. She was sure he was already pretty upset that she’d had a gun pointed at her that evening, and he wanted to keep her as far away from the killer as possible.
“Was Russell even on your suspect list?” Kari asked Pete, curiously. “I mean, I never thought it could be someone so close to Jake. And Hunter didn’t seem to see him as a suspect, either.”
Pete gave her a sad shake of his head. “I don’t think I can really discuss the case until the paperwork is all done, and it’s officially closed,” he told her. “But I can tell you that this has really been a shock for all of us. When we catch killers, we don’t usually find them this close to home.”
“You can say that again,” Andy said from his seat on the couch. He had taken a framed picture of his brother from Russell’s mantel and was clutching it to his chest. “I’d like to say we can all be at peace now, but this is going to take me a while to process.”
Maddy, who was sitting on the couch next to him, put her hand on his arm.
“You know why we never suspected him, Andy? Because Jake was such an amazing person that he probably never knew Russell was walking around with a chip on his shoulder. He only saw the best in people. And that’s a good thing. I’m sure he was fully prepared to turn that contract down to keep the Fire Spitters together. It’s Russell’s fault that he chose not to believe in that.”
Black Coffee, Biscotti & Murder Page 12
