Murder In Louisiana Politics

by Jim Riley

  A slight nod.

  "Do you know who tried to kill Jimmy Gill? Who took a shot at him? Was it George Thomas?"

  Alicia nodded and shrugged her shoulders. She could feel the needle poking in her cheek.

  "You don't know much, do you?"

  Another shake of the head.

  "Unfortunately then, you're not much use to me."

  Paula pushed the needle further in and pressed the plunger with her finger. To her surprise, Alicia erupted from underneath, knocking Paula from her position on the bed and onto the floor. That's when Paula realized her mistake. There were not enough major blood vessels in Alicia's cheek for the poison to take an immediate effect.

  Alicia launched toward the table at the side of the bed. By the time Paula regained her balance, the widow pulled a pistol from the drawer. Paula leapt on Alicia's back and grabbed her hair, giving it a mighty yank.

  Both women fell back onto the bed. Paula held onto Alicia but found herself beneath the heavier woman. Alicia still held the pistol in her hand, but in the excitement of the moment, could not turn off the safety switch.

  Alicia pointed the gun over her shoulder right to the side of Paula's head. Before the assassin could react, she squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. Not even a click. She still had not disabled the safety.

  Paula reached into her pocket and pulled out a razor knife and flipped it open. The gun rose again and the assassin knew this time, the safety mechanism was off and the gun would fire. She reached the hand holding the razor knife across the throat of Alicia Philbin. When she brought it back across, there was the sound of air escaping and then gurgling.

  Blood covered Paula, still underneath the heavier dying woman. But she did not care. If anything, it added to the thrill of the moment. This was the first time Paula had killed another woman by slashing her throat, and she savored the moment.

  Chapter One Hundred Four

  Wednesday morning

  Central

  "I should have seen this coming," Niki mentally kicked herself.

  She stood right outside the bedroom of the former widow of Omar Philbin. The inside of the room was a bloody mess. When Niki peered inside, every cover and all the floor around the bed had dried or drying blood.

  "There is no way you could have anticipated this," Samson responded. "I sure as hell didn't."

  "But you're working on several dozen cases at one time. I'm supposed to be focused on this one."

  "You're dealing with a sociopath who is one of the smartest people I've ever seen."

  "That doesn't mean I should always let her get a one step ahead. Sometimes, I think she is more than one."

  "It's hard to think like a sociopath unless you are one. You don't qualify on that front," Samson said.

  "But she had already tried to kill Jimmy Gill and Kenny Long. Why didn't I think she would go after Alicia next?"

  "Because you're smarter than she is."

  "Thanks, but I don't feel so smart right now. I'm not sure you think so either."

  Two of the medical examiner's technicians rolled a gurney past Samson and Niki. It had a body bag with the remains of Alicia resting on top. Niki's somber mood got even worse. They remained quiet until the technicians closed the door to the coroner's vehicle.

  Niki shook her head and stared at the rear of the automobile.

  "Don't let it get to you," Samson said. "When I said you were smarter than Paula, I meant it."

  "How can you say that with a straight face?"

  "It's the only face I have." Samson's attempt to draw a smile from Niki did not work. "The evidence that you're ahead of Paula is you had already eliminated Alicia as a suspect in the death of her husband."

  "How do you know that?" Niki asked.

  "Because you weren't guarding her. If you thought she was responsible, you would have been staked out right outside her house. Since you weren't, I have to assume you're a step ahead of Paula in solving Omar's murder."

  "Alicia didn't hire the guy, the one who hired Paula. I'm sure of that."

  "See. That's what I mean about you being one step ahead."

  "I wish that made me feel better, but all it did was to get Alicia killed. Who found her?"

  "A security guy came around this morning. He said there was some sort of malfunction with the system last night."

  "My guess is that the malfunction was named Paula," Niki replied.

  "Me too. Anyway, he knocked and didn't get an answer. Then he noticed bloody footprints coming out of the house. He called us and two of my guys found Alicia in the bedroom."

  "The footprints won't help. We already know who she is. We just don't know where she is."

  "I figure that's why she was so careless about leaving them. It's almost like she's taunting us."

  "Not us," Niki shook her head. "Me. She knows I'm alive, and she is challenging me."

  Samson nodded. He started to comment and then changed his mind.

  "Go ahead and say it," Niki said. "You don't think I have a chance against her."

  "That's not what I was going to say," Samson responded. "I was going to say you have one big disadvantage. You play by the rules. Paula makes up her own rules as she goes along."

  Niki smiled for the first time since entering the house. She walked over and put it on halfway around the huge cop. It was as far as her arm could reach.

  "I will beat her. I don't know when, or how, but I will win."

  Chapter One Hundred Five

  "All right, guys. Paula beat us last night. We've got to beat her from now on," Niki said.

  She brought in lunch to the office for a working meal. It consisted of five po'boys from one of the local shops. The contents ranged from fried catfish to a turkey melt. She let Donna and Drexel choose two each, and she was left with a fried oyster sandwich.

  "How do we plan to do that?" Drexel asked.

  "We have to anticipate her moves, not only the obvious ones," Niki answered.

  "That's like trying to figure out when an old man is about to have a bowel movement," Donna said, winking at Drexel. "Sometimes it's four times on the same day, and other times it won't be for another four days."

  "At least, I eventually get it out, and I'm not full of it," Drexel responded.

  "Let's get the conversation out of the toilet," Niki said. "We need to try to save some lives."

  "Who do you think she'll go after next?" Donna asked.

  "I think there are four possibilities," Niki answered.

  "Four?" Drexel questioned. "I only count two, Kenny Long and Jimmy Gill."

  "I'm betting the third one is Chrissy Becker," Donna said. "If Paula went after Ms. Philbin, she'll probably go after Chrissy."

  "You're right," Niki agreed. "She is the third person on my list."

  "Who is the fourth?" Drexel asked.

  "Me," Niki said without a hint of a smile.

  Chapter One Hundred Six

  Donna eased into position on the knoll behind Jimmy's house. Earlier, she called Gill to let him know she would spend the night protecting him.

  Gill had tried to talk her out of it, saying he was now prepared to take care of himself and his family. He had at least one gun loaded and stashed in every room. The locks on the front and rear doors were replaced by commercial models.

  The windows were reinforced with heavy grating, embedded deep inside the walls. The door to the twins' room was protected on the inside with an iron rod spanning across its entire width.

  The alarm system was upgraded, and extended to the garage. It was so sensitive it was accidentally set off by a giant cockroach scurrying across the windowsill in the kitchen.

  The system served two purposes for Jimmy. The obvious was it prevented any unwanted intruder from entering the house. The other benefit was the system kept the twins inside the home. For them to try to escape was futile.

  Jimmy relented and told Donna he thought she was wasting her time but allowed her to take up a watch over the house. He invited her to spend t
he night on the couch in the living room, but Donna wanted to wait outside and see Paula coming.

  She found a nice rest against a large white oak tree affording an open view of Jimmy's backyard, and provided concealment at the same time. In her backpack, she had enough food to last three nights. Candy bars. Potato chips. Chocolate covered peanuts. Fudge. Honeybuns. All the healthy snacks she normally kept in her apartment.

  The chocolate bar with almonds disappeared first. Then she ate a couple of pieces of chocolate fudge. Finishing those, she regretted failing to include at least two bottles of milk. All she brought to drink were soft drinks and fruit juices.

  Chapter One Hundred Seven

  Drexel did not have as large a menu, but he had a thermos bottle full of Community dark roasted coffee. He did not add any sweetener or creamer, preferring the sharp taste of his favorite drink to keep him alert through the night.

  Kenny Long was more than willing to accept Drexel's offer to watch over him. His first encounter with Paula at the bar left him shaken. He realized he was extremely fortunate to be alive after those few minutes by the dumpster and did not look forward to another meeting with the attractive assassin.

  They decided the best place for Drexel to set up post was in the living room of the apartment. For Paula to get to Kenny's bedroom, she had to enter through the front door or climb to the balcony off the kitchen area and pass through the living area.

  Drexel attached a couple of small bells to each of the entrances and waited inside. He pulled a blanket over him, and munched on some beef jerky spiced with the Cajun seasoning. The hot spices exploded in Drexel's mouth with each bite. The only downside to this approach was the amount of water he drank to quench the heat and the subsequent number of trips to the bathroom.

  Kenny locked the door to his bedroom, and snuggled under the covers. His eyes remained wide open, and he finally turned on the television set on the dresser. An old Western, with John Wayne starring in the lead role, kept his mind off the pretty young lady with a nasty attitude.

  Chapter One Hundred Eight

  "But I don't want you here," Chrissy told Niki. "I don't want you anywhere around."

  "I believe you're in danger." Niki replied.

  "Why would I be in danger? I haven't done anything wrong."

  "Somebody hired a guy to kill Omar. That guy, Guido was his name, hired Paula. There aren't many people left alive who had the possibility. You are one of those people."

  "But I didn't do it," Chrissy pleaded. "I was in love with Omar. He was about to leave his wife, and we had a future together."

  "You may know this, and you might be able to convince others it's the truth, but nobody has convinced Paula yet."

  "But what about Kenny and Jimmy? Aren't they a lot higher on her list than me?"

  "Drexel and Donna are watching over them. A mouse couldn't sneak up on either one without my guys knowing about it," Niki argued.

  Chrissy seemed surprised. Her mouth was slightly open while she organized her thoughts. Niki could tell of the doll-like girl was facing unexpected danger and tried to make sense of it. This was not the first time Niki had seen a potential victim underestimate the ramifications of peril.

  "What can it hurt?" Niki asked.

  "I like my privacy," Chrissy answered.

  "I bet you like breathing more. You can temporarily give up one that will let you keep the other. The choice is yours."

  Chrissy rose from her seat and went to the kitchen. She returned with two identical glasses, each filled with the same level of ice tea chilled with three ice cubes. Niki had learned in a psychology class at Southeastern State University a person's parameters of neatness and order were greatly affected by the age they were potty trained. She suspected Kristi came out of the womb not requiring diapers.

  Niki accepted her glass and carefully placed it on a coaster beside the chair. Chrissy remained quiet, and Niki looked around the room. Everything was so symmetrical, each picture evenly spaced on the shelf. Each grape folded exactly the same on each side. All the pillows on the couch had a twin on the other end.

  Niki recalled Omar Philbin. He was anything but neat. Neatness was probably the last word she would have used to describe the overweight politician. She heard once people had similar characteristics as magnets. Opposites attracted. She wanted to submit the relationship between Omar and Chrissy as proof positive.

  "You said your people were watching Jimmy and Kenny?" Chrissy broke his silence with the statement in the form of a question.

  "Donna is with Jimmy, and Drexel is staying with Kenny. I have complete confidence in both."

  "But you decided to stay with me?"

  "That's true," Niki answered.

  "Hmm–" Chrissy took a polite sip of tea.

  "What are you thinking?" Niki asked.

  "You must think I'm in the most danger."

  Chapter One Hundred Nine

  Paula belly crawled the last fifty yards to the top of the knoll. After each incremental effort, she stopped and listened. When she crested the hill, she saw the home of Jimmy Gill. Her adrenaline rush throughout her small body, thinking about the sweet revenge she was about to deliver because of his deception.

  The assassin believed the video images of Niki Dupre with blood pooling around her body. She believed the television and newspaper reports of the private investigator's untimely demise. Paula had been fooled, and nobody got away with making her look foolish.

  That is why she chose to take Jimmy next. She did not believe he hired Guido, but that was no longer the reason she wanted him dead. Paula thought about several methods to accomplish the task.

  The first to come to her mind was to firebomb the house. The whole family was asleep, and if she started a blaze at every entrance, they would be trapped inside. She saw the bars on the windows to prevent her from entering. She smiled when she realized those same bars kept the Gill family from escaping.

  While tempting, Paula rejected the idea. Jimmy might not know she was responsible for the death of his entire family, but she wanted, no, she needed to see his face when he came to that conclusion. She needed to see his face when he understood the price of betrayal.

  Paula decided to get inside and inject the whole family with a sedative. Then she would tie them up before administering the antidote. Once awake, Paula decided to make Jimmy watch as she slowly tortured the precious twins before killing them.

  She was not sure about the steps of the painful acts. She might start by snipping off a few fingers. Our she might sliced their pretty faces with the razor knife. Our she might cut off an ear of one and make the other eat it. So many possibilities.

  The natural high she felt continued to soar as she considered the next couple of hours. Paula was almost giddy and that almost cost her dearly.

  Despite the images of horror she intended to inflict, the assassin heard the crinkle of a candy bar wrapper off to her right about thirty feet. Youngster was her first thought.

  Paula knew the employees of Wildcat Investigators. She also knew Niki and the older detective, Drexel Robinson, would never make that kind of mistake. It had to be the petite young assistant, Donna Cross.

  The assassin was a little surprised, but not much. Someone opposing her with the skills of Niki Dupre was no slouch. The surveillance of Jimmy's house was the same as Paula would have done.

  She had two options. The first was to simply back away and move on to her next target. The other was to eliminate the young girl and go on with her plans. There was a problem with the second choice.

  The ground between her position and Donna was open, offering no cover. It was also covered under a bed of dry leaves and branches, making a quiet approach impossible. Paula considered backing out on her belly and coming in from the other direction which offered more concealment. But that idea required several hours of belly crawling, and still contained the risk of exposure.

  Paula had little doubt Donna was armed and edgy in the dark night. That is why the young lad
y was eating candy bars. It gave her hands something to do, and it gave her mind something to think about instead of Paula. The assassin smelled the sweet aroma of chocolate from thirty feet away. Another rookie mistake.

  Paula decided to back away and choose another target. After she made the decision, the killer decided it was better, anyway. Jimmy would hear about the next death, and know he was somewhere on the list to die. Paula imagined the angst and anxiety every time he opened the door or every time he kissed the twins goodbye.

  Chapter One Hundred Ten

  Wednesday night

  Central

  Paula did not bother to try the front door of Kenny Long's apartment nor the rear entrance. Instead, she scaled the wall and stood on the balcony to his bedroom. The assassin remained still for several minutes before doing anything. She watched the apartments on either side, and kept a lookout toward the woods behind the apartment.

  She figured anyone guarding Long, whether Niki or Drexel, expected her to approach from the front parking lot. One of them was probably sitting in their vehicle trying to ward off sleep and watch the front door.

  Paula extracted a flashlight from her pouch. Unlike most pen-lights, this one had a red lens that made it more difficult to detect by an onlooker. She pointed the light at the sliding glass door leading to the balcony.

  It was the same type of door on thousands of balconies across South Louisiana. The lock itself was child's play. Anyone with a butter knife or a credit card could break it in a jiffy. Then Paula pointed the light at the base of the door and over onto the track where it was designed to slide when opening.

  She was not surprised by what she found. A broom handle the exact length of the track was lying in the bottom. This was an effective barrier against the door being slid open by an intruder. For most intruders, this simple measure was a game-changer. It stopped them cold in their tracks.