by W L Knightly
Lang walked by about that time.
“Hey,” said Jake, waving him over. “Rookie.”
“Damn, how long are you guys going to call me that? What do you need?”
“Keep an eye on Jo here.”
He looked at Jo with a lost-as-a-goose expression and shrugged. “Okay.”
“I’m right here, and I don’t need babysitting.”
“Yes, she does,” Jake told Lang before he kissed her forehead and walked away.
Sam caught up with him. “Is she going to be okay?”
“I think so. This is just weird for her, you know?”
Sam nodded. “Sure, I get it.”
Jake had a feeling he was upset about the kiss, so he pulled him aside. “Is this going to be weird with us now?”
“Ah, so the kiss did mean more than friendly support. Why didn’t you tell me you still liked her? It would have saved me some humiliation.”
“Sorry, I thought it wasn’t going to work, but now, I think it is.”
“Well, she’s a good girl, and no, it won’t be awkward. There wasn’t ever anything between us but friendship, and that’s how it’s going to stay. I know that. But if you ever hurt her, I’m liable to do to you what’s been done to her old man.”
They walked into the building where a light had already been pointed at the body of the senator. “Jesus,” said Jake. “He didn’t pull any punches this time.”
“When they found him, Holland and Duncan were first out here. Holland thought he looked like the senator, so he called the chief, and she came out. I thought something was strange about you two not being out here.” He followed Jake to the scene. “There is something else Kevin said you’re going to want to see.” He pointed toward the wall, where the word “nepotism, was spelled out.
“He finished the puzzle.” The word sent a chill up Jake’s spine. Surely, this wasn’t a threat to Jo. She was, after all, one of his children, one whom the senator had shown favoritism to by getting her a job. This could put a target on her back and cause a problem with the Feds as well.
All of the little lies and dirty dealings the senator had done to try and hide the truths of what he’d done in the department were bound to come to light. And he had to make sure that he and Jo were not left holding the blame.
Jake turned toward Michael Young’s body and held his breath. Not only did he reek, but it wasn’t as easy to see the man he knew was responsible for the Hangman’s fury get his comeuppance, after all.
“Damn, do you think he could have done any worse?” asked Jake. The senator’s insides were hanging out like he was a gutted animal, and there was so much blood, it looked like two or three murders had been carried out in one spot. “I’m surprised he’s still in one piece.”
Sam sighed. “For the most part.” He pointed across the room where one of Michael’s organs lay. “I think that’s his heart.”
Kevin was busy snapping photos of it, whatever it was. He turned toward Jake. “I’ll be shocked if you get another phone call,” he said. “He’s left you another letter.”
Jake glanced down at the bloody organ, which was most definitely Senator Young’s heart. “Guess he wants me to wait for it.” Jake knew the thing had to be processed with the heart on top of it.
“Actually, I’m processing it now. I want to see what the damned thing says as much as you do. How’s Jo? The chief told me this was her father.”
“She’s staying out of the way. I think she’ll be okay, but she’s taking it hard, as expected.”
Kevin carefully moved the heart and then picked up the blood-soaked letter. “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” he said, handing it to Jake.
Jake tore open the letter and read it aloud. “‘One more to go. Thought you’d be as shocked as I was. The asshole really did have a heart.’”
The two men exchanged a look, and Kevin shook his head at Jake. “He’s got a sick sense of humor, this one.”
“At least we know it’s him this time.”
“Without a doubt,” said Kevin.
“Excuse me,” said a voice from across the room. “Get out of my way.” The chief pushed her way through the other officers who were blocking the door to the building. She looked up at Jake and hurried over. “Where’s Jo?”
“She’s outside,” said Sam, who had been standing there quietly, looking over Jake’s shoulder at the letter. “She’s staying away.”
To Jake, it sounded as if the two had already discussed her not being allowed on the scene.
“She’s outside with Lang,” he said.
“Who?” asked the chief, clearly drawing a blank.
“The rookie,” said Sam.
And there it was. Recognition. “Well, be sure he keeps her away. I’m afraid she’s going to have to take a leave. Will you help me out and break it to her?”
“She’s aware,” said Jake.
“I’ll need you to come back full time, Jake. No more advisor. The Feds are going to be involved. I should have already called them, but I’m going to plead ignorance and say I needed to make a positive ID. We’ll tell them Jo confirmed it.”
“Jo is staying out of this, and as for me coming back? No, I’ll hang around as acting detective until you figure something out. I’m sure the FBI will want a team on this.”
Milner’s eyes shifted around nervously. “I’ll need you to fill them in on where the case is, and I’m sure they’re going to want to know why we know this man and why you haven’t brought him in yet.”
“That’s why you want me around, isn’t it? To deal with the shit end of the stick and take the blame. Well, it’s not going to happen, Milner. I told you I’m going out with my integrity, and that’s exactly what I mean to do.”
“Good, then you’ll be ready to explain this personal relationship you seem to have with the Hangman. I’m sure they’ll want to hear all about it.” She pegged him with a smug look.
Jake wasn’t going to be shaken. “Not nearly as much as why you allowed Jo to remain on the case and how you’ve been holding my paperwork.”
She took a deep breath, her shoulders swelling as an ugly look came over her face. “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to suggest that you stick around and help them.”
“I’ll stick around to make sure that the Hangman and our copycat pay. After that, and aside from that, you’re on your own.
Milner narrowed her eyes. “Make sure you don’t botch this scene.” She stormed out of the room, and Jake was left shaking his head.
“Crazy bitch,” he mumbled. She had only wanted him to stick around to take the fall if it all fell apart, but he wasn’t going to let it happen to him or Jo. The days of Michael Young running the show were over.
Kevin, who had moved his attention to the senator’s corpse, turned toward Jake. “The bastard removed his organs and reached in to pull out the heart. He’s fucking sick.”
“He’s waited for this for a long time. I’m sure he enjoyed it. I’ll have to take my own photos. Jo usually does it, but I’ll do my best. Give me a minute?”
Kevin nodded. “You got it.”
He needed to check on Jo, and he didn’t want to leave her waiting too long alone and wondering what was happening. He found her and Lang at the car, both watching everyone coming and going as the chief drove away.
“Did the chief see you?” he asked, wondering if the witch had stopped by to at least pay her respects.
“No, she stormed out like her ass was on fire. What’s going on?”
Jake took her by the arm and led her away from everyone, especially Lang, who didn’t look too happy about it. “She thinks I’m going to step in and cover her ass, but it’s not happening. I’ll cover yours if you want, but that’s as far as I can go. And I already told her I’m not coming back.”
“What did she say about me?”
“You’re out. She wants you to take a leave.”
“Who will run the investigation? The FBI?” She took a deep breath, and Jake c
ould feel her stress.
“We should have let them in a long time ago. God only knows what kind of corrupt asshole is waiting at the other end of this to make us look bad.”
Jo shook her head. “I’m not going to take the fall for them. I can tell you that. I’ll quit first. Ask for a transfer. Something.” Her voice raised with her anger.
Jake pulled her close. “Hey, don’t go talking that way. I’m not letting you go anywhere.” Her father’s death might have ruined their big moment, but he was ready to pick right back up where they’d left off, at a more appropriate time.
She held on to him, and it reassured him that she wanted to stay with him too. “I’m not. Unless you go with me.”
“We’ll talk about it later. I have to go in and take some photos. If you want to go home, I could have Lang bring you.”
“No, I want you to bring me. Will you stay the night?”
“Sure, we’ll go by my house when we’re done and see if we can’t salvage that pizza. I’ll grab some clothes, and I’ll stay as long as you want me to.”
She nodded, wiping her eyes. “Thank you.”
He hugged her and kissed her above her ear. “Start the car if you want,” he said, passing her the keys.
She stared at his hands, which were visible with all the lights illuminating the area. “Is that his blood or yours?”
“Shit, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She shook her head. “Just get everything you can.”
Jake kissed her one more time and hurried away.
Chapter 26
Jo
As she watched Jake hurry back into the building, she let out a long breath and turned to see Lang busy with a few of the other officers. She could hear her father’s name being mentioned and something about notifying the next of kin, and she had a pretty good idea they were talking about her.
She raked her hand through her hair, which was now dry, and wished she could go back a few days and get a redo, but that would mean she and Jake wouldn’t have had such a good day together. How could the best day of her life become the worst in a matter of minutes?
She couldn’t believe that her father was dead, his lifeless body in that building hanging from the rafters as she’d seen so many others before him. She couldn’t help but to imagine him there in her mind as she wiped away fresh tears.
She’d had such a hard relationship with her father that it was bound to end in tragedy. All of her life, she’d gone without him, and it didn’t seem fair to be this close to him now. She took a deep breath, the air choking out of her as she cried and wiped her eyes.
Lang walked over to the car. “Are you okay?” he asked. His voice was soft and quiet.
“I guess.” She couldn’t believe that she was going to have to tell her mother and wondered if Jake would call his wife, Brenda, or if someone else would. She didn’t want to be the one to tell Kyle, but a part of her thought maybe she should. They were never going to have a relationship as siblings, and she was never going to like him, but maybe she owed it to him.
“Can I get you something?” He looked around as if there might be something he could do. “I could go and find out whatever you need to know.”
“It’s fine. I have a pretty good idea of what it’s like in there.” She knew Jake would have told her if she needed to know anything else.
Lang leaned against the car and glanced her way, the red and blue flashing on his face in a circus of color. “I didn’t realize the senator was your father.”
“Yeah, not a lot of people knew it.” Jo doubted there was anyone left who didn’t know it anymore. At least on the force. Every person who walked by gave her quick looks as if she might fall apart on them if they looked at her too long.
She didn’t like the attention being on her and wondered if she should have just gone home. It wasn’t like she was doing any good there. She was useless. She’d gone from leading investigations to being laid off.
“Oh, man!” Lang slapped his leg as if he just had an idea. “Shit. Is that why you and Dannie don’t get along?”
Jo was confused. “Why do people think we don’t get along? I didn’t know there was a problem with her.” She shrugged, and then it dawned on her. “What does Dannie have to do with this? Don’t tell me she was sleeping with him too?”
Lang gave her an apologetic look. “No, she’s seeing your brother. At least, I assume he’s your brother. You do have one, right?”
Jo’s face paled. “What are you talking about?” She didn’t know how he knew about her brother or why he would think Dannie was seeing him.
Lang’s eyes widened as if he realized he’d said too much. “Shit, you didn’t know, did you? Fuck, forget I said anything. Maybe it’s a different senator. Aren’t there, like, more than one of them?”
Jo wasn’t going to let him squirm his way out of it. She pegged him with a hard look. “Tell me what you’re talking about. My brother, the asshole, is dating Dannie?” She couldn’t wrap her head around it, but now Dannie’s strange behavior made sense. She’d been fighting with an asshole boyfriend, and it was Kyle all along.
“Yeah, he’s supposed to be some kind of writer named Kyle.”
“My brother is not a writer. He’s a spoiled, dangerous dopehead who deserves to be in prison.” She couldn’t believe that Kyle was posing as a writer. But then, what did she know about him? Her father hadn’t told her anything. She figured he might have mentioned that.
“Wait,” said Lang. “Do you mean Dannie is in danger? Shit.”
“If she’s with my brother, she is.”
Lang began pacing, growing increasingly fidgety. “Shit.”
Jo couldn’t take it anymore. Her mind was going ninety miles a minute, and something had to give. “Why do you keep saying that? What do you know?”
Lang shook his head. “I know it’s weird, and maybe it’s nothing, but Dannie was talking to me about her friend who had been selling information to a publishing company. The friend was pissed off and venting to her about being scammed for the information. I don’t know. It sounded weird to me. Like Dannie was talking about herself.”
Jo’s face paled. “Shit.”
“Now you’re saying it,” said Lang. “You don’t think she would be stupid enough to sell information, do you? I told her it was a horrible idea and to stay clear of that kind of shit.”
There were a few things starting to click into place. Not only the heated phone call she’d overheard, but Dannie’s behavior had been out of control. “Remember when she came onto the crime scene when the prosecutor died? She did everything she could to see the body and the scene. We practically had to run her off. I thought it was strange at the time, but now, it makes sense. She needed information to sell. She needed to see the details of the crime.”
Lang shook his head in disbelief. “She’s a good girl, Jo. I know she can be kind of a bitch, but that’s because she’s fronting. I can’t see her doing any of that shit willingly, or even knowingly. Can’t you call your brother and find out what’s going on with him?”
That was not possible. She didn’t even want to call him and tell him their father was dead. “No, we barely know each other. We weren’t raised together.”
She thought of what Dannie had done, asking Jake questions about the case, and then how she told him that there had been crime on Trade Street. Someone had gotten beaten up. Just like her brother had been. That was too much of a coincidence to be ignored. And when Kyle found out what had happened to their father, he might just do more harm.
“Can you take me to her?” Jo knew she needed to get to her before Kyle found out.
Lang looked like she’d asked him to rob a bank with her and kill two people. “I don’t know. Jake wanted you to stay put.”
“And I think if we don’t get to Dannie and tell her what’s going on around here, she’s going to be in a lot of trouble. Possibly hurt or killed. My brother is a known murderer. He’s the reason the Hangman is doing this in the fi
rst place. He killed Madden’s family and got away with it.” Her brother had to be the one Dannie was giving information to. And if that were true, what would he want with it? To stage a copycat crime?
Lang was in shock and looking at her like she was nuts.
But all she could think about was how Kyle was from Olympia, and it stood to reason perhaps he knew Bodin somehow. “Did she ever say anything about Tate Bodin or Kendra Bodin?”
Lang’s face fell. “She might have.”
“When?”
He was a nervous wreck. “Last night when we boned. She said that she thought her stupid boyfriend was sleeping with the judge’s widow. I assumed she meant Bodin, you know? I mean, Mathews’s old lady is—well, she’s old. I wonder if those two planned something. Do you think the widow killed him? That she knew about it?”
“No, I don’t think that at all.” She thought her brother did. She looked down and felt her pocket, realizing she had the keys all along. She didn’t bother saying a word but walked over to Jake’s car and opened the door.
Lang ran over. “Whoa, you can’t just take off. Jake will kill me. And he might kill you for taking his car.”
“Then take me in yours! Or drive this one. I don’t care.” She just needed to get there, and she didn’t need him holding her back. “We have to get to Dannie now!”
She contemplated going to tell Jake what was going on, but with her father in there and him still working the scene, she couldn’t bother him. This was all she could do to help, and she knew she needed to act fast.
“Dannie could be with that asshole as we sit here arguing,” she said. “If he finds out what Madden did to our father, he could go ballistic.”
Lang took the keys. “Come on. I’ll drive. If he’s going to kill me, at least I’ll have a little fun first.” He got behind the wheel, and Jo ran around to the other side and got in. Before she could even get her belt on, Lang had the car turned around and was headed out onto the road. “Do you care if I put the pedal down?”
“She can take it,” she said. “Just don’t kill us both.”
