Tatum grabbed a tissue box from the bathroom and they all blew their noses.
“When will you know more?” Tatum asked.
“As soon as Cal picks me up. He’s going to the coroner’s office now.”
“Cal...” Tatum said in a leading tone. “Why don’t you tell us what’s going on between you? We could use some happier news right now.”
“He kissed you,” Catherine said. “Are you finally getting over Ryan?”
“That was a nice kiss, too,” Tatum said with a sniffle but she had to tell them something.
“We sort of...started...you know.”
“You slept together?” Catherine said, looking thrilled.
“Who needs to ask that?” Tatum said. “Didn’t you see the way he kissed her?”
“There’s more,” Jaslene said. She might as well get this over with. Once she had her friends’ rapt attention, she said, “I’m pregnant.”
Both women made sounds of excitement. Catherine let out a long, “Ooh!” Tatum shrieked and went to her, bending down for a hug.
“That’s so wonderful!”
“I hoped you’d have children with Ryan,” Catherine said. “I’m so happy for you.”
“When is the wedding?” Tatum asked.
“Uh...” Jaslene went back to the sofa and sat. “We didn’t exactly plan on this.”
“Of course you didn’t but from the looks of it, you two are meant for each other anyway.” Tatum went to a chair and sat. Catherine took the other chair.
They did have chemistry but that wasn’t enough to last a lifetime with someone...or was there something more between them?
“You don’t seem sure.” Catherine examined her face.
“I’m not, really.”
“Do you still feel guilty about that guy who kissed you before Ryan died?”
Jaslene was struck suddenly with the realization that she didn’t. Baffled, she had to take a few seconds to gather herself. She hadn’t even thought about Ryan since having sex with Cal. Why? The answer slammed her almost instantly. Being with Cal felt right when she wasn’t analyzing all the reasons why they might not work.
“It took you two years to get over that,” Catherine said.
“No, to find the right man,” Tatum interjected.
Tatum might have a point. Maybe it had taken a man who made her feel the way Ansel had. Except Cal made her feel much more than Ansel, which gave her a flash of a different kind of guilt over her marriage with Ryan. Had she not loved him at all?
“We don’t mean to make you feel bad, Jaslene, especially now, with the news about Payton.”
Jaslene looked at Tatum. “I don’t. I just realized I never knew what love was until...” She stopped.
Love?
“I mean, Ryan and I were close, but we were friends. We respected each other and enjoyed each other’s company, but we didn’t have that spark.”
Catherine and Tatum stared at her.
“I don’t love Cal,” Jaslene said.
They continued to stare, Catherine taking a drink of her iced tea and eyeing her dubiously. And maybe with a little envy? Jaslene wondered.
* * *
Cal had to wait for the coroner, but finally the medium-height man with eerie blue eyes sunk into their sockets appeared with an equally strange smile. He’d always thought coroners would have to be a bit of the odd sort to do what they did.
“Detective Chelsey.” His voice boomed with friendliness.
Cal shook Dr. Kenney’s hand. If ever there was a case where a man’s look contrasted with his personality, this was it.
“I heard you left the department.”
“Yes. I went private.”
“I heard that, too. I’ve worked with another former detective from your agency before. Quite an impressive group you are.”
“Thanks. I’m hoping you’ve got something impressive for me today.”
“Yes, yes. Come with me.”
Cal walked beside the long-striding expert in pathology down a hall toward two metal doors.
“The body was mildly decomposed, preserved enough in the neck and head area to determine the cause of death.” The doctor pushed open a door and Cal the other.
The open room looked sterile beneath blinding bright lights, metal and white tile grabbing the eye first, particularly the embalming tables. Shelves packed with supplies ran the far wall, and a counter with drawers must have contained all the sharp objects.
“She was put inside a plastic wrapping, like the kind you see at construction sites.” The doctor pulled out a refrigerated drawer to reveal a body inside a white cloth. “Her killer must have dumped her in a deep part of the river where the temperature stayed relatively consistent.” He pulled back the cloth.
Cal had seen many dead bodies but had difficulty every time. This body had once been a lively, beautiful woman with a productive life and a future that should have never been taken from her. The discolored, bony object on the rollout table resembled nothing of that person. She had become evidence. In death, she’d help him catch her killer by speaking from the grave, as it were.
He noticed the markings still partially visible on her deteriorating neck.
“There were rope fibers embedded in what’s left of her skin,” the doctor said. “They’re being examined by Forensics, but I think they’ll match the rope tied to her ankles and a cement block.” Reaching over to a counter, he picked up a report and handed it to him. “That’s your copy.”
Cal’s detective contacts must have arranged for this. He skimmed through the sections. “He strangled her with the rope he used to sink her body?”
“That’s my assessment.”
It was a good one.
“Was she murdered at the river?”
“Definitely not. The lividity is more prominent on her rear and back than what I found on her right side.”
The body had been moved. Payton had been lying on her back after she died and then placed onto her right side afterward. How had the killer managed to strangle her and transport her to the river? Had she met him at the park where Payton’s car had been found? Cal doubted she’d gone there herself. She was either forced or taken there after she was killed.
Murdering someone in a public park would be risky. Payton had likely been murdered at her home. For that to occur, the killer would have had to drive her car to the park, which meant there had to have been another vehicle waiting. The killer could have left his vehicle and walked to Payton’s house to kill her. She didn’t live far from there.
“She floated to the surface when her feet separated from the rope. This can happen during decomposition.”
The crime scene detectives must have found the block and rope. “How do you know the rope was attached to her feet?”
“There were fragments still around a portion of one of her ankles.” The doctor showed him the area of Payton’s ankles, or what was left of one of them. “Forensics has all the evidence. You’ll get a copy of the report.”
“Good. I’ve seen enough. Thank you, Doctor.”
“I’d say it was my pleasure. Unfortunately, I am not the bearer of good news.”
“In my case it is. I have a body. Now I can catch the killer and put him away for life.”
“I appreciate the optimism. I’ll show you out.”
Cal left the coroner’s office and decided to drive the distance between the park and Payton’s house. He reminded himself that police records said no one saw another car in the parking lot at that time. Payton’s car had been left there between 8:00 and 10:00 p.m., based on her estimated time of death.
At the park, he sat in his vehicle and studied the surroundings. Someone walked their dog along the sidewalk. Two moms watched from a bench as their kids played in the playground.
Across the street three houses had a good view of
the park. Cal got out of his SUV and walked to the sidewalk. He searched all around him, checking out the houses farther down from the park.
As he neared the corner of Payton’s street, he reached a house with a security sign. Stopping when he spotted motion detectors, he looked for cameras. There was one on the front porch. Walking back up the sidewalk, he turned and walked the same path, this time watching the camera. A tiny red light came on as he passed.
Cal walked up the driveway to the porch and rang the bell. A dog barked and then he heard a woman say, “No.”
The door opened a crack to reveal a green-eyed, short-haired blonde in a white sweater and jeans. He could smell her perfume already. Cal opened his wallet to show her his identification, stating he was a private investigator with Dark Alley Investigations.
“My name is Calum Chelsey. I’m a private detective investigating a murder. May I ask you some questions?”
“Me?”
“Payton Everett went missing seven months ago from the park up the street. We think the killer may have walked by your house the night she disappeared.” He looked up at the camera. “I saw that you have surveillance.”
The door opened wider and the woman looked from the camera to him. “Seven months ago is a long time. I don’t know if my husband keeps the recordings that long.”
“May I have a look?”
“It would be better if you came back when he’s home.”
“Of course. When will that be?”
“He usually comes home from work by about five thirty.”
“Thanks. I’ll come back then.”
Cal left the porch and walked back toward his SUV. If he was right and the killer parked his car before walking to Payton’s house to murder her, the security surveillance would be a huge break in the case. He needed some luck. He hoped like hell those residents hadn’t deleted any recordings.
Chapter 14
Cal arrived back at Tatum’s house. The moment he stepped out of his SUV, he knew something was wrong. The front door was open and he heard screaming. He looked for the man he had asked to watch over Jaslene and saw that Detective Kennedy was not in his car.
Drawing his gun, he ran to the door and cautiously entered. Tatum and Catherine stood huddled with Jaslene in front of the fireplace as a masked man aimed a gun at them. His back was to Cal. He must have just surprised them.
Jaslene looked terrified. Cal forced himself to remain calm. If anything happened to her, he would be so angry.
In the kitchen the detective watching the house was lying on the floor, blood pooling beneath him.
Tatum saw Cal and he hoped the shift of her eyes hadn’t given away his presence. Jaslene might have seen him but she didn’t reveal so. The masked man blocked Catherine’s view.
“You’re coming with me,” the man said to Jaslene.
Cal approached in stealthy silence. Reaching the man’s back, he pressed his gun to the side of his head.
“Drop it or I’ll splatter your brains,” he told the masked man.
The villain froze and slowly lifted his hands, the gun still in one hand.
The women dispersed, Tatum and Catherine rushing around the man and into the kitchen, where Cal hoped they would help Detective Kennedy. Jaslene took the pistol from the masked man.
“Turn around,” Cal told the man.
He did, slowly. He was a big man, the same height as Cal. Jaslene scurried farther away, joining Tatum and Catherine. He heard Tatum calling 911.
Cal reached up and pulled the mask off, ruffling his thick, wavy black hair. The man’s dark eyes pinned him with emotionless patience. Cal didn’t recognize him but he could see he was a professional. The way he stood there unfazed, as though waiting for an opportunity, told him as much.
Cal stepped back and out of reach. “Who sent you here?”
The man didn’t respond.
“Who is paying you?” Cal demanded.
“He was going to take Jaslene,” Catherine had appeared from around the corner, sounding as though she’d caught her breath from the fright she and the other women had just gone through.
“What then?” Cal asked the man. “Were you hoping to lure me and kill us both?”
The man remained silent.
“We all know you didn’t come here for a social visit. None of these women invited you. Who hired you?” Cal didn’t expect an answer. “Riley Sawyer?”
The man continued to meet his eyes.
“Dr. Benjamin?”
“He didn’t tell me his name,” the man said.
Progress. “Oh, then how did he find you?”
“I don’t know. He called me one day and asked me to meet him. I did.”
“And agreed to what?”
The man didn’t answer.
“How much is he paying you?”
Nothing.
“Come on. I’ve got enough right now to put you away. You were armed and you’re an intruder. You were going to kidnap Jaslene. Those are some serious charges.”
“You aren’t a cop.” He lowered his hands shoulder height.
So he’d been told enough about him and Jaslene to know Cal wasn’t a detective any longer. “I don’t have to be. Look, you can make this a lot easier on yourself if you talk. Do you really want to protect someone you don’t even know? You’re going to jail. For how long depends on how cooperative you are. What did he want you to do?”
The man seemed to waver. “He wants you and the girl dead.”
“And you’re the man he hired to do that?”
“I didn’t say that.”
If Riley wanted revenge, he might have hired this man to bring Cal and Jaslene somewhere where he could dole out his form of justice. The only problem with that theory was that Riley apparently didn’t care whether anyone knew it was him who came after Cal and Jaslene. The person who hired this man cared about not being identified. Why would Riley hire someone when he’d already been seen trying to kill them? Besides, Riley wasn’t wealthy. Benjamin was.
“What’s your name?” Cal asked.
The man moved his hands lightning fast and produced a knife from his waist. Cal blocked his attempt to swing and kicked the man backward.
He had his aim restored as the man stumbled. Jaslene appeared from the kitchen, still holding the gun.
The man regained his balance as Catherine screeched and tried to veer out of the way. The man grabbed her to use as a shield.
No way was another bad guy getting away from him. He was sick of them getting the better of him. And he would stop at nothing to protect the women, especially Jaslene...and their unborn child.
“Don’t do it,” Cal ordered. “I will shoot.”
The man started to haul Catherine so she’d be backed up against him.
Cal fired before he could, putting a hole in the man’s shoulder. He yelped, dropped the knife and went down.
Going to the man, he kicked the knife away and kept his gun trained on his head. “Move. Give me an excuse.”
The man held his hands out. Cal crouched and patted his body and found another pistol in his boot. Tossing that where the knife lay, he straightened. The man held his shoulder, grimacing.
Sirens grew louder outside. He looked up to see Jaslene with one arm around Catherine, aiming the pistol at the man, looking brave. He was so proud of her.
Cal went to her and touched her face with his palm. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
He looked to Catherine. “How about you?”
“I’m okay. Really glad you showed up when you did.”
“Keep the gun on him.” Cal rushed into the kitchen, where Tatum knelt beside Detective Kennedy, pressing a cloth to his shoulder. He had begun to regain consciousness. Cal saw that he must have hit his head on the table as he fell.
The police
and paramedics arrived. Cal got out of the way so the paramedics could work on Kennedy.
Then, seeing police had control of the would-be abductor, he went to Jaslene and took her into his arms.
* * *
All Jaslene wanted to do was go home, take a bath and cuddle with Rapunzel, but Cal told her about the security camera and she had to keep going for a little while longer. She couldn’t believe how close she had come to being kidnapped. And probably killed. It wasn’t only her she had to protect. She had a baby, too. That thought alone had been the most terrifying during her ordeal. It had also been the thing that made her pick up the gun. She would have shot that masked man if she had to.
Right now she stood beside him at the door of the house where he’d stopped earlier. A man with a brown, neatly trimmed mustache answered.
“Detective Chelsey?”
“Yes.”
“My wife told me you stopped by.” He opened the door to allow them inside. “I’m not sure I’ll be any help but you’re welcome to take a look at the photos on file.”
He kept them? Maybe they’d run into some luck tonight. Excitement perked her up. This was getting exhausting.
He led them through the house and into an office.
The man stood aside at the desk where a computer screen displayed a file folder.
“My wife told me the missing woman you’re looking for is Payton Everett. She lives around the corner from us. I opened the files for the day she went missing. Nothing stood out to me but maybe you’ll see something I didn’t.”
Cal sat at the computer and began opening files. Jaslene remained standing to his right and watched him go through the files. A courier had delivered a package that day and two people walking their dogs passed by. A man passed by.
“Can I make copies of these?” Cal asked.
“Of course.”
He took a flash drive from his front shirt pocket, having put it there hoping he’d be able to use it. After saving the file, he viewed the open one closer, magnifying it.
“It’s hard to see his face,” Jaslene said.
The man was too tall to be Riley and wore a hoodie and jeans. She could think of only one other man this could be, but they would both need proof.
Cold Case Manhunt Page 17
