by PJ Fernor
“Not good enough.”
“I know that. That’s why I’m trying to add your sister’s murder into the charges.”
“What?” I asked.
“I have no idea if it can happen,” Johnny said. “But I’m trying. If we can pull together the evidence and connect it, he will be charged with your sister’s death. It’s not all going to just disappear. He’s not going to walk. He’s not going to have his old life back. Even being locked up, his old crew or whatever you want to call them, they want nothing to do with him. He’s on his own now. He’s paying for his crimes.”
I slowly sat down.
My mind raced back to the night I got the phone call about Alex.
I had been getting ready to go out on a date.
Of all things… me on a date with someone.
Hearing the words that Alex was gone…
Suddenly thrown into the role as the caretaker for Lo.
On top of that, my job being so dangerous…
“I’m right here, Allie Down,” Ben whispered as he crouched down and touched my arm. I watched him look at Johnny. “We’re both here.”
“I know,” I said. “I appreciate the help, Johnny. To get answers. To know that he’s going to pay for it.”
“And he is, Allie,” Johnny said. “We’re used to being on the other side of this conversation, you know? We catch the bad guys and tell the good guys that they can move on. I guess it’s not that easy.”
“No, it’s not,” I said. “He sits in jail and… Alex is still gone. Lo still has no mother.”
“You know what?” Ben asked. “It’s sucks. It really sucks.”
I took a deep breath. I put my hands to my desk and stood up.
“Okay,” I said. “That’s that.”
“It’s not that easy,” Ben said.
“For now, it is,” I said. “We have a murder to solve. Two murders. Two murders that took place in my town. On top of that, Mayor Jim is driving me insane.”
“Want me to scare him?” Johnny offered.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Ben said.
“He’s not going to back down from this parade,” I said. “It’s all political. We’ll handle it as it comes.”
There was a knock at my office door and Muldavey appeared.
“Muldavey,” I said. “Please tell me you have something about the case?”
“No,” he said. “But Mayor Jim is back. He knows you’re busy in here, but he wants to talk.”
“About?”
“The parade route,” Muldavey said.
“Oh, this guy,” Johnny said. “I’m going to get a parade route that goes off a cliff. And he’s the only one in the parade.”
“I second that one,” Ben said.
“I’ll be right down,” I said to Muldavey. “Give him some coffee and put him in my old office.”
“You’re a better person than me, Allie Down,” Ben said.
“I know I am,” I said. “For right now, I have to move forward. I have a lot to process and think about. I appreciate the help with everything. At least I know the guy who killed my sister is in jail. I didn’t get to catch him and cuff him. It’s going to bother me that he ended up killing two other people. Maybe if I did more and caught him sooner…”
“Don’t do that,” Johnny said. “You can’t control time and fate.”
“There is one thing I can control,” I said.
“What is that?” Ben asked.
“I’m not done with Calvin,” I said.
“What else do you want?” Johnny asked.
“I still want to see him face to face.”
Chapter Forty
BEN
Stuck alone in Allie’s office with Johnny Barby.
I kept the thought to myself, all things considered with what had just happened with Allie.
She left the office to go deal with Mayor Jim for the second time that morning.
All I wanted to do was get her a coffee and make her go home and sit on the couch with a movie.
That wasn’t Allie.
No way.
She kept moving because it was her way of surviving.
I loved her for it.
To my left, Johnny stood there.
After a minute of total silence, he took his phone out of his pocket and started messing around with it.
Then he let out an oohhh sound.
He turned the phone around. “What do you think of her?”
On the screen was a pretty woman in a sundress and very large hat.
“Who is that?”
Johnny looked at his phone again. “It says… Christine. So, yeah, that’s Christine.”
“You don’t know who she is,” I said.
“Hey, we’re not all as lucky as you, Ben. Being single in this world is tough.”
“I’m sure Christine will be a one-date event for you?” I asked.
“You never know,” Johnny said with a wink.
“You know, she’s not going to stop.”
“Who’s not going to stop? Christine? You think I’ll impress her that much?”
“I’m talking about Allie.”
“Oh. Right.” Johnny slipped his phone into his pocket. “Talk to me, Ben.”
“She’s not going to stop until she faces Calvin,” I said. “I know it.”
“I know it too.”
“Can it happen? Can she face him?”
“I can do my best to make arrangements,” Johnny said. “I have a lot of calls to keep making.”
“I don’t know what happens then.”
“She has to find her sense of closure, Ben. I don’t know what that is. Neither do you. She probably doesn’t either. It’s like being a kid. Waiting for Christmas. Remember those days, Ben? The month leading up to it. Even before. You think about everything. The lights, the presents. You hope for snow and no school. Even in school, all the activities. Right? Then comes Christmas morning and you don’t know what to do. It might be great, it might be boring, and then it’s all over. Think about waking up the day after Christmas. The week after. Going into a new year. Winter. Cold. Snow. Right?”
“You’re comparing Allie’s sister’s death to Christmas.”
“I might not be good at making examples, but I’m making my point.”
“And I’m making a point too, Johnny. She’s not going to let this go. She’s going to have to face Calvin.”
“As I said, I already know.”
We fell silent again.
“Should we talk about this case?” Johnny asked. “Claire and Candice?”
“Sure,” I said. “Let’s talk.”
“Who did it?”
“Well, Johnny, let me go grab my crystal ball. We’ll turn off the lights. Light some sage. And I’ll find out in a minute. How’s that sound?”
“You know, Ben, kind of knowing you, it wouldn’t surprise me if you did burn sage.”
“I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean,” I said.
Johnny grinned. “Neither do I.”
“What are your thoughts on David, Drew, and Greg?”
“I don’t think it was them. I know Allie talked herself out of it a few times. It all checks out. At least with the notes it does. That means either we have a murderer and someone playing pranks. Or the obvious isn’t so obvious.”
“There was a lot of emotion with the five of them,” I said. “David wanted to protect his wife.”
“He had personal doubts.”
“That’s good motive.”
“I looked into his eyes, Ben. He confessed ten times over out of guilt. He wanted us to blame him because he let her leave that night.”
“Drew and Greg,” I said. “They have records.”
“Yes, they do.”
“Violent men.”
Johnny shook his head. “The problem now is time. Are we wasting time looking in the wrong direction?”
“Or you and I could go in different directions,” I said. “That would solve a lot of proble
ms.”
“Start walking, Ben.”
“This is my town. I think you’re the one who needs to walk.”
“I can’t leave without saying goodbye to Allie first,” Johnny said.
He added a cocky wink a second later.
I envisioned Allie stepping back into her office to find Johnny and I beating the heck out of each other.
“So we’re all on the same page then,” Johnny said. “We can keep David, Drew, and Greg on the side. Have them looked into. That’s fair enough. But for these murders… this was planned but not.”
“How so?”
“Someone wanted to do this. Maybe for a while. They kept waiting and waiting.”
“Like an animal waiting to attack.”
“Exactly,” Johnny said. “Sadly, those two women were the ones who were there. If anything, two women probably got him even more excited. Two people to kill. You figure that Claire and Candice were talking, deep in an emotional conversation…”
“Their guard completely down,” I said.
“Then boom,” Johnny said.
“Tough to think about sometimes. You know?”
“I can keep it separate in my mind.”
“With women?”
“We all cope in our own way, Ben,” Johnny said. “Speaking of which… I better send Christine a message.”
“Have at it,” I said.
I walked across the office to the door and opened it.
I waited for Johnny, who finally took the hint after sending a message to his possible new date.
We exited the office and I pushed opened the door to go downstairs.
We were in perfect silence, which was fine by me.
At least it was silent until we heard a scream.
The scream came from Allie.
Chapter Forty-One
If I hadn’t screamed, I would have punched the mayor right in the face.
I should have known better than to scream though.
Mayor Jim inched his way back from me.
Seconds later, both Ben and Johnny came rushing from the second floor to see if I was hurt, or worse.
“What’s going on?” Ben asked.
“Him,” I said, pointing to Mayor Jim.
“I’ll handle him,” Johnny said.
He lunged for Mayor Jim.
Mayor Jim made a karate chop motion through the air and turned.
He looked half ready to fight Johnny Barby.
That would have been interesting to see, even if it was an unfair fight.
Mayor Jim was not made for fighting. At least, not physically.
“What happened?” Ben asked.
“He’s driving me crazy,” I said.
“We were discussing plans,” Mayor Jim said. “And, you need to back off.” He pointed to Johnny. He moved his eyes back to Ben and me. “I think Allie was just excited.”
“This is not a game, Jim,” I said. “Two women were killed in this town. Now you want to expand the parade? Turn it into a week of festivities?”
“Not a chance,” Ben said. “I’m stepping in.”
“Look, we all need this,” Mayor Jim said. “We all… the town… I need this.”
“Politically,” Johnny said.
“Listen, friend, go get some coffee,” Mayor Jim said. “This isn’t your town.”
“We cannot have more attention than we already do,” I said.
“See, the way I look at this whole thing is that we’re in it together,” Mayor Jim said. “Imagine two people in a boat. Each with an oar. If they don’t row together, they get nowhere. That’s us.”
“Want to know where I’d shove the oar you’re using?” Johnny asked the mayor.
Mayor Jim laughed. “I’ve been threatened with worse.”
“How are we in this together?” Ben asked.
“Don’t…,” I started to say but stopped.
“Thanks for asking,” Mayor Jim said. “This town has been through a lot. I’ve fought hard to protect everyone. Just as hard as Allie is doing to clean up the messes. It doesn’t look so good when a small town like this is overrun with issues. Now, I didn’t cause the issues. Neither did Allie. The people who caused those issues are gone. But the perception stays. What we need to do is stand together and show everyone our town is okay. And that we will be okay.”
“Which we can do after we figure out who killed Claire and Candice,” I said.
“Come on,” Mayor Jim said with a smile. “Do you think some killer is going to go wild during a parade?”
“Do you really want that chance taken?” Ben asked. “What happens if something goes wrong? During your magnificent parade? Huh?”
“I’m not worried,” Mayor Jim said.
“You should be,” I said.
“Makes no sense why you’re not worried,” Johnny said.
“It does to me,” I said. “He’s pushing it all on us. He wants us to have as much police presence as possible. So if something goes wrong, he looks to us.”
“I would never do that,” Mayor Jim said. “But I need everything to go smooth. Let’s let things quiet down the best they can. Let things play out. Okay? We all benefit from this, Allie. You know how I feel about you and this department. About this town. It serves the interest of everyone that I continue to be mayor of this town. We’re in a transition period. The last thing anyone needs is drastic change.”
“This is all political,” Ben said. “It only benefits you.”
“Believe me, Ben, it doesn’t,” Mayor Jim said. “Allie knows I’m right about that. Us working together and having this relationship is a good thing.”
“Your demands for this parade negates that,” I said.
“Just think about the coverage,” Mayor Jim said. He began to sell his vision once again. “This small town, embraced by the colors and weather of fall. Everyone will want to do a story about it. About us. We can control the story too. Show the reality that we want everyone to see.”
“While we’re working on a murder case?” Ben asked.
“That’s our business,” Mayor Jim said.
“Until some smart reporter snoops and finds out the truth,” I said.
“That’s the thing… oh well,” Mayor Jim said. “Our town has a recent history. Now we’re fixing it. The people here are happy. The kids are getting dressed up.”
“I can’t hear any more of this,” Johnny said.
He walked away.
I was a little jealous of him for being able to walk away.
I, sadly, was stuck with Mayor Jim.
“I thought we had an understanding, Allie,” Mayor Jim said.
“We did, Jim. You keep changing the story. I said I would do my best to help with the parade. Priority number one for me is this murder case. There’s no way I’ll change that.”
“I agree,” Mayor Jim said. “That’s the thing. I agree with it all. I just have to do what I have to do here.”
“So do we,” Ben said.
He and Mayor Jim had a quick stare down.
My mind wandered for a moment.
I hadn’t had a second to myself to process the truth about my sister. That the man who killed her was in jail for killing two other people in the same fashion.
And now I had the mayor on my back again.
In a way, I could see his point of view.
But…
“I’m done talking about it,” I said. “There are no more changes allowed. This will not be a week-long event. We can’t do it. If we solve this case before then, that’s a different story. But every second I spend standing here talking to you, Jim, it’s a wasted second. Someone is out there. Someone who killed Claire and Candice.”
“Right,” Mayor Jim said. “I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page. This benefits us all. This is my way of suggesting you look beyond today and tomorrow. Look beyond this case. I’m not saying the case isn’t important. I’m just… yeah, you know what? Fine. I’m playing the political long game here. Mayb
e I’m just trying to show you how to do it too, Allie. You’re in a political position running this department. Whether you like it or not, that’s the truth.”
“I think I’ve had enough truths for one day,” I said.
I glanced at Ben and walked away from him and Mayor Jim.
Outside, I took a deep breath of the cool, fall air.
I walked to my SUV, half telling myself to go find somewhere to get a coffee to sit and think.
That, however, wasn’t going to be an option for me.
Because there was another note on my windshield.
Chapter Forty-Two
AT LEAST SHE’S NOT DEAD YET
The note was written in big letters, traced over a few times to make the black ink extra bold.
It was the same handwriting as the previous notes.
I shook my head as my heart leapt up into my throat.
I took a few deep breaths.
Whoever this was, they knew how to slip these notes without getting caught. Or seen.
The cameras outside the station didn’t help at all because the person wore all black.
My gut reaction had me wanting to tell everyone in a uniform to get out there and find the guy. And everyone who wasn’t working, get in and get to work.
That wasn’t how investigations worked though.
A move like that would leave the killer watching with glee. Watching me panic and make quick decisions. The hardest thing to do was to stay calm, patient and stay focused.
However, this letter had a different tone to it.
I read it again and grabbed my phone to call Ben.
“Allie?” Ben answered.
“I’m outside. There was another note. Get out here now.”
I hung up and stood there.
Ben and Mayor Jim came rushing out of the station together.
Ben put the brakes on, putting a hand to Mayor Jim’s chest. Whatever he said to Mayor Jim must have been effective because Mayor Jim showed his hands and retreated back to his fancy vehicle to leave.
From the corner of my eye I saw Johnny approaching me.
He and Ben arrived at the same time.
“What’s going on?” Johnny asked.
“Where were you?” Ben asked.