by W L Knightly
“And I’m leaving town. As a matter of fact, I’m on my way out as soon as possible. If you and the detective here would have just let me go, I wouldn’t have had to delay my plans in the first place and would already be out of the city, safe and sound.” He didn’t seem pleased that the only reason she wanted to see him was to question him.
“Then let us not waste another moment of your time. Safe travels, Father.” Jo got up from her seat, leaving the wine untouched and the chair pushed out as she bailed.
Jake stood from the table, but the senator wasn’t done with him. “I see the way you look at her and let me just warn you. The Hangman will look like the Easter Bunny if I catch you fucking her.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I already know what you’re capable of, Senator Young. Good thing I’m not afraid of you.” He turned and headed out to catch up with Jo.
Chapter 12
Jake
As they got to the car, Jo paced near the door before Jake could get it open. “Did you hear him? Such attitude. He is such an asshole.”
Jake opened her door and closed it when she got inside. By the time he got around the car, she was already griping before he even opened his door. “You know I can’t hear you when you’re shut up in here?”
She waved her hand dismissively. “It doesn’t matter. You don’t want to hear my vile words about him anyway. He just makes me so crazy every time I see him.”
“I bet. But did you hear what he said? Casey is K.C. That means we need to go back down to the records and look again. I know I saw a Killian, Kellan, something with a K. I say we check them out first. Your father might have just spared us some work.”
“Well, at least he’s good for something.”
“Of course he is, a job and an alibi.”
“Be serious, Jake. As a matter of fact, let’s just stop talking about him.”
“I’m game.” He started the car, and Jake drove out of the lot and accessed the main road back across town.
Jo appeared uneasy next to him. “Hey, are you okay? You know you don’t really have to stop talking about him if you don’t want to. You look like you’re about to cry.”
“I guess I’m just so angry. It’s sinking in that he really did help my brother. It makes me wonder what else the two of them are capable of.”
“When you’re capable of murder and covering it up, there’s not much you wouldn’t do. You’ve been in the job long enough to know that.”
“I guess I just wanted to see the best in him. Not that there is a best.”
“Think of it this way. You got to live a normal childhood with a great mother, I assume, and you didn’t have to grow up under his influence. You might not have ended up on the right side of things otherwise.”
“Ugh, there is no way I’d want to be anything like him; like either of them. And my mom was great. She and I had our differences at times, but we’re still on good terms even though I rarely see her anymore.”
Jake remembered her telling him something about her mother having a boyfriend and living abroad, and while he knew she and her mother got along, he knew it was far from perfect, and it was probably not good to elaborate. But a house of cards would look stable next to her father.
He changed lanes and took the next exit, slowing down to make the next right. He found his usual parking area near the station and found a space. Then, the two headed across the street, waiting on the busy traffic before crossing. Once on the other side, they went into the courthouse and to the records room, where they signed in again and then went to the stack he had looked at before.
He skimmed the names, but Jo jumped ahead, her eye catching it before his did. “There it is! Kellen Madden.” She went to the nearest desk and grabbed a pen and paper. “Here. Let’s jot that down.”
Jake recognized the address. “I know this part of town. That’s on the outskirts near the city limits.” There were several old farmhouses out that way, and he knew most of them were still working, while one had looked grown up the last time he passed by. “I think I might know the house.”
“Let’s go.” Jo ripped the page out of the pad, and they headed out. As they crossed the parking lot, he saw Sam getting in his car with an angry look on his face.
Jo didn’t miss it either. “There must be trouble in paradise.”
“Yeah, I’ve wondered the same thing. I saw the two of them arguing the other day.”
“They fight. They make up. They fight again.”
Sounds familiar, he thought. “Yeah. You’d think they’d make up their minds. Two people with that much passion should just stop dicking around and be together.”
“Unless they are horrible for each other. You don’t hear about how office romances are a good thing. That’s because they usually aren’t. It gets ugly, and then you’re stuck leaving your job or working together.”
“I guess once this case is solved, I’ll be free to date who I want.” He looked over at her, but she turned away, opting to walk ahead to the street. “Hey, wait up.” He made a mental note not to mention it again. She was obviously not interested, and it showed.
Once in the car, they made small talk on a different subject while they drove to the other end of town. And as they approached the farmhouse, Jake slowed the car down. “This is the place I was thinking of. It’s rundown and just the kind of place you’d think an asshole with nothing to lose would live.”
“But it’s not the address,” said Jo. She looked down at her paper and then back at the property. “Look at the mailbox.”
He looked at the old worn letters that were stuck to the box. “You’re right.” He had thought it had to be the one, but he decided to keep on going down the road until the fence changed color and they came upon a beautiful farmhouse that sat away from the road. The house looked like a big family must live there, and everything was pristine. Jake was prepared to pass on by, but something caught his eye at the back of the house.
“That’s it!” shouted Jo. “Stop the car.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Just on the other side of the barn in back was the tail end of an old blue truck sticking out. He put the car in reverse and backed up so they could make their way down the driveway.
As they approached the house, Jo leaned forward in her seat. “This place is amazing,” she said. Her eyes were full of awe as she looked up toward the old sunny yellow house with the blue door. “It’s like something out of Better Homes.”
“Yeah. Looks can be deceiving, right?”
They drove around as far as the drive would take them, to the side of the house where they could see the entire property, and Jake noticed one thing. There were no other cars around, and the old blue truck didn’t look like it had been used in some time. “I wonder if anyone is home?”
“Nobody came out, and there aren’t any cars around that look like drivable. I’d say the chances of someone being here that aren’t tied up in the basement is slim to none.” She gave him a sideward look, her eyes wide with shock.
Jake shook his head and realized she was just kidding around, but she might be more accurate than she thought. “Let’s check it out.” He killed the engine, and she removed her seatbelt when he did his. “I’ll go around front just to check it out.”
“I’ll keep an eye on the barn. But I don’t think anyone’s been in that thing for a while.”
The barn, which was open on one end, looked as if whoever had redone the old farmhouse had dumped everything in the barn and left it where it landed. “I guess not everything can be picture perfect.”
“That just cost them the two-page spread,” she said, shaking her head like it was a shame.
They got out and then walked around, checking things out, meeting up on the back porch. “Well, the outside is clean.”
“And we need a warrant to go inside, so I guess we’re done here.” She turned to walk away, but Jake grabbed hold of her wrist.
“Not so fast. I want to go inside.”
She narrowed h
er eyes. “You’re crazy. You know it’s not protocol.”
He quickly put his fingers to his lips as his eyes widened. “Shh!” He was on full alert, or at least making a good show of it.
“What?” she whispered.
“You didn’t hear that? I could have sworn I heard a scream.”
Jo knew what he was up to. “Jake, I didn’t hear anything, and neither did you. You can’t just go insi—”
“There it was again!” He took out his lock pick, and then, another second later, the door was being pushed open.
“Jake, are you sure we should be doing this? I don’t want to compromise the case. Besides, the Hangman is going against people who aren’t following the rules, and I don’t want to end up on his noose.”
“Please, if you think you aren’t already, you’re kidding yourself.”
She grabbed his arm as he headed inside. “Jake, that’s not funny. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
He could tell she was offended. “I just mean that you’re pursuing him, trying to stop him. I’m pretty sure that makes us the enemy.”
“Oh.”
“Come on. Cover me. Let’s see what he’s got hiding and make sure this is his place. We’ll get a warrant when we know for sure.” He headed into the house through the kitchen and was surprised it was clean and looked as though it had a woman’s touch. If he had to bet based on looks alone, this was no bachelor pad.
They walked through the house, and Jake started to second-guess himself when he saw a doll sitting on the sofa as if it had just been left there hours earlier, but he didn’t say anything to Jo. Instead, he took to the stairs and walked down the halls, peeking in all of the rooms until he came to the master. There was no bed, only an open door to the bathroom. He walked in hoping to count toothbrushes or see if there was a smell of women’s perfume or something else to tell him he’d come into the wrong house.
Jo appeared behind him as he walked into the bathroom, and he turned his head to look at her as he cut on the light switch. “Unless the Hangman still has his family living here, I think we’re in the wrong house.” She held a stuffed animal.
Jake let out a breath. “You’re probably right. I just want to know, where do these people sleep?” He pointed to the empty space where there was no bed and then turned around to shut off the light. It was then that something caught his eye. “Jackpot. Come take a look at this.”
Jo stepped into the tiny room with him, and on the mirror were photographs. And in red lipstick, there were four lines across and one long slash through them. “That’s his family. Alyssa and Emma.”
Jo pointed to the lipstick. “Five kills.” She looked down to the tube of lipstick. “Looks like the shade from the photographs to me.”
“I think you’re right. He comes in here every morning and sees them.”
There was a photograph on the bottom of the mirror, tucked into the frame around it. The little girl in the foreground nearly blocked the face of her father behind her. “This is our guy.”
“Let’s get out of here. I’ll call and get that warrant. With any luck, we’ll have this guy by the end of the day.”
“I hope so,” said Jo. “I’m ready for this nightmare to be over.”
“You and me both.” Jake put the photo back in its space on the mirror and then shut off the light. “We better go look in the basement.”
Chapter 13
The Hangman
Stalking victims was tiring work, but the Hangman had planned for it. He had bought an old car a year earlier, a cash purchase that hadn’t cost him more than a grand that still ran well enough to get him from points A to B. He needed to blend in when he sat watching his victims and had everything planned out perfectly.
So, when he pulled up to his drive, noticing immediately that there was a cop car near the house, he kept right on going. “Shit.” They found me. Fucking Jake Thomas has finally figured it out. He had hoped the man would take a little time, but like any good soldier, he was prepared for this scenario too.
With the cops invading his home, he could never go back there. And while they would find his family photos, he had made sure to clean up where Clay White had been held and any other evidence that they could use against him.
He glanced in the back seat and pulled a black duffle into the front with him, hoping that they hadn’t seen him. He had one place to go, and luckily, it wasn’t on any record or associated with him in any way.
His wife’s cousin Melissa, Missy as he called her, had inherited a home, and Casey had purchased it from her, asking her to leave it in her name upon the agreement that it would be returned to her as soon as he was done with it. She got the cash. He got the house. It all worked out.
He took the next road to the left and followed it all the way to the end, where it made a T, and then he took a right until he came to a gas station. He had to get gas, but he had a stash out at the house. He knew his best bet was to go ahead and get filled up in case he had to leave the state. There was another house just across the state line, a hunting camp in Idaho, and another only an hour and a half from Spokane in Montana. He was ready for anything and prepared to go down with a fight if necessary.
His only goal in life was to win against the assholes who had taken everything from him. He would be the only survivor, even if it took him years to accomplish what he had to do.
He pulled a few twenties out of his stash, and then put the rest in the bag. Then he locked the car and went inside the gas station, purchasing gas and food that he’d need for the road. He might be seen, but that was okay. The police would soon know who they were looking for anyway, and he’d be in Idaho by then.
He sent a quick message to Missy, code to stay away from the house for now. It was one of his last gestures to take care of his wife’s younger cousin. The girl had been more like a sister to her and admitted herself to a care facility during the trial because it was all too much for her and she’d suffered a breakdown. Helping him with his revenge scheme was her only saving grace.
As he got back on the road, a call came through just like he expected. “What’s up?” asked Missy.
“There were cops at the farmhouse. Stay in your apartment. You have the deed, right?”
“Yes. What are you doing?” The concern in her voice became clearer.
“I’m going to hide out. I’ll be fine. Don’t talk to anyone, and don’t let anyone find your burner. You know what I told you, right? If you go more than three days without hearing from me, you need to ditch your burner. I’ve left the money in the account. You’ll be fine.”
“I hope so. I needed to tell you that Senator Young is officially checked out. His son is staying. He’s paid through the month. I called the lawyer’s office again, and they said he should be back tomorrow. I scheduled a meeting for the end of the week, but I’ll cancel it.” She let out a long breath. “I’m scared, Kellen.”
“Don’t be scared. I’ll message you later with the new plan. I have to make sure I’m on track.” Finding a way to get to Kyle wouldn’t be hard, but he really needed to figure out what to do about the order of things. With that, he hung up the phone and took the next exit out of town.
Chapter 14
Jake
Another morning had passed since the discovery of The Hangman’s house, and even though there had been eyes on the place, Jake still drove by there on his way to work, even though it wasn’t exactly on his way.
He walked into the office two hours late, thanks to a second stop at Speed’s for breakfast, and that was when he figured out Jo was more dependent on him than he realized.
“It’s about time you get here. I’ve been waiting all morning.”
“Why didn’t you get started without me?” he asked.
“I did, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of you.”
“Don’t worry about me, Jo. I catch up fast.”
She let out a groan and then took a sip of her coffee and put her head back into her work. “Preston comes
back today. I think it’s important that we get down there to talk to him if we can. His secretary says she’s told him to call, but he hasn’t.”
“My guess is that he already knows what’s so important, and we’re going to have to try and catch him face to face. We’ll go by there as soon as we can.” He went around the desk and sat in one of the blue chairs. He looked around and noticed she’d brought in another plant.
She saw him looking at it. “Yeah, I thought it would give the room a bit more life.”
“I didn’t realize it was so dead in here.”
“Well, our workspace is supposed to represent our inner self.” She went pale and pulled her lips into a tight line as if she instantly regretted saying the words. “Anyway, we won’t be in here long, I’m sure.”
Just when he thought it couldn’t get more awkward, there came a soft knock at the door. He looked up to see Dr. Leigh Meadows, who looked more like an escort than a shrink, standing in the doorway. “I hope I’m not disturbing you, Jake.” She gave a look toward Jo and then smiled. “Hello.”
Jake was a little taken aback as to why the woman was there. He jumped to his feet to greet her. “Hey, um. No, it’s fine. Jo this is Dr. Leigh Meadows. Leigh, this is Detective Jo Calloway.”
“It’s good to meet you.” Leigh put her hand out, and Jo got to her feet to accept it.
“Can we help you, Leigh?” Jo narrowed her eyes, and her smile faded a bit. The confusion on her face was enough to make Jake feel small.
“I thought I’d come by and check on Jake,” she explained. “I’m terribly sorry about your chief. I was a good friend of Chief O’Connor’s too, and well, he’s the one who referred Jake to me.” She looked his way. “I had hoped we could go somewhere and talk. Do you have a minute?”
Jake nodded, but before he could make another move, Jo stepped around the doctor and headed out into the hall. “You can use the office.”