Answering the Call

by Ali Vali

  “Hold up.” She stopped the manager from getting any closer. “This fucker’s going down for this.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Hunter stood naked, looking out the large window at the river traffic. All the lights were off, and the only sound breaking the silence was the classical music on the stereo. The bomb had come close to ending the game before it got interesting, but Sept Savoie was proving to be a worthy adversary. Savoie had gone back to work the next morning, so she’d earned Hunter’s respect.

  It was time to move on and erect the next altar, because Sept had probably found the gift at the wharf by now. It was the best that could be done to replicate what had happened to Sept’s dog, so that didn’t take a lot of effort.

  “FIOG Enterprises. How can I help you?” A woman had answered the call, tearing Hunter’s eyes away from the water.

  “I’d like a date for tonight,” Hunter said softly.

  “Any special requests?”

  “Someone fresh. I’m not a big fan of domineering women, so I want someone who can follow implicit instructions. Can you accommodate me?”

  “Certainly,” the woman said and paused to type something. “All I need is a credit card and the hotel where you’d like to meet.”

  “Anything else?” Hunter started packing the kill bag, smiling from anticipation. “And I’d prefer to pay in cash. It won’t be acceptable to have this transaction appear on my statement.”

  “The fee is twenty-four hundred, but it’s an additional five hundred if you insist on cash, and it’s due four hours before your date.”

  “That’s not a problem.”

  “Leave it in an envelope with our company’s name on it with the front desk, and we’ll call with the escort’s contact information.”

  “Thank you.” Hunter disconnected and made one more call before getting ready. “I need you to drop off something and pick up some room keys for me.”

  “Where do you want me to drop them?”

  “Meet me in the same spot, and I’ll have everything you need.”

  Crazy Nick was an idiot, but an idiot who followed directions. This would be his last job, but it was best for him to pick up the keys to the room at the JW Marriott on Canal Street. Hopefully, whoever the escort service sent was really good at following orders, because that would be the easiest way to walk out of the hotel without making anyone suspicious.

  The parking garage at the Hilton Riverside had cameras that covered all but a few spots on each floor, and Hunter had doubled the dark spots by short-circuiting the camera on the fifth floor closest to the stairwell no one seemed to use. Crazy Nick was waiting and said he understood what Hunter wanted.

  He returned shortly and handed over the keys. “Here you go, and what are you going to do about the cops? They’ve been asking about me. They think I had something to do with Bonnie. Fuck that. I ain’t going down for that.”

  Why the hell did people complain so much when most of what happened to them was a direct outcome of their own bad decisions? “All you did was rent a room. That’s all they have, so don’t get stupid. Keep your mouth shut and stick to the plan.”

  “Look, Bonnie’s dead, and I don’t know if you’re deaf or slow, but I ain’t going to take the rap for that.”

  “And you won’t, if you listen to me,” Hunter said. It was becoming obvious why this guy was called Crazy Nick. He was sweating and didn’t seem to have the ability to keep his hands still. “Are you going to listen to me?”

  “Yeah,” he said, but his leg was bouncing up and down at a rapid-fire rate. “Fuck. What choice do I have?”

  “You have plenty, believe me. You need to tell me now if you want out,” Hunter said, and Nick looked away as if he couldn’t face admitting just that. “Here’s what I owe you.” Nick turned to accept the offer, and as he glanced down for his money, Hunter buried the small filet knife in his neck.

  Nick immediately brought his hands up, but it was too late. The amount of blood running through his fingers meant his time and usefulness were done. Now to find Bonnie’s boyfriend and tie up that loose end before the date who’d be waiting at eight got antsy.

  Hunter pocketed the money and took the extra jacket out of the trunk. The real loss here was the old sedan Nick had stolen the week before, along with new plates. Next time that had to be accounted for before any blood was spilled, rendering the vehicle useless.

  “Three minutes should do it,” Hunter said, handling the pipe bomb that would more than get rid of any evidence, along with the few cars around it. “Deviations from the plan are never good, but nothing’s going to slow me down.”

  The stairwell was thankfully empty again, so getting to the street and away before the fireworks went off wasn’t a problem. A bonus here was the large parking lot next door and the endless number of cars available. This time Hunter chose a newer model so as not to set off any alarms later on. Anyone who could afford to pay twenty-four hundred for sex needed to portray a certain image.

  Everyone on the street stopped when the fireball shot from the side of the parking structure, the explosion loud enough to shatter windows in a one-block radius. More than one car alarm was going off, so it didn’t draw any attention when the Lexus sedan’s alarm started blaring after Hunter got the door open.

  “I hope you’re well rested and recovered, Sept, because tonight will be fun.”

  * * *

  “This sucks,” Nathan said as he and Sept waited for Nicole Voles and her father. They’d decided to meet in front of their precinct and allow the Voles family to follow them to Tameka’s murder scene. Sept hadn’t figured out yet why an FBI agent whose area was counterfeiting was interested in this case. It seemed too simple to think it was all just about helping Nicole with her book.

  She’d stared at the file they had so far, including the body this asshole had left them at the wharf for two days, and she still had no idea where to head next. At least the poor street mutt that had been stabbed twice, though still in critical condition, was improving. Unlike Mike, this dog had been lying with an altar around it.

  Mike had been a random victim because he’d tried to protect Perlis’s true target, visually impaired Robin Burns. Mike had been a service dog that almost sacrificed himself to save his owner, but the dog they’d found barely alive at the wharf wasn’t at all random. The killer had chosen him because he resembled Mike, which chilled her.

  “What sucks? You said Voles was hot.” She leaned against the car, smoothing down the new sweater Keegan had bought her. The weather had turned cool, though it would most likely warm up until at least December.

  “I read her last book about the killer in Los Angeles. This animal killed thirteen people, and that bitch Voles almost glamorized him and shredded the cops. That’s probably what she wants to do to us.”

  “Probably, but we can’t think about that now.” She noticed a car approaching slowly, so she nudged Nathan. “Let’s get rid of these guys and then get back to our new case.”

  “Detective,” Nicole said, emerging from the passenger side and waiting for the handsome, neatly dressed older man to exit the driver’s seat. “This is my father, Special Agent Brian Voles.”

  “Please, Detective.” Brian shook hands with her, then Nathan. “Call me Brian.”

  “Thanks for giving us the tour today,” Nicole said.

  “No problem, so please follow us.” The traffic was heavier than normal because of an accident, but Brian Voles had no problem keeping up. “This guy looks uptight.”

  “The feds are a different breed, but I agree. Mr. Voles has a longer than usual stick up his ass,” Nathan said, driving as if he didn’t care if Brian got lost.

  She laughed and glanced at her phone. “Hello, beautiful.”

  “Do you have a minute?” Keegan asked.

  “I’m playing tour guide to Nicole Voles and her father today, so I’ve got until we reach the house Tameka and the two officers died in.” She pressed her fingers against the dash when Nathan ha
d to slam on the brakes. “When I called earlier, I forgot to tell you I’d met her. I didn’t have a good enough excuse to ditch her, so Fritz stuck us with this assignment.”

  “Sounds fun,” Keegan said, and Sept heard Mike barking close by. “Do you think you can make dinner at Gran’s tonight?”

  “I love spending time with Della and the hard time she gives me.”

  Keegan hummed a second and clucked her tongue at her. “She loves you, and I have that on good authority, so no complaining. Tonight, though, Mom and Gran are cooking to start the planning process.”

  “I’ll be there, or God knows what Della has in mind for me.”

  “Be careful and I’ll see you later tonight,” Keegan said, whistling for Mike. “I love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  Nathan took the exit that led to the neighborhood where the house was, and Sept started scanning the area for anyone who stood out or was studying them in turn. If the killer had already come back twice, he could do it again.

  “Are you ready to be taken back to school?” Nathan asked, and she laughed.

  “He does resemble my disapproving gym teacher,” she said as Brian got out with an expression of superiority. Sept was used to the feds treating them like the Keystone Cops, considering the hard time they gave her over her friendship with the alleged crime boss Cain Casey. Cain consistently made the feds look like idiots, so the local agents sometimes took it out on the local police because they didn’t treat Cain like Satan on steroids.

  “How did you originally find Tameka Bishop?” Brian asked, reading from a file he didn’t seem to want to share with them.

  “The crews were still working after the storm, searching for bodies and marking the places as they went. When they arrived here, they saw the candle burning through the window. We connected it to the second murder because of the strange designs on that victim’s chest.” She walked to where Tameka had been found and pointed to the holes in the floor. “This was the first official altar Perlis made to his gods.”

  “Makes sense,” Brian said, walking around the four holes, his attention on the empty space. “The silence out here even now would make it ideal for what he had in mind.”

  “What he had in mind was to torture and kill a young woman who had nothing to do with him, so try to remember the real victims, Ms. Voles, when you start your book. The very vivid details of this crime won’t be made public until the trial, but believe me, what he did was animalistic.” She glanced around, trying to see if anything was different. If the killer had come back, something might be out of place.

  “She wasn’t exactly innocent,” Nicole said, her eyes on her father. “And please, I asked you to call me Nicole.”

  “So, we should feel only for the morally pure?” Nathan asked, sounding rather shocked at Nicole’s attitude. “If that’s the case, no victim should be mourned. No one deserves what happened to Ms. Bishop and the others, no matter their station in life.”

  “It’s rare to find a cop not jaded by his job,” Nicole said, and Brian cleared his throat.

  “So this Julio Munez came and explained the significance of what you found?” Brian asked.

  “The murder isn’t part of any ritual of his religion, but the things left at the scene were specific to these gods. Every scene focused on a new god with a different message.” She stopped him from stepping into the cleared spot. “I don’t want to compromise the scene any more than I have to, just in case we need to come back for something.”

  “I understand.” Brian moved to her side and tucked his file under his arm. “And the reason for all this was?”

  “He was calling the dead. He messed up with the murders of his wife and son, and it was his way to get them back,” she said, and Brian snorted. “Something funny?”

  “You testify like that, and you’ll guarantee his attorney will get him into some cushy hospital where he’ll get out in no time. It’s time to stop coddling these bastards and hold them responsible for what they did.”

  “No one’s coddling Alex Perlis, sir. If you’re afraid of that, then perhaps you should talk to Ms. Voles, since Alex’s attorney seems to think she’s going to help the defense. Part of our job was to catch him, and we’ll finish it in the coming months by making sure he stays locked up awaiting execution.”

  “Are you sure you’ll have the time?” Nicole asked, and Sept turned and glanced at her briefly.

  “Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?”

  “You caught Perlis, but what happened today?” Nicole peered at her like she’d sliced through her with her verbal assault.

  “Be careful, Ms. Voles. Nothing’s more sensitive to the public than a young officer killed in the line of duty, and we’ve had two of those. Our department is working hard to solve those murders, and if you do anything to stand in the way of that, you risk turning the mob against you. As a popular writer, you can’t imagine that’s a good idea.”

  “So, someone killed two officers here as well?” Brian asked.

  “Sir, I appreciate your input, but I’m not going to discuss this subject with you. Especially since your daughter is profiting from the Perlis murders.”

  “This would matter only if the cases are related,” Brian said.

  “You can speculate all you want, but if you’re done, we have to close up. Nathan and I need to get going. We have work to do.” The way Brian faced off against her was a clue that he wasn’t at all in a mood to be defied. “Would you like to see anything else?”

  “We’re done for now, but please don’t let your ego get in the way of finding the truth in your open case,” Brian said, and Nicole smiled.

  “If you’re in town long enough, you’ll see that Nathan and I are the least egotistical people you’ll meet.” She lifted her arm and pointed to the door. “Are we ready?”

  “Yes, Detective, but this isn’t the end of this.”

  “I’m not sure what you mean, but rage all you want downtown. I’m sure the chief will listen, but the mayor wants answers. We aren’t opposed to assistance, but Anabel Hicks, the local FBI bureau chief, has more than capable people.”

  “I’m sure Anabel does have good folks, but I have time to help.”

  “I’ll give you a call if I need anything at all.”

  “That’s quite the brush-off, Detective.”

  “I play in the sandbox just fine, so it’s more of a promise,” she said, sighing when he and Nicole dragged their feet. “Can you find your way back?” she asked as she padlocked the door shut.

  “It’s amazing what I can find when I’m motivated,” Brian said.

  “I’ll keep that in mind as well, and your number on our list,” she said and walked to the car, letting Nathan drive. “Let’s stop downtown so I can give my father a heads-up, and then we’ll call it a night.”

  “What an asshole,” Nathan said.

  “Your investigative skills are improving, partner.”

  * * *

  “Do you think she’s holding something back?” Nicole asked Brian as she watched Sept standing next to their car with her fists on her hips. She was incredibly sexy in a butch sort of way, and the kind of woman Nicole liked to break to her will.

  “The two crimes are related, but there’s something else,” he said as he sped up, obviously wanting to be on the interstate as fast as he could manage it. “She obviously takes me for an idiot who didn’t notice all the crime tape a block down. It hasn’t hit the news yet, but something happened close by on top of the two dead cops.”

  “I’ve got a contact at NOPD. By the way, Sept told Alex’s attorney, Gretchen, something, but she talked her into keeping the conversation private.”

  “There are ways around that, sweetheart, so let’s start with a visit to the FBI offices here. I’m going to offer my services, so Sept Savoie can take her objections and cram them. Only piss-poor cops don’t accept help, especially when it’s superior to what she’s got on hand.” He drove as if they were in a car chas
e through the thankfully light traffic.

  “It’ll be nice having you around, so if Mother wants to go home, you can stay with me.” She couldn’t think of a better scenario than collaborating with her father on her book.

  “I’m sure once I explain it to her, she’ll gladly go back,” he said and briefly glanced at her as he placed his hand on her knee.

  “Thank you,” she said, covering his hand with hers.

  “It’ll be fun—I’ll make sure of it.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I stocked your favorite, so hopefully you’re off duty,” Della said as she held up a bottle of Grey Goose vodka.

  “Just one, so Keegan won’t fuss,” Sept said, getting a swat from Keegan.

  “We’re in the coupe, Gran, so she can have two.”

  “Are you okay?” Melinda asked as she stopped stirring to hug Sept, then Keegan. “Carla told me she’s been checking on you, and you’re recovering well.”

  “Once the headache was gone I didn’t have any problems. Your daughter’s been taking very good care of me, and it doesn’t hurt to know a doctor who makes house calls.” Keegan kissed her for that as she sat at Della’s kitchen table. It was the largest room in the house, even though she’d downsized when she’d given the girls the family home.

  “Jacqueline called, and her flight’s delayed, so let’s go sit outside,” Della said.

  “How’s the new place coming in Houston?” She picked a rocker so Keegan could sit in her lap. “We’ve been missing each other at home lately, so I never get to ask Jacqueline.”

  “Once we approve the chef, Blanchard’s will open our first franchise location, but between Melinda and Keegan that could be a long process,” Della said, rubbing Keegan’s shoulders as she moved to sit next to them. “My loves expect perfection, and speaking of that, Jacqueline did tell us you talked about her staying. It almost makes me feel bad that I’ve given you so much shit.”