Johnny Revenge

by Remington Kane

  It was when she was going over the photos taken by Sly Perhach that Erica got that flutter in her stomach. It was as if a dozen butterflies were flittering around down there. It was a feeling she often received when a case broke. The problem was, she had no idea why she was feeling it.

  There was something in the photos that elicited it, so Erica looked through them again. There were a lot of shots of Jude’s bedroom, his office, and the kitchen. As she looked through the photographs taken of the cottage, it all clicked in her mind.

  “Brad.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Call Chief Dix, he’ll want to be here along with Whitford. I’ll also need Troy to run an errand for me. If I’m right, we’ll have solved the Wildcard and Traveler cases by tonight.”

  Owens smiled at her. “The butterflies are back, eh?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  * * *

  When Jude finally emerged from his bedroom looking refreshed, he found that Erica had been busy cooking.

  “What did you make?” Jude asked. “It smells wonderful.”

  “It’s only spaghetti and meatballs, along with garlic bread.”

  “I’m famished; I haven’t eaten all day.”

  “What about the dogs?”

  “They need to eat too.”

  “I’ll feed them,” Erica said. “You set up the coffee maker.”

  “We should have wine with dinner.”

  “I would love to, but I’m on duty.”

  “I won’t tell anyone,” Jude said.

  Erica smiled. “All right, maybe it’s a night for breaking rules.”

  “My thought exactly,” Jude said.

  * * *

  The dogs were fed and taken for a quick walk before they returned to the kitchen. Riddle, Clue, and Hunch lay in a corner of the large room in a set of identical doggie beds. Jude ignited kindling in the kitchen’s small fireplace to add warmth and atmosphere, and soon the aroma of wood smoke scented the air.

  Erica had changed into a green dress while Jude had been sleeping; it revealed a hint of cleavage. Her hair hung loosely while her makeup had been applied with care. Combined with the food, wine, and the crackling fire, it seemed romance was in the air.

  Jude looked over the rim of his glass at Erica as he took his first sip of wine.

  “May I call you Erica, seeing as how we’re alone?”

  “I’d like that.”

  “You’re very beautiful, Erica, and that dress highlights the color of your eyes.”

  “Thank you, and I have to say, Jude, you’re a beauty too.”

  “A beauty, not handsome?”

  “It might be more accurate to say you’re a beaut, as in remarkable or amazing.”

  “Amazing in what way?”

  “I’m talking about the intricate plan you made and carried out, the one that involved the deaths of ten people, ten people that I know about.”

  Jude had been raising his glass to his lips again. He set it on the table as his eyes narrowed.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “The Wildcard murders, the deaths of Chief Connors and his son, Linda’s killing, and the slain prostitute in Florida. It was all you.”

  “Zach Connors was Wildcard and he killed himself while driving drunk. He must have killed that prostitute too, and Chief Connors and Linda were murdered by Johnny.”

  “You killed that prostitute, and you did it in such a way that it would point to your brother. How did you know what pattern Traveler inflicted his stab wounds in? If I had to guess I’d say that you witnessed one of his murders.”

  Jude folded his arms over his chest and leaned back in his seat. The food and wine in front of him now forgotten.

  “‘If you had to guess,’ you say. But isn’t that all this is, you guessing? I’ve killed no one and you already have evidence that points to others as being the murderers.”

  “That’s how you planned it. And I will admit, it was a good scheme and carried out well, but it wasn’t perfect. We’ve uncovered the fact that Zach Connors was guided to the approximate locations of the crime scenes by a company named Royal Goods & Services. We may never tie Royal Goods & Services to you personally, still, it appears that Zach Connors was being set-up. And then, there’s the way he died.”

  Jude said nothing, and Erica was worried that he might remain silent. It wouldn’t matter, as she still believed they had him cold on a murder charge, but she wanted to break through that calm demeanor of his. After several seconds had passed, Jude spoke.

  “What’s wrong with the way Zack Connors died?”

  “It’s more curious than wrong. We have a witness who heard the truck depart the motel parking lot. He stated that Connors was grinding gears as he left. Zach Connors had been driving big rigs for over a decade and owned the truck he drowned inside. Drunk or not, it seemed unlikely that he would grind his gears. No, that sounds more like someone who was unfamiliar with driving a tractor-trailer.”

  “More guesswork, Agent Novac, nothing but conjecture.”

  “Agent Novac? I thought I was Erica now?”

  “No. We’ll keep things impersonal between us.”

  Erica smiled. “I’ve made the list, haven’t I?”

  “What list?”

  “Your kill list, Jude. As far as I can tell, anyone who’s ever wronged you is dead. Your father, the boys who bullied you in high school, Keri Jones, Chief Connors and his son Zach. Linda Perkins is just your latest victim.”

  “Linda and I were starting over. You know that. You saw us kissing.”

  “I’m guessing you initiated that to put her at ease,” Erica said, as her features hardened, and her face flushed with anger. “Do you want to know something, Jude, you had a real chance to be happy with that woman. I think Linda would have been good to you, and good for you. But you’re too damn filled with hate to forgive anyone. You killed Linda, you bastard, and because of that, you’re going to rot away the rest of your life in prison.”

  Jude sighed as he picked up his wine glass. “I want you and Owens to leave my house. You’re no longer welcome here.”

  “When I leave here, Rowland, you’ll be going with me in handcuffs.”

  Jude reached for his phone, which sat atop the table.

  “Fine then, I’ll talk to a lawyer. All you have is supposition and suspicion, if you were to arrest me, I’d be released in an hour.”

  “You killed Officer Linda Perkins, you murdered a cop, and I can prove it.”

  “If that were true, I’d be in jail right now.”

  “You said that John killed Linda then ran away, but that’s a lie. I think he was dead when Linda got here. Once you squirted him with that pepper spray he must have been in severe discomfort and all but blind. It would have been easy for you to gain the upper hand then.”

  “I tried, but he held on to the gun, so I ran away and found Linda.”

  “Your surveillance cameras are active again, yes?”

  “They are, why?”

  “Can you access the feed from your phone?”

  Jude didn’t answer. After licking his lips, he brought up the app for the security cameras. The first view to come up on screen displayed the front porch and the area in front of the house. There were a number of vehicles parked out there, federal vehicles and police cars.

  “Take a look at the area where the cottage is located,” Erica said.

  Jude did so, and his hand shook as his right eye twitched. The image on his screen showed Chief Dix and Agent Whitford standing by with three police officers. With them was an FBI forensic team of three men and a woman; they were dressed in white coveralls and had shovels. Jude felt sweat trickle down his back when the camera swiveled and revealed the retired sheriff’s deputy who handled the cadaver dog. That same dog had uncovered the remains of Jude’s mother.

  “Grant Whitford sent me a text moments before you entered the kitchen, Jude. The cadaver dog detected the scent of human remains on your property, at the cott
age.”

  Jude forced a smile onto his face. “Of course, that’s where my mother and her lover were buried. There’s bound to still be traces of them there.”

  Erica smiled back at him. “That’s what you were counting on, isn’t it? You hoped that if a dog were brought in to look for your brother that their handler would assume the hound was detecting scent from the previous crime scene. That was clever, but not cunning enough.”

  On screen the forensic techs were using a ladder to climb down into the hole at the rear of the cottage, the hole where Jude’s brother lay dead. It would only take a few shovelfuls of dirt to unearth Johnny.

  Erica tossed a signed search warrant onto the table that she had taken from her pocketbook. The bag was hanging by its strap from the chair she was seated in. She left the pocketbook unzipped, to allow easy access to her weapon.

  Holding up her own phone, Erica showed Jude one of the photos taken by Sly Perhach, the Techno-Tattler reporter who had been arrested for trespassing and stealing.

  “That reporter, Perhach, he took this photo a few days ago. After seeing it again, I realized that the mound of dirt at the cottage seemed smaller.”

  “It was very windy the last few days… some of the dirt must have blown away.”

  “While some of the missing dirt might be attributed to the wind and rain dispersing the soil, I suspect there’s another reason. Your brother is in that hole, isn’t he, Jude? You killed him before Linda arrived, then you saw an opportunity to murder her and blame it on John. If I’m right, we’ll find out any moment.”

  As she spoke her last sentence, Erica removed her gun from her purse.

  Jude was swallowing repeatedly, and his face had drained of color. The hand holding the phone was trembling. On screen, Whitford and Chief Dix were leaning over as they spoke to one of the forensic techs in the hole. Johnny had been discovered, along with the gun that killed Linda Perkins.

  Off to the side of the scene, Whitford was using his cell phone, a moment later, a text came up on Erica’s phone.

  “It’s over, Jude. If you hadn’t murdered Linda you might have gotten away with everything else, but no, you just had to keep killing.”

  Jude glared at Erica. She was holding a gun loosely in her right hand, which was resting on the table. Still, he was under no illusion that he could take it away from her or overpower her. When the solution entered his mind, his one chance to flee and remain free, he smiled, then called to his dogs.

  Riddle, Clue, and Hunch rose from the floor in a languid fashion and Jude spoke again, while pointing at Erica.

  “Attack!”

  The dogs moved forward. Clue was the first to go down, he was followed by Hunch, then Riddle. The hounds hadn’t covered three steps. In the silence that followed, Riddle’s gentle snoring seemed quite loud. The errand Erica had sent Troy Carson on involved a trip to a local veterinarian. Troy had returned with enough animal tranquilizer to handle the dogs.

  “I drugged them when I fed them earlier,” Erica said. “They’ll be fine, but you won’t be. Jude Rowland, you’re under arrest for the murder of Police Officer Linda Perkins.”

  Jude shot up from his seat, then glanced around like a trapped animal. Owens entered the kitchen, from where he’d been standing just beyond the threshold. Owens was carrying a shotgun. Behind him was Troy Carson, who was similarly armed. Jude sank down in his chair again. When he looked over at Erica, she could feel the hatred in his gaze.

  * * *

  Whitford and Chief Dix were coming up the porch steps as Erica and Owens escorted a handcuffed Jude Rowland out the front door of his home.

  Chief Dix’s stare of loathing caused Jude to tremble. For an instant, Erica thought Dix might pull out his pistol and blast away at Jude. But no, Dix was a professional; despite his feelings, Jude would be safe inside his jail.

  Wildcard was taken away in the back of a patrol car, while Traveler was carted off in a meat wagon. Two brothers, who had been twisted by hate and violence.

  Chapter Fifty

  Molly Jackson looked as sad as anyone Erica had ever seen. Learning that Jude had killed Linda Perkins devastated the woman, who’d always had faith that Jude was innocent of any wrongdoing.

  Two days after his arrest, the Techno-Tattler ran a headline on its homepage that succinctly stated Jude’s downfall.

  TOO CLEVER BY HALF — JUDE ROWLAND’S OWN WORDS SINK HIM

  Jude’s assertion that his brother had shot Linda Perkins before fleeing into the night proved to be a lie once John’s body was recovered. Linda, along with Jude’s neighbors, had heard three initial shots being fired. Three slugs were found in John’s body, including one that had severed his spine.

  Simon was at his aunt’s house and looked confused by the events of the last few days. After the three of them settled in the living room with coffee and pastry, Simon asked Erica a question.

  “Why was Jude so nice to me, offering me the cottage and all? Was he setting me up for something?”

  Erica placed a hand on Simon’s shoulder.

  “No, that was Jude being Jude. You had never caused him any harm, and so he had no reason to hurt you. Offering you the cottage wasn’t the first kindness he showed you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I guess it’s no longer a secret,” Molly said, then she revealed to Simon that Jude had paid his way through college.

  “I thought that money came from a life insurance policy my mother had?”

  “That was a fib, Simon,” Molly said. “Joey wanted to keep his generosity a secret.”

  “He’s helped others too, many others,” Erica said. “The forensic accountants are going over his finances. They uncovered the fact that Jude has given away over a million dollars. Some of it went to help a woman who owns a website that reviews books. She gave Jude’s first Johnny Revenge novel a 5-star review and helped it gain a following. Three years later, when the woman was diagnosed with cancer, Jude paid her hospital bills anonymously. That’s just one of many examples where he helped those who treated him well.”

  “He must be mentally ill,” Molly said. “No one in their right mind would kill all those people.”

  “His lawyer may argue that,” Erica said.

  “I tried to visit him in jail; he didn’t want to see me.”

  “He let you down, Molly, and he knows it.”

  Simon released a sigh. “I guess I won’t be living at the cottage now.”

  Erica smiled at him. “That was one of the reasons I stopped by before leaving town. I want to encourage you to hire a lawyer and fight for what’s yours, Simon.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Chet Revene was your father too; you have a right to claim his estate. Your mother even named you after him, Chet was short for Chester, your father’s middle name. His first name was Simon.”

  “I know I look like him, but how do I prove I’m his son?”

  “Chet’s body is being exhumed. His DNA will be tested to see if it matches hair found clasped in the palm of his dead wife. Jude’s mother was strangled to death, and she must have fought back while it was happening. Once Chet Revene’s DNA is established, you can test it against your own. Plus, we believe Jude killed his father. If it’s proven, he’ll be ineligible to inherit the man’s property. With John Revene dead and Jude going to prison, the courts should award you the house and the land.”

  Simon gasped. “You really think there’s a chance?”

  “I do. Find a good estate attorney who will give you a free consultation; you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain.”

  Molly’s hand went to her mouth as she considered something. “What will happen to Joey’s dogs?”

  “They’re being kept at the local animal shelter; however, they won’t be there much longer. Chief Dix found a home for them with the man who owns the cadaver dog that was used to locate Jude’s mother.”

  “They’re sweet animals,” Molly said. “I’ve fed them their kibble a time or two.”


  Erica grinned. “So have I.”

  * * *

  Three weeks later, Jude made a deal to avoid the death penalty. A stipulation of the agreement was that he confess all his crimes. If he was later found to have omitted something vital, the deal would be rendered null & void.

  His confession of being the Wildcard killer made news worldwide. Aside from Wildcard’s six victims, Jude admitted to causing more fatalities. Jude stated in open court that he had murdered his father, his brother John, Chief Connors, Zach Connors, Linda Perkins, Keri Jones, and the call girl, Tessa White. He had also caused the explosion in the meth lab that killed Jay and Aaron Floyd, and Eddie Watson, the boys who had bullied him in high school. Furthermore, Jude had slain the Hollywood director Frank Falco, who had passed on making a Johnny Revenge movie.

  To Erica’s surprise, Jude denied having killed Simon’s mother. Erica believed he might have done so to avoid being sued for half of his inheritance. Yolanda DeVeaux’s fatal fall must have been the accident it appeared to be.

  Jude’s plea agreement sentenced him to forty years. He would have to serve a minimum of twenty-five years before he could be eligible for parole.

  Erica and Owens attended the sentencing. Jude spotted her as he was being led away and their eyes locked. Erica was surprised by the defiance she saw in his unblinking gaze; it was mixed with hatred. If Jude was compiling a new list of people to get even with, she was surely at the top of it.

  Erica held no animosity toward Rowland. However, she did feel sadness. Jude was a man who could have been happy if he’d had even a spark of forgiveness inside him. Instead, he’d been ruined by hate and the desire to gain revenge. It was all such a shame.

  Chapter Fifty-One