by Debra Webb
“Call Hayes, too.” Dan stood. “And we’d better warn Foster so none of his deputies show up and shoot us.”
Tupelo Pike, Scottsboro, Friday, September 10, 1:01 a.m.
While Lori made another pass through the house and Hayes inventoried the small building McPherson had used as an office, Harper and Dan did the digging. Jess held the flashlight.
“Whatever he buried,” Harper said, “he did it recently. Dirt’s soft. Not packed at all.”
“That explains the dirt in the tread of his boots.” Jess itched to get a shovel and help but Dan assigned her flashlight duty.
The hole was approximately three feet in diameter and every bit as deep so far. Old Roger had dug all around the perimeter but he’d been too distracted by all the activity at his master’s house to stay on task.
“Wait.” Dan tossed his shovel aside and got down on his knees in the dirt.
Jess tried to remember if she’d ever seen him in the dirt like this, T-shirt all sweaty, leather work gloves on his hands. Despite the circumstances, she smiled. Daniel Burnett was such a good man. Who else would come here in the middle of the night with her and then scratch around in the dirt because she had a hunch?
God, she loved this man.
Dan tugged a black garbage bag from the ground. Jess hoped it wasn’t a dead animal. This whole exercise might be nothing more than a waste of time.
Both men removed their leather gloves and pulled on the latex ones Jess passed their way. Harper held the bag open while Dan removed the contents.
At the first glimpse of brown file folders, Jess’s pulse kicked into high gear. She went down on her knees and opened the first of four thick folders.
“It’s his Brownfield case files.” Anticipation had her heart thumping.
“Let me hold that for you.” Dan took the light from her.
“What’s this?” Harper pointed to the corner of something white sticking from one of the folders.
Jess tugged free a white business size envelope with her name scrawled across the front. Inside the envelope was a handwritten note.
Deputy Chief Harris,
I followed the Brownfield family for most of my career. I was considered a close friend by Amanda’s grandfather. I had all the evidence I needed to take down a multi-generational family of murderers—the first I’d ever encountered. Then I made the same mistake your father did. I got involved with the daughter of one of the most evil monsters on the planet. Even after the monster was dead, there was Amanda. She loved killing just like he had and Margaret loved her daughter too much to give up on her. I tried to make her see but I couldn’t. In the end it was that love for her daughter that killed her. The last part of goodness in me died with Margaret.
You asked me for the truth and I wasn’t willing to give it to you. I can’t answer any questions about your father. Margaret refused to speak of him except to say the truth was locked away and the key was lost. If I’m already dead when you find this then I was right about the dark-haired man in the black Infiniti who’s been tailing me. Watch out for him.
Mac
Jess reread the note. Maybe the last part of goodness in McPherson hadn’t died. She passed the note to Dan. “I knew he was back.”
“Who?”
“The dark-haired man. I think I saw him outside the Redmont Hotel.” So he was the one doing Spears bidding the past couple of weeks, including taking Amanda to him. He was probably the bastard who had put her in that river. Jess hoped she would have the opportunity to take him down.
With Harper’s help, Jess skimmed through the reports and photos in the folders. It took some time, but she couldn’t stop. Reading over her shoulder, Dan held the light.
“McPherson was keeping an unofficial file of what these people were doing,” Harper noted.
“Jesus Christ.” Jess reached his final conclusions. “Old man Brownfield and this Mooney character killed people for sport.” She turned to Dan. “Not for marketable goods or food. For the pure pleasure of hunting them down like animals.” Jess shuddered. “McPherson believed Margaret was a victim.”
“He was in love with her,” Dan countered. “Maybe he didn’t want to see who she really was. She may have been the one who kept the cops off her family.”
“The distraction,” Harper suggested.
“She made it hard to see the truth.” Jess agreed. Every good hunter had a decoy. Dan passed the note back to her. She read it again. “Margaret said the key was lost. Do you think she could’ve been talking about the key found with the reverend?”
“Sergeant,” Dan said to Harper, “let the others know we’re closing this down and going home. Ask Foster to get someone over here to secure the scene. This evidence can be logged in later this morning.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dan took the note from Jess and placed it with the files. Then he closed his hands around hers. “Are you sure this battle is worth the price?”
Jess felt that old familiar elephant settle on her chest. “No.” She shook her head. “It’s not worth the price. Not at all.”
“Then I say we go. Disappear for a while and let Gant and his people do this.”
Jess wished it were that simple. “There’s no way to escape him, Dan. You know that. He’ll find us wherever we go. We have to finish this.”
Dan nodded. “You’re right. We don’t have a choice. What we need is to get lucky.”
“I’ll try to make that happen,” she promised.
She’d been lucky a few times in her life. When she met Dan... acceptance into the Bureau. Finding Dan again.
This time she wasn’t waiting for luck to make up its mind whether to shine on her or not. Jess intended to make her own luck.
21
2:30 a.m.
“I decided to postpone the surgery.”
Lori stirred in the seat next to Chet. “Sorry. I dozed off. What did you say?”
“I think I should postpone the surgery until this is over.” Spears was way out of control. No way was Chet going to be out of commission when Lori and the chief needed him most.
“Where are we?” Lori stared out the car window.
“About forty-five minutes from home.”
She relaxed back into her seat, but she was staring at him. He could feel her eyes on him. “Is postponing the surgery what you want to do or what you think you should do?”
He laughed. The woman knew him too well. “I can’t say that I want to postpone, but I think it would be best considering the way this Spears situation is going.”
“You have a point. It might be a bad time for the team. We can’t always put work first, Chet.”
He glanced at her. Wished he could see her face better. Had she really just said that? “Can you repeat that for me? I think maybe I heard wrong.”
She laughed. “I’m trying to think like a person rather than a cop. Jess and Burnett have put work first their entire careers. Look how long it took them to piece a personal life back together and now everything’s going to hell. I don’t want to waste all that time.”
“Hey, did you see that rock she was wearing?”
“I did. I wanted to ask her about it but there wasn’t time. He must have done the official proposal last night.”
“I guess he wanted something to celebrate after being forced into administrative leave. Talk about a crappy day.”
“Hayes said Nina Baron went missing. You think that has anything to do with Spears?”
Hearing her say Hayes’ name tightened Chet’s jaw. He’d warned the guy he better watch his step. “I haven’t heard any of the details.”
“According to Hayes she disappeared from the top private facility in the southeast. The senator is pulling out all the stops to find her and to get to the bottom of how this happened.”
“Looks like Chief Black inherited some major headaches.”
“I have no sympathy.” Lori stretched. “I guess I’ll be clearing the Brownfield murders off the case board today.”
“Yea
h. The feds will probably oversee the ongoing removal and identification of the remains. It’s one-hundred percent their mess now.”
“We know Henshaw, Mooney, and his girlfriend were murdered by Spears’s follower, but there are still pieces that don’t fit.”
“Who knows how many followers we’re dealing with here. There could be dozens working under our radar.” That was the part that worried Chet the most. The enemy could be any sick bastard who’d gotten an invitation to the game from the Player.
“It’s hard to fathom how far Spears was willing to go in this crazy quest to dig up all he could from Jess’s past. Some parts were news even to her.” Lori shivered.
“When you have those kinds of resources you can make things happen.” Chet wanted Spears dead. He wanted his son back and Lori safe.
She was watching him again. “So you’ve made up your mind about the surgery?”
“It’s the right thing to do. We need to be focused on staying safe right now and stopping this piece of crap.”
“Okay. As soon as we can breathe again, let’s get back on the surgeon’s schedule. I don’t want to risk our future children.”
He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “You got it.”
She leaned on the console, resting her head on his shoulder. “We’re going to have to talk to Jess about Hayes.”
“Either that or I’m going to end up kicking the guy’s ass.”
“I don’t understand why he’s turned into such an arrogant ass. He actually told me that Jess wanted me in Scottsboro the other morning. He told her I wanted to go because there was something I wanted to check out.”
“Did you ask him about it?”
“Yeah. He said there was a miscommunication. No big deal.”
Chet shook his head. “I can’t figure out why he thinks he needs to stick so close to the chief. She’s already made it clear that we’re a team.”
“Who knows? If he doesn’t realize by now he can’t move ahead with her that way, he’s an idiot.”
“You know, I saw him come out of Burnett’s office the other day. Do you think it’s possible that Hayes is working for Burnett? You know, keeping an eye on the chief for him?”
Lori didn’t answer for a bit. Thinking it over probably. The idea could be a stupid one.
“I think you’re onto something. Burnett pushed his transfer paperwork through.” She shook her head. “Son of a bitch. That’s why he feels comfortable being so cocky even with Jess. He knows Burnett has his back.”
“If the chief finds out, Hayes will be out.”
Lori hummed a worried sound. “That could cause some major tension between her and Burnett. They don’t need that right now.”
“So we keep this to ourselves?”
“For now. We’re basically theorizing anyway.”
“You’re right. The chief has a lot on her plate right now. She and her sister were pretty torn up about the DNA news. They’re both worried about that little girl.”
“Poor kid. She’s got a bumpy road ahead of her.”
“Yeah.” Chet hoped his son would grow up recognizing and appreciating how lucky he was to have parents who loved him more than life.
“You know what I find totally bizarre about the Brownfield case?”
Chet laughed. “You mean besides all those dead people being buried in the yard?”
“Besides that,” Lori acquiesced.
“Tell me.”
“Margaret, Amanda’s mother, had an affair for years with Jess’s father who was married. Then later, she has a long-term affair with McPherson, also a married man—at least in the beginning. What did these two men have in common besides wives?”
“Her affair with McPherson was about protection. She didn’t want her father to go to jail at his advanced age. Later, it was about keeping Amanda out of jail. Having her own personal ABI agent to keep her family’s extracurricular activities covered was a major coup.”
“What about Jess’s father? The woman never married. It was as if her purpose in life was to serve as a conduit for drawing protection to the family.”
“But the chief’s father wasn’t in law enforcement. He was some sort of salesman.”
“Was he?”
Chet braked at an intersection and met Lori’s gaze beneath the glow of streetlamps. “You might be on to something.”
“We should dig around. See what we can find before we approach Jess.”
“Where do you suggest we start?”
“Buddy Corlew.”
Chet harrumphed. “Good luck finding him. Corlew seems to be missing, too.”
22
9911 Conroy Road, 8:50 a.m.
Jess hated to leave Dan at home. It felt wrong. She’d barely slept after they’d gotten home. Once she’d started going through those files she couldn’t stop. Her father’s name hadn’t come up in any of McPherson’s reports. He’d documented murders going all the way back to Amanda’s great-grandfather. According to his calculations, Amanda was the first female killer of the family.
“Lieutenant Hayes is here.” Dan looked from the window to Jess. “You hardly slept at all. You could wait and go in after lunch.”
She grabbed her bag and managed a smile. “I’m fine. I should turn these files over to Agent Manning and see where this leaves our investigation. We’ll be focusing on my mother’s journal and Henshaw’s ramblings today. I’m hoping his notes will lead us somewhere besides a dead end.” A frown tugged at her brow. “What about you? I hate leaving you here like this.”
“I have a lot to do. I’m having lunch with Dad. Looking at more houses. Maybe I’ll drag him along.”
Jess hugged her arms around his waist. “That’s a very good idea. What about Katherine? Won’t she want to come along?”
“Mom and some of her friends are helping Mrs. Baron today.” Worry slipped back into his eyes. “I feel like there’s something I should be doing, too.”
Jess hugged him tighter. “The senator will have the best out there looking for his daughter, but if you feel you need to help, then you should. House hunting can wait. You and your dad go help out where you’re needed most.”
Dan nodded. “I’ll check in. See what I can do. Nothing official, of course.”
“That won’t matter.” Jess smiled up at him. “Being there will.”
“I love you, Jess.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “Please be safe out there.”
“Promise.” She tiptoed and kissed him. “Love you, too.”
Dan walked her down the stairs to meet Hayes. Leaving Dan standing there watching her go made her chest hurt.
“Nice ring,” Hayes commented as he guided his car onto the street.
“Thanks.” Jess admired the engagement ring Dan had given her. It was gorgeous.
“We headed to the office?”
She thought about that for a moment. “Before we go to the office, I’d like to drive by the Irondale house. Have another look around.”
“Headed that way.”
She searched for her cell. If Sylvia needed anything, Jess wanted to do what she could. She made the call, but it went to voicemail. Jess urged her friend to call if there was any way she could help. There was probably something more she should say, but Jess had never been very good at that sort of thing.
If Spears was involved with Nina’s disappearance, what in the world could he have planned?
This game he was playing had taken several startling twists and turns from his usual MO. His obsession with Jess had become his singular goal. Rather than abduct and murder her as he did his other victims, he had set her up as an equal challenger in his game. Of course, he fully expected to win—he was a sociopath—but he couldn’t resist upping the stakes against himself.
If Jess had her way, his obsession with her would be a fatal error.
Birmingham Police Department, 9:05 a.m.
The call ended and Lori turned to Chet. “That was Jess. She and Hayes are headed to the Irondale house.”
Chet looked up from his laptop. “I guess we stay on the Henshaw investigation.”
Lori nodded, frustrated. “Where’s Cook?” He hadn’t come to the office and hadn’t answered when she called him in the middle of the night about going to Scottsboro.
“Maybe he’s helping Dr. Baron.”
“I should try to call him again.”
“Maybe he was out partying last night.” Chet shrugged. “Too early for him to know anything on the exam to celebrate.”
Before Lori could put through the call her cell vibrated. Corlew. Surprised, she hit accept. “Hey, Corlew, what’s up? Where have you been? The chief has been trying to reach you.”
“Listen up, Lori, I got a situation. I need back up fast but I don’t want Jess involved in this.”
Lori tapped speaker. “I’m here with Chet Harper. Chief Harris is in Irondale. What’s your situation?”
“I don’t have time to explain how this came about so you’re going to have to trust me on this, okay?”
“Let’s hear it,” Chet said, his skepticism showing.
“I’m sitting across the street from a house on Argyle Drive in a Red Mountain neighborhood. I’m texting you the exact address right now. I’ve been staked out here for forty-eight hours and I now have visual confirmation that Spears is in the house.”
“What did you say?” Lori needed to confirm what she thought she’d heard.
“I repeat, I have visual confirmation that Spears is inside the house.”
Chet reached for his phone. “SWAT can scramble in—”
“Don’t call anyone,” Corlew cut him off, “except Burnett. If Spears has a source inside the BPD we don’t want him getting a heads up. I need Burnett and you two. No one else. You keep Jess out of this. It’s too risky.”
“She’s not going to like it,” Lori warned.
“Just get here,” Corlew urged.
“Calling Burnett now,” Chet assured him.
“Okay. We’ll do this your way,” Lori relented. “Just don’t do anything reckless, Corlew.”
“Can’t make any promises, sweetheart.”
The call ended. Lori tried to calm her racing heart, wasn’t happening. “I don’t care what Corlew wants, I should call Jess.”