Icy Betrayal: A Jack Keller Thriller

by David Keith

  “Lisa!” Keller screamed. “Lisa!!!”

  FIFTY

  The headline on the front page of the News-Press read, “RCSO BUSTS LENNOX; Gunfire, Confession and Witness Deal in Lombard Murder Arrest.” The byline belonged to Anita Sanchez, and the story covered the night’s events, complete with quotes and photos from the scene. A quiet, last-minute deal struck between Mick McCallister and Sanchez gave her photographer the perfect vantage point to capture Lennox being loaded into an ambulance.

  The story made the front page of every Colorado paper and was the lead on every Colorado TV newscast. But the News-Press had the most extensive coverage, thanks to the tip from McCallister. In each article, Dave Baxter offered a glowing account of the work done by his office and RCSO Captain Mick McCallister in getting Ms. Sullivan to admit to her ‘small role’ in covering up the killing and convincing her to “testify against the actual killer, Scott Lennox.”

  The media outlets were satisfied—they had another sensational murder trial to cover, and the beautiful Lisa Sullivan would be part of the prosecution’s effort to put away a cold blooded killer.

  Captain Mick McCallister was on his way to a last-minute campaign event when his cell phone rang.

  “Hey,” he said, “I saw the front page, nice work.”

  “I just called to say thanks.” It was Anita Sanchez.

  “Don’t mention it,” McCallister said.

  “Hey listen, I’d like to be able to call you on things after you’re elected sheriff tomorrow, if you don’t mind. Future stories, stuff like that. I think we can have a really great working relationship.”

  “Absolutely, I look forward to it.”

  “Great, and thanks again for the heads up on the Lennox deal. It was a great story for us.”

  “No problem, we’ll talk again soon.”

  While Mick McCallister was new to politics, he did understand the world of give and take. It was a savvy move on his part to give Sanchez the heads up about the Lennox takedown, knowing his photo would land on the front page of the paper the day before Rocklin County voters were set to elect a new sheriff. He had played his hand well.

  At Rocklin County Community Hospital, Scott Lennox lay in a room on the second floor, recovering from two gunshot wounds to the shoulder. He was lucky to be alive. The CSI team determined that two rounds fired by SWAT officers had penetrated and passed through the driver’s headrest of his Lexus, just missing Lennox. Either shot would likely have been fatal. McCallister ordered a 24/7 security detail to ensure that Lennox wouldn’t attempt to somehow leave the hospital or try to harm himself. One deputy was stationed inside his room, while another stood guard outside in the hallway.

  Lisa Sullivan was in a room on the fourth floor with a deputy stationed outside her door, as well. She had suffered a broken hip, wrist, and tibia and had undergone six hours of surgery overnight.

  Danny Velasco was standing outside Lisa’s room when Keller and Mia arrived.

  “How’s your client, counselor?” Jack asked.

  “Pretty good, all things considered,” Velasco told them. “The doc says she should be ready to testify before the grand jury in a couple weeks. She may have to do it in a wheelchair, but she should be good to go. I spoke with Dave Baxter this morning, and he said they will be adding attempted murder to the charges against Scott Lennox. You can stick a fork in him, he’s done.”

  Just then Jack’s cell went off and he excused himself. “Peter, thanks for calling me back,” he said, disappearing down the hallway.

  “Can I talk to her?” Mia asked.

  “She’s pretty doped up and not making a lot of sense right now.”

  Just then, a nurse walked past and into Sullivan’s room.

  “That’s Doris. She sorta runs the place. If you want to talk to my client, she has to give the okay.”

  Mia walked to the doorway and poked her head in. “Excuse me, I’m Mia Serrano, and I’m an investigator with the RCSO. Any chance I can get a minute with your patient?”

  “Right now I need to change some of her bandages. Can you come back later?”

  “Oh, sure, that’ll be fine. Sorry to be a bother, my mom was a nurse and I know how overworked you are.”

  It was a fib, but there was no harm in getting friendly with Sullivan’s nurse, Mia thought.

  “How long ago was your mom in nursing?”

  “Oh, quite a while ago. She’s passed now. But I know what a difference she made for her patients and how much they loved her for it.”

  She was laying it on a little thick, but Doris was listening and seemed appreciative.

  “Your mom was right. Although it’s even harder now with all the budget cutbacks. I don’t even have the help I need to care for this patient. I don’t know how they expect me to do this by myself. It’s a two person job.”

  “Can I help?”

  “Well, I need to change her bandages. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all. What should I do?”

  “When I roll her onto her side, if you could just hold her there while I put on a fresh dressing, that would be a huge help.”

  “I can do that.”

  “Wait,” she responded, surveying the bandages on the tray. “There’s no tape. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Lisa groaned and twisted in an effort to get comfortable.

  With the nurse out of the room, Mia bent over the bed rail to get close to Sullivan.

  “Lisa, can you hear me?” she whispered.

  Sullivan mumbled, nodding her head slightly in agreement.

  “Lisa, Jack’s here. Do you want to talk to him?”

  A slight smile appeared on the corners of her dry, cracked lips.

  “You know Jack real well, don’t you?”

  Again, a smile.

  Mia tried quickly to come up with the right questions. She looked back at the door.

  “You love him, don’t you?”

  Again, Lisa nodded slightly and shifted in the bed. “Yuh, heesh my…”

  “The things you have to do to find tape around here,” announced Doris, as she returned.

  Mia jumped. Lisa groaned, shifting again in her bed.

  “Lisa, we’re going to change your dressing now,” the nurse said, before turning to Mia. “Just hold her right there and keep that gown up.”

  “Got it,” Mia said, following the instructions.

  Doris bent down and focused her attention on Lisa’s back and hip.

  “So they say our patient here helped you get that Lennox fella. Who was that man he killed? Weren’t they business partners or something?”

  “Yes,” Mia responded. “His name was George Lombard.”

  “Laahmbahrd,” Lisa moaned. “Hhhyaad cancer. Ah didint nahw. Caancer.”

  “Cancer? No, honey,” Doris said, looking at Lisa, “you’ve got some broken bones and some ugly bruises, but there’s no cancer. You’re gonna be just fine.”

  The nurse finished with the dressing. “You can let her down now, hon.”

  Cancer? How did Lisa Sullivan know Lombard had cancer? There was only one person who could have told her.

  Keller. That bastard.

  Mia let Lisa’s body roll back on the bed. As she did, Lisa cried out in pain.

  “Ahhhhhh!”

  “Her pain meds are wearing off,” Doris told her. “I’ll be back with a shot.”

  Mia looked down on Lisa Sullivan with disdain. Her intuition had been right all along. Sullivan had killed a man with her married boyfriend and gotten away with it. Then as police closed in, she lured Keller into her web. She and Keller deserved one another and Mia was committed to bringing them both down.

  Lisa’s eyes fluttered as she fought to remain conscious. Mia made sure the door was closed and then leaned in close.

  “I was right about you all along. You’re nothing but a whore—first Lennox and then my partner. This is not over…”

  “Hurrrrthh. Owww,” Lisa moaned.

  “Now you know what George Lomb
ard felt the moment you and your boyfriend killed him in cold blood.”

  “Laaambaahrd. Canswer! Owwwww!,” Lisa bellowed. “Daaaahhhdy!,” she yelled incoherently. “Daaaaaahhhhhhhd!”

  Lisa began to flail on the bed, her face contorted in pain and confusion. “Helpppp,” she whimpered. Then cried out again loudly. “Daaaaaahhhhhhd!”

  Mia stepped back from the bed, shaken by the scene and unsure what to do. The beeps of the pulse monitor chimed in fast rhythm.

  “Daaaaaahhhhhhd!” Lisa screamed. “Daaaahhhdddeee!”

  The air rushed from the room as the door pushed open and Keller burst in.

  “Lisa!” he called out, pushing past Mia and leaning over his daughter.

  “It’s okay, babe. It’s okay,” he said holding her down. “Everything’s okay now.”

  Jack stroked her hair and Lisa’s fit subsided. Comforted by his touch, she gazed up at him and said “Daahd.”

  Lisa’s demeanor continued to calm as she looked at her father and the beep of the pulse monitor dropped to a more regular pace. The room became silent as Jack turned to Mia. His eyes were defiant.

  His stare shook her to her core. Mia’s intuition, theories, and conclusions in the murder case of George Lombard were instantly shattered.

  “Oh my God,” she said.

  FIFTY-ONE

  The silence in St. Joseph’s church was broken only by hushed voices reciting a litany of Hail Mary’s. There were just a handful of people present, each with their head bowed in reverence. An elderly woman appeared from the small door, walked to a nearby pew, knelt, and joined the others in prayer.

  A tall figure with thick, dark hair sprinkled with gray rose slowly and went inside.

  “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It’s been nearly a year since my last confession…”

  The curtain pulled away, exposing the priest behind the screen.

  Father Jon smiled.

  “It’s good to see you, Jack.”

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  While driving on Interstate 5 in the fall of 2009, I noticed a large ice truck in the lane next to me. I looked over at the big eighteen wheeler and it struck me: I wonder if you could put a body in there in an effort to fool investigators as to the time of death. I know what you’re thinking… Why would anyone have a thought like that driving down the interstate?

  After nearly thirty years working within the California criminal justice system, I probably look at things a little differently than most people. The idea of keeping a body frozen in that truck stayed with me as I continued down the interstate, and when I returned home later that evening I sat down at my laptop and just started typing. I had no outline or real idea where I was headed, but I just knew there was a story there. A few hours later, I had the first dozen pages of Icy Betrayal in hand.

  The rest followed in fits and starts, with sometimes months going by without a word being written. Finally, over the course of 2013, I pounded out the rest of the story. I hope you enjoyed it.

  There are so many people to thank for giving me the encouragement I needed to finish this book. I’d write a handful of pages and quickly send them off to select friends and family to get their feedback. Mostly they told me that I had to “hurry up and finish the damn story” as they were hooked and wanted to see how it would end. Those kind words kept me going.

  Specifically, I’d like to thank the following people for their support and encouragement:

  Tom and Barbara Laubacher, Marvin Petal, Rich Gualano, Steve Low, Laura Rainey, Mark Keith, John Higgins, Laura Greaves, Anita Gergen, Ron Calkins, Mike Palmieri, Tom and Mona Neuhaus, Monica Schoenfeld, Robert Garcia, Martin Remmen and Doug Saint.

  A special thank you to my editors Dan Green and Erin Clark and their marketing team at OMG Media in Monterey—their assistance was invaluable.

  I want to thank my wife Giselle, my two older kids Jessica and Michael, and my youngest Alyssa; who along with her college roommate Nikki Voest would meet me regularly for breakfast on the campus of California Lutheran University to share their thoughts on my writing. Their insights were a tremendous help.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  David Keith has nearly thirty years of experience in criminal justice and policing. As the longtime spokesman and community affairs manager with the Oxnard Police Department he publicly handled high profile cases including more than 200 homicides. Considered a leading expert in media relations, David trained officers and staff from over five hundred police agencies across the nation in media communications, community outreach and crisis management.

  David lives in Southern California with his wife Giselle.