Just Evil

by Vickie McKeehan

  “What the fuck is going on here?” Cade raged.

  “Someone has to know,” Connor suggested. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “I’m telling you it has to be Kit. She’s at the bottom of it.”

  Patience running thin, Connor shook his head. “And how exactly does that work, Collin? These murders were carried out by a professional, had to be, too neat, too clean. Kit might have offed Alana, but I’d venture the rest of it has nothing to do with her. But by God, whoever’s targeting this family is in for a fight. I’ll be damned if I just sit back and wait until some sleazebag comes after us one by one and destroys everything we’ve worked hard for.”

  Entrenched in his theory, Collin refused to give up. “Kit’s the most likely, the one with a longtime grudge. There’s been a war going on with us since she was twelve.”

  Cade scoffed at that. “Bullshit. Her war is with you, little brother, not with us. Everything was fine with our little surrogate sister until the day you cornered her in the cabana house and tried to rip off her clothes. She ran screaming from you then and hasn’t wanted to have anything to do with your charming self ever since.”

  “Yeah well, she had me arrested didn’t she? Just like Quinn had you arrested four years ago for assault. Women. If you ask, me they’re good for one thing only.”

  “Oh really? So when did you close the deal with Kit, little brother? When did this happen and I missed it?”

  Collin rose up from his chair with clenched fists, as always, ready to fight, and shouted, “You son of a bitch, come on; I can whip your ass any day of the week.”

  Cade stood up too, as if ready to do battle. “Anytime you say the word, baby brother. And that thing with Quinn, that was simply to let her know who was in charge of the relationship. The little tease needed someone to set her straight. From the start Quinn was too damned independent, too unstable; look at her background, look what she came from: half-Indian scum, half music dirt. Nothing came of it anyway. And I’m not still hung up on Quinn like you are Kit. Once dad persuaded her to drop the charges, I at least moved on.”

  Connor had heard enough. “Both of you sit down and shut the fuck up. Fighting among ourselves isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

  Collin sat back down, but immediately began to fidget, shaking his leg up and down, nervously tapping his fingers on his thighs. He had to tell them what he’d done. “There’s something you guys need to know. I took Auslo and Taft out last night and things might have gotten a little out of hand.”

  A warning bell went off inside Connor’s head. Used to Collin’s immature antics, his brain went on alert. “What things?”

  Collin began to squirm, and looked away not making eye contact with either one of them. “I only meant to scare her, but Auslo had other ideas. He got a little carried away, stepped on the gas and before I knew what was happening, the car went out of control and…”

  “And what? What are you saying, Collin?”

  “The car Auslo was driving might have clipped Kit’s car out on the PCH, knocked her Jeep off the road. She might be a little banged up.”

  Connor exploded. “Goddamn it. What were you thinking? Oh that’s an even more absurd question on my part. You weren’t. You never do. You’re such a fuckup.” He slapped the side of Collin’s head with his open hand. “Dad was right about you; you’ve got the brains of a piss ant. You’ve got nothing upstairs. No wonder you haven’t been able to pass the goddamn Bar. At this point, thinking with your dick would be a step up, wouldn’t it? Goddamn it, Collin we don’t need this right now.”

  Ready to fight a few minutes earlier, now Cade was his brother’s loyal defender. “Stop railing on him. He just told you it was Auslo’s fault. You know how dense that Auslo guy is and weird to boot. What are we going to do about this whole fucking mess, Connor? Someone’s after us. And no one’s taking me down without a fight.”

  Connor rubbed at his forehead, feeling the beginnings of a migraine coming on, and tried to assess the damage. “Can they connect you to the car, to Auslo and Taft?”

  “I think Kit might have seen me.”

  “Shit. You’re fucked,” Cade decided. “Count on Quinn and Baylee to come after you, make trouble anyway they can. Those three are tight…always have been.”

  Connor pointed out, “Not Baylee. She’s left town. Gone.”

  Collin laughed. “To hell you say. I saw her the other day at Kit’s little bookstore in bumfuck township. She’s dyed her hair some shitty brown color.”

  Something feral glazed in Connor’s eyes. But even as his head pounded, he was quickly reeling in the fury coursing through his head. Forcing himself to pull in those familiar feelings, he got himself under control so he could think more clearly. One problem at a time, he told himself, before turning his attention to what Cade was saying.

  “What about that guy we used last year, the guy who took care of that little political problem we had with the judge? We could use him to take care of Auslo and Taft, get them out of the way.”

  More composed now, in control of his emotions again, Connor suggested, “We take care of this mess ourselves. First up, we make sure no one finds out about Collin’s little scare tactic. We take care of Auslo and Taft, then Kit, even if we have to go through Baylee and Quinn to do it. Despite what Dad thought before he died, I think somebody out there knows. And if it gets out, everything goes down the tubes.”

  “Dad should have taken care of Alana a long time ago,” Collin chimed in.

  “Guys, there might be someone else besides the women we have to go through.” Cade added.

  “Jake Boston,” Connor said in agreement. “That just puts another flavor in the punch, doesn’t it?”

  Cade walked over to the railing, looked out into the water. “We’re in this together and that means we take care of Auslo and Taft together and whoever else gets in our way. Agreed?”

  “Maybe we should increase security around this place, utilize the round-the-clock, twenty-four-hour protection.”

  With a bitch of a headache starting to form behind his eyes, Connor was growing more tired of Collin’s mouth by the minute. “Yeah, like that did Dad any good. For once, Collin, stand on your own two feet.” Pacing the length of the deck with his hands jammed in the pockets of his khaki shorts, Connor looked at his brother in disgust. “Thanks to genius here, we need to get to Auslo and Taft before the police do. If they get picked up and spill their guts, we’re all screwed. They know too much.

  “And if they haven’t turned up the damned gun by now, what good are they? I told Dad that was a mistake.” Connor added.

  “I vote for taking care of those two dickheads. Getting them out of the way is priority one. Then…” Cade hesitated. “We think about how to get rid of Kit. If we get Auslo and Taft out of the picture, she’s the only other witness, right?” He looked at Collin for confirmation.

  Collin merely nodded, glad to be off the hook. But he’d been working on an idea of his own. “What if Auslo and Taft were good for one last job? We make sure they carry it out, maybe plant some evidence around, you know, pull back, make it look like Auslo and Taft did the whole thing, then let the police try to figure it out. We make sure our hands are nowhere near the scene. That would lead the cops straight to them, not us.”

  Cade raised his eyebrows. “Not bad, little brother. What’s the plan?”

  At the praise, Collin sat up straighter and shared his idea.

  When all three men were in agreement, Connor raised his glass in the air. “To a successful mission.” He downed the whiskey. “We need women.”

  “Good idea. My treat,” Cade offered, as he pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number to call the escort service they frequented.

  He didn’t like it. They were up to something. Looking through the telescopic lens of the high-powered rifle, he decided the three brothers were in panic-mode.

  He’d seen Collin in action with Auslo and Taft. He’d followed the SUV, witnessed the h
it-and-run on Kit Griffin. And he’d observed Collin’s pathetic attempt at using explosives in the hope of blowing up Boston’s sailboat.

  They were getting desperate. And desperate people were dangerous.

  If he needed any more proof of that, there was no better example than their parents. They’d all been desperate once, a long time ago, and look what they’d done for the almighty dollar. They hadn’t been content with the money they’d received just winning the lawsuit. No, they’d taken it one step further and taken the lives of an old couple who’d never harmed anyone.

  As he began to take the rifle apart and pack it away, he considered his mission essentially finished. Four out of five wasn’t bad. If Frank Geller happened to be lucky enough to be half a world away, so be it. Was it fair to let Geller live? Probably not. But then he’d essentially met his goal and gotten rid of the source, the core.

  He considered the scene he’d just witnessed between the brothers. There was evil still there. All three men were replicas of their parents. And that he couldn’t tolerate. He couldn’t walk away knowing it was only a matter of time before they spread their evil, like a disease, infecting their plague on everyone around them.

  With the sons still breathing, walking away wasn’t an option.

  Without knowing it, the three Boyd stooges had just upped the ante, and he was more than willing to play.

  Strangely, that burned out and useless feeling he’d carried around with him for so long had miraculously been replaced by an invigorated rejuvenation of sorts. He knew the moment he’d started to feel it, too. As he carried his bag to the car, he weighed his options. He liked this new feeling. Hell, the fact that he was feeling anything again was a refreshing change of pace, one he’d forgotten existed. And if he stayed, he’d have to get his hands on that painting.

  As he loaded the car, that idea had his lips curving.

  Sitting up in bed, Kit had so many pillows propped up behind her head she felt like she might tip over. Since she’d awaken from a foggy sleep, the man sitting on her bed spoon-feeding her bites of a hot fudge sundae, one slow spoonful at a time, had seen to her every whim. Thanks to the generous IV drip, she was feeling no pain at the moment. She’d just slurped down a big spoonful of ice cream when she looked up and saw Dan Holloway standing in the open doorway. At the sight of him, she choked. Jake dabbed at her chin with a napkin and rubbed at her back until she stopped coughing. Then he noticed the reason. He swore.

  Holloway stepped into the room and spoke to Kit. “Sorry to interrupt, but if you’re feeling up to it, I need to talk to you.”

  Realizing he’d just been ignored, Jake calmly set down the bowl of ice cream. “The police just left, took her statement about the hit-and-run. If you’re here to hassle her about Alana, you won’t. She’s been through too much over the last twenty-four hours. I’ll go get her doctor before I let you upset her.”

  “That’s the last thing I want.” Holloway came further into the room to stand by the bed. “The media hasn’t gotten wind of this yet, but it’s only a matter of time before they do. About seven o’clock this morning Sumner Boyd apparently went for his usual run on the beach. When he didn’t come back, his oldest son, Connor, went looking for him. He found him on the beach…dead. He’d been shot in the head.” He pointed to the left side of his own head and then held out his other hand, turning it palm up. It held a miniature gold cowboy inside a plastic evidence bag. It matched the others. “This was found in his mouth. In light of what happened to her last night, I’m here to tell Ms. Griffin that she’s no longer a suspect in the deaths of Jessica and Jessica’s sister, Eva Geller Gatz.”

  Patience, thought Jake. Holloway wasn’t saying what he wanted to hear. After several long seconds of staring each other down, impatience won out and Jake finally said, “Okay, that’s big of you to stop by and tell her. We appreciate it. But it seems to me a car had to run her off the road before you guys came around. What I don’t hear is that you’ve cleared her as a suspect in Alana’s murder. And you haven’t done that. Even though you found one of those gold things…” A quick glance at Kit had him saying, “At Alana’s.”

  Even though he understood the man’s thinking, Holloway was in a difficult position. For the first time in three years, he was in disagreement with his partner. “It’s true all four murders had one of those things left on or near the body. But Alana’s murder is different. She died from multiple stab wounds, not a gunshot. That’s the big thing Max can’t get past. Until we find the link, Kit’s still the person of interest there.”

  Jake missed the fact that the detective’s voice lacked total conviction. He sucked in an irritated breath before telling Holloway, “Let’s step out into the hallway for a minute.”

  Reluctantly, Holloway followed him through the doorway and watched as Jake pulled the door closed behind him.

  “Patience was never my strong suit, so I’ll just get this off my chest. I’ve about had it with this ridiculous notion that Kit has anything inside her that remotely resembles the kind of rage needed to kill her mother the way Alana Stevens died. It’s not just that she couldn’t do it, but she wouldn’t go back inside that house if you paid her. She didn’t know she’d inherited a dime from Alana, and didn’t care. And just so you know, I’m in the process of skimming over some of the papers Connor Boyd sent her to sign. So far, I don’t like what I’m seeing. Alana’s will is a little too tidy and predictable for a woman who didn’t give a shit about her daughter. And the money isn’t adding up, either.

  “Now, having said all that, the killer is obviously trying to tell you something and you guys are too stupid to figure it out. Those gold cowboys he’s leaving behind with each of the victims mean something to him. And you may not like it, but you can’t ignore one of those things was found with Alana.”

  On a roll with no intentions of slowing down, Jake kept going. “As you’re already aware, Detective, Alana’s house was ransacked. My office was broken into and now this morning Gloria found Kit’s house in the same condition. Someone’s looking for something they haven’t been able to find. Don’t you see how it all fits? And then there’s the fact that Alana wasn’t a very nice person. She’d made a lot of enemies through the years.”

  He took a step closer. “Widen your circle. If you want to get to the bottom of this whole fucking mess, you need to find what dirty little secrets Alana had.”

  He thought of the stuff still sitting in the trunk of his car, considered handing it over, but decided he’d hold the stuff as close to the vest for as long as he could. “I shouldn’t have to do your job for you, but I did a simple search of public records. I found out Alana was married for a short time to Jessica’s brother, Frank Geller, long before Kit ever came along. Is it relevant? I don’t know, but that’s one more connection to the law firm and to the Boyd family. I’m not sure what else you need at this point to clear Kit, but coming here to question her today was a bad idea on your part.”

  He reached into his wallet and pulled out a business card. “From now on, Kit has an attorney, Reese Brennan. In the future any interviews you want with Kit should be scheduled through his office with him present.”

  A visibly agitated Holloway stood his ground. “Look, when we find the solid connection that links Alana’s murder to the others, I can assure you Kit will be officially cleared. These things take time. I heard what happened to her last night and I wanted to stop by, see how she was doing. Someone handed me a copy of the report minutes ago and I wanted to check it out for myself, ask her some questions about what happened.”

  When he saw he had no chance at getting past this guy, Holloway changed tactics. “Look, I’ve found out some things about her mother that might move the investigation in another direction. Namely, Alana and Jessica girls’ night out was a little more than we were initially led to believe. I’m working on another angle. Just give me some time to make my case. I’m telling you this as a courtesy and as a direct result of what happened to Kit last night. I
n the meantime, I’ll let Max know he needs to go through Reese Brennan for another interview.” He paused, changing the subject back to why he’d really stopped by. “Did she really see Collin Boyd in the car with Auslo?”

  “Yeah. And there’s history there.” He went into a brief explanation about Collin’s behavior in the past. When he saw the skeptical look on Holloway’s face, he said, “Check it out, if you don’t believe me. She’s called the police on him twice.”

  “I’m sure you’re aware the Boyd, Geller, and Gatz families are very powerful, not just in this city but the entire state. I need to make certain that this accusation isn’t motivated by some vendetta you two have cooked up to get back at the Boyd family for whatever reason.”

  Red fury ran through Jake like a swift current. He inched further into Holloway’s space. “Do your job, Detective, that’s all I’m asking. For once, stop thinking about the political power the family wields and go after the bad guys.” With that, he turned on his heels and went back inside Kit’s room.

  When Kit looked up and saw he was alone, a smile brightened her bruised face, and she asked, “Where’s Holloway?”

  “Gone.”

  “You got rid of him?”

  He wiggled his eyebrows up and down and then grinned at her. “Sure, was there ever any doubt?”

  Oh God, but she loved this man. The drugs made her blurt out, “My hero. I dreamed last night you told me you loved me.”

  Gently, he sat back down on the bed, putting both of his hands down on opposite sides of her pillows. Leaning over her, inches from her mouth, he whispered, “It was no dream.”

  Kit swallowed hard. Dry mouth took over. The drugs were coursing through her veins. This really was a fantasy. She was dreaming again. That had to be it. She’d play along. “Okay. So if you really feel that way, I’m awake now. Say it again.”

  “I love you, Kit.”

  How long had she waited to hear him say that? It seemed like forever. As if absorbing the shock of it, all she could say was, “No one’s ever told me that before.”