Be My Baby: Konigsburg, Texas, Book 3

by Meg Benjamin

  A drop of ice glided down Lars’s spine. “You don’t think it will?”

  “I don’t know. Right now I’d say it’s fifty-fifty, depending on how much the Feds like Dahlia as a witness. And there’s no telling how long it may take them to follow up and go to Pennsylvania.”

  Lars blew out a breath. “Okay. I’ll tell Jess that. She won’t be happy, but she needs to know. Thanks, Erik.”

  “That’s not all.” Erik looked back at the street again. “I want you to listen to the recording.”

  Lars frowned. “Is that legal? I’m not part of the case.”

  “Nope.” One corner of Erik’s mouth edged up as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a digital mini-recorder. “I’m not even supposed to have this thing. I started using it in interrogations, even though nobody else around here does. I figure it’s only a matter of time before the department gets sued. Usually, I ask before I turn it on, though.”

  “But you didn’t with Dahlia?”

  Erik sat quiet for a moment or two, staring at the fading light. “I didn’t let either Dahlia or Pete know I was doing it. Pete’s one hell of a County Attorney, better than anyone they had before him, according to people who’ve been around here a while. And I’m damn sure he’d never let me copy Dahlia’s recording. The thing is, though, we need other copies of this thing around here, just for safety’s sake.”

  “You think someone might destroy it?”

  “Maybe. Or maybe it gets lost. Or maybe some judge suppresses it somewhere and nobody ever hears it again. Like I said—if I was the old lady’s lawyer, I’d do my damndest to get the thing thrown out of court.”

  “Where’s the original?”

  “Right now it’s in the safe in Pete’s office. But it won’t stay there. He’ll give it to the Rangers who’ll give it to the Feds, and that’ll be the end of it, as far as we’re concerned.”

  “But…”

  “But if we’re ever going to stop this woman, we need some kind of leverage. Whatever else this tape may be, it’s definitely leverage.”

  Lars stared down at the silver recorder in Erik’s hand. “I can download that sound file to my computer. I’ve done it before.”

  Erik narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t hear you say that. Just take the recorder off and do what you need to do. Jess should know what that woman said. So should you. I figure you can listen to the tape and then tell her. I just…” His voice trailed off as he turned back to stare at the street again. “I don’t want that old lady getting away with it. Take this someplace quiet and listen to it. You’ll feel the same way.”

  Lars stared down again at the silver rectangle. “Okay,” he said slowly. “Thanks, bro.”

  “Don’t mention it.” Erik opened his door and then turned back. “I mean that literally, by the way. Don’t mention this. To anyone except Jess. For both our sakes.”

  “Right.” Lars climbed out of the car as Erik started back toward the station. “Erik?”

  He looked back over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry about Dahlia. I mean, that she turned out to be…” He waved his hand, trying to think of a word a little less stark than the one that leaped immediately to his mind.

  “A gold-plated bitch who figured she could use me for information and then grab Jack before any of us figured it out?” Erik’s smile twisted slightly.

  Lars blew out a breath. “Yeah. Pretty much that.”

  Erik shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, bro. I heal up easy.” He turned back toward the station again.

  Lars watched his big brother’s slumped shoulders as he pulled open the station door. Yeah, we all heal up, don’t we, bro? After a moment, he tucked the recorder in his pocket and headed for his car.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Long after his computer had finished playing the sound file, Lars could still hear the voices in his mind. His mother’s safety is her own affair. I have no interest in it one way or the other.…Kidnapping is a tricky business, Mrs. Moreland. Even though you have basically given me permission to murder your daughter-in-law in the process. And finally, most chilling of all, Would you rather I not kidnap your grandson? Do you forbid me to harm your daughter-in-law even in passing? followed by a moment of absolute silence.

  Lydia Moreland had the coldest voice Lars had ever heard. The thought of the owner of that voice having any contact with Jack, with his rosy baby joy, made his skin crawl. They had to do something. No, he had to do something. Pete and Erik couldn’t—the whole thing was out of their hands. If they tried to do anything more, their jobs might be in jeopardy. It had to be Lars who came up with a way to stop her.

  If only he knew what that way was.

  At Pete and Janie’s house he found Janie and Docia sitting at the dining room table, picking at the remains of dinner. He slid into a chair, looking over the congealed macaroni and cheese and rejecting it. Coffee, however, he could handle, although whiskey might do a better job of drowning out Lydia Moreland’s voice for the time being. “Everybody asleep?”

  Janie nodded. “Daisy went down an hour or so ago. Jess lay down with Jack, and then she fell asleep herself. Thank god—she looked like she needed it.”

  “Where are Cal and Pete?”

  “Cal’s still at the clinic, and Pete’s still at his office taking care of all the paperwork on Dahlia. You’re it, as far as Toleffson males go.”

  Docia pushed her plate away. “So what’s the verdict? What happens with the hired gun?”

  Lars rubbed his eyes. “Don’t ask me. Erik says they’re charging her with kidnapping and assault for now. I think they’ll try to use her against Mrs. Moreland eventually, though, so the charges against her may be reduced.”

  “Does Dahlia admit the wicked granny was behind it?” Janie’s fingers tightened on her coffee cup.

  Lars closed his eyes, hearing Lydia Moreland’s voice again. “Pretty much. Dahlia’s done for, anyway. Erik says they’ll horse-trade on charges with her lawyer when she gets around to calling one, but she’ll get some jail time for this, undoubtedly.”

  “Terrific. The kidnapper goes down, while the woman who instigated and financed the kidnapping might go free.” Docia stood, gathering plates. “Assuming, as we all do, that she’s a nutcase, what’s to stop her from hiring somebody else?”

  “Just what I was wondering.” Jess stood in the doorway, watching him. She looked marginally better than she had the last time he’d seen her, but that wasn’t saying much. Her eyes were still deep set, surrounded by shadows. She should have slept for another twelve hours at least. And then had breakfast in bed, preferably with him.

  “Oh, Jess, I’m sorry. Did we wake you?” Janie pushed back from the table.

  Jess shook her head. “I was waiting for Lars to get back so I could find out what happened at the station. So you’re saying Dahlia didn’t have anything on Lydia?”

  “She had something.” Lars glanced around the room. He really didn’t want to tell Jess about the recordings of Lydia Moreland and her plans in front of an audience.

  “Want to go for a drive?” Jess said. “I need aspirin.”

  “I’ve got…” Janie started, but Docia waved a hand at her.

  “Go ahead. If Jack wakes up we’ll take care of him.”

  Jess sat quietly in the front seat as Lars negotiated the packed parking lot at HEB. He pulled into a space near the back, but neither of them moved to get out of the car.

  “So what was it they told you? Was it really bad?” Jess’s mouth was a thin line in her shadowed face.

  Lars took a deep breath. “Dahlia recorded your mother-in-law offering her the kidnapping job. Erik let me listen to it, which is on the far side of legal, so don’t tell anybody about it, okay?”

  “But that’s good, isn’t it? I mean, now they have proof that Lydia was behind this. They can charge her.”

  “They can try.” More than ever Lars wished he were a better liar.

  “I don’t understand.” Jess’s voice sound
ed thin in the darkness of the car. “Didn’t Lydia say it clearly enough?”

  “She was very clear. They negotiated the kidnapping on the recording. No question about it—she wanted Jack abducted and brought to her.”

  Jess blew out a breath. “That’s pretty much what I expected. That’s her style.” She turned to look at him. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

  “Yeah.” Lars stared out at the cars moving around the lot. How could he tell her she was considered collateral damage, someone who could be killed in passing if it meant Jack would be easier to grab?

  “Did she want me dead?” Jess’s eyes were huge in the darkness. Her lips trembled.

  Lars shook his head. “She didn’t care. She didn’t tell Dahlia to kill you. But she didn’t care if it happened.”

  Jess closed her eyes, grasping the panic bar. “She’ll go on trying, Lars. If I can’t stop her this time, she’ll just find another way. Jack and I need to leave Konigsburg. Now. If I’m fast enough, maybe she won’t be able to follow us.”

  “Don’t do that,” Lars pleaded. “Don’t let her drive you away. Give us a chance to work something out.”

  Jess turned toward him again, pressing her trembling lips together. “Work what out, Lars? What other choice is there?”

  “Just…give us a chance, okay?”

  “Does she know where I am?”

  Lars shook his head. “Not from her conversations with Dahlia. Dahlia played it cagey.”

  “But Lydia could find out. She could hire someone else.”

  “Right, but who knows how long that would take? And meanwhile the FBI will probably go after her. She’ll know where you are for sure then, but she’ll have more important stuff to deal with.”

  “The FBI?”

  “Interstate kidnapping’s a federal offense. Pete passed the original recording on to the Rangers and the FBI. You’ve got some big guns on your side now, at least. Or you will have, once they’ve had a chance to hear the recording.”

  Jess watched him for a moment, her moss-colored eyes dark in the reflected parking lot lights. “Okay, I’ll give you some time,” she murmured finally. “But I can’t wait too long. Who knows who she might send down here next?”

  Lars and Daisy didn’t move back to town the next day, which Jess found slightly surprising. She’d half-expected them to, now that Dahlia was out of action and she no longer needed his protection. Still, she didn’t mind having the two of them around. Dahlia might have been out of action, but Lydia Moreland wasn’t.

  Erik called on Sunday afternoon. Lars leaned into the den, where she was working while Daisy and Jack played. “You mind some company this evening? Erik wants to get us all together for something.”

  Jess shook her head. “Tell them to bring some food. I haven’t been to the grocery yet.”

  “With my family, I don’t think that will be a problem.”

  Around four, Toleffsons started drifting into the house. First Cal and Docia, carrying Thanksgiving leftovers—ham, turkey, stuffing, green beans and sweet potatoes. Then Pete and Janie arrived with two loaves of bread, three dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies and a bag of apples. When Erik got there around five, he brought a case of soda and a gallon of cider.

  Jess wondered how they’d worked it out without consulting each other. Maybe their communication operated at the genetic level.

  She helped warm leftovers and slice bread, while various Toleffson males sliced turkey and ham, with a plate of cheese for Cal. The children were passed from person to person like wriggling footballs. Jess heard Jack’s giggle at one point and looked up to find Erik patting him against his shoulder.

  Her chest ached for a moment. Whenever she was around the Toleffsons, she thought of Barry and what Jack would be missing. It almost made her forget about the Morelands and their take on family values. Almost.

  Finally, they all circled the table with sandwiches and bowls of leftovers. The children had been fed, and Daisy perched in front of the TV watching Aladdin for the eighteenth time while Jack dozed in Jess’s lap.

  “Okay,” Erik said in a soft voice, “this is why we’re here. I need to fill you all in.”

  “On what?” Pete frowned. “I haven’t checked with the office today.”

  “It’s Sunday,” Janie reminded him. “You’re off duty, counselor.”

  Erik glanced around the table, then sighed. “Dahlia escaped from the jail sometime last night.”

  Jess clutched Jack convulsively so that he muttered a complaint in his sleep. Lars covered her hand with his own.

  “What the fuck! Who screwed up this time?” Pete pushed his plate across the table in fury.

  In the living room, Daisy swiveled toward him, her eyes wide.

  Janie scowled. “Peter Toleffson, there are children here, so keep it clean. And if you’re going to shout, you can do it outside.”

  Pete closed his eyes, rubbing his neck in irritation. “Sorry. Who was on duty, Erik?”

  “Boyd Garrett. One of Olema’s new hires. Apparently, he fell asleep, and she got the door open without waking him.”

  Pete groaned. “Tell me Olema’s taking a hit on this one.”

  “Looks like it.” Erik’s expression was grim. “That’s the only up side I can see. The city council brought in Sheriff Friesenhahn for a consult—my guess is Olema’s toast.”

  “What should I do? Should we go somewhere else?” Jess wished her voice wasn’t trembling, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. It might be too late to hide from Dahlia by now, anyway.

  Erik shook his head. “She won’t come after you, Jess. There’s nothing in it for her—she was doing it for the money, and she won’t get anything out of hurting you or Jack now since we know about her deal. My guess is she’s putting as much distance as she can between herself and Konigsburg.”

  “He’s right.” Pete grimaced. “She’s a sociopath, but she’s not a dumb sociopath.”

  Rationally, Jess agreed with them. At the same time, she figured she’d be sleeping on the floor in Jack’s room tonight. Or maybe in front of the door.

  Pete turned back to Erik. “So who’s gone after her?”

  “The Rangers. There’s a fugitive warrant on her. General opinion was the Konigsburg cops couldn’t find their asses in the dark with both hands. Sadly enough, that’s probably true for Olema and the guys he hired.”

  Lars rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

  “Yeah.” Erik stared down at his hands where he gripped the edge of the table. “When Dahlia took off, she took the case against Lydia Moreland with her. Without Dahlia’s testimony, we’ve got nothing on the old lady but the recording and Dahlia’s cell phone. My guess is, that’s not enough to bring her down.”

  Pete nodded, his mouth a grim line. “Without Dahlia to back it up, the recording’s worth shit.”

  “What recording? Would somebody please explain what’s going on here? Besides more Konigsburg police incompetence.” Docia helped herself to another serving of cranberry sauce, before she gave Erik a slightly guilty look. “Sorry, Erik. I didn’t mean you. But I’ve had problems of my own with that bunch.”

  Cal slid his arm across the back of her chair, one hand cupping her shoulder.

  Jess’s arms were still locked around Jack. He whimpered in her lap until she loosened her hold.

  “Dahlia recorded her conversations with Mrs. Moreland,” Pete explained. “The whole thing is on a DVD I passed along to the Rangers, who were supposed to pass it along to the Feds.”

  Janie shook her head. “So you’ve got her. Why is this a bad thing?”

  Erik shrugged. “The Assistant County Attorney here was of the opinion it might be hard to charge Lydia Moreland with anything, even with the recording. Given recent events, I’d say legal action’s looking a lot less likely.”

  Pete nodded. “Without Dahlia, she’ll walk. We needed Dahlia’s testimony to confirm what she said on the recording, and to confirm that she actually t
alked to Mrs. Moreland. Without Dahlia, there’s nothing to say the recording is genuine.”

  Erik shrugged. “We’ve got Dahlia’s cell phone.”

  “It wouldn’t hold up in court. Not against a good attorney.”

  Lars’s fingers moved in a slow circle on the back of Jess’s neck, easing the knots of tension. “The hell with court. How can we make sure she stops trying to hurt Jess and grab Jack? I don’t care about seeing her go to trial. I just want to make sure she can’t hire any more hit men, or hit women as the case may be.”

  “How about sending the story to The Philadelphia Inquirer?” Cal said slowly. “That might slow her down at least.”

  “I was thinking more of The San Antonio Express-News or The Houston Chronicle.” Erik gave him a dry gin. “But Philadelphia would do it too.”

  “With what?” Pete raised an eyebrow. “The DVD is with the Feds, who may or may not take it any further. You’d need more than Jess’s story to get them to take it seriously. The Morelands would sue for libel if they published the story on nothing more than that, and then where would we be?”

  Erik and Lars were carefully not looking at each other, Jess noted, which probably meant Pete still had no idea the copy of the tape existed.

  “I’d still go with the exposure threat.” Cal twisted off the top of a bottle of Dos Equis. “That might be enough to get Mrs. Moreland to lay off. She’s some kind of social bigwig, right, Jess?”

  Jess sighed. Her stomach still clenched with panic, but no one else seemed as frightened as she did. “She’s pretty much the top of the heap in Belle View. And she’s got connections on the Main Line too. That’s what Barry said, anyway.”

  “Right.” Cal took a swallow of his beer. “That’s the kind of woman who’d really like to stay out of the news. Particularly news like this.”

  “I’ll e-mail my mama tomorrow,” Docia cut in. “She knows people at the Express-News. She can at least get us pointed in the right direction.”

  Pete shrugged. “It’s worth a try, I guess. Maybe you’ll find some reporter hungry enough to take it on.”