Solid as Steele

by Rebecca York

  Of course, he and Jamie had a lot more to talk about than just the case, if either one of them was up to it. He’d thought he had started building a relationship with her. Then Craig Shepherd had jumped back into the picture and changed everything.

  He sighed. He and Craig had been good friends—which didn’t make any of this easier. They’d all thought Craig had died in an accident. Now it looked like he’d been murdered. Catching the killer would mean a lot to Mack—for his own satisfaction and for Jamie. He knew this was tearing her up. That was perfectly obvious.

  But had everything changed between himself and Jamie now? Were they back to the way things had been before this trip?

  “Damn.”

  He slapped his hands against the steering wheel, then ordered himself to calm down. He’d waited a long time to reach out toward Jamie. He’d gotten through to her. He could do it again.

  Unless she had decided to totally shut him out because she couldn’t cope with anything besides her husband’s murder.

  WHEN JAMIE’S CELL PHONE rang, she jumped, then dug it out of her purse. It was probably Mack calling about dinner.

  When she looked at the phone number, she sucked in a sharp breath. It wasn’t Mack calling.

  She considered not answering. Then she changed her mind and pushed the button.

  “Mom?”

  “Jamie! Thank God.”

  Her mother sounded frantic and breathless.

  Alarm leaped in Jamie’s chest. “Mom, what is it?”

  “You’ve got to come over here right away.”

  ‘What’s wrong? Did Clark do something to you?”

  “I can’t talk about it over the phone. You’ve got to come here. Right now.”

  She thought about what to do. “I’m at a hotel downtown. Mack is out getting us dinner. I don’t have a car.”

  “Can’t you take a cab?”

  “You need me right away?”

  “Yes. Please, Jamie. It’s…urgent.”

  “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  Jamie looked around the room, found the hotel notepad and scrawled a message for Mack: “My mom’s in some kind of trouble. I’m going over there.”

  Then she called the front desk.

  “This is Jamie Shepherd in room 524. Can you call me a cab?”

  “Certainly.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “Maybe five minutes.”

  She got out her cell phone again, but she’d never put Mack’s number into her memory, and since she hadn’t gotten any calls from him on the phone, she couldn’t get his number that way either. The note would have to do.

  As she rode down in the elevator, she went back over the call from her mother. Gloria had sounded frantic, but there was no way to know what was wrong. Not until she got there.

  She wished Mack were with her, and with that thought came the realization that she was starting to depend on him. Or to put it another way, she knew she could depend on him.

  Probably he was going to be angry that she’d gone out. Well, she’d deal with that after she found out what was wrong at home.

  When she got to the lobby, she started for the front door, then stopped. She hated to be looking over her shoulder every second, but she knew Fried could be lurking out there.

  Instead, she waited inside, until she saw a cab pull up at the door. Then she hurried across the lobby and exited the building.

  Before she got in the cab, she gave the driver a long look, but he was a short, pudgy guy. Nothing like the man she’d seen in her dream trips to the funhouse.

  “Where to?”

  She told him her mother’s address and sat back, trying to calm the pounding of her heart. She’d been telling herself for years that she didn’t care what happened to Gloria Wheeler. Apparently she had been fooling herself.

  It was only a short ride to her mom’s place. When the cab arrived, she stared at the property. Clark’s truck wasn’t in the driveway, but he could have moved the vehicle somewhere else. After paying the driver, she got out and started up the sidewalk. The curtains in the front window were drawn, and the front door was closed.

  Jamie tried the knob and found the door was unlocked. Cautiously, she pushed it open and peered into the cluttered living room.

  The lights were on, but the room was empty.

  “Mom?”

  As she stepped inside, she heard a muffled noise from the bedroom.

  “Mom?”

  She hurried across the room and down the short hall, then stopped abruptly.

  Her mother was sitting in one of the dinette chairs, her hands tied behind her back and a gag in her mouth. When she saw Jamie, her eyes went wide.

  Jamie had started toward her when she heard a harsh voice from behind her. “Stop right there. Put your hands in the air if you don’t want to get shot right now.”

  MACK KNOCKED ON THE hotel room door. When nobody answered, he knocked louder and called out, “Jamie?”

  When she didn’t answer, his heart started to pound.

  Setting the bags with the tacos down on the carpet beside the door, he fished his key card out of his pocket, unlocked the door and charged into the living room. It was empty, but he saw a message written on the hotel notepad.

  His curse filled the room as he read it.

  Running back to the door, he scooped up the food bags and set them on the coffee table. Then he exited the room again and went back to the lobby.

  “Did you see Ms. Shepherd go out?” he asked the guy behind the desk.

  “Yes. She called for a cab.”

  “How long ago?”

  “Twenty minutes.”

  Twenty minutes was a lifetime.

  Mack ran back to the car, jumped inside and started the engine. Lurching out of the parking lot, he headed for the house where they’d visited Jamie’s mom.

  When he got there, he jumped out of his SUV and ran up the front walk. The door was open.

  “Mrs. Wheeler?” he called out.

  When nobody answered, he stepped into the house. A thumping noise from the back had him running down the hall, gun drawn.

  Gloria Wheeler was sitting in a chair in the bedroom. Gagged and tied.

  Chapter Twelve

  Blindfolded in the back of the SUV, Jamie struggled to free herself. But it was no good. Her hands were cuffed, and the cuffs were secured to a ring on the side of the luggage compartment in back.

  “Please, why are you doing this?”

  “You know.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Haven’t you figured out that your bastard of a husband started all this when he chased me here? You were supposed to come back to town so I could get you, but you weren’t supposed to be investigating the murders. How did you know they had anything to do with me?”

  “What murders?”

  The man behind the wheel laughed. “Don’t play innocent with me. You know all about it, don’t you?”

  “No.”

  “You and that detective fellow. Mack Steele. He was a friend of your husband. What are you doing, sleeping with him now?”

  She made a muffled sound, and the driver laughed again.

  “What do you want with me?”

  “You’re going to pay. Just like everyone else who helped take my son away from me.”

  “I never met your son.”

  “That doesn’t matter. You’re part of it now. You’ve been stalking me.“

  “I haven’t.”

  “Don’t lie,” he growled.

  The kidnapper pulled to the side of the road and cut the engine. Opening the back door, he stuffed a rag in her mouth and tied it in place. When he spoke again his voice had turned chipper. “Got to take care of something. Be back in a jiffy.”

  As soon as he’d climbed out of the car and locked the door, Jamie redoubled her frantic efforts to get loose, but it was still impossible. She was stuck here until he released her.

  Could she get away then? She hoped so, eve
n when she knew that none of the previous victims had managed it.

  She hadn’t called him by name when they’d been talking. But she knew who he had to be. He was Henry Fried. He’d killed Craig and three other people. Now he had her. And he knew a lot about her. He’d been at her mother’s house, waiting for her.

  A sickening thought assaulted her, and she struggled not to moan around the gag. She’d gotten a letter from her mother asking her to come back to town. But Gloria said she hadn’t written the letter. Jamie had thought maybe Clark had done it. Now she was pretty sure that it had been Henry Fried, trying to lure her back.

  She closed her eyes, clenching and unclenching her fists, wishing she had just waited for a few minutes until Mack had come back with dinner. But Mom had sounded so frantic.

  Yesterday, Fried had tried to push her into his SUV. Yes, it must have been him because this was the same vehicle.

  After that, Mack had warned her to be careful, but one frantic call had wiped out the warning, and she’d gone charging over to Mom’s house. And look where it had gotten her.

  But what if she had waited for Mack, like she should have? Maybe that would have been worse. Maybe Fried would have Mack now, too. At least this way, there was some chance that he’d be able to rescue her.

  Mack, she mentally called out. Mack, I’m scared. Please figure out where I am.

  She felt tears stinging the backs of her eyes. There were so many things she should have done differently. And one of them was telling Mack how she felt about him.

  She loved him. She’d known that deep down for a long time. But she hadn’t been able to cope with it. Instead, she’d pushed him away.

  Only if she hadn’t done it, they wouldn’t have figured out the connection between the victims. For all the good that did her now.

  She’d printed that article because she wanted to feel close to Craig. She’d loved him. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t love again. Have a life again.

  She’d turned away from Mack because she’d felt guilty.

  Now she might never have a chance to be honest with him.

  MACK BOLTED ACROSS THE room and pulled the gag out of Mrs. Wheeler’s mouth.

  She dragged in air, her eyes wild as she stared at him.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “I didn’t want anything to happen to Jamie…”

  “Jamie,” Mack gasped. “Where is she?”

  Mrs. Wheeler’s eyes pleaded for understanding. “A man was here. He…” The sentence ended in a scream as a shuffling noise alerted Mack that someone was behind him.

  He tried to whirl, but the intruder had already leaped on Mack from behind, throwing him to the floor and banging his head against the hard surface.

  Stars danced before his eyes as he tried to regain his senses. Then a fist punched into his back.

  Mrs. Wheeler was screaming, “No, stop! You don’t understand. It wasn’t him.”

  She continued to scream, as Mack struggled to focus, struggled to free himself. With a tremendous effort, he heaved himself up. The attacker wasn’t expecting it, and he tumbled back. Mack leaped on him, landing a punch to his jaw. As his attacker fell to the floor, Mack saw it was Clark Landon.

  “What the hell?” Mack choked out as he drew his gun and pointed it at Landon.

  “What the hell were you doing to her?” Landon demanded.

  “He wasn’t doin’ nothin’,” Mrs. Wheeler shouted.

  “You’re not listening to me. It was another guy.”

  Mack kept his gun trained on the attacker. “You’d better come clean with me, you bastard. Did you set this up?”

  Landon pushed himself up. “What?”

  “It wasn’t him,” Mrs. Wheeler said. “Please, one of you untie me.”

  Mack backed away and jerked the gun toward Landon. “You untie her.” To Mrs. Wheeler, he said, “What happened?”

  Landon got to work and Gloria started talking.

  “Please believe me, I didn’t mean Jamie no harm. A man came to the door. He said he was lookin’ for Jamie. I said she wasn’t here. He said he’d seen her around town. Then when I started to close the door on him, he pushed his way in. He tied me up and told me he was going to kill me unless I got Jamie over here. So I called her on her cell phone.”

  “Where is she?” Mack demanded.

  “He took her away.”

  Mack’s curse rang through the room. “That was Henry Fried, the man we’ve been tracking. The man who killed those women and Jamie’s husband.”

  “Dear God,” Mrs. Wheeler wailed.

  Mack cursed again, then rounded on Landon. “Are you working with him?”

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

  “What part did you play in this?”

  “I went after Jamie in the parking lot. But that’s all. I swear.”

  “So that was you!” Mack growled, fighting a surge of anger. He wanted to bash the bastard in the face, but he knew that would only be counterproductive. Better to keep him talking.

  “Yeah, but I swear I didn’t do nothing else. I came in here and thought you tied up Gloria.”

  “Why did you go after Jamie?” he asked in a hard voice.

  “Because she had no business coming back here and messin’ things up between me and Gloria,” Landon answered. “I wanted her to go back to Baltimore where she belongs. I wasn’t going to run her over. Honest.”

  “I hope not.” Mack looked from Landon to Jamie’s mother. He’d delayed calling the cops. Now he was going to have to do it.

  Grim-faced, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.

  JAMIE TENSED AS SHE HEARD footsteps heading back toward the car.

  “Thanks for waiting,” Henry Fried said in a smug voice as he pulled the gag from her mouth.

  Jamie didn’t bother with a reply. Anything she said might make the situation worse.

  He started the engine, then released the emergency brake and started off again.

  When she didn’t ask where he’d been, he said, “I needed to set something up.”

  “What?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  He drove, making several turns. Jamie could feel the car going uphill, then down. But that wasn’t unusual in Gaptown where few streets were flat.

  He slowed and made a sharp turn into a driveway, then pulled forward before getting out again.

  Back in the car, he drove into what must be a garage, then cut the engine and opened one of the back doors. She might have lunged toward him, but a cold spray of something hit her in the face. She coughed once, then everything faded to black. The last thing she thought was, That’s how he does it. He drugs them.

  HENRY RUBBED THE PLACE on his neck where Jamie had scratched him the other day. He waiting for several minutes to make sure that she was out cold, although really there should be no doubt. The drug he was using was very reliable. He’d never had a problem before. And he’d developed the delivery system himself so that he could be several feet away when he administered a dose. He’d tried to use it when he’d come to her hotel the other day, but she’d been struggling with him, and he hadn’t been able to get the spray out of his pocket.

  “Jamie?”

  When she didn’t answer, he darted forward and poked her hard in the ribs, but she didn’t stir. He’d like to scratch her damn neck, but he had a better way to punish her.

  Satisfied that it was safe to transfer her to the funhouse, he uncuffed her hands, then picked her up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of garden soil.

  Once he’d bought the stuff by the carload. That was when he’d been a normal guy, with a house and garden. Until Helen had started acting like he was the least important thing in her life, and he’d gotten angry. He’d smacked her around a little, and she’d called the cops on him. Then she’d threatened to take Billy away from him. In a panic he’d bundled his son into the car and started driving…and ended up in this damn town, of all places. With a bunch of
people who couldn’t mind their own business.

  Maybe they hadn’t understood the enormity of the crimes they’d committed. But they’d helped Helen take Billy away from him. And he’d never forgiven any of them.

  He’d gotten even with the main ones. Now he was going to complete the job. He’d have been satisfied with running Jamie through the funhouse. Then she and Mr. Detective Mack Steele had come to town and started poking their noses in where they didn’t belong.

  He wanted to know how they’d gotten a line on him. And he was going to find out before he finished them off.

  The high fence prevented anyone from seeing what he was doing as he carried Jamie across the yard and through the back door. Then he carried her down to the basement holding cell and dumped her on the bed. After rolling her to her back, he stared down at her. He had her now. The exhibits he’d arranged for her were the last things she’d see on earth.

  When she woke up. First, she’d sleep for another couple of hours while he completed the other part of his plan.

  WHEN THE 911 OPERATOR answered, Mack clenched the phone in a death grip.

  “What is the nature of your emergency?” the woman asked in a controlled voice.

  “A woman’s been tied up and her daughter abducted.”

  He went on to give details and Gloria’s address. Next he called the Light Street Detective Agency.

  Sam Lassiter answered the phone. “Mack, we were wondering when we were going to hear from you.”

  “Sorry. I thought I could handle this by myself. I found out this morning that the murders here are connected to Craig Shepherd’s death.”

  Sam’s exclamation rang through the phone. “What in the hell is going on?”

  “It’s complicated. Jamie and I came up here because she had a lead on a murder.”

  “You mean the women found by the side of the road?”

  “Yeah.” Quickly Mack filled him in. “I’ve called the cops,” he added. “But the bastard’s got Jamie. And I don’t know how long he holds his victims before he kills them. We’ve got to find her. Can you start looking through property records? He could be using a vacant house. He could have rented a property. Or he could even have bought something.”