by Gina LaManna
“This is it, Rosetti.” Agent Brody sounded convinced. “You’ve got to find that woman.”
“That’s where we’re headed. Let me know what Flystone says when you get there.”
When I hung up with Agent Brody, I turned to find the others staring at me.
“Julie’s not at her house,” Asha informed me. “I had a patrol car sent over to check it out while you were downstairs. However, her son’s in school today. I just called the office. The administrators know you’re on your way. You have to get to him before his mother does, or I’m afraid she’ll vanish all over again.”
Chapter 20
THE DRIVE TO DONOVAN’S school was a quick one. We didn’t speak much. Jimmy drove; I sat in the passenger seat, and Russo was in the back. All three of us recognized this feeling, the tension that hung in the air. We were getting close. The question now was whether we could wrap up this case before anyone else got hurt.
When we reached the school, I quickly checked in with the patrol car on Holden’s house in case we were somehow wrong.
“Holden Newton is still inside his house,” one of the guys on the stakeout informed me. “Nobody’s been in or out. Nothing suspicious.”
“I’m going to send a photograph of a woman over to you,” I said. “If she’s spotted in the vicinity, hold her until I get there. I don’t care how. We believe she might be a threat to Holden.”
“You got it.”
My phone was ringing by the time I hung up. I answered after seeing it was Asha’s number.
“You’re right,” she said without preamble. “There is something funny with Arnie Helm’s ex-girlfriend, Marie Kern. Her body never turned up. In the interviews, it’s always alluded that people thought she was having an affair with some guy from work. Everyone, including Arnie, thinks that she ran off with him.”
“Weird,” I said. “Either that’s a big coincidence, or she was killed by Flystone and her body never recovered.”
“Which is out of character for him,” Asha said. “He leaves his bodies in plain sight with a message attached.”
“And it doesn’t explain the reason Arnie was killed,” I said. “After all, we know for sure he was one of Flystone’s victims. It’s in the confession. So he would’ve had to have been the one having an affair to fit with our theory.”
“Maybe he had one, and it’s just not documented anywhere,” Asha said. “It’s really hard to say on these cold cases. But I have made headway on another of his victims. One of the women, Trisha Blanche. She was noted as single in all reports. But digging back, she’d had a long-term boyfriend and a broken engagement the previous year.”
“Can I guess why they broke up?”
“Nothing is concrete, but I’ve pieced together enough evidence that makes it look bad for Trisha. Phone calls from one number, hotel receipts, a slew of other things I can send your way. And get this: a month after she broke up with her ex-boyfriend, the other guy from the hotel visits and the phone number moved in with her. She died a month later.”
“Yikes. Is that guy still alive, the guy she presumably had an affair with?”
“Sure is,” Asha said. “I’m going to call him next.”
I hung up with Asha and immediately dialed the chief’s number. I explained our situation and told him our only hope of catching Julie was to wait at the school and confront her when she came to pick up her son. I requested the chief get all the necessary paperwork and court orders and warrants for us to take Donovan into custody so he’d be safe when his mother arrived at the school. The chief promised to call me back as soon as he could, and by the time I hung up with him, Asha was waiting on the other line.
“I talked to him,” she said. “He confirmed that he and Trisha did have a relationship while she was with her previous boyfriend, and it did overlap. He was never questioned in her murder because he went on the run. I guess he owed some people money and was in trouble with the cops, so when she got killed, he went underground.”
“Brody wouldn’t have known about that connection, then.”
“Nope,” Asha said. “He’s never heard from anyone about it until now. He feels bad about it, yada yada, but he thought maybe her death was related to his owing money. He figured since she was already dead, he might as well fend for himself.”
“Sounds like a peach.”
“Right?” Asha made a disgruntled noise. “Regardless, this does fit with the theory.”
“Now we have four people for sure who were having affairs,” I said. “The fifth victim was Arnie with the disappeared girlfriend—who was also likely unfaithful.”
“Exactly,” Asha said. “I haven’t gotten my hands on the sixth victim just yet, but I’m about to. My gut’s telling me I’ll be in touch with you soon to confirm you’re right once again, Rosetti.”
After disconnecting with Asha, we sat back and waited. At one point, Jimmy shuffled across the street to grab us all sandwiches and shakes from Arby’s. We ate a quiet lunch in the car, all eyes on the school entrance. We had the make and model of Julie’s car, along with a photo of it, and between the three of us, we’d be sure to see her coming in the one-way entrance to the school parking lot before she noticed us.
Two hours later, Asha called to inform us that she’d confirmed the sixth victim, a single male, had also been involved in an affair in his prior relationship. A relationship that had ended about a month before his death. Again, the connection had been missed because the ex-girlfriend had moved out of state for a job and had never been questioned in the case. Asha had gotten ahold of the ex-girlfriend and confirmed that the reason her relationship with the victim had ended was due to infidelity on his part.
“Well, there you have it,” Asha said. “I don’t know if we’ll ever confirm Arnie for sure without finding his ex-girlfriend, but I don’t think we’re making much of an assumption anymore. I think your theory works.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I said. “The link is there. If we get Julie into custody, maybe she or Flystone will talk. After all, we’ve got leverage now.”
“You mean Donovan,” Asha said quietly. “Poor kid.”
“We’ll make sure nothing happens to him,” I said. “As soon as the word from the chief comes through, we’ll move him somewhere safe.”
Asha blew out a breath. “I hate when kids are involved. There’s never a happy ending for them. They’re always the victims.”
There was a decidedly somber moment, interrupted only when Jimmy nodded toward one end of the parking lot. At that moment, my phone rang.
“Grab the kid,” the chief said. “You’re clear. Keep him safe.”
I requested backup and shared that we had a sighting of Julie. Then everyone sprang into action. The chief hung up, promising to send people our way. Jimmy was tasked with retrieving Donovan from school and keeping him safe until this was all over.
As soon as Jimmy was out of the car and headed into the school, I pulled away from the curb and sped around the parking lot, blocking the entrance to the school with my vehicle. Julie had no choice but to stop her car when she reached us. She was already emerging from the car by the time I was out of the vehicle with my weapon drawn.
“The game’s up, Julie, Helen, whatever your name is,” I said. “We won’t hurt you or your son, but you need to come with us.”
“Oh, I know you won’t hurt him. You did just what I wanted—you took him into protective custody where he’ll be safe.” Julie smiled. Then she looked down. “Meanwhile, I’ve got a timer on my cell phone. It’s linked to a bomb in the backpack of one of the kids at school. A big bomb. I put it there this morning for safekeeping. Just in case.”
“If I don’t press a button on my phone every sixty seconds...” Julie’s smile crept up again. “Boom.”
“Pull it out,” I said. “Your phone. Press the button. Prove it to us. Buy us another minute.”
“Happy to do so. I knew you’d be understanding.”
“When did you start wor
king with Clint?” I asked as she pressed the button on her phone. “How did you meet?”
“When I met him, his name was Allen Peterson,” she said. “That’s always been his name to me.”
“He shares a last name with Donovan. So he is Donovan’s father?”
“Of course he is. Do you think I would’ve gotten any loyalty from the man if I hadn’t had his child?”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “Why did you kill Travis Newton?”
“Because he slept with me while he had a fiancé. Bastard.”
“You loved Travis?” I asked. “He wouldn’t leave Tammy for you?”
“No, of course I didn’t love him,” she said. “He’s a disgusting pig. He came on to me. He flirted, asked me out. I thought maybe he was just being friendly at the start, but it was more than that.”
“Why’d you get into a relationship with him if you didn’t care about him?”
“To prove that he’d do it. That he was as awful as I suspected,” she said. “I don’t kill people for the sport of it. But imagine my surprise when I went out with Travis, and he told me he thought his girlfriend might be having an affair. How despicable. Both partners untrustworthy. I wasn’t even in a hunting mindset, but a situation like that needs to be addressed.”
“You couldn’t resist an opportunity right in front of you,” I said. “Or maybe subconsciously, you chose your job as a hunting ground.”
“What do you mean?”
“All those divorce cases coming through,” I said. “Surely some of them had ended because of infidelity. Sooner or later, you would’ve found your next target. People like you don’t stop.”
“Don’t stop making the world a better place?” Julie gave a short laugh. “They all deserved what they had coming to them.”
“What’s your connection to Clint Flystone? Do you love him?”
“No. We were partners. With benefits. We agreed on certain things on a philosophical level.”
“That killing people was okay?”
“That serving justice is a worthy cause.”
Julie flicked a glance behind her. I’d watched her press the button again while we’d been speaking. I needed to keep her talking until backup arrived, and she knew it. She knew time was running out. It wouldn’t take long for additional police vehicles to get here, and then she’d have no way of escape.
“You’re going to let me go,” she said. “You are going to let me drive away with my son. Once I’m sure you’re not following me, I’ll deactivate the bomb.”
“Not a chance,” I said. “I don’t trust you. Why’d you do it? Why’d you kill them?”
“They deserved it,” she said. “They were all liars and cheats. We were doing the world good.”
“You and Clint?”
“Sure, if that’s what you want to call him. I always liked Allen. But he’s been a Dylan and a Nic too. Probably more. Now I’m pressing the button one more time, and then I’m getting in that car to drive away, and I want my son to be waiting for me at the exit gates.”
“The children in that school are innocent. I thought you were about serving justice. These kids didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Sometimes there’s collateral damage. But there doesn’t have to be if you cooperate.”
“When’d you start?” I asked. “When did you hook up with Clint?”
“We were casually dating. I didn’t know what he was doing when we started sleeping together,” she said. “He tried to keep it a secret from me. But when I found out, I surprised him. I agreed with him, supported him, encouraged him. I wanted to help.”
“Did you? Clint confessed to all the kills that we’ve remotely linked to him.”
“Not all of them,” she said, hesitating, then pressing the button again on her cell. “You just didn’t catch me.”
“You were responsible for Marie Kern’s disappearance,” I said. “That’s why it didn’t fit with the rest of the case. You killed her and made her disappear. Her body was never found, and therefore never linked to you or Clint officially. You didn’t do things his way. Did that make him mad?”
“Allen didn’t want me to get involved, so I had to get involved of my own accord,” she said. “I wanted to prove I could do it. That was my way of showing him I was serious.”
“Did it work?”
“Yes, but by the time he came around to the idea, he was arrested, and I was pregnant.”
“Did he ever meet his son?”
“No,” she said. “And he won’t, but he’ll protect him. That’s how Allen is. He lives by a code, even if someone like you doesn’t understand it.”
“Then why’d you start up again?” I asked. “If he confessed to protect you and Donovan, why risk your freedom over someone you think is a pig?”
“Travis thought he could get away with everything. I didn’t even have to bat my eyes at him,” she said. “Then I learned more about the whole ugly situation with his brother and fiancée, and I knew something had to be done. I couldn’t sit around and watch. Not to mention, I’ll get away. I’m going to drive off into the sunset and disappear, and you’ll never see me again.”
“Why’d you change up your method?” I asked. “The markings were different on the victims.”
She finally gave a smile. “Allen reached out. He told me if I was going to risk everything, then I’d better do it right.”
“Julie, I can help you,” I said. “I need you to hit the button on your phone again.”
“I warned you that I’m done. Now, set your gun down, or I blow the school.”
I didn’t even think. I just did what she asked. The threat on innocent children’s lives was enough to terrify me to my core.
“Good,” she said. “Now—”
Before Julie could finish her sentence, a gunshot rang out in the schoolyard. It was jarring, a sound that didn’t belong in a place crawling with children. A silence fell as blood spread across Julie’s chest.
I looked up and made eye contact with Agent Brody. He stood just outside of his vehicle that was parked on the street. Chloe was next to him. Agent Brody was holding his gun, but he lowered it the second my gaze landed on him.
Then reality crashed back around us, and I rushed toward Julie and did what I could to help her while Russo raced to the phone on the ground. Russo picked up the phone, flashed it at me. There was no timer on her screen. The whole thing had been a bluff—or so I hoped. I watched as the minute clicked over, once and then twice, and I released my breath as there was no explosion.
A moment later, I felt a presence at my side. I straightened to find Agent Brody next to me.
“I turned around when you called,” Agent Brody said. “This one was personal.”
EPILOGUE
“THANKS FOR MEETING me here.”
I glanced sideways at Gem. We had grabbed a coffee from a little shop near my house and were strolling along the sidewalks of my neighborhood enjoying the pleasant fall weather. “You’re the one who came all the way to my side of town.”
Alastair Gem was dressed like a billionaire today, albeit one who was trying not to look too wealthy—and failing. He wore jeans and a soft-looking, caramel-colored sweater. He looked like he’d walked off the fall catalog for one of the big fashion brands. He looked like he was ready for his engagement photo session. The only thing he was missing was his bride.
“I wanted to talk to you in person,” Gem said, “and you sounded busy.”
“Yeah, I’m wrapping up some paperwork on the case I just closed.”
“I’ve been meaning to congratulate you. I read about that story in the paper,” Gem said. “Did the woman survive? The one who was shot?”
“Yes. She spent a couple of days in critical condition, but the woman we knew as Julie will be fine. She won’t be getting her son back, though. She’s got at least three counts of murder against her. Who knows what else is heading her way as we unravel more of how this whole mess unfolded. It’s funny, now that w
e have Julie in custody, Clint Flystone is prepared to add new testimony to his confession. The only reason he’d held back before was to try and protect his son, to allow Donovan to have a somewhat normal life with his mother. The only problem was that she couldn’t stop murdering people.”
“Twisted, and yet somehow noble on the father’s part.”
“Trust me, I’m still trying to understand him.”
“Poor kid.” Gem shook his head. “It’s always the kids who suffer.”
I glanced over at Gem, noticing a wistful tone in his voice. It wasn’t hard to link the fact that Gem had been orphaned by the way he was staring into the distance, a flash of pain crossing his face. He obviously related to the little boy.
“Fortunately, Donovan has a biological aunt who desperately wants him. Until we contacted her, she was completely unaware her sister even had a child,” I said. “The woman’s name is Cynthia. She told us she’s been estranged from her sister since Julie started dating Clint. There were all sorts of warning signs and red flags. Julie started turning dangerous, in Cynthia’s words, and the sisters parted ways.”
“That’s fortunate the little one will have a place to call home.”
“Cynthia’s got two boys of her own. I have a feeling it will be a much better situation for Donovan once he gets settled. It won’t be easy, but it’s better than most kids would have in his situation.”
“I don’t know what’s worse. Being a complete orphan or having both parents in prison.”
“Trust me, having a parent in prison isn’t a walk in the park,” I said. “But at least they’re still alive. I got a second chance with my dad. You never got that with your mom.”
“That’s the hand I was dealt.” Gem’s voice was hard. “No use dwelling on the past.”
“I’m sorry, Gem.”
“I postponed the wedding.”
“What?” I swiveled my head to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“I thought you raised some good points the other night. I did just need to talk to Mindy. Once we sat down and really hashed it out, she finally admitted she could see where I was coming from. We agreed to push the wedding back a little.”