The McKays Box Set - To Kill For, Blood Sport, Hard Time & Gang Land

by A. J. Carella

  He’d just ordered his food when his cell started ringing, causing the other diners to look in his direction.

  “Callahan,” he answered standing up to take the call outside.

  “Hi, it’s Finn. You busy?”

  “No, you’re good. Just about to have some lunch, actually. You calling for an update?” He’d been meaning to call him but just hadn’t got around to it. He didn’t have to, but he wanted to as a professional courtesy.

  “No, this is about something else, actually. Something Kat and Kyle came to me with.”

  What has she been up to now? “Please tell me they haven’t been getting into more trouble.”

  “No, not trouble. It seems that they believe this prisoner who committed your killings, Alex, is actually an innocent man and they’ve taken it upon themselves to prove it.”

  Callahan groaned. “What is it with that woman? Why can’t she just stay home and bake or something?” He heard Finn laugh before replying.

  “You don’t know Kat if you think that she’d ever do that.”

  “No, you’re right, I don’t.” And I’m not sure I want to anymore “Go on, tell me what they’ve been up to.”

  He listened as Finn filled him in. “I’ll admit, it does sound like they might be on to something.”

  “That’s what I thought. Anyway, I told them I’d fill you in and they’ve promised to leave it alone now and let you do what you do.”

  “Thanks, Finn. I won’t be able to look at it until this case is dealt with, though.”

  Callahan flipped his phone shut and went back into the diner where his lunch was just being served. He thought about Kat as he ate and was glad that they hadn’t yet gone on a date. His vision for the future involved a wife who stayed at home and behaved like a wife and a couple of kids that he could play football with on the weekends. It didn’t involve a wife who was always getting herself into trouble. He had to admit, though, from what Finn had said over the phone they may have hit on something and it was definitely something he would look into further when he had the time.

  For now, though, he had the next person on his list to visit and he needed to get going. Signaling the waitress for his check, he pulled his wallet out of his pants. As he looked up at the smiling waitress, his hand stopped mid-air as the string of fake pearls around her neck caught his eye. What had Finn said about pearls?

  Quickly paying for his lunch, he hurried to his car and turned back onto the highway. Instead of heading to his next interview, though, he turned and went back the way he had come.

  ***

  “Mrs. Romero, I’m sorry to bother you again but I really need to go back into your husband’s office and check something.”

  It must have been the look on his face that told her how important his request was, because this time there was no semblance of protest. She simply opened the front door and allowed him in. Going straight to the office, he grabbed handfuls of files out of the boxes and started going through them. Where is it?

  He’d gone through two dozen before he found the one he was looking for. Sitting at the desk, he opened it and examined the contents more closely and felt a cold finger run up his spine. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket he dialed.

  “Finn? It’s Callahan. Are you in the office still? Good, don’t move. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Finn was speaking as he terminated the call but he didn’t care. Picking up the file, he tucked it under his arm and left the office.

  Mrs. Romero came out of the living room as she heard him, raising an eyebrow questioningly. “I’ve got to take this file, Mrs Romero. I promise you, it’s incredibly important.”

  “What file?”

  Smiling, he went over to her and planted a kiss on her cheek and whispered in her ear. “Thank you.”

  He left her smiling and holding a hand to her cheek as he walked out the door. If he put his foot down, he could get to Brecon Point in a couple of hours.

  Fifty-Four

  Shocked, Finn looked up from the file at Callahan sitting across the desk from him. “Are you serious?”

  Callahan nodded emphatically. “I am. Keep reading.”

  From what Callahan had told him, this file was not like the others. This kid actually had a problem. He’d been seeing Dr. Romero for years, from when he was nine years old and every week since then, even by phone while he was in college, without fail, until the time Dr. Romero had been murdered.

  His father had brought him after he’d killed the kitten he’d been given for his ninth birthday. The file was filled with notes about his increasingly violent feelings and about his hatred for women. This hatred, it seemed, stemmed from his mother’s suicide when he was just seven. She’d taken an overdose in the family home and he had been the one to find her. From his account, it seemed that she’d suffered years of physical and emotional abuse from his father and had quite simply not been able to cope. What was shocking was that, according to the notes, there was no sympathy on the boy’s part; as far as he was concerned, she’d gotten what she’d deserved.

  What had made Callahan go back and get the file, though, was the entry from the last session he’d had with the doctor. During that session, he’d apparently spent the whole time rambling about pearls and how his mother had been wearing a string of pearls when he’d found her, something that had never come up in their sessions before.

  “You think this could be our guy?”

  Callahan shrugged. “Impossible to say for sure, but yeah, I’d say he sounds like he could have something to do with it.”

  Finn had to admit that his intuition was screaming at him right now. He closed the file and pushed it back across the desk. “What are you going to do?”

  “Well, that’s the thing.” Callahan grimaced. “I can’t do anything. I’m not supposed to have seen the file, let alone have taken it away with me. If I go to my boss with this, she’ll have my hide. The only option, as far as I can see, is if you watch him and see if you can get anything that will give us a way in.”

  Finn sat back in his chair and stared at him. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that it’s the governor’s son would it?” He didn’t want to be landed with it just because it could be a career-ender.

  “No, it wouldn’t.” Callahan sounded genuinely cross at the suggestion. “It won’t make it easy, certainly, but that’s why this has to be done absolutely by the book. Once you have something, if you get something, then I can act officially.”

  Finn nodded. “Okay, but you have to let me do it my way. I don’t have the manpower to do what you’re talking about so I want to use Kat and Kyle.” He held up his hand as Callahan started to protest. “I know you don’t like it, but the fact is that both of them are ex-cops. They may not always play by the rules these days but they’re not fools. In fact, I’d trust them to get this job done more than I’d trust a couple of my own deputies.” His mind immediately went to Carter.

  “Fair enough. But this is just an information-gathering mission, they’re not to go barging in and doing something stupid that could ruin everything.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll make that crystal clear.” And he would. He wasn’t about to let Kat go charging round the countryside on the trail of some deranged serial killer.

  “Okay, I’d better get back before Shaw finds out I’ve gone AWOL.” He sighed. “I’m still no closer to finding a link between Alex’s victims or finding out who hired the prison warden to do their dirty work and I’ve still got people to interview.” Callahan stood to leave the office. “Keep in touch and keep a rein on those two.”

  Finn watched him leave the office before turning his attention back to the file in front of him. If Callahan was right and this was their guy, it was a hell of a stroke of luck. He wasn’t thrilled at the idea of getting Kat and Kyle involved even further, but he really couldn’t spare the manpower and this is what Kyle did for a living.

  He had hoped to be in L.A. by now looking for his son, but he couldn’t leave wh
ile all this was going on. As soon as it was over, though, he resolved to be on the first flight out.

  Fifty-Five

  After handing everything they had on Alex’s case over to Finn and having been excluded from the prison investigation, there was no reason for Kyle to stay in Brecon Point so he had decided it was time for him to return to L.A. Rose Jackson and her granddaughter had also been given the all clear to return to their home, so they too were leaving the next day.

  To say goodbye, they’d all sat down and eaten together one last time. They’d just been finishing up when the doorbell had rung. Jamie had answered it and quickly reappeared in the dining room, closely followed by Finn.

  Leaving the others to finish their meal, Kat led him outside. She still hadn’t told him how she felt and now that the investigations were over, for her at least, this would be the perfect opportunity to do it.

  “So what are you doing here?” Kat asked Finn as they walked through the garden. It was a lovely evening, warm and clear and stars filled the sky.

  “I need your help. Well, yours and Kyle’s.”

  Kat stopped walking and turned to look at him. “Really? What with?”

  He told her all about Callahan’s visit that afternoon and what he’d found in Dr. Romero’s files.

  “The problem is, he can’t look into this himself because of the way he got hold of the information so he needs a way in.”

  “And you want us to help?”

  “Yes, but Kat, this is just watching him. Nothing else.”

  She nodded. “I’ll have to check with Kyle. He was planning on heading home tomorrow but I’m sure he won’t mind delaying for a couple of days. I’m just glad you trust me enough to ask me to do this.”

  “Kat, I’ve never doubted how capable you are.” He smiled. “You’re more capable than nearly all my deputies. You just usually seem to go about things in completely the wrong way.”

  “Nearly all your deputies?” Kat laughed.

  For the first time in months, she felt that there was no tension between them. It was now or never. “Finn, I’m so sorry about everything that’s happened between us. I never meant to hurt you, not then and not now.” She looked down at the ground and whispered almost under her breath, “How could I? For me, there’s only ever been you. I knew it the minute I saw you again after all those years. I’m so sorry for everything I’ve put you through.”

  She held her breath as he cupped her face in his hands and lifted it to his, brushing her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. “Kat, I’ve been a stubborn, stupid fool. I feel the same. I thought I could never forgive you and that I could move on, but I can’t. Since you’ve been back, I wake up thinking about you every day. I thought I’d lost my chance when I heard you agree to go on a date with Callahan.”

  Kat’s eyes widened. “You heard that?”

  Finn nodded. “Your phone was ringing and I came to tell you. You were in the kitchen with him. I didn’t mean to listen, but I couldn’t help it.”

  Kat laughed. “Oh, don’t worry. Callahan’s not my type, after all. Besides, anyone would only be a fill-in for you.” She smiled up at him.

  When the kiss came, it felt like she’d been waiting for it for an eternity. The house and surroundings faded into the background and she lost herself in it completely. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him close and felt him wrap his arms around her and hold her to him.

  “Soon, my darling,” he whispered against her mouth as he pulled himself away. “Soon I want to take you to bed and make love to you and never stop, but if we don’t stop now I’ll end up ravishing you on the lawn.”

  Kat couldn’t remember ever wanting a man so much in her entire life and she felt suddenly lost as his arms released their hold on her. She felt slightly breathless and knew her cheeks were glowing. From the grin on Finn’s face, he obviously knew the effect he’d had on her and she slapped his arm playfully. “Don’t look so pleased with yourself.”

  “Okay,” he said, still grinning.

  “Come on, let’s go and talk to Kyle.” She straightened her clothes and her hair before leading the way back inside with a still smiling Finn following close behind.

  ***

  “This kid sounds like a complete head case.” Kyle passed his verdict after reading the file that Finn had brought with him.

  “That’s your considered opinion, is it?” Finn laughed. He was feeling almost lightheaded after the kiss with Kat in the garden. For once, they were both on the same page at the same time and he felt like he could have danced on air. Kat sat next to him now on the couch in her father’s old office, and he could feel the heat of her leg against his own.

  From the way Kyle was looking at both of them, smirking, it was obvious that it wasn’t lost on him, either.

  “The thing is, we don’t actually know that he’s got anything to do with any of this. It could just be some freakish coincidence. You might end up sitting there for the next few days and get nothing.”

  “No,” Kyle shook his head his eyes on the file. “This is him.”

  “You sound very sure.” Kat recognized the tone of his voice.

  Kyle looked up, a grim smile on his face. “I am. Look at these dates, Kat.” He passed the file over to her. “Look where and when he went to college.”

  Finn watched as Kat’s eyes widened before she exchanged a glance with Kyle.

  “Something you want to share?” Finn prompted.

  “This guy went to college in L.A. at the time our victim was killed. It has to be him, Finn.”

  “Then we need to put him away,” Finn said to Kyle. “Kat says you’re headed back to L.A. in the morning. Any chance you could change your plans?”

  He didn’t hesitate. “In a heartbeat. This time he’s not getting away.”

  Fifty-Six

  “This is almost just like the good old days,” Kyle said as he reached into the backseat of the car to grab the bag with all the goodies that Jamie had packed for them.

  “Nah, the food was never this good then,” Kat disagreed as she watched him pull pasta salad and buttered rolls out. The stake-outs she remembered were fueled by bad coffee and burgers. This was much more civilized.

  As far as they could tell from the files, all the killer’s victims had been murdered during the day so they’d decided that that would be the best time to set up surveillance. They could have split it into shifts, one taking the day watch and one covering the night but Finn had vetoed that idea, insisting that they do it together or not at all.

  “So, do you think this kid could be good for it?”

  Kat picked up the photo they’d taken from the file. Looking back at her was a picture of a very good-looking young man with short, almost jet black, hair. His skin was naturally tanned, showing his Italian ancestry and contrasting with his piercing blue eyes. There was something about him, though, that made him ugly despite his good looks. His lips were pressed together in a hard line and the eyes that looked into the camera were completely devoid of emotion. She was sure she could almost feel evil coming off the page and quickly dropped the picture back onto the center console.

  “I don’t know. Maybe he just takes a bad picture, but there is definitely something about him that makes my skin crawl.”

  “So,” Kyle grinned at her, “what’s going on with you and Finn?”

  Kat felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She tried to lie but couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face as she thought about him.

  “Ha! I knew it.” Kyle chuckled. “I’m really happy for you, Kat. It’s obvious to anyone that you two are crazy about each other. Jamie and I have been wondering how long it would be until you got it together.”

  “You and Jamie have been talking about this?” She hadn’t realized it had been that obvious to everyone.

  “Only because we want you to be happy.”

  Kat smiled. Because she was happy. Happier than she could remember ever be
ing. She had her family around her and the man she loved.

  “Now, though, we’ve got work to do,” Kyle said as he started putting the food away.

  Kat looked out of the car window towards the house they’d been watching and saw the imposing electric gates sweep open. The gates led up a driveway to the governor’s mansion, a huge, imposing structure that had been built at the turn of the twentieth century.

  As they watched, they saw the governor’s son drive through them in his Mercedes convertible with the roof down, dark shades covering his eyes. He didn’t even glance in their direction as he powered past, putting his foot down as soon as he turned onto the road.

  Kat kept her eye on him as Kyle put their car into gear and pulled away from the curb. They’d done a bit of digging on the internet last night to try and find out as much as they could about their target. William Mosely, III, was the only child of William Mosely, II, current state governor. He was privately educated and had gone to college in L.A. but from what they could find out, had never held a job. It seemed that he was a spoiled kid who lived off the family money.

  They followed him as he drove from his home on the outskirts of the city into the nearby upper scale neighborhoods, expecting him to pull over at any time. He didn’t, though, and kept on driving. The neighborhoods grew more middle class the further away from his home he traveled until he entered what could only be considered the poor part of town. It was getting harder to follow him unnoticed now as the traffic on the roads lessened, so Kyle dropped back a bit.

  “What on earth is he doing in this part of town?” Kyle voiced the thoughts that were going around in Kat’s head.

  “I have no idea, but I doubt daddy would be too pleased.”

  They didn’t have long to wait before their question was answered, as just after the next right turn he pulled over and parked.

  “Go on past and park down the street.” They’d come around the corner just after him, and if they parked behind him now they would undoubtedly be spotted.