Targeted (A Jenny Watkins Mystery Book 9)

by Becky Durfee

  “It’s a public place,” she replied with a shake of her head. “I’ll be fine.” She looked at a table of what appeared to be construction workers eating lunch, feeling validated. “He can’t do anything to me here.”

  Zack’s eyes focused over her shoulder, fixated on Jason. “He seems pretty nonchalant,” he remarked. “He either doesn’t know we’re here, he’s not our guy, or he’s a pretty good actor.”

  Jenny turned back around slowly, looking at the man with just her eyes. He appeared to be flirting with the waitress who had just arrived at his table, exuding a big smile and demonstrating playfulness in his eyes. The waitress was half his age.

  “Check out Casanova,” Zack remarked. “Look, she doesn’t even seem to be repulsed by him.”

  “She works for tips,” Jenny noted.

  “True.”

  The couple watched him in action as the waitress walked away and he began to read a book. “I’ll get a table while you’re gone,” Jenny began. “You said we had, what, forty-five minutes before the tow truck would come?”

  “Thereabouts.”

  “I have time to grab dessert, then. I’ll stay in the dining area and see if anything comes to me.”

  “A waitress should come to you,” Zack replied. “You can ask her about this guy and see if she thinks he’d make a good suspect.”

  Jenny nodded. “I’ll do that.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay in here by yourself?”

  “I’m not by myself. I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay, then, I guess I’ll wait out front for the cab. In my experience, if they pull up and you’re not there, they leave.” The couple said their goodbyes; he kissed her on the cheek and headed out the door.

  Jenny flagged down one of the waitresses as she walked by. “Excuse me,” Jenny began, “is it okay if I take a seat again? We’re having car trouble, and the tow truck won’t be here for a while.”

  “Sure thing, sweetie. Just give me a second, and I’ll seat you.” The woman disappeared for a moment, returning to lead Jenny to a booth.

  “I think the powers that be are telling me I should get dessert,” Jenny told the woman as they weaved through the tables.

  “That’s how I’d interpret it,” the waitress replied with an artificial smile, leaving a menu and a roll of silverware at Jenny’s table. “Julie will be right with you,” she announced monotonously before walking away.

  The mood at the diner definitely reflected the previous day’s events; Lisa was evidently going to be missed at the diner.

  Jenny looked at the back page of the giant menu, trying to decide on just one dessert when they all looked so good. She periodically glanced up at Jason, who sat motionlessly reading his book. He didn’t seem to be the least bit agitated, which Jenny would have expected if he’d just slit her tires. Although, if he had been capable of killing two women, he probably wouldn’t have thought twice about poking a few holes in some rubber.

  Julie arrived at the table, introducing herself and asking Jenny if she was ready to order. “I’m not yet,” Jenny confessed, “I can’t figure out which dessert I want…but I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

  “Sure,” Julie replied. “What would you like to know?”

  “That guy over there.” Jenny nudged her head in Jason’s direction. “The one reading the book.”

  The waitress looked behind her, turning back and saying, “Yeah?”

  “What’s his story?”

  “Jason?” she asked. “He’s a regular here.”

  “Anything remarkable about him?”

  “Other than the fact that he flirts relentlessly with every one of the waitresses?”

  “Does he ever ask the waitresses out?”

  “Often,” she replied with a playful snort.

  “Do you think he’s serious when he asks?”

  “Nah, he’s just joking around.”

  “Is he married? I see he has a ring on.”

  “I think so,” she replied, “but we’ve never seen his wife in here.” She looked intently at Jenny for a moment before asking, “What is this about? Are you interested in him or something?”

  That question was the last thing Jenny had expected to hear. “What? Interested? No.” She shook her head. Softening her tone to reflect sympathy, she added, “I am just trying to see if he might have had anything to do with what happened to Lisa.”

  The mention of Lisa’s name caused the waitress put her hand to her mouth and close her eyes for a long moment, looking as if she was battling tears.

  “I’m sorry,” Jenny said. “I don’t mean to upset you. I just want this solved, and I have reason to believe he also asked out the other victim, Sonya Lee, while she was at work at Jensen’s drug store.” Julie didn’t respond, so Jenny continued, “Do you think he’d be capable of such a thing?”

  “I don’t know,” Julie replied with a shaky voice. “I don’t know anything anymore.”

  “I’m sure the police have already interviewed you,” Jenny deduced.

  “At length.”

  “Did you have any suspects in mind?”

  She shook her head solemnly. “I was under the impression it was random. I even told the police that. Lisa couldn’t possibly have had any enemies. She was so sweet and fun-loving.” A tear worked its way down Julie’s cheek; she wiped it away with the back of her hand.

  “Again, I’m really sorry,” Jenny said sincerely. “I don’t mean to bring up something so horrible; I just want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  With closed eyes, Julie simply nodded.

  “So, you don’t think it could have been Jason?”

  “I doubt it. He’s been coming in here and flirting with the waitresses for over a year. Why would he all of a sudden kill one of us? I mean, why now?”

  Why now? Jenny thought. A valid question indeed. “Just one more thing, and then I’ll leave you alone.” she said. “Do you know his last name?”

  “It’s Lewis,” the waitress said. “Jason Lewis.”

  “Great.” Jenny held the menu up in Julie’s direction. With positivity in her voice, she added, “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you just surprise me with a dessert? Bring me your favorite…I’m sure I’ll love it.”

  Julie nodded, returning to her professionalism. “Got it. One mystery dessert, coming right up.” She took the menu and walked away.

  Jenny rested her head in her hands, thinking about the timing, the question, ‘why now?’ burning in her brain. What had happened to trigger this violence? With two murders so sudden and close together, something must have recently set the killer off. Either that, or he was new to the area and the killings were just the two latest in a series of unsolved murders that had begun somewhere else.

  Armed with a last name and a curiosity that got the best of her, Jenny dialed the detective, hearing the distinctive, “Brennan,” on the other end of the line.

  “Hi, Detective Brennan, it’s Jenny Larrabee.” She lowered her voice to make sure nobody could hear her. “I think I have discovered the identity of the mysterious Jason.”

  “You mean Jason Lewis?” she asked.

  “You already know?”

  “Scott Sweigart told us his name, but little else,” Detective Brennan explained. “Scott was willing to admit that Jason was a regular customer of the pharmacy and often flirted with Sonya, but he wouldn’t explain why Jason came to the drug counter so often. He cited confidentiality and said he wouldn’t disclose anything about Jason’s reason for being there without a subpoena.”

  “I’m assuming Scott didn’t confess, then?”

  “Not even close. I think vehement denial is a better term. He insisted that it was just an unfortunate coincidence that his coworker and the girl he hoped to date were both selected as victims. I don’t know, though. That’s an awfully big coincidence in my book.”

  “Well, it sounds like Jason Lewis flirts with everybody he sees, so it may be a coincidence that he hit on
both girls, too.”

  “Wait,” Detective Brennan said, “Jason flirted with Lisa, too?”

  “He’s apparently a regular customer at Athens Diner, where Lisa worked. In fact, he’s here right now.”

  “He’s there now?”

  “Sure is.”

  “Keep him there,” Detective Brennan commanded. “I can be there in five minutes.” She hung up without saying goodbye.

  Jenny finished off the last bite of her Boston Crème pie, which tasted every bit as good as it looked, just as Detective Brennan came into the diner. The detective didn’t explain herself as she walked past the hostess stand, taking a quick seat across from Jenny in the booth. “He still here?” she asked.

  With a nod, Jenny sipped her water and made a sound of affirmation. After swallowing, she gestured in Jason’s direction, saying, “Yup. Navy blue jacket.”

  Detective Brennan looked over her shoulder at the seemingly innocuous man, who sat alone eating a sandwich. “Excellent.” She turned back to Jenny. “I think we should go over and have a little discussion with him, no?” She started to get up.

  “Now?” Jenny asked with surprise. “You don’t want to bring him into the station?”

  “He’s not a suspect…yet,” the detective explained. “I just want to ask him some questions. Considering he was affiliated with both victims, he should find the request to be reasonable.” She stood up, flashing Jenny a look. “You coming?”

  “You want me over there?”

  “Of course I do,” she replied. “You have insight that no one else has. Besides,” she added with a smirk, “that’s how the chief wants it.”

  “But…” Jenny remained in her seat. She felt reluctant to disclose this information, but she felt like it needed to be said. “Somebody slashed my tires, and I am afraid it might be him.”

  The grin immediately left the detective’s face. “Somebody slashed your tires? When?”

  “Just now. My car is out in the parking lot with four flats. That’s why I’m still here—I can’t leave.”

  “Did you report this?”

  “I guess I am now,” Jenny said.

  Looking back at the man who still had half of a sandwich left to eat, Detective Brennan sat back down, pulling out a notepad. “Can you give me a timeframe?”

  “Well, Zack and I stopped briefly at Jensen’s Drug Store after the meeting got out this morning, and then we came here. We went to leave about fifteen minutes ago, give or take. Somewhere in between, our tires got slashed.”

  She jotted down the information. “And when did Jason come in?”

  Jenny sighed as she thought about the question. “I am thinking he came in while we were outside. I didn’t see him before that, but I guess it’s possible that I just overlooked him.” After mulling the idea over some more, she added, “Do you think he’d come in here and eat lunch after slashing my tires? I would imagine he’d want to leave as quickly and discretely as he could if he was guilty.”

  The detective shook her head. “Not necessarily. Do you remember the DC snipers? I know of at least one instance where they shot their victim in a restaurant parking lot and then went in and had dinner. While the police were frantically searching every road that led away from the scene, the snipers were hanging out nonchalantly inside.” She scoffed, adding, “It didn’t help that the cops were looking for a lone Caucasian in a white van when the perps were two African Americans in a blue Chevy Caprice, but that’s beside the point.”

  This story was not making Jenny feel any better. “Do you think it’s safe for me to go over there?”

  “It will be when I call for backup.” Detective Brennan used her cell phone to request additional officers. Despite this, Jenny still felt nervous. “But if he slit my tires because he doesn’t want me investigating anymore, wouldn’t it be bad for me to confront him?”

  “If he slit your tires because he doesn’t want you investigating anymore, that means he already knows you’re investigating to begin with, now, doesn’t it?”

  Jenny imagined this tiny woman didn’t get to where she was on the force by being afraid. With an emphatic nod, Jenny said, “You’re right. I guess I’ve got nothing to lose.”

  The two women approached the booth where the nondescript man sat. Detective Brennan took immediate charge of the situation. “Jason Lewis?”

  He looked up with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Yes?”

  “Detective Brennan,” she replied, pulling a badge out of her pocket and flashing it quickly, “and this, as you may or may not know, is Jenny. Can we have a seat, sir?”

  He gestured to the other side of the booth with his hand. “Be my guest.” As the women got situated with Jenny’s heart beating a mile a minute, he added, “Is this, by any chance, about what happened to Sonya and Lisa?”

  “In fact, it is,” Detective Brennan said.

  “Terrible, isn’t it?” The sadness in Jason’s eyes looked genuine. “They were both so young and so sweet.” He shook his head.

  “You were familiar with both of them, correct?”

  “Yes, I was. I am a regular both here and at Jensen’s.”

  “I can understand being a regular here,” she replied, matter-of-factly, “but what would be your purpose for repeatedly visiting the pharmacy counter at Jensen’s Drug Store?”

  He looked slightly offended by the question. “I’m picking up medication.”

  “For a condition?” Detective Brennan asked.

  Jason wore a serious expression as he replied, “For my wife.” Jenny couldn’t help but feel like he was being defensive.

  “Yes, your wife. About that,” Detective Brennan began. “I do see you are wearing a wedding ring, and you openly admit you are married, but I have reports that you repeatedly ask out all of the waitresses here…including Lisa Penne…who, as you know, was found murdered. I also have witnesses telling me you had been known to ask out Sonya Lee. Do you care to explain that?”

  Sitting back in the booth, Jason replied, “Oh my God; you think I did this.”

  “I don’t think anything,” Detective Brennan replied. “I would just like to know why a married man asked out two women who both ended up dead.”

  “You think I was serious when I asked them out? I flirt with all the young women. It’s harmless...all in good fun.”

  “Would your wife agree to that statement?”

  “My wife can’t agree to anything. She can’t even speak.” Anger and irritation turned to sadness before Jenny’s eyes. Jason sighed with defeat, lowering his shoulders, softly admitting, “She has advanced stage Huntington’s Disease.”

  The edge left Detective Brennan’s voice as she said, “I’m sorry…I’m not familiar with Huntington’s Disease.”

  “It’s in the same family as Parkinson’s and ALS. It’s degenerative and adult-onset.” His eyes rose to meet the detective’s. “And horrible.”

  If the story had tugged at Detective Brennan’s heartstrings, she didn’t show it. “So, you go to the pharmacy frequently to pick up your wife’s medication?”

  He nodded slowly. “I still take care of her, but I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to do that. She needs round-the-clock care as it is.”

  “But you’re here…” Detective Brennan said.

  “Yes, I’m here.” Jason looked down at the table. “I have nurses come in so I can take a break from time to time. I know it sounds silly…I took leave from my job so I could care for my wife full time. I don’t work…how is it that I should need a break?”

  “It doesn’t sound silly at all,” Jenny said compassionately. “I have a baby, and as much as I love him, I still need time away from him once in a while…time where I can just be me and not have to worry about watching him.”

  Jason sighed and looked at Jenny, who admittedly felt no fear when they locked eyes. “Exactly,” he agreed. “I love my wife, but it’s so hard to hook up the feeding tube of a woman who once wow
ed me with her intelligence.” His eyes grew distant. “She was brilliant, once upon a time.”

  “How is it you are able to get away with not working?” Detective Brennan asked. “I assume you’ve got some hefty medical bills.”

  Snapping back into the present, Jason said, “Huntington’s disease isn’t the only thing that runs in her family…that brilliance does, too. Her father was a highly successful biochemist who lost his wife to the disease. He wanted to make sure his daughter was well cared for at the end, so he gave me enough money to take an extended leave of absence from work once her symptoms got bad. I’ve been trying to live up to that expectation, but it’s hard. It’s like watching her live in purgatory.” He cleared his throat. “I just need to get away sometimes.”

  Jason’s attention was drawn toward the front door of the diner, causing Jenny to glance back over her shoulder. Three uniformed police officers had entered and were talking to the hostess. One of them pointed toward the booth where the trio sat. Jason’s eyes quickly landed on Detective Brennan, looking as if he felt betrayed. “I thought you said you didn’t suspect me.”

  “It’s probably about me,” Jenny said quickly. “My tires were slashed in the parking lot. They might be coming to investigate.”

  Bitterness remained on Jason’s face. “They wouldn’t send three cops to investigate vandalism…not when there are women being murdered. They wouldn’t waste the resources.” He sat back in the booth once again, folding his arms across his chest. “Tell me what this is really about. I’m a suspect, aren’t I?”

  Detective Brennan spoke deliberately. “You are not a suspect. We are just investigating every angle, and we know that you have flirted with…”

  “For the love of God,” he said through gritted teeth, “I am a man with a very sick wife. I have remained one-hundred percent faithful to her, even though she’s been incapacitated for over a year now. Yes, I go out and flirt with other women. I’m still alive, after all. But that doesn’t make me a murderer—it just makes me human.”

  Jenny couldn’t help but feel that the only decent thing to do at that point would have been to walk away.

  However, Detective Brennan continued, “Just one more question…what size shoe do you wear?”