by Debra Webb
Burnett took her by the elbow and guided her toward the chairs. ‘Let’s sit.’
Did she look that exhausted or was he just being a gentleman? Some of both, she imagined. Actually she was exhausted, so she sat. Waited until he did the same and resumed her story. ‘The building these ladies signed on for included spacious condos with balconies overlooking the seven-acre lake designed for the property. They’ve all lived happily ever after in their nice condos with their lovely views until the takeover by some money-hungry corporation. Now a new building that will draw in more elderly investors is going up.’
He nodded. ‘The new building will block that lovely view.’
‘Completely. The condos where the widows live is going from prime real estate to nowhere near prime. They’ve demanded construction be stopped or that a generous portion of their initial investments plus interest and so on be refunded.’
‘Ouch.’ Burnett crossed his legs at the ankles and tried to get more comfortable in the hard plastic chair.
‘Since the new building is already sold out, stopping construction would be a financial catastrophe for the corp’s investors.’ Didn’t take an accountant or a crystal ball to see that one.
Burnett slowly turned his cup between his fingers. ‘One of these women publicly threatened Baker. What’s your take on that?’
Jess hoped he didn’t remember the name from when they were kids. ‘Frances Wallace. Her husband was a distant relative of the George Wallace. Frances comes from old money, just like Baker, so this ongoing war over the new building wasn’t about money. She could have bought a condo in the new building without blinking. She’s fighting for the rights of the other six who used their life savings to buy into the village. They’re being taken advantage of and no one on the board seems to care. It’s a classic scam.’
Not to mention just another example of how bullies were tolerated far too often in today’s society. Kids weren’t the only targets. The elderly were often manipulated, deceived, and pushed around.
‘You’ve interviewed her already?’
This was where things got sticky. ‘I have. I don’t believe she possesses the physical strength to do what the killer did to Baker.’
‘What about the others?’
‘We’ll get to each one before the day is over, but’ – Jess looked him square in the eye – ‘I’m telling you now that none of these ladies are physically capable of murder in this manner simply by virtue of their advanced ages.’ For God’s sake, Frances was the youngest of the seven.
‘Could they have pooled their resources and hired someone to do the job?’ Burnett shrugged. ‘Maybe they felt Baker was ultimately responsible for their problem and decided to get him out of the way.’
Jess couldn’t rule out that scenario just yet but Frances would not have been party to that kind of scheme. No way. ‘I will investigate that possibility. What we should keep in mind are two important facts that are irrefutable. Scott Baker was expecting company. His guest was someone he knew well enough to shut off the surveillance system in anticipation of their arrival, which seems to indicate he didn’t want their meeting documented. Maybe Baker was caving to the widows, and someone with much to gain with the construction of this new building wasn’t happy.’
‘His final actions open up a variety of questions and motives,’ Burnett suggested.
‘He may have been meeting with a lover,’ Jess offered. ‘His own or his wife’s. There may have been trouble with one or more of the board members involved with the corporation. Maybe with the contractor or a media source who’d gotten wind of the trouble with the widows. There are a lot of avenues to explore. I’m starting with the most well known – the ongoing battle with the widows.’
‘Keep me in the loop. I don’t want any surprises showing up in the news. There’s already a mob on the street at the property’s boundary.’
Not surprising. Getting the inside story on a murder kept ratings up. Jess stood. She had to get back to work. ‘Yes, sir.’
Burnett pushed to his feet, his eyes searching hers again. ‘Do we need to have that talk again?’
‘We do not. I’m keeping an eye out for trouble. I’m definitely not taking any risks.’ None worth mentioning anyway.
‘Until we learn how that bomb got in the car you were using and what the hell happened to Allen, I won’t feel comfortable about your safety or that of any other cop in the department.’
Except he wasn’t hovering over any other cop. Jess had spent the last twenty-four hours chewing on this. She might as well say it. ‘There is a chance that Allen wanted to get rid of me that badly, isn’t there? He was in the motor pool the day you ordered the Taurus for me.’ It was true. Dammit, she hated to think badly of a man who was most likely a victim, probably dead. But it was true. He’d made no bones about his less-than-friendly feelings toward Jess. Would he try to kill her, though? ‘Maybe he knows he’s caught and he disappeared to avoid the investigation.’ Not to mention prison.
‘I don’t want to believe one of my own people would go there, but I can’t deny it’s possible,’ Burnett admitted.
Jess had been ignoring one theory about why and how Allen had vanished. Birmingham’s former drug and gang kingpins, the Lopez family, had warned that someone inside the department had it in for her. It made sense that Allen, being head of the gang task force and well known to the Lopez family, was the someone they meant. Particularly since he and Jess had butted heads so often. Now that the patriarch of the Lopez family had left Birmingham, had he neutralized the threat to which he’d alluded? Jess had gotten word that she shouldn’t worry about that particular problem anymore. She had an angel de la guarda. A guardian angel, according to Lopez’s messenger.
That was the part that worried her the most. The bomb, Allen’s disappearance, the Lopez business could all be related. But why would Lopez go that far for Jess? Why would he play her guardian angel?
‘Maybe Lopez wanted revenge for Allen’s part in the downfall of his family,’ she offered. ‘For whatever reason, he may have decided I should get a reprieve.’ Except there had been a bomb in the car she was supposed to use . . .
‘Be smart, Jess.’ Those blue eyes that had the power to draw her into his arms with a single inviting look showed her the fear and the worry he felt. ‘Revenge is an ugly business, as you well know. If someone had it in for Allen for his perceived part in tearing apart the Lopez family, they may still have you on that same list. We can’t rule out anything at this point. Lopez could have someone watching you right now.’
‘That’s me,’ Jess said with a laugh she hoped passed for the real thing, ‘Miss Popular.’
She doubted she would be so popular after she informed the widows that they were all persons of interest in a murder case.
With no other leads at this time, Jess’s first order of business was to find a way to confirm Frances Wallace and the rest couldn’t possibly have murdered Baker.
That would be a whole lot easier as soon as she found someone with a better motive for wanting the guy dead.
Chapter Four
Birmingham Police Department, 10.20 A.M.
‘Captain Ted Allen has been officially missing more than seventy-two hours.’ Jess paused for a beat before continuing. Guilt tried to intrude but she sent the pointless emotion packing. She wasn’t responsible for the head of BPD’s gang task force going missing. At least she hoped she wasn’t. She exiled theories about guardian angels. ‘I’ve just spent the past half hour in a closed-door session with Chief of Police Burnett, the mayor, and the other chiefs for a quick update.’
She’d barely gotten back to the office and started her case board on the Baker homicide when she’d gotten the call to report to the conference room. The press was about to be informed about Allen, and Burnett wanted everyone on the same sheet of music.
Jess surveyed her team, that infernal anxiety gnawing at her again. ‘Our team was not assigned the case but we should press any unique sources we have f
or information. Check in with your informants. The investigation has zero leads right now. We need something. Every law enforcement agency in the state has been alerted to the situation. We recognize there is a strong likelihood that if Captain Allen did not leave of his own volition, he’s already dead. There has been no demand or contact of any sort related to his disappearance. Be that as it may, until we have a body, this case will be pursued as if he is alive and in imminent danger.’
She braced for the barrage of questions the four members of her team would no doubt raise. She’d heard the watercooler talk. Most everyone thought Allen’s disappearance had something to do with her face-to-face meeting with Leonardo Lopez, the so-called messiah of the MS-13 in LA and the father of the son and daughter who had effectively destroyed each other here in Birmingham mere days ago.
But Jess hadn’t set up that meeting. She had been as surprised as anyone when Lopez sought her out last week as a means to convey his message to the powers that be in the city. He hadn’t sent her that message about having a guardian angel until much later. She kicked the idea out of her head again. There was just no evidence at this time to make that connection.
Still, she recognized how it looked, and human nature had taken its course.
Chad Cook, the lowest-ranking and youngest member of the Special Problems Unit, spoke first. ‘I guess Black getting the case was a good thing since that leaves us free to focus on the Baker homicide.’
‘Deputy Chief Black and Crimes Against Persons will be primary on the Allen case, yes,’ Jess confirmed, ‘but make no mistake, the entire department will be involved in finding one of our own. This is not a competition. Keep that in mind, please.’ Jess hoped no one in the room noted her lack of conviction in that last statement. Finding the bad guys was always a competition, starting with who got the case.
‘Are you a suspect in the captain’s disappearance, Chief Harris?’
Jess expected no less from Lieutenant Valerie Prescott. She might not overcome her frustration of being passed over for SPU’s deputy chief in this lifetime, which inevitably meant that she would remain a thorn in Jess’s side. Which was also another reason Jess didn’t trust the woman one little bit. Two years older than Jess, Prescott was every bit as ambitious as her. She disliked her new boss and had no problem telling the world.
During the silence that followed the blunt question, the other members of SPU, Sergeant Chet Harper, Detective Lori Wells, and Officer Chad Cook, gave Prescott the evil eye. At least the majority of Jess’s small but skilled team respected and liked her. Unfortunately that reality didn’t make the lieutenant’s question any less relevant.
‘I would be surprised if I wasn’t considered a person of interest,’ Jess admitted. ‘But it won’t be because Captain Allen had issues with the way I handled my end of the Lopez case or that he made those issues abundantly clear. Our close involvement in the Lopez case will be thoroughly investigated, as will that of numerous other detectives and federal agents. That’s investigation one-oh-one, Lieutenant.’
‘I haven’t heard any rumors of trouble in his personal life,’ Harper commented, redirecting the conversation. ‘No marital or financial problems.’
‘His record at BPD has been exceptional,’ Jess added, thankful to be moving in the proper direction. Captain Allen’s visit to the motor pool, just before Jess picked up the explosive Taurus, was known only by the few, like Chief Black, involved directly with the investigation into his disappearance. Until there was solid evidence Allen had crossed the line, that was the way it would stay.
Detective Lori Wells twisted in her chair. ‘What about you, Valerie?’ she said to Prescott, who was her superior in rank, but the younger woman didn’t seem to care. Lori and Jess had bonded too deeply not to call each other good friends, off and on the job. ‘Are you a person of interest, considering you were Allen’s link to the scuttlebutt regarding Chief Harris? The way I hear it, you kept him informed of the chief’s every move where Lopez was concerned.’
Though she appreciated Lori’s support, this wasn’t the time. Jess held up a hand before Prescott could utter what would no doubt be a frosty comeback if the icy glare pointed at Lori was any indication. ‘Let’s get back to the case board and what we have so far on Scott Baker. I just wanted y’all to know what’s going on. And now’ – she squared her shoulders – ‘you know. So, let’s move on.’
‘Baker was only twenty-seven when he was selected to be administrator of Vestavia Village,’ Harper said. ‘That’s a little young, so I did some asking around and it seems he has a friend of the family, a retired army general, on the board who ensured he was chosen for the position before the sellout to Your Life.’
‘The Baker family,’ Lori Wells picked up where Harper left off, ‘required the victim and all three of his brothers to obtain an MBA and then to work in the private sector for at least three years and to reach the age of thirty before receiving their trust funds. Scott was set to receive his in less than one week.’
‘I guess Daddy wanted to make sure his sons knew how to work for a living.’ Seemed to Jess that more parents should do the same before turning over their money to their offspring.
‘Makes you wonder how badly his wife wanted full access to that trust fund,’ Prescott suggested.
‘Good point,’ Jess acknowledged. She wanted Prescott to be a part of this team. Mostly she wanted the woman to get over the fact that she didn’t get the job and that Jess was her boss, for better or worse. ‘How much is this trust fund? And does the wife get it or does it go back into trust for their son?’
‘Ten million,’ Lori said. ‘I’ll have to find out where it goes now.’ She made a note in her phone.
‘Ten million is a lot of motive,’ Chad Cook said.
‘By anyone’s standards,’ Jess agreed. ‘Where are we on the statements from the other six widows and Claire Warren?’
‘Cook and I have two more scheduled this afternoon,’ Prescott said. ‘Those two were out of town for a long weekend.’
‘We asked what questions we could by phone,’ Cook added. ‘The important stuff, you know. Just to be sure they didn’t go changing their stories after talking to anyone else.’
‘Excellent strategy. I’m certain the first thing both did as soon as you spoke with them was to call their fellow widows.’
‘I interviewed Ms Warren when she arrived at the Village this morning,’ Prescott noted. ‘She’s been the dining room director since the Village opened. Her statement is a carbon copy of Foster’s and Brewer’s. She heard Frances Wallace say something to the effect that she would see Baker dead before she would allow him to get away with the new construction.’
‘I can’t see those ladies taking Baker down that way,’ Harper countered. ‘He was a young guy in good physical condition. His secretary said he played racquetball twice a week and ran three or four miles every day. He was strong. It took a hell of a blow to take him off his feet and keep him down.’
‘And a sudden, lightning-fast move,’ Lori tossed out. ‘Baker had no defensive wounds. He didn’t try and deflect the blow. He obviously wasn’t expecting it.’
‘It may have taken two blows to put him down for good,’ Jess noted, remembering the way the gash in his temple looked. ‘The first one may have rattled him enough that he didn’t have time to react before the second blow landed.’
‘Doesn’t sound like one of the widows,’ Harper reiterated. ‘These ladies are seventy-five and beyond.’
Jess studied the images Lori had printed from the ladies’ Facebook pages. According to Lori, everyone had a Facebook page these days. Jess didn’t mention that she didn’t have one. She was way behind on social media. Who had time? Her attention settled lastly on the photo of the face she knew so well. Frances Wallace. She’d asked Jess if she needed a lawyer. The only answer she could give was yes. Though Jess was convinced of her innocence, this situation could get complicated fast.
‘They all have alibis.’ Lori cleared her thr
oat. ‘Except Ms Wallace.’
‘Ms Wallace has an alibi up until nine-fifteen,’ Jess countered. ‘Between nine-fifteen and ten o’clock, she arrived on the property where she met another vehicle departing. She couldn’t hazard a guess at the kind of vehicle since the headlights blinded her.’
The silence that lingered signaled that everyone present understood Frances Wallace was a sensitive spot for Jess.
‘Despite the concept,’ Jess said, getting past the awkward moment, ‘that these elderly women likely don’t possess the physical prowess to have killed Baker, as Sergeant Harper pointed out, we can’t overlook the possibility that they banded together and hired someone to do the job for them.’
‘I can explore that avenue,’ Prescott piped up. ‘I worked a case last year where a wife hired a professional to have her husband murdered. I did a good bit of research that could come in handy.’
Jess was impressed with Prescott’s sudden team spirit, if not convinced of her allegiance. ‘Since you and Officer Cook are interviewing the widows, I’ll leave the follow-up on that scenario to the two of you as well.’
Prescott looked pleased with herself.
As much as she would like to assume this was a fresh start for her and Prescott, Jess still had reservations. ‘Sergeant Harper, dissect Baker’s personal life. Find me a motive for murder. Someone out there wanted Scott Baker dead. We need to know who had a compelling enough reason to make it happen when the opportunity presented itself. We can assume since the murder weapon was most likely the Administrator of the Year trophy that the killer didn’t come to Baker’s office planning to kill him.’
‘Unless,’ Prescott argued, ‘the killer had been there before and knew the trophy would do the trick.’