“What the hell was that?” Rick demanded. “Where the fuck did they get their information? Who’s the goddamn leak?”
“I don’t know,” Bull said. “Chief ’s pissed. Hell, we’re all pissed. Nobody here likes to see the goddamn news blabbing shit before we’re ready.”
“Son of a bitch,” Truitt swore. “So she didn’t do it and now that doesn’t matter because everyone will think she did.”
Bull held up his hand. “We’re doing damage control. We have a confession. The chief is going to handle the press conference himself to say that an arrest has been made, charges will be filed, and that Miss Callahan was instrumental in the department’s discovery of the true killer.”
“Too little too late,” Truitt said bitterly. “Who the hell did it?”
“Jessie’s alibi about being at the grocery store checked out. She told the truth about being at the pub no more than ten minutes. Not to say she couldn’t have killed Ms. Powell in that time, but there was a lot of blood at the scene and there’s no way she could have cleaned up and gone to the grocery store so quickly. When we started to question other employees, one of the stories waffled. When we pressed the bartender, she folded in about thirty seconds. She was a sobbing mess inside of five minutes and couldn’t confess fast enough.”
“Then why the hell was that information leaked?” Truitt demanded. “Son of a bitch. Nothing had been decided for sure. We aren’t a bunch of fucking amateurs. You don’t go to the press ever, but you damn sure don’t go around telling people who you think killed someone.”
“I want to know just as badly as you do,” Bull said with a scowl. “It compromises my investigation.”
“Has anyone informed Jessie that she’s no longer a suspect?” Rick cut in.
Bull paused before turning his gaze to Rick. “I thought maybe you two would want to do the honors. Up to you though. I wanted to tell you first. I got a confession just an hour ago and I called you as soon as I was done.”
Truitt thrust his fingers into his short hair. Jessie probably wouldn’t ever give them the time of day again, but she deserved to know she was off the hook.
“Thanks, Bull. Appreciate it,” Truitt said as he rose.
Rick also stood and they nodded their good-byes and then headed back out to Rick’s truck. For a long moment, Rick sat behind the wheel staring moodily out the windshield.
“Goddamn it,” he finally said and he pounded the steering wheel with his fist. “She was telling the truth all along. She went home with us because she wanted to.”
Truitt nodded tightly. “Yeah. We fucked up. Christ. What a load of crap. The coincidence of all that going down like that? Has to be astronomical.”
“Or maybe it wasn’t coincidence,” Rick said grimly. “We don’t have the details, but it’s entirely possible someone saw their opportunity and used Jessie as the scapegoat.”
“We need to get over to her place. Do you have her address?”
Rick swore and then picked up the phone to call Bull.
Twenty minutes later they pulled up outside Jessie’s apartment to see her car parked out front. Truitt breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was home. They would make her listen. They had no other choice.
Both men got out and just as they got to the door, it opened and Jessie nearly ran into them, lugging a suitcase behind her. She stopped hard and would have fallen but Rick caught her arm and steadied her. Truitt could still see the wince when her leg took too much weight.
As soon as she locked onto them, she hastily backed away. The suitcase fell to the porch with a clunk.
“Are you here to arrest me?” she asked in a shaky voice.
She looked small and fragile and Truitt swore at the fear in both her voice and her eyes. He reached out to touch her, to somehow offer reassurance but she jerked back, making herself a smaller target.
“No honey, we’re not,” Rick said gently. “We’re here to tell you that an arrest has been made. You’re no longer a suspect.”
She stared blankly at them for a long time, her mouth open. Her gaze darted back and forth and then she shook her head as if she hadn’t fully understood what Rick had said.
“Just like that?” she asked hoarsely. “I’m not being arrested?”
Truitt shook his head. “No. You’re under no suspicion.”
Tears filled her eyes and then she looked away as she wiped at her eyes with her palms. “Everyone will think so though. It was all over the news today. I’ll never get another job.”
“We’re going to fix that,” Truitt vowed. “The department owes you. The chief is going to take care of it. No one will think you’re remotely guilty.”
She swallowed hard and then color suffused her cheeks. “You can’t fix it for me. You can’t control what other people think. What they think they know. What they know is that my face was all over the news. Some may not even remember why, but they’ll know there was something about me that they should be cautious about. So, no, you can’t fix this for me.”
Truitt couldn’t stand it any longer. “Sweetheart, let’s go inside. Were you going somewhere?”
“Yeah, I was going to my friend’s apartment to stay with her. She called her dad about a lawyer since we were convinced I’d be arrested any moment. I’m not going inside with you. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Jessie, please,” Rick said softly.
Her eyes flashed. “Do you know I said the same thing? I said please believe me. But I get that it was your job, okay? I’m not mad, because it looked like I killed someone and you had to do your job. I get why you had to stay away from me. Do you want to know what I don’t get and why I’m angry?”
Truitt swallowed and let his hand fall.
“I don’t get why you looked through me like I was nothing to you. Like I had betrayed you. I get that you may have thought so, but you condemned me without ever asking. You never once asked me if I did it.”
Shit. There was nothing he could say because they hadn’t asked. They’d been too wrapped up in their anger over thinking they’d been used.
“I know you had a job to do, but would it have killed you to have said I know it looks bad, Jessie, but tell me what happened? Would it have killed you to ask me if I did it? You never asked. No one did! You assumed you had all the facts and you looked right through me and basically agreed with the assumption that I was some whore who used sex with you to cover up a crime.”
The misery and humiliation on her face gutted Truitt. Rick didn’t look any better.
“I need to go,” she muttered. She reached down for her suitcase and started down the steps toward her car.
When she got to the bottom, her knee buckled and she went down, clutching at the suitcase for leverage.
“Damn it, Jessie,” Rick said as he hurried down to help her. “At least let me get your suitcase. You need to stay off that knee.”
“Just let me go,” Jessie said quietly, her voice laced with pain. “I honestly can’t do this with you right now. I’m tired. I haven’t slept in days.”
Truitt walked up behind her and slid a hand over her shoulder. He squeezed and kneaded, lightly stroking in a comforting manner. She tensed but didn’t pull away.
“I’m sorry, Jessie. I misjudged you. You’re right. I should have asked you. I should have done a lot of things. I don’t want this to be it for us.”
Jessie turned those soulful brown eyes on him, eyes that dripped with fatigue. “Who’s us, Truitt? Me? You? Rick?” She shook her head. “It was a nice night. A lot of fun. The sex was great. I’m not sure what more you’re wanting here.”
“A hell of a lot more,” Rick growled.
Startled, she turned to look at Rick as he wrested the suitcase from her grasp.
“We want you, Jessie,” Truitt said. “We both want you. Not just for one night. Definitely not for just one night. We fucked up. We know that. But I’m hoping like hell you’ll give us another chance here.”
Jessie brought her han
d up to her forehead and it was then he could see the very real pain she was in. Something came loose in his chest as he watched her grapple with her anger and also the sadness that tinged her every word.
“I can’t do this now,” she said again in a soft whisper. “I need to go.”
She started for her car, but she took it slow this time. Rick followed with her suitcase and silently stowed it in her trunk.
“Don’t carry that in wherever you’re going,” Rick said gruffly. “Get someone to help you.”
She nodded and started to get back into her car.
“When will you be back?” Truitt rushed to say, because hell if he was just going to let her walk away.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Things have changed. I need a few days to figure out what I’m going to do now.”
“Don’t take too long, Jessie,” Rick added quietly. “We’ll be waiting.”
Chapter 9
So you told them what?” Kirsten asked as she licked the ice cream off her spoon.
In what was fast becoming a nightly—and fattening—ritual, the two women were seated on the couch devouring a pint of Blue Bell ice cream.
“You realize it would be cheaper if we just bought a gallon,” Jessie pointed out.
“It’s all about intentions,” Kirsten said. “If I buy a gallon, my intention is to eat the whole gallon. Whereas I buy a pint, I’m only committing to a pint.”
Jessie laughed. “Your logic is flawed! We eat a pint every night. The same amount of ice cream is being consumed.”
Kirsten wrinkled her nose. “I don’t feel as guilty buying a pint.”
Jessie sucked another creamy spoonful into her mouth and sighed. Some of the panic had abated but her anxiety level was still through the roof. She had to pay rent in three days and she still didn’t have a job. So she had a decision to make. She couldn’t make the rent and pay her utilities. Kirsten had offered to let her stay until she could get another job and get another place to live. Which meant if she did that, she had three days to be out of her apartment.
And then she laughed because really, apart from dishes and clothes and a few items like the TV she rarely watched, there wasn’t anything to move.
“So?” Kirsten prompted. “What exactly did you say to your cops? You avoided my question a while ago.”
Jessie sighed. “They aren’t my cops. And I didn’t tell them much. I was upset. A little shell-shocked. They didn’t want me to go, but what else was I going to do?”
“Were they properly contrite?”
“Define properly.”
“Did they beg?” Kirsten asked with a mischievous grin.
Jessie frowned. “Well, no. I wouldn’t have wanted that. They just looked and sounded ... sorry. I don’t know. Honestly at the moment I wasn’t too worried about how messed up they were. Not to be rude but I was dealing with my own issues and it wasn’t about them. They hadn’t been accused of murder. They hadn’t had their picture all over the news while it being broadly hinted that they were going to be arrested and charged with a crime.”
“Preach it sister. So what are you going to do?”
Jessie blew out her breath. “Hell if I know. I don’t even understand what they want from this. I mean it was supposed to be a fling. Now they’re acting like they want more. Both of them. How the hell is that supposed to work?”
“Well you didn’t seem terribly concerned about how it worked when you were having sex with them both,” Kirsten pointed out with an amused smile. “I’d say it works just like it did the first time. You sleep with both of them.”
“You’re such a cheeky bitch,” Jessie grumbled. “I get how the sex works, okay? It’s everything else I’m clueless about.”
Kirsten shrugged. “Okay, so what? Figure it out as you go.”
Jessie drew back in mock surprise. “Are you lobbying for the two men you called dickheads just a few nights ago? The same men you thought castration was too good for?”
“All right. So I have a slightly vicious streak. But they seem genuinely sorry and they worry about you and your knee. I have a hard time finding fault with them if they want you to take better care of yourself.”
Jessie rolled her eyes. “Look, I just need a few days to sort out my mess of a life. The last thing I need is to begin any sort of relationship whether casual or serious in the middle of this clusterfuck I call my life.”
“Okay yeah, I can agree with that. But after you’ve moved in with me and after you’ve gotten another job I vote you call them up and at least give them the chance to grovel. I love a man who grovels well.”
“You need to stop before you make me all weepy again.”
Kirsten looked at her strangely. “What did I do now?”
“You make me laugh and I really need that right now. I’m so glad I have you.”
Kirsten chuckled. “You’ll forget about me soon enough when you have those two hot cops back in your bed. When you told me about the night you had with them, I wanted to stab you. I was so jealous. They sound absolutely hot and gorgeous even if they’re a little thickheaded. They are male after all. If we wanted perfection, we’d put penises on women and cut off their boobs.”
“Stop,” Jessie said with a shudder. “I think you just ruined them for me.”
The two burst into laughter again and Jessie went limp with relief. Just a short time ago she’d been convinced that her life as she knew it was over. She’d been scared out of her mind and contemplating the very real possibility of going to jail.
No matter how hard she might think her life had been since her accident, she had so much to be grateful for and she’d prefer every hard knock to a life behind bars.
“I think we need to celebrate,” she said impulsively.
Kirsten’s face lit up. “I agree. We’re being pathetic sitting here stuffing our faces with ice cream when we need to be celebrating the fact that you did not kill your evil employer.”
Jessie sighed. “She wasn’t evil. She was just . . .”
“Evil. She was evil and moody. She was a crusty old bat and she probably hadn’t gotten laid since fire was discovered.”
Jessie tried to hold back her laughter because ... well, it was just wrong to speak ill of the dead.
“I’ll concede that she was moody. I won’t, however, speculate on her sex life because that’s just ... gross.”
Kirsten snickered and then threw her legs over the end of the couch. “Okay, so what are we going to do? Powell’s is obviously out and we’d never set foot in that place again even if it reopens. I vote we go somewhere, get absolutely shitfaced, and then take a cab home. I have bra twenties for both of us.”
Jessie laughed. “Okay, I’m in. No one will recognize me if we’re in some dark bar anyway, right?”
After spending hours making calls, interviewing the victim’s family members and friends, Rick had a headache from hell, and he was frustrated because nothing made sense.
He and Truitt as well as the entire team assigned to the Big Thicket Killer had tried to connect the dots between the most recent victim and the ones before. With no success. They couldn’t find anything that linked the women.
It was seemingly random, which made it all the more frightening. What was the killer’s selection criteria? Did he just drive around, see a woman, and decide she was the one?
The women weren’t from the same area or town. They had no common interests. They didn’t shop in the same places, go to church at the same churches. Their jobs were varied, some being students, and some not working at all.
The only common denominator was that they were women. And that left a hell of a lot of potential victims in the running.
“Let’s pack it in,” Truitt said. “It’s been a long day and we’re not getting anywhere. We all need some sleep. We can start back in the morning.”
There were murmurs of agreement but after everyone had filtered out of the conference room, Rick still sat, staring broodingly at the crime-scene photos.
Rick sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.”
He was getting out of his chair when his cell phone rang. Frowning when he saw the incoming call listed as private, he punched the button and brought the phone to his ear.
“Detective Broughman.”
Chills raced down his spine when he heard the telltale metallic silence and then, “Detective, I just wanted you to know that I’ve already selected my next victim and I’m sure she’ll be more of a challenge than my last.”
“You son of a bitch!” Rick roared into the phone. “Stop playing your sick game. These are innocent women you’re killing.”
There was a distinct pause. “No, Detective. They aren’t innocent. Not at all.”
The phone went silent and Rick swore.
The chief stuck his head in the door. “Something wrong, Broughman ?”
“He just got another call from our killer,” Truitt said quietly.
“And?” the chief demanded.
“He said he’s already selected his next victim. Jesus Christ, Chief. What the hell do we do? I’ve never felt so helpless in my life,” Rick said. “How are we supposed to keep these women safe when we have no idea how he’s choosing them? We’re just sitting around waiting for him to fuck up.”
The chief looked ten years older than he was. His hair seemed grayer and the lines in his face were more pronounced. “I think we need to go public. We should at least warn the women in this area that this bastard has already chosen his next victim. We need to go stronger on our public warnings. We’ve issued several statements to the females in the area, but we need to bring home the seriousness of them having their personal safety foremost in their minds.”
Truitt let out a strangled sound. “We’ll incite panic.”
“Yeah, well what else are we supposed to do?” Rick challenged. “We can’t just do nothing. We have no idea how these women are being taken. There’s no sign of struggle in their house. No strangers lurking around their homes. No unusual activity. It’s like this guy just walks them right out of their house and they willingly go with him.”
Men Out of Uniform: Three Novellas of Erotic Surrender Page 7