“So,” Dave continued after watching Jay silently accept his point. “I don’t know why you are keeping information from me, but that’s fine. You’re the boss. I trust that you have a good reason, and that I’ll find out when I need to. As for these fires, I don’t know who it was. Maybe it wasn’t Mr. Haraby, but that leaves the one big question.”
Jay half smiled. “You mean, why is he the only one that seems to have gotten away safely?”
Dave’s eyes brightened as Jay finally understood. “Everyone else we have spoken to seems to have been targeted tonight. Except Gregory Haraby.”
“Then I am going to pay Mr. Haraby a house call.”
Dave’s eyes flashed wide. “But if he did this, won’t we be asking for trouble?”
“If he didn’t do this, I might cross paths with the real perpetrator as they realize they let him slip away.”
Dave shook his head. “Basically you’re telling me that regardless of who is responsible, going to Mr. Haraby’s house will be dangerous. So why are we going at all?”
Jay opened his mouth then frowned at the wound. “You sure you gouged yourself on a fence?”
Dave looked down at the clean wound. “Why? What’s wrong with it?”
Jay shrugged. “Nothing is wrong, and I’m no expert, but the edges seem a little too neat for a gouge from a fence.”
Dave seemed to struggle to hold back a fit of laughter, but then answered the first question seriously. “I suppose it might have been something else. It was dark. I felt the pain as I ducked through the broken fence, but I didn’t stop. Do you think I should go have it checked out?”
Jay tilted his head to the side. “It looks clean to me, but I’m not willing to be blamed if you get an infection later, so if you want to see an actual doctor…”
Dave chuckled, then pulled the self-adhesive gauze pad from Jay’s first-aid kit and applied it to the wound himself. “No need. We need to hurry, don’t we?”
“We are not doing anything. I am going to Mr. Haraby’s on my own.” He held up a hand as Dave made to protest. “You head back to New Orleans, and I will meet you there in three days.”
Dave held his gaze for a long moment. “And if you don’t come back?”
Jay smirked. “Then your adventure is over, but maybe what you’ve learned will help you not end up working for a man like that manager again.”
***
The house in Crestwood, Washington, lay still and silent in the early morning light. While massive and with an enviable view over Piney Branch Park, it was clear that the Harabys had fallen on hard times. The lack of grounds staff was too obvious to be missed and the house itself echoed like a half empty museum. Jay took in the house that Stella grew up in.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Jay stifled a sigh and looked up to meet the old man’s eyes as he descended down the grand stair. But Jay’s eyes had already passed over him, fixated on the man following. He would match the grainy CCTV still perfectly. He let his gray eyes sweep over the man, but could not spot a weapon, concealed or otherwise. He let out a breath and stiffened his spine.
“Do you know that Salisbury police are after you for arson?” Jay asked, making them both stop and Haraby’s mounting tirade wither away.
Jay watched their reactions carefully. Mr. Haraby looked annoyed and bewildered, but there was no flicker of fear or guilt. The man behind him looked worried but not in a way that made Jay feel he’d had anything to do with it.
“What rubbish is this?” Haraby asked as the man behind him took out a phone, no doubt to access the news feed.
Jay chuckled. “The Salisbury police have released CCTV footage of your man here as well as talking to someone wearing that gaudy ring of yours.”
Mr. Haraby opened his mouth with a sneer already curling his lips. Jay knew he was preparing to dismiss his words out of hand. Then the man behind hissed.
“Sir, he isn’t lying. Look.”
Jay smiled in a mocking way when Mr. Haraby looked back at him again. “You know, if you were my client, I would have ensured you were kept in the loop when things got messy. So as to keep your name clean.”
Mr. Haraby paled and then started turning an ugly shade of puce. “I swear, if you are setting me up, I will make sure you are locked away for good! I will—”
“You will what?” Jay countered, losing his patience. “The only reason you know about any of this is because I came here to tell you. Apparently your own P.I. can’t keep you safe. Why would I do that, knowing how you hate me? Because I am willing to put Stella ahead of everything else. I want everything you know, though I expect that isn’t much, and then I want you to get on that phone and tell Gary to expect a new partner. We’ll work together and find your daughter before this gets out of hand.”
Jay watched the rebellion building in the old man’s eyes and sighed. Just in time, he caught a flicker of movement and acted on impulse, diving forward and pulling Mr. Haraby down as the glass shattered.
CHAPTER TWENTY
He pulled Mr. Haraby around the side of the staircase, both shielded by Mr. Haraby’s guard. He let his mind take stock of his own body as his eyes swept over Stella’s father.
“Get off me!” the man yelled, fighting to free himself of Jay’s iron grasp.
Jay resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead turned to the guard. “Are you injured?” The man shook his head. “Good, you make him understand why he shouldn’t get up no matter how much he hates me.”
“Sir—”
“You think I don’t know what you’re playing at? Got your little puppy to fake an assassination attempt so that I can force Gary to work with you out of gratitude?”
Jay stared at Mr. Haraby for a long pause. The adrenaline racing through him was then defeated by a wave of incredulous laughter. He shook his head, but something that Mr. Haraby had said actually did make sense.
“How many guards do you have? I only saw three, including you.” He tilted his head toward the burly man now keeping Mr. Haraby down.
“Five,” the burly man answered when Mr. Haraby seemed apt to remain mute.
“Seems you have a point then, Mr. Haraby,” Jay smiled, straightening slowly and glancing around the space. “This assassination attempt is off. I don’t think we’re in any more danger—”
“I need help out here!”
Jay didn’t need Mr. Haraby in order to recognize the voice. Nor did he need the guard’s wide-eyed glance to know something was awry.
They skirted around the shattered glass strewn over the floor. Jay looked at the window and felt his frown deepen. The bullet should have hit one of them. They were standing almost in line. Even if he had pulled Mr. Haraby down in time, the guard hadn’t had a prayer. Only if the shooter had aimed straight. From the glass breakage in the tall window, they had fired upwards.
He tried to follow an imagined line of sight along the possible trajectory and, other than the ceiling, the only possible target was the first floor landing.
He stepped outside slowly, still trying to remember if he had noticed anyone on the landing while he and Mr. Haraby spoke. He shook his head, knowing he had seen no one.
Jay turned his eyes over the grounds as he followed the other two to the voice of Gary Peters, where he was still calling for help.
He could see two slumped shadows down by the gate and guessed that those guards were likely dead. They rounded the house, and another shadowed heap could be seen near the far corner of the building. A little farther along, near where the sloping lawn met the densely packed trees of the park, was a fourth, still heap.
He saw Mr. Haraby snatch his only remaining guard’s phone and make a phone call. Gary hadn’t even noticed him yet, too busy applying pressure to the shoulder of the man laying in their midst.
He met the now-familiar pair of green-blue eyes and watched the strawberry blond hair flop into them as Dave moved his head. Jay felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. Dave wasn’t meant to
be anywhere near here, never mind bleeding out into Haraby’s lawn.
Before he could ask anything, Dave fainted. Jay pulled out his own phone, but Mr. Haraby’s man seized his wrist.
“Get—”
“I have already called a doctor,” Mr. Haraby interrupted. “You either let go of your pride and do this my way, or let your friend there die. He did trespass after all. As did you.”
Jay held the glare without flinching and replaced his phone in his pocket. “Still think I faked this just to get your attention?”
Haraby huffed and turned to Gary, who was now staring at Jay with unconcealed hate. “When Adam gets here, take them to the west conservatory. I need to make a few more calls.”
***
“You have no right to speak here,” Mr. Haraby said as Jay interrupted yet again.
“If you are going to listen to his idiocy, then I have no choice.”
Gary Peters’ face twisted into an ugly sneer. “Still so high and mighty. I would have thought being done in for murder would take you down a peg or two.”
Jay threw him a cocky grin then turned a serious face back towards Mr. Haraby. “Your premises have just been the target of an attack, and you are really going to be an idiot and blame it all on me just because he’s holding a grudge?”
“The facts speak for themselves,” Gary’s voice shook with anger. “You arrived unannounced and uninvited. You killed the guards at the gate, then staged that little talk to get the one guard inside killed too.”
Jayden sighed heavily. “How do you have any clients at all? Or do you function better when your emotions are involved?”
“My emotions? You’re the—”
Jay raised a hand. “Fine. You want to talk facts, let’s talk facts. I entered these grounds from the northeast, avoiding the gate as well as the other two guards that patrol the sides and rear. I killed no one.”
“It’s true,” piped up the burly guard, whom Jay had learned went simply by Ben. “I checked in with the gate on the way downstairs after we heard of Mr. Roe’s arrival. They were alive.”
Mr. Haraby looked very much like he wanted to order Ben to remain silent, but Jay only shook his head.
“I don’t know what happened tonight, but it is clearly linked to the fires back in Salisbury.”
“How?” asked Mr. Haraby.
“You’re not seriously going to listen to him?” spat Gary.
“Oh, I think he owes me that much. I did save his life, after all, and my partner saved it over again.”
Gary murmured a series of aggressive profanities, but Jay looked back to the man who was waiting with his eyebrows arched in challenge.
“The fires seem to have targeted the people that were questioned in relation with Stella’s disappearance. You were the only one linked that had already left. Yet the police conveniently found CCTV footage to implicate you and your man, which will eventually lead them here. Here they would have found you and your entire household dead.”
“Then why isn’t he dead? You telling me the shooter who took out four guards couldn’t kill the three of you at such short range?” asked Gary. “And don’t tell me it is because you moved faster than the bullet.”
Jay smiled. “No. I didn’t have enough warning. I can only assume my partner is the reason. He must have startled them, causing them to miss and then flee.”
Gary opened his mouth and then shut it again. There was a problem with his explanation, but if Gary couldn’t see it, he wasn’t going to help. The basic fact was he didn’t know who his enemy was, who had been watching him and those close to him for so long. Until then, he needed to be cautious.
Jay turned back to Mr. Haraby. “So I hope you now understand why I need to work this case.”
“All I understand is that, once again, it is all you. Every time you appear, bad things follow you. Now you’ve dragged my Stella down. Stay out of this.” Mr. Haraby glared a moment longer then turned to Gary. “Thank you for trying to come and alert me, but there’s no need. I will take care of me. You find my daughter.”
“Yes, sir,” Gary smirked.
Jay moved to bar his way, and Ben stood, looking reluctant to interfere, but also unwilling to disobey.
“Out of the way, Jay. You are neither needed nor wanted.”
Jay let him push past and even stumbled a little for show. He watched Gary leave and then turned to Mr. Haraby.
“You can stay until the doctor has cleared your friend. I will grant you that because you, or he, or both, played a role in thwarting the attack.”
“Where will you go? If someone is after you—”
“That is none of your damn business. I want you both gone.”
Jayden opened his mouth to argue, but Mr. Haraby drew himself up. For the first time since Jay had met him, he felt the power that had gained the Harabys their name.
“This time I want you gone for good. If you care about Stella, give me what you have, and I’ll pass it to Gary. Otherwise, steer clear of her, or me, and anything I own.”
Knowing anything he said would just lead to arguments, Jay nodded stiffly and left. He no longer needed Mr. Haraby’s cooperation. He could find Gary Peters all on his own.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jay took a seat in the little corridor that adjoined the western conservatory to the rest of Haraby’s huge house. He could see the doctor’s upper half, still shifting and fussing over the table where they had lain a still-unconscious Dave. He caught the flash of a silver medical tool and made himself more comfortable. The last thing he wanted to do was to interrupt the doctor while the man was potentially doing work to save Dave’s life.
Jay leaned his head against the wall and began to replay the events in his mind’s eye.
He had come here straight from Salisbury to get to the bottom of why Mr. Haraby’s man had been near the neighborhood about an hour before it went up in flames. He hadn’t been able to ask that question, but given Mr. Haraby and Ben’s reaction, he didn’t need to. They hadn’t known about the fires, and now that he had seen Ben’s uniform up close, he knew it could easily be mistaken for part of that body suit in the other shots. He made a note to himself to see if he could find Haraby’s departure from Salisbury and movements since then in order to clear his name.
Something cold coiled tightly in his gut. If he did that, then whoever was trying to frame Mr. Haraby for the fires, and potentially any resulting deaths, would likely be angry that their plans had been ruined. Jay resisted the urge to pull out his phone to see if a death toll had been added in the time since he had left Salisbury. He could add those facts later. All they would do is show him how ruthless and competent this hidden enemy was. He had to clear his name, but then he needed a contingency for the trouble that might cause.
Jay thought for a moment and found an easy answer. He was going to have to return to New Orleans to collect his car. He already had a huge debt running, so he might as well add another thing to the tab and get the Serpent Brothers to keep tabs on Mr. Haraby. In fact, he’d have to keep tabs of Ruby and Frank too, and ask if they had ever noticed anyone who might fit the black-cloaked shadow.
Jay felt his lips tilt in a grin, but kept his eyes shut and head resting against the wall. Joe was a tech whiz. If anyone could clear those grainy CCTV stills and find proof that Ben was not the same shadow caught rushing out of the Bronze Rose or Williams’ estate, then it was him.
He felt a brief wince at indebting himself so fully, but he owed Stella his life. If that was what it took to get a step ahead of whoever had her, so be it.
Jay shook his head before fear over Stella could prevent his focused thought. He had already established that the shooter could have easily taken any of them out, but instead their bullet had fired too high. Jay was certain that there had been no one on the upper landing, so that left two possibilities. Either the shooter had never meant to kill any of them, or they had been interrupted badly enough to misfire. The first didn’t seem right. If this had been st
aged by the same person who set the fires, then they would either want the police to find a dead household here too and probably something to indicate that Mr. Haraby had done it.
He sighed and moved on to the second option. That one didn’t seem to add up properly either, given the four dead guards. Jay had watched their bodies be moved. They had all died from clean, single shots. What could have distracted such a sharp shooter from their goal?
Jay opened his eyes and glanced towards the conservatory, where the only answer to that question lay and saw that the doctor was talking and heading for the door.
“Will he be alright?” Jay asked, standing as the doctor stepped out of the conservatory and closed the door softly behind him.
The elderly man smiled. “He’s a lucky one. The bullet hit nothing vital. A clean in and out. Total miracle. As long as he follows my advice of first rest and then specific exercises, he will have no lasting effects after the wound is fully healed.”
Jay nodded, thanked him, then entered the room.
“You have about five minutes to explain exactly why you are now nursing a bullet wound instead of safely waiting for me in New Orleans. I won’t have a partner who can’t follow orders.”
Dave’s eyebrows rose at the command, but he nodded slowly. “Remember I saw you off? Well, as I was leaving the train station, I spotted someone. That scrawny woman with wine red hair.”
Jay kept his face smooth, arching an eyebrow in question, but inside his gut had begun roiling with what felt like acid. Why was Ruby popping up everywhere? Weren’t she and Frank meant to have left? He put the questions aside as Dave continued.
“I didn’t feel comfortable leaving you alone. I wanted to message, but nothing seemed to be getting through. Is your phone okay?”
Jay frowned and pulled out his cell phone. It seemed fine. “Try calling.”
Dave shifted and winced, but still reached over to where his phone lay on top of his shirt. Jay watched him find his number and hit call. The phone in his hands remained silent and the one in Dave’s showed that the call went straight to voicemail.
Jayden Roe Mystery 02-The Final Lie Page 9