Cut and Run

by Lori Ryan

  “It took time to process the paperwork with the FDA, but we’ve got a match. Of the five men we had samples to test, each of your victims had a drug made by Simms Pharmaceutical in their system.”

  Jarrod kept his expression straight but on the inside, he was cursing a blue streak. He wanted Simms to be clear for Carrie’s sake. And that pissed him off to no end. He couldn’t trust himself right now. He wasn’t objective and that was dangerous.

  “Why is the drug in the FDA’s system?” Cal asked.

  “That’s where it gets interesting. The drug was part of a trial eight months ago. After five adverse events the trial was halted.”

  “Adverse events? What the hell is that?” Jarrod knew squat about FDA trials.

  “It means there were five incidents where someone in the trial either died or became critically ill.”

  Cal whistled and the ME nodded. “You can say that again.”

  Cal whistled again, drawing a laugh from Dr. Kane and a head shake from Jarrod at the corniness of his partner.

  The men walked away from the medical examiner’s autopsy suite with a lot more information than they’d had before they entered.

  “You’re going with the strong and silent thing today, huh?” Cal said as they walked down the hall.

  Jarrod grunted. “Just thinking,” he said, and stopped to turn to Cal. “Something isn’t right here. This case doesn’t add up.”

  Cal looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “What the hell do you mean? Everything’s adding up and it’s pointing to Simms. What more do you want? The whole case handed to us on a silver platter with a freaking ribbon tied around it.”

  “That’s just it. It’s like there’s too much linked to Simms.”

  “Maybe because Simms is linked to this? Or knee-deep in it?”

  Jarrod shook his head. “It doesn’t feel right.”

  “Is that your gut or your dick talking?” Cal didn’t sound angry, or judgmental, for that matter, but the question still pissed Jarrod off.

  “That’s way out of line and you know it.”

  Cal shrugged and stood his ground. “I don’t think it is. I’ve seen you with Carrie Hastings. You’re trying to hide it, but she’s a temptation for you for some reason. I’ve never seen you like this with anyone else. And I just want to know if you’re listening to your gut or your dick? It’s a simple question.”

  Jarrod stepped into his partner’s space. Cal might be remaining calm somehow but Jarrod sure as hell wasn’t. It was one thing for him to question his own objectivity, but it sounded a hell of a lot different when his partner put words to his thoughts.

  Jarrod ground his teeth together, searching for the answer to Cal’s question. “It’s my gut. My gut is telling me something is off here.”

  Cal shrugged, like he hadn’t just questioned Jarrod’s integrity. “Okay.”

  Chapter 9

  Jarrod was late to the birthday party, but he made it there within the first half-hour. Taking time out to relax with Jack Sutton and the rest of the Sutton group was always fun when he could swing it with his schedule and caseload.

  He laughed as he looked around. This was only Jack Junior’s first birthday, and apparently, they were taking it easy. At their three-year-old daughter Maddie’s party, there were ponies, clowns, and those little photo booths you climb in to take strips of photos. Jack Sutton had a little bit of a habit of getting carried away with his children’s birthday parties.

  Jarrod knelt before Maddie and caught her in his arms as she flung herself at him. He handed her a wrapped box and asked her to put it over in the corner with rest of the gifts.

  “How come the baby is getting all the presents today? I don’t like the baby presents. I like it better when the parties are about me.”

  Jarrod laughed. “Don’t we all, little one.”

  “You like parties for you?” She furrowed her brow at him and tilted her head.

  Actually, he didn’t. He wasn’t all that comfortable being the center of attention. “Um, sure.” How do you explain to a kid that you didn’t want a birthday party? He tended to work straight through his birthday.

  “That doesn’t sound overly enthusiastic.” Jack’s wife, Kelly, scowled at him but there was a playfulness to her look.

  He grinned and stood to give Kelly a hug. Maddie ran the present over to the corner like he asked, and then came running back to him. He pulled another wrapped gift from behind his back. This one had pink paper. Her eyes went wide. “This one is for you. For being a great big sister.”

  Kelly was shaking her head at him. He had a feeling she was used to doing that with Jack, though, and knew it wouldn’t get her anywhere.

  “You guys have got to stop spoiling these kids.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” His words said yes, but his grin told another story.

  Maddie squealed as she pulled the paper off and exposed a mini doctor’s kit. The bag opened up to reveal bandages, a fake stethoscope, and a small blood pressure cuff. Before he realized what was happening, Jarrod found himself being tugged by little hands over to the couch to sit. “Where’s the little man?”

  There were people scattered throughout the house, all enjoying food and drinks, but Jack senior had disappeared and Jarrod didn’t see Jack Junior anywhere.

  “They’re out in the pool.” The expression on Kelly’s face said it all. “Jack decided to get the baby a mini kayak for his birthday.”

  “Excuse me?” Jarrod held his hand out as Maddie wrapped it in a bandage, and tried to ignore the fact that she was cutting off the circulation to his thumb. Who needed a thumb, anyway?

  “You heard me. A baby-sized kayak. No wait, I take that back. It’s not really baby-sized. It’s a kayak suited for a three-year-old, maybe. Not for a one-year-old.”

  “So, they’re out in the pool trying out the new kayak? Isn’t it a little cold for that?”

  Kelly shrugged. “The pool is heated. They’ll survive. I’m not sure I’ll survive many more birthdays at this rate, but they’ll survive the pool.”

  Somebody called her name from the other room and Kelly excused herself while Jarrod looked down at the bandage.

  When Maddie had finished wrapping his hand, she put a sticker on his cheek. “Every good patient gets a sticker.”

  She closed up her bag and walked away from him. It seemed she was finished with her patient.

  Jarrod heard Chad’s laughter before he saw the big man walk in from the other room.

  “I’m sure you’re next.” Jarrod raised a brow at his friend. He and Chad had been friends before he and the others from Sutton. Chad was Jack’s cousin, though, so it wasn’t long before Jack and Jarrod had become friends.

  Chad nodded. “You’re probably right.”

  He stuck out his hand to shake Jarrod’s and laughed again when Jarrod placed a bandaged paw in his.

  “I’m surprised you got away.” Chad leaned against one of the couches in the oversized living area. The room had once had that designer-home look you’d expect from a man as successful as Jack. Now, there was a princess fort in the corner and children’s toys had taken over a great deal of the space.

  Jarrod shrugged. “I needed the break, and we’re really just waiting for a lot of information at this point.”

  “How’s the case going?”

  “Slowly. Very slowly. You hear from Jax and Mia?” Jarrod had meant to check in with them.

  “Yeah, they’re all set up. Jax says Mia is doing better. He managed to get her to relax and actually use some of her vacation time for once. Apparently, she has a hard time leaving the office in the hands of anyone other than herself.” Mia was the office manager for a small law firm in Hartford. She was also a bit of a control freak.

  “Where did they head to?” Jarrod knew Jax wanted to get Mia away from the city, away from any more danger until this case was resolved.

  “They’re using one of Jack and Kelly’s vacation homes. They have a condo at a resort in Cozumel. Not bad for a
place to hide out.”

  “Man, wouldn’t it be great to spend a few weeks on a beach?” Jarrod had never taken a vacation that long, or gotten away to anywhere like that. When he did take vacation time, he typically just hung around town and worked on his mother’s to-do list for him. He really needed to change some things about his life.

  Chad laughed. “I know how to relax. Of course, now my relaxation involves a three-year-old, but at least it’s still on the beach.”

  Something struck Jarrod. “Hey, is that common? I mean for people in the company to use their boss’s vacation home?”

  “I’m sure it doesn’t happen in every company. But sure, some people do that. It’s not something Jack throws around to everybody in the company, but he lets a bunch of us use that place or one of his other places from time to time.”

  “Excuse me, Chad, I have to make a quick phone call.”

  The images were beginning to blur on the screen. Jarrod was pouring through the photos taken at the gala fundraiser, not at all sure what he was looking for.

  His cell phone chirped and Jarrod looked at the screen. His brother.

  He thought about letting it go to voicemail, but Tommy had been trying to reach him. It would be better for Jarrod to answer this call. If he didn’t, his brother would call his mom eventually and talk her into whatever it was he needed.

  “Hey, Tommy. What’s up?”

  “What the hell? Why haven’t you been answering your phone, Jay?” Tommy was the only one who called Jarrod Jay, as though some cool nickname brought them closer somehow. It didn’t. They hadn’t been close in a long time.

  “What do you need, Tommy? I’m working.”

  A snort came across the line. “Yeah, what else is new?”

  “Ten seconds, Tommy.” Jarrod scrolled down the page, looking for faces he recognized. There were plenty of shots of Carrie, and even one of he and Carrie dancing. He had a hard time forcing himself to scroll by.

  He stopped on a picture of Meredith Ball and William Tyvek talking and smiling. Her hand rested on Tyvek’s arm. Although the man smiled, Jarrod could see tension in the expression. Tyvek’s eyes looked toward her wayward hand, and Jarrod had the distinct impression he wasn’t thrilled with the contact. He also knew from his talks with Carrie and researching the business tycoon, he was a man who took appearances seriously. He wouldn’t let the smile slip from his face when he knew there were cameras around.

  “I talked the judge into community service on that bullshit DUI.” Tommy sounded so smug, like he’d managed to talk the judge into something himself. Jarrod had no doubt there’d likely been a public defender involved and a prosecutor who needed to clear his cases with some plea agreements.

  “Uh huh.” Jarrod entered Meredith Ball’s name and the shelter gala into a search engine and pulled up the image results. “What do you need, Tommy?”

  “I need you to set me up with something good. Like, I don’t know, but some good community service, not something lame like cleaning up shit on the side of the road. Freaking hard ass judge gave me twenty hours. I mean, really, what the hell is that? So, I need you to hook me up, Jay.”

  Jarrod froze. Was his brother serious? Jarrod pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed, counting to ten.

  “You there, Jay? I need you to hook me up.”

  His brother never failed to disappoint. He was older than Jarrod, but he still tried to talk like he was in his twenties. For once—just one freaking time—Jarrod wished he would grow up and act his age.

  An image caught his attention as he tried to figure out how to tell his brother to piss off.

  “Tommy, did you even talk to your parole officer? There are a ton of approved nonprofits you can do your community service work through. You get the list, work it out with your PO. Choose something and ask them to approve it.”

  “Oh. That’s it?”

  Jarrod swallowed a sigh. “Yeah, that’s it. Listen, I gotta go. I’m right in the middle of a murder investigation.”

  “Oh, yeah, yeah. No shit, huh? That’s kind of cool.”

  Jarrod pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it, before putting it back to his ear. Who says a murder investigation is kind of cool? “Okay, so just talk to your PO, Tommy, then call me if you need help figuring it out, okay?”

  “Okay. Thanks, Jay.”

  “Yeah. Talk to you, Tommy. Oh, hey, call mom and say hi to her, okay? She likes to hear from you…” He almost said she liked to hear from Tommy when he didn’t need something, but he caught himself in time. “You know, just for no special reason. Just call her to say hello, okay?”

  “Sure, sure.”

  Jarrod hung up and clicked on an older image. It showed a much younger Meredith Ball in a full-length gown. It was before the gala for the shelter had started taking place, and the caption referred to another foundation and another event with the date 1989. She stood next to a tall good-looking man in a tuxedo whose eyes were locked onto Meredith as she stood smiling up at him. One of the man’s arms hugged her tightly to his side. The pose wasn’t casual or friendly. There was a clear connotation of intimacy.

  And the man was a man he’d seen before. Jonathan Simms.

  Chapter 10

  “What’s that about?” Jarrod watched Cal toss two bottles of sunscreen in the trash, only to pull out two new tubes and put them in his drawer.

  “Turns out, that shit’ll kill you.”

  “The sunscreen?” Jarrod looked in the trash at the offending bottles.

  “That,” Cal pointed to the garbage can, “will kill you.” He lifted one of the new tubes from his drawer. “This one won’t. Non-carcinogenic.”

  “Who knew?” Jarrod asked.

  Their conversation was interrupted when Detective Jepsen tossed a stack of papers on Jarrod’s desk. “You’re welcome.”

  Cal looked up. “For what?”

  “For going through every damned case in the database for the last ten years. Nothing matches your gutter slug’s murder.”

  Jarrod gritted his teeth. Jepsen had no respect for anyone other than himself. Jarrod wouldn’t get into it with him over the dig at their victim’s homeless status. “No matches to Maxwell O’Brian’s murder?”

  “That’s what I said, isn’t it?” Jepsen reminded Jarrod of a high school bully with the brains of an ant.

  Mullen came up behind his partner. “Well, we have one that matches it now.”

  “What the fuck? I went through every freaking case,” Jepsen defended.

  “Not the one that just got called in,” Mullen said. He looked to Jarrod. “ME’s on the way. Another dead body matching the O’Brian murder.”

  Jarrod and Cal cursed nearly in unison. Mullen gave them the address and fifteen minutes later they were crossing under the yellow tape, followed by the red tape of the crime scene, after logging in with the rookie stuck with the crap job. The yellow tape kept back the press and gawkers. The red tape kept anyone they didn’t want having to show up in court away from the evidence and the body.

  The case was eerily like Max’s death, only it was obvious, even to the untrained eye, this body had been around longer.

  “Wow.” Cal didn’t expand on the statement, but there was no need to. Jarrod didn’t think he’d eat a meal anytime soon. The body was wedged behind a dumpster, which was likely why it hadn’t been immediately discovered. Either that or no one had bothered to call it in until now.

  The driver from the dumpster service stood outside the tape, talking to a patrolman who was taking notes.

  “Gentlemen.” Dr. Kane didn’t look up. “Let’s get this one processed ASAP,” she said to her technician. “Slow, methodical, steady.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the man said. “Photograph, collect, process. On it.” He raised a camera, taking photos of various parts of the body and the surrounding area from the top down at a ninety-degree angle.

  Dr. Kane removed her gloves. “Whoever is doing this is enjoying it a little too much. Same overkill a
s last time.”

  “Estimate on how long the body’s been back there?” Jarrod asked.

  She shook her head. “I can look at entomology.” Jarrod didn’t want to look at the larvae covering what had once been a human head. “It’s not going to be precise, though. It’s entirely possible this was done the same night Max was killed.”

  “It’s possible Max’s death wasn’t connected to the drugs he was taking. Maybe it was just a coincidence that he was taking the meds. These could be hate crimes. Teens or drunken scumbags getting their rocks off on an easy target?” Cal said.

  Jarrod ran his hands over his face. “Hell, I hate to think a teen could do that to another person.” No one answered him. They all knew too well what could happen in this world.

  “Do we have an ID?” Cal asked, instead.

  “Yes,” Dr. Kane said. “Carlton Johnson. Had a state issued ID in his pocket. The tech logged it,” she said, referring to the technician collecting and bagging evidence.

  “How soon before you’ll know if his blood contains our drug?” Jarrod asked.

  “I can look for it as soon as I get back to the lab, but we won’t know conclusively for twenty-four hours.”

  The officer who’d been speaking with the dumpster guy joined the group.

  “What have you got, Officer Pike?” Cal asked.

  “Not much. He says this is a routine pickup. Comes to empty the dumpster every Tuesday. Saw the body before he started to load up, called it in. He’s kind of shook up. Can’t say I blame him.”

  “Anyone find any other witnesses?” Jarrod asked.

  The patrol officer shook his head. “Not that we’ve found.” He pointed up to the building on the right. “This building is empty. Listed for lease or sale, whichever comes first.”