Justice Delayed

by Patricia Bradley

Andi’s answer was lost as Will stepped through the open back door and scanned the room. Books lay on the floor where they’d been dumped from the bookcase. Pillows and cushions were shredded. He took out his phone and once again called for crime scene techs.

  Will raked his fingers through his hair. How had this happened if Andi was here last night? Unless it happened while she was at the hospital, but if that was the case, why hadn’t she seen it when she came home?

  He walked back to the deck. Treece had wrapped a comforter around Andi’s shoulders.

  “What’s going on?” Treece asked. “All she’ll say is ‘it’s gone.’”

  “Someone broke in and trashed her apartment looking for something. He took the horse sculpture Stephanie made.”

  “No, I have it,” she said.

  Andi jerked her head up. She grabbed Treece’s arm. “What? You have it?”

  “Yes. I took it yesterday afternoon because I wanted to fix the chip for you, but . . .” She shrugged. “Reggie came over and I never got around to it. I’ll go get it.”

  “There’s something else you need to know,” Andi said to Will after Treece left. “Whoever did this left a message in my shower. That’s really why I called you.”

  Will bolted for the door before she finished speaking. Why hadn’t she told him already? Something was going on that he didn’t understand.

  The shower curtain lay crumpled on the floor, and he read the message on the tile. Last warning. Give me what I want. It looked like the intruder had written it with a red marker and then turned the shower on so the writing ran and looked like blood.

  Resolve settled in Will’s stomach. He strode to the deck where Treece had returned with the horse. “Both of you pack a bag,” he said. “You can’t stay here until we catch whoever is doing this.”

  “Why are they doing this?” Andi cried. “What do they want?”

  Treece shook her head. “What they want doesn’t matter. Whoever did it is desperate, and if you’d been home, they would have killed you.”

  She was right. “You have to leave,” Will said.

  “Where did you go last night, anyway?” Treece asked. “I heard your back door shut, and when I looked out, you were pulling out of the drive. I texted and called, but you never answered.”

  Andi’s already pale face grew even paler, and she pressed her hand against her mouth. “I . . . just went out. I must not have set the alarm. Did you hear anything while I was gone?”

  Treece shivered and hugged her arms to her body. “No. I took ibuprofen for my shoulder and went back to sleep.”

  Andi turned to Will. “Do you think someone was watching my apartment and saw me leave?”

  Will could kick himself for not watching the house since he caught the private investigator lurking about. He’d checked him out, though, and there wasn’t a hint of scandal about him anywhere.

  But what if he’d discovered Stephanie had been smuggling diamonds? And she stole some of them? The PI could have been hired to get the diamonds back, and maybe he thought Andi had them?

  Or . . . The pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Maybe it wasn’t the PI but whoever had killed Lacey. If he found the letters she’d written, the killer believed the diamonds were in Andi’s possession. And if he’d killed twice to get them, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill again.

  The look on Will’s face scared Andi.

  “How did he know I didn’t set the alarm?” She rubbed the horse’s back, her fingers seeking the hole where it had chipped.

  “What you said—he was watching your apartment. Something alerted him when you left that you hadn’t set it.”

  She knew what that was. He probably could tell she was stoned. At least he hadn’t gotten Steph’s sculpture. Her fingers ran over something hard, and she glanced down. At first her mind didn’t comprehend what she was seeing, then she realized there was a piece of glass or a rock embedded in the clay. “Why would Steph put glass in this horse?”

  “Glass? Let me see.” Will took the sculpture from her and examined it. “I think I’ve found what your intruder was looking for. If I’m not mistaken, this is a rough diamond, and there may be more.”

  “Diamond?” Andi and Treece said in unison, then Andi asked, “How did a diamond get in Stephanie’s sculpture?”

  Will’s whole body stiffened, and he wouldn’t meet her eyes.

  The hair lifted on the back of her neck. “What are you not telling me?”

  “Andi . . .” He stopped to take a deep breath.

  The way he said her name . . . suddenly she didn’t want to know. A Volkswagen Beetle pulled into the drive, and she’d never been so glad for a diversion, even if she’d totally forgotten that she and Maggie were driving to middle Tennessee to look for Jillian. “It’s Maggie.”

  The attorney climbed out of her car and shaded her eyes with her hand. “Good morning. Andi, did you get the address for Jillian?”

  “Ms. Starr?” Will said.

  “Why does everyone look so surprised? Didn’t you tell them what we were doing today? And Will, if you call me ma’am or Ms. Starr again, I’ll throttle you.”

  “Yes, ma’am—Maggie,” he said.

  Maggie held an eight-by-ten photo in her hand as she climbed the steps. “I had a friend age a photo I found of Jillian. It shows how she should look now.” She stopped at the top of the steps. “Made you one too, Will.”

  “Mom texted me the last address she had for Jillian,” Andi said, pulling herself together. “It’s a PO number in Doskie, Tennessee. It won’t take me long to get dressed.” She turned to Will. “I can go into my bedroom, right?”

  “No, not until the crime scene techs get through. But they should be here any minute.”

  Andi groaned. “I can’t wait, and I can’t go looking for Jillian in what I wore last night.” Her voice broke. What was wrong with her? Her nerves were as raw as hamburger meat.

  Maggie shot Andi and then Will a concerned look. “What’s going on here?”

  Will started to say something, but Andi cut him off. “I’ll tell you in the car.”

  “Why did you sleep in your clothes?” Treece asked.

  Andi couldn’t meet her eyes. “I was tired.”

  “I see.”

  Her friend’s tone of voice said she didn’t, but Andi didn’t offer any other information.

  “They might be a little big, but I have some jeans you can wear,” Treece said. “And a sweater, and my boots should fit.”

  “Thanks.” She squeezed her friend’s hand.

  “But I can’t help you in the makeup department,” Treece said, smiling.

  No, Treece’s makeup wouldn’t work on her light skin.

  The CSU team was in her apartment by the time Andi had showered and dressed. She took the egg sandwich Treece handed her and forced herself to eat it. “You’ll go to your parents’ until this is over?” Andi asked.

  “Definitely. But I think we need to talk.”

  Andi didn’t. Not today. “I’ll call you tonight with whatever information we discover.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about,” Treece said gently. “I want to know what’s going on with you.”

  “Nothing.” She forced herself to not look away from Treece’s probing gaze this time. A muscle spasm in her back made her wince. “Do you have any ibuprofen?”

  “Ibuprofen?”

  Andi took a shaky breath. “Yeah. I don’t think I should keep taking the Lortabs.”

  Relief showed in Treece’s eyes. “I have an extra bottle. Let me get it.”

  She returned with the bottle and hugged her. “I read somewhere you can’t just stop taking the Lortabs cold turkey. You need to get help.”

  “I will Monday.” Andi almost cracked. Kindness undid her every time. “Thanks,” she whispered and hurried out the door to where Will and Maggie talked on the deck.

  “I’m ready.” She wished she felt half as good as she sounded. If only her insides would quit shaking. “Can I go inside an
d get my purse?” she asked Will.

  “I’ll get it for you. Is it in the bedroom?”

  “No, the sofa.”

  “Are you certain you feel up to going with me?” Maggie said. “You look a little pale.”

  “I’m fine. What were you and Will discussing?”

  Maggie hesitated. When Will came out of the house carrying Andi’s purse, she said, “Andi wants to know what we were talking about.”

  That look again as resignation settled in his shoulders. He handed Andi the purse.

  “I showed Maggie the diamond you found in the horse. It and some of the words that Lacey Wilson used when she wrote to you indicate your sister may have been smuggling diamonds into the country. I’m taking the sculpture downtown to x-ray it.”

  Stephanie smuggling diamonds? Icy tendrils curled around her body, and she groped for a deck chair to steady herself.

  “No!” Andi palmed her hands out. “Steph would never do anything illegal.”

  He sighed. “I know you don’t want to think that, but I’m afraid everything indicates she was—look at the diamond we just found.”

  She shook her head, trying to clear it. “I never would have believed you’d do something like this.”

  “Andi, I’m a cop, and when I see evidence like this—”

  “If she was smuggling diamonds, why would they be hidden in the horse?”

  Will’s gaze dropped, and so did his shoulders.

  He thinks Steph was stealing them. It was as though she’d been dropped down a rabbit hole. The sculpture. What had he said about it? “What are you going to do with the horse? It’s all I have left of my sister.”

  “I’m only going to scan it. I promise I won’t damage it.”

  Her chest heaved. “I don’t care what you find. My sister did not smuggle diamonds into this country.” Disappointment lay heavy in her heart, but she pushed it aside. “I’ll prove you’re wrong. I’ll find Jillian, and she’ll set the record straight.”

  She turned to Maggie, who stood frozen, dismay written on her face. “Are you ready to go?”

  Maggie threw a look at Will, but Andi didn’t wait to see his reaction. She ran down the steps to her car. A minute later, Maggie slid into the passenger side.

  “Will is only—”

  Andi held up her hand and blinked back the tears stinging the back of her eyes. “Please, don’t defend him, and I don’t want to talk about this.”

  “Okay,” Maggie said slowly. “We’ll stay off the subject of Will Kincade unless you bring it up.”

  “That’s so not happening.” She fastened her seat belt and turned the key. “I knew my sister. She wouldn’t do anything illegal, and when we find Jillian, she’ll confirm that.”

  “I hope so,” Maggie said as she fastened her seat belt. “Would you like me to drive? Or we can go in my Beetle.”

  “You’re joking, right? About the Beetle.” She shot a quick glance at Maggie. “You’re not.”

  “Well, you are really upset.”

  “I’m fine. And I’ll be careful.”

  Maggie settled back in the seat. “See that you are,” she said.

  28

  TREECE LAID HER HAND ON WILL’S ARM. “Andi will get over this.”

  “I don’t know. She loved her sister. And I can’t ignore evidence because of how I feel about Andi.” He wrapped the horse in bubble wrap the crime scene unit had given him. The CJC had a scanner that he could use to look inside the sculpture.

  “Give her time to process all of this.”

  He patted Treece’s hand, and his fingers brushed over the ring on her finger. “Hey, Reggie proposed?”

  She beamed at him. “And I said yes.”

  He hugged her. “I’m happy for you. He’s a good guy. And now if you’re ready, I’ll follow you to your folks’ house.”

  Twenty minutes later, Will returned Treece’s wave from her parents’ front porch. He wished a little of her happiness could rub off on him. He’d thought Andi was the one, but if she couldn’t understand that he was a cop and couldn’t look the other way when the evidence didn’t suit him, then they weren’t on the same page.

  Before he pulled away from the curb, Will dialed the number he had for Larry Ray Johnson’s estranged wife and identified himself. “I had hoped to drive to Nashville today, but the hospital informed me that your husband is still critical and in a coma. I thought I’d see if you’re willing to answer a few questions over the phone.”

  “Soon to be ex-husband. We’re getting a divorce,” she corrected. “That’s what they told me too. I don’t know why you want to talk to me. Like I told the state trooper, I don’t know anything about the accident.”

  “Did your husband ever talk about earning extra money?” he asked and heard a slight gasp over the phone.

  “How did you know? It took me three years to find out someone was sending him a hundred dollar bill every month.”

  Will braked for a slow-moving car, then waited for it to make a left turn. “Do you know who sent it?”

  “Not their real name. It was somebody he called JD. Larry Ray told me about it one night when he was drinking. Said this JD guy called him up out of the blue and offered him a hundred dollars a month to keep a watch on one of the prisoners. He was to call him if anything unusual happened.”

  “And you don’t think JD was his real name?”

  “I don’t know. Larry Ray didn’t think it was.”

  He gripped the steering wheel. “Does he have a phone number for this man?”

  She hesitated. “Look, I don’t want to get him in any trouble . . .”

  Larry Ray had gotten himself in his own trouble. “Giving me the number won’t make any difference in what happens to your husband. But if I’m right, JD caused the accident that put Larry Ray in ICU.”

  “Oh no,” she said softly. “I could tell he was afraid of this JD. I don’t have the number, but it’s on his cell phone.”

  Will thanked her and disconnected. When he pulled into the parking garage across from the CJC, he scanned his contacts for the state trooper’s number. Once he answered, Will asked if Johnson’s cell phone had been found.

  “I’m not at headquarters, but I can check and call you back.”

  The call came ten minutes later as Will stopped by his desk.

  “It wasn’t found, but it could be in the pickup. Or with Johnson at the hospital. I’m tied up with another wreck, but I can check the pickup when I finish,” he said.

  “I’m meeting a TBI agent there at one,” Will replied. “Why don’t you come then if you’re free?”

  The memory of Will standing on the deck, his face mirroring the pain in her heart as Andi had spun out of the driveway, lingered. She’d idolized Will since she was a kid, and down deep she’d been stupid enough to think they might have a future together.

  Andi straightened her shoulders. She should have known it was too good to be true. That his cousin would come first. A muscle spasmed in her back. What she needed was one of those pills.

  “I’m going to top off the gas tank,” she said and pulled into the service station at the next corner. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “No, but I’ll pump the gas while you’re inside,” Maggie said.

  Inside the station, Andi paid for the gas and a drink. She searched her purse for the pill bottle. If Will saw it, he’d probably removed it. Her fingers closed around the bottle, and relief surged through her. She flipped the cap off and shook out the last two pills.

  She hesitated, flashing back to the red light last night.

  What’s your pain level? That’s what Treece would say.

  Come on, my back hurts, and I feel lousy. She uncapped the water bottle, not believing she was standing in the middle of a convenience store arguing with someone who wasn’t even there. Already her skin was crawling, and flu-like symptoms had hit her body. With clarity she hadn’t had in a while, she knew it wasn’t pain demanding the pills—she was going into withdrawal. I
f she was going to find Jillian, she needed a Lortab.

  Andi stared at the two pills in her hand. Was she going absolutely crazy?

  “Can I help you, miss?”

  The clerk startled her.

  “What?”

  “I asked if I could help you.”

  “Thank you, I’m fine.” But she wasn’t. She stared at the pills again, and the desire to take one overwhelmed her.

  But, what if she gave it an hour? She had the water. She could take them whenever. Grabbing the bottle, Andi hurried back to the car.

  “Would you like for me to drive awhile?” Maggie asked.

  “Would you?” Andi didn’t feel like concentrating on traffic, so she climbed in the passenger seat and put the name of the town from the address her mother had texted into her GPS. “Doskie is two hours from Memphis,” she said as the phone instructed them to take the next ramp on I-40.

  “How old do you think the address is?”

  “Mom says it’s the latest one she had.” Andi caught her breath. “Dad. I better call and see how he is.”

  “What do you mean? Is he sick?”

  “He went to the ER last night. He had a blockage and they put in a stent.” She explained what had happened as she dialed. When her mom answered, Andi asked, “How’s Dad?”

  “Test shows he has a slight electrical problem. They want to keep him here until Monday when his cardiologist will be back.”

  Her mom’s voice was tight, and Andi gripped the phone. “Is he going to be all right?”

  “They say he will be, but he may need a pacemaker.”

  She’d heard of those. Putting one in wasn’t usually dangerous. “Well, keep me informed. I’m on my way to see Jillian.”

  “Be careful, honey, and tell her hello for me.”

  “Sure, Mom,” she said and disconnected.

  “I always liked your folks,” Maggie said.

  “Me too,” she replied, and they both laughed.

  “How is your dad?”

  Andi sobered. “The doctor says he needs a pacemaker.” God has this. “Do you think God controls everything that happens to us?” she asked.

  Maggie frowned. “I don’t think of him as controlling everything. More like he allows things in our lives.”