by Joanna Wayne
“I hope you have a change of clothes,” she said, as she locked the car.
“Sure. Santas and Boy Scouts always come prepared. You should know that. I have a well stocked duffel in my car.”
“And where would that be, at City Park?”
“Parked in the tow-away zone in front of your house.”
“How do you get away with that? If I park there for five minutes, I get a ticket.”
“It’s all in knowing the right people.”
“I think I should call Bobby Chambers,” she said, as they walked across the courtyard to her back door.
Jack took her elbow. “Business at this time of night?”
“I’m not sure. He came by the house just as we were leaving tonight. He said he had something important to talk to me about. When I couldn’t stay, he looked upset.”
Jack nodded his head, his mind chasing through a pack of new possibilities. That’s why he and Casanova hadn’t found Bobby at the office, at home, or at his favorite table at the casino.
Jack tugged Susan to a stop while the kids ran on ahead. “Invite him over, but before he gets here, I need to fill you in on a few new details about him.”
“Look, Auntie Mom. Someone brought us flowers.” Rebecca stopped in front of a large pot of poinsettias that hadn’t been at their back door when they’d left.
“Don’t touch it,” Jack ordered.
“Why?” Rebecca looked at him quizzically. “It’s just flowers. They can’t hurt you.”
Susan moved between Rebecca and the plant. “They might not be ours. We have to see if there’s a card.”
Jack knew Susan suspected the same thing he did. He stooped, parting the blossoms and searching between the stems and leaves for a note. Nothing. He lifted the plant and walked his fingers across the bottom of the clay pot. Perfectly clean.
“Looks like a gift from a neighbor,” he said.
Susan’s sigh of relief was audible. “It’s probably from Lucy. She’s so thoughtful. Now let’s get inside. I know two children who are up way past their bedtimes.”
Susan unlocked the door and the four of them tramped in. Poinsettias in the courtyard, a decorated tree in the apartment, and laughter in the air. It must be Christmas, but it was like no Christmas she’d ever known.
Even with all she’d been through the last few days, happiness warmed her insides like a cozy fire. Surely, Jack had been right. Gabriel had been behind the notes and the murders. He was a sick man, but he was getting help. And her party crasher had obviously gone on to other parties.
And as for J. J. Darby, he didn’t stand a chance. Detective Jack Carter was on his trail, and he always got his man. And, this time, if he wanted her, he’d also gotten a woman.
“I’ll put the kids to bed and then you can tell me the latest about Bobby,” Susan said, shrugging out of her coat.
“Auntie Mom, look, someone left me a present.” Rebecca ran into the kitchen, a small square package in her hand. The wrapping paper was identical to the paper used on the gift that had been left on her porch two nights ago.
“Where did you get that?”
“It was on my bed”
Terror rose inside Susan, mingling with a deeper anger than she’d ever known. Some rotten coward had broken into her home while she was gone, walked into Rebecca’s room and left his disgusting handiwork. No doubt another note.
“If this is the party crasher, Jack, I want you to catch him and let me crash him with my bare hands.” The words were low, spoken threw clenched teeth.
“What party?”
“No party, Rebecca. It’s time for bed.”
“But I want to open my present.”
“It’s not a present, sweetie. It’s a joke. A very bad joke.”
Susan threw the package at Jack and went to help Timmy get into his pajamas. The note could wait until she’d read bedtime stories and gotten her hugs. Then maybe she’d be calm enough to face it without screaming.
Chapter Thirteen
Once the children were in bed, Susan had no more excuses for avoiding the dreadful note. She walked into the kitchen. Jack was already on the phone, barking orders, the unwrapped package gripped tightly in his hand. She put out her hand for it, but he waved her away.
She dropped to a kitchen chair and waited. “So what does this note say?” she asked, when he hung up the phone.
“It was more than a note. This time a gift was included.”
The tone of Jack’s voice and the strained lines in his face told her the stakes had just changed.
“What kind of gift?”
Jack took the lid off the box and pulled out a bright yellow scarf. The silk fabric waved in the air, exuding the familiar, nauseating scent, and every muscle in Susan’s body tightened.
“Why would someone do this?”
“I’m not sure what’s going on here, Susan, but we have to tighten security again”
“I already have a guard inside my home and one at the office. I don’t know how much tighter we can get unless I sleep with one.”
“We’re going to reinstate a stakeout team to watch your apartment at all times. I want to know everyone who comes near here. The person who delivered this package tonight likely has a key. I’ve already checked the windows and doors for break-in. There isn’t a sign.”
Fingers of fear clutched at her lungs. “You don’t think this is a hoax anymore, do you, Jack?”
“Read the note, Susan. Then we’ll talk.”
Hesitantly, she picked up the sheet of paper.
Dr. McKnight,
The game is nearly over. I promised you that before. Christmas you would be begging me for mercy. You must realize by now that I plan to keep my word. Before that time, you may want to thank your friends. They have all been extremely helpful to me. I hope you made peace with your father, Susan. You’ll see him soon.
J. J. Darby
“Darby.” Dread settled like lead in her stomach.
“It looks that way. I don’t take anything for granted in this case. Someone who knows we went to the Center to check out Darby could have typed his name to throw us off base.”
“You don’t believe that. I can see it in your eyes.” She dropped the note to the table. “At least you don’t have to look for him anymore, Jack. Just wait here. He’ll come to me. Before Christmas.”
“Not a chance.” He pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms about her. “We’ll assign every available officer to comb the French Quarter night and day. If Darby is behind this, he has to be somewhere in this area.”
“You could look for months and not find him. We have three days at the most”
“That’s why we’re covering all the bases. This afternoon, I questioned Maggie Henderson’s best friend and also one of the women she was close to at work.”
“What did you expect to get from them?”
“To see if they’ve ever seen her with a man who resembles Darby.”
“Had they?”
“They gave me a couple of long shots. Thorough background checks are being run on both of them as we speak. Someone else questioned Gabriel, but he’s either not talking or is still too out of it to know anything. Believe me, Susan, we aren’t a bunch of impotent puppets, waiting for this lunatic to pull our strings.”
Susan pulled away from Jack. “Top priority, all the resources of the NOPD at work, and one unstable man is still winning.”
“He may be ahead. He’s not winning.”
Susan walked to the sink and started loading the dinner dishes into the dishwasher. She had to do something with her hands to keep from pounding them into the wall. “Why, me, Jack? After seven years, why me?”
“Who knows what’s festered in a mind like that. And it doesn’t really matter now. What matters is that we find him. And we will.” He started to pace. “There’s one other thing I need to tell you, Susan.”
“More good news?”
“You may not think so. I have a man staked out near Bobby Ch
ambers’ apartment. I want him picked up for questioning the second he shows up.”
“What could Bobby possibly have to do with Darby?”
“We said the same thing about Gabriel, but it looks like we were wrong. Besides, the note says to thank your friends for helping him. My guess is Darby’s gotten to somebody besides Gabriel. It could well be Chambers.”
“I still don’t see how Bobby fits into this. I hired him through a reputable agency. He didn’t come to me. I went looking for him.”
“Does he have a key to your apartment?”
“No.”
“Not that you know of. But how difficult would it have been for him to slip your keys from your pocket or handbag and have one made? He could have had the original back in place before you missed it.”
Susan raked her hair back with shaky fingers. “I just don’t get it, Jack. This doesn’t compute.”
“I’m examining all possibilities. You told me a few nights ago that you thought someone had been in your apartment one day while you were out. You had noticed that sweet smelling aftershave that nauseates you.”
“Yes, but not just a whiff or a faint scent like the one left on the notes and on the scarves. The apartment reeked of it. Even Rebecca and Timmy noticed it. We decided one of the neighbors was cooking something really foul for dinner.”
“But you’ve never noticed the smell on Chambers?”
“No, not once. I don’t believe Bobby’s involved in this.”
“Don’t count him out. There’s more.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
She listened as Jack told her about the phone call from Gregory Taylor saying Bobby had offered to sell him information about his wife’s infidelities. The news hurt deep inside. She’d trusted Bobby, almost as much as she trusted Lucy.
Jack walked over and stood behind her. He wrapped his hands around her waist and rocked her against him. He hated to leave her tonight, but he had no choice. He had to be out working on the case or go crazy himself. Somewhere in the city of New Orleans, there had to be answers.
He buried his face in Susan’s silky hair and then moved his lips to her ear. “The first night I met you, I called you the dragon lady,” he whispered.
“You called me what?”
“The dragon lady. You know, armor-plated, breathing fire.”
She twisted in his arms so that she could look into his eyes. “And now you’ve changed your mind about me?”
“No way.” He kissed the end of her nose. “Now I know you’re a dragon lady.”
“The night we met.” Susan held tightly to Jack. “It seems like a lifetime ago.”
“No, we still have lots of living to do. I’m not nearly ready to climb off the roller coaster, not after last night. But it’s late. Why don’t you get ready for bed? I’ll call Hammonds back in to take over for me.”
She pulled away from him. “You can’t go back to work tonight, Jack. You had so little sleep last night.”
“You did keep me busy.” He smiled and kissed her again, this time on the mouth. He pulled away reluctantly. “But I have a few things I want to check on. You go ahead and get some rest. I’ll be here until Hammonds comes.”
“No, while we’re waiting, we should be working together on this. I hold to my original idea. Why look for Darby? He wants me. He’ll come after me, so we set a trap.”
“He’s too unpredictable. Traps are too unpredictable. The best bet is always to catch the bad guys off guard and make an arrest. Not that I don’t intend to have you protected every second. I do.”
“Then let’s get back to the friends concept.”
Jack stared at her in amazement. In the last few minutes she’d received a note saying she’d be killed in the next three days, signed by a man she knew was capable of cold-blooded murder. Now she was standing here planning out strategies as if she’d been given a puzzle to solve.
A dragon lady. No doubt about it.
They worked until Hammonds arrived. While Susan got ready for bed, Jack went over the newest note with his fellow officer. He discussed in detail the special procedures he wanted her to follow. No one except Lucy Carmichael was to enter the house without his approval. If anything unusual occurred, or if Bobby Chambers showed up, he was to be notified at once.
Hammonds assured him everything was under control. She’d already been in contact with the police unit assigned to that area. They would respond to a call from her immediately. And the stakeout team Jack had requested for the outside of the house would be in place by midnight. If Darby, or anyone else up to no good, showed his face, he was as good as caught
Jack went to the bedroom to tell Susan good-night. She had changed into a silky pink nightshirt and let down her hair. She patted the spot next to where she was propped against a bank of pillows. He took the seat, knowing he shouldn’t. It would make it that much harder to leave.
She ran a finger down his arm. “Call me if anything changes.”
“I’ll keep you posted. And don’t worry. Everything’s under control. Detective Santa’s in charge.” He leaned over and kissed her, stopping only because he had to. “I have to get out of here while I still can.”
She gave him a playful shove. He started out, but her voice stopped him before he reached the door.
“Jack.”
He looked back. “Yeah?”
She shook her head as if she’d changed her mind about what she wanted to say. “Just be careful,” she whispered “I want you back.”
Thursday, December 23
4:00 a.m.
BOBBY CHAMBERS SAT in the bar in the heart of the Irish Channel. He was drunk, and he was in big trouble. “One more beer,” he said, when the bartender came by.
“You’ve had enough, buddy. Let me call you a cab.”
“No, I got nowhere to go. My girlfriend dumped me, and my buddy got me in trouble so deep, I’d have to have a ladder to see daylight.”
“A sad story. All the same, it’s 4:00 a.m., closing time, and you’re in no shape to drive home.”
“Even my boss threw me out. I tried to talk to her, but she didn’t have time to listen. She should have. Dr. Susan. Have you ever heard of her?”
“Can’t say that I have. I stay away from doctors.”
“I should have, too. At least I should have stayed away from her records. Now I know everything about, everybody. Do you want to know who Gregory Taylor’s wife sleeps with?”
“Well, I bet it’s not you. You don’t know Gregory Taylor or his wife. Now go home and sleep it off.”
“I do so know him.”
“Yeah, and I’m best friends with the mayor. He comes over to my house in the Channel every night and we shoot the breeze about the city’s problems.”
“I know Gabriel Hornsby, too.”
“The crazy doctor who strangled his wife? I guess you were his accomplice.” The bartender broke into laughter and gave his bar one last swipe with the wet cloth.
“You don’t think I know Gabriel Hornsby? I’ll prove it to you.” Bobby dug into his pocket and pulled out his billfold. He took the five-thousand-dollar check Gabriel had given him and spread it out on the bar, rubbing it with his fingers to remove the creases. His fingers kept sliding off the check. The paper was as slick as his barstool.
“Pick up your check, fellow. You already paid me, and you’ve had your last drink for tonight. Besides, I don’t take anything but cash and plastic.”
“Just come look at this check. It’ll prove I know Gabriel Hornsby.”
“Yeah, right. I called you a cab, and it’ll be here any minute. Go on outside and wait on it. I’m locking up.”
Bobby was leaving, but not in the cab. He still had one last piece of business to take care of.
He picked up his check and tried to put it back in his pocket. He missed, and the check drifted to the floor.
The bartender leaned over and picked it up for him. “Where’d you get this?”
“From the man you claim I do
n’t know. He’s my business partner, at least he was. Our deal is concluded.”
“Yeah, well, let me hold it for you while you wait for the cab.”
“I don’t need a cab.” Bobby tried to say more, but his mouth felt like a wad of cotton was stuck under his tongue, and he was getting very sleepy. He looked up to see the bartender walking away with his check.
“Hey, come back here with that. I earned every penny of it.” The bartender paid him no mind. He was on the phone. Bobby put his head down on the bar. He didn’t need a cab. He had to go see Dr. McKnight.
He closed his eyes. He needed to clear his head. But there was so much noise, blaring sirens loud enough to blow your head off. He raised his head to see two policemen barreling through the door and heading straight for him.
8:00 a.m.
JACK TOOK THE LAST bite of the greasy sausage biscuit he’d picked up on the way to the station. He’d only gotten a few hours’ sleep last night, but he wasn’t tired. He never was when a case was hot, and this one was scorching.
Bobby Chambers was in custody. Passed out from a late night of drinking, but he was there all the same. As soon as he became lucid, he had a lot of talking to do.
Casanova rushed into the room and dropped a new stack of computer printouts on top of Jack’s other clutter. “You are going to love this.”
“You found Darby?”
“It’s not quite that good. Take a look at it.” He leaned over and touched his finger to an item that had been circled in red. “Hornsby wrote not one but three checks to Bobby Chambers in the last four weeks. The first two were for a grand each. The third one, the one we have, was written two days before he killed his wife.”
Casanova dropped to the chair on the other side of Jack’s desk and cocked it back, propping his feet on top of the Chief’s latest memo. “Looks like you’ll be busy today.”
“Yeah, and I think I’ll start with Bobby Chambers. He owes me lots of explanations.”
“Do you need some help? We can do the good cop, bad cop routine. I’ll be the bad guy.”
“Of course. Me, I’m just the jovial Santa type.”
“The plot definitely thickens,” Casanova said. “I don’t get it, though.” He dropped his feet back to the floor. “If Gabriel was paying Chambers for information about Sherry, what’s the deal with the notes? And who killed Maggie Henderson? And how in the devil would Darby fit into all of this?”