“Besides,” she said, “I still say I had a right to enter since my client gave me a key.”
Her comment prompted another guffaw from D.J., but Merlene didn’t mind. After all, wasn’t laughter the best medicine?
“Anyway,” she said, “we didn’t find a thing interesting.”
“I’m not surprised. Mrs. Johnson planned this caper carefully.”
“Man, I hate how well she played me.”
“Don’t take it too hard, Merl. It happens to the best of us. Oh, you should know Vanessa Cooper wants to interview me.”
An image of Vanessa Cooper grilling her down-to-earth boss made Merlene shake her head. Now, that was some must-see TV. “How much did she offer?”
“Enough to cover my meds for a good long while.”
The more she thought about it, the more Merlene liked the idea. D.J. would know exactly how much to tell the media vulture and not compromise Cody’s case. “Are you going for the deal?”
“I don’t see why not,” D.J. said. “She’s pissed that you refused her offer and loves the idea that I’m your boss.”
“She thinks she’s gone over my head to the top.”
“Bingo. She’s still trying to worm the surveillance out of me. I’ll string her along for a bit, then something new will break and she’ll move on. Oh, and I know you’ve been worried about the investigators from Tallahassee, but that’s all been squared away. Seems Detective Warren set them straight and we’re off the hook.”
Merlene closed her eyes and issued a silent thanks to Cody. “That’s great, D.J.”
“Let me know when you hear about Nurse Cole,” D.J. said.
“Will do.”
After they disconnected, Merl relaxed into her sofa cushions and thought about her career as a private investigator. Former career. D.J. was right. It was time she started school full time and earned her teaching degree.
With that thought in mind, she reached for her textbook on the end table beside the sofa. She was too far behind on her reading for class.
Before she finished a page, the phone rang again. She snatched up the receiver.
“Good morning, Merl.”
Cody. Finally. She smiled, noting how the sound of his voice released the tension she’d been holding in her shoulders. “Any news?”
“Pat Johnson has been booked and is awaiting arraignment,” Cody informed her. “Man, did she ever protest that we had some nerve to arrest her.”
“I’ll bet,” Merlene murmured, imagining Pat’s arrogant treatment of police who dared to thwart her wishes. Had they cuffed her? She hoped so. The witch. My, how the mighty had fallen.
“So what did Linda say when you questioned her?”
“Linda wasn’t home. We’ve got an APB out on her and we’re watching the apartment.”
“Watching Linda Cole’s apartment? Gee, that sounds familiar.” Merlene settled back in her chair, remembering her visit from Cody while she conducted surveillance on Nurse Cole.
“Yeah, I suppose it does,” he said with a soft laugh.
“Any chance Pat will confess?” Merlene asked.
“Nah. She lawyered up quick after learning what we had. Her attorney will cut a deal when he sees the evidence, but she’ll do serious time.”
“What about her kids?”
“They’re still with the grandparents.”
“Thank goodness there’s family to take them in.”
“Are you thinking about what happened to you after your parents died?” he asked softly.
“I guess,” she murmured. Funny, but his intimate knowledge of her no longer seemed so scary. What did it matter? Cody knew all her secrets now. Her problems with the police were useless baggage from the past. She closed her eyes, wondering if she dared to hope for a future that included him.
“Merl—are you there?”
“Sorry,” she said, realizing she’d drifted into fantasyland, as much of a dream as Opryland had once been. “What’d you say?”
“Will you be home later?”
Her pulse quickened. Cody sounded uncharacteristically nervous. Why?
“Sure, Detective,” she said after a brief pause. “I’ll be home all day catching up on my reading for class.”
She watched the time for the next two hours, finding it impossible to concentrate on her class work, wondering about Cody. What time would he arrive? What would his attitude be when he got here? What would hers be?
What should it be?
She heard car tires crunch the gravel in her driveway around noon and replaced her textbook on the end table. Certain this couldn’t be Cody but hoping it was anyway, she went to the window to peek out. A white BMW sat beside her old Toyota.
Linda Cole’s vehicle.
Merlene dropped the curtain and slammed her back against the wall. Her heart pounded inside her chest. Why would Linda come here?
Well, it didn’t matter why. She needed to inform Cody immediately. She stared across the room at the phone by the couch. Would he want her to try to detain Linda until the police arrived? Or should she keep her door locked, pretend she wasn’t home?
That wouldn’t work. Her car gave her away. What else—
A polite knock on the front door startled her from her wild thoughts. Merlene closed her eyes but didn’t give away her position. Damn. What should she do?
No, of course she’d be nuts to invite a possible murderess into her home. Better to keep Linda on the other side of a locked door. But if the woman had murdered her boyfriend, why remain in Miami? Did she even know the cops were looking for her?
And again, more importantly, why the hell come here?
Another knock, a short wait, and then footsteps retreated from the porch. Merlene darted for the phone, praying Cody could dispatch a cruiser quick enough to nab their fugitive. She entered his number, but the line went dead before she punched in the last digit.
She dropped the receiver, her mind racing. Where was her cell phone? In her purse. Where was her purse? On the dining room table.
She was racing in that direction when a loud crack at the back door froze her into place. What the—
The door burst open and hurried footsteps echoed on tile. Merlene looked around for a place to hide and took a step, but Linda Cole emerged from the kitchen wearing a nasty smile. As though in slow motion, she raised her right arm and aimed a handgun at Merlene’s chest.
Unable to take her eyes off the gun’s barrel, Merlene stepped back. Linda followed deeper into the living room.
“What do you want?” Merlene asked, her voice tight.
“Shut up. I’ll do the talking.”
Her mind whirled between confusion and terror. What the hell was going on? Were Cody’s suspicions on the money? Had Linda killed Ray Price? Why?
The nurse’s gaze danced around the room, as if she didn’t know what to do next. The gun wobbled, and she raised her left arm to support the right hand. God, did Linda plan on shooting her right here? But why? What had she ever done to Linda Cole except follow her around for a few days?
“It’s your fault, you know.” Linda’s voice sounded as shaky as her right arm. “He’s dead because of you.”
Merlene raised her eyes from the weapon to Linda’s pale face. “Who? Dr. Johnson? But I—”
Hysterical laughter cut her off. The wildness of the sound told Merlene she was in real trouble, that a murderess holding a gun on her was about to go postal in the middle of her living room.
“Well, come to think of it,” Linda said, “I guess you killed him, too. But I don’t give a rat’s ass about Johnson.”
“Who, then?”
“Ray,” Linda whispered. “My Ray.”
So Cody was wrong about Linda, Merlene thought, even more confused. The nurse appe
ared devastated over her boyfriend’s death. But why blame me? Does she think I killed him?
“We’d finally made our big score and had enough money to get out of this miserable city. We were...” Linda faltered, took a breath, then continued. “We were going to L.A. to get married, start a new life.”
“I’m sorry,” Merlene said, stunned to see tears gathering in Linda’s eyes. The woman had lost her grip on reality. In Merlene’s view that made her even more dangerous. No telling how she’d go off. “But it’s not my fault that—”
“Yes, it is.”
Merlene recoiled from the venom in the nurse’s voice. Could Linda know she’d identified Ray for Cody? Was that why Linda blamed her? But how could—
“If you hadn’t filmed them that night at Johnson’s, there’d be no reason for Ray to leave town without me.”
“He was going to leave?”
“I couldn’t let him go without me,” she said. “Why did he lie? Why—why, after all we’d been through?”
Merlene tried to follow the nurse’s twisted logic, to stay focused. She fought the panic crowding the edges of her thoughts, pushed hard against terror threatening to balloon out of control and drag her into chaos. She squeezed her hands into fists, digging her fingernails deep into the flesh on her palms. Her mind flashed to Johnson’s body in his foyer, mirrors magnifying the spreading blood.
If she gave in to her fear, she’d be dead, too.
Okay. She needed to calm Linda, pacify her. But how the hell did anyone reason with a woman holding a gun? Merl searched for a way of talking her into putting down the weapon. What possible reason could she offer the nurse? What possible hope?
“He was having an affair with Pat Johnson, wasn’t he?” Linda demanded.
“Ray and Pat?” Merlene echoed. “No.” Could this really be happening? She’d been hired to get proof of Linda’s affair with Dr. Johnson, but now Linda was accusing the doctor’s wife of sleeping with her boyfriend?
Linda nodded as if she hadn’t heard Merlene response. “Dick Johnson knew his wife was cheating on him. After his murder, I thought about it and realized it was Ray. She killed her husband and was going to...to run away with my Ray. My Ray.” Linda’s voice broke on the name. She fought for a breath and continued. “I’d waited too long. I had to stop him. I couldn’t let him do that to me.”
“Of course not,” Merlene soothed, silently urging Linda to keep talking. She needed to buy time. Soon or later she’d figure out something. “You did what you had to do.”
But Linda’s irrationality terrified her. Possibly she knew Cody was closing in, that she’d be arrested soon. Perhaps she decided she had nothing to lose. So why not make a break for it, pausing on her way out of town to get a little revenge on the meddling private eye who’d caused all the trouble in the first place?
Vengeance. Another great motive for murder.
Merlene figured she could take the nurse in a fair fight, but Linda had a loose screw and a loaded gun. Was there any way to trick her? Any way to knock the gun from her hand? Forming and dismissing one impossible plan after another, Merlene drew breath deep into her lungs, forcing herself to remain calm. Terrified people forget to breathe and, short on oxygen, make bad decisions. She needed to keep her head clear.
“I’m not going to make the same mistake twice,” Linda said. “You’re going to drive my car to the Everglades so I can dump your body on my way to California.” Linda’s painted lips curled up in an unpleasant grin.
“No one will ever know what happened to you.”
* * *
ANXIOUS TO GET back out in the field, Cody waited for the printer to spit out his request for a search warrant on Linda Cole’s address. Now he had to find a judge to sign off on the search. Judge Gonzalez was usually his first choice, always a safe bet. Considering the latest developments in this case, though, any judge would sign the necessary documents.
He glanced at his watch. If he hurried and was lucky, he could have the legalities completed by one o’clock.
Jake approached his position by the printer. “What’s on Oakwood Drive in Coconut Grove? That address rings a bell.”
Cody glanced up at his partner’s question. “Merlene lives on Oakwood Drive. Why?” Now standing next to him, Jake focused on a computer printout.
“A City of Miami patrol unit spotted Linda Cole’s vehicle in the driveway after a disturbance call.”
Cody faced his partner and met his gaze. Why would Linda Cole visit Merlene? Impatient with himself, Cody shoved away suspicion, burying it forever. He loved Merl. He believed in her. He trusted her.
So what was going on?
He flipped open his cell and punched in her number. If Nurse Cole was at Merl’s, then Merl was in trouble.
“Have they made a move to apprehend Cole?” he asked Jake.
“The patrol unit has the street contained, but they’re waiting for backup to move in for the arrest.”
His call went to voice mail. Cody disconnected.
Merlene had said she’d be home all day.
“Notify SWAT,” Cody ordered on the way to the door. “We have a hostage situation.”
* * *
MERLENE SCANNED HER living room for something, anything, to use as a weapon or to distract Linda. Maybe if she bumped into the bitch and threw her off balance there’d be an opening to go for the gun.
Bad idea. Too risky. She could end up dead.
No, she should leave a clue for Cody. But what? If Linda intended to dump her in the Everglades, she should leave a hint for Cody to start searching there. Yeah? Like what? Merlene looked wildly around the room but came up empty.
Anyway, the park was, like, sixteen million acres. Where would he even start?
With an APB already out on Nurse Cole, the best thing to do was stall for time. Cody would eventually come looking for her. She knew that, trusted that belief in her heart. So far he’d always been there when she needed him.
But still...the more time she gave him, the better. Again...how? How to slow down Linda?
“Move,” Linda said, motioning with the gun.
“Don’t you want to think about this?”
“What’s to think about?”
“A lot.” Merlene decided to just throw the truth out there. Maybe the facts wouldn’t save her life, but at least she’d have the satisfaction of telling this stupidly jealous woman about the mistake she’d made.
“Ray wasn’t having an affair with Pat Johnson.”
Linda stiffened. “You can’t know that.”
“But I do. Pat has a different lover. I have photos to prove it.”
“Photos?” Linda lowered the gun an inch.
“Photographs of Pat and another man. Not Ray.”
“You’re lying,” Linda said, raising her weapon again.
“I’m not. I swear. Don’t you see,” Merlene continued in a voice she prayed sounded cool and convincing. “The police suspected I’d killed Doc Johnson. I had to watch Pat Johnson to prove my own innocence.”
Linda didn’t respond.
“The proof is on my desk,” Merlene said. “I can show you. Ray was true to you. He didn’t cheat on you.” Yeah, like I really know that.
Linda’s face softened. My God. Merlene thought, She looks relieved, almost happy. This idiot is about to smile, but she hasn’t put all the pieces together yet. She hasn’t realized she killed the man she loves for no reason.
“Then—then where was he going?” The gun wavered. “I saw his packed bags in the bedroom.”
“He probably wanted to blow town until the heat was off. He’d have contacted you when he got settled.”
Merlene held her breath as Linda finally connected the dots. “Oh, God. God, no.” She squeezed her eyes shut, lowering her weapon. “What ha
ve I done? Why didn’t I believe him when— Ray!”
With the gun’s barrel now aimed at the floor, Merlene took a half step backward. Then another. If she could make it to the front door...
Linda’s eyes flew open. “Stop right there.”
Merlene froze as Linda raised the gun again. The nurse now gripped the handle with both hands. Her finger twitched near the trigger.
Merlene took a deep breath, hoping it wouldn’t be her last. “Don’t you want me to get the photographs?”
“No. It doesn’t matter. He’s gone, and it’s your fault.”
“But—”
“Shut up,” Linda screamed. “It’s too late. I don’t want to hear another word from you.”
“Okay,” Merlene said, raising her hands in surrender. Time to play her last card. She took one step forward and collapsed awkwardly, screaming in pain as she hit the floor.
* * *
FEAR SEARED CODY’S gut as he rushed to Merlene’s address with the siren blaring and lights flashing. He could focus on only one thing: getting to Merlene. He had to reach her fast or he’d never see her alive again. Was he already too late?
He cut the siren when he neared Merl’s neighborhood. Per radio transmission he knew the first officer had been joined by three other cars from her squad. They remained on scene but would take no action until the Special Response Team arrived. He’d requested a hostage negotiator and didn’t care he didn’t have that authority.
He’d seen a negotiator talk a murderer off the edge before. Could be the only thing to save Merl’s life.
One of the patrol officers had slashed Linda’s tires, and the Miami-Dade police chopper stood by in case Linda commandeered Merl’s vehicle. Linda would likely step outside using Merl as a shield.
Relieved to see the BMW still in Merlene’s driveway, Cody braked to a lurching stop behind the barricade of two police cars blocking the north end of Merlene’s street. Two other cars blocked the south.
“I need a report,” he barked as he leaped from the car, his badge dangling around his neck.
A dark-haired female patrol officer approached and advised him of the situation in a professional way he immediately appreciated. He nodded, relieved he had good people on scene. But where were the specialists? Anything could happen if Linda forced Merlene through the front door.
To Trust a Cop Page 26