Lieutenant Taylor Jackson Collection, Volume 1

by J. T. Ellison

  “Yeah, but you almost got forcibly made redundant, so next time….” Her hands had stopped shaking, the adrenaline coursing through her system ushered back to its home.

  Page nodded. “Okay, okay. I just wanted to see the place. I didn’t talk to the officer outside, I waved at him and he waved back. How is the investigation coming?”

  “We don’t have much to go on yet. We’re supposed to be meeting with the husband at two.”

  “Well, it’s one forty-five now, you’d best get going if you want to make it.”

  Taylor looked at her watch and cursed. “Yeah, we’d better go. We can talk after, okay? Meet me in my office at three or so. Will that work?”

  Page nodded. “I’ll see you then.”

  The three exited the house. Fitz slapped a new label on the door. He peeled off from the two women and made his way to the patrol, and Taylor knew the young man was going to get a tongue blistering. He should never have let the A.D.A. in the premises without alerting the two officers inside. It was sloppy work. While the situation never got entirely out of hand, it had been close. That was a story that would have made the national news—A.D.A. shot by lead investigator of case. Taylor shook her head at the mere thought. Besides, she liked A.D.A. Page. Would have hated like hell to kill her.

  *

  Todd Wolff was waiting for Fitz and Taylor in the lobby of the CJC, alone. This cheered Taylor to no end. No lawyer meant they’d be freer with their questions. She had to give Wolff credit, it was a good trick. Show up without a lawyer, make yourself look innocent. After some essential paperwork, they’d gotten him signed in and made comfortable in a blue interrogation room simply furnished with a table and four chairs, two on either side of the table. Sodas all around, video and audio rolling, Fitz led him through the particulars.

  “You know you have the right to legal representation, don’t you Mr. Wolff?” Fitz scratched at his ear with a pen, doing his damnedest to look disarming.

  “I didn’t think I was under arrest,” Wolff said.

  “You’re not. We’re just talking. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t say it. You know how that works. So, if we’re all good, tell me your full name, please.”

  “Theodore Amadeus Wolff. Todd for short.”

  “Your date of birth?”

  “August 4, 1979.”

  “Place of birth?”

  “Clarksville, Tennessee.”

  “Social?”

  “413-00-8897.”

  “Address?”

  “4589 Jocelyn Hollow Court, Nashville, 37205.”

  Taylor nodded at Fitz, and he leaned back in his chair, gesturing for her to go ahead.

  “Okay, Todd. Thanks for that. Let’s get started, shall we? You have everything you need?”

  “I do. Let’s get this over with. I want to get back to my daughter.”

  Taylor tapped her pen on the table. “We heard you took Hayden to your parents. Where do they live, Todd?”

  “Clarksville.”

  “Any particular reason you didn’t leave her with your in-laws? They’re a bit closer. Wouldn’t it be more convenient for you?”

  “Do I have to answer that?”

  Taylor didn’t say anything, just raised an eyebrow. After a moment, Todd reached some kind of decision. “Okay. I’m not a fan of saying anything ugly about my in-laws, but I just felt my parents might be better equipped to deal with Hayden right now. The Harrises are great, and we get along fine, but Corinne was…special to them. The favorite. Hayden is the light of their lives. They’re mourning, and I didn’t want a constant reminder of what they’d lost running around their house. You know?”

  He looked so forlorn that Taylor believed him. She eased back in the chair, adopting a more casual stance. “That was a kind thought. Tell me about your wife, Todd.”

  Wolff nodded, gathering himself. When he finally spoke, it was with a quiet strength, as if some font of internal fortitude had opened a wellspring in his heart.

  “Corinne was, well, a force of nature. We met in college, and I fell hard immediately. We went to Vanderbilt, you know? She was a cheerleader, I was warming the bench with the basketball team. She was perfect, all bubbly and sweet, this crazy smile that just shot through me. Everybody loved her. She was the president of her sorority, captain of the tennis team, a straight-A student. We were together for a week when I told her I was going to marry her. She said yes.”

  He smiled to himself, eyes gone fuzzy at the memory. “We were sitting on the deck at San Antonio Taco Company, drinking too much beer and eating tacos, and I just leaned over and said ‘I’m going to marry you, you know.’ She smiled and said, ‘Well, when you ask, I’ll say yes.’ It was perfect. She’s, she was amazing. I can’t believe I’m never going to see her smile again.”

  Taylor gave him a moment to gather himself, watched him wrestle with the memories. He was a handsome man, jet black, wavy hair, eyes so brown they looked black, a wide, firm mouth. Ropy muscles in his forearms implied strength. Taylor could imagine any one of a thousand sorority girls who would say yes to marriage material like that.

  “So tell me how you got home from Savannah so quickly yesterday.”

  His head snapped back as if she’d struck him.

  “I…I told you. I broke every speeding law on the road.”

  “And managed to cut two hours off an eight-hour drive.”

  “That’s right.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  The silence hung heavy in its accusation. Todd didn’t speak, just set his lips and shook his head. Taylor came at him again.

  “Do you have a life insurance policy on Corinne?”

  Todd sniffed a few times. She could see the internal debate, the realization that he’d been careless, should have known better than to come without an attorney.

  “Todd, I asked you a question. Did you have a life insurance policy on your wife?”

  “Yes. Of course I did. We’ve got a child. We’ve got policies on both of us in case something happens.”

  “For how much?”

  He mumbled a number.

  “Say that again? I didn’t hear you.”

  “We each have policies worth three million dollars. I think I’d like to talk to a lawyer now.”

  “Did you murder your wife, Mr. Wolff?”

  He stood suddenly, the chair scooting back with a screech. “No, damn it. But you’re going to try and pin this on me, I can see it. And I don’t intend to be made a fool of, Lieutenant. I didn’t kill my wife. Am I under arrest?”

  The room was thick with tension. Taylor stared into Wolff’s black eyes and saw the first vestiges of fear forming. It just served to pique her interest.

  “No. You’re not. Yet.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Taylor was sifting through the afternoon’s events in triplicate when her phone rang. She recognized the number as Forensic Medical, Sam’s extension. She glanced at the wall clock. Five. Too early for toxicology reports. She answered on the second ring. There was no greeting, just Sam’s overt enthusiasm spilling out of the receiver’s speaker.

  “You are a lucky woman.”

  Taylor tipped her chair back and put her feet up on her desk, crossing them at the ankle. “Why would this be?”

  “Because you are going to go home, take a shower, put on something fabulous, and join me as my date for the evening.”

  “Oh, hell no. I’ve got a shitload of work to do, and I am definitely not in the mood.”

  “You don’t even know what it is and you’re turning it down?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, Taylor, you’re a stickin-the-mud. I insist you accompany me. I’ve lost my date for the evening, he is head over heels in love with some microbe growing in a petri dish in his office. I need an escort. It’s not acceptable for a young lady such as myself to be out on the town all by her lonesome. So get your shit together, go home and get yourself in something elegant.”

  Taylor groaned. “Elegant? What, pray tell,
are you planning to drag me to?”

  “The American Cancer Society Dinner. I’m the keynote speaker.”

  “No, Sam. Absolutely not,” she said with more enthusiasm than she felt.

  “Great. I’ll pick you up at six forty-five. You should wear that red dress we got you in Barbados.”

  “There’s no place for me to carry my weapon on that dress.”

  “And that, my darling friend, is the point. I don’t think you’re going to have to shoot anyone at the Frist Center.”

  “Famous last words. I remember the last time you told me I wouldn’t need a gun, I ended up being kidnapped.”

  “Well, no one is going to do that tonight. I promise. Just some rubber chicken and a bunch of free champagne. You need a break. I bet you’ve been after the bad guys all day.”

  “Of course I have. It’s my job.” But Sam had already hung up. Taylor rolled her eyes, put the phone back in the cradle, and dropped her feet to the floor.

  Choices. Sit at her desk, filling out paperwork, listening to the B-shift detectives fart and tell bad jokes while they waited for a case to break, or get dressed up in something hideously uncomfortable and make nice all night. She really didn’t know which option would be worse.

  *

  Taylor eyed the red dress dubiously. She was already in a strapless bra, thigh-high sheer black hose and three-inch black pumps. Sam and Simon had brought the dress back from a Caribbean vacation, Sam gushing over the clingy style, declaring it would be gorgeous on her figure. Taylor had thanked her, but never tried it on. It was a postage stamp as far as she was concerned.

  Well, bottoms up. She slipped the fabric over her head, surprised at how heavy it felt, considering how little of it there was. She shimmied until the dress stopped, hitched against her hips, and she tugged at the hem. Suddenly it was on, flowing, draping, hitting her curves in all the right places. She looked into her mirror. Holy shit. Sam was right. It was pretty. Delicate spaghetti straps, deep across the bust, showing off her décolletage to perfection, an empire waist that let the clingy fabric float around her knees. She was going to have to put on this getup for Baldwin, he’d enjoy it.

  She left her hair down, and it swished full and thick against the middle of her back. She put on a touch of eye shadow and mascara, and feeling risqué, painted her mouth with a deep crimson stain, then topped it with some Carmex. Done. A stranger in red.

  A horn beeped and she snapped off the light, rushed down the stairs, grabbing her purse and a wrap as she exited the front door. The small clutch was a concession she’d been required to make. She hated carrying a bag, dragging one around was counterintuitive to her lifestyle. Normally, as long as she had pockets for her Chapstick and a belt to attach her holster she was all set.

  But there was no good place to stow a weapon in this outfit. She could have tied a blade in her garter, slipped a one-shot revolver into her cleavage, but they were too impractical. So she settled on a black satin evening clutch that was just big enough for a Taurus 941 .22 revolver with a nice, short two-inch barrel, one of the many “fun” guns she had in her safe. Her normal ankle weapon was a bit larger, a .22 Beretta that she kept inside her right cowboy boot in a custom-made leather pouch, but the Beretta was just heavy enough to be a pain to carry in this purse.

  Sam whistled at her from the open top of her BMW, a construction worker catcall.

  Taylor flipped her the bird, then yelled, “Put the damn top up. It’s way too cold out here to be buzzing around like this.” She locked the door behind her and walked to the car, a tiny bit unsteady on the unfamiliar heels.

  Sam just smiled. “Fine, grump. I figured you’d like the fresh air.” The top whirred into place and snapped closed. “You look nice.”

  “So do you.” Sam was wearing a midnight-blue Grecian styled gown, strappy gladiator sandals on her feet, her hair piled on top of her head in a messy knot, the bangs thick and stark across her forehead. As usual, she looked chic and together. Taylor pulled down the mirror as Sam put the car in gear and backed out of the drive, feeling a bit garish with the red lipstick.

  “Don’t touch it. You look fabulous.”

  Taylor put the mirror back into place and smiled at her best friend. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome. So, how’s everything?”

  They chatted during the fifteen-minute drive, catching up on non-law-enforcement issues. Sam scooted through the light traffic and when they pulled up in front of the Frist valets, Taylor felt as relaxed as she had in days.

  They dropped the car, went inside the stunning museum’s outdoor tent. The fête was underway. Black-tie-clad men and elegantly gowned women strolled, drinking champagne and nibbling hor d’ouevres served on silver trays. Sam and Taylor each accepted a flute from a waiter and toasted one another, clinking glasses softly. “Salut,” Taylor said, the word making her miss Baldwin.

  They circulated through the room, greeting people they knew, which was most of the crowd. Several of Taylor’s mother’s friends came up and complimented her on her dress, asked how Kitty Jackson was faring these days. A few deigned to ask about Win, her father.

  She answered both with equal insouciance—Kitty was fine, she’d met a Swiss banker skiing in Gstaad over the winter and had elected to stay in Europe for the remainder of the spring. Win was in a minimum-security prison in West Virginia, a guest of the federal government.

  Most people didn’t know all the facts behind the Win Jackson case. The feds had managed to keep his role in a huge money-laundering and human trafficking ring relatively quiet. Win wouldn’t be testifying against his former boss. The man known eponymously as L’Uomo was in a Brazilian jail at the moment, most likely chained to a wall. Good riddance, Taylor always thought. He was human scum.

  Taylor felt like her brittle smile was pasted on. The allure of these events had long ago lost their charm. She’d been a good soldier for a long time, attending the parties and the charity events that made up the bulk of Nashville’s social calendar at the behest of her parents. She’d even gone through a ghastly coming-out season when she was eighteen—a year of heavy drinking and petting that culminated with a curtsey at the white tie debutante ball, Sam and Simon snickering at her side.

  She supposed the companionship made it that much easier for her to rebel against her parents’ well-borne intentions for her; Sam hadn’t wanted a Junior League life either. Knowing it was just a matter of time before they’d be out on their own, in Knoxville at college, away from the prying eyes of Nashville’s glitterati, helped them get through the events.

  They both gave back to their parents’ world, but in their own ways. Taylor did her best to protect them. Sam uncovered their darkest secrets. It was a fair trade, really. As long as every so often, they paid the piper.

  This early spring evening, they did just that. And Nashville society was its always polite self, happy to see both Taylor and Sam playing along for a night, at the very least, and didn’t make too much trouble. Instead, the topic of conversation was the Corinne Wolff murder. Tongues wagged; the Harrises weren’t unknown on the circuit, though they weren’t invited to the best parties either. Corinne ran with the athletic country club set. New money, Taylor heard one Botoxed and plumped woman whisper. The ultimate sin.

  The prevailing opinion was a drug addict had broken into the home to steal money for a fix. Taylor didn’t have the heart to tell them that most junkies were at heart gentle souls who would be more likely to steal a purse than beat someone to death, but hey, let them have their fears.

  The Nashville press was in attendance; she and Sam posed for countless photos. She knew she’d be razzed at work tomorrow, but didn’t care. She had a nice chat with Amy Hendricks, a Tennessean reporter and former classmate at Father Ryan. All in all, it was a typical Nashville cocktail party, pleasantly benign, bordering on soporific.

  After a half an hour of inaneness, the chairwoman of the event, Linda Whaley, came to steal Sam, leaving Taylor cruising the room by herself. She
wasn’t alone for long. Within a few minutes, three different men had asked if they could buy her a drink. Though she was gracious and appropriately flirty, she’d started drinking the champagne with her left hand as a hint. The ring wasn’t scaring off any potential suitors. A couple wore wide gold bands themselves. Dogs.

  She glanced at her watch. The dinner should start anytime now. On cue, she heard a tinkling. The dinner bell. Tossing off the last of her champagne, she handed the glass to a passing waiter and started for the tables. Linda had told her she’d be seated at the front table with Sam. Great. Just what she wanted, to be at the center of all this attention.

  A gentleman done up in full evening kit, white tie gleaming against his black satin lapel, held the door to the dining room open for her. She nodded her thanks and entered the room. She stopped for a moment to get her bearings and a voice spoke softly in her ear, making her jump and clutch at the snap of her bag. Jesus, didn’t people know better than to sneak up on a cop?

  “Heya, Tawny.”

  She turned and took in the speaker. A heavyset man in his late forties, graying at the temples, loose jowls, buttons on his shirt strained as if it had been seen one too many times at the dry cleaner, or one too many trips to the buffet. Leering at her as if he could lap her up. She had no earthly idea who he was.

  “I’m sorry. Have we met?”

  The man glanced over his shoulder, leaned in conspiratorially. “Tawny, Tawny, Tawny. My God, I never imagined I’d see you in the flesh. Yet here you are, an angel in red. Or a succubus, I should guess. What do you say you and me split out of here, go have ourselves a little private party?”

  Taylor did her best not to laugh at the egregious pickup. “I’m sorry, I haven’t got a clue who you are.” She started to walk away and he grabbed her arm, pulling her back to him, pressing his body against hers in a much too familiar way.

  “Hey there, girlie, I’m talking to you.”

  Wrong thing to do. Taylor kept her tone measured, her voice low. “Let. Go. Of. Me. Now. Or I will break your arm.”

  He unhanded her, and she whirled away. He followed on her heels.