by M. Z. Kelly
“Of course he’s an actor, this is Hollywood. And what do you mean he’s my kind of guy?”
“He’s a nerd.”
I sipped my Croc again, set the glass down. “I’m not dating some weirdo who wears suspenders and lives with his mother, if that’s what you have in mind.”
She looked at Mo. “You were right. Kate is psychic.”
Mo laughed. “We met him on the set of Hollywood Girlz.” She was referring to the cable show she and Natalie occasionally appeared in. “He was in the crowd scene when baby sis caused a riot ‘cause she was a nudist.”
My brows went up. “So you’re baring it all for the cause?”
“Nah, I just showed a little skin. Anyway, this guy’s name is Freddy and he’s real nice.”
“I’m sure, but, just for the record, I have no interest in dating an actor, especially a nerd named Freddy.”
“She probably thinks he’s like Freddy Krueger,” Mo said to Natalie. “We shoulda just called him Fred, like my uncle.”
I finally succumbed to the eye roll. “If he’s anything like your uncle, just shoot me now.”
Natalie went on for a minute, giving me the particulars of Freddy’s assets, including rumors she’d heard that he was hung like a porn star.
“Let’s change the subject,” I said, after giving into a second eye roll. “What’s the latest on Jimmy?”
“Still missin’,” Mo said. “Myrna’s runnin’ the business full time now, but she’s put two of her investigators on finding him.”
“Has Leo heard anything?” Natalie asked.
I felt guilty about not following up with him. “I don’t think so, but I’ll ask him again first thing in the morning.”
Mo downed the last of her drink, then mentioned my brother. “Baby sis and me made the rounds of a couple of homeless shelters in our spare time today. We think Daniel spent some time at a place near Union Station.”
“Someone saw him there?”
Natalie nodded. “The guy that serves dinner every night recognized that picture I have of him when he was in that play. He said he comes and goes. I gave him a card and asked him to give me a ring if he shows up again.”
“I appreciate you looking for him. I’m still hoping to go by and try talking to his adoptive mother this weekend.” I took another sip of my drink and was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol when my phone rang. I saw the call was from Olivia.
“The coroner’s office and SID got a positive match on the drugs found in the trailer to those in Brad Novak’s body,” she said. “Leo talked to the DA, and they said we’re good to go. Lieutenant Byrd wants us to arrest Judy Welch tonight.”
THIRTY-NINE
An hour later, Bernie and I met Olivia, Leo, and Richard on the street a block from Judy Welch’s home in Brentwood, about fifteen minutes from Hollywood. A heavy fog had rolled in, shrouding Welch’s house from our view.
“From what we know, Welch lives alone,” Leo said. “Given her personality, I expect a lot of drama, so let’s be alert.”
We made our way up the street. When Welch’s house came into view, I saw that it was a two-story, with an overgrown yard. It didn’t appear there were any lights on inside the residence.
“It doesn’t look like anybody’s home,” I said.
Richard gave us his theory. “Maybe she knew it was only a matter of time until we came for her, and she’s hiding out.”
Leo regarded him and took a breath. “Let’s try the bell before we jump to any conclusions.”
It took several tries before we finally heard Welch’s voice calling out to us from behind the door. “Who the fuck is it?”
Leo glanced at me, his silver brows shooting up. He then said, “It’s Detective Kingsley. I need to speak with you.”
“Go away,” we heard Welch say. “We can talk tomorrow.”
“Sorry, but this is important. Please open the door.”
It took a couple minutes before the door was finally cracked open, and we saw Welch peering out at us. “What is it?”
Leo pushed the door open wider, as Welch stumbled back and cursed at him. She was wearing a robe as he turned her around and said, “You’re under arrest for the murder of Brad Novak.”
A litany of more obscenities followed as Welch became hysterical. She fell to the ground and started flailing her arms and legs. I held Bernie back as Olivia and Richard went over and got her back on her feet.
“You need to calm down,” I said, trying to make eye contact with her, as Bernie continued to growl.
She continued to thrash around, but started calling out for someone inside the house. “Mario! I need your help! NOW!”
We saw a figure coming down the stairway, dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts. “What the fuck’s going on here?” the famous movie director demanded.
It was apparent that Welch and Ford were having an affair, and we’d interrupted their coupling. I was still coming to terms with that fact and how it might affect our case as Leo told the director what was happening. “Ms. Welch is under arrest for the murder of Brad Novak.”
“No fucking way,” Ford said. He took a step closer and threw a round house punch, barely missing Leo.
What followed could be best described as a scrum. We all took Ford to the ground and cuffed him. Even Bernie got in on the action, ripping the director’s pants before I could restrain him.
After we’d called for backup and got a couple patrol cars to transport our prisoners, Olivia said what we were all thinking. “Brad Novak’s manager goes down for his murder, and, at the same time, the world’s most famous director tries to assault us. I can’t wait to see how all this plays on the eleven o’clock news.”
My phone rang, as Richard said something about assholes. I saw the call was from Joe Dawson. I thought about not answering it, but knew it might be important.
“How are things in La La Land, Buttercup?” Joe asked.
I’d stepped away from the others as I took the call. “Just the usual: spent the night arresting someone for the murder of Brad Novak, and getting assaulted by the director, Mario Ford.”
He laughed. “Throw the assholes in jail, lose the key, and get on a plane with Olivia.”
“What’s going on?”
“The Angel is back in action.”
FORTY
“How do you think Mario Ford’s arrest will play into everything?” Olivia asked, as we flew toward Quantico.
It was after midnight by the time we’d gotten to the airport and boarded the FBI’s jet. Joe hadn’t given me any details about the Angel, other than saying something big was breaking.
“It raises the possibility that both Welch and Ford were in on the murder,” I said.
“And the motive?”
“I know this is probably going to sound like Richard, but maybe Ford was in love with Welch, he was jealous of her past relationship with Novak, and they conspired to kill him.”
She chuckled. “You’re right, I think it’s a big stretch. Maybe by the time we get home, Leo and Richard will have figured everything out.”
“I hope so.”
Olivia studied me for a moment. “Did Joe say anything else when he called?”
I smiled. “If you’re asking if he said anything personal, the answer is no.”
“I wonder how things are going between him and Eva.”
“She’s an attractive, intelligent woman, so they’re probably...” I exhaled. “I’m sure they’re getting along fine.”
Olivia didn’t look at me. “Maybe.”
“What aren’t you saying?”
She looked back at me. “You and I both know that Joe is pretty set in his ways. It might not be too long before there’s trouble in paradise.”
I nodded. “That’s exactly why I had reservations about getting involved with him in the first place.”
Our conversation drifted off, and we managed to get a couple hours sleep before our plane landed. We got to the FBI headquarters just after eight in the morning. W
e grabbed a quick bite to eat in the cafeteria, then ran into Joe as we walked toward the conference room.
“How was the flight?” Joe asked.
“Long,” I said. “I hope we catch the Angel, so it was worthwhile.”
“What’s the latest?” Olivia asked.
We stopped at the conference room door, where I saw John Greer, Eva, and the other members of our taskforce had gathered, as Joe answered. “He has another girl. Greer will lay it out.”
After we took seats around the table, and Greer thanked everyone for reconvening on short notice, he told us the latest. “As you know, Special Agent Emma Collins originally headed up this taskforce. Her duties ended when the Angel, aka Alexander Parker, left a photograph of her daughter, Lauren, at the crime scene in the suburbs of Richmond. We have reason to believe the Angel took her daughter around noon yesterday.”
“How is that possible?” Hayden Kinnear asked. “It was my understanding they were placed in witness protection.”
“They were.”
“Meaning we’ve got a mole somewhere in the woodpile,” Joe said. He looked at Eva, who was sitting next to him. “Looks like you were right.”
“What do we know about her abduction?” Eva asked, not looking at Joe.
“Agent Collins and her daughter were living under assumed names in Virginia Beach, about three hours south of here. The location was chosen partly so that Collins would still have access to these facilities to debrief us and to close out some special operations she’d been involved in. Lauren had just enrolled in Regent University, where she was abducted from a parking lot after registering for classes.”
“Why wasn’t she under surveillance by the agency?” Hayden asked.
“She was, but her assigned agent had a heart attack. He was conscious and called in what was happening. His description of the man who took her matches Alexander Parker.”
“He could be anywhere by now,” Joe said. “What’s our plan of attack?”
“We got lucky,” Greer said. “The CCTV cameras in the university’s parking lot captured these images of the abduction.”
The monitor at the far end of the room sprang to life as Greer worked the remote. The images showed Lauren Collins walking to her car when Parker approached her. Collins pushed away from him, dropping her paperwork. There was a brief struggle before Parker held a rag to her face. She quickly lost consciousness and was placed in his car.
“As you can see, the cameras captured his license plate,” Greer said. “But we think he altered the plate, since the numbers don’t come back to anything registered with the DMV.”
The images on the monitor changed, and we saw a toll booth with the same car as Greer went on. “The only good news is the car was seen on the Chesapeake Expressway a half hour later. The bad news is, we know they’re somewhere south of Virginia Beach, but that leaves a whole lot of territory to cover.”
Greer clicked his remote, and a map of the area surrounding Virginia Beach appeared. “We’ve alerted local law enforcement in the surrounding areas, but, so far, we have nothing back.”
“What are we doing about the leak in the agency?” Joe asked. “Somebody, either with this taskforce or assigned to witness protection, has been compromised by Parker or his mother.”
“We’re reviewing the background of everyone who has knowledge of our case. So far, we haven’t identified the source.”
“Was there any sign of Parker’s mother during the abduction?” Eva asked, moving the conversation in a different direction. I had the impression the attractive profiler was laser focused on our case.
“Nothing. What’s on your mind?”
“What do we know about Anne Parker’s background, other than the school she operated in Connecticut and what you told us previously?” she asked Kinnear.
“Not much,” he said, thumbing through some paperwork in front of him. “We’ve already discussed her background and the fact that she attended Northwestern University. After Alexander was born, she appears to have fallen off the radar for a number of years before opening her school.”
“She must have worked somewhere,” Joe said, apparently remembering that Kinnear had previously said she had no work history.
“There’s nothing in the state employment records. It’s possible she was on public assistance, but there’s nothing in the system from that time period.”
“Do we know anything more about her relationship with Alexander’s father?” Eva asked, tucking a strand of her brown hair behind one ear.
Kinnear shook his head. “As we’ve already discussed, he’s unknown.”
Eva looked at Greer. “I think it’s worth trying to find out who he is. It might be that Anne still has some contact with him, and he can give us some insight as to where they might be headed.”
“I think it’s a long shot,” Greer said, “but it’s not like we have a lot of other options.” An agent came into the room, as he told Eva, “Why don’t you form a working group to see what we can find out.”
Greer listened as the agent whispered something to him. He then said, “Are you sure?” The man nodded before leaving the room.
“We have another development,” Greer said, after the agent was gone. “Emma Collins slipped away from our people assigned to protect her. We think she’s trying to find Alexander Parker and her daughter.”
FORTY-ONE
The breeze blew Anne Parker’s long gray hair into streamers. Clouds moved overhead, promising rain, the filtered sunlight dappling the rugged seashore into muted hues of blue and gray.
“The girl is secure,” Alexander said after joining her on the beach. He smiled. “She’s probably praying for divine intervention right about now. Little does she know what the Angel has in store for her.”
“Perfect.” Anne smiled at her son. “She must not be allowed to steal our power. Her death will send another message.”
Alexander studied his mother as she turned away, looking out to sea again. “How did you find her?”
His mother took a long time before answering. “Let’s just say that I know someone who knows someone. That’s all you need to know, for now.”
Above them, the clouds scattered, the light growing brighter. Anne’s eyes lifted, taking in the heavenly spectacle. “The light is spectacular today. It is a sign.”
“The Prophecy?”
Anne looked back at her adoring son. “Of course. Once you are finished with the girl, He will be coming. It’s a matter of time.”
“I won’t fail you, Mother. I promise I will defend The Realm.”
Anne took his hand. “I have no doubt about that.” She smiled. “Let’s go see our girl. While you get ready, I’ll explain to her what’s going to happen.”
FORTY-TWO
“If it was my kid, I would do the same thing,” Joe said to Greer, referencing Emma Collins’s attempt to find her daughter.
“We’ll be alerting local law enforcement about what’s happening,” Greer said. He exhaled, probably still trying to process the latest development. “In the meantime, let’s break into working groups. Pore through everything we know about our subjects, and...” He looked at Eva. “...see what we can find out about Alexander Parker’s father.”
I was surprised when Eva asked Olivia and me to join her working group, along with Joe and Hayden Kinnear. As we left the conference room, Joe asked me if he could speak to me for a moment. When we were alone, he said, “You okay with everything?”
I held on his pale eyes. “Of course. Things are good.”
“I just want to make sure there’s no hard feelings about me and Eva.”
“You deserve to have a life. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“But you...your feelings...”
I cut him off. “My feelings are no longer an issue.” I took a breath and lied. “I’m seeing someone.”
“Really?”
For some reason, my recent conversation with Natalie and Mo popped into my head. “He’s...he’s an
actor.” I smiled. “Go figure. Only in Hollywood.”
“An actor,” he growled. “Just make sure he treats you right.”
“Thanks for your concern, big brother.”
A few minutes later, our working group took seats in a small conference room, where Joe expressed his frustration with Eva’s plan. “Parker could be anywhere by now, torturing the girl. I don’t see how finding the baby daddy is going to help us.”
Eva’s brown eyes fixed on him. “If you have a better idea, let’s hear it.”
Joe shook his head, breaking eye contact with her.
Eva’s gaze moved around the table. “Let’s go over what we know about Anne Parker’s life when she was in college.”
Kinnear had his ever-present stack of paperwork in front of him. “As I mentioned before, she majored in psychology at Northwestern. I did find something that shows she worked part-time at the college bookstore for a couple of months. Her grades were unremarkable, she barely passed some classes, but she did manage to graduate.”
“We know that she became pregnant sometime after graduating,” Eva said. “Maybe she was involved with Alexander’s father while in school and their relationship affected her grades.”
“What about activities or clubs she belonged to in school?” Olivia asked.
“There’s nothing noteworthy in what we pulled together.” Kinnear shuffled through his paperwork again. “There is something about...yes, it looks like she was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority for a couple of semesters.”
“Let’s do some research on the sorority, see if we can find someone who knew her at the time. Maybe they’ll have some information about her relationships.”
We spent the next couple hours calling the university and researching the sorority. The school eventually provided us with a roster of the Alpha Phi sorority members when Anne Parker attended the school.
After some Internet research, I located Colleen Winters, who was a member of the sorority at the same time as Anne Parker. When I got her on the line, I put the call on speaker so that everyone could listen.