It shamed him that he’d ever thought her to be a pampered society princess. She worked at a job where she saw the worst that one man could do to another and still she retained a well of compassion and an unshakable belief in the Lord.
She polished off the doughnut, grabbed another one. “Let’s get me to work. I can’t wait to nail Brooks to the wall for this.”
Sal whistled. “What a woman. Dani, sweetheart, will you marry me?”
She laughed and hugged his arm.
At Jake’s glare over her head, Sal grinned unrepentantly.
Jake accompanied them to Sal’s truck, gave Dani a hand up, then, impulsively, pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Stay safe,” he whispered.
“I’ll be fine.” She gestured toward Sal. “He scares off anyone who even looks at me cross-eyed.”
Sal gave a mock ferocious growl. “I aim to please, ma’am.”
Jake shut the door behind Dani. “Keep her safe,” he said to Sal over the hood of the truck.
“Nobody’s going to hurt your lady as long as I’m on the job.”
Jake pondered his friend’s words. Dani wasn’t his lady, but he cared about her more than he’d ever cared about another woman. Many a time he’d trusted Sal with his own life. Now he was entrusting him with something far more precious.
* * *
Dani was on fire. She had enough ammunition to put away Brooks until he was grizzled and gray. Her first order of business, though, was to call Stephanie.
Quickly, she filled in Stephanie on the latest with her soon-to-be ex-husband. “I can’t believe he’d do that to you,” Stephanie said. “He must be crazy.”
“We think someone put him up to it,” Dani explained. “But I’m guessing it didn’t take much convincing for him to come after me.”
“I’m just glad you weren’t there when he trashed your apartment. If you had...” Stephanie’s voice trembled “...he would have hurt you. Just like he did me.”
Dani’s heart went out to the other woman. At the same time, though, she knew she’d never have submitted to Brooks’s brutality without a fight, and now, with the training Shelley and Jake had been giving her, she felt confident she could defend herself.
But she said none of that to Stephanie. As much as Dani tried, she could never fully put herself into the other woman’s place. Stephanie had been humiliated and terrorized for so long by her husband that no one could blame her for failing to fight back.
“I just wanted to let you know that you won’t have to worry about him. He’s never going to be able to hurt you again.”
Soft sobs came over the phone. “Th...thank you. You can’t know what this means to me. I can finally have a life.”
“You did the hard work,” Dani reminded her. “You found the courage to testify against him. All I did was offer a little encouragement.”
“You did a lot more than that.” Stephanie’s voice took on strength. “I’m going back to school. I always did pretty well in my classes—that is, until I met Jerry and he convinced me that I didn’t need to have a career. I’m going to get my RN. That’s what I always wanted, to be a nurse.”
“That’s wonderful,” Dani said sincerely. “You’ll make a great nurse.”
“I hope so. It’ll be a chance to help others.”
When Dani hung up, she gave a silent prayer of thanks that Stephanie had been given this second chance. I know this came through You, Lord. You’re in charge. You are always in charge.
She looked up to find Sal watching her. She didn’t explain why she was praying, nor did he ask her why, but the look he gave her was one of understanding and approval. She felt warmed all the way through.
“I got a message from Detective Monroe. He’s had Brooks picked up and invited me to sit in on the interrogation.”
Sal got to his feet. “Let’s go. I can’t wait to get a gander at this lowlife.”
Trust Sal to not mince words.
Within fifteen minutes, they were seated in an interrogation room of the Atlanta P.D. Brooks, accompanied by his lawyer, was handcuffed and shackled to the floor by chains.
She felt a moment’s pity for the man who had everything and then had chosen to throw it away. Then she recalled the battered picture Stephanie Brooks had made when she was brought into the hospital after the last beating. The woman deserved justice; more, she deserved a chance at life, a real life, not one controlled by a sadistic husband.
Dani took a seat by Detective Monroe. Sal chose to stand by the door, his large frame and commanding presence overwhelming in the close room.
Monroe spoke into the microphone, listing the names of those present, the date, the time.
Brooks glared at her, shifted in his chair. “You’ve got no reason to bring me in here this way. No reason at all.”
His lawyer placed a restraining hand on Brooks’s arm.
“Oh, I think we have plenty of reason,” Monroe said and tapped a sheaf of papers on the small, scarred table. “We have records of funds transferred from your account to an officer in the Atlanta P.D. We have a written deposition from said officer saying how you paid him to look the other way about your monitor records.”
“You can’t trust anything a dirty cop like Washington says. He’d sell out his own mother if the price was right.”
“That’s funny.” Monroe turned to Dani. “Deputy District Attorney Barclay, did you hear me say that the cop’s name was Washington?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“I wonder, then, how Mr. Brooks here knew the name of the cop.”
She scratched her head in mock perplexity. “I don’t know. Unless he was the one who paid off Officer Washington.”
Monroe shifted his gaze back to Brooks. “You’re right about one thing. You can’t trust a dirty cop. You should have thought about that before you teamed up with Washington.”
Dani spoke. “You can do yourself some good, Mr. Brooks, if you tell us who put you up to this.”
“I’ve got nothing to say to you.” He nodded in Monroe’s direction. “Or to him.”
“We think someone gave you the security code to Ms. Barclay’s apartment,” Monroe said as though Brooks hadn’t said anything. “Tell us how that person communicated with you.”
“What makes you think I didn’t do this on my own? And, mind you, I’m not saying I had anything to do with it.” Brooks glared at his lawyer, who tried to interrupt.
“It’s a theory we’re working with,” Dani said, her gaze never leaving his. “You like to break things, like your wife’s bones, so that fits, but you also like to be there. You like to see your victim. I wasn’t there that night, so you couldn’t see what reaction I had, if any.”
“You’re so smart, Ms. D.D.A.,” Brooks said with ill-concealed venom. “Maybe you’d better think about this. Someone out there hates you. Someone even smarter than me.”
“Doesn’t take too much intelligence to be smarter than an abuser like you,” Sal put in.
The lawyer tossed an angry look Sal’s way. “Who’s he and what’s he doing here?”
“He has departmental permission to be here,” Monroe said.
Brooks started to laugh. “I get it. He’s one of her bodyguards. Someone’s got you really scared, don’t they, to make you hire two goons to watch your back?”
Dani darted a quick look at Sal, but he appeared unconcerned by Brooks’s insult. He only folded his thick arms across his chest and managed to look more intimidating than ever.
“I’ve got nothing more to say to you,” Brooks said. “I’d stand, but, as you see, I’m sort of tied up at the moment.”
No one laughed at his lame joke.
Dani stood. “You’re going away for a long time. For Stephanie’s sake, as well as society’s, I couldn’t be happier.”
“You’ll get yours,” Brooks said. “And I’ll be there cheering.”
A chill brushed over her, and she did her best to ignore it. No one was going to get to her, not with Jake and Sal guarding her.
“Don’t pay him no nevermind,” Sal said as they walked back to his truck. “He’s a lowlife.”
“One of the nastiest,” Dani agreed. “If you could see the pictures of his wife after the last beating he gave her...” She shook her head, the memory of those horrific pictures tightening her lips. “I’ve seen some pretty terrible stuff on this job, but those gave me nightmares.” Then she thought of what Sal must have witnessed in the war. “I’m sorry. You must have your own share of nightmare-causing pictures.”
“That I do. But if I’m ever able to look at a picture of a woman beaten half to death by her husband and not feel something, I’ll know that I’ve lost my humanity.”
She liked Sal for many reasons, not the least of which was his ability to roll with the punches and to have fun while doing it, but his compassion for a woman he’d never even met constricted her throat. At the same time, tears burned the backs of her eyelids. Jake and Sal were alike in so many ways, but it was Jake who set her heart to racing.
In the truck, Dani angled to face him. “I’m pretty lucky to have you on my side.”
“You’ve got Jake. Now you’ve got me.” His grin lightened the atmosphere. “You’re right—you’re pretty lucky.”
Dani had cause to think on Sal’s words over the next few days. Brooks was arraigned for the vandalism and threats made against a D.D.A.
The judge, Harold Mastoff, known as Hang ’Em Harry, refused to grant bail. Over the protests of his lawyer, Brooks was remanded to custody.
Dani did a little happy dance in her head. To the reporters, she maintained a dignified decorum, saying only that she was gratified to “see justice done.”
“Does the vandalism of your apartment mean you will ease up on the other charges against Jerry Brooks?” one reporter asked.
Dani stopped her descent of the courthouse stairs and turned to face Taryn Starks, a reporter determined to make a name for herself, often at the expense of the truth. Starks was the worst kind of journalist, sensationalizing stories, badgering victims. Because of Jerry Brooks’s seat on the city council, the reporter had hounded Stephanie Brooks until she had been reduced to tears.
“Absolutely not. Stephanie Brooks deserves her day in court. And she’ll get it. The charges of spousal abuse will take precedence over any other charges, and our office will bring the full force of its authority to see that she receives justice. Mr. Brooks’s ill-advised vandalism and threats against me will be dealt with in a separate action.”
“What are your feelings about the defendant in this case?” Starks persisted.
“What are your feelings about a man who beats his wife until she can’t stand and has to be taken to the hospital on a stretcher?” She turned the reporter’s words back on her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. I suggest you do the same rather than taking up both our time on questions that are irrelevant at best and verging on malicious.”
Jake and Sal had stood a discreet distance away while Dani was being questioned by the reporters. Now they joined her.
“You were great,” Jake said.
Dani hunched a shoulder, embarrassed at the praise. “Thanks to you and Detective Monroe, I had all the evidence I needed to have Brooks bound over for trial. All I did was present it.”
Jake wrapped an arm around her. “You dealt with Brooks and you handled that reporter.” His hard tone made it clear just what he thought of Taryn Starks.
Dani couldn’t repress a grimace at the woman’s name. Starks had been hounding her ever since the reporter’s arrival in Atlanta three years ago. For some reason, she had zeroed in on Dani, determined to make her appear both foolish and ineffective. As far as Dani knew, she’d never offended the woman. Until today.
“She’s jealous of you,” Sal said, speaking for the first time. “You have it all. Looks. Intelligence. Competence. She’s a second-rater, and she knows it.”
A thoughtful expression crossed Jake’s face.
“You don’t think she’s connected with the stalking, do you?” Dani asked.
“We can’t afford to rule out anyone. Least of all a woman who’s clearly out to make you look bad. Sal’s right. Starks is jealous. Jealousy can be a powerful motive.”
With that, Dani’s ebullient mood vanished. When the stalking had started, she couldn’t imagine who hated her to such an extent. Now, it seemed, she had too many people who wished her ill.
Sal helped her into the front seat of Jake’s Jeep. “Where to now?”
“The office,” Dani said. “I’ve got cases to prepare.”
“I’ll drop you two off.” Jake headed the Jeep to the city building.
With Sal, Dani returned to her office. She had the beginning of a tension headache. She ignored it and wished she could as easily ignore the pain that so many people in her life appeared to have reason to wish her ill.
She understood why Brooks and Newton disliked or even hated her, but she was still struggling to wrap her mind around the fact that her coworkers and even a reporter she barely knew seemed to take glee in her difficulties. What had she done to them?
Lately, she scarcely recognized herself. She looked at everyone differently, with a suspicion born of fear. That wasn’t who she wanted to be. The stalker had taken so much from her already. He had terrorized her with his gruesome gifts, driven her from her home, vandalized her belongings. Now he was taking away her trust in others, as well.
What more could he take?
The answer came swiftly: her life.
* * *
Jake had work of his own to do, work that he didn’t want to involve Dani in. Leaving her, even with Sal, was one of the hardest things he’d ever done, but he felt time slipping through his fingers. Tension edged along his skin as a sense of urgency grew stronger.
Instinct told him that the stalker had an endgame in mind, a game that Dani wouldn’t survive, and each day that passed without answers was another day she was in danger. There was nothing more important than keeping her safe.
Nothing he’d ever experienced compared with his feelings for her. If he lost her... He didn’t go there. He wouldn’t lose her. He had to be fast enough, strong enough, clever enough to stop the madman who had Dani in his sights.
Jake started with a search of unidentified female bodies from four years ago. He knew the police had done a similar search, but they hadn’t believed that Madeline Barclay had met with foul play and had little reason to do a follow-up. The consensus at the time of her disappearance was that she had taken off for reasons of her own.
The game had changed, at least as far as Jake was concerned. A call to Shelley was the first order of business.
Briefly, he explained the circumstances of the disappearance.
“You think this has something to do with what’s happening to Dani now?” Shelley asked, clearly skeptical.
“I think it has everything to do with it.”
“What’s the connection?”
“I don’t know, but it seems too much of a coincidence that the mother disappears, then, a few years later, the daughter is stalked and receives a dead fish on the anniversary of her mother’s disappearance.”
Jake had never liked coincidences. In the complex scheme of life, they occurred, of course, but he always felt compelled to look at where the threads crossed, whether it was truly random, or if a larger design were at work, a pattern that could be detected only when you followed those individual threads back to the source.
“Use your computer magic and see what you can find about any unidentified women around fifty years of age four years ago.”
“Okay, big b
rother. I know enough to trust your hunches.”
Jake did some digging of his own. A visit to the county coroner proved unfruitful.
“Of course we keep records,” an assistant said somewhat testily. “But you’re asking me to go back four years.” He gestured around him. “A lot of bodies have come and gone in that period.”
“Just do your best. I’ll get back to you.”
Two days later, Shelley called. “There’s no record of a body of a woman of Madeline Barclay’s description. Anywhere.” She paused. “What’s this about, Jake?”
“You’ll know when I do.”
The county coroner’s office reported the same thing.
Jake wasn’t surprised by the negative results. He’d suspected that, but he’d had to make sure. He had his own idea of what had happened to Dani’s mother.
“I’m heading to Belle Terre,” he told Dani early that afternoon. “I need to talk with your father about your mother’s disappearance.” He didn’t tell Dani what he believed had happened to Madeline Barclay. Not yet.
Believing her mother had just taken off was one thing; learning that she was dead was another one entirely. He wouldn’t put Dani through that until he had concrete proof that her mother was dead.
She stood. “I’ll go with you.”
Jake held up a hand. “I think your father might be willing to talk more freely if you weren’t there.”
“Maybe you’re right.” She didn’t sound happy about it, but she took her seat.
“I promise to tell you if I find out anything.” He bent as though to brush a kiss across her brow, then stopped himself.
“I’ll be here.”
The trip to the Barclay home could be measured in more than mere distance. Every mile emphasized the differences between Dani’s upbringing and his own. Dani had grown up with riding lessons and cotillions, trips to Europe and designer clothes. His childhood was forged in the harsh realities of the projects, where every day was a test of survival, where he’d fought to steer clear of gangbangers and drug pushers, hustlers and thieves.
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