She was feeling wide awake and in control. It was time to put an end to this mess once and for all.
Sykes rolled his eyes but made no move to stop her as she locked the front door behind her and followed him to his car. He opened the passenger door and shook his head as she got in and settled herself into the seat.
“Thank you,” she said smiling demurely up at him.
"Humph," he grunted and got in on the other side.
CHAPTER FORTY THREE
When they pulled up to Ally's twenty minutes later it was clear to Jess that her sister was home and awake. No one, not even Ally could have slept through the music blaring from the house.
"You see, she's up," Jess said, unable to keep the "I told you so" out of her voice.
Sykes looked around as they walked up to the front door."It can't be a party, not enough cars around."
He had to ring the bell several times before Ally finally came to the door and flung it open. "What?" she asked irritably, looking from one to the other. She was wearing a sports bra and a pair of sleek black stretch pants and was dabbing at the sweat on her neck with a terry cloth towel.
"Sorry to disturb you ma’am" Sykes said politely. Too politely, Jess thought. "But I have a few questions for you."
Ally made no move to invite either of them in. She looked at Jess then back at Sykes and smirked. "What'd you do? Get yourself a new partner?"
"Mind if we come in?" Sykes asked.
In reply, Ally sighed, then turned and walked into the living room, leaving the door open for them to follow.
She plopped down onto the couch without offering either of them a seat.
"So what is it? It's a little late for questions isn’t it?"
"I'm just trying to clear something up here" Sykes said, consulting his notes. "On the night of the tenth, you and your sister both claim to have been in Mexico. Mrs. Parks has given me her version of that night. Is there anything you can tell me...anything that happened to you, that she might not know about?"
Ally reached into the marble box on the coffee table and extracted a cigarette. She sighed and with slow deliberation, put it to her mouth and lit it. Jess knew she was purposely doing it to prolong the torture and felt a surge of rage toward her sister.
"Hmmn…well let me see. There was the rude waiter at the cafe...and there was that man staring at me as I sat in the café. But I believe I told her about all those things."
Jess glared at her sister who was so obviously lying. Couldn't the detective see it? She glanced over at him but his face betrayed no hint of what he was thinking.
"What about after you crossed the border?" Sykes asked her. "After you went through customs?"
Ally crossed one toned thigh over the other and sighed, deep in thought.
"Hmmn...well there was this policeman who brought me my I.D. But I definitely told Jessica about that."
Sykes nodded and made note on his pad. "Did this policeman do anything unusual? Out of the ordinary?"
Jess held her breath. Here it was. The make or break question.
Ally appeared deep in thought.
"Unusual? No,not that I remember. Nothing at all unusual happened that I can think of.”
Jess fought the urge to scream in triumph as Sykes made a final note in his notepad. He had to believe her now, didn’t he? Finally, the weight she'd been feeling since her father's death would be lifted from her shoulders--and placed squarely on Ally's, where it belonged.
Sykes flipped his notepad shut. “Well thank you for your time, Miss Banks,” he said. And as he and Jess walked back to the front door Jess didn’t even try to suppress her smile of triumph.
But just as the detective’s hand reached for the doorknob, Ally appeared behind them.
“Oh, Detective,” she said, in a low sultry voice. “I know this might not be what you were asking about…but that cop who stopped me? I forgot to to tell you…but he asked me out on a date.”
Jess stared at Ally in shock.
"Of course I wouldn’t really call that unusual though,” Ally said with a sly smile. "It happens all the time, actually."
Jess looked from her sister to the detective, then back again.
"Now lemme think," Ally stretched her limbs with slow, catlike grace. "Yes...this cop...he stopped me. Then gave me his phone number and told me he'd show me around Mexico. Any time I wanted."
Jess listened in horror as Ally recounted the one incident that she had never told her about. She couldn’t believe it. How could Ally know about it?
Jess looked helplessly over at Sykes who remained impassive while writing in his notepad.
"It’s funny to be talking about him, actually" Ally continued, "Because in fact, I just got off the phone with him. With Bob. That’s his name. Bob Smalley." She shrugged innocently. "I decided to take him up on his offer and we're going out this weekend." She smiled seductively at Sykes. "There’s just something about policemen I find very appealing."
Was Sykes smiling back at her? Jess was horrified.
"Well thank you for your time Miss Banks."
"Any time, Detective," she said. An inviting smile played at the corner of her lips. "Feel free to come by any time you have more questions. I'm up late"
Jess couldn’t control her anger. "I don’t know how you knew that," she screamed. "None of that happened to you! You weren’t even in Mexico! I was."
"Don’t be silly, Jess," Ally said with a cold smile. "Of course I was.”
CHAPTER FORTY FOUR
"I don’t know how she knew that!" Jess said once they were outside. "Ally must've....somehow..." She shook her head, unable to continue. She had no clue how Ally knew.
Jess looked up and noticed Sykes watching her, though he said nothing. He opened the car door, his eyes back to their usual, opaque expression.
She had to find some way to convince him that her sister was lying. "Maybe he called her,” Jess said. “Maybe Smalley wrote down the number off of Ally's license... and he called her...and they got to talking and that's how she knew the whole story…" Jess looked at Sykes, her eyes pleading, but he said nothing. "It’s possible right? It could have happened that way.”
"I’ll look into it in the morning,” Sykes said as he started up the engine. “It's late."
"It just had to have happened that way,” Jess frowned, staring out the window. "How else could she have known?"
Sykes didn’t say a word the entire drive home. It almost seemed to Jess that he was angry. All trace of his earlier friendliness had disappeared and he refused to look at or talk to her--as though he was disappointed in her in some way.
When he pulled into her driveway, he didn’t turn off the engine, but instead let it idle.
"So…" Jess began, trying to think of some way to convince him of her innocence.
"Goodnight" he said abruptly. Jess sat for a moment, trying to think of some way to reach him. Then she nodded silently and got out of the car.
Walking up to her house she was grateful that at least he'd waited until she got safely inside the house before he drove away.
CHAPTER FORTY FIVE
It was late the next afternoon when Sykes called.
"There’s news," he began, not bothering with any of the usual pleasantries. "Turns out it was your sister that called Smalley, not the other way around."
Jess sank into the living room chair. "But that’s impossible…"
"Yeah, well, that’s the way it happened."
She tried to keep calm. "Well...but maybe she got to him. She has a way of manipulating men. Maybe he's lying for her."
Sykes didn't respond.
"There must be a way to prove it was me there, not her."
"Yeah well if you think of it, let me know."
At that moment she knew for sure he thought she was guilty. "You really don't believe me," she said despondently.
"One of you is lying, and let’s face it, you’re the one with the motive."
"But…do you really think I c
ould have killed my father?"
He exhaled loudly. "You don’t look like the type. But one thing I've learned in this job is, you never can tell about people. If I were you, I’d think about getting a lawyer,” he said, then up.
Jess felt the nausea rise in her chest. Smalley had been her last hope and try as she might, she couldn’t remember any other incident, any other detail that would prove that she had been in Mexico that day. She'd told Ally about everything else. Everything but Smalley.
However Ally did it, one thing was certain, Jess needed to call a lawyer. She'd resisted doing it earlier, even though Maddy had been urging her to. Since she had nothing to hide, she thought that hiring a lawyer would only have made her look guilty--as though she needed defending. And to be honest, involving a lawyer would only make it all seem the more real. Now, however, it was as real as it could get.
She found the name of the lawyer Maddy had recommended written on a piece of paper near the phone, and dialed the number. His secretary informed her that Victor Lopez would be out of the office all that day so she made an appointment for the following day.
Jess slogged through her appointments in the afternoon, going through the motions, though her mind wasn’t really there. It was as though she were moving under water and her body was weighted down with an anchor.
Ironically, though she could barely concentrate during her house showings that day, two clients were ready to put bids in on two separate houses.
But even that failed to lift her spirits. She attempted to call Danny during a free moment in the afternoon, but no one answered at Lars’ house.
Maddy invited her out to a dinner to cheer her up, but Jess begged off, telling her that since Danny was coming home in a few days, she wanted to finish getting her cleaning done. Though in truth, she could imagine doing nothing more strenuous then lying on the couch and staring up at the ceiling.
By the time she got home it was almost dark and she had nothing in the house to eat. But then again, she wasn’t hungry anyway. She got out of her car and walked up the driveway, then froze, thinking she heard a noise. The neighbor’s cat came around the corner and Jess laughed in relief.
“Hey, Petunia,” she said, bending down to pet the orange and white tabby before hurrying toward the house. She decided that she would definitely have to follow Sykes’s advice and get more light in her dark yard.
As she got the key into the front door, she sensed a flurry of movement behind her. Before she could turn around, a hand covered her mouth, and another hand grabbed her roughly around the chest.
"Don’t say anything," a low voice growled.
"Don’t..," she said, struggling to free herself, trying to kick out at her assailant.
He shoved her inside, then kicked the door closed behind him.
"Damn it!" he hissed, holding her even more tightly while shoving her further into the darkened house. "Calm down. I don't want to hurt you."
She continued to struggle, almost losing her balance. His tight hold on her was the only thing keeping her upright.
"I'm going to move my hand away," he said into her ear. "If you promise you won’t scream."
Jess nodded frantically.
He hesitated a moment as though unsure whether to trust her. Then he slowly removed his hand from her mouth.
Jess gasped for air, fighting the natural urge to scream. His tight grasp around her waist was a reminder that any attempt to escape was useless.
"What do you want?" she whispered, terrified.. She resisted the urge to turn around to see his face.
"I'm going to let go of you, but don’t try to run."
She nodded and he released his grip on her.
She slowly turned to face him, her eyes straining to see in the dim light. She could just make out the contours of his face, his long hair pushed behind his ears.
"Zach?" she gasped, backing away.
"Jess,” he said with a smile. “Glad to see you haven’t forgotten me." He walked over to the end table and flipped on a light. "I'm sorry to scare you that way, but I have to talk to you and you got me pretty good with that mace earlier.”
"That was you? What...what do you want?"
She wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or more afraid now that she knew it was him. The last time she saw him was when she and Ally had gone to get the blackmail video from his safe and his last words to her then, were, "I'm gonna get you bitch.”
Seeing him now, though, he didn’t appear threatening.
“Look,” he said. “I need to talk to you, and I know you don’t want anything to do with me. But there’s some things I need to tell you. Things you should know. About your father. About his murder.”
“What? What do you know about his murder?”
"You got a beer?" he said, walking into the living room and settling down onto the couch. "I'm really thirsty."
Jess nodded and hurried into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and took out a beer thinking, for a moment that she should call the police. She glanced over at the phone, but for some reason, she didn’t know why, she didn't think Zach was there to hurt her. Besides, she really wanted to know what he had to say.
Ten minutes later they were seated across from each other in the living room, Zach's half-finished beer in his hand.
Jess sat, shaking her head in disbelief. “So…You mean Ally was the one that sent you to seduce me in Texas? Not Lars?”
Zach traced the lip of the bottle with his finger and shrugged. "Yeah. She set up the whole thing. She cancelled your reservations, told me just how to play it...just what you liked in a man.”
Jess cringed at the thought but forced herself to remain focused on the more important issue. "But why? Why would she do that?"
"So that I could blackmail you. So that you'd have to go to her for help.”
Jess shook her head trying to take the whole thing in.
"Look, she knew you wouldn’t be able to pay the blackmail money, and that you'd do anything to save your kid. Even asking your old man. Even asking her. She planned that accidental meeting with your friend that day. She had told me she just wanted to make up with you and the only way to do it was to get you to come to her. She wanted you to need her so that she’d be able to help you."
Jess frowned. "So she had you seduce me, then blackmail me?”
"Yeah. I know it’s extreme, but she said you were really angry at her and she knew she had to do something dramatic to get you to trust her again."
"And you believed her?"
"Well you know your sister. She's pretty persuasive. Besides, I needed the cash.” He took another gulp of beer. “Anyway, it didn’t sound like a bad gig." He smiled at Jess who remained stone-faced. "As an out of work actor, you take what you can get,” he shrugged.
"Even blackmail," she said with disgust.
Zach looked embarrassed.
Or then again… maybe he was just acting again. Jess had to admit he was pretty good. Here he was sitting across from her and she had no idea who he really was. He had neither the suave charm of the gentleman she’d met in Texas, nor the sleazy, rough, insolence of the man who'd blackmailed her in the park. He appeared now to be just what he was claiming to be, a struggling out of work young actor.
"Well," she said sarcastically, "judging by your past performances you ought to go very far."
“Thanks,” he said, taking a sip of his beer, choosing to ignore her sarcasm. "So that's why she set the whole blackmail thing up. She said she wanted to be able to do something for you, and this was the only way. No one would get hurt.”
"So Lars never hired you…" she shook her head and frowned, disgusted at herself for being so easily manipulated.
"Nah, he didn’t have a thing to do with it. It was all Ally. I've never even met your husband."
Jess stared off, stunned. The whole thing had been set by Ally. From the very start.
No wonder Lars had appeared so confused whenever she brought up his "plan."
"Why are
you telling me this?" she asked, still suspicious.
“Money, he said, sitting back in his chair. “ I mean, don’t get me wrong—Ally’s been paying me. But…I don’t know. I feel like something’s going on.”
He leaned forward, agitated. “ I thought I was in on every aspect of the plan, but then the other morning, when Ally thought I was in the shower, I heard her whispering to someone on the phone.” He looked at Jess. “I think there’s someone else involved in all this. I don’t know who. But I think she’s going to try to cut me out once she doesn’t need me anymore.”
“Sounds like Ally,” Jess nodded.
Zach shrugged. "I figure I got more chance of coming out of this alive and with money in my pocket, if I help you out.”
Jess stared at him in silence.
“Why should I believe you?” she finally said. “Maybe this is just another con."
"Yeah...” Zach shrugged, taking another sip of his beer. "I thought you might think that. But all I can give you is my word."
Jess couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
"Look, I thought about telling you the truth a couple of times, but Ally would’ve killed me if she found out I was talking to you. She can be one mean bitch when you don’t do what she says. But I guess you know that."
Jess nodded absently. Then she looked at him, horrified. “Did you...are you the one that...killed my father?”
He drained the last of his beer, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "No. No way. I didn’t even know about the murder till after she did it. Though I guess that was the point of everything, ultimately. She wanted you to owe her a favor so that you’d have to drive to Mexico for her. Giving her an alibi...”
“While she was busy killing my father,” Jess said, finishing his sentence for him.
"Yeah, exactly. It was pretty smart of her, putting those cameras in the hats and...
"Wait. Cameras?" Jess's stared at him dumbstruck. “You mean…there never were any drugs in the hats?"
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