by Gerri Hill
Sam turned scarlet, remembering the way she and Tori had touched.
John laughed, then grabbed Sam’s arm and guided her to the car. “Come on. Let’s go look up the ME.”
Tori sipped from her Coke and studied the young man who stood across the bar from her. He absently wiped the already clean bar top with a wet rag.
“I understand you remember Jason Branson being here at the bar the night he died. He went by Lisa?”
“Yes. She preferred to be called Lisa.”
“Okay. Did she come here alone?”
“Yes.”
Tori flipped open her notes. “And she left alone?”
“Yes.”
“In between? Did she talk to anyone in particular?”
Marty stared at her for the longest time, finally leaning his elbows on the counter. “Why are you just now asking? It’s been well over a month.”
“I know. The other two detectives assigned to the case… well, it’s been transferred to me.”
“I’m not surprised. The old guy almost shit in his pants when I saw him.”
Tori frowned. “What do you mean?”
“He comes in every Saturday night. Sits down there.” He pointed. “Always drinks Jack Daniel’s straight up.”
“Adams?”
“I don’t remember what he said his name was. He goes by Carl. He was here the night Lisa died.”
Tori stared, dumbfounded. Part of her wanted to laugh hysterically, but she managed to control the impulse.
“Let me get this straight. Detective Adams, Carl, comes in every Saturday night, sits right down there, and drinks Jack Daniel’s?”
“Yep.”
“Does he… you know, dance and stuff?”
“Yeah. He likes them blond. Lisa was blond, if you get my drift.”
Tori rubbed both eyes with her thumb and forefinger, wondering where in the hell this was going. “Okay, let’s get back to the case. They came in asking about Jason. There’s not a whole lot in the report other than you knew him as Lisa.”
“I guess not. That’s about all they asked. The black cop wanted to ask more, but Carl pulled him out. I haven’t heard from them since. In fact, Carl hasn’t been in here since then, either.”
“Okay. Let’s forget about them. Let’s talk about Lisa. Was anyone harassing her, that you knew about? Any threats?”
“No. The only one harassing her was some dude she didn’t want to have anything to do with. He would come in here, watch her dance, offer to buy her drinks, but Lisa didn’t want no part of him.”
“Why not?”
“Lisa said the guy was straight and was just fucking with her. He was a little squirrelly guy. Came in every weekend for a while.”
“Can you describe him?”
“Little short guy, kinda weird looking. Dark hair.”
Tori opened up the file folder she was carrying, pulled out a picture of Richard Grayson and slid it across the bar.
“Jesus! That’s him.”
“Has he been in since?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Okay.” Tori took the picture and slipped it back inside the folder. “Marty, you’ve been a big help. If you happen to see him around, you’ll call me, right?” She handed over her card.
“Of course. Do you think he was the one?”
Tori scratched the back of her neck and nodded. “He’s wanted in a similar crime.”
“Bastard.”
“That he is.”
“Doctor Ferguson? I’m Detective Kennedy, this is Detective Sikes. We’re with Dallas PD. Homicide.”
The petite woman removed her wire-rimmed glasses and pointed to two chairs. “Sit down. I understand you have some questions about an old case.”
“Yes. Thank you for taking the time to see us on such short notice,” John said. He flashed one of his most charming smiles, noting with dismay that Dr. Ferguson had slid her eyes back to Sam, dismissing him. He shrugged. Apparently Gardner was right. He sat quietly, waiting for Sam to take the lead.
“About six months ago, a Patrick Colley was found beaten and left in a Dumpster. The police labeled it a gay bashing.”
She nodded. “Yes. Although beaten doesn’t nearly describe what happened to this young man. His face was so badly disfigured, he was hardly recognizable. He was sodomized with a wooden object, his penis and testicles were smashed and cut and he’d been stabbed twelve times. And just in case that wasn’t enough, he was decapitated for good measure.” Dr. Ferguson flicked her glance to Sikes. “So when the police labeled him as beaten, I took offense. This man was brutalized. Detective Gardner brushed it off as gay-bashing and simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. They spent maybe a week on it, and it barely made the paper.”
“I’m sorry, Doctor Ferguson,” Sam said. “We have a similar case in Dallas. We were hoping you would provide us a copy of your report. We want to have our ME take a look at it for similarities.”
“I know Jackson. We get along well. Of course I’ll provide any help that I can. Nobody deserves to die this way and have it simply dismissed in less than a week. I’ll fax over the report immediately.”
Sam stood and offered her hand, noting the firm handshake the doctor gave her. “Thank you so much for your time, Doctor Ferguson. We really appreciate it.”
“No problem, Detective. It was a pleasure meeting you.”
Her gaze moved briefly to John and she nodded in his direction. He forced a smile to his face, then quickly followed Sam from the office.
“Damn, talk about cold as ice,” he said quietly.
“You think so? I thought she was very helpful.”
John laughed. “You have no clue, do you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“She was checking you out from the moment we walked in the room, and she barely gave me a glance, that’s what I’m talking about.”
Sam stopped. “She was not checking me out. Women don’t… check me out.”
John laughed again. “God, you are so naïve. No wonder it’s taken you this long to figure out you’re gay.”
“I think I should be offended,” she said. “Shouldn’t I?”
John placed one hand on her back and gallantly opened the door for her. “No, you should not be offended. I think it’s rather sweet, how innocent you are.”
Chapter Forty-six
Tori heard the door open and looked up, seeing Sam’s reflection in the mirror. She grabbed a couple of paper towels and turned, drying her hands as a slow smile appeared on her face.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Sam said. She moved closer, stopping only when their bodies nearly brushed. “I missed you,” she said quietly.
“Yeah? No fun hanging out with Sikes?”
“John has proven to be quite fun to work with, but I want my partner back.”
“Good.” Tori’s eyes softened and she dropped them briefly to Sam’s lips. “I missed you, too.”
Sam reached out one hand, lightly grasping Tori’s arm. “Please say we can make an early night of it. I so want to be alone with you, Tori,” she whispered.
“Me, too. But I don’t know about an early night. CIU is coming aboard. We’re supposed to meet with them at three. We need to get everyone together and go over what we got.”
“Okay. We met with Dr. Ferguson today. She told us much more about the case in Fort Worth than Detective Gardner did.”
“Oh?”
“It was brutal. She’s going to fax her report to Jackson. John called and briefed him.”
“Good.” Tori hesitated, wondering if she should tell Sam about Adams. Hell, she had to tell someone. “I talked to the bartender at The Pink Lagoon. About Jason Branson, the case that Adams and Donaldson had, the transvestite.”
“How did it go?”
“He fingered Grayson. But there was something else. I’m not sure that it merits mentioning in front of the others, though. He knows Adams. He knows him as Carl,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“He said Adams comes in every Saturday night.”
“You’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
“Adams goes to a gay bar?”
“Not just any gay bar. One that caters to the transgendered crowd.”
“Carl?”
Tori shrugged. “If this is just something personal with Adams, then it’s not any of our business. But if it has anything to do with this case-”
“You’ve got to tell Malone,” Sam said. “It’s too much of a coincidence. Maybe that’s why he didn’t follow through with the investigation.”
“Yes, I’m sure of it. He didn’t want to be found out. But still, we hadn’t fingered Grayson. He would have been just a description that would have gone nowhere.”
“You still need to tell Malone.”
“Yeah, I know. But shit, Adams? He’s like Mr. Homophobe. I can’t believe it.”
“This is so weird, Tori. What if Grayson’s message was for real? What if Adams does know more?”
“Then he’s fucked.”
“Come on. Let’s get it over with. We only have thirty minutes before CIU shows up.”
The squad room was quiet. Sikes and Ramirez were both staring at their computers, John occasionally interjecting something. Donaldson was sitting alone, absently tapping a pencil on his desk.
“Where’s Adams?” Sam whispered.
Tori shrugged. “Had a doctor’s appointment this morning but I’ve not seen him all day.”
Malone stuck his head out of his office. “We need to meet, people. In the conference room. CIU will be here at three.”
“Lieutenant, can I have a word?” Tori glanced around her. “In private?”
He nodded, then stood back to allow her into his office. “Kennedy, make sure you have enough copies of the file. Travis is bringing two other detectives with him.”
“Yes, sir.”
Malone shut his door and watched Tori as she fidgeted with the silver bracelet around her wrist. He studied it, wondering when she’d gotten it. He’d not noticed it before. Then he smiled. Kennedy, no doubt.
“What’s up, Hunter? Something you don’t want to share with the team?”
“Yeah. It may have a bearing on the case, may not. It might just be delving into someone’s personal life, which I hate.”
“Spill it. We don’t have time for niceties.”
“I saw the bartender. He described Grayson, then fingered him when I showed him the picture.”
“Good. But that’s not why you’re here. Out with it, Hunter.”
“Adams goes there. Every Saturday night. They know him as Carl.”
“What the fuck?” Malone leaned forward. “Are you shitting me?”
“No, sir. Marty, that’s the bartender, said when Adams and Donaldson came in asking questions, that Adams was extremely nervous. They asked a couple of questions, then left. He said Adams was there the night Branson was killed. He indicated that Branson and Adams may have had contact.”
“Contact? What the hell do you mean?”
“He said that Adams… Carl liked blondes. Lisa was a blonde.”
“Jesus Christ,” he murmured. “You don’t think Adams whacked him, do you?”
“No. But I think they may have been involved… physically, at some point. It’s none of our business what Adams does with his free time, but in this case, he let a murder investigation go down the drain because of it.” Tori leaned forward too. “Lieutenant, what if they could have fingered Grayson then? How many lives could have been saved, not to mention two police officers?”
“Fuck, Tori. Since the bartender fingered Grayson, Travis and his crew will be going over the case with a microscope. Adams and Donaldson will get their asses busted. We’ve got to come clean with Travis. He’s got to know everything. I’m not going to let them bring down our whole team just because Adams screwed up.”
“I agree. But this is not going to be pretty.”
“Adams hasn’t shown up today. I’m going to have Donaldson call his house. Let me talk to Travis in private. It might help some. Send Donaldson in, then go brief the others.”
“Yes, sir.”
When Tori was at the door, Malone called her back.
“Tori, thanks, you did a good job. Let’s hope we can put an end to this soon.”
Tori took a seat next to Sam and across from Sikes and Ramirez, who were both reading through the report that Sam had given them. Tori flipped to the end, noting that Sam had added their notes from the Fort Worth case. Absent was any mention of the Branson case.
“Detective Travis will be here with CIU in a few minutes. They’re going to… assist us. But it’s still our show. Malone says they are making all their resources available to us, so I know you all feel better about that.”
“Yeah, right,” Sikes said with a laugh.
“I got some news today that I wanted to share with you before CIU gets here.”
“Where’s Donaldson and Adams?” Ramirez asked. “Are they still on the team?”
“Adams AWOL,” Tori said with a shrug. “The Lieutenant was having Donaldson try to get in touch with him.”
“AWOL?”
“Look, let’s just go over this quickly. When Malone gets here, we can discuss the case.” Tori cleared her throat, then looked at Sam, who offered a slight smile. “I opened up the Branson case. That was the transvestite that Adams and Donaldson had a month or so ago. I went back to the bar today and spoke with Marty Stevens, the bartender. Good news is he remembers Grayson being at the bar the same Saturday night that Branson was killed. He also said that Grayson had been harassing Branson. Branson, by the way, was transgendered and went by Lisa.” She looked at Sikes, who snorted. “I knew I could count on you for adolescent background noises, John.”
“It’s not that. I can just imagine Adams questioning this guy.”
Tori nodded. “Which brings me to the next thing. If you’ll look at the file on this case, you’ll see that they questioned only the bartender and only then, a few questions at best. Reason being, Adams was a regular at the bar.”
“What the hell? Adams at a gay bar?”
“He went by Carl.”
They all stared in silence, then John broke out into a smile. “I’ll be goddamned.”
Tori nodded, then grinned. Soon, chuckles replaced smiles and then laughter rang out.
“It’s not really funny,” Sam said. “But Jesus… Carl?”
“So, was he like…”
“I don’t know,” Tori said. “I don’t even want to think about it. It’s not any of our business other than the investigation was compromised. Which brings us back to why we’re here in the first place. Where the hell is Grayson? Where’s he hiding? We can most likely pin this murder on him. Hopefully, the one in Fort Worth, too. But still, where the hell is he, and how do we find him?”
A quick knock on the door and Malone preceded Travis and two other detectives inside.
“You all know Detective Travis. This is Morris and Fields.”
“Hunter, good to see you again,” Travis said. “Kennedy.”
“Hello, Detective Travis.” She stood and offered her hand to both Morris and Fields, then pointed at the others. “Sikes and Ramirez.”
“First of all, the Chief requested CIU to assist in your investigation. It’s still your investigation. We have a serial killer, and they want a task force. However, I spoke with my Captain and everyone is in agreement that the more hands you have involved, the messier it gets. So, for now, it’s just us.” He looked at Hunter, who nodded. “Your Lieutenant has filled me in on the latest… development. While it obviously affected the investigation of the Branson case, it doesn’t change the fact that we are still looking for Grayson. Any misconduct will be investigated by Internal Affairs, not us. So let’s move on to Grayson. Right now, he’s holding an assistant DA and it’s our job to find her. When we find Grayson, if he’s still alive, then we’ll put our case
together.” He flipped open the file, then looked at Hunter. “With that said, how do we find him?”
“He stakes out his victims at gay bars, other than the ones he had access to from Belle’s Hostel. You would think he would lay low for a while, especially if he’s keeping Charlotte Grayson alive. And I think she’s still alive. If he’d killed her, he would have displayed the body somewhere. He’d want us to know that he’d killed her. I’m no profiler, but I’ve been on the streets long enough to know that he’ll kill again. He has to. That’s his only reason for existing.”
“Where does he get his money from?” Sam asked.
“Good question. He has no job that we know of.”
“Bank accounts?” Travis asked.
“None.”
“What about his mother?”
“She may have given him some, but she wasn’t exactly wealthy. And, of course now, her assets are frozen.”
“I’ll have our guys do a thorough check on his financial background. There has to be something.”
“Okay, good.” Tori flipped through the file, stopping at the list of gay bars they’d checked out. “Page twelve lists possible targets. We’ve staked out Outlaws in the past, mostly because that’s where the girls from Belle’s went. It was where we first spotted him. We also tailed him to a men’s bar called The Brickyard. We know he was at The Pink Lagoon. If we’re going to stake out bars, obviously it’ll have to be men’s bars or Outlaws, that’s the only mixed bar.”
“He knows we’re looking for him,” Morris said. “Do you really think he’s foolish enough to go out to a bar looking for his next victim?”
“Yes, I do. And right now, that’s all we’ve got.”
“And there’s been no contact with him, other than the one phone call?” Travis asked.
“No. I really thought, well, I thought he’d try to contact us again. I think he gets off on it,” Tori said.
A knock on the door interrupted them and Donaldson stuck his head in.
“Lieutenant?”
Malone stared. “Adams?”
“No. His wife said he left like usual this morning.”
“And his cell?”
“Still no answer.”
“Shit,” Malone murmured.
“He may pose a problem, Lieutenant,” Travis said. “I think maybe we should go to your Captain with this and see about bringing him in.”