Road Kill; Puppet Master; Cross Wired

by Jan Coffey

  He took the hint and followed her to the door. “I’ll call you in a couple of days or as soon as I have some information. In the meantime, try to get somebody here to secure your network.”

  In the hall he took a card out of his wallet and handed it to her. Lacey didn’t mention that she’d held on to the one he’d given her at Terri’s funeral. She watched him put on his leather jacket and regretted pushing him away. But she was too nervous to have him stay.

  “I know you run a business, not a charity.” She leaned against the doorway to her office. “So if you could let me know what you need as a retainer, I’ll take care of it.”

  “Forget about it. Or we’ll consider that coffee the retainer.”

  “No, I can come up with—”

  The touch of his warm hand cupping her chin silenced the protest.

  “No more talk of a retainer. I want to help you because your sister was my friend.” His dark eyes bore into hers. “And because I’m attracted to you. And yes, my invitation to go out to dinner stays open. And I’m not saying that it has to be a show and dinner. But dinner and a show has a nice ring to it, too. Don’t overthink it. I don’t want to stress you out. Understood?”

  The heat was back in her face. All Lacey could do was nod.

  CHAPTER 9

  “Why did you stop?”

  “There's a car coming out of Lacey's driveway.” Nick Reilly answered as Amy flipped open her watch and feel the time.

  “Seven thirty-five. He didn’t stay too long.”

  “Who was that?” Nick asked.

  “Lacey had her sister's old partner over tonight. He called her this morning to catch up on things.”

  “He's a cop?”

  “An ex-cop,” she said.

  “Social call or business?”

  “I think business,” Amy replied. “Someone hacked into Lacey’s computer. The police were here this morning.”

  Nick felt the heat rise up on the back of his neck. He used Amy’s computer whenever he was over to check email or browse the net. “Did they talk to you?”

  “No.”

  He should have been relieved, but a sick feeling lingered in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t need any unnecessary attention from the police. Not while he was still on probation after that fight with a bunch of rednecks outside of Foxwoods earlier this year.

  Black and adopted as a teenager by a local Irish Catholic family, Nick was the busiest carpenter in town. Everyone knew and trusted him, so he had jobs in the pipeline going out six months. That’d been before the mention of the fight in the papers. It was daunting how quickly his backlog was going away.

  “Are we walking the rest of the way?” Amy poked him in the ribs.

  “Hold on to your horses, miss.”

  Nick turned into the separate driveway at Amy’s end of the property. Moments later, he stopped in front of the renovated barn.

  “Home again,” Amy said cheerfully. “Can you stay tonight?”

  “I can't, but I can come in for a little while.”

  The pout on Amy’s pretty face brought a smile to his lips. Nick had been at the end of renovating this barn for Terri and Lacey Watkins when Amy had showed up to rent it. They’d hit it off right away.

  Amy was great in bed, undemanding, pretty, and totally independent, regardless of being blind. They went out once or twice a week, had sex afterwards, and went their own way the rest of the time. Their relationship was uncomplicated.

  Nick came around the car and opened the door for her. “Getting out?”

  Amy reached her hand out. He gripped it to help her.

  “Hey, do you want to go to a movie next week?” he asked once they were inside the apartment. “The Waterbury Theater just set up that descriptive video thing.”

  She reached for his face with her fingers, then touched his lips and rose up to kiss him. “How can I repay such a sweet offer?”

  “Definitely out of those clothes. Do you have any whipped cream?”

  She smiled. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  “Good. Get that, and I'll meet you in the bedroom.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’ve gotta send an email,” Nick told her. “I promised a client I’d send him the invoice for that job I finished this afternoon.”

  “Who's the client?”

  “Judge Green.”

  Amy paused in the doorway to the kitchen. “A judge?”

  “Yeah. At least, he used to be a judge, I guess, before some family tragedy. He’s an old divorced guy. Used to live in the northern part of the state, but now he lives like a hermit on the lake by Black Rock State Park. Couple of miles down the road. Weird guy.”

  “How so?”

  “In lots of ways.”

  “Like what?” she pressed.

  “Like…he wouldn’t let me go inside his place to use the bathroom when I was working for him.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I peed in the woods.”

  “That’s it? That’s being strange?”

  “No. Of course not. There’s more. Like…well, everyone tells me that he doesn’t talk to anyone. That you can’t get him to put two words together. So I go out there to do this job, right? And he ends up hanging outside with me, asking me question after question.”

  “What kind of questions?”

  Nick shrugged. “About me. About my personal life. But also about Lacey and Terri. Shit like that. Like I should know everything about them.”

  Nick opened the laptop as Amy went to the kitchen. A second later she poked her head out again.

  “What kind of a job did you do for him?”

  “Fixed his deck. The boards had rotted through.”

  She leaned a hand against the door jamb. “Can I ask you one more question?”

  “What?”

  “Do you ever download files on my computer when you're checking email?”

  He was quiet for a moment and then laughed. “Of course.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, porn. Where do you think I get my good ideas from?”

  “Oh. Well, in that case, get to it,” Amy replied with a smile as she backed into the kitchen.

  CHAPTER 10

  Gavin was past kidding himself that he was helping Lacey out of respect for Terri.

  The two sisters had a few physical features in common, but Terri was taller, square-shouldered, and muscled from years of police training. She had developed the tough, masculine manner needed for the job. To Gavin, she’d been a partner and a friend. That would have been as far as it could ever have gone, even if she hadn’t been gay.

  Tonight, in Lacey’s kitchen he’d discreetly tried to size the younger sister up. But the male in him had reared its very predicable head. The slant of her cheekbones, the deep green eyes, and the pale flawless skin only encouraged a closer look. She was feminine, delicate, beautiful. He’d felt the tightening of his ball sack that usually signaled collision ahead. And this was not helped by the lingering image of her naked body in the window.

  But Gavin had been served up a double punch. First, his reaction to her, and then finding out why she’d wanted him to come by.

  During his years with the New Haven PD, he’d looked at thousands of crime photos. He’d been at the scene of hundreds of homicides. But looking at the photo of Terri's dead body on Lacey’s computer made him vaguely ill.

  That was not a picture of the strong and resilient detective he'd known for ten years. This hit-and-run victim was not the Terri he knew. His partner was tough and astute and alert. She had no hint of victim in anything about her.

  This lifeless corpse made a mockery of the Terri he remembered.

  And some sonovabitch had taken these pictures and forwarded them to Lacey. They weren’t police photos. He was certain of that. This was the action of some bastard bragging about his handiwork. It didn’t even smack of hit-and-run to Gavin. That was the worst part. He recalled what John Trevor had said about the homicide Terri wa
s working on. Bratva’s name edged back into his mind. But why would someone like that have a detective killed and then send a picture to the sister? This wasn’t his style. He might send pieces of the body, but not a photo.

  Still, that didn’t mean there weren’t others gunning for her. Over the years, Terri had made plenty of enemies.

  The police world was no different than any other. In New Haven, just like in other mid-sized cities, the line between the worlds of light and dark sometimes got crossed. Of course, there were good cops. But there were also bad cops. And lazy cops. And there were those who didn’t stop until they prodded and poked and pushed to the very end of things—and sometimes brought about real change—no matter what good-old-boy establishment got pulled down along the way.

  Terri was definitely one of those. She’d made a career out of intentionally stepping on the toes of the high-and-mighty—on either side of the blue line. Given the chance, more than a few of them would have gone after her. This only pissed him off more.

  Gavin stared ahead at the dark, gloomy hills lining the highway. He had to keep his feelings in check while he was at the house because Lacey was barely holding it together.

  He knew the two sisters had survived a disastrous upbringing and both carried scars from it. Gavin had decided a long time ago that Terri’s childhood had contributed to her mistrust of men. It had taken a long time for her to accept him as a friend and not just another male detective she worked with.

  Whatever lack of trust his old partner exercised with other people, she made up for with the people she cared about. And Lacey was at the top of that list. Terri had been as much mother-figure as she was sibling. And he knew there was some degree of guilt behind it, too. She had escaped their poisoned home early enough to make a change in her life. Lacey, on the other hand, had almost died at the hands of their father. Her limp was a visible scar, but Gavin guessed there were many emotional ones.

  Sexual arousal or whatever other fascination he’d been feeling before walking through her door was nothing compared to the punch in the gut he’d felt once they were face-to-face. She was a very attractive puzzle. There were so many pieces to her. Striking, mysterious, humorous, timid, sexy as hell. But she lacked confidence and didn’t seem to know how to pull her assets together to her advantage. And Gavin suddenly had the crazy notion that he was the man for her.

  His cell phone rang, and for a second, he hoped that it was Lacey. Perhaps she’d changed her mind about going out tonight.

  He was wrong.

  “Yeah, this is Alisha. Terri don't answer her phone no more, and things keep going to her mailbox. I wanna leave another message with you. You remember me?”

  “Of course.” The girl's tone wasn't hysterical, as it’d been the other night. “Where are you?”

  “It don't matter.”

  “Okay, I'm hanging up.”

  “No! Don't. I'm in Bridgeport. But tell her don't bother coming after me. I'm leaving in a few minutes. I've found a place I can go chill.”

  Gavin could hear a PA system in the background, announcing the scheduled trains. The Bridgeport train and bus stations were right next door to each other.

  “Is this a good number I can give her to call you?”

  “Shit, no. I'll be dumping it in a sec.”

  “I don't think she'd be happy to hear that.”

  “Don't fuckin’ matter. Just give her this message. I’m leaving her an envelope.”

  “What's in the envelope?”

  “The list she wants. The one my boyfriend lifted and I never mailed like I promised. She knows what I’m talking about. I gotta go.”

  “Where is it? Where are you leaving this envelope?”

  “I’ll call her when I get where I’m supposed to go. I’ll tell her where it is then. And tell her she better answer her own phone if she wants to know.”

  “Alisha—” Gavin was too late. The thirteen-year-old hung up.

  Going somewhere else to chill only meant that she'd be working for some other pimp in some other city. It was frustrating as hell.

  He punched in John Trevor's cell number. The assistant chief answered right away. Gavin gave him the information on Alisha’s whereabouts. He intentionally held back what she’d said about the envelope. He had no idea what was in it or where it was. Alisha could give that information to whoever her new contact was.

  “Did she tell you where she was going? Or what time she was leaving?”

  “No.”

  “I'll call Bridgeport and have them pick her up.”

  “You're going to look after this girl, right? She can't go back on the street.” Gavin knew how much it mattered to Terri that her informants were protected.

  “I got it covered, MacFadyen. Don't worry.”

  “Another question before you hang up,” Gavin said. “Did Westbury police contact New Haven PD today about some computer files that turned up on Lacey Watkins’s computer? About someone hacking into her system?”

  “No. I would have heard that,” Trevor told him. “What’s she doing now? Getting herself into more trouble?”

  Gavin resented the attitude. “No, she’s trying to help with the investigation of her sister’s death.”

  “How?”

  “The files were photos of Terri’s corpse.”

  “Crime scene?”

  “I doubt it.”

  There was a pause on the line. “She was out there for some time before they found the body.”

  “Will you check into it?”

  “Because of town lines and where they found the body, the staties have taken over the case, but I’ll give them a call and see what’s going on. Yeah, I’ll definitely get into it. Thanks for the tip, MacFadyen.”

  CHAPTER 11

  A line of vending machines stood behind the Plexiglas doors leading out onto the train platform. Just outside, Alisha stared at the two little kids running back and forth in front of the candy, coffee, and snack dispensers. An old granny sat on one of the benches inside, watching the brats like a hawk.

  Alisha wasn't going to leave the envelope for Terri unless she was sure she could get the message to her. But now that she'd talked to this Gavin dude, she guessed he’d let her know. He’d done it last night. Alisha was sure Terri would answer the phone when she called back because she’d been waiting for these papers forever.

  After walking around the station, she had decided this was the only place the envelope would be safe. Bathrooms got cleaned all the time. The benches in the waiting area were too open. Trashcans got emptied. Anything left outside on the platform would get blown away by the wind. But here she had a chance.

  The trouble was how she was going to slip it between the vending machines with these two pairs of beady eyes watching her.

  Halfway down the platform, the teenager she’d lifted the cell from was going from person to person, asking if anyone saw his phone.

  “It must have just happened. I was sitting right on that bench. I only closed my eyes for two seconds.”

  “Call your number,” someone suggested. “Use my phone.”

  Alisha strolled off to a nearby trashcan and dropped the phone in.

  She was already past the kid when the station speaker crackled to life. The incoming Amtrak train. “Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York to New Haven, Providence, Boston. Arriving in ten minutes.”

  More people came out the door from the elevator and stairs onto the platform. She checked the clock. The bus to Albany wasn't leaving until 10:00 from the terminal right next door. She already had her ticket and knew they would be loading at Bus Bay C. She had time. Still, she didn't want to walk that way by herself. There was a large parking lot behind the bus stop.

  Somebody on the train coming in had to be going that way, she decided. She would wait and walk over with the passengers.

  Alisha took the envelope out of her bag. Walking inside the vending area, she went to the machines. Immediately, the two brats attached themselves like ticks to her
sides.

  “What you buying?”

  “I like Oreos.”

  “No, chips.”

  “Get back here.” Granny's shout from the bench was like a whip, snapping the kids back to the seats.

  Alisha pushed the envelope between the soda and snack vending machines. The paper slipped in and disappeared. For a moment, she worried that Terri might not find it.

  She's a fucking cop, Alisha reminded herself. Terri can do anything, especially when Alisha told her where to look.

  Leaning against a wall, she waited and tried not to worry about Albany. The friend she was staying with was eighteen. She’d already told Alisha that she wouldn't have to pay anything for food or rent the first month.

  And that was way better than New Haven. There was nothing left for her here with her boyfriend dead. No one to protect her.

  The people on the platform faced the train as it rumbled in. To her disappointment, not many riders got off. Those who did didn't hang around either. They all had places to go.

  Alisha went with the small crowd. The platform stairs to the street were a popular way to exit, she realized. She followed, walking fast, pretending that she was somebody and had a family waiting for her.

  Family. That really was pretend. Her mother only knew how to take care of herself, and she could barely do even that. Her sisters were much better off now that Terri was involved. At least, Alisha assumed Terri was. Alisha had heard through the grapevine that there’d been a shooting at her aunt's apartment but that no one in her family had gotten hurt. The twins had been taken away by the cops. That meant Terri had to be there.

  The crowd thinned out more when they reached the street. Two preppy boys, one pulling a noisy rolling suitcase, were ahead of her heading toward the bus stop. Everyone else seemed to have rides or was parked at the garage across the street. Alisha followed the two boys.

  The sidewalk was well lit. The traffic on the street was light. She accidentally kicked a can and jumped a foot. Looking up, she realized she could have taken the elevated walkway that ran right from the train platform to the buses. Instead, she was following these two morons.