Jan Coffey Suspense Box Set: Volume Two: Three Complete Novels: Road Kill, Puppet Master, Cross Wired

by Jan Coffey

  Gavin wondered if Bratva’s clients were aware that this list even existed, never mind whether it had been stolen.

  Other than his helper by the vending machine, there was no one else in the room. He placed the pages down on a chair and quickly snapped pictures of them on his phone, sending them to his agency email. He also sent Lacey a quick text.

  I’m done. Coming.

  As he put the pages back in the envelope, a text came back from Lacey’s phone.

  Did you find the list?

  Gavin stared at the message, suddenly feeling sick. Lacey had not sent that text.

  She didn’t know anything about the list. Someone had her.

  Every nerve in his body went on high alert. He had to get to her. But what was to stop the people who had Lacey from finishing the job in the parking lot? He had to give them some incentive to keep her alive.

  He wrote back.

  No games. I have Alisha’s list. I exchange it for Lacey, ALIVE, on eastbound train platform. Come up now.

  He had to get them up here in the open, where cameras captured everything. Where transit cops might catch wind of a problem.

  Neither of them would have a chance in a quiet parking lot.

  Gavin had no idea how many people were out here. Bratva’s men traveled in packs.

  He was wearing his gun, but that didn’t mean anything. Lacey could easily get hurt in the crossfire. He couldn’t trust the locals, not after what had happened with Alisha. He quickly texted Trevor and the state police hotline, briefly explaining the situation and requesting help. He turned to the young man at the vending machine.

  “Anyone comes out of the elevator or the stairs, you tell them to stay inside.”

  He nodded, looking at Gavin’s side where his pistol was now visible.

  “Do you have a number for the station lobby?”

  He nodded again.

  “Call them and tell them there is going to be hostage situation here.”

  Pocketing the envelope, Gavin stepped out onto the platform. He had no doubt that in about a minute there were going to be a dozen transit cops and Bridgeport police bursting onto the platform across the way ready to open fire. Everybody with a uniform was ready to be a hero these days, and Gavin was just a PI with a business card. As a target, he would look no different to them than Bratva’s mopes.

  But that was okay as long as he could get Lacey clear before the shooting started. He didn’t know how quick Trevor would be arranging back-up, but he doubted Bratva’s men would wait.

  Just then, the PA system announced the Amtrak train from Boston would be arriving in four minutes on the westbound platform. He looked behind him. An elderly couple sat on a bench. He caught the woman’s eye and motioned to the room where the vending guy was on the phone. Somehow, she understood. Exchanging words with her companion, they both hurried indoors.

  People were just starting to filter out onto the platform across the way. There was nothing he could do about that. The bus station was on his right, and thirty yards along the platform, stairs came directly up from the street. Lacey and company had to be coming from that direction.

  He moved toward the stairs. When he was clear of the building, he stood against the railing and waited. The seconds ticked.

  Two transit cops appeared on the platform across the way, Gavin heard someone coming up the stairs from the street.

  Turning, he saw Luke Brandt appear. What was he doing here? Trevor couldn’t have gotten one of his own men here so fast. Seeing Lacey at Luke’s side, however, demolished that possibility. Luke was not here to help.

  She was bleeding from a cut on her forehead. Pieces of glass sparkled in her hair and covered her coat. Luke held her snug against his side.

  “Give me the list, MacFadyen.”

  They were eight feet from each other. Gavin watched Luke’s gaze sweep past him to the transit cops across the track before pushing his jacket back, making the badge on his belt visible.

  This was no exchange. Luke looked like a crazed man. And Gavin figured that he and Lacey were about to become collateral damage right now. Luke could not take that list and let them live. They were dead, for sure, whether it was Luke who shot them or the cops across the way.

  “I’ve got the list right here in my pocket. Let her come to me first.”

  “No chance. Take it out of your pocket nice and easy, put it on the ground, and step back.”

  In the distance Gavin could see the headlight of the approaching train.

  “I don’t give a damn about this list, but I’m not going to give it to you until she is standing next to me.”

  More cops came into his peripheral vision on the platform across the way. Their guns were drawn. More witnesses.

  “You’re pissing me off now,” Luke said under his breath. Turning his head slightly, but never taking his eyes off Gavin, he yelled. “New Haven PD. This man is armed. He tried to kill this woman in the parking lot. Call for back-up.”

  At that moment, Gavin realized how Brandt was going to play this. Right now, his pistol was aimed directly at Lacey’s back. As soon as Gavin drew his gun, Luke would shoot her. The cops across the way would open fire, and he’d be gunned down. Luke would then just grab the list and be home free.

  Gavin’s gaze fell on Lacey’s face. She looked as cool as any veteran cop.

  The squeal of the approaching train’s brakes drew Luke’s eye momentarily to the track. Without any hesitation, Lacey kicked him in the shin and dropped to the ground.

  As the train pulled into the station, blocking the cops on the far side of the tracks, Gavin charged.

  Brandt was younger and had more muscle packed into his shorter frame, but Gavin delivered a right that sent him sprawling. Still on his back, Luke raised his gun to shoot, but Gavin fired first.

  CHAPTER 49

  The bonfire at the edge of Black Rock Lake had been burning for some time. Dead branches, broken pieces of appliances, newspapers, plastic bags with unknown contents had all been feeding the flames. The smell was hideous.

  Judge Green couldn’t contain his excitement.

  Today was the day.

  No more watching. No more standing by, passively observing. The Lord had spoken, given him the sign. Just a few hours ago, he’d found a note taped to his door.

  I’ll bring her to you.

  He had read the message repeatedly. Its meaning was clear. She was coming.

  And this meant he had to be ready. The moment had arrived.

  Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.

  “And I will be your instrument, Lord,” he said aloud.

  Judge Green went back inside the house and into the bedroom. The box lay next to the mattress. He had put it there the first day he moved into this cottage. Every night, he’d opened the box and touched the smooth cool steel of the pistol’s barrel.

  He’d dreamed of the day when he would hold it in his hand and point it at her face. And then she’d be dead.

  That day had finally come. The Lord had spoken. Today was the day of vengeance. Judge Green was ready.

  CHAPTER 50

  “Everything is going to be okay. I just have to go to the station and answer some of their questions.”

  Lacey didn’t want to let Gavin go. She’d been taken to the parking lot where EMTs had seen to her cuts. They’d suggested she might want to go to the hospital for stitches for one deeper cut under her left eyebrow.

  No one was taking her anywhere.

  She’d stopped bleeding. She needed a change of clothes. But she was staying right here.

  Now Gavin had to go away again.

  “I want to come with you,” she told him.

  He touched her face, looked tenderly into her eyes, and smiled. “I love this. You are volunteering to go to a police station.” He kissed her.

  She was clutching his jacket when he broke off the kiss.

  “I’ve made arrangements with the state police,” he said. “They’ll take you back to your house and sta
y there until I get back.”

  Lacey nodded. She wasn’t worried about herself. She was worried about him.

  Luke Brandt was a police detective. Gavin was officially a civilian and he’d killed him. She didn’t trust law enforcement. She was terrified that evidence would disappear, and Gavin would be caught in a web of people lying to protect the reputation of the New Haven police department. He could end up in jail. She’d seen it happen.

  “Lacey,” he said softly.

  She looked up into his dark eyes.

  “This is routine. I’ll be okay.”

  Reluctantly, she let go of his jacket. She brushed her lips against his again and stepped back.

  “Just stay inside the house. Don’t go anywhere. I’m the one who’s supposed to be worried.”

  “I’ll be okay.” She painted on the best smile that she could muster. It was still pretty lame. Regardless of what he said, she was sick with worry.

  She sat on the passenger side of an SUV driven by a female state trooper on her way back home. Turned out, the woman had known Terri, and she kept up a string of stories almost the entire trip to Westbury. Bridgeport police would return her car when they were through with it.

  Twenty minutes north of Bridgeport, Lacey’s cell phone rang. She was relieved to see it was Amy.

  “I’m so glad you called. I’ve been worried about you.”

  “Same here,” Amy replied. “You sounded stressed on the message you left me. Are you okay?”

  “I’ll tell you when I get back. I’m on my way home now.”

  “I’ll come over.”

  “Wait until I get there. Someone is going to check the house first. They want to make sure everything is okay, that nothing happened while I was gone.”

  “You mean the police will be here?”

  “Yes. Gavin wants me to be careful,” she told her friend. “He’s got some things he has to clear up in Bridgeport, so I’d love the company.”

  Lacey didn’t feel like much talking right now, so she cut the conversation short.

  “Listen, don’t worry about MacFadyen,” the trooper said reassuringly. “He’s an old pro. Everybody knows him and everybody respects him. He’ll be fine.”

  CHAPTER 51

  John Trevor made a statement that Gavin had been called in and was assisting with Alisha Miller’s murder investigation. This simplified everything considerably.

  There was still a mountain of paperwork to do. They were far from getting a clear picture of Luke Brandt’s involvement with organized crime. The fact that he wanted the list linked him to Bratva, but why he was so desperate that he was ready to kill Lacey and Gavin was still a mystery. They found Terri Watkins’s second set of keys in his possession. They would be checking to see where he was the day of Terri’s death.

  Still, Gavin knew he wouldn’t be totally in the clear until a complete search of Luke’s apartment, bank accounts, phone records, email, and other personal items were completed. But he wasn’t worried. He knew how the process worked.

  He was still in Bridgeport talking to John Trevor when he noticed his answering service calling. He took the call.

  “I have a reporter named Benita Gomez on the line. She says it’s absolutely critical for her to speak to you.”

  Gavin was annoyed.

  “She says the information she has is crucial for the safety of Lacey Watkins.”

  Common sense prevailed.

  “Put her on the line,” Gavin said. He could draw no ties between what had happened here in Bridgeport and the deaths of Terri and Fay Stone so Lacey was still in as much danger as she’d been before.

  “Mr. MacFadyen.”

  “This better be legit,” he told her.

  “It is. I’ve been trying to call Lacey Watkins all morning to warn her. But her business number doesn’t answer and I didn’t have her cell phone. So I tried yours.”

  “Why do you need to warn her? About what?” he asked.

  “Michael Phoenix died this morning. At the hospital I saw his girlfriend from high school, from the time of the Stephanie Green murder. Her name is…or was…Denise Geller. She’s been visiting him in jail practically every week since day one. And you won’t believe who this woman is.”

  “Go on.”

  CHAPTER 52

  Lacey couldn’t stand being cooped up in the car for one more minute.

  Getting out, she sat on the steps of her front porch while the trooper checked the house. The air had become heavy with the threat of rain. The temperature seemed to have fallen since this morning, too.

  She needed a shower badly. She wanted clean clothes. Or better yet, pajamas.

  But far more important than those things, she wanted to hear back from Gavin. No, she wanted him here.

  The trooper came out of the house. “All set. I’ll be waiting in the car on the street.”

  Lacey wanted to say that she didn’t need this kind of protection, but she held her tongue. Gavin had asked for this, and the state police had agreed to do it. There was some concern about Bratva’s people and about the possibility that Lacey could now be a target because of what had happened in Bridgeport.

  “My friend…she’s my tenant, she’ll be coming over. She’s blind. You’ll recognize her when you see her.”

  When the trooper left, Lacey started turning on lights. The house was cold. She had not yet flipped the switch on for the furnace. She guessed it might be a bit more complicated than that. This would be her first fall and winter in the house.

  She was going to stay in Connecticut. She wanted to give a relationship with Gavin a chance. He was the best thing that had ever come along in her life. But at the same time, she had to learn to take care of herself first. She wouldn’t allow him to move in and just take over. She wanted to be with him, but she needed to be a woman who could stand on her own two feet.

  Lacey already had plans for the money Terri had left her, too. She’d give a lot of it to causes that had always been important to both of them. She had to do some research first. Perhaps programs that helped women or juveniles coming out of prison. Or shelters for battered women and their children. Or job training. Lacey was excited to think of the ways to put that insurance money to good use.

  The phone was blinking with messages. She turned on the lights in the office but refused to start the laptop or pick up the phone.

  “Coffee first,” she whispered under her breath, going to the kitchen.

  She stopped as she went in. Amy was sitting at the kitchen table.

  “Hey!” she greeted her. “How did you get in?”

  CHAPTER 53

  The industrial sounds had begun again. She tried to identify the heavy engine roaring and grinding and humming, the sharp shrieks of metal colliding and banging sharply between loud crashes.

  She knew what it was. She was being kept in a junk yard.

  Donna Covington dropped her forehead onto her knees and rocked back and forth. She’d given up screaming for help; she was empty from crying. No water. No food. No place to relieve herself. Yesterday, she had been thrown into this metal container pod with no windows. The walls, the ceiling, the floor had been painted in shades of gray. In the roof, a rusted hole near a seam was the only way she knew if it was day or night outside.

  Ron.

  Donna still didn’t know if he was alive or dead. She’d been told over the phone Ron was in a car accident. He was hurt and had been taken to the hospital. She wondered if his wife Veronica had been in the car.

  Maybe she’d been killed, Donna thought hopefully.

  Leaving the meeting with the other district managers, she’d rushed to Waterbury hospital. But she’d never gotten past the parking lot.

  The black SUV had appeared out of nowhere. Two bruisers had grabbed her and stuffed her into the back seat. She thought they were speaking Russian or something. They’d jammed a bag over her head, and after that her only struggle had been to get enough air to breathe. Whether the ride was twenty minutes or an hour, she d
idn’t know. But at the end of it, Donna was shoved into this box. And that was the last time she’d seen or talked to anyone.

  She had no idea what they wanted with her. Yesterday, last night, while she still had a voice, she’d yelled out, offering money. They could have her sports car. Later, she’d cried out for anyone to just talk to her, to tell her what she’d done wrong. She’d help them, give them whatever it was they wanted.

  No one answered. There was nothing but the sound of machines. The next day—drained, all hope gone—she’d wished they would just crush the box and kill her.

  Sometime later, Donna was shocked to have a door swing open. Her eyes blinked in disbelief when she saw Ron materialize in the doorway. Her heart soared. She struggled to her feet.

  “Ron. Oh my God. Ron, you’re okay!”

  “Stop right there,” he ordered.

  Donna was weaker than she’d thought. She leaned back against the rusty wall, staring at him without understanding.

  “What’s this about? Did your wife order this? I told that bitch everything. I went and I saw her. I explained to her about us.”

  “Just shut the fuck up,” he yelled sharply. “You are the stupidest bitch on the planet, and you’re here because of your own stupidity. Not because of Veronica. Not because of me. Because of you.”

  “But Ron, I never—”

  “Shut it!” He took a step closer, and she could see the fury in his eyes. “You wouldn’t hear me. You had to go off half-cocked, running your mouth and lying to Veronica.”

  “I didn’t lie, Ron. I thought I was pregnant. Honest to God. I did one of those pregnancy tests at home. Our baby. We were going to have a baby. And I knew…I knew it was only because of your wife that you wanted us to break off what we have. So I met with her. What was I supposed to do? She had to know.”

  So she had lied about the pregnancy. So what? At first, she’d been so sure. Yes, it had turned out that her period had been late, but what was the big deal? If it hadn’t been this month, it would be next month. She’d stopped taking birth control pills, and it was going to happen.