Broken Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 6)

by Kate Allenton

  Asher abandoned his desk and moved to the window to stare across the way. “You do know who that is, right?”

  I nodded. “Yes. That’s Sebastian Elliot, the State’s Attorney.”

  As if he could hear me say his name. Elliot stared right back at me through the police chief’s window. His gaze was unyielding. He slightly tilted his head with a smile on his face before the chief shut the blinds.

  “Lucy, I cannot accuse that man without proof, and it better be damn good proof and not only that but admissible in a court of law. So, you can’t obtain it your usual ways.” Asher pulled me away from the window and moved me behind the door where no one could see me.

  “He killed Dorothy and the unknown barista, and he’s going to keep killing until someone stops him.”

  Asher crossed his arms over his chest. He was never one to back down from a fight. Not in the year that I’d known him. Yet I could see hesitation and worry in his eyes.

  “It’s okay,” I said, patting his chest. “I already provoked him, so it’s just a matter of time before he comes after me.”

  “God damn it,” Asher growled. “Why didn’t you call me first?”

  “There wasn’t any time,” I said, softening my smile. “Like a hunter keeps animal heads on his walls, Elliot keeps pictures of the girls that he’s hunted on his wall.”

  “Okay. Not that I’ll ever get a judge to sign off on a search warrant, but maybe I can think of something and we can look for the bodies and pictures.”

  “He doesn’t bury them there,” I said. “At least I don’t think.”

  Asher’s eye twitched. “Do you know where to find the bodies?”

  “I’m afraid you’re probably going to need a warrant for that search if the guys are correct. They think he’s using one of his hunting properties. I just don’t know which one yet.”

  Two officers stopped outside Asher’s window. Their voices carried through the thin walls.

  “We need to go somewhere more private to talk,” he said.

  “It doesn’t matter. He’s already seen me, but now I have to worry about you too. I’m sure he’s associated us now.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me, but I’m going to need to call in your sisters-in-law. They’ll help us figure this out.”

  I hadn’t even known about the Steinman sisters until a couple of months ago. I hadn’t realized my dead ex-hubby had family. Hell, I hadn’t even known his real last name when the Elvis impersonator in the tawrdry Vegas chapel married us. I’d only known him for a single night before he left me high and dry in Sin City, and yet his sisters had decided all these years later that I was just as much family to them as their dead brother. They were crazy like that, not that I would complain. They helped me save Sam from a life in jail. I guess I owed them, and didn’t want to put them in danger.

  “There’s no need to ruin their vacation. Emily is leaving tomorrow to meet the others in Cancun,” I said and reached for the door.

  He rested his hand on my arm. “Give me ten minutes and then meet me across the street in the coffee shop. I’m going to check and see if we have a missing person report on the barista.”

  “Thanks, Asher.”

  “I’ll walk you out.” Asher guided me out of the office and down the hall to the entrance then held the door open. The afternoon sun was warm on my face as I stepped outside. I jogged down the steps without looking back and crossed the street to the coffee shop. As I reached the shop’s door, my phone rang.

  “Where are you?” Ford asked.

  “I just left the police station. I had to tell Asher about my dream,” I said in code as I walked into the café and stood in line to order.

  “Grant dropped off your meds. Stay put, and I’ll come pick you up.”

  “It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll catch a cab back home. I’m waiting on Asher to look into something for me.”

  “Lucy…”

  “Ford…” I growled back. “I’m across from the police station. How much trouble do you honestly think I can get into?”

  “I know you, Lucy. You don’t have to find trouble; it finds you,” he said.

  “You say the sweetest things,” I teased. “I’ll call before I get in the cab and text you the cab number for Sam to track me until I return.”

  “Don’t forget we have dinner plans tonight, and I also need to take you to see Noah at the watermill.”

  Noah, crap. I hadn’t wanted to go see Noah yet. I didn’t want to be benched, not now that we’d already tossed the coin and I was waiting on kick-off.

  “Text me when you leave,” Ford said.

  “I will,” I reassured him. “Oh, and Ford…” I waited a beat before I said the words that still sounded foreign to my ears but not to my heart. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Lucy,” he answered.

  After I’d almost died and finally acted on my feelings for Ford, our relationship was so much more than any other I’d had. We understood each other on a deeper level. One that didn’t need words, where there was no pettiness or confusion. I didn’t doubt his feelings for me, and he didn’t doubt mine. Somehow, in a twisted way, we knew we were meant to be together. It had just taken almost losing my life to act on it.

  The others in front of me moved out of the line with their coffees while I ordered and waited patiently for mine to be made. The woman smiled as she handed me the cup.

  The coffee beans in the grinder churned out the aromatic smell I craved. The register dinged frequently, a sign that I wasn’t the only one fond of the black gold. Light music played through the speakers while people at tables nearby spoke. I sipped. The steam from the cup warmed my face as I moved to a table next to the floor-to-ceiling window. I glanced at my watch. I’d give Asher the time it took to drink my coffee before I left. I only hoped someone had been responsible enough to report the barista missing.

  Chapter 9

  I was halfway through my coffee when the bell above the door chimed, and I lifted my gaze.

  “Crap,” I whispered beneath my breath when my former sister-in-law, Emily Steinman, spotted me. A warm, welcoming smile lit her face. Apparently, my six new sisters were eager to have another woman among their clan. Not that I’d ever fit in.

  “There you are.” Emily’s Texas accent twanged as she approached.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, knowing better.

  My newfound sisters had appointed themselves additional babysitters, since I was more than a handful for Asher Rowan to keep an eye on. Keeping me out of trouble was apparently a full-time job. Not that I needed their help. The Steinman sisters believed in protecting family similar to the mafia, only these sisters carried a badge with their guns.

  “Rowan texted me. He got kind of tied up, but he gave me the down-and-dirty version of what you’ve got going on.”

  I gave a slow shake of my head. “I don’t need your help.”

  Emily’s smile softened. “Don’t you think you’ve told us enough times that we’ve heard you by now?”

  “And yet, here you are,” I said, sipping my coffee. I was almost to the point where I could leave.

  “What, you aren’t happy to see me?” she asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

  “Sure, I am.” I lied. “Gigi loves you guys. It’s you girls that got the short end of the stick when it came to which twin your brother picked.”

  “Oh, bless your heart. We love you both. Which is why I’m here, actually.”

  I raised a brow.

  “I was just about to go in to see Asher when he texted, wanting me to deliver a message about the barista.”

  “Okay, what about her?”

  “She hasn’t been reported missing, so he’s calling all the Drips in town to check on their employees, and he didn’t want you to wait.”

  “Oh well, thanks then. You saved me another five minutes,” I said, standing from my seat.

  “He also wants me to drive you home. He said Big Bad is still inside and wants me to drop y
ou off so that you don’t get lost between here and there.”

  Emily wrapped her arm around my elbow and led me to the door like we were sisters about to go on a shopping spree. A large smile stretched her lips. “If I didn’t think he’d get upset, I’d say let’s go get our nails done.”

  I chuckled. Even with Emily’s optimistic attitude that no one could touch her, she still knew how to push Asher’s buttons, and if I had to guess, she did it intentionally. She was a girl after my own heart.

  “You don’t have to drive me,” I said, unwrapping her arm from around my elbow. “I can take a cab.”

  “Nonsense,” she said. “I’m parked just across the street.” She stepped off the curb alongside me. We made it halfway across the street before the sound of screeching tires and smell of burning rubber on the pavement stopped us cold.

  A four-door SUV with the darkest tinted windows I’d ever seen came barreling down on us. Emily grabbed my arm and shoved me out of harm’s way then jumped onto the hood of her parked car.

  Pain exploded in my head as it cracked against pavement. The shriek of bending metal was accompanied by a fast-revving engine as the SUV raced out of sight.

  I sat up at the curb, ignoring the pain radiating from my head. I wobbled as I stood and leaned against the hood of the car where Emily was lying. The metal was dented, cocooning her body. I climbed up on the hood.

  “Em…are you okay?” I asked as I blinked, trying to get my vision back into focus.

  She moaned, and her eyes slid open. Loud exclamations and pounding footsteps rushed toward us from the police department. Asher was the first at our side. Uniformed officers arrived with him and took control of the scene.

  I looked to my left in time to see Elliot strolling out of the building with a phone pressed against his ear.

  He inclined his head with a hint of a smile, and in that moment, I was sure of one thing; that man was going to die.

  He walked back into the police department when I returned my gaze to Emily. Blood was oozing from a cut above her eye. An officer with an emergency kit appeared and held gauze out to Asher as he joined us on top of the car.

  “Don’t move. Just sit tight until the ambulance gets here.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” She shoved his hands aside sat up, but her eyes rolled and she eased back down.

  “Emily, do as he says. I’m not leaving you, and neither is he,” I said, meeting Asher’s troubled gaze. The worry in his eyes told me that his concern was more than professional.

  I gingerly rubbed the bump on my head as one of the officers took my statement. The onlookers from the coffee shop were still watching. More police officers had joined the fray. I pulled out my phone to find the screen cracked. The phone was broken beyond repair.

  “I need to text Ford,” I said about to slid off the car when Asher stopped me.

  “I’ll text him to meet you at the hospital,” Asher said. An ambulance siren sounded in the distance.

  “Make sure you tell him it’s just a bump on my head. God forbid he thinks I’m going to die.”

  Asher’s knowing gaze softened. “I’ll tell him that you’re still a pain in the butt. That should put him at ease.”

  I chuckled and then immediately regretted it, grabbing my ribs. I glanced down at Emily, whose eyes were open, and she was staring at me.

  “Next time I can save me; you save yourself,” I said.

  “See the thanks we get,” Emily said, turning her gaze to Asher.

  I was being helped up into an ambulance following the gurney they’d put Emily on when I spotted Sebastian Elliot talking to one of the cops.

  The ambulance doors slammed shut, cutting off my view. I laid my head against the wall. God forbid something worse happen to Emily because of me. Her other sisters would descend on this town and into my life like seagulls on a beach after a truck full of spilled fast food.

  When we got to the hospital, I refused to leave Emily’s side, no matter how many nurses and doctors insisted that I should get myself checked out. I was already broken. What was another scratch or two?

  Ford shoved open the door, with Noah flanking him. He came straight at me and cupped my arms, staring down my body. “Where are you hurt?”

  “Just a bump on the head. Emily pushed me out of the way.”

  “Was it him? I’ll kill him.”

  “No, you won’t,” Noah growled. “He was in the police station when the accident happened.”

  “He might not have been behind the wheel, but he was involved. I’m sure of it.”

  “What proof do you have?” Noah asked.

  Chapter 10

  I didn’t have proof, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t get it. A simple hack into traffic cams would get me a license plate. A hack into Sebastian Elliot’s cell phone records might even show the link we needed.

  “Where’s Sam?” I asked.

  “Just no,” Noah said, folding his arms across his chest. “We do this one by the book. If anyone will know how to play the system, it’s our new target.”

  “Our new target? Are you giving us the green light?” I couldn’t hide the excitement from my voice.

  “Yes.” He held up his hand. “But—only on the condition that everything is aboveboard and doesn’t interfere with your doctor visits or you getting better. If the doctor even suggests that you sit this out, then well…you’ll be watching from the sidelines.”

  I was reluctant to show my enthusiasm. I could talk the doctor into letting me play even if I had to suggest this might be the last killer I ever caught.

  Caught. That word made me pause. The smile slowly slid into a frown. I couldn’t afford just to catch this guy. I needed him dead and out of my head. That was the only way to get his pizza toppings out of my head.

  Ford leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Lose the frown before he notices.”

  “You won’t have to hack the traffic cams,” Asher said. “It happened at our front door. I’m sure we’ve already got detectives working the case, and I’ll make sure they don’t drop the ball.”

  I knew he wouldn’t. Just the way he was staring at Emily told me that Asher was in on this hunt, no matter where it took us.

  “Ford, can you run to my house and get me some clothes? I’m not leaving until Emily is released and her sisters are notified.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to play babysitter to me, Lucy. I’ll be fine.” She grunted and pushed herself up on the bed. She waved a hand toward her bag across the room. “If you could just hand me my stuff before you leave, I’d appreciate it.”

  I picked up her stuff and grinned. Her leg holster and gun were in the bag next to her phone.

  Within the hour, and against medical advice, Emily checked herself out of the hospital, and Asher accompanied her home.

  Ford took me home. Carson and Sam were already waiting with updates when we walked in the door.

  “The police have street cams that rival any banks,” Sam said with a grin. “I’ve got the license plate and the owner’s address.”

  “Let me change,” I said and kissed Ford’s cheek before walking into the bedroom.

  He was quick to follow. “We do this smart.”

  “Oh, I have no intention of hurting the driver. Not yet.”

  “You want information from him?” Ford asked.

  “Of course, I do.” I grabbed some clothes that weren’t covered in street dirt and disappeared into the bathroom. I called out. “Because I think he was just the hired gun.”

  “You still think it was Elliot?” Ford asked.

  “I don’t think. I know,” I answered back.

  I took my time peeking beneath the bandages covering my new cuts and checking the new bump on my head through my hair before changing. When I stepped out into the room, Ford was propped against the wall, staring through the blinds at the street.

  “He wouldn’t be stupid enough to follow us back.” I chuckled.

  “His obsession with you seems to be growing. What ar
e the odds he would have been at the police station when you were almost hit?”

  “Almost is the operative word,” I answered. It was true. Emily and I might have taken a spill, but we were both alive and kicking even with the added bruises. “He was toying with me. Trying to scare me away.”

  “We need to be careful about this,” Ford said.

  “Always,” I answered.

  Before, I would have waved off his concern. But knowing his heart was as involved as mine was now, it mattered more. I had more to lose and because of that, the serial killer needed a quick and painful death before he could terrorize or slay any more women.

  We walked out into the living room and found Sam hunkered down behind his computer. He glanced up as we approached. “The guy you’re looking for lives in an apartment on the south side. Unfortunately, that side of town doesn’t have many cameras for me to tap into. The ones that have been installed over the years have been busted or torn down.”

  It made sense. That part of town was one you didn’t venture into after dark. Not unless you were looking to score sex, drugs, or your own death.

  “We have hours until it’s dark enough to go in undetected,” Ford said.

  “That’s why we don’t wait,” Carson said from his spot on my couch. The television was on and playing a daytime drama with the volume off. Carson was cleaning one of his guns and had three sitting on my coffee table next to it.

  “I agree,” I said. “No sense in trying to sneak up on anyone. I think our best bet is to go now.”

  “Hang on.” Ford disappeared and emerged a few seconds later with a small package wrapped in pink paper and a bow. “I was going to wait to give you this until tonight to celebrate.”

  My eyebrows shot up into my bangs. Had I missed an anniversary or birthday or something?

  He grinned. “You don’t know what we’re celebrating?”

  “Uh…”

  I turned to Sam, who shrugged. “Don’t look at me.”

  I turned to Carson for help. He shrugged too. “Hell if I know.”