Indiscretions

by Barbara Winkes

  “Oh my God, you watch too much TV. She’s a psychiatrist,” Ellie grumbled, and Kate laughed.

  “You got up on the wrong side of the bed today. I better leave you to it now. I’ll see you later.”

  “Yes, you will.” Ellie tried not to stare at the scene a few feet away, Jordan and Bethany conferring about something that was no doubt case-related. Despite the problems that were obvious to the attentive listener, they did have a certain connection in their professional lives that would take Ellie years to reach if she ever got there. It wasn’t fair.

  Interrupting them felt like talking to seniors on her first day in junior high. She had to do it though. Reluctantly, she got up walked over to where Jordan and Bethany were standing, immersed in their conversation.

  “Um, excuse me?” Ellie began.

  She could only describe the look Bethany gave her as someone patient with a person who wasn’t quite up to their standards. Maybe she was imagining things. Too little sleep could make that happen. “Meg Lawrence called. Judy Lawrence’s sister? She’s on her way here.”

  Jordan and Bethany exchanged a meaningful look. Ellie found it unnerving.

  “She said something was missing from Judy’s room, some coins. Apparently Judy was a collector. Anyway, she’s going to tell you.”

  “Thank you, Ellie,” Jordan said, giving her a warm smile that was a stark contrast to Bethany’s expression. Ellie wished she could tempt her one more time. Maybe tonight.

  * * * *

  Meg Lawrence had the distracted look of someone who hadn’t slept in days. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I didn’t notice this earlier.”

  “It’s okay,” Jordan assured her. “This is a difficult time for you.”

  “It sure is. I’m not even sure how much I can help you. Judy has been collecting those old coins for years, but I only realized there were some missing because of the empty spaces. Medieval, I think? Maybe you can find that stuff on the internet.”

  Jordan looked at Bethany. Her theory about the killer taking trophies might be valid, but neither of them had any expertise when it came to this particular field. “Do you know how much the collection or parts of it are worth?” If there was money to be made, the perpetrator might reconsider keeping them.

  Meg shrugged. “I always thought that was a nerdy hobby. Judy wasn’t—” She swallowed hard. “Isn’t rich by any means, unless she was hiding something from me. I mean, she moved in with me to save money.” Meg studied her hands on the table. “Now I wished I wouldn’t have been nagging all the time. She probably needed a timeout after the divorce, and I’ve been giving her a hard time. Now I might never see her again!” She started crying.

  Jordan felt inadequate, because she had hardly anything to console her. There was a possibility that she might never be able to make up with her sister. They’d have to check another ex-husband’s alibi.

  “When did she get divorced?” she asked. “Judy went back to her maiden name?”

  “She never gave it up in the first place,” Meg said. “The marriage didn’t last long, not even two years. Not that the name has anything to do with it. I guess they weren’t compatible. They got drunk and married Vegas, should have been their first clue. They finalized the divorce last summer.”

  “Could you give us a name and address?”

  Meg Lawrence’s eyes widened. “You don’t think he could have anything to do with it?”

  “We’d like to rule that out,” Jordan told her and held out a legal pad and pen to her. Obediently, Meg jotted down the information and handed the pad back to Jordan.

  “Thanks.” She excused herself to step aside and pass the information on to Derek. When she came back, she saw Bethany reached out to touch the distraught woman’s arm.

  “We’ll find her,” she said softly.

  Jordan remembered when she had scolded Ellie for making promises. This was different though. Bethany hadn’t promised they’d find Judy alive, her omission gone unnoticed by the sister. The phone on her desk rang, and she excused herself. A moment later, she barely suppressed a curse.

  “Ellie!”

  Ellie stood in front of her a heartbeat later. “You talked to Ms. Lawrence earlier? I’d like you to drive her home, see if two can find anything on that coin collection, where she bought them from, where someone might be able to sell them. When you come back, leave everything here with me or Derek. He’s going to check on the ex, but I assume he’ll be here soon.”

  “Where will you be?” Ellie asked.

  “Something came up,” she said curtly. “We talk when I’m back here. Ms. Lawrence, thanks for coming in. Officer Harding will take it from here.”

  When they were out of earshot, Bethany cast her a curious look. “Okay, enlighten me.”

  Jordan groaned. “I wish there was anything enlightening about this case. Gleason died in the hospital, cause unknown.”

  “Damn.” Bethany made a face. “Bullet got him?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think so. The doctor was hopeful that he would wake up.”

  “If another body turns up, we know he was right about the second man,” she mused.

  “I’d rather wrap this up before another body turns up,” Jordan said, picking up her keys. Bethany’s gaze was almost pitying.

  * * * *

  “I’m sorry we can’t tell you more,” the doctor said, her look apologetic. “Of course, there can be complications with gunshot wounds, but this is sudden. I guess the autopsy will tell you more. So far, we can’t detect anything out of place.”

  If this guy was unorganized, changing plans at last moment’s notice, why did he keep slipping through their fingers? Was it possible that Gleason had made the whole story about a second perpetrator up? She hated doubting herself.

  “You were tossing and turning all night,” Bethany said when they left the hospital room. “Let me buy you a coffee. We can keep discussing the case if that makes you feel any better.”

  “No need to be ironic,” Jordan muttered. “I’ll take the coffee though.”

  Bethany, as usual, was well organized. She had copies of the map and index cards with her. That intuitive profiler thing Ellie thought she was doing? Jordan knew that Bethany’s skills flourished more within her slightly OCD personality, categories, patterns, shaking up the pieces until you found the one that fit. Once upon a time, they had worked well together.

  “Lori Gleason is alive,” Bethany reminded her, heading straight for the coffee shop across the street from the hospital. “You can’t always win.”

  “If there is a second man, he’ll continue the killing, every woman he thinks overstepped the boundaries he set.”

  “That’s a depressing thought,” Bethany acknowledged. “Two Vanilla Latte,” she told the barista, and they found a place by the window farthest from the student typing away on his laptop, and the couple of doctors off their shift.

  “So. How serious are you about this girl?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Jordan said, before she even could acknowledge how inappropriate and awkward the subject was here and now. Sooner or later, she knew she would have to answer this question, but this was not the moment.

  Bethany got up to get their beverages. “I think I deserve to know,” she said when she sat back down. “If you needed to get her out of your system, that’s one thing. If it’s worse than that, I need to know what to prepare myself for.”

  “Come on.” Would anyone really be surprised that she was buying a place for herself, out of the city? “She’s had a rough time.”

  “Well, yeah, someone had to console her, I guess. I hear she wants to be a detective.”

  “Bethany, stop it.”

  “She’s young, pretty, flexible, I guess, but don’t fool yourself. When this is all over, you’ll need someone to pick up the pieces. You know how it goes.”

  “You might be surprised.” Jordan took a sip of her coffee, torn between annoyance about Bethany choosing her drink without asking
, and the small comfort it presented. She thought of the fireplace in the house she’d seen. Home. All hers.

  “You know I’ll always be that person, right? I’ll always be there for you. I promised. Now, let’s talk about the case. Maybe we can come up with anything before we go bother Lori again. Oh, and I’m sorry we have to talk about Ellie. Apparently, she is on someone’s radar too. It could have been Gleason. He fits the description she gave.”

  “What are you saying, that this case is really closed and I haven’t caught up to it yet?”

  “You have to consider the possibility. You’re exhausted. I think you haven’t completely recovered from—”

  “Can we stay on topic for the next five minutes?” Jordan interrupted her harshly.

  Bethany shrugged. “As you wish. Between you and me, I’ll say this: All the women were screwing around. Someone took offense to that. Let’s say he offered Gleason a solution, but wanted to stay in the shadows himself. Gleason is responsible for finding the tools—drugs, rope, a little kinky twist, but the actual killing of people makes him queasy. How did he find this punisher guy?”

  “I’m thinking he found Gleason. He chose the targets and then looked at anyone who might have an interest in hurting these women, diverting attention.”

  Bethany looked doubtful. “These boys don’t easily trust others, and he would have to find a new ‘partner’ with each woman? Maybe he worked that way with Gleason, if ‘he’ actually exists. When exactly did you start sleeping with her?”

  “What?”

  “It was after the attack, wasn’t it? That is strange. Maybe he boasted to Gleason, but it wasn’t him after all. Unless going after women in relationships is Harding’s M.O. Do you know anything about it except the obvious?”

  The coffee had gone cold, tasting sickly sweet now. “Look, I am…sorry.” They both knew something was wrong with this picture. Neither of them would acknowledge it, as usual. “What I know is she didn’t deserve to be beaten and nearly worse, and neither did any of the women deserve what was done to them.”

  “I respect your emotions, even though they are not very helpful at the moment. Let’s go see Lori,” Bethany said.

  * * * *

  “Don’t expect me to cry,” Lori said before she burst into tears. Jordan had the feeling it wasn’t entirely out of grief for her late ex-husband.

  “Oh God,” she said, “You don’t think I had anything to do with it?”

  “Why would you? You said you had a good marriage, parted as friends. He told us the same,” Bethany said.

  It took a while before Lori answered. Jordan thought it made sense she was struggling to find words, because at some point, they did a poor job to reflect an overwhelming reality. Bethany, she knew, felt the opposite. Words, to her, meant clarity and direction. Maybe Jordan was lacking both these days.

  “The truth is, our marriage wasn’t that great. I’m sure he never mentioned it to you, because it was no big deal to him, but he used to belittle me at every turn. I didn’t feel free until I went shopping for an apartment of my own.”

  This is something I can relate to, Jordan thought. Not that she was an abused spouse in any sense of the word, but the idea of having a place of her own meant freedom.

  “Isn’t that crap?” Lori asked. “Even now, a man can do whatever he wants. If we have different ideas of what we like or need, they look down on us. Like that fucker…” She was choking up. Jordan, who agreed with the sentiment in general, caught Bethany’s thoughtful look.

  “During the time of your marriage, did you ever cheat?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lori asked, unveiled anger in her voice. “I’ve had it with people saying more or less how I deserved this because my sex life didn’t fit their neat and boring little ideas. You’re a shrink, right? I might be some sort of deviant in your eyes, but I never hurt anyone. I was strung up in a moldy basement for days. Now I hear the same guy killed Bella. Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

  “We will,” Jordan assured her. “I’m sorry.”

  She thought of the time she had visited Lori at the hospital, with Ellie. Lori must have read her mind, because she said, in a calmer tone, “Your colleague, how is she doing?”

  “She’s ok.”

  “Did you catch that guy, at least?”

  “Not yet.”

  Lori scoffed. “I figured. All right, if there isn’t anything else? I’d like to celebrate the fact that at least he is never going to bother me again.”

  “Just one more question,” Bethany said. “Did anybody approach you recently to talk about your ex, or did you tell anyone about how he belittled you?”

  Lori shook her head. “I know where you want to go with this, but I have to disappoint you. Unless my eighty-year-old mother came all the way from Texas to get back at him for stealing the best years of my life…I don’t know. Look, he was a nuisance, and he never had any respect for me, which is bad enough, but he wasn’t my worst nightmare. I believe someone killed him, and I guess you do too, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. I can’t help you.”

  “You’ve helped a lot,” Jordan said. “Again, I’m sorry.”

  Chapter Nine

  In the afternoon meeting, Bristol updated everyone working in and with the unit, and Bethany painted the picture emerging of the perpetrator. Ellie knew she should have listened more closely—after all, this concerned her—but she was distracted. On the bright side, no one had sent her back on the beat yet, but she was aware her days with the task force were counted. Would Bethany eventually go back to work out of headquarters, and would that make any difference for her? Ellie wasn’t so sure.

  Since she’d spent the night, Jordan had been friendly but distant. With Bethany, she acted compliant, at least what Ellie could see in the workplace. There was an underlying tension between the two, and for the life of her, Ellie couldn’t tell what it meant for their relationship in the long run. Were they on the verge of breaking up, or was this the norm for them?

  She suppressed a sigh. How had she gotten from taking whatever she could get out of life to trying to figure out Jordan Carpenter? Jordan was thinking about moving out. That sounded like a new start, but it was unclear if that new start could include Ellie in any way.

  She missed her. She wasn’t going to wait forever either. The next time the opportunity arose, she’d press her for answers. Life was full of surprises, as Ellie had learned the painful way, not all of them good. She wasn’t going to waste time hanging on to a lost cause.

  A lost cause, this was likely to be.

  Ellie had tentatively tried to go back to old habits, changing into a top and short skirt, and a pair of pumps after work. So far so good, or maybe not, because she was sitting with the people who had been her friends since the academy, while Jordan and Bethany had chosen another corner of the bar, a couple of detectives with them.

  When Ellie caught Jordan’s apologetic gaze, she hoped Jordan was feeling a little sorry at least—for herself. She crossed her legs on the barstool, taking a sip from her glass. She’d take a cab later, no more walking home in the darkness. She liked to tell herself that she didn’t change her habits to accommodate a faceless man who had attacked her on the street, but for safety reasons. She still had an officer in front of her door. Ellie didn’t want to make his job harder than necessary. Maybe she should offer Jordan the room previously occupied by Rhonda, her ex-roommate with benefits. That, she figured, would solve most of their problems. Then again, she could tell from the couple’s body language that Bethany didn’t yet know about Jordan’s plans—either that, or she didn’t care, and that wasn’t the impression Ellie had gotten.

  “You are daydreaming again,” Kate accused her. “So, what is it like to work an actual serial killer case? You also found the map in Gleason’s house. They must be looking forward to have you move upstairs for good next year.”

  “Yeah, right, they can’t wait.” Too late, it registered with Ellie that Kate wasn’t to blame
for any of her current issues, that she was just an interested and supportive friend. “I’m sorry. I hoped we could talk about something else.”

  “Yeah, sure. Libby here has been dating Wes for almost a month.”

  “No way!”

  Libby laughed. “Now why is that so unbelievable? You’ve been hanging out with these guys so long already, you’ve missed a lot.”

  Ellie knew that Libby had set her sights on an officer from another division, but she didn’t have any idea they’d gotten serious. That’s what happened when your life stayed on track. “Well, congrats. This is good news at least.” Never mind the fact she was feeling slightly jealous about it, and, well, sorry for herself. “Also calls for a new round. I’ll pay, since I’m the one who has been neglecting all of you.”

  “That’s what we like to hear,” Libby said. “We’re so glad to have you back.”

  “Yeah, because I pay for your booze. I’m kidding! I’m happy for you!” Ellie slid off her barstool and hugged her friend. “I’ll be right back.”

  On her way to the bar, she passed by the detectives’ table. It might be coincidence, but Bethany chose that moment to place her hand on Jordan’s knee. I don’t like you, Ellie thought. She admired the woman for the career she’d made, and even inebriated, she wouldn’t be caught talking trash about her or any other cop, woman. That didn’t mean Ellie didn’t resent her. The feeling was probably mutual, and if she was honest, she knew Bethany had more of a reason. With resignation, she turned away from the image and gave the bartender her order.

  Tonight, it seemed fairly safe to drown her sorrow, even disguised as celebrating Libby’s engagement.

  * * * *

  “Hey Judy. We have a visitor tonight. I’ll need you to be very quiet.” He could swear her eyes were mocking him. Of course, gagged like that, she wouldn’t be able to make much of a noise. He guessed by now she had realized this room was pretty much soundproof. Generations of parents who had punished wayward girls down here without anyone hearing them scream. It was the perfect location. Not the perfect subject though.