Victoria blushed. “I’m embarrassed to say, just two weeks after I met him. He told me that his lease was up and the house he lived in had been sold and he wasn’t sure where he was going to stay. And, well, by that time I thought I loved him.”
“Oh, cut this romantic crap,” Lucinda snapped. “What the hell were you doing sleeping with the man who killed your daughter?”
“I slept with him before that,” Victoria cried. “What do you think I am? A monster? I loved my daughter. I still love my daughter.”
“But you slept with him the day your daughter was murdered, didn’t you?”
“No, I did not. I did not see him after that morning. I … Oh … oh …”
“Lieutenant Pierce, you are upsetting the lady here,” Jake said. “Why don’t you step out of the room, get a drink of water and cool down for a minute. I know it’s been a long day, but Jeez.”
Lucinda saw the hint of a smile cross Victoria’s face before she spun on her heels and walked out. She went into the observation room to watch and wait for the right moment to return.
“I’m so sorry,” Jake comforted Victoria. “Lieutenant Pierce is a little excitable.”
Victoria said, “Thank you, Agent Lovett. But I guess if I was damaged goods, it wouldn’t take much to set me off either.”
Jake clenched his jaws at that remark but moved on without commenting on it. “Could you tell me about early that morning, before John Kidd left your house?”
“John? Oh dear, yes, it’s so hard to think of him as ‘John’. Well, we had breakfast, as usual. I imagine I fixed some sausages, a couple of fried eggs and toast – that’s what he usually wanted. He left about seven that morning to run errands.”
“Wasn’t it a little early for that?”
Victoria fidgeted with her fingers before answering. She renewed eye contact and said, “Yes, I asked him about that. I can’t remember what he said or where he was going. I’m sorry, I just can’t remember.”
“That’s okay. When did you talk to him next?”
Victoria’s face flushed, her eyes darted, and settled on the table in front of her. “Um, he called me from the airport. He said his mother had taken a turn for the worse and he had to rush to her side.”
Lucinda took that as her cue. It was obvious that Victoria was lying. It was time to kick the chair out from under her. Not literally, she reminded herself. She walked into the room and rested both palms on the table.
“Do you know Pamela Godfrey, Ms. Whitehead?”
“Who?”
“Pamela Godfrey,” she said, slapping a photograph in front of her.
“No, who is she?”
“That’s who Kidd said was with him in your daughter’s house.”
“I’ve never heard of or seen her before. He said she helped him?”
“Ms. Whitehead, take a good look at that woman. According to your boyfriend, she’s the one who pulled the trigger. She’s the one who killed your daughter.”
“No. She did not! Jason did!”
Lucinda eased into the chair. “Jason? John Kidd? He shot your daughter?”
Bowing her head, Victoria mumbled, “Yes.”
“How do you know that, Ms. Whitehead?”
The only sound filling the room was the strained noise of Victoria’s rapid breathing.
“Ma’am,” Jake said, “do you have something you need to tell us about?”
Victoria hung her head, her shoulders shook but she did not respond.
“Ma’am, how do you know he shot your daughter?”
“Were you there, Ms. Whitehead?” Lucinda added.
Victoria gasped and jerked her head up. “Oh, no, I wasn’t there – not when he shot her.”
“Afterwards, then?” Jake asked.
Victoria collapsed over the table, her head on her arms, sobbing. Jake and Lucinda sat back in their chairs letting her outburst run its course. When she raised her head, Jake placed a box of tissues in front of her. She wiped her nose and patted her eyes.
“Ma’am, I know this isn’t easy, but why don’t we start with the moment you got out of bed that morning.”
“When he told me, I believed him. Oh, dear Lord, I believed him.”
“When he told you what, ma’am?”
“He told me that Parker was ready to kill again. He said that he was about to kill my daughter and my grandson and fake his death so he could assume a new identity. Jason – uh, John – said he had to kill Parker before it was too late.”
“And you didn’t try to stop him from killing your son-in-law?” Lucinda asked.
“I believed him. I thought it was the only way to save my daughter’s life, my grandson’s life. I thought Parker was evil. I thought he was centuries old and the devil owned his soul. I don’t know what to think now but it must all be lies. Oh, God help me, it must all be lies.”
“Then what happened, ma’am?” Jake urged.
“He promised me he wouldn’t hurt Jeanine before he left the house. And then the phone rang. He said it was an accident. He didn’t mean to shoot her. She surprised him. Do you think that’s true? Do you think it was an accident?”
Lucinda and Jake looked at each other. Jake turned back to Victoria and said, “No, ma’am. I’m sorry but that doesn’t seem likely.”
“Oh, my God, I can’t believe I was so gullible!”
“Ma’am, let’s just get it all out in the open now, okay?” Jake said. “What happened then?”
“He told me I had to come over and help him clean up the mess. I told him I couldn’t do that. Dead bodies, blood. I just couldn’t. And he said, ‘Your daughter is lying naked on the floor with blood all over her face. Is that how you want your grandson to find his mother?’”
“So you went over?” Jake said.
“Yes, I did. I was so upset, I didn’t think I could do anything. It was so awful to see my baby all bloody … but he yelled at me, he told me to think of my grandson. I had to take care of things for Frederick.”
‘And so I did. He helped me carry Jeanine to the bed and then he got the chainsaw. I lost it then. I screamed at him. I asked him why he was doing that. He just turned off the chainsaw, put down the toilet seat and pushed me on my shoulders until I sat down on it. He said, “Victoria, are you forgetting who he is? He’s evil. And he’s immortal. If we leave him here with a whole body, he will rise up again and destroy more families. This has to be done, Victoria.” And, God help me, I believed him. I tried to block out the sound as I washed blood off of my daughter’s face and cleaned her fingernails. I looked away when I had to go into the bath to get her hairbrush and make-up. But still I got a glimpse and it was hideous, so bloody, so awful.” Victoria collapsed forwarded, dropping her forehead onto her arms again.
“What happened then, Ms. Whitehead?” Lucinda prodded.
Victoria raised her haggard face. “I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to abandon my daughter. I didn’t want Frederick to find the bodies.”
“But, you did leave, didn’t you?” Jake said, encouraging her to continue.
“Yes,” she sighed. “He said he had a plan. We’d get someone else there before Frederick got home from school. It just couldn’t be us because no one would believe the whole truth—no one would understand how many lives we saved by killing and mutilating that monster. He said I had to be brave for Frederick’s sake.
“So, I did what he told me. I drove my car, following him all the way downtown. When he pulled to the curb, so did I. He put a few coins in the meter by my car and we drove off in his. As we travelled a couple of blocks, I put on a pair of gloves and he gave me a note. It had my daughter’s address on it and it said, “Call 9-1-1.” We entered a parking garage and went around a few times and then he stopped and pointed to the windshield where he wanted me to leave the note. And I did it.”
“Did you know who’s car it was, Ms. Whitehead?” Lucinda asked.
Victoria’s brow furrowed. “No. Should I have?”
“It doesn�
��t matter, Ma’am,” Lucinda said as she rose and walked to the door. She waved in a uniformed officer who cuffed Victoria’s hands behind her back and escorted her away.
Watching Victoria Whitehead disappear down the hall, Lucinda turned to Jake, “I’m glad this is over and we know what happened but I wish it hadn’t ended this way. I’ve got to get someone here to take care of Freddy. I should call his aunt. I don’t think he’s ever met her but she’s family and she loved his mother.”
“Shouldn’t we go see Godfrey first?”
“Godfrey can wait,” Lucinda said as she punched the number into her cell.
A sleepy Susan Livingston muttered, “Hello?”
“Ms. Livingston, this is Detective Pierce, the lead investigator in your sister’s homicide investigation. I’m sorry to bother you so late at night.”
Susan was instantly alert. “Yes, I remember you, Lieutenant. What do you need?”
Lucinda explained the situation with the woman’s mother and her nephew. Susan asked a few questions and said, “I’ll go online and book a flight now. I’ll be there to take care of Freddy just as soon as I can.”
Relieved, Lucinda prepared herself to be excessively deferential when she spoke to Godfrey and her attorney. It galled her but she knew Captain Holland would have her head if she made the situation worse. After apologizing repeatedly, Jake and Lucinda escorted Pamela and her attorney out of the interrogation room. In the hallway, Pamela came to an abrupt stop. “Lieutenant, I am certain the department does not want me to file a law suit.”
Lucinda jaw throbbed. “Ms. Godfrey, I don’t think that the revelatory nature of a civil law suit would be in your best interests either.”
Pamela laughed. “Please, you are forgetting my profession. I can spin anything to my advantage with a limitless budget.”
“We’ve apologized, Godfrey, what more do you want?”
“I want the original chips and any copies of the photos and video of Jeanine and I that you confiscated as evidence.”
“I’ll talk to the D.A.”
Pamela stepped up to Lucinda’s face. “You do that, Lieutenant, and you make sure he knows that my father’s friends will take a great interest in his decision come re-election time next year.”
“Is that a threat, Godfrey?”
“Hell, Pierce, don’t be shy—it’s blackmail, pure and simple. You know how the game is played. It’s a boy’s world out there, we only get what we need if we are not afraid to swing the low blows. And I’ll be damned if I’ll have a horny bunch of A.D.A.’s passing images of me and my lover from one sweaty palm to the next for who knows how many years. You get those image cards, make sure any copies are destroyed and I won’t cause any problems. Deal?” Pamela took a step back and stuck out her hand.
Lucinda ignored her extended arm and planted her hands on her hips. “One more question, Godfrey. Do you have any idea how Parker’s hand got in the back of your toilet?”
“I’d guess the bastard stole Jeanine’s key to my place the morning he killed her.”
“She had a key to your apartment?”
“Of course. Parker did too, for that matter.” Pamela turned, strutted down the hall and out of the building.
“I guess that’s the key he used to get into her apartment to leave the hand. I wonder if he’ll ever tell us what he did with it?”Jake asked.
Lucinda shrugged. “She so creeps me out.”
“Why, she had nothing to do with the crime. She’s just a victim, too.”
“Maybe. But I still don’t like her.”
“The lesbian thing bother you?”
“Oh, good grief, no. She’s not homosexual. She’s not hetereosexual. Heck, she’s not even bisexual. It’s not about sex with her. It’s all about manipulation—manipulation and power. She’s a predator—a self-controlled predator. And a very dangerous woman, in my opinion.. I fell badly for anyone who crosses her path. Well, enough about her, let’s go wake up some prosecutors in the middle of the night.”
“You betcha,” Jake said.
They both took great pleasure in delivering the news of Kidd’s now defunct deal. To their credit, both of the attorneys, after a few moments of disbelief, congratulated them on their success.
When they finished with the calls, Jake asked Lucinda, “What are we going to do with Freddy tonight?”
“We probably should call social services. But I have a better idea. I want him in a place where people will really understand what he’s going through. I’m calling Charley’s dad to see if we can drop him off there.”
Evan Spencer needed no persuasion, even now in the middle of the night. His empathetic response was instant. He urged Lucinda to bring the boy over. To Lucinda’s relief, he didn’t take the opportunity as a chance to hit on her again as he usually did. Her opinion of him inched up a tad.
After dropping off Freddy, Lucinda said, “The test results came back. William Blessing is his father and John Kidd is his half-brother. At some point, he is going to have to be told the whole truth. But when?”
“His Aunt Susan will be in the best position to decide that. I imagine it would be best for him to get settled into his new home first.”
“I ache for him, Jake.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s got to be hard on you to revisit your past every time a child loses a parent to a homicide you’re investigating. Here’s the hotel. C’mon up and raid the minibar with me.”
“Jake, I …”
“Lucinda, just come up, have a drink or two – you deserve it, we deserve it. You need some time to unwind and ramble over the case with someone who’s been there – and here I am.”
Pleased but more than a little anxious, Lucinda parked her car and followed him into the elevator. Sitting on opposite beds, facing each other, they sipped on their first drinks while sharing random reflections and thoughts about the case. Midway through the second drink, the alcohol hit them both hard after their demanding day. Eyes slipped shut, bodies slumped. They fell asleep just feet apart and didn’t awaken until daylight slipped around the drapes on the window.
Epilogue
Lucinda drove up to DC more nervous than she could ever remember. Jake reminded her repeatedly about their October excursion down the Skyline Drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway and into the Great Smoky Mountains. She tried to wiggle out of it but she didn’t object too strenuously – she really did want to see him.
He promised separate rooms on their overnight stays and swore he’d do nothing forward without a direct invitation. The clincher for Lucinda came when he said, “I’m not always sure what you think about me, but I know you love my car. You can’t pass up a ride through mountains in her, can you?”
But what would he think of her now? Everyone seemed pleased with the results of the last surgery. Dr. Rambo Burns even said her lips were the most kissable he’d ever seen. Yeah, right, he’s just pleased with his own handiwork. That’s all I am to him, a pair of lips. Before that, I was just an eye socket and if I continue with his plan, I’ll just be a reconstructed nose. Do all surgeons think it is always all about them?
Still, although she knew Charley was biased, she was fairly credible. The young girl literally swore on a Bible that Lucinda’s mouth was absolutely gorgeous. Lucinda laughed at the memory of her little hand on the black leather and the solemn look on her face. The clutch of anxiety in her core eased its grip a little.
She had thought her lips looked pretty good, too – almost like the originals – and, at times, she even thought they looked better than they did before the shotgun shredded half of her face. But now, she was no longer certain. What if I’m fooling myself? What if Jake looks at my face and says, “Never mind.”
When she pulled up to Jake’s office building, she waited in the car for a good ten minutes, trying to calm her nerves. She gave up and went inside. Jake took away all doubts the moment she walked inside. He smiled when he saw her, put one hand on either side of her face and gave her a big kiss.
Luci
nda felt faint. She was shocked at how good it felt to have his lips pressed into hers. Nonetheless, when he released her she said, “Jake, really!”
Behind Jake, the receptionist tittered into the hand she held over her mouth.
Jake turned and gave her a wink. He faced Lucinda and hung his head. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Those new luscious lips drove me out of my mind.”
Lucinda grinned, shook her head and said, “Are you ready to hit the road?”
“Yeah, we ought to get going if we want to hike a trail before sundown. I’ve weaseled our way into a group tour at Swannanoa Mansion at nine tomorrow morning.”
Following Route 66, they traveled from DC to Front Royal and entered the Skyline Drive. En route, they stopped at every overlook to take in the views and snap photos of the vistas and each other. They made a longer stop a little past mile marker 40 and hiked the circuitous 1.6-mile Stony Man Trail that led to an awesome view of the valley below. Excited by that sight, they set off on Little Stony Man, a shorter round trail with steeper sections but several incredible overlooks.
They ended their day about halfway down the 105-mile drive, at Big Meadows Lodge, situated in an unusual high-altitude meadow where early settlers once grazed cattle. They spent the night in separate rooms, just as Jake had promised.
Sleep did not come easily for Lucinda, though. She’d had a glorious day, filled with exercise and empty of stress. It should have meant she’d drift off easily and soundly, but when she closed her eyes, all she could see was a vast wall of concrete blocks encircling her, threatening disaster if she broke through them and opened herself to those outside of her self-imposed prison.
Lucinda didn’t understand herself – she yearned for connection and yet she did all she could to keep everyone at a distance. Not everyone. Not Charley. If I could break through to reach out to her, why can’t I dismantle another hunk of the wall? Why can’t I let go of my fear?
She fell asleep at long last but awoke with a start several times that night. In the morning, she felt a bit ragged. Can it possibly be worth it to rush out of here so early to get to the Swanee River or whatever he called that place?
Mistaken Identity (A Lucinda Pierce Mystery) Page 25