“Good call.”
Thirty minutes later, Don and Luke headed to the Crown Vic. Don opened the trunk and looked at the files, studying a cover sheet Rebecca gave them. “There are a number of files with an address nearby. Let’s go check them out while we’re in the neighborhood. I overheard Treavor tell one of the other waiters that he’s working the dinner shift, ‘til about ten. That means we have a couple of hours until we have to get over to our Eagles’ game. Let’s knock some of these out.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Soon the two men found themselves sitting in front of a row of low cost apartments. “Okay, Cheeto, who is the lucky man that gets to meet us next?”
Don picked a file up off of the console, glanced through it, and snapped it closed. “His name is Falco Ferez.” He turned to look at Luke. “Let’s go find out how Mr. Ferez is doing since he got out of prison, shall we?”
Five minutes later, a small dark-haired young man opened his door. “What may I do for you?” His accent was hard to place. Northern Africa, maybe?
Don and Luke showed their badges and started to ask him some questions when Luke’s nose twitched. “What’s that smell?”
Falco’s eyes gleamed. “It’s worship time. Care to join me?”
Don felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. “Sure.”
Falco led the detectives into a room filled with smoke from incense so potent that Luke coughed. He stopped when he saw Don’s face and followed his partner’s gaze. The room was red and black and in the center was a huge statue of...what?
Falco enjoyed the reaction. He reached for a cigarette that was burning in a nearby ashtray and inhaled then exhaled slowly as he studied Don’s face. He smiled and said, “You do know who that is, don’t you?”
“Lucifer,” Don breathed. “It’s Lucifer.” Don stared at the huge, black hideous statue of a man-beast. The face looked more like that of an open-mouthed ape, displaying fangs. With a mountain lion’s body, the claws were long and twisted and it held its tail as though petting it. The creepiest part were the eyes, which seemed to glitter in its head. Don stared at Falco. “You worship Lucifer?”
Falco laughed. “Yes, detective. I worship the devil!”
Don took a step forward so that he was right in Falco’s face. “Tell me Falco, what do you think about Christians?” His voice had become a deep growl.
“I hate them,” Falco sneered. “They repulse me!”
Don gripped Falco’s arm. Luke touched Don’s shoulder for a second, and Don loosened his grasp but did not let go. “Where were you last Saturday morning Falco?”
Falco bared his teeth at Don. Don looked closer and noticed Falco’s canine teeth had been sharpened to look like vampire teeth. He tightened his grip again and shook him. “Where were you Saturday morning?” Don bellowed.
“I was up late Friday night. I slept until noon.”
“Care to prove that?” Luke asked.
“I live alone. I do what I please,” Falco snapped back.
Luke cracked his knuckles. “Falco, it sounds like we have a problem,” Luke said in measured tones. “You see, we are investigating two murders and you have ties to the first victim.” Then he gestured to Lucifer. “And because you worship this guy, we could make ties to the second victim as well.”
“Who was killed?” Falco’s face remained unchanged, but his eyes darted back and forth from Luke to Don.
Luke took a step forward. “The wife of the prosecuting attorney who tried your case and her friend who was in the same Bible study group.”
“I certainly didn’t have anything to do with that.” Falco sniffed. He gestured towards Lucifer. “Perhaps he had something to do with that.”
Luke leaned against a wall, folded his arms, and tilted his head. “I dunno, Falco. I like you for it. Let’s say you are out one night, and you hear a bunch of nice ladies partyin’ after they’ve done some good deeds in the community.” He rubbed his jaw in thought. “Then they start talking about their church, or their priest, or something like that.” Luke walked over to Falco and looked down at him. “This ticks you off. After all, isn’t a priest one of his greatest enemies?” Luke motioned towards the statue.
“As much as doing something like that might please my master, I did not.” He snorted. “I think my master got someone else to do it.”
“You don’t say.” Luke studied Falco for a long moment. Then he leaned down to look at Falco’s teeth. “I like what you’ve done to your teeth, Falco. You remind me of some dogs I know.”
Falco growled, “Get out, both of you! You don’t have any right to be here. I don’t have anything to do with your case.”
Don moved towards Falco, but Luke held up his hand still keeping his eyes on Falco. “Okay Buddy, we’ll leave. You invited us in, remember? I guess we’ve worn out our welcome. Not a problem. Bye.”
Don locked eyes with Falco as he walked out the door. After they got into the car Don found himself gripping the wheel. His knuckles were white.
“Chill, Cheeto.” Luke put a hand on his shoulder. “I grabbed this.” Luke held up the cigarette Falco had been smoking. “If Falco had anything to do with Alicia’s or Gail’s death, we have some DNA to help us out.” Luke took out a plastic bag and placed his evidence inside.
Don took a deep breath. “Good work, partner.” Then he shook his head. “Man, that guy gave me the creeps.”
Luke raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, he was a weird one. Let’s get this evidence to Forensics.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The killer pulled into the parking lot where food drive was being held and was greeted by truckloads of food. Before he knew it, David was at his side.
“Hey, thanks for coming. Great you could make it.” David pointed to the trucks. “The food has already been gathered. Today we’re going to organize it and then bring some down to the homeless shelter. They feed hundreds of homeless there every day, so they go through a lot of food.”
The killer blinked a few times. “Wow. I had no idea it was this big.” This looked like a lot of work.
David’s eyes glowed. “Yeah, isn’t it great? Mr. Sutherland – you remember the guy at church? He gets this going every year.”
“Of course, I remember Mr. Sutherland.” After all, his investment helped me pay my bills. “There’s a ton of people here.”
David pointed to one of the trucks. “Yup. Why don’t you help that group over there? They’ll show you what to do.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kate Fitzgerald’s kitchen looked as though a cyclone had just gone through it. All of her dishes were out on the counter as she washed the interior of her cabinets. She was dressed in Boise State sweats with her shiny black hair pulled back in a ponytail. After everything was clean to her satisfaction, she placed each piece back where it belonged. As she reached for a glass, she stopped for a moment. It was a margarita glass from Jose’s that she bought the night she was there with her friends. Her eyes grew moist, and she stroked it as she held it against her cheek. Then her eyes snapped open. “The tattoo!” she exclaimed out loud. She rushed to pull out a paper and a pen, drew for a few minutes, and then looked for the business card Don gave her.
A few minutes later she called him. “Detective Layden, this is Kate Fitzgerald. You talked to me earlier today, do you remember me?” She listened for a couple of seconds. “Good. I thought of something I forgot to mention when you were here. Treavor had a freaky tattoo on his arm. I just sketched it out and I really want you to see it. Can you stop by my place, or can I bring it to you?” She listened again. “All right, I’ll take a picture of it and text it to your phone. Let me know if you don’t get it.”
Two minutes later her phone rang.
“Hi.” She listened. “You know, I bet if I take another picture, it’ll just be blurry
again. I’m happy to meet you somewhere so I can just give it to you.” She paused. “Oh, how about if I meet you at your game? To be honest, I’d love to watch it. I’m a big football fan. I know just where that building is! I’ll see you soon.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hours after he got to the food drive, the killer put his hands over his head to stretch his back. Whoa. That was a hell of a lot of work. He looked around. Pallets and pallets of food sat in a warehouse, ready to go.
David walked up. “Isn’t this great? It gives you a good feeling, doesn’t it?”
The killer considered for a moment. “Come to think of it, it really does.”
“Okay, let’s head to the shelter. Wait until you help there. You’ll feel even better. Follow me.”
The killer shrugged. “Will do.”
After they arrived at the shelter, they unloaded the food and brought it into the building. The killer sniffed. Good smells abounded. Dinner was cooking.
Once again, David stood by the killer’s side. “Okay now we help serve.”
The guests were dressed in ragged clothing and shoddy shoes, but they expressed appreciation for each spoonful they received. The killer found himself smiling and joking with many. This is crazy, he thought. At the end of the evening, he sat with David as they ate their own meal.
“So, I guess this probably wasn’t much of a birthday for you, was it? We really appreciate your help though.”
The killer gazed at David. “You know what? I never would have thought it in a million years, but this is the best birthday I’ve ever had.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Over on Pecos Street, Don and Luke facilitated warm-ups for the football game.
Kate approached and stood in the background. She didn’t want to interrupt the preparations.
Once it got going, the game was a tight one, a battle of the running backs. One team drove down the field to score, then the next team did the same.
“Dang. Their coverage on our receivers is good,” Don grunted under his breath. “Need to change up the routes.”
By this time Kate’s coat was off and the sleeves of her blue and orange Boise State sweater were pushed up to her elbows. She found a moment to pull Don aside and handed him a paper. “I think if you just change the routes for your receivers, it could work for you. Here, I sketched something out for you.”
Don looked at her sketch and raised his eyebrows. “This is crazy. That’s really close to what I just did.”
Kate didn’t miss a beat. She thumped Don on the shoulder, hard. “Okay, good! Go get ‘em!”
The end of the game neared, and the Eagles had the ball with two minutes left and ten yards to go. Their quarterback made a short pass to the tight end and he ran. Kate sprinted down the sidelines to the goal line, screaming encouragement to the player as she went. Right before he reached the goal line he got tackled, but he reached the ball across the goal line before he hit the ground. Kate threw her arms up in the touchdown signal and the entire Eagles team jumped up and down.
But the referee blew his whistle and walked over to where he thought the player was down, two inches from the goal line. As far as the referee was concerned, it wasn’t a touchdown. Kate ran over to him. “He reached across the goal before his knees were down. He broke the plane with the ball! It’s a touchdown!”
The referee shook his head.
“But I had a better line of vision than you did! I was right on the goal line! You were a few steps behind!”
The ref turned and walked away.
Kate stomped her feet and stared at his back in disbelief.
Don, Luke, and the team were still hollering their objections. The ref stepped up to them and confirmed, “Game over. You keep it up and I’ll file a complaint against you.” He pivoted and left.
Luke held his head with both hands trying to regain control. “Okay team huddle up.” A group of very sad-faced boys encircled the coaches. “That was a tough call,” Luke said. “Sometimes that’s how it goes. But we made good adjustments and we learned hard lessons tonight. I’m proud of you. We have a good record, and we can rise above this and win our next game.” He stopped when he noticed some of his players looking at something near the goal line. Smiles crept across their faces. He turned and saw Kate making faces at some sort of an imaginary person. First she was crossing her eyes, then she was blowing up her cheeks, and then she was scowling.
Don turned and watched Kate for a moment, then called over to her. “Hey Kate, are you okay?”
Kate ran over to the team. “Not really. I’m pretty mad. And sometimes when I’m dealing with someone who I think is really hardheaded then I pretend that he’s right in front of me and I make faces at him. It helps.” She addressed the players. “Let’s try it together.” The entire team made faces at each other and soon they were all laughing so hard they could hardly stand up. Before long, everyone had to catch a breath.
Don looked at his team. “Okay guys, it’s Eagles’ pizza time. Let’s go hit our spot. I’m buying.” He looked at Kate. “You’re welcome to join us.”
“Nowhere I’d rather be.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In no time the pizza was gone, and Don and Luke said good-bye to the team. After everyone was gone, Luke, Don, and Kate all sat together, and Kate pulled out her sketch. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this while you were at my place earlier. I noticed this tattoo on Treavor’s arm when he served us. He had his sleeves rolled up and I saw it.”
Don’s jaw dropped. Kate’s sketch was an exact replica of the statue of Lucifer that they had seen in Falco’s apartment.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Don recovered first and looked at Luke. “It looks like we may have a stumbled upon a ring.”
“Yeah.” Luke folded his arms. “I do believe that Mr. Treavor deserves the honor of our company.”
Don filled Kate in a little bit on the trip to the restaurant and the subsequent stop at Falco’s apartment.
“So, these devil worshippers who hate Christians have a list of the names and addresses of the members of the St. James Bible Study group.” Kate clenched her fists and her eyes flashed. “I wouldn’t mind having a little conversation with Mr. Treavor myself.”
“That’s our job.”
“But Don, listen to me. I have knowledge that you don’t. Treavor might say something that only I can respond to. I think it’s really important that I come.”
“No. We’re trained for this. You’re not.”
“But I have a huge stake in this!”
Don leaned forward towards Kate. “Another good reason why you aren’t coming.” Don cleared his throat. “By the way, have you moved into the Marriott yet?”
Kate shook her head.
Don checked his watch. “Today’s your lucky day. There’s just enough time before Treavor gets off for two of Denver’s finest to help you move a couple of things over there. We’ll follow you home.”
Before she knew what was happening, Kate found herself in a room on the second floor of the Marriott saying goodbye to Don and Luke. She stepped outside of her door and watched them head towards the elevator.
On impulse she ran back into her room, grabbed a coat, her gun, and her key and headed as fast as she could down the stairs and out to the Crown Vic. She was in luck! The back doors to the car were unlocked. She opened one, slid in and huddled unnoticed on the backseat floor, just as the detectives got in. Kate kept quiet.
Luke looked over at his partner. “I’m not religious, but I sure as hell don’t understand why anyone would want to worship the devil.”
“Yeah, plus between the tattoo on Treavor’s arm and the exact same statue at Falco’s place, let’s hope checking Treavor out leads us somewhere.”
Soon Don parked near Treavor’s place, opened his d
oor to get out, but then stopped. “What do you know?” He pointed to a man getting into a car across the street. “Treavor got off early and now he appears to be going somewhere.”
Luke grunted. “Looks like we’d better find out where, Cheeto.”
They followed Treavor for miles out to the eastern outskirts of town near some partially constructed office buildings. After the downturn in the economy, construction in many projects such as this were abandoned. Everyone knew these buildings had been empty for years.
Don cut his lights, staying at a distance behind some trees. He noticed a few other cars parked several yards in front of them with people sitting inside. “What the heck is he doing way out here? And who are all these people?”
“Who knows? This group is full of a bunch of nut cases, if you ask me.” Luke reached into the glove compartment for some binoculars. “As far as I can tell, it looks like we have about eighteen nuts right now.”
Before long, a big van pulled into the area. Everyone got out of their cars and went to the back of the van. They opened the doors and pulled out two people with gauzy black hoods covering their heads and handcuffs around their wrists.
Luke sat straight up. “Cheeto! They have hostages!”
Don was already on the radio calling it in. “Unit twelve requesting backup.” He described what was happening and put the radio down. Without another word Don pulled his revolver out as he exited the car, aware that Luke did the same. He retrieved their bulletproof vests without making a sound and handed one to Luke. The two officers then crept up behind the group unnoticed.
Eyes wide, Kate heard every word. Holding her breath, she eased herself up off the backseat high enough to see outside. She stifled a gasp when she observed the surreal scene. The pitch black of night surrounded a group of men carrying lit torches as they led two hostages over rocks and through the ghostly construction site. Kate’s heart pounded against her chest.
Without making a sound she exited the car and crept forward, following the detectives from a distance.
Deadly Gratitude Page 11