Love Kills

by Lisa Renee Jones

  I eye Sally. “Get me those stats on how many men watched her show and find out if she had any stalkers. It’s a weak prospect for a suspect since she wasn’t the first victim, but we need to rule it out.”

  “No reports of stalkers for any of the other victims,” she replies. “And I already looked that up for Karen as well being that she was an actress. It felt logical. No formal reports.”

  She’s efficient. Thank fuck for her. “Do we have any word on DNA on scene?” I ask.

  “I’m working with the forensics lead who was at the scene last night,” Thomas says, sitting up straighter. “But from what he’s given me thus far, there’s not much to work with. Rain’s a real bitch.”

  “Email me the data they collected,” I say, pulling my cards from my bag and tossing a stack on the table. “In case anyone needs to reach me, I’ll be in the building, but text me, call me, email me when appropriate.” I eye Thomas again. “I need a list of everyone who is working forensics on this case and the connected cases. Now.”

  He nods.

  “This is where you stand up and go do it.”

  “Oh right.” He stands up. “I’m going to do it.”

  He leaves the room, and I eye Lily. “We had a dead pig in an apartment. Go door to door and tell them you’re from the Humane Society, and you have reports of a pig on the premises. Find out if anyone saw the pig.”

  “She can’t go alone,” Houston says.

  “I can’t go alone,” Lily agrees, pushing to her feet. “I’m scared.”

  I eye Houston. “Do you have an officer who can do this in plain clothes?”

  “I’ll handle it,” he says, but I wonder if he really will. I also feel like Lily’s fear doesn’t match her job.

  I walk into the room, shut the door and sit down in front of her. “What aren’t you telling me, Lily?”

  She bursts into tears. “I didn’t know,” she says. “I didn’t know.”

  My eyes meet Houston’s shocked stare before they return to hers. “You didn’t know what?”

  “She hated me. She hated me for a good reason, but I didn’t know.”

  “What reason, Lily?”

  “I went out with Sergeant Morris. It’s allowed. He’s not my supervisor. I met him here at the office. I didn’t know he was here because of her. She was in love with him, but she was seeing Ralph Redman.” Her voice lifts. “She was with Redman. I didn’t know. And the last thing she said to me was that I was dead to her.”

  Fuck.

  Here is a woman I feared was close enough to Williams to become a victim. Now, I’m worried she was close enough to Morris to become a victim.

  I motion to Houston, and he nods. “Stay right here, Lily,” I order, and she sobs, giving a choppy nod.

  Houston and I move to the door, step outside and into an office, where he shuts the door. “I didn’t know,” he says.

  But he should have. “You’re dead to me,” I say. “How do you not know this?”

  “Detective William’s is dead. She can’t hurt Lily.”

  But Morris could, I think. Thankfully Kane has someone watching her but from who?

  A man. A woman. What if Umbrella Man is both? What if it’s a group of people? The man thought to be the Son of Sam claimed it was a cult doing the killing. Isn’t that exactly what the Society is? A cult? “Too many people connected to Williams are now dead.” I reach for the door and meet his stare. “If she ends up dead, I blame you. And I don’t ever leave my blame unanswered.” With that, I open the door, and right when I’m about to exit, I hesitate. What if she was crying because she’s more involved than she’s letting on? I turn back. “Find out where she was last night.” With that, I exit the office.

  I’m going to chat with Sergeant Morris. He knows something he’s not telling me, but he will. He will today, this very day, or lord help me, he’ll be the one crying.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  The elevator breeds conversation and my irritation like a cheater breeds STDs: in painful excess. Since I’m saving all my mammoth irritation for Sergeant Morris, I take the stairs.

  The walk is two floors, and it’s not long until I enter an area where a woman in uniform sits between me and the interrogation rooms. Not sure when this kind of security became necessary, but whatever. I don’t know her. That’s what matters. No need to converse. I flash my badge. “Where’s Morris?” I ask.

  “3E,” the woman in uniform states, motioning me down a hall.

  I walk in that direction and ignore the detective who passes me, despite vaguely remembering him from the past. I’m focused. I’m on a mission, and it isn’t to the damn moon, though it might be to hell for Morris. I enter a room where an officer is running the recording equipment; I give him instructions before I enter the room where Morris waits. He stands up. I slam the door. “Sit down,” I order.

  He doesn’t.

  Of course. He’s a man. You have to bust his balls to get him to listen to a woman, which is fine. I’m good at busting balls.

  I walk to the table right across from him, shove my hands on the top, and lean toward him. “Lily told me you fucked her.”

  He pales.

  “Sit the fuck down,” I say.

  He sits.

  That was the easiest ball-busting ever.

  I sit, too. “Start talking,” I order.

  “Why is this an issue?”

  “Why did you turn pale as a ghost when I said I knew then?”

  “Because you came into an interrogation room and threw that out like you meant for it to cut me.”

  “Apparently, it cut Lori. She was pissed at Lily.”

  “That doesn’t even make sense. We broke up. She was dating someone else. We were just friends at the time. I told you we weren’t compatible as a couple.”

  “But you were friends.”

  “We were better as friends than we were at dating. I could laugh at her being a slob as a friend. When you date someone, you think—could I live with them? And why keep dating if the answer’s no?”

  “How did you meet?” I ask.

  “A charity run two years ago.”

  “Lily says she met you when you were here to see Lori.”

  “Technically we ‘met’ when I was dating Lori, but we never really spoke until that charity event. Why is this important?”

  “You could have dated Lily to stay close to Lori, Detective Williams.”

  “I was already close to Lori. We still hung out.”

  “Did you know her new boyfriend, Redman? You know, the one who shot himself in court to try to save her life.”

  His lips tighten. “I knew him. I hung out with him and Lori a few times. I didn’t like the guy. And he didn’t seem like he was into her enough to shoot himself to save her, but you know, what do I know?”

  “Explain,” I order.

  “He took a few calls that felt off. Secretive. Like side chick kind of calls.”

  “Sounds like you have experience with side chicks.”

  He scowls. “A guy who’s been around other guys with side chicks knows shit, too.”

  Maybe, I think, but there’s another possibility. Redman was texting the Society, and I wonder if Redman was actually the one who pulled Detective William into the Society but somehow crossed them himself. I pull my phone out of my bag and text Tic Tac: Look for any connections of the victims or members of law enforcement associated with my current cases to our friends. If you don’t know what that means, ask Murphy.

  He replies instantly: I know stuff, Lilah. And I’ve already been working on that task.

  I’ll have a few remarks to make about his “know stuff” declaration later.

  “I didn’t do this,” Morris says, dragging my attention back to him.

  I shove my phone back in my bag. “Give me something to make me believe you.”

  “The time of death. I was on duty yesterday, and I wasn’t alone. I couldn’t have killed those women.”

  “And yet that scratch on yo
ur face means nothing.”

  “I told you—”

  “DNA will show up under fingernails. You know that, right?”

  “Yes.” He flattens his hands on the table and leans toward me. “I wasn’t alone when I got this. Ask Travis Burrows. He was with me. He’s a well-respected veteran of the department, as am I. I’ve been here fifteen years.”

  “I’ve known a lot of dirty cops that were,” I frame my next words with my fingers, ‘well respected,’ as you say.” I lean back and study him. “Were either of you wearing a body camera?”

  His lips thin. “No. The department is battling a shortage of gear.”

  I change topics. “Did you tell Roger about Lily?”

  “No. Why would I? We went on a few dates. That’s all. And yes, Agent, we fucked. I did not, however, fuck Williams. The friend thing. We figured that out before we made the mistake of getting naked together.”

  “So, you and Lily aren’t still dating or fucking?”

  “No.”

  “You go on a few dates with a lot of women?”

  “Last I heard,” he snaps, “that’s not your business.”

  “Only if you kill them.”

  He leans forward and slaps the table. “I didn’t fucking kill anyone. I serve this badge.” He points at said badge. “I do my job and beyond, every single day of my damn life. I risk my life to serve and protect. I loved Lori. She was my friend. She was one of us. This is my place in the world, and you take it from me, for doing nothing but caring?”

  He’s got about five too many emotional chips, five too many to be our killer. Just the right amount to be blackmailed. “Did anyone ask you to do anything to save Detective Williams?”

  “No, I was not blackmailed,” he says. “I’m not stupid enough to believe if I kill myself like Redman supposedly did, that she gets to live. And yes, I know the details of the case. I asked around.”

  He means Roger told him.

  Fucking Roger.

  “What did you talk about with Roger?” I ask.

  “My suspension.”

  “And he said?”

  His lips thin. “To tell you the truth.”

  He cuts his stare, lying as he declares he was told to tell the truth. Roger said something else to him. Whatever the case, I’m done with him and Roger. I stand up and walk to the door, glancing over my shoulder, to say, “Go back to work.” I don’t wait for his reply. I exit the room and find Houston waving to me from another room.

  Houston, who is just a little too in my face right now.

  I consider walking on past him but who knows what desperation—his new nickname—might do if left unsupervised. I close the space between me and him and step inside the room with him, aware that this could be filmed, and I don’t like it. “Well?” he asks.

  “What didn’t you see on camera that you want to know, Houston?”

  “Your opinion.”

  “I sent him back to work,” I say. “That should say it all.”

  “I don’t like the Lily thing,” he says.

  “Have Morris watched. If he’s lying, you’ll know.”

  “Who the hell is going to watch him? Everyone likes him. They’ll protect him. Can the Feds handle this?”

  “Can I handle it? Yes.”

  My cellphone rings, and it’s Beth’s number. I answer. “I know what it is. I know what the poison is. I ran a test on a whim. I read about a case and—”

  “Hold that thought,” I say, glancing at Houston. “I’ll call you right back.” I disconnect and talk to Houston. “I’ll handle Morris. Get someone out to ask questions about the pig. I’ll talk to Sally later today. Anything else?”

  “The mayor. The press. The serial killer story is out there.”

  “Do the obvious. The killings are not random. The general public is not at risk. The end.”

  “We don’t know how he or she picks their victims.”

  He or she. Roger has been running his mouth. “Yes, we do. This is personal, this is about me, which is why you tried to get me fired.”

  “I tried to protect you.”

  “What you fail to understand, but Murphy does, is that when someone tries to bend me over, I get all excited about the moment they learn that it’s me who is going to bend them over. Tell that to whoever needs to hear it.” I turn and head for the door.

  “What the hell does that even mean, Lilah?”

  “You can figure it out,” I say, glancing over my shoulder at him. “I have confidence in you.”

  I exit the hallway and start walking, grabbing my phone as I do to redial Beth. “Tell me,” I order.

  “I was reading an article about a teen who poisoned her father. The only way we found out in law enforcement was she told a friend.”

  I enter the stairwell and stop walking, out of fear the service will cut out. “How does that help us?”

  “I tested for that drug that that teen used, and it came back positive, Lilah.”

  “Holy hell you’re good. What is it?”

  “Barium acetate. It’s used for a variety of commercial reasons like drying paints and varnishes, but in chemistry, it’s a tool to prepare other acetates. It’s a catalyst in organic synthesis. Bottom line, it’s lethal if ingested, and we don’t commonly test for it.”

  “Where would one get it?”

  “It could be in a manufacturing facility for paint, lubricants and a variety of other things. Or in a lab—this teen, who killed her father, got it from her high school science lab.”

  “Do you have it in your lab here?”

  “I’ve ordered it on a few occasions, but the forensics teams are more likely to have it on hand.”

  “Are you sure you don’t have any in stock?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think so. What are you thinking?”

  That I was right. Someone in forensics or even the medical examiner’s office is involved in this. It’s not the first time I’ve thought someone might have wanted Beth out of the picture. And when Beth left, Melanie took over the case. “That you’re a badass chick who needs to keep your ass in Europe until further notice.” I disconnect.

  It’s time for me to visit the medical examiner’s office.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  I text Zar on my way down the stairs: Leaving through the same door I came in. If you don’t know where that is, meet me at the medical examiner’s office.

  North or South, he replies back.

  I don’t do North or South, I answer. The door closest to Starbucks.

  His response is fast: There are four Starbucks within a mile radius, which I know because I drink a lot of Starbucks.

  Zar loves Starbucks. Who’d have thunk it?

  I type: The one that’s really tiny and has some sort of statue out front.

  Okay, he replies.

  Okay.

  That’s what I’d said to Houston that had really pissed him off, but really, what’s wrong with that answer? It’s an acknowledgment, minus messy emotion. Much like Roger saying yes. He chose Morris for a reason. He didn’t get defensive. He didn’t explain his reasons either, but I didn’t expect that he would. A lot of people would feel the need to explain, though. And what is this thought process telling me? God, I need to get to Purgatory because I can feel myself trying to realize something. I need calm, quiet, alone time.

  I finish my walk and exit to the breakroom again, only to stop dead in my tracks when I find Roger and Lily sitting at the table playing that fucking game of cards. All of them, all the damn card games. He used to make me play them, too. “New trainee?” I ask.

  Lily is sitting with her back to me and twists around. “Oh God no. He’s just helping me use my lunch hour to calm my mind and think about the investigation.”

  Roger’s lips twitch. “Worked for you.”

  It never fucking worked for me. I just wanted to beat him, and then when I figured out how, he was pissy about it. So, I started pretending to lose. “I thought you were leaving,” I say.


  “I was grabbing a cup of coffee for the road and then Lily burst into the break area crying. And, here we are.”

  He hates crying more than I do, as in, it all but makes the man twitch. And yet he stayed? What the fuck am I missing? What does he know about Lily and Sergeant Morris that I don’t because that has to be what this is? He thinks there’s a connection between her and the murders. I don’t. And if he’s right and I’m wrong, he’ll tell me while gloating later. I can handle that. I head for the door. I expect to have to repel Roger. I don’t. He lets me go.

  Good.

  If he’s that into her as a suspect, I can focus elsewhere.

  I head toward the subway and dial Tic Tac. “Yes, your highness.”

  “This guy you’re dating is making you quite the smartass.”

  “Why would you blame him?”

  “Whatever is new shines the brightest until it burns out.”

  “And if it doesn’t burn out, then what?”

  “Rare,” I say. “But it happens.” I don’t wait for an answer. “I need to find out if any lab in the city ordered barium acetate or if anyone connected to the case has access to it.”

  “Is that the poison used?”

  “Yes. That’s it. Apparently, it’s common in labs, and it may be hard to pin down, but I need you to do it anyway.”

  “Right. It’s hard. Tic Tac to the rescue. Changing topics: Political donations to your father’s campaign. A long list of law enforcement. He’s their guy. They love him.”

  And my father apparently loves the Society, who if I’m correct, just killed those three women last night. Who I’m certain is behind my mother’s murder. “Anyone I need to know about?”

  “It’s everyone. They did some event for him. Just about everyone in the building donated at least five dollars a week from their paychecks, including Detective Williams. Larger donations came from your old mentor, Roger. That new Chief, Chief Houston, but they donated the same day as the drive. And they make a lot more money than the rest.”

  “In other words, this is getting me nowhere.”

  “Not necessarily. Redman and that soap opera star also donated. Her sister did not, but she lived in California.”