BURN IN BELL

by Jeremy Waldron

  “Alex will help you with all that, sweetheart.” Carol turned her eyes to her son and raised her painted eyebrows as if not giving him a choice in the matter. “Won’t you, son?”

  Alex flicked his gaze to me and we locked eyes briefly before he rolled them back to his mother. “Of course.” He turned to Angelina. “We’re here for you. Anything you need, just ask.”

  Angelina squeezed his hand and, when she did, I couldn’t stop myself from immediately looking to see what rings were on her fingers. There was a silver and gold one that matched her bangles sliding up and down her arm, but her ring finger was absent of any kind of metal. I hated to think her leaving the engagement ring behind was done on purpose—but the thought hung there like an elephant in the room.

  Carol said, “Alex has a suspect in your mother’s case.”

  “Already?” Angelina sounded surprised.

  “Mom,” King gave his mother a stern look, “I really shouldn’t talk about work.”

  “Why not? Everyone knows Orville Boyd’s name.” Carol leaned forward and stared into Angelina’s ghost white face. “Don’t worry, honey. Alex will catch the son of a bitch who did this. We all loved your mother. Including Marshall, who I know is already showing her around Heaven.”

  Suddenly, I didn’t know where to cast my gaze. I felt awkward and uncomfortable as I sat across from Angelina, not knowing what to say. But I could imagine how she felt—broken and battered with nothing to look forward to—until now, as she learned the name of the person who might have killed her mother.

  “I hope so,” Angelina murmured.

  Carol had shared too much, too soon, and I could see that Angelina was feeling overwhelmed.

  “It’s getting late,” Alex said after a moment of silence. He stood and began collecting empty plates. Putting them into a pile, I began to help.

  Angelina tipped her head back and looked up to King. “The reason you called—”

  “Right.” King stopped what he was doing. “The ring.”

  Angelina nodded and King said he’d be back with it. As soon as Alex disappeared into the kitchen, Angelina set her focus on me. I smiled awkwardly just before she asked, “Have you two been dating long?”

  “Nine months.” I smiled.

  “He’s amazing, isn’t he?”

  Angelina’s long lashes batted over dreamy eyes that held a knowing glimmer of what she’d given up and what I now held dear to my heart. I didn’t know what kind of response she was looking for, but before I could answer she had already jumped into her next thought.

  “Your blog has become quite popular, has it not?”

  I fingered my water glass. “I suppose it has.”

  “Well, I find it rather entertaining.” Angelina tipped forward in her chair. “If I would have known that you were dating Alex, perhaps I would have taken your information a little more seriously.”

  My mouth opened but nothing came out. She was digging into me hard. Carol didn’t seem to notice Angelina’s catty remarks, but I did. Her attack was subtle but sharp. Was she jealous that I was dating her ex? Or was it because of some other reason I didn’t yet understand? Whatever it was, I only felt more uncomfortable with her being here and I couldn’t wait for one of us to leave.

  As soon as Angelina heard King step back into the room, she brushed her bangs off her eyes and turned to smile at him. I watched her lips curl with the same look of satisfaction one experienced after squishing a pesky mosquito. King held out the ring and I watched Angelina pinch it between two fingers. Her head angled to the side as she stared at it.

  “Is that your engagement ring?” Carol blurted out. “What’s it doing here?” she asked King, sounding equally surprised.

  I said under my breath, “Left at the bathroom sink.”

  Angelina was still staring at the expensive diamond glittering beneath the light. “I must have left it here by accidence, but honestly, my memory has been splotchy since…well, last night.”

  “Funny to still be wearing it,” I said.

  King gave me a look of disappointment. It was a rude comment, but Angelina had already crossed a line. I was tired, ready to call it quits on the night.

  “I don’t remember wearing it.” She looked up to King. “Not since we broke up.”

  “It was your mother’s, wasn’t it?” Carol asked.

  Angelina confirmed it was. She thought she could have picked it up last night when she learned that her mother’s house was broken into. “I can’t believe this wasn’t taken. If they knew how much it was worth…”

  Carol launched into another story about Angelina and Alex dating, then asked, “Did your mother still have those engagement photos? I loved those pictures of you two. So did Marshall. They were absolutely perfect.”

  “I believe she did,” Angelina said. “You know how she was. Mom never got rid of anything.”

  Carol’s face beamed. “I’d really love to see those sometime.”

  I finished my water and watched Angelina slide the ring onto her empty ring finger. Shaking my head, I excused myself from the table and went into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee when I heard Angelina say to King, “Mom never let go of hope that one day we’d get back together.”

  Gripping the counter’s edge, I leaned over the kitchen sink. Closing my eyes, I was just about willing to do anything but sit through more of their stories that were making me doubt what I had with King.

  I busied myself with cleaning the kitchen and, after several minutes, King snuck up behind me at the sink. My thoughts were on how Angelina mysteriously replaced Avery for dinner and changed the entire course of our night, making it all about her.

  When King’s arms constricted around my torso, I turned to face him.

  “Are we okay?” I asked.

  His brows pinched. “Yeah. We’re good.”

  “I’m worried about Avery,” I said, not wanting to let my insecurities drive my emotions.

  King had left a voicemail on Avery’s cell just before we sat down to eat, but she still hadn’t called back.

  “She was excited to be coming here for dinner. She told me that,” I reminded him. “Will you please call her training officer just to know she’s okay?”

  King’s forehead rested against mine as he held me in his arms. Our noses brushed when he nodded and agreed to call just as his home line started to ring. Taking the phone from the cradle, King answered.

  I turned back to the kitchen sink and listened to him talk. I stopped washing dishes when I heard King’s tone change. His voice went deeper, darker, until he’d hit stone. When I twisted around to look over my shoulder, I watched his expression grow serious. When he ended the call, I knew something bad had happened.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  We drove separately. I hated feeling like we were worlds apart. King rushed out of the house without an explanation to Angelina or his mother. It was just work, always work, an ugly reality to the world we lived—something we had to accept if we wanted King in our lives.

  My heart was in my throat as I drove. I kept having to dry my sweaty palms on my thighs to keep a tight grip on the steering wheel. I couldn’t afford to spin out of control as I fought to keep up with King barreling forward.

  King had his sirens blazing, lights flashing. I tailed him, following as close behind him as I could without risking a crash. We drove fast, speeding through red lights and squealing around turns. The spike of adrenalin had reawakened my senses and anything I might have been cursing Angelina about only minutes ago were now gone with the wind.

  No one knew what had happened but it was Avery who had been found badly injured in nearby Commons Park. The details were anybody’s guess, but I kept saying my prayers, hoping she would pull through her injuries.

  I dove my hand inside my tote and reached for my cell phone. Thumbing the screen, I dialed Erin’s number. She picked up after the second ring.

  “Have you spoken to Walter Walker?” I asked.

  “Not since we dr
opped him off. Why? What’s going on?”

  I told her about Avery, starting with missing dinner, and then filled Erin in on the initial reports coming in. Avery had been found in the park barely hanging on to life.

  “Lord.” Erin gasped. “I hope she’s okay.”

  Erin’s response nearly killed me. Since Walker pushed his way into our lives, Erin and I hadn’t been on the same page. I wished she would have caught on to why I was asking her to call Walker ASAP, but I didn’t have time to explain.

  Erin didn’t mention anything about the threats I heard Walker spitting off like bullets to Avery earlier, but it was the only thing I could hear now.

  “Call him,” I said into the phone. “Learn his location, but don’t mention anything I just shared. Give me a call as soon as you know where he’s at.”

  Two minutes later, I curbed my car behind King’s. There was another dozen cop cars already on the scene and an ambulance was sitting idle, waiting on standby. That was never a good sign, but I refused to let go of the little bit of hope I was still clinging to until we knew for sure Avery was okay.

  King stepped out and I met him at his door. He wasn’t focused and looked worried about what he would find. It was so dark—the crimson and blue lights flashing overhead nearly blinding me—and I swore I watched a part of King leave his body as he looked around, taking in his location as if debating his own safety.

  “Go,” I said, knowing I didn’t need to waste time fighting my way past the police line I’d never get through. He had work to do. We both did.

  Detective John Alvarez was waiting for his partner and King dragged me along with him, telling me to stay close behind. As we approached, I knew I wasn’t welcome but King tightened his grip and I followed.

  “Stay back, Sam,” Alvarez said to me. “We’re still working the scene. Give us time and maybe we’ll get you in here tonight.”

  King turned his sights on Alvarez. “Where is she?”

  Ignoring my presence, Alvarez asked King, “Does this park mean anything to you?”

  The look on King’s face when we arrived flashed behind my eyelids. Now my mind was churning, wondering what it was he was piecing together but not telling me.

  “Where is she?” King grew agitated.

  Alvarez’s face paled. His eyelids hooded over, his pupils the size of black holes. He flicked his dull gaze to me, then back to King. I knew the look well. It was a look I’d seen hundreds of times before, yet somehow this one was different. When Alvarez shook his head, we both knew Avery was dead.

  My entire body went numb and my hand started trembling the moment King let go of it.

  King’s face went purple just before he wound his hand back behind his head and swung a mighty punch into his opposite hand, sending a quake loud enough to shake the earth below.

  I flinched and stood there in absolute shock.

  King crumbled to the ground and I fell with him, draping my arms over the backs of his shoulders. His muscles bounced and cried as he grappled with the sudden news of Avery’s demise. I couldn’t believe it. I’d known something wasn’t right—but this? How could this be?

  My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I stood and answered the call from Erin. “Tell me you found him,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “Sam, Walker’s not answering. What should I do?”

  Keeping one hand on King’s heaving body, I said, “We need to know where he was tonight. It’s important we find him ASAP.”

  “This doesn’t have to do with Avery, does it?”

  I couldn’t tell Erin that Avery was dead, not over the phone. But I was glad Erin was finally hearing what Walker said earlier when snooping around Orville Boyd’s house. Instead, I kept my response short. “Just keep trying to track him down.”

  I ended my call and King had caught his breath and regained his focus. Standing, Alvarez leaned closer and explained more about what they’d found. “There was a message with her body on a twenty.”

  “From the killer?” I asked.

  Alvarez stared, debating whether or not he should say. Then he said, “We’re assuming so.” He swung his heavy gaze to King. “But it was directly addressed to you.”

  King stared at his partner, wide-eyed and confused. “To me?”

  Alvarez nodded and I pushed my hands through my hair.

  “What did it say?” King asked.

  Alvarez knew he shouldn’t be talking with me there, but he also knew that King’s life was being threatened. That made this investigation different “You played one hell of a game, Inspector Alex King.”

  I turned to King. “Mean anything to you?”

  King lifted his gaze and looked to the baseball fields shrouded in darkness. “Who found her?”

  I put my hand between his shoulders. “King, what game is this wacko talking about?”

  They both ignored me and Alvarez pointed to the teenage boy still being questioned near a squad car. His head was turned, impossible to see his face. Then Alvarez said, “Your high school team won the championship twenty years ago on this very field, didn’t they?”

  King stood with a gaze as distant as that memory.

  We stood holding our breaths as we waited to hear King’s response. My thoughts were grinding hard and I was already piecing together the clues. Whoever attacked Avery was making this a game. It seemed to be the killer versus King. But were they also tallying points? Was this their first kill? Something told me they were, and it wasn’t.

  King finally snapped out of his thoughts, nodded, and said, “We won that game over there twenty-two years ago this spring.”

  Alvarez scrubbed a hand over his face and King said he needed to see the body.

  “No. Not this time.” Alvarez pressed his palm into King’s chest, stopping him in his tracks.

  King’s eyes widened a fraction and I watched his muscles flex. “Get out of my way.”

  “You remember that case four years back?” Alvarez was still hanging onto King’s coat. “The woman brutally beaten and raped in City Park?”

  King’s jaw ticked as recognition flashed over his eyes. “The one we couldn’t solve.”

  Alvarez nodded. “It’s nearly identical.”

  My mind floated away as I glanced behind me and peered into the growing crowd. I knew the case Alvarez was referring to. It was a brutal, ugly murder. I couldn’t stop myself from thinking how this made for the second murder this week to be taken directly from King’s cold case files.

  “Don’t fuck with me,” King growled.

  “It’s true,” Alvarez said.

  A shiver rocked my core. News vans were arriving. Dozens of eyes peered through the lights, wanting to know what happened. I still couldn’t believe it. My heart was heavy, but my mind was on fire.

  Was this about Orville Boyd wanting to get payback, or was there a scarier killer out there who was torturing King, reminding him of his inability to solve big cases? I didn’t know. The only sure thing was that King was in more danger than I originally thought.

  Suddenly, I locked eyes with the man I had been looking for—the same man I knew for certain had a peculiar fascination with cold cases. Walter Walker stood behind the crowd, staring directly at me. We locked eyes and I watched a smirk curl his lips toward his ears just before he turned and disappeared into the darkness as if his job here was done.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  A thin beam of light shot through the drapes like the long blade of a glowing yellow sword. The tip of it was flirting dangerously close to the jugular of Gemma Love as she stirred awake in the light.

  Turning onto her side, she rolled directly into a wall of muscle.

  The man didn’t move and she barely opened her eyes as she nuzzled up next to him, his familiar scent as relaxing as wine. Draping her right leg across his muscular thigh, she spooned his naked body as she nibbled his ear and asked, “When did you get in?”

  Without opening his eyes, the man spoke in a deep baritone. “Sometime after midnight.
”

  Gemma kissed his neck, slid the balls of her hands down his washboard abs, pushing the tip of her fingers beneath the elastic band of his boxer briefs. “Anything to report?”

  He squirmed his way onto his back, pressed a hot hand to her cheek. Her eyes swayed inside of his and instead of answering her question, he fisted her hair and brought her lips down to his for a hard, satisfying kiss.

  Gemma mewed, her soft body melting deeper into his chest. By the way he kissed her, she knew his night didn’t go as well as he’d hoped. His silence spoke for itself but it was the wave of fear traveling down her spine that had her wondering just how bad it really was.

  There were risks involved, the stakes were high. They both understood that nothing came for free. When she asked him again, she hoped he’d relieve her concerns by telling her it was nothing to worry about. Instead, he wiggled out from under her, leaving her cold and alone.

  He flipped his feet over the side of the bed and hung his head as he sighed.

  Gemma followed her man to the edge, rubbed her hand in small circles across his back. They were in this together, through thick and thin, no matter what.

  Then he said in a raspy whisper, “Samantha was there.”

  Gemma perked up with sudden interest. Her hand stopped moving, the tips of her fingers pressing deeper into his flesh. Suddenly wide awake, a flood of questions rushed to her lips but only one came out. “Did she see you?”

  He rolled his neck, looked over his shoulder, and gave a single nod of his head.

  “Christ, Walter.” Gemma pulled her hand away. “How could you let this happen?”

  Walter Walker answered again with silence.

  Gemma knew that this was a bad idea. They were out of their league, walking a path where they didn’t belong. She knew Samantha was already the broken link to securing their investment, but how were they going to convince her to sign on to their deal after this?

  Gemma fell back on her heels and let her gaze fall between the window drapes.

  She debated backing out while they were still ahead, but they couldn’t just let this go, either. They needed Samantha more than they needed anybody else. She held the keys to the vault of secrets, knew things that no one else knew. And Walker might have blown their chances at obtaining any of that.