A Killer's Watch (16 page)

“Wouldn’t it be tight enough, if we found the girls on his
property?”

“Now that Thomas has disappeared, Grant could make him a
scapegoat. Blame it all on the butler. Classic.”

“Sounds like a good reason to help the police find Thomas.”

“Exactly, I’ll have Nate request the files. If Thomas
is
still alive, he may know something that will help us.” Jeri reached for her
phone again, just as a text came through. “It’s Jackson. He says that Jen is
going home today.” Smiling, she responded to the news. “I told him to take care
of her, and to let us know if he needed anything.”

“That’s great, she’s getting out of the hospital sooner than
expected.”

“Not too soon for them, I’m sure. Something tells me that
Jackson will have his hands full with that one,” Jeri grinned, waiting for Nate
to answer.

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing, but about Jen,”
Monique grinned back.

“Hey, Nate, how’s it going?” Jeri asked when Nate came on
the line.

“Just doing my best to keep you guys legal,” Nate responded.
“It’s been a while, how are you doing? Cassie asked me yesterday if I ever
talked to you anymore.”

“I know, Ethan has you on speed dial, but it’s been too long
since we’ve spoken. How are Cassie and the baby?”

 “Fantastic, thanks. Charlotte is getting into everything,
but we love it.” Nate’s pride came through, loud and clear. “You should come
back to Charleston soon, see for yourself.”

“We’d love to, but we’ve been a little tied up lately, thanks
to one psycho, or another.”

“I know, they never stop coming, do they? Speaking of, I
know you didn’t call to chat, what do you need?”

“We think we’ve narrowed down a suspect in the Kansas case,
but we need a copy of a police report, and we need to go through the proper
channels.”

“Sure thing, what’s the incident?”

“Graham and Belinda Grant, Shawnee County, Kansas, filed a
report this morning claiming that their butler, Thomas, disappeared with
jewelry and other valuables. Sorry, I don’t know the butler’s last name. I need
a copy of the report, and any leads the police may have on Thomas’s
whereabouts.”

“No problem. You think the butler did it? Sorry, I couldn’t
resist.”

“Funny,” Jeri rolled her eyes. “No, but I think the butler
may know something, if he’s still alive. I think Graham Grant is our killer.”

“Right, I’ll get back with you shortly.”

“Thanks, Nate.”

“It’s nice to have such a connected player on the payroll,”
Monique commented.

“Yeah, Nate’s the best. If he doesn’t know someone who can
pull the strings we need, then he knows someone who knows someone.”

“It really is all about connections, isn’t it?”

“Pretty much, if you want to get anything done through
Government channels.”

“It’s the same in Europe,” Monique told her.

“No doubt. Connections, and money, equates to power,” Jeri
said wryly. “Wait a minute, do you hear that?”

“Yes, it sounds like a helicopter.”

“Finally, we’re getting somewhere.”

Graham resisted the urge to pour another
S
cotch, he needed a clear head to get through the rest
of this day. Not only did he have to contend with interviewing candidates to
replace Thomas, he had to figure out a way to get rid of Thomas’s body.

Now that he was in the clear, and he truly felt that he was,
he could put things to rights, and get back to the business at hand.

Spending time with the girls last night had been lovely, but
it was not enough, not nearly enough. He felt cheated of their company, thanks
to an interfering busybody, and his meddling mother. How he’d wanted to take
one of them to his table, to make her his, once and for all. But he couldn’t,
not last night. And not today. But tonight would be different. Tonight, he
would finally get to know them both. Very, very well.

Standing by the fireplace, holding an empty glass, he
visualized the plans he’d made for the Aubrey wannabes. So lost was he in his
depravity, that he didn’t register the helicopter, flying over his home. 

“Lunch is served, Mr. Grant.” The raspy voice of Marie,
their longtime cook, pierced his reverie.

“Thank you, Marie.” Placing the glass on the mantle, Graham
went into the dining room, where the table was set for one.

That’s right, he remembered, Mother is dining in her room.

Cheered by the thought, he sat down and turned his thoughts
to Thomas. He must rid himself of the body, and soon. He still liked the idea
of letting acid disintegrate the body, but who knew how long that would take.
Thomas could become a valuable ally, if suspicion ever turned back to him.

The thought had not yet occurred to Graham, but he liked it.
Thomas would make a wonderful patsy, should the need ever arise. He’d left on
the very day that the FBI came to call, very suspicious behavior. As long as
they never found his body, they would never know the truth. Thomas could be a
murderer, just as easily as he could be a thief.

“It’s all about perception,” Graham smiled as he sipped his
soup.

~~~

“That looks like tire tracks,” Chloe pointed to a line of
depressed grass, leading from the pavement behind the garage, to the gate at
the edge of the manicured lawn.

“Let’s follow them, see where they go,” Ethan nodded,
motioning to Jeff.

“I remember this house. The basement was totally empty,”
Chloe told him as they followed the tracks across the field. “It was strange.
Who doesn’t need storage?”

“Apparently the Grants,” Ethan replied. “Jeri is positive
that he’s our man.”

“Wait, look there, the tracks lead to a group of trees,”
Chloe pointed.

“What’s behind the trees?” Ethan nodded, feeling the
excitement grow.

~~~

“Mr. Grant, did you order a helicopter to survey the
fields?” Marie asked, bringing in dessert.

“Helicopter? What are you referring to, Marie?”

“There’s a helicopter flying over the fields. It’s been
there for about fifteen minutes.”

Ignoring the thick slice of chocolate cake Marie placed
before him, Graham jumped up and walked quickly to the window. There, as Marie
described, was a helicopter, hovering over the old cellar.

His blood froze.

He knew that, by design, the entrance to the cellar appeared
to be a rock pile from the air. The trees in front of the doorway were dense
enough to camouflage the entrance, making it virtually impossible to tell, from
above, that the pile of rocks was anything more than a blip on the landscape.

Why, then, were they still hovering directly above the
rocks?

Was it even legal?

Spurred into action, Graham flew to the phone, calling his
friend, the mayor. It was time that all of those campaign contributions paid
off.

~~~

“It looks just like one of the other seven rock piles we’ve
seen today. I guess it’s easier to put them in one place, rather than to have
them removed,” Chloe offered as they stared down at the terrain.

“Yeah, maybe. But there’s something different about this
one. It’s too perfect, see? We’ll mark it, come back to it after we view the
rest of the property. Let’s keep going, Jeff.”

Halfway into the grid pattern covering the thirty acre
estate, Jeff’s voice broke through the headsets.

“We’ve been ordered to leave the premises.”

“By whom?” Ethan demanded.

“Apparently, the owner has connections. He filed a
disturbance complaint. I’ve no choice but to take her in.”

“A disturbance complaint? That’s ridiculous! We’re searching
for missing kids! That trumps any noise complaint.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, man,” Jeff seemed apologetic
as he took the chopper up and away from the Grant property. “I’ve been ordered
in, so in we go.”

“He’s afraid of what we’ll find,” Chloe told him.

“Or what we’ve already found,” Ethan answered.

~~~

“Ethan said the chopper’s been ordered off of the Grant
property,” Jeri read the text to Monique. “Somebody pulled some strings.”

“He’s worried. That must mean we’re onto something.”

“Yep,” Jeri hit three on her speed dial. “I have to call
Nate, get a search warrant for the property.”

“If Grant has enough clout to ground the chopper, he’s got
enough clout to fight a warrant.”

“I know. But our clout is bigger than his clout.”

“Someone is turning into the driveway,” Monique said
suddenly, raising the binoculars.

“Get the tag, we’ll run it, see who’s paying the Grant’s a
visit.” Jeri told her, just as Nate answered the call.

~~~

The ringing doorbell stopped Graham’s frantic pacing. He’d stopped
the chopper, but he knew that it was a temporary measure, that the FBI would
soon show up with a warrant. It had to be the FBI, Mayor Hayes knew of no
surveillance operation authorized by the local police.

 He had to get Thomas’s body out of the cellar, before they
came to search. Finding the girls was one thing, but he could blame Thomas for
everything, as long as they didn’t find him dead.

His head spinning with possibilities, he opened the door to
find an innocuous looking man, dressed in a finely tailored suit, holding a
sheaf of papers. Was this man serving the warrant already?

“Yes?” Graham asked in his haughtiest tone of voice.

“Mr. Grant? I’m Albert Reeves. The agency sent me over to
interview for the position you have available.”

“Of course, please come in, Mr. Reeves.” Graham switched
instantly to his most charming self, extending his hand to what could well be
his salvation.

~~~

“The car belongs to Albert Reeves, current occupation,
household manager. Looks like the Grants are interviewing for a replacement for
Thomas,” Monique reported, after speaking with Anna.

“Good, that should keep them busy for a while. We need to
pick up Ethan and Chloe,” Jeri told her. “He had the chopper land about two
miles down the road. I’ll stay here, keep an eye on things, you go get them.
Leave me the binoculars.”

“Of course. Be back soon,” Monique waited while Jeri exited
the car.

Sprinting to the side of the road, Jeri ducked into the
trees. Nate had warned that it could take a few hours to get a warrant, with so
little to go on. She had no intention of letting Grant get away in the
meantime.

~~~

“Everything appears to be in good order,” Graham smiled
warmly at the silent, would-be butler. “How soon can you begin, Mr. Reeves?”

“Oh, well, I can start today, if you like.” Albert Reeves
beamed at his new benefactor.

“Very good. Wait here, please. I have a phone call to make,
then we’ll take a tour of the property.”

“Thank you, Mr. Grant. I appreciate your faith in me. I
won’t let you down.” Reeves’ sincere gratitude fell on deaf ears.

Nodding once, Graham left the parlor, closing the doors
behind him. He did not want any of the staff to meet Albert Reeves. Moving
quickly to his study, Graham once again closed the doors, this time for
privacy.

His mind had been formulating a plan, the entire time Albert
Reeves had been relegating tales of his experience, and his attributes. Graham
knew that he had limited time to execute the plan, which began with switching
out his computers.

The laptop he used exclusively for his internet business
went into a safe, hidden behind a false-paneled wall that only he knew was
there. His desktop computer, and his other laptop, held only files and
information relating to his legitimate businesses, and household accounts. The
FBI could search those devices all day long, and never find anything that would
tie him to the missing girls.

Next, he checked the window, making sure that the helicopter
was gone. Seeing that the way was clear, he grabbed a bag of his disguises,
pasted on a smile for Albert Reeves, then went to take him on a tour. Starting
with the old cellar, of course.

~~~

“No movement of any kind,” Jeri reported as she slid into
the backseat of the car. “Nate’s working on the warrant.”

“Good,” Ethan reached over and squeezed her hand in
greeting. “We found something that could be a shelter, but it could also just
be a pile of rocks. As soon as the warrant is issued, we’ll check it out.”

“It kills me, knowing we’re so close to finding the girls, but
we can’t act on it,” Jeri felt the need to pace, but couldn’t.

“What’s stopping him from killing them, before we get the
warrant?” Chloe asked.

“Not a damn thing, but I think he’s too smart for that,”
Jeri answered. “He knows that we’ll know their time of death. Assuming that
they’re still alive, if he kills them now, we can nail him for murder.”

“But if we find them, then we can nail him for kidnapping,
and murder.” Chloe didn’t know the whole story. Neither did Ethan.

“Not if he pins it on someone else. Which he will. His
butler, Thomas, disappeared overnight, supposedly with property he stole from
the Grants. It’s the perfect scenario, blaming everything on the man who isn’t
here to defend himself,” Jeri explained.

“Son of a bitch,” Ethan breathed the words. “What do you
want to bet that the butler is dead?”

“My thoughts, exactly,” Jeri nodded.

“If he’s got this perfect plan, all laid out, then how will
we stop him?” Chloe asked.

“We wait, and watch. He won’t be able to stop himself. He’s
got a taste for murder, plus he thinks he’s so much smarter than everyone else,
including the FBI. As soon as he makes his next move, we’ve got him.”

~~~

“Do you mind taking your vehicle? I’ve misplaced my glasses,
which makes driving difficult.” Graham’s request was impossible for Reeves to
refuse. Not that he considered it. Happy to be employed in such a grand home,
by such well-respected people, he would have driven his car into the river, had
Graham Grant asked it of him.