C.J. Urban - Julie Townsend 01 - Hidden Intent (14 page)

There was a bright floodlight that lit up the front, and Julie saw that the one-story house was painted a deep green. There were two large flowerbeds filled with red roses, one on either side of the walkway, and the lawn appeared well-manicured, except for the patches of crabgrass littering it.

Julie walked around to the side of the house, looking behind her every few seconds, like Skye had done at the City Hall.

She stopped just before entering the side gate and found it locked. She stood a moment, listening hard for any sound at all. Satisfied, she climbed the gate and surveyed her surroundings.

The back yard looked entirely ordinary as far as Julie could tell. There was one lone shed in the corner, and the rest of the backyard was cracked concrete and grass. Julie searched around for an unlocked window, but found none as she made her way across the back of the house. When she reached the other side of the house to inspect the last window, her stomach jumped into her chest. The window had been left open a little, and the curtains were hanging
outside
.

Chapter 26

Julie inched the window open carefully, just enough to let herself in. She swung her leg over the opening, but then stopped as something caught her eye. It was a footprint on the sill that led out of the room.
Who would need to leave through this window?
She wondered. It didn’t matter right now, though, and Julie pulled the rest of her body through, scanning the room she had just entered illegally.

It was dark, but she could see the dim outlines of a bed and dresser. There were also several large pictures on the walls, but Julie couldn’t tell what the pictures were of. She searched around for a light switch and found one next to the door. She flipped it on, and turned to get a better look.

The twin-sized bed was covered in a blue, threadbare blanket, and the tall oak dresser had large gashes in it, as if it had been struck by something repeatedly. The pictures were what drew her attention though, and her eyes widened in horror. Although they were ordinary posters, mostly of sports figures, Julie was shocked to see that each player’s eyes had been scratched out. Just like the old drawing she’d found in Tara’s bedroom.

Trying to stay calm, Julie grabbed the knob of the bedroom door to search the rest of the house, but a noise from the other side made her stop.

The front door had opened. She heard the voices of two people coming into the house. The voices came closer and, fighting panic, she looked around desperately for a place to hide. Her eyes locked on the closet next to the bed, and she quickly turned off the light, hurrying into it just as the two people burst into the room.

“What were you doing outside?” demanded the first voice harshly. Julie recognized this one as Langley.

“I was taking a walk, Momma,” said the other. Julie’s hand flew up to her mouth. She recognized that voice, too. It was the young man from the park today who had been tackled.

“You stay in here at night, Desmond. Got me?” Langley said harshly. “You made me miss a very important dinner tonight.”

“I’m sorry, Momma,” Desmond said, sounding defeated.

“What’s so great about wandering at night?” Langley asked. “All you ever do is look in women’s bedrooms.”

“I don’t do that no more.”

Julie put the pieces together instantly. Desmond was D. Suddenly Desmond screamed in pain, and Langley’s voice dropped so low Julie could barely hear it.

“Next time you leave at night, I’ll beat you until your skin falls off.”

Julie heard a thump against the floor and assumed Desmond had been thrown to the ground. “Get up and come eat,” Langley ordered.

The door closed, and Julie figured Desmond and Langley had left the room. She grabbed the doorknob, getting ready to leave, but then she heard footsteps coming toward the closet. Her heart sped up, thumping hard in her chest as she moved back further into the closet. She heard the jiggle of the doorknob and watched helplessly as the door opened just a few inches, letting in a small strip of light. Just then Langley yelled, “Get out here and eat.”

Relief flooded her as the door closed and she was once again in darkness. She heard Desmond’s heavy footsteps leave the room and the door slam shut. Julie remained frozen in the closet for several minutes, listening in silence.

When she couldn’t stand it any longer, she pushed the closet door open, and peered into the dark room. It was empty. Shaking now, she crept across the room to the window, forcing it open again and nearly diving out of it onto the soft grass outside.

Julie knew she couldn’t leave the way she came, terrified as she imagined herself being caught at gunpoint by Langley. She shook the image from her mind and decided to climb over the wall beside Desmond’s window. She cut her leg on the way over, and held back a cry as warm blood ran down her calf.

Once on the other side of the wall, she crossed to the neighbor’s yard, not daring to walk in front of Langley’s brightly lit house. She made it across the yard and sprinted blindly away. All she cared about was getting as far away from Langley’s house as possible.

After she ran several blocks, she stopped to catch her breath and assess the damage to her leg. The cut was ragged, but not very deep. The flow of blood had stopped, leaving a dried mess across her calf and along the top of her sock.

Julie looked around, lost now from having run so far. She noticed that there were several streets leading off of Langley’s that ran parallel to the one she had parked on. She chose the closest one to her, and hoped it would lead her in the right direction.

After running several more blocks, she finally found the street where she had parked, and literally jumped into her truck.

Julie leaned against the seat, trying to catch her breath and calm down. She didn’t think she could drive, her hands were shaking so badly, but she desperately wanted to get out of Langley’s neighborhood.

As soon as she felt she was calm enough to keep her hands steady she sped home and called Skye, telling him to pick up Sam and come as soon as he could. She rushed to the door when she heard their voices and pulled them both inside, as if she was afraid they would disappear if they lingered on the porch.

Skye could see that Julie was quite shaken, so he took Sam upstairs and got him settled with some toys.

When he came back down, he gave her a hug. She was on the verge of tears. “What’s going on?” He asked.

“You’re not going to believe what I found,” Julie said, still working to wrap her mind around it.

“What?”

“It was her son.”

“Chief Langley has a son?”

“He was at the park today,” Julie said, ignoring his question. “He was the one who attacked the older man.”

“She has a son?” Skye reiterated, stunned.

“Yes, and his name is Desmond. Think about it, Skye. Tara’s diary used the letter D as the boy’s name. And Desmond looked to be about the right age to have been a teenager twenty years ago. And why would Langley have killed Tara? It makes no sense. I’m willing to bet Desmond was infatuated with Tara and that he was the one who killed her.”

“So that’s why she lives so far away,” Skye said.

“Probably. She doesn’t want anyone to know about him. That man he was with must be his caretaker.”

“Okay. I can definitely see how that all fits together. But still, we don’t have real evidence.”

Julie groaned in frustration, and Skye led her to the couch. She hadn’t really given much thought to what they would do with the information if and when they got it. She was mainly focused on finding the truth for the sake of finding it.

Julie couldn’t sit still. She still had too much nervous energy. “I’ve got to get out of these clothes, and clean that scratch on my leg,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

Julie dashed up to her room and stripped off her pants. She checked her back pocket for her driver license and to her alarm, she realized it was missing.

She slipped on a pair of sweatpants and ran down the stairs to Skye.

Skye thought she would calm down a little after changing but he saw that Julie was now more upset than ever. “What’s wrong?”

“My license. I put it in my back pocket,” she cried. “It must have fallen out at her house. It’s gone, Skye.”

Chapter
27

Crap,
Skye thought to himself. But he kept his cool for Julie. “Calm down,” he soothed. “We don’t know that for sure. Let’s check around the house and in your truck first, okay?”

As they searched Julie became more and more hysterical, berating herself for being so stupid. After nearly fifteen minutes of searching Julie caught Skye’s arm and stopped him just as he was about to check under the coffee table again.

“It’s not here,” she said angrily. “She’s going to find out I was there, I just know it.”

“We still don’t know where it is for sure.”

Julie took several deep breaths to calm down, and when she felt her heart start to slow, she sank into her chair and stared up at Skye.

“I need to sleep,” said Julie. “I’m going to check on Sam, and then go to bed. Wait a few minutes, then come up. Maybe you should just move in,” she added in an attempt to lighten the mood. 

She gave him a quick kiss and walked upstairs to check on Sam. He was already asleep, fully dressed and laying across the plushy rug next to his bed and a huge pile of Legos.

Julie scooped him up and laid him in his bed, taking off his shoes before pulling his blankets up over him.

Then, she had another delicious night with Skye.

The next morning, Julie watched Skye while he slept for a little while. How was it that she got so close to him so soon? She felt completely comfortable with him. She’d never slept around much, like some of her old friends had, but she didn’t feel the least guilty about being with him. It felt…right.

“Skye, wake up,” she said, nudging him gently.

Skye opened his eyes, still groggy. “What?”

“Get up. I need to talk to you.”

Skye sat up, rubbing his eyes and tousling his hair, and looked at Julie. “About what?”

“I’m going to visit my uncle today so I can tell him who murdered his daughter. Even if Langley’s son is never caught, Uncle Oliver deserves to know.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“Actually I was hoping you’d be willing to watch Sam for me. He’ll be bored over there,” she said. “And I don’t want to keep making your mom babysit.”

“Sure thing. I have to work this afternoon though, so you have to be back by one o’clock.”

“Thanks so much, Skye,” she said kissing him softly. “I’ll be sure to be back before then.”

“I really don’t want to let you go,” he said, grinning.

“I’ll be back soon,” she said, returning the smile.

Julie left the house and got into her truck, heading toward her uncle’s house, furiously trying to figure out how to explain everything. Even though Julie only had her word as proof, she worried that the news might upset him, and wanted to tell him in the calmest way possible.

She arrived in front of her uncle’s house, still not completely sure how to begin the conversation. She knocked several times on the door, and waited.

After about a minute, she finally heard stirring behind the door and stood back slightly as it opened. To Julie’s surprise, Gloria stood at the door.

“Well, hello dear,” Gloria said, motioning for Julie to come in.

“I wasn’t expecting to see anyone else here,” Julie said, thinking this might complicate the delicate subject.

“I’ve just been here visiting with Oliver, but I’m on my way out.”

“Oh, okay,” Julie said as Gloria walked to the door. “Well, have a nice day, Gloria.”

“You too, dear.”

Once Gloria left, Oliver turned to Julie with a curious expression on his face. “To what do I owe this visit, my dear?”

“I have some news for you,” Julie said barely able to contain herself. “I know who killed your daughter.”

“What?”

“Tara,” Julie said. “I know who killed her.”

It took a while for the realization to sink in, but once it did, Oliver took her hand in his and held it tightly.

“Tell me,” he said in a soft voice.

“Desmond Langley.”

“Who?” Oliver asked, completely perplexed.

“He’s the chief’s son. I guess no one knew she had one. I know it’s hard to believe, and none of my evidence will stand up in court as of yet, but I figured it would be good at least to ease your mind.”

“What evidence do you have?” Oliver asked.

Julie recounted what was in the file she and Skye had taken from City Hall and how they had thought it was Langley until Julie discovered she had a son.

“It just fits,” Julie said. “I hope it’s enough for you to believe me.”

“I believe you,” Oliver said, “but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s still free, while my Tara lies dead and buried.”