Dark Passing (The Ella Reynolds Series) (9 page)

Gabriel freaked me out enough that I brought Fagan into the loop. I stuck my head out of the office and Officer Duke was gone. I went to the front and asked Sergeant Jeffries for Sheriff Fagan’s phone number. He wrote it on a scrap of paper, and I called, worry twisting in my stomach.

When Fagan answered, I jumped right in. “It’s Ella, hi. I’m meeting a potential witness in a park tonight, and I’d like it if someone could accompany me, but only to watch from a distance.”

He sighed. “What time?”

“8:00 p.m.”

“And you’re at the station now?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be there in a couple minutes.” He hung up without saying anything further.

I tapped my foot and chewed on my bottom lip. I called Martha to let her know where I was and what was going on, just in case Fagan was the killer and decided I was more trouble than I was worth. She was her usual bubbly self, but told me to take care of myself and bundle up. She’d have cocoa waiting for me when I got home. I smiled a little at her mothering. It had been a long time since I lost my mom, and it was sort of nice to have someone to call with things like this. I turned the interview back on and taped part of it with my cell phone. He said that I couldn’t remove evidence, not that I couldn’t copy it.

Fagan charged into the interview room minutes after I turned off the VCR, his eyes hard and irritated. “Was I not clear about what I meant by ‘keep me in the loop,’ Ms. Reynolds?”

I narrowed my eyes. I was keeping him in the loop, more than I wanted to. “I told you about the meeting.”

“Thirty minutes before. When did you set it up? Who are you meeting?”

“I don’t know her name. She approached me and said she wanted to meet somewhere private. She’s high strung, nervous… I don’t think she trusts the cops.”

Fagan leaned against the wall. “Probably a meth addict. You’re wasting my time.”

“Could be, or she could know something.”

“Where are you meeting?”

“Liberty Park by the benches.”

He threw his arms up in the air. “Of course you are. Have you been to Liberty Park?”

“No.”

“It’s all soccer fields, and closes at dark. The closest I’d be able to set up surveillance without being noticed is too far away to do you much good if you’re attacked.” He ran a hand through his hair and sat on the corner of the table. “Would you like a taser?”

I considered it, but didn’t really want one. Knowing how jumpy I could be, I’d probably end up stunning an innocent late-night jogger.

“No, that’s okay. If I see someone coming toward me, I’ll run to wherever you are. If I don’t see the person approach, then all the tasers in the world won’t help me.”

“You’re going to wear a microphone”

“I’d prefer not.”

“I don’t really care what you prefer.” He raised an eyebrow, daring me to challenge him.

“Fine. Make it quick. I’m going to be late.”

****

I walked into the park fifteen minutes late. I couldn’t see Fagan but glanced at the tree line he’d said he’d be parked behind. It would be a pretty good run if things went sour. The flat fields stretched out in front of me, but it was too dark to make out much along the edges. As my eyes adjusted, I saw the dim outlines of goal posts and a shorter jumble I took to be the benches. The frozen grass and snow crunched under my boots and the bitter wind made me keep my head down. One thing I didn’t see as I trudged toward the benches was the girl. She could’ve been hiding off in the shadows or maybe she left when I didn’t show up on time. I flexed my fingers, trying to keep the blood circulating in my hands. The snow around the benches was undisturbed. I used my cell phone to light the area and didn’t see any footprints leading in or out. Maybe she was later than me.

I jumped up and down to keep my blood moving as I waited. After thirty minutes, I decided she wasn’t coming. Fagan would be insufferable, but I wasn’t going to stand in the cold all night waiting. I waded through the snow toward the trees and noticed a lumpy looking pile. I eyed it carefully, waiting for it to move or jump at me, but it never even twitched. I took a deep breath.
Just a downed tree. Don’t freak yourself out.

I kept my eyes locked on the mound as I steadily moved forward. The ground around it seemed darker than the rest.
It’s just shadows from the trees.
I tried to convince myself, but my stomach twisted, and I stopped walking.

Damn it.

I had to look. I couldn’t not look. I veered to the left and slowly approached. My nose and sinuses burned from the cold. I used my cell phone as a light again, pointing it toward the ground. A crimson mess marred and melted the white blanket of snow covering the ground. The mound in the center could only be one thing. A body.

I stared numbly. I couldn’t move as different parts of my brain warred over what to do. One part said to get the hell out of there and find Fagan before I became a disgusting pile of Ella, but another part of me, the part that had trouble reconciling that this was real, wanted a closer look—to see what I couldn’t unsee. If I had gotten that poor girl killed…

I shook off the guilt. The chances of Fagan letting me into this investigation were nil. This was my only opportunity to know, to look at the deranged product of evil once again. I squatted down, still five feet away from the body. I stretched my arm and phone toward the pile, trying to shine a light on it without disturbing the crime scene. It hardly looked human—more like a large animal that had been run over by a lawn mower, all fleshy chunks and tufts of what could be hair on top of a larger mass that could have been a body. Was that a finger? An ear? It was hard to tell in the dark, gooey pile. Maybe it wasn’t a person at all.

 Dizziness swept over me and the familiar sensation of a panic attack took root. I stood up and crashed full speed through the woods, jumping at every snap and rustle of bare limbs as I strained to breathe. When I broke free on the other side, I gasped for air, but pushed on. Fagan’s car was completely dark. I skidded to a halt and stared, suddenly worried he was dead too, and I was alone.

Shit.

The lights flashed, and relief brought me close to tears. I tore open the passenger door.

“Wasting my time—”

“A body… the woods.” I cut him off. The numb calm flaked away, leaving me exposed. My hands shook uncontrollably. Saying there was a body out loud made it so much more real. The world around me spun in a blur of darkness and brought a deep-seated terror that I’d thought was gone back to life.

Fagan blinked a few times, then flew into a flurry of action. He pulled his gun, radioed for back up and paramedics, and got out of the car. I slumped sideways into the passenger seat, my feet planted on the ground outside. I leaned my head over my knees as white noise filled my head.

“You need to take me to the body.”

I ignored him, trying to stop the shaking.

He grabbed my shoulders and lurched me upright. “Show me where the body is.” His blue eyes drilled into mine.

I swallowed against the lump in my throat several times, but nodded and stood up unsteadily.

“Follow the exact path you took. We don’t want to make new tracks.”

I somehow managed to get him back into view of the pile. I pointed, but didn’t move any closer this time. The morbid fascination was gone; I just wanted to go home. I couldn’t say how long it was before red and blue lights flashed through the trees. Fagan and I headed back through the woods, and he let me sit in his car. I shut the door to block out the sounds then leaned back with my eyes closed and counted my breaths. My phone buzzed in my pocket and my heart stuttered. I took it out with shaking hands. Gabriel. Seeing his name made my eyes well. I couldn’t talk to him right now. I had to keep it together until I was alone.

It took hours. By the time Fagan returned, I no longer noticed my hands shaking because my whole body quivered. Cold and exhausted, I could hardly keep my eyes open.

“I take it you didn’t see anything.” Fagan’s voice made my muscles clench.

I let out a long, slow breath. “No.”

I couldn’t make out his facial expression in the darkness of the car, but moments later the engine came to life. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” He drove me to Martha’s in silence.

As soon as he stopped, I got out of the car and headed for the house. As I reached for the door, someone grabbed my shoulder. I yelped and swung around. Fagan gave me a rueful smile—then shoved his hands down the front of my coat. I froze. All my snarky comments and objections got caught somewhere between my brain and my throat. His rough fingers slipped under the neckline of my shirt, and I slammed my fist into his chest, making him back up a couple steps, something tearing from my skin.

The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped me out of my fight reflex. Fagan held up the small microphone I’d forgotten I had on.

“Don’t leave town until you talk to me,” he warned, then gave a curt nod. “Detective Troy. Ella.” He swaggered toward his car, then turned back before he opened its door. “And Ella? If you still want our arrangement to stand after tonight, I have a fundraiser tomorrow night. I’d like you to attend.”

I kept my back to Gabriel and steeled my nerves. I wouldn’t fall apart when I looked at him. I wasn’t that girl. He was quiet, too quiet, and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. Not now. Not after tonight.

“What arrangement?” His voice was soft and low behind me.

My heart squeezed, and the urge to fling myself at him so I could feel safe was almost more than I could fight. My breath came faster.

“Ella.” There was a strong edge of warning.

“I have to make four public appearances with him.”

“You what?”

My throat was dry and tight. I dug my fingernails into my palms. The pain was good. It kept my emotions at bay. “He thinks it’ll help with his re-election.”

“You’re going on dates with someone else.”

“Not dates.
Public appearances
.”

“Like hell. How did this seem like a good idea—”  

The rage—and worse,
the hurt
—in his voice clawed at me. Gabriel didn’t trust me. Like I’d ever look at Fagan like that. A cool trickle of welcome anger dripped down my spine. I finally turned to face him. “I needed the case file.”

“And where will you draw the line? What’s next, Ella? How far you willing to go to get your story?”

“I don’t like what you’re implying.” I strode away from him, fury drowning my sadness and fear.

He sighed. Our pasts were staring each other in the face. If we couldn’t trust each other, our relationship would never work, and we both knew it. Gabriel had gone down this road with his ex-wife, and I’d traveled it with Danny. “You should’ve told me.”

“I didn’t think it was important.”

 “Of course you didn’t.”

“I can’t do this tonight.” I started for the door.

His hand brushed down my arm. “Don’t walk away.” His voice was much softer now.

I stopped and let him turn me around. His warm eyes looked down at me with enough feeling to ease my irritation and bring back the tears. His strong shoulder was too inviting not to lie against.

“Why were you wearing a wire?” he asked as the first tear dripped over the edge.

“I told Fagan about my meeting with the witness.”

“And he made you wear a wire?”

I nodded.

“How did it go?”

“It didn’t. I think she’s dead.”

“What?” Gabriel pushed me back so he could see my face. Then his brow furrowed. “You’re crying… Start at the beginning.”

“Can we go inside first?”

We went up to my room, and I wiped my eyes and changed into warm pajamas.

 Gabriel sat on the bed. “I’m listening,” he said.

“She never showed up,” I said between broken breaths that shook my chest.

“That doesn’t mean she’s dead, El.”

“There was a body, too mangled to recognize.” I looked up at him. “It was her.”

“How do you know?” He wrapped his arms around me, smoothing my hair with his hand.

“Who else could it be? I got that girl killed.”

“No way. If it was her, what she knew got her killed. Not you.”

“But had I left it alone… had I not come here.”

“Someone else would have. Hell, if Fagan had been doing his job, he’d have found the girl before you.”

The tears came on full strength. And it wasn’t pretty crying where my face flushed softly and my eyes brightened. No, my nose ran and my sinuses clogged. My lips swelled and my puffy eyes ached. Not again. Not another body on my conscience.

“Why didn’t you call me?” he asked softly.

“I didn’t want to cry in front of them.”

He squeezed me tighter, and my heart silenced my confused mind.

I walked into the police station promptly at 8:00 a.m. By the time morning light streamed through my window, I had new purpose and drive in the case. I didn’t just have one murder to deal with, now I had two. If the body was the café girl, and I thought it was, then she was killed because of what she was going to tell me about Mary. Which meant the killer was definitely still in Jackson—and he was paying attention to what I was doing. If he thought another body would send me packing, he was mistaken. The gossips in Montgomery hadn’t driven me away. Ghosts and a deranged killer couldn’t scare me from my home. There was no way I was leaving here until I finished what I started. Gabriel called it misguided determination, but I didn’t care. I was a lot of things, but I wasn’t a quitter.