Nick: Justice Series (3 page)

“She saw her.” Steele came the rest of the way up the ladder and sat beside him while the men worked. “She saw her, and now she might die before I get to know her.”

“I’m sure she’s in good hands.” One of the medics turned to him and nodded. “See? Carl said she’s going to be fine.”

“Sure she is. We just have to flight her in. Where you want her? And the hospital will want some information on her. What you got for me?” Steele told him nothing for now. “Works for me. Jane Doe here will be just that, a nameless victim.”

As soon as they were ready to transport, Nick stood up. He and Steele looked around the tiny area and found not just her clothing and a large duffle, but some food stashed as well. Steele tossed it down to Ray, who was near the car, and they put it in the trunk. Nick was going to the hospital with Addie, and the rest of them were going to work the scene. The police arrived just as the helicopter was dusting off the ground. No one said a word about Addie. Nick got in the front with the pilot and watched the guys in the back work their magic.

By the time they were at the hospital, they’d gotten her stabilized and had her prepped for surgery. Addie had asked him to do one thing, and he had to make the call before he saw her again.

It took him nearly an hour to figure out who to call, only because he’d called Steele again and asked him if he knew anyone there. A quick trip by Billy to the home had given them not just the phone number, but a person to ask for. Nick didn’t think asking to speak to Mrs. English would get him very far.

“Hello, I need to speak to Bentley, Don Bentley please.” The woman who answered the phone in the kitchen told him to hang on. It sounded like an argument was going on close by, and Nick tried to get as much information as he could before someone came back on the line. “He wants to know what you want. There’s something…that man is back, and the missus is working on getting him out of the house before we have to call the police on him again.”

Nick had no idea who she was talking about, and really didn’t care right now. What he had to do was think of some way to get a message to Addie’s grandmother. What could he tell Mr. Bentley so the man wouldn’t think he was scamming him? “Tell him that I need to speak with Mrs. English. I have some…four million, seven hundred thousand questions for him.” It was the amount of money in the second bag that they’d found with Addie. The phone was put down again, and within seconds a different woman came back.

“Who is this?” Nick told her who he was. “That means nothing to me, young man. What do you know about that kind of money?”

“Mrs. English?” He was corrected on her name. “And so you know, I never said that was a money amount. I just told you I had that many questions to ask you, that’s all.”

There was silence at the other end for so long that Nick thought for sure she’d hung up on him. If it hadn’t been for the loud voices in the background, he might have believed it. But when the sound was cut off abruptly, he knew that she’d either gone to another part of the house or had put everyone out of the kitchen.

“Is she all right?” He told her that she’d been stabbed multiple times but was in stable condition for now. “I can’t come to her. If I do then he’ll come for her too. I…I need to know that she’s in good hands, Mr. Stark. She’s all I have.”

“You mean Joel Delaney.” She told him that was right. “Addie told me that he is the worst kind of monster and I wasn’t to tell him where she is. But she’s in good hands. No one knows who she is but me and the men I work with, and I trust them with my life. Hers too.”

“I’m going to give you a number to call me on. I want you to use it no matter the time. The man who will answer, his name is Bentley. How you got his name in all this is beyond me, but you scared him. Bentley is a very cautious man, and you did well in making him nervous. I’d like to know how you did that sometime.” He told her it would be his pleasure to tell her.

After he got the number she hung up on him. Nick didn’t know if she was afraid her phone was bugged or not, but the call could already have been traced. A few minutes later a nurse at the desk told him he had a call. Nick took it, thinking it was Steele or one of the others.

“Move her. Now.” It was all the man said before the line went dead. Nick handed the phone back to the nurse and called Steele using his personal cell phone. He told him what had happened and who he’d talked to, ending with the man telling him he had to move her.

“I’ll make some arrangements. Tell no one. I don’t know what’s going on, but we’ll get her out within the hour.” Steele could move mountains with the kind of money he had, and Nick knew that. “Don’t be alarmed if a few of our friends show up. They’re going to help you. Carlton is in charge and…Christ, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he has an idea to get her out and I trust him.”

“If you do, then…he’s here now. I’ll call you back.” Nick looked at Carlton and Donny. If there was ever a more mismatched pair of friends, Nick wasn’t sure he’d want to meet them. “She’s in surgery still. What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing. That way if it comes out, you’re a free and clear guy.” Donny laughed. “She a looker? I could use a nice looking girl for my upcoming vid.”

“You stay away from her. People are looking for her.” Donny nodded. “But seriously, what are you going to do?”

Carlton told him to just sit there and be a good boy. “We are going to get her out of here with the help of some of our friends that have passed on as we have. They will…never you mind, young man. Just suffice it to say that there will be a great distraction while we move. Once she’s outside, there will be a van waiting for her, and then we’ll take her to the big house. Steele is hiring a good doctor to come in and keep an eye on her for you. After that, young man, we’re going to be fine. And so will she.”

Nick had no idea what the plan was, and a huge part of him thought that was a good idea. However, it didn’t lessen his fear on it all falling apart. Carlton was old, like centuries old, and Donny was just a kid…one that had been around for a while, but still only a kid.

About ten minutes later a doctor came down the hall. Nick watched the man walking and it looked to him like he was drunk. But the closer he got, the more he realized the man was confused. As he sat down after asking Nick if he was with the Jane Doe, he looked at him with dazed eyes.

“She’s just gone. I mean…we brought her out and the nurses started screaming. I went to look and…and she was gone.” Nick asked him who was gone, because there was no way the ghosts could have pulled this plan off that quickly. “The Jane Doe. The nurses said…well, never mind what they said they saw, but when I went back to the room where she was being transported into to recover, I just…I thought for sure that…something is very wrong here.”

“You’ve lost a patient?” He almost felt sorry for the man. He really was upset about this. “I’m sure you can call the police and have them come in and look. Or perhaps she was taken to another floor. Did you check on that?”

“No. I don’t…maybe. But I don’t think so. And the things that we saw.” He looked at him and his body shuddered. “There was a man coming at me with his head in his hand. And he was asking me to fix it back on for him. And the woman? Christ, she was carrying her arm in her hand too, but she was using it to wave at us all when she saw someone…. Just holding onto it like one would a child. She smiled at me, and I swear to God there was a huge bug lying there instead of her tongue.”

Nick could see them doing that. It was all he could do not to laugh. He would bet he knew each of the ghosts that the doctor described, and would have to thank them for helping. Old ghosts could make themselves known to the living, but it would cost them if they hadn’t been summoned previously by the living. Nick would bet it was the most fun these people had had in decades.

“I don’t think I’d tell the police that if I were you.” The doctor said he wasn’t going to. “Also, maybe…I don’t know…perhaps you can just forget about the woman too. Maybe…maybe we’ve both been…punked. Perhaps she wasn’t hurt at all. And it was a joke on us.”

“You think?” He sounded so hopeful that Nick nodded. “I think you might be right. That wound in her belly didn’t look that bad. Maybe it wasn’t. Perhaps…I think you might be right there, young man. I’m going to go and talk to my staff right now and tell them that. The nerve of some people. What if someone with a true injury came in needing me and she had us all tied up?”

By the time he left Nick, the doctor was no longer hazy about the events, but he was pissed off. The dazed and confused look on his face was gone now and he looked determined. Nick left too. As soon as he was out of the building, Carlton met him in the parking lot with Donny.

“You did a good job.” Bowing at the waist, Carlton smiled at him. “The guy with his head off and the woman…do you know them, or were they just hanging around here waiting to help you? Because I’d very much like to thank them personally.”

“I knew him in the French war. The man had been beheaded for stealing, and could never bring himself to go with his beloved. I think we gave him the courage to go on.” They both looked at Donny when he wolf whistled. “That young man should have a leash. I found him in the nurses’ lounge just a bit ago watching them put on their work uniforms. I wonder, were you that bad at twelve?”

“No. My stepfather and mother wouldn’t have allowed me to have any fun like that.” Carlton told him he was sorry to have brought it up. “No worries, my friend. You know my dad.”

“I do indeed. And you know that he is looking for you?” Nick told him that he knew and wasn’t worried. “If you need me, you know that I am here for you, young Nick. And the young woman. She is a beautiful woman, if you don’t mind my saying.”

“Thanks.” He went to the car that had been sent for him and got in the back. Knowing Steele did have a lot of nice perks. This one, riding in the back of the limo, gave him time to think and to plan.

Nick hoped that Addie was all right. This was way beyond anything he’d ever done before…for the living or the dead. And if this Joel person was as bad as Addie said he was, there was something else to consider. She might be a target for two people instead of just the one. And Ellen Wooten was bad enough.

Chapter 3

“Lady Evie, that man is here to see you again. I thought yesterday was going to be the end of Mr. Delaney.” Evie rolled her eyes at her butler. “I have tried to put him off, but he is insistent that he speak with you. He has questions about Miss Addie. I have asked him to wait out of doors for you. That did not go over well, as you can imagine.”

“I’m sure that it didn’t. Let me go to the parlor and when I’m settled, you bring him in. And please stay with me. I don’t want to kill the man and have to go to jail for it. I have no idea why he’s still trying to find my Addie after all this time. Do you? The man is a fool if you ask me.” Bentley shook his head and smiled at her. “You’re up to something. What is it?”

“You have heard that she is all right and it shows on your face. It makes you feel better, doesn’t it?” It did too. Hearing from that young man yesterday had made her do a little dance in the kitchen. Then she’d had Bentley call him back and tell him to get her out of the place she was in. There were ears everywhere in her house, and she’d not have Addie hurt because of Delaney and his misguided attempts at getting her back. “Shall I have tea for the two of you, or will he not be here that long?”

“We’ll let him hang himself today. But I swear to you, should he get on my nerves today, I won’t be responsible for what happens. Have you heard from that man at his place? Fred Snyder?” Bentley flushed, and she smiled at him. “I’m an old woman, Bentley, and have heard a little about men.”

“Mr. Delaney has had sex with him recently. Fred is…he is becoming very sick of the man and wishes to leave his employment. The women are fine, he says, but not Delaney. What shall we do?” Evie wasn’t surprised to hear that about Delaney. The man was sick and had to take drugs too. She knew a great deal about the man that no one else was privy to. “He wishes to quit, and I can’t say that I blame him.”

“Send a car for him. Tell him to meet the car at…I don’t know, you arrange that part. Have him go to the house in Paris. He should be safe there until this is over. The butler there passed on a few weeks ago, and I’ve not even looked into replacing him.” Bentley told her he’d take care of it as soon as Mr. Delaney left. “No. Now. He can cool his heels. I just wish it was raining on his sorry ass.”

Ten minutes later Fred had his arrangements set and Evie was in her parlor. A wooden tea trolley had been set up, and the camera’s that had been set up in this room without her permission were staring right at her. She was going to take care of those too when Joel left. The nerve of the little pisser to spy on her. Soon, she kept telling herself. Soon she’d be talking face to face with her little Addie.

“Mrs. English-Simon. I thought you’d forgotten about me.” She told him she’d tried, but he kept coming back. “I wish I knew why you disliked me so much. Whatever have I done to you? We’re going to be related by marriage as soon as I find—”

“Cut the shit, Delaney. I don’t dislike you at all. I loathe you. What do you want? And if this is about my Addie, then you’re wasting your time. Again. I’ve told you that I don’t know where she is, and nothing has changed since yesterday.” He sat down and leaned against the back of her sofa like he owned the place. “What do you want now?”

“I’ve come to ask you again where you have her hidden. And I will continue to do so until I get her back where she belongs. I know that you have something to do with her being gone. I don’t know how yet, but I’ll find out. And when I do, there will be hell to pay. By both of you.” She only stared at him and sipped her tea. “She’s going to be my wife. Come hell or high water, I’m going to marry her and then fuck her. You should know that I always get what I want.”

“Do you?” Evie looked at Bentley, and he nodded to her. “Do you really? And the woman you wanted several weeks ago? Did you get her? Or the man from three nights ago? Did he come to you willingly, or did you have to pay him after you raped him in the back of your limo?”

Delaney paled and sat up straighter on the couch when Bentley handed him a thick file, filled with all sorts of photos…all of them of Delaney and all of them with him and some other person in a compromising position. She could have had recording devices planted too if she wanted, but preferred the old fashioned method of cameras. For now at least.

“Where did you get these?” She noticed that he didn’t deny any of them, but stared at a few like he was memorizing them or something. “This one shows my best side. I’d like to have a copy of this one, if you don’t mind. But as far as forcing anyone? No, I didn’t have to. And you won’t be able to prove it even if I did.”

She knew the moment that he found the letter from the woman in the pictures. It was a signed document that stated that not only had Delaney raped her, but had given her cash to keep her from going to the police. The money that he’d given her was there as well, all five grand of it.

“That poor girl is not going to be easy for you to find, Delaney. I’ve taken her under my wing and she’s going to be safe until such time as I can have you taken care of.” He asked her what that was supposed to mean. “And you might need to find another bed partner in the way of a butler. Mr. Snyder has left your employment as well. Poor man couldn’t take it any longer.”

“Who?” She told him who the man was. “Fred won’t leave me. I have enough dirt on him to keep him under lock and key for a good long time.”

Evie sipped her tea and then ate a scone while he stared at her. She wasn’t worried. Fred was on her private plane right now. The man was so happy to be gone from the house that he’d left immediately, and when he’d been picked up by her car, her driver said he was dancing. He, too, would sign a document telling all that he knew about the man in front of her.

“So you’ve had a spy in my home. Not very nice of you.” She nodded to the camera that was hidden in one of the vases in this room. A crew would be going over the rest of the house today, but his visit was going to bring them in now. “As for Fred? I was getting tired of him anyway, so good riddance to him. But I’m not here to compare how much we’re keeping an eye on each other. I want you to tell me where Addison is. It’s well past time that she became the new Mrs. Delaney. And I mean now, Evie. I’m not fucking around any longer.”

“It’s funny you should mention the new Mrs. Delaney. I’ve been looking for the other two wives of yours. Where are they, Delaney?” He only smiled at her. “I’ve found Sheila. Poor thing was no happier in the institute than Fred was with your company. She’s much better off and less drugged up than she’s been since you put her away. Couldn’t kill her, could you?”

“So? I’ve been married before. What difference does that make?” But she could tell that he was nervous about it. “How many times have you been married?”

“Twice. Both of them I outlived. And I would say being married five times and widowed four is bad odds, and not in my granddaughter’s favor, wouldn’t you? What did you do to them? Or should I be asking you what do you think they did to you that you had to resort to murder to have them gone?” He stood up then and walked the short distance between them. Bentley was there before he could get within a foot of her.

“You’re going to back the fuck off right now, Evie. Or so help me, you’ll suffer in ways that you never have before.”

She stood up too, and Delaney drew back his fist. She had no idea if he was going to hit her or just threaten her, but he seemed to fall backwards all on his own and landed on the trolley. The sliver of wood coming out of his neck had him grabbing it and trying to stop the blood. For a whole second, no longer, she thought about just watching the blood drain from him, but couldn’t do it. She wasn’t going to help him, but she wasn’t going to watch him die.

“Call the police, Bentley. I believe that Mr. Delaney has had an accident.” Bentley moved to the phone in the room, and Evie stared down at Joel. “You stupid, foolish man. What am I going to do now? I do suppose that Addie will be safe with you dead. But to tell the truth, I have no idea where she is.”

By the time the police arrived, Delaney, of course, was dead. She told them about the camera in the room and that she had no idea where it was. But a quick call to Fred on his way out of the country told them all they needed to know. She was left with a stain on her carpet and a relief so profound that she giggled. Of course, not until after they’d all left them alone. Addie really was safe, and Evie was happier than she’d been in a long time.

~~~

Ellen moved around the house and decided while it wasn’t nearly as perfect as the one from before, she could play here. It sat far enough off the road that she could have as much fun as she wanted, and there was only one way onto the property with the fast moving river behind it. Ellen was so happy that she decided to let the woman showing her around the place live. At least for now.

“I’ll take it. You say that I can rent it on a month to month lease until they sell?” The woman nodded and told her that as soon as it sold she’d have ninety days to move out, less if the new owners wanted to take it now. “I’ll bet it’s been on the market for a while, right?”

“I’m sorry to say that it has been. Nearly four years. The market just isn’t what it used to be. Houses like this one, with all this property, usually get bought up by a big company and then ravaged to make room for condos. But there is very little appeal for a house in this area, even if it is cheap. And while I hate to mention this, there is very little in the way of cable or Internet services out here. Nothing to do for the young urbanites, I guess.”

Ellen didn’t know what that meant, but nodded. She had missed a great deal being in a home for so long, and she’d had to be so good too. That meant that she’d not talked to a great many people, and those that she did, Ellen had to refrain from killing them by keeping her distance as much as she could. That was the hardest part. Not killing everything that breathed.

The house was much smaller than she’d thought to live in. But everything else about the place appealed to her more than the size of the house. All she could think about was the other house, the one that she’d killed the two men in. It had everything, including the barn. Ellen loved barns. Her first bodies had been in a barn. Then her daddy had caught her, and that had been the end of that area for her.

Setting up the home so that she could live there while she looked for some of her next victims, her mind kept going back to the other house. She was sure that the police had removed the other two men by now and cleaned up after her. Ellen thought that whoever had been in the barn, if there had been anyone, was long gone too. But the van pulling into the yard just as she was leaving had startled her enough that she’d left unfulfilled about the killings. She’d not been able to play with them. Something that had kept her sane for years was the thought of getting to play for as long as she wanted when she got out.

This house had been recently cleaned, the realtor told her. The carpets had been steam cleaned and fresh paint was on the walls. Ellen missed the pink in the bathroom that she’d used the one time she’d been at the other house, and the small towels, while dusty, which had been hanging on the towel holder in the bath. The guys had complained about the appliances in the kitchen, but those too had given her a great joy. Ellen thought that she’d go back there just to play one more time, just to break the house in all by herself. Going up to the furnished bedroom, she lay down on the small bed.

Ellen thought of the week she’d had before they locked her up. That had been the best time of her life. Even the small animals that she’d caught sometimes and killed had not given her the thrill that killing all those people did when she was a kid.

Her parents had been the first she killed, of course, and they might have lived had her mother not been a harpy. Christ, when she thought of how much they had bossed her around, she wished that she could find them and do it all over. But killing them had helped her to do a better job of the Jeffersons, who lived on one side of them. Then the Weeks, who had lived on the other. By the time the police had shown up, she had mastered it to the point where she’d been perfect.

A killing machine was how she thought of herself. And she’d done so well with the old couple and their family when she’d first gotten out of the home that she could not wait to do it again and again. They were just the first of many. Ellen didn’t count the two men she’d killed. There had been no time to play, and she knew that was what had counted most to her.

On one of the days leading up to Ellen being caught, her mom had been making some kind of dessert that she was going to take to a function at work the next morning. But her mouth had never shut up. She was forever complaining about how Ellie—as they’d called her back then—was dressed, how her hair looked, and how she wore mismatched socks. The knife was in Ellen’s hand and sticking out of her mother’s mouth before she could think that she shouldn’t do this in the house, but it was too late by then. After that, it had been a blood bath for her. And so much fun.

Elaine Wooten had died much too quickly for Ellen’s tastes. Of course, Ellen had watched the blood pour in great buckets, it seemed, from the back of her mother’s throat. As it pooled beneath her, Ellen picked up another knife from the big block on the counter and began stabbing her mom in the belly and arms. Blood had squirted all over her unmatched socks and stringy hair as she brought the knife up and down over and over. Her dad, coming in to see what all the noise was about, she supposed, had her looking up at him and smiling.

“What have you done? Oh my God, you’ve killed your mother, Ellie! I can’t cover this one up. I won’t! Not this time.” Ellen remembered looking down at her mom, thinking he was quite proud of her. “You’ve killed her, don’t you realize that? What the hell is wrong with you?”