Soul Mate (The Mating Series) (13 page)

“
I’ll deal with him,” Ben said, “but we will need to speak to your boyfriend.”

“He doesn’t have anything to do with this
,” I said.

“Probably not, but we have to follow up on everything. That’s our job
,” Ben said. “Skinner was only supposed to ask you about that night, and see if you remember seeing anything odd.” He scratched his face. “Jimmy might remember something you didn’t, so we need to talk to both of you.”

“I don’t know when he’ll be back
,” I said. I suspected that running into him at the coffee shop wasn’t a coincidence. “Am I under surveillance?”  I asked.

“No, why would you…” He
let out a laugh. “You think I followed you. I swear I wasn’t watching you yesterday.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“No, really, yesterday was pure chance.” His face darkened. “I’m not Detective Skinner. I don’t abuse my authority.”

“If he does, then why is he still a cop?” I
asked.

“I don’t have anything concrete to go to my superiors with
,” he said. “If Skinner approaches you alone, insist on having me or another officer present. Don’t go pulling his chain.”

“He better not approach me again without an arrest warrant in hand
,” I said.

“
I’ll keep him in line from now on.”

“Good.”

“I do have a question, though,” he said. “Why didn’t you tell us you were out looking for Skye before she turned up dead?”

I shrugged, “At the time, it didn’t seem important. I found her and she was alive. I tried to get her to come back, but she refused.”

“You spoke to her?” he asked. Ben rubbed his head. “That is important information,” He said. “Did you notice anything or anyone unusual?”

“No…well, maybe.” I remembered the brown van.  “There was another vehicle, a van, circling
. It waited for us to leave. It pulled up as we drove off. I saw her talking to the driver.”

Ben pulled a small note pad from his shirt pocket.
“What did the van look like?”

“It was a brown van. I can’t tell you the make or model. There was nothing noticeable about it
,” I said.

Ben scribbled a note.
“Did you see the driver? Male or female?” He questioned.

“It was dark and I couldn’t see. I assume the driver was male, but I don’t know.”

“Ms. Williams, this is the biggest lead so far. Why didn’t you say anything? It could be Skye’s killer.”

“I didn’t think of it until just now.
I’m sorry.”

Ben
walked me to the parking lot. He stopped at the sidewalk. I didn’t want him to follow me to my car. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was under suspicion, and he scrutinized my every move. I felt profiled to see if I fit as the killer.

Ben
held out another business card. “Listen, I’ll have to speak to Mr. Kim.”

“He’s out of town
,” I said. “He can’t speak to you right now.”

“If you talk to him, please have him call me or come see me when he gets home.”

“I will,” I said. I felt horrible that I got Jimmy involved. As if my relationship didn’t have enough strain, I caused Jimmy to be a person of interest.

CHAPTER
6

The following Saturday, I laid on the couch depressed. I watched a classic black and white movie, made in the late 1940’s. Bette Davis played a double part as twins, one good and one bad. I loved old black and whites, but I lacked the focus to follow the plot. I lost track of the story line because my mind spun with random thoughts.

I finally gave up on talking to Jimmy again. I loved him so much
. The realization that I lost my best friend devastated me. I reveled in our passion, but now the thing I missed most wasn’t the sex or passion, but our friendship. I enjoyed his companionship, the way he made me laugh, and his intelligent insight. I hoped he missed the same thing about me. When, and if, I spoke to Jimmy again, I planned to tell him that I wanted my friend back. I cursed myself for telling Jimmy that I couldn’t go back to being friends. Jimmy was my best friend and pretty much my only friend outside of work. I couldn’t live without my best friend. I shouldn’t have forced a relationship.

I caught part of the movie
, the good twin killed the bad twin, or vice versa. I wasn’t sure. I searched to figure out what I missed. Bette Davis dressed like the bad twin and tried to hide the body of her sister. I saw the movie before, but I couldn’t remember how it played out. I wished Mom was here so I could ask her about the movie. Mom loved Bette Davis movies.

I reached the point where I was more depressing
than the green room. I hadn’t seen Mom since Sunday. She periodically checked in on me. I felt her presence, but she didn’t appear. I had to admit, I missed her.

I dozed off sometime around two in the afternoon. I woke several hours later to my phone ringing. I grabbed the phone without looking at the caller I
.D. “Hello,” I said, drowsy.

“This is the Marion County Jail
,” An automated voice said. “Do you accept the call from inmate 12-223?” I received jail calls at Mary House. I assumed it was one of the women that I worked with, but I was perplexed at how she got my home number.

“I accept
,” I said.

“Cassie?”
Jimmy asked.

“Jimmy?”

“Cassie, I can’t talk long.” The background noise made it hard to hear.

“What?” I
asked, confused.
Why is Jimmy in Jail?

“You need to listen carefully. You have to call my brother Cho. His number should be in yo
ur phone log from my call on Sunday.”

“Jimmy, what’s going on?”

“I gotta go. Call Cho. We knew it would happen.” I heard a voice telling him to get off the phone.

“What do you mean you knew this
would to happen?…Oh!” I realized Jimmy saw it with his abilities.

“Yes, I saw it.”

“Your time’s up,
Chink
.” The voice demanded.

“Hold on
,” Jimmy said to the voice.

“
Jimmy, are you alright?” I asked. The racial slang worried me. I hoped Jimmy wasn’t being mistreated.

“
I’m okay. Listen I have to go. I love…” Click. The phone went dead. I panicked.
Why was Jimmy in Jail? What the hell is going on?

It took me a full
minute to pull myself together before calling Jimmy’s brother. As I scanned through my phone log, I took really deep breaths. I couldn’t call Jimmy’s brother, a guy I didn’t know, in hysterics. I found the number and clicked the “call” button.

“Hello?”
Cho answered in a clipped tone. His voice was deeper than Jimmy’s. It had a gravely sound.

I almost lost it at the sound of Cho’s voice. “Uh…hi, Cho…you don’t know me, but...”

“Shit, Jimmy’s in Jail!”

“Uh, yeah.”
Was Cho a psychic too?

“I’
m sorry,” Cho said. “Cassie, right?”

A lump developed in the back of my throat. I swallowed hard. It didn’t go away.
“Uh?...Yeah.” I sounded like an idiot.

“Jimmy told me this was going to happen, but I hoped not until Monday.
Damn it!” Cho cursed. It startled me.

“Could you let me in on what’s going on?” I asked.
The situation blindsided me, but obviously, Cho knew about it. Then it dawned on me. I blurted out. “You’re a lawyer.”

“No shit
,” Cho said, annoyed.

Jimmy’s disappearance
made sense. Jimmy had a vision of being arrested. He went to his brother for legal advice. Who else could he have gone to and said, “I had a vision that I’m going to be arrested.” Cho was Jimmy’s business attorney. The only thing I didn’t understand was why? “Why is Jimmy in Jail?” I asked.

“He’s been charged with murder.”

“Murder?” I gasped.

“Are you completely clueless?” Cho asked. “I guess I have to explain. I’ll go slowly.”
Smart ass.
“Remember when Jimmy had the vision at your place?” Cho spoke slowly as if I was a complete moron.

“Yes.”

“Somehow the police have pieced together evidence that Jimmy murdered her and three other women.” I couldn’t believe it. The police charged Jimmy with the murders. I caused it to happen. I insisted on finding Skye. Guilty tears rolled down my cheeks.

It occurred to me that Cho said Jimmy was charged for four murders. “There are only three victims
,” I said.

“There’s a fourth, but it hadn’t happened when Jimmy was in
Chicago. If he’s been arrested, then it’s happened.”

“Oh my God Cho. What can I do?”

“Nothing right now, but don’t talk to the police until I get to Indy. I’m booking a flight now.” I heard the click of keys on a computer.

“I talked to them on Monday
,” I said.

“
Fuck!” Cho cursed. “What did you tell them?” Cho slapped me with his anger. I didn’t deserve Cho’s anger. I almost yelled back at him. I didn’t have a choice. Jimmy refused to tell me about his vision.

“I don’t know, they just asked me questions.” I shivered at the
memory of being trapped in that room with Detective Skinner. “Actually, it was just one officer and he pretty much grilled me. It was terrible. I think he broke procedure or something.”

“They’
re breaking all kinds of procedures Kid. They have no evidence. I fear they’ve manufactured evidence.” I had no doubt that Skinner would plant evidence. Cho’s voice calmed. “Don’t talk to anyone until I get there. They may be building a case against you too.”
What?
Ben wouldn’t do that.

“I won’t
,” I said. “Do you think I said something wrong?”

“No
, this was going to happen no matter what,” he said. “I have to get my shit together. Give me your cell phone number and I’ll call when I get in.”

I gave Cho my cell number and asked
, “Is Jimmy going to be alright?”

“He’ll get through
it. Jimmy said it’s not your fault”

“It is
,” I said.

“It is, but…” Cho
stopped. “Jimmy doesn’t want you to worry. He really likes you.”

“He does?” I asked.
Great we’ll have a long distance relationship from prison.

“He does
, but…” He had more to stay, but didn’t. He sounded annoyed at me. “Don’t worry Jimmy will be fine. I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay
,” I said and hung up.

As soon as I set
the phone down, it rang again. I grabbed it assuming it was Cho, but it was Mary House. “Hello,” I said,

“Miss Cassie,”
Jane said, hysterical. “Miss Cassie, you need to get here.”

“Slow down Jane
,” I said. I was in no mood to deal with Mary House drama. Occasionally, a dispute between the women at Mary House caused late night calls. Nessie always called me first because I lived closer than Mary Lazarus. Sometimes I had to call the police to intervene, but not often. Jimmy’s arrest worried me; I didn’t have time to deal with drama. “Jane, put Nessie on the phone,” I said, abruptly.

“Nessie can’t come to the phone! I think she’s dead!” Jane cried.

“Hang up and call 9-1-1. I’m on my way.”

“I already did. T
hey’re here now.”

I grabbed my keys and ran for the door. Suddenly Mom appeared. “Don’t go, Cassie
,” she said.

“Oh now you show up
!” I yelled. “I have to go.”

“Cassie!” Mom called as I slammed the door.

I arrived at Mary House to a sea of flashing lights. All the women stood outside crying and holding each other. I ran to up to Jane. Lynette stood beside with her arm around Jane. It looked like she was holding Jane up. 

“What is going on?” I
asked. Jane didn’t answer. She blinked vacantly.

“I think she’s in shock, but I can’t get anyone to look at her
,” Lynette said.

“What is going on, Lynette
?”

“It’s bad
,” Lynette said, shaking her head. I turned to go into the building, but Lynette grabbed my wrist. “You can’t go in there. They won’t let you. The cops made everyone leave.”

“What the hell is going on?” I demanded.

Lynette broke into tears. “Mary Lazarus is dead and I think Nessie’s dead too!”