Vicious (11 page)

“I can give you one shocker, though.”

In spite of her tirade to the contrary, Jess held her breath in anticipation.

“Your Aunt Wanda filed a report claiming her sister had warned her there was trouble with her husband. Did you know about that?”

The world shifted and Jess had to reach for the sink. Pregnancy test sticks clattered to the floor. “Are you certain?”

“Got a copy of it this morning. As soon as your folks were buried, Wanda went to the BPD. She insisted your mother told her that if anything happened to her, Wanda should tell the police to look into it. I have a pal in records who’s searching for any investigation into the accident.”

“Thanks, Corlew. Call me… when you have more.” Jess tried to wrap her head around this news. The fact that Wanda had filed that report just like she said meant nothing. Had to be the drugs. Wanda probably suffered bouts of paranoia back then. Who knew what had prompted her to file the report.

“See ya, kid.”

The call ended. Jess dropped to her knees on the floor, set her phone aside and gathered up the test sticks.

She had no idea how many minutes had passed but pink lines had formed on each one.
Positive. Positive. Positive
.

A rap on the door made her jump.

“You all right in there, Chief?”

“Yes.” Jess reached up and turned on the sink faucet. “I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute.”

She waited until she heard his footsteps retreating. Scrambling to her feet, she snatched up the Walmart bag and shoved the test sticks into it. After herding the pile of feminine products she’d dumped on the floor into a little stack in the corner next to the pedestal sink, she stood. She still felt a little lightheaded. Probably just needed to eat. Lunch had been a long time ago.

She set the Walmart bag in the sink and, as quietly as possible, removed the toilet tank lid to retrieve the first test she’d hidden there. With Dan in the other room yesterday morning when she’d taken the first test, she’d had no choice but to hide it. All she had to do now was stuff it into the Walmart bag with the others and take the whole thing to the trashcan outside.

Inside the toilet tank, the bag she’d carefully tied and tucked away there was open and the test stick floated next to it. “What in the world?” Had she not tied it tightly enough? She groaned and fished the test stick and bag from the toilet tank. The pink lines in the little window were no longer readable. She crammed the wet mess into the new bag, tied it up tightly, and shoved it into her purse.

She washed her hands again and smoothed her hair.
Stay calm
. There were a few things she needed to round up and then she was going to Dan’s. Then, over dinner tonight, she would tell him the news. Her nerves jangled. Nervous or not, she couldn’t keep finding excuses not to tell him.

Jess opened the door and exited the bathroom. Hayes waited at the front door. She mustered up a smile. He returned the smile but she didn’t miss his quick inventory of her condition. Evidently the others had already warned him to keep a close eye on her.

“I have to round up a few things and then we’re off.”

She grabbed the new suit her sister had bought for her. Jess smoothed a hand over the herringbone tweed blazer with its notched lapel and lightly puffed sleeves. The charcoal color was classic. The pencil skirt was her favorite style. Lily might not like to wear suits, but she’d done a stellar job picking this one out. As foolish as it was, doing something as normal as selecting her clothes for work soothed Jess’s nerves.

She decided to take the red suit and the ivory one as well. That was about it. She really did need to do some shopping. Everything she owned had been destroyed in the motel room she’d rented when she first came back to Birmingham. She’d been meaning to put together a new wardrobe, but there just hadn’t been time for more than a quick fix to her immediate needs.

“Can I help you with those?” Hayes asked, as she headed for the door.

Jess thrust the hanging garments at him. “Thank you. I’ll lock up.”

After setting the security system to away, she closed and locked the door. Hayes started down ahead of her. Jess smiled when she noticed Mr. Louis waited at the bottom of the stairs. She’d expected to see him. He surely wondered what had become of her the past twenty-four hours.

“Jess, I’m so glad to see you,” George Louis said, looking past Hayes who had planted himself between the older man and Jess as she descended the final steps. “I was getting worried.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Louis, I—”

“George,” he reminded gently.

“George,” she repeated. “I meant to call you, but I’ve hardly had a chance to catch my breath.”

Her landlord frowned at the garments Hayes carried. “Are you moving?”

“Oh no. No.” Jess turned to Hayes. “Lieutenant, this is my landlord, George Louis.”

Hayes dipped his head in acknowledgement. George looked the taller man over thoroughly before allowing an answering nod.

“Lieutenant, would you give me a moment, please?” Her landlord deserved an explanation for her abrupt departure yesterday morning.

With a final look at George, Hayes strode off to his stylish Audi. His was one of the newest models. Jess’s twelve-year-old Audi waited sadly in the drive for her attention. She had no idea when she’d get her freedom back. For now, she was escorted everywhere she went.

Just like a celebrity. Ha!

“Are you all right, Jess?” George moved closer, concern shadowing his face. “I saw you on the news at the scene of that terrible murder.”

“Murders,” Jess corrected. “Two young women were murdered.”

He shook his head and pressed his palms together as if he intended to pray. “How horrible. I keep thinking about that awful man who came here to hurt you.”

The Man in the Moon
. George Louis had saved her. Sort of. “I feel bad about that, George. I hope you’re okay after all the excitement.” He’d seemed okay the last time Jess spoke to him.

He stared at the ground, shuffled his feet in that shy manner of his. “I’m fine.” He looked up at Jess then, his eyes appearing huge behind the thick lenses of his glasses. “You must be exhausted. Have you had dinner?”

“I’m going to dinner now,” she assured him. If Daniel Burnett knew what was good for him, he’d have dinner waiting. She was starving!

“Will you be coming home tonight?” her landlord asked hopefully.

If Louis hadn’t looked so genuinely worried Jess might have been annoyed by his nosiness. But it was nice to know someone cared. Missed her. “Unfortunately, I might not be home for a few days more. This case is keeping me busy night and day. You have my cell number so you can reach me if you need to.”

“Yes, I have your number.” He reached out and patted her shoulder, the move awkward. “You should have a good dinner and just rest. You work too hard, Jess. One of these days you’re going to have to take a vacation.”

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d taken anything that even resembled a vacation. A memory from the past intruded on her thoughts. Unless she counted Christmas ten years ago when she’d come back to Birmingham to spend the holiday with her sister. She’d had a promotion to celebrate, not to mention she’d solved the biggest case of her career to that point.

She’d run into Dan at the Publix on Christmas Eve, and they’d ended up still in bed together the next morning.

Here they were a decade later… together again.
And pregnant
.

Her head did a little spinning and the ground shifted again.

“Here now!” Louis reached for her. “You might need to sit down.”

Jess regained her balance and held up a hand to ward off his concern. “I’m fine. Really.”

Hayes was suddenly there and Jess felt her cheeks burn with mortification. “I’ll call you in a day or two, George,” she promised.

She really did have to go. What she would give for an enormous glass of wine right now. Since wine was off limits maybe chocolate would do the trick. Mostly she just needed to get out of these clothes and to relax.

“Take care, Jess!” Louis called after her.

She managed a smile and a wave as she settled into the passenger seat of her new detective’s luxury automobile. Hayes closed the door and rounded the hood.

Eyes closed, Jess dropped her head against the seat and tried to stop the ridiculous swaying sensation keeping her off balance. She should see a doctor this week. No putting it off. Calling Lily was on that same urgent list. But first she had to talk to Dan. Where did
relaxing
fit into all that?

Hayes slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. When he’d backed onto the street and headed toward Mountain Brook, she felt her tension receding. Dan was waiting for her.

Whatever else was wrong in the world, she glanced in the side mirror and noted the BPD cruiser on their tail, being in Dan’s arms felt right.

“If I’m out of line just say so,” Hayes said, his voice making her flinch after the minutes of silence.

She turned to the driver. Was her new recruit disenchanted with the job already? “Go on, Lieutenant.”

“I don’t know much about your personal life, Chief. But I do know there are some things a person doesn’t need to do alone.”

She set aside all the other worries troubling her long enough to mentally review every step she’d taken in Walmart as she’d collected and purchased those tests. “Do you have a point?”

“I do.” He sent her a look that said he wouldn’t be making any apologies for where he was headed. “You have a serial killer determined to get to you. He has all manner of freaks watching you. Your latest case is a damned creepy double homicide. This is not the time for secrets.”

Well damn, she was busted. “What gave me away?” Evidently, the old I-need-feminine-products bait and switch hadn’t worked on the perceptive lieutenant.

His attention remained on the street as the sun slowly lowered, drawing this too long day to a close. There was a lot she didn’t know about this cop, but her instincts said he was a good one.

“Women,” he explained, “whatever their choice in feminine products, most, particularly those over thirty, have a preferred brand.” His lips quirked. “It was obvious you snatched up the handiest ones. Your cover might have worked otherwise.”

Why hadn’t she thought of that?

“I’ll remember that, Lieutenant.” Despite a new blast of tension, she almost laughed. So he knew. She was his superior. If she gave him an order, he was supposed to follow it. Hopefully, that formality wouldn’t be necessary. “I assume this will stay between us for now.”

No one could know. Not yet. Dan had to be first and she had to find the time to tell him.

“I’m not about to make my new boss unhappy the first day on the job. I’m very good at keeping secrets, Chief. You have nothing to worry about there.”

Easy for him to say
.

He slowed for the turn onto Dunbrooke Drive. Jess stared at the stately homes they passed. If Hayes let this slip to Lori or Harper, both would be upset that she hadn’t shared the news. Jess closed her eyes. Her friends couldn’t know yet either.

The smoke rising in the backyard signaled that Dan had decided to grill their dinner. He was thrilled to have her staying here with him and it showed. If he had his way she would never return to her little apartment. She would stay right here in his big house in this upscale neighborhood where she felt so out of place.

Reality sank deeper, making it hard to breathe.
You are still not one of them, kid.
Corlew had warned her that just because she had the right job and wore the right clothes didn’t mean a thing. She would never be like Sylvia Baron or Annette Denton, Dan’s most recent ex-wife.

“Why don’t you leave that bag in the car? I’ll take care of it for you.”

Jess turned to the man behind the wheel. There were things she probably should say, but she didn’t know this man well enough to explain herself. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

She left the Walmart bag in his car, grateful for one less thing to worry about. He carried her clothes.

Dan came around the corner of the house and Jess barely restrained the tears. It took every ounce of strength she possessed not to run into his arms. Weepiness was, apparently, another part of being pregnant.

“It’s about time.” He smiled. “Thought I might have to send out a search party.” He glanced at Hayes. The two exchanged those nods that only the male species understood. Women, being far more evolved, didn’t communicate in nods and grunts.

“Lieutenant Hayes moved over to SPU today,” Jess announced. The entire day had passed and she and Dan had scarcely had a minute to carry on a real conversation.

“I signed off on the transfer.” Dan reached for the garments the detective carried. “I see Chief Harris is working you overtime already.”

“Not a problem, sir.” Hayes relinquished the load. “See you in the morning, ma’am.”

Jess managed a smile. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

While Dan and Hayes discussed his new car, Jess went inside. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and went in search of something more comfortable to wear. Sweat pants and a tee and bare feet sounded good about now. She slipped off the Mary Janes and peeled off her dress. It would be nice just to sit and close out the world—at least to the extent possible.

With the sweats and tee on she sighed. “Way better.”

She brushed her teeth and finger combed her hair. Nothing in her bag of tricks was going to camouflage those raccoon eyes.

As she padded back to the kitchen the scents of whatever Dan had been grilling had her stomach rumbling. He turned from the fridge, a bag of mixed salad greens in his hand. He smiled and her heart reacted.

“Can I help with anything?” She felt a little guilty that he seemed to be doing all the domestic duties.

“Thanks, but I have it under control.”

She should feel even guiltier that she’d been hoping for that answer, but she didn’t. Besides, this was as good a time as any to just spill it. No need to wait until the first course was out of the way. She braced herself, opened her mouth to say the words but he spoke first.