Vicious (27 page)

More silence elapsed.

“The next thing I knew my father aimed the shotgun. Rick pushed my sister at him just as he fired. The sound was like a bomb exploding in the room. There was blood everywhere and my sister was lying on the floor. My father and I tried to help her but there was nothing we could do. She was dead. There was a big hole in the middle of her chest… like where her heart should be.”

“Where was Ellis while you were trying to help your sister?”

“I didn’t figure that out until later. He was reloading the shotgun. My father was so devastated that when Rick put the shotgun back in his hands and started talking to him, he just went into a coma. Rick told him to pull the trigger and he did. It was like something from the movies and all I could do was watch.”

The horror the man had likely suffered over and over since that day was unimaginable. “Thank you, Mr. Upshaw. You have no idea how much you’ve helped us. You have my word, we’ll do all we can to stop him.”

When the connection ended, Jess stared at the faces of the victims on the case board. They were all just like William Upshaw’s sister. Innocent… led to slaughter by a devil, a hole left where their hearts had been.

Jess shuddered.

Hayes walked in with a bag of burgers and a disposable tray of soft drinks. “Lunch is served, ladies.”

Jess held up a hand to Hayes. “Put it over there.” Her appetite was MIA at the moment. “We need to figure out if Ellis had anything to do with Lisa Templeton and Alisha Burgess getting into that house in Homewood. I’ll bet,” the rest of the scenario unfolded for Jess, “Rod Slater kicked Templeton out of her apartment because Ellis paid him to do it.”

Ellis wasn’t an artist. Not a single one of the paintings in his gallery or in his home carried his name. Jess got the picture now. He wasn’t a painter at all. He was a director and these murders were his stage plays—his works of art.

“Are you thinking Ellis intended for Templeton and Burgess to be the ones to die there?” Hayes suggested.

Jess nodded. “Burgess, Thomas, and McCrary may have been murdered simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I think Templeton was an intended victim. Just as Upshaw’s sister was.” Jess considered the idea that most of the victims left in Ellis’s wake were art students. Did they all have one thing in common? Perhaps the ability to paint better than Ellis could ever hope to? “The Upshaw girl was guilty of making him feel inferior when she degraded his work. Templeton did the same thing when her talent outshined his.”

“In the end,” Lori surmised, “the victims in Europe may have been guilty of nothing more than being better painters.”

“Envy can turn a person into something vicious,” Hayes offered, their lunch getting cold on his desk.

“That’s exactly right,” Jess agreed.

All they had to do now was find Ellis and his little murdering helpers. She wondered if Selma and Olive were as innocent as William Upshaw had been. Or were they just as evil as their teacher?

Her new cell made that puny sound that announced she had a text message. Jess frowned. She needed to change that. Corlew’s name flashed on the screen. She opened the text.

We need to meet. Something you need to know
.

Worry had her heart rate picking up.
Where
, she responded.

He sent the address of a restaurant in Five Points.

Jess grabbed her temporary bag and a burger. To Hayes, she said, “Lieutenant, catch up with Harper. I’d like the two of you to talk to the Homewood landlord and to Slater. Detective Wells, come with me. I have a meeting.”

“I could tag along,” Hayes proposed. “Make the calls en route.”

Lori grabbed one of the burgers and a drink. “I got this, Lieutenant.”

Hayes didn’t like it but he backed off.

Jess would smooth that tension over the first chance she got.

Like maybe sometime in the next century.

Jim ‘N Nicks, Five Points, 2:19 p.m.

The burger she’d scarfed down on the way over was not sitting well. Jess stared at the door, wondering what the hell was keeping Corlew. He’d asked her to meet him here and then he was late.

That was the trouble with Corlew. He operated under one set of rules—his own. Though most of his work was good, that was only the case if
good
didn’t get in the way. If he had to choose between what he wanted and in doing the right thing, what he wanted would win every time.

Lori sat at the bar, keeping watch. Jess appreciated that she understood the meeting with Corlew was private—at least for now.

Her cell rattled on the table. She’d turned off the ringer so she and Corlew wouldn’t be interrupted. Harpers’s name appeared on her screen. Maybe she’d get lucky and Ellis had turned himself in, along with his two protégés.

“Tell me something good, Sergeant.” Jess kept an eye on the restaurant’s entrance.

“Hayes and I connected and we have a couple of real bulletins for you, Chief,” he announced. “Are you sitting down?”

Jess perked up. “I am.”

“First, Slater admitted that he booted Templeton out of her place because Ellis paid him to do it. Ellis also set up the lease with the owner of the house in Homewood. He provided Templeton with the money she needed for the move by buying her painting.”

“Ellis has been a very busy man.” Jess could not wait to take him down. Like Spears, he had gotten away with his evil deeds for far too long. Whether he was the murderer or the orchestrator of murder, he was guilty of taking lives.

“Busier than you know,” Harper went on. “The Vance sisters’ mother just called. Apparently, her conscience started to weigh on her. She and her husband will be back in Birmingham tomorrow. They’re leaving Paris tonight.”

“She’s feeling bad for leaving her spoiled daughters at home alone?” Too bad she hadn’t thought of that maybe twenty years ago.

“I do believe so,” Harper confirmed. “She admitted to having an affair with Ellis while she and her husband lived in Paris the first time. Ellis wanted her to leave her husband but she refused. The affair ended badly when she told him that he didn’t make enough money to support her.”

“Oh. That’s cold. Another blow to his tender ego.” Jess could see where this was going.

“She also confessed that Selma is Ellis’s biological child. She’s afraid he might be levying a little payback.”

“I guess she chose the wrong psychopath to have an affair with.” Jess couldn’t see this ending pretty for anyone involved.

The call ended and Jess placed her cell back on the table. Now all the players were lined up. The sisters were likely so thankful for all the attention the charming older man lavished upon them that they would do anything he asked. Though twisted, the sisters were victims of his egocentrism, just as Templeton was. The others were just collateral damage to satisfy Spears’s wishes.

What would make a killer like Ellis or Cagle do Spears’s bidding? Cagle mentioned something about doing what he did for his daughter. Maybe Spears had threatened the man’s family. But what about Ellis? What could Spears possibly have on him? He had no family.

Except Selma Vance. Yet, Ellis was using her to exact his own kind of payback.

Maybe Ellis was enjoying being a part of Spears’s big finale.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, kid.”

Jess about jumped out of her skin. She hoped Corlew didn’t notice. She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t seen him come in and she was facing the door, for heaven’s sake. “I ordered you a Pepsi.” She sipped her own. “And that burger you ordered last time we were here.”

He made a face at the drink. Probably would have preferred beer. “Thanks.” His eyebrows drew together. “What’s this I hear about Dan’s house burning down?”

She nodded. “We figure it was Spears. We’re hoping the fire marshal can shed some light on what happened.”

“Damn.” Corlew shook his head. “He probably has good insurance.”

“I hope so.” She hadn’t even thought of that. As responsible as Dan was she couldn’t imagine he didn’t have good insurance. But money couldn’t buy everything he’d lost. “You have news?”

The waitress arrived and plunked a plate on the table. Big burger and a mountain of fries. “Anything else?” she asked.

“We’re good.” Jess smiled, hoped the vivacious woman would run along. Since she was cute and big breasted Corlew would have her sitting down with him if she lingered.

To Jess’s surprise he was too busy manhandling that enormous burger to ogle the waitress. The smell of it made Jess’s stomach churn. What was on that burger?

He chewed a couple times and then swallowed. Before he said a word he surveyed the place, nodded at Lori. When his attention finally settled on Jess once more, he said, “You were right to be worried about Black. He’s investigating Dan. The jackass officially labeled him a person of interest in Allen’s disappearance.”

“What the hell is he thinking?” Jess couldn’t believe Black would go that far.

Corlew tore off another bite of burger. When he’d washed it down with Pepsi, he leaned forward and spoke more quietly. “My contact says the mayor is pushing Black to get this done. Fast. He wants Dan out.”

Insane, just insane. “Are you certain you can trust this contact?”

He leaned closer still. “One hundred percent.” He searched her face for a moment, his own dead serious. “Danny boy is in real trouble, Jess. Real trouble.”

The smell of onions and grilled beef hit her in the face and her stomach contracted hard.

Oh Lord
.

“I’ll be back.” She grabbed her AT&T bag, scooted out of the booth and headed for the bathroom.

Lori slid off her stool and caught up with her. “You okay?”

Jess paused at the ladies’ room door and took slow, steady breaths to try and calm her belly. “I think I ate that burger too fast.”

“Let me have a look inside,” Lori suggested, “and then I’ll get out of your way.”

Jess nodded. She didn’t trust herself to open her mouth again. Lori entered the ladies’ bathroom and had a look around. As soon as she was back in the corridor, Jess hurried inside.

Lori walked back to the bar. She took her seat but kept her attention on the entrance to the short corridor that led to the bathrooms. Jess had looked damned pale. The fire had obviously shaken her more than she realized. It was a miracle she could get through the day with all that was going on. The stress was taking a serious toll.

Corlew strolled over to the bar and ordered a beer. He took a slug and sighed. “Better.” He jerked his head in the direction Jess had disappeared. “She okay?”

“I think so. It’s been a rough couple of days.”

He made a sound of agreement. “I’ve got a feeling it’s not going to get better any time soon.”

Lori suspected he was more right than he knew. Buddy Corlew was a private detective now but he’d once been a BPD cop. He’d gone to school with Jess, and Lori sensed he still had a thing for her. He was a good-looking guy, but nothing like Dan Burnett. Corlew was the jeans wearing, ponytailed type. For all his cocky attitude and tough guy exterior he was damned good at his job. He’d earned himself the nickname the Tracker. But if he had his sights set on Jess, he was wasting his time.

“Buddy Corlew!”

Corlew turned toward the door. Lori leaned past him to see who had shouted his name. It sounded like…
Chief Black
?

As Lori watched, Chief Black, followed by two of his detectives and four BPD uniformed officers, crossed the room.

“Buddy Corlew,” Black repeated as he stopped a few feet away, “you are under arrest for bribery and obstruction of justice.”

Corlew laughed. “That’s a good one, Black, but this isn’t April Fool’s day and I’m in no mood to play with a joker like you.”

Roark, Black’s ranking detective, stepped forward and recited the Miranda Rights.

Corlew glanced at Lori. “Get Channing Cole on the horn. Tell him I need to call in that marker he owes me.
Now
.”

Lori nodded and reached for her cell.

What the hell was happening here?

Jess had barely made it to the toilet before the burger retraced its path. She grabbed another wad of toilet paper and wiped her mouth. The wheeze and whine of the hydraulic closer on the bathroom door warned that someone had entered. It was a three-stall facility so that was no surprise. Still, she reached into her bag for her weapon as she got to her feet and readied to face whoever had paused at the open door of her stall.

“Don’t be afraid, Deputy Chief Jess Harris.”

Jess didn’t need eyes in the back of her head to know who had decided to pay her a visit. The fingers of her right hand closed around the butt of her new Glock as she straightened. She turned, her weapon leveled on the first person to come into view.

Selma Vance. The barrel of the blonde’s handgun was already aimed at Jess’s face.

Well hell
.

Behind Selma, her sister Olive leaned against the bathroom door, her weapon trained on Jess as well.

Maybe this was why she’d always resisted the idea of children. Jess was barely pregnant and already this kid had her in trouble.

No problem. As long as she was still breathing, Lori would be making an appearance any second now.

“Why would I be afraid, Selma?” Jess smiled as if all were right in the world. “My job is to serve and protect. How can I help you and Olive?”

The sisters exchanged a glance.

That couldn’t be good
.

A hard rap on the door followed by, “Chief, you okay in there?”

“Careful,” Selma whispered.

“Just that barbecue I had for lunch, Lori. I’ll be out in a minute.” Jess prayed Lori got the message.

“You need some Tums, ma’am,” came her detective’s response.

“Give me
two
minutes for Christ’s sake.” She rolled her eyes before meeting Selma’s again. “I never get a minute to myself. Now, where were we?” Jess worked hard at appearing calm, but her heart was about to beat its way out of her chest. Her stomach was churning like there might be an encore coming. She sure wished those sleek black barrels weren’t so damned close.