Vile (3 page)

“Miss Gentry, I’m Deputy Chief Jess Harris.”

Gentry nodded. “You’re that lady from the news.” Gentry jerked her head in what was probably a nod. “The one the serial killer is after.”

Wasn’t being a celebrity fun? “That’s me. I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.” The sobbing in the back room faded, signaling the little girl was gone, and somehow making Jess feel sad.
Damned pregnancy hormones
.

“Like I told the other cop, I don’t really know anything. I noticed her out there and got worried.”

Jess pulled her pad and pencil from her bag and flipped to a clean page. “Did you notice her more than once?”

Gentry seemed to think about that question for a moment, then she nodded. “I had a bunch of orders to fill, but I remember glancing outside and noticing her there. A good while later, after I’d filled all those orders, I noticed her again. That’s when I got concerned.” She glanced outside. “I hope no one’s tried to come for their order yet. I can’t afford to have my business being turned away.”

“We’ll be finished in a few minutes,” Jess assured her. “Would you say you went out to check on her a half hour or an hour after the first time you noticed her on the sidewalk?”

“Close to an hour I think, but I can’t say for sure.”

“What time do you open the shop?”

“I get here about eight-thirty and I open the doors at nine.” She fidgeted with her nails, picking at a cuticle. “I would’ve checked on her sooner. I had no idea her parents had just dumped her out there.”

“You couldn’t have known,” Jess offered. “Did you come in through the front or the back this morning?”

“The back.” Gentry’s right foot started to pat the air. She was nervous or upset. Understandable. “Something like twenty minutes later when I unlocked the front door, I walked out onto the sidewalk to pick up a McDonald’s cup someone had tossed and she wasn’t there then.”

“You unlocked the front door around nine?”

Gentry nodded.

“As you went about filling your orders, did you notice anyone passing by? Did anyone come inside and place an order or just browse?”

The clerk wagged her head from side to side. “All my orders were made by phone. I had a couple from yesterday that were done on the Internet. No one came in the shop this morning.”

“Did you notice anyone on the sidewalk when you went outside to see about the little girl? Maybe someone who had just passed your shop? Someone walking away?”

Gentry shrugged. “Sorry. I didn’t see anyone but I wasn’t really looking.”

Most people didn’t. “Did the little girl say anything at all to you?”

“No. She wouldn’t tell me her name. She just looked at me. I thought maybe she was mute until she started crying back there.”

“She wasn’t crying when you found her?” Jess remembered the little girl’s eyes being red as if she’d been crying.

“I think maybe she’d been crying, but she wasn’t when I went out there. She started crying when the cops—” she cleared her throat “—when the guys in uniforms showed up.”

“I’d like you to write down your address and contact numbers for me.” Jess passed her the notepad and pencil. “If anyone calls or stops by and asks anything at all or even mentions the child, I want you to let me know.” Jess placed her business card on the counter. “Watch for anyone suspicious hanging around outside. Call us if you feel anything at all is out of the ordinary.”

Gentry handed the pad back to Jess and picked up the card. “You think they’ll come back for her?”

“It’s not likely but we can hope.”

“You think that serial killer took the little girl’s mother?”

Jess wished she could say no, but the truth was she had no idea. Eric Spears was capable of anything. “I’m sure we’ll have some answers soon.”

Thankfully, two of the officers had disbursed the crowd outside the shop. Jess doubted the reporters had gone very far, but she had a job to do. That job included having a look around outside. But first, she had an idea she hoped might help them learn what happened. She went in search of Dan. He and Harper were still in the storeroom. Probably discussing strategies for keeping Jess off the streets—despite Dan’s outward reasonableness about her work of late.

She hated, hated, hated this incessant need for everyone around her to protect her. She could protect herself.

“Harper and I are going outside to have a look around,” she said to Dan. “Can you check with your source and find out if the area in front of the shop is on the city surveillance system the mayor had installed?”

That would be a huge break. The mayor had had a system installed several years ago to monitor certain downtown streets, but not all areas and angles were covered. If they were really lucky the shop would be.

“I’ve already made the call,” Dan let her know. He glanced around, clearly reluctant to go. “I’ll drop the note off at the lab. Anything else you need?”

Jess shook her head firmly. “I’ve got this. You go be Chief of Police.”

He gave her a little two-fingered salute. “All right. I’m out of here.”

As he passed, he squeezed her hand. That simple touch sent heat surging through her. No matter how wrong things between them had gone in the past, she was so grateful for what they had now. It was going to take them working together to get through this.

“Looks like the coast is clear outside, ma’am,” Harper said.

“Thank you, Sergeant. Let’s see what we can find.”

Outside they walked the block and found what she’d fully expected. Nothing. There were a good number of offices and shops in the area. They started on the end of the block nearest the floral shop and began a grid search. The first officers on the scene had already canvassed the area, but Jess had questions the officers might not have thought to ask.

Did any of the businesses have security cameras that might have picked up anyone walking along the sidewalk? Had anyone with a child stopped in that morning? Did anyone recognize the child in the photo she’d taken? A resounding chorus of no’s were the only answers.

Her cell rang and Jess dug it from her bag.
Dan
. “Hey.” She hoped he had good news for her.

“The cameras got something. It’s being sent to your office right now.”

Anticipation mounted. “Great. Thanks. I’ll keep you posted.” Jess tucked her phone back into her bag and turned to Harper. “We may have a lead from the city’s security cameras. They’re sending a copy to the office.”

“Looks like we have trouble headed this way.” Harper nodded toward his SUV. “Stay behind me, ma’am.”

Jess groaned when she recognized the TV reporter, Gerard Stevens. She did not like the man. He was one of those guys who would do anything to get ahead, even if it meant stepping on his own grandmother’s toes. He’d taken two major pot shots at Dan and the department already. Jess considered herself fair game since she was the one to bring Spears to Birmingham. Dan, on the other hand, didn’t deserve any of this.

“Chief Harris,” Stevens proclaimed in that big, deep, condescending voice of his, “is it true that Spears remains in contact with you?”

Harper stayed between Jess and the cameraman shadowing Stevens.

“Didn’t you watch Gina Coleman’s story?” Jess asked, rubbing in the fact that Stevens didn’t scoop the big story.

He smiled. “Is that a yes, Chief?”

They had arrived at Harper’s SUV. He’d opened the door. Jess could have gotten in without saying another word, but she just couldn’t help herself. “That’s a no comment, sir. If you want the facts on Eric Spears, you should check with Gina Coleman.”

Satisfied she had spoiled his day, Jess settled into the passenger seat. It felt good to give it to a guy like Stevens. She suspected that might be the only highlight of her day.

Birmingham PD, SPU Office, 1:48 p.m.

The team gathered around the monitor and watched as the video from the city’s security cameras played on the screen a fourth time. A woman in jeans, a nondescript t-shirt, and sneakers walked hand in hand with the little blonde girl. It was impossible to get a good description of the woman. Her hair was tied back and covered with a scarf. She wore large sunglasses to shield her eyes and a good portion of her face. And she puffed on a cigarette.

“She doesn’t move like a runner,” Lori noted.

“Not enough muscle mass for that,” Hayes agreed.

The woman was practically skin and bone. The tight fit of the jeans and the tee as well as her bare arms confirmed that assessment. Her lips were painted a deep Marilyn Monroe red.

“I can’t tell if she has dark hair or it’s just that black scarf,” Cook said. “Her eyebrows are dark. That could mean her hair is too.”

“She was careful,” Harper agreed. “She didn’t want anyone to recognize her. Then or now.”

“I’m hoping she’s in the database.” Jess watched the woman kneel down and pin the note to the child’s dress. Since she didn’t wear gloves, there would be prints.

“Watch her lips,” Lori said, “she’s giving the kid final instructions.”

Jess studied the woman’s mouth as she spoke. There was no audio but Jess recognized part of what she said.

Remember
…

“Remember,” Lori said, echoing Jess’s thought, “what…” She shook her head. “Let’s see it again.”

Cook hit backward search and then play.

“Remember,” Lori said, “what move or…”

“Mommy,” Jess said.

“Remember what mommy told you.” Lori turned to Jess. “She’s the kid’s mother.”

Jess nodded. “That’s the way it looks to me.”

“What kind of mother would leave her kid on the street like that?” Harper demanded.

“She’s working for Spears,” Hayes announced. His gaze collided with Jess’s. “He’s using the kid to send you a message.”

Hayes was the only person in the room who knew Jess was pregnant. She understood exactly what he meant but she hoped he kept it to himself. Eventually, she wanted to share the news with her team—her friends. But she couldn’t do that yet. They were already too protective of her. She could scarcely breathe much less investigate a case with them hovering. Learning this news would only double their efforts to keep her safe. Thankfully, Dan had been reasonable so far. At least as reasonable as he intended to be when it came to her safety.

“What does the kid have to do with Spears?” Lori challenged, that tension Jess had already noted between Hayes and the other male members of the team, apparently, extended to Lori as well.

“If he’s trying to tell me something,” Jess said, hoping Hayes would leave it at that, “I’m not getting the message.”

Hayes shrugged. “Maybe he’s using the mother as his next distraction. The way he used Ellis and the Man in the Moon before him.”

It seemed Spears had decided the best way to get to Jess was to create enough diversions to keep the Birmingham PD running in a dozen directions. At least, that was Dan and Gant’s theory. Supervisory Special Agent Ralph Gant was her former boss at Quantico. He was leading the Player Joint Task Force and he was convinced Jess was the ultimate target. Not that there was any question in anyone’s mind about that theory.

There was nothing like being the obsession of a sociopathic serial killer.

“What about the footprints they do when a child is born?” Jess turned to Harper who was the only one in the room with a child. “Can they identify the little girl that way?”

“Depends on where she was born but I wouldn’t count on it. Those footprints are primarily for the hospitals. To make sure the right baby goes home with the right mother. Most don’t enter the footprints into a state wide or national database.”

Something else to worry about. Jess had to find a doctor as soon as possible. Dan had made a few suggestions, which she appreciated. Selecting a doctor also determined which hospital would be used. Preferably one that ensured the right baby went home with her. On cue, her stomach roiled. The intense nausea she’d suffered last week had calmed down a little. Then again, last week might have been more about nerves and shock than morning sickness.

“Check with Child Services,” she said to Harper. “I’d like to know the little girl’s doing okay.”

“On it.” Harper retreated from the group and headed for his desk.

Lori followed suit without saying more.

“Cook and I are going out to pick up lunch,” Hayes declared.

“We are?” Cook looked confused.

“We are,” Hayes confirmed. “I could use some fuel.” He looked directly at Jess as he said this.

“Text me your orders,” Cook said as he followed Hayes out the door.

Jess hadn’t even thought about lunch. Maybe she needed her team looking out for her more than she realized.

If distraction was what Spears was after at this stage in his game, she was falling right into his trap.

4

Birmingham PD, 3:00 p.m.

Dan waited for the other man to settle in before he began. He’d wrestled with this decision all weekend. As much as it pained him—no, scratch that—as much as it annoyed the hell out of him to have to do this, he wasn’t a fool. At this point, it was more than obvious that he needed legal protection.

Despite being unspoken, the words were bitter on his tongue and heavy in his heart.

Frank Teller, Birmingham’s top criminal defense attorney, leaned back in his chair and studied Dan. “It’s been a while. How are the folks?”

Teller graduated high school with Dan. They’d played football together and done all the other stuff guys attending a small private school did. More importantly, they knew each other’s deepest, darkest secrets from back in the day. Having that level of knowledge on a man could make him your best ally. Not that any of their secrets were worth much as leverage. A few peeping tom exploits and a couple of stolen mascot incidents. Whatever else they had shared, their time at Brighton Academy had ingrained a certain loyalty. Teller would do his best for a fellow alumnus.

After high school, they’d gone their separate ways. Dan had followed Jess to Boston and Teller had headed to Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University. In time, they’d both returned to Birmingham.

“They’re doing well. Dad retired after his heart attack, but he’s doing great now.” His father might object to that last part depending on how much trouble his wife was giving him. Katherine Burnett could make life… complicated. But she was Dan’s mother and he loved her.