Vile (5 page)

“Spears,” he said with a covert glance from side to side. “He’s been watching me. Whispering in my ear. He’s watching you too. He’s coming for you. He told me so.”

Jess willed her racing heart to slow. “How do you know it was Spears?” She kept his first name to herself. No matter that the attempt at removing the victim’s hands and feet was reminiscent of an act committed by one of Spears’s followers, this man may have heard about it on the street or in the news. He clearly suffered from a mental illness. The memory may have stuck in his head only to bob to the surface at a very bad time for the victim.

“What did Chuck do to make you want to hurt him, Terry?” Time to get personal. Make him feel as if she were on his side.

He shook his head. “He didn’t do anything. He was just a bum like me.” His mouth worked for a second before he went on. “I had to do it. Spears said if I didn’t he’d torture me all the way to hell.”

Jess chose a different tactic. “Mr. Bellamy, I still don’t understand how you know the man who asked you to do this was Spears. Can you describe him? What color was his hair and eyes? How tall? Anything you can tell me will help.”

“When they see the blood,” Bellamy said, all inflection gone from his voice, “they will pass over you, and you shall not suffer death as his enemies are destroyed one by one.”

Fear snaked around her chest and tightened. “Mr. Bellamy, is that from the Bible? Have you been studying the Good Book?”

The old man leaned forward ever so slightly, that troubled gaze boring into hers. “For you are
his
, now and forever.”

How the hell could he know? The Vance sisters had chanted those words to Jess mere moments before committing suicide. None of that had been released to the media. This was—

Bellamy slammed his head against the table. Blood spurted from his nose.

Jess scrambled back too late to prevent blood from splattering her ivory suit jacket. She jumped out of her chair and reached for the man as he repeatedly bashed his head against the metal table. Her shouts for him to stop were ignored.

Black and Hayes rushed into the room and hauled him away from the table. Blood streamed down his face.

Jess froze for a second. All she could do was stare in disbelief at the poor man.

“Go,” Black urged. “We need paramedics.”

Jess bolted into action. She grabbed her bag and hurried out of the room to make the call.

When she had been assured the paramedics were en route, she leaned against the wall and went through the paces of calming herself. Her whole body shook with the receding adrenaline.

Was the monster really in Birmingham or was this another of his minions? Jess reached up and rubbed her forehead as hard as she could. Selma Vance had smeared Eric Spears’s blood there. Jess shuddered at the memory.

Gant was wrong. Spears wasn’t in hiding. He was here. Jess was certain of it.

The Garage Cafe, Tenth Terrace South, 5:45 p.m.

Jess stared at the glass of Coke in front of her. She wished it were a triple shot of Tequila, and she didn’t even like Tequila. Be that as it may, at the moment she could use anything to take the edge off.

Except she was pregnant and that couldn’t happen.

She kept thinking about that poor homeless man. Why take advantage of the helpless? There was nothing like that in Spears’s past MO. Maybe that vile act hadn’t been Spears at all. Were his followers wreaking havoc on his behalf as a constant source of distraction to the BPD?

What about the little girl left on the street? Who would do such a thing? Unbelievable.

How could any mother desert her child? Obviously, Spears had set it up, but what could possibly have motivated the mother to go along? According to Child Services, the little girl showed no signs of physical abuse. Those brown eyes and all that long blond hair haunted Jess. That could be her little girl. A shudder quaked through her. Was that the point? Had Spears chosen this child for that reason? Did this move mean he knew Jess was pregnant?

She closed her eyes and shook her head.
Not going down that path
. They would eventually find out the child’s name, and then maybe they could find the mother. The child still wasn’t talking. Jess had called to check on her twice. The last time was shortly before she’d arrived to meet Buddy Corlew.

She’d taken a table as far from the entrance as possible. Hayes, damn him, was posted at the bar. He refused to stay outside. Jess hadn’t even gone back to her office after the incident in the interview room. She’d had Hayes drive her straight here.

Frankly, she didn’t know what she expected Corlew to do or say that would help, or even explain anything for that matter, but she needed to talk to him. There hadn’t been a chance for them to catch up since his arrest on Friday. She felt so damned bad about that. If she hadn’t asked him to help her out he likely wouldn’t have been arrested.

This was insane. She shook her head. All of it.

As if her worrying had summoned him, Corlew waltzed into his favorite establishment. She’d chosen this place for that reason, plus it was off the beaten path. He waved to the bartender whom he likely knew by name. Corlew’s long hair was secured in a ponytail as usual. The jeans looked as old as she knew for a fact he was. The Crimson Tide tee and leather vest along with the cowboy boots completed the I’m-redneck-and-I’m-proud-of-it attitude. His big black Charger would be parked outside. Buddy Corlew had been a showoff back in high school and that character flaw had followed him clear into middle age.

Sometimes, Jess wondered if she was out of her mind to trust him. But he’d built a sound reputation as a private detective. He’d been a cop before that. She doubted she would ever know the whole story about why he’d allowed the drinking and the sloppy police work to force Dan to fire him. Dan and Corlew were lifelong enemies—which made what she was doing even more complicated.

Corlew dragged out a chair at her table and dropped into it. “You know the last time I met you in a place like this my ass got busted.”

Jess sipped her cola to wet her throat. “I feel bad about that. I really don’t know exactly what happened. I was a little busy watching two young women blow their brains out.”

He grimaced. “You do have a way of getting into tight spots, Jess.”

“Yeah well that’s my cross to bear, I guess.” No more beating around the bush. “Who’s your source inside the department?”

He shook his head. “You know I won’t give you that.” The bartender showed up with a frosty mug of beer and placed it in front of Buddy.

“You need anything else, man?”

“That’ll do it.” Buddy gave him a nod.

Jess waited until the man was out of earshot. “Can you still help me with Dan’s situation?” She’d asked Buddy to look into who was framing Dan for Allen’s disappearance.

Buddy took a long guzzle of beer, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and then leaned across the table. “I can help and I will. I ain’t letting Danny boy go down for what we both know he didn’t do.”

“Is it Black?” Jess couldn’t take the not knowing. She was already mad as hell at Black for just being himself.

Corlew shrugged. “I can’t say for sure. I know the mayor’s putting pressure on Black but I can’t confirm he’s the one making trouble for Dan. You have to be patient, Jess. These things take time.”

She rolled her eyes. “Patience has never been one of my virtues, and I don’t know how much time we have.”

“Now that’s the truth, sister.” He lifted his beer to his lips once more.

Jess braced herself. “What about the other?” She’d also asked him to look into the accident that killed her parents. As much as she did not want to believe her Aunt Wanda’s ridiculous tales about her mother’s alleged fear of her father’s associates, Jess couldn’t deny that Wanda had filed a report with the police after their deaths. Then again, just because that part of Wanda’s story was true didn’t mean the rest was.

Whatever caused the accident thirty-two years ago, Jess needed to understand what had been going on with her parents—if anything. Maybe it was a lot of contrived BS from a woman who’d spent years drinking and drugging and God knows what else. Jess wanted the truth out one way or another. This thing with Spears had her second-guessing everything about her life.

“There was an investigation into the accident,” Corlew said. “My source is attempting to get his hands on the case file. My arrest almost nailed him. They’re watching him right now. He has to be careful.”

“Why can’t I pull the case file?” She’d been to records before. She and Lori had pulled the entire Man in the Moon case a couple of weeks ago.

Corlew made a noncommittal sound that was more grunt than anything else. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, kid. I should see that file before you do.”

Oh hell. Now he was protecting her too! “If I had known there was a case file, I would have pulled it already,” she let him know in no uncertain terms. “The State Trooper’s report was cut and dried. I obtained a copy of it years ago.” She’d had no idea there was any sort of local investigation. How could Wanda not have told her this ludicrous story years ago?

Maybe because you pretended she didn’t exist until just recently
.

“Just promise me if you do that, we’ll look at it together,” Corlew urged.

“You’ve known me too long to doubt whether I can take care of myself.” She and Corlew had grown up on the same side of the tracks. They’d both struggled, her in a carousel of foster homes and him with a drunk for a father and a mother who was afraid of her own shadow.

“Listen to me, kid.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “You and I know fate can throw your whole life for a loop. We’ve been there, done that. We’ve also learned it’s a whole lot easier to get the job done with a friend than doing it all alone.”

Well, she couldn’t deny the truth in those words. As independent as she’d always been, she would be the first to admit these days that having a friend was better than not.

“All right. I’ll have Lori pull the file, then you and I will go over it together.”

“Lori can join us too. Give me someone to flirt with.”

Jess kicked him under the table.

“Ouch!”

“You are not using one of my detectives to feed your immature fantasies.”

Corlew laughed. “It was worth a try.”

Jess worked at relaxing as she finished her Coke. By the time she got home Dan would already have been informed of the incident in the interview room. She’d have her hands full convincing him that she was never in any danger during the episode.

Besides, they had other things to talk about. Like when to tell her sister and his parents about the baby. Jess swallowed back a groan. She would rather walk on hot coals than tell Katherine Burnett that her first grandchild was on the way.

God help her.

6

9911 Conroy Road, 6:42 p.m.

“Thank you, Lieutenant.”

Hayes shifted into park. “You okay?”

Jess drew her bag onto her lap. How many times had she been asked that question in the past few weeks? Too many times to count. Was she okay in the truest sense of the word? Probably not. Was there a thing in the world this man could do about it? Definitely not. No need for him to be as miserable as she was about her current dilemma.

“I am.” She smiled to cover the lie before reaching for the door. “I’ll see you in the morning, Lieutenant.”

“Night, Chief.”

By the time she was out of the lieutenant’s car, Dan was already headed down the stairs to greet her. Since the fire, they were living in the garage apartment she had rented from George Louis. The place was nice enough and in the kind of neighborhood to which Dan was accustomed. Forest Park wasn’t Mountain Brook, but it was a respected and a historic neighborhood. Of course, the apartment was about the size his master suite had been but it was doable for now. More of their time than not was spent on the job anyway.

She hesitated as one huge question occurred to her. Who would take care of this child while they worked? Who would make sure he or she was safe and not dropped off on some street corner by some whacked out nanny? Jess had seen the things mothers and fathers as well as caregivers could do to children, and still she wanted to believe that most would never harm them.

Was the woman in the dark glasses really the child’s mother? Why, nine hours later, had no one reported the little blonde girl missing?

Clear your mind
. More than ever before, she needed to learn to relax at least for a few hours each evening. Her health had to be top priority.

She was home. The too small, over an old garage apartment made Jess happy. Even with the BPD cruiser that had pulled into the spot Hayes had vacated serving as a watchdog.

She exhaled a lungful of tension and felt her lips stretch into her first real smile of the day. “Sorry I’m late.”

At the bottom of the stairs, Dan leaned down and left a kiss on her cheek. “You’re right on time.” He looked beyond her and waved. “Turn and wave to your landlord.”

Jess twisted at the waist and gave a wave to George.

“That is one creepy old guy,” Dan muttered.

“He’s eccentric,” Jess argued as she led the way up the stairs.

“If you say so.”

Inside the spicy smell of garlic and tomato sauce had her stomach rumbling. “You cooked?”

“Spaghetti and garlic bread with a nice salad.” He closed and locked the door, then armed the security system.

“Smells great!” She dropped her bag by the sofa. “You go ahead before it gets cold. I need a shower.” She stared down at the bloodstain on her jacket. She loved this suit but there would be no getting that out.

Dan nodded. “I heard. You okay?”

Jess thought about that for a second. She’d told people all day that she was fine, why change her tune now? “Yes.” She lifted her chin resolutely. “Tired and hungry, that’s all.”

“Get in the shower.” He ushered her in the direction of the bathroom door. “I’ll round up something comfortable for you to slip into.”

“Thanks.” Before she moved, she stood there a moment to admire the man she loved with all her heart. He’d shed the business suit and donned jeans and a polo that made him look exactly like one of those guys on the cover of GQ. Except better. What she loved more than the casually sexy clothes was his bare feet. To Jess his feet were the epitome of sexy. And those dimples. She glanced up at the man watching her as intently as she was watching him. She had always loved those dimples.