Revenge Page 23

  She nodded. ‘We went home and pretended it never happened. But Todd knew. No one believed him but he knew. And now he’s having his revenge.’

  ‘What about Kevin?’ Had she forgotten about him? He was there that night as well. What was he doing during that pivotal time?

  She laughed, then pressed her hand to her mouth as if she hadn’t meant to do that. ‘Are you kidding? He’s terrified of heights. There was no way he was getting near the edge.’

  ‘Juliette,’ Gina said, breaking her silence, ‘has always been the good girl in the family.’ She smiled at her sister. ‘She wasn’t a rebel like me. She didn’t give anybody any grief.’

  ‘Except Lenny Porter,’ Jess reminded her. ‘And his friend Todd Penney. You read the journal entries.’

  Both women stared at her in something like disbelief. Juliette was the first one to speak. ‘I was always nice to Lenny.’ She shrugged. ‘Why wouldn’t I be? It was the guys who were mean to him. I didn’t like being a part of that. I tried to smooth things over. I felt sorry for Lenny. The poor guy loved me.’

  ‘But you couldn’t love him back enough to make your friends stop,’ Jess suggested. Before she could respond, Jess moved on. ‘Thank you, Juliette.’ She passed a notepad and a pen across the table to her. ‘I want you to write down everything you’ve told me.’ She turned to Gina then. ‘When she’s done, take her home and keep her there. Do not go anywhere or do anything that might cause the two of you to become separated from your surveillance detail.’

  ‘Of course.’ Gina wore the shocked look of someone who had just learned that people, even little sisters, sometimes kept deep dark secrets.

  The door to Jess’s office opened just a crack and a head poked in. ‘Oh, excuse me.’

  The door closed as fast as it opened.

  What was Corlew doing here?

  ‘I’ll be right back, ladies.’

  Jess got up and walked out of the room. Corlew was already halfway to the elevator. ‘Hold up, Corlew,’ she called after him.

  He waited for her to catch up to him.

  ‘You wanted to see me?’ she asked.

  ‘There was another murder last night? Aaron Taylor?’

  ‘That’s right. Do you know something about it?’

  ‘I’m not sure. Is there some place we can talk?’

  ‘There’s a conference room.’ Since they had to walk right past the lounge, she had to have more coffee. Corlew declined.

  Once the conference room door was closed, she started things off with a simple question. ‘What’s on your mind?’

  ‘Twelve years ago, after Lenny Porter died, Todd Penney insisted that the Five had something to do with his death. But the cops who worked the case cleared those kids.’ He shrugged. ‘Who was going to drag the offspring of Birmingham’s biggest big shots through the mud? So Penney ends up looking like a total fool and a bad friend because he wasn’t there to save his friend, whose death was ultimately ruled a suicide.’

  Jess sipped her coffee and sent him a disinterested look. ‘I got all that, Corlew. Where’s the new stuff?’ The better question was, what information was compelling enough to bring him here? Or was he angling for her to change her mind about the search warrant?

  ‘All these years later, Penney finally returns home for a visit and people start dying,’ Corlew went on. ‘But I don’t think Penney is killing anyone.’

  She had her doubts about Penney’s involvement as well. ‘I’m in the middle of taking a statement. If you have something relevant to say, forget about setting the stage and just say it. And don’t forget you have until noon to comply with my request.’

  If he was here to offer a bone that might put her off his scent, he could forget about it.

  His cheeks puffed with frustration. ‘All right.’ He looked around the room as if he didn’t know where to begin. ‘I haven’t been totally up front with you, Jess.’

  If she hadn’t already suspected that was the case, she would be mad as hell. As it was, what she wanted was for him to spill his guts. ‘I warned you not to yank me around, Corlew. I will get that search warrant and I will make your life miserable from this day forward if you don’t tell me the truth right this minute.’

  He held up his hands in surrender. ‘I got it. That’s why I’m here.’

  ‘That better be why you’re here,’ she warned. If playing his games had cost her team precious time, he would regret it. ‘Let’s hear it.’

  ‘Keep in mind,’ he said sheepishly, ‘that sometimes the end justifies the means.’

  She glared at him so he would get on with it.

  ‘Monday night I was at Vestavia Village.’

  Outrage rushed through her. ‘The night Scott Baker was murdered you were there?’

  ‘He was still alive when I left, but yeah.’ Corlew tucked his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. ‘It’s like you said before, I discovered his ongoing affair with Juliette Coleman during the investigation for Frances Wallace. I decided maybe there was something there, so I went back to compile the necessary evidence.’

  ‘You went back for pictures.’ She shook her head in disgust. ‘You intended to blackmail Scott.’ It wasn’t a question. She understood exactly what he was up to. How the hell could he still be that guy? The one who cared about no one but himself?

  Worse, he had the unmitigated gall to look disappointed at her for calling him on it.

  ‘I wasn’t going to blackmail anyone. You know how things work, Jess. I figured the photos would be good bargaining power in the future if I found myself in a tight negotiation. In my line of work, collecting insurance dividends is a necessary evil.’

  ‘Start from the beginning,’ Jess ordered. ‘Don’t leave anything out. And when we’re done here, you’re going to write an official statement.’

  He heaved a long-suffering sigh. ‘I arrived at Vestavia Village just after six Monday evening. Juliette typically arrives around seven, so I wanted to be in position. I parked on the street that runs parallel with the front of the property and cut through the trees on foot. I settled in between the hydrangeas.’ He looked straight at Jess and said the rest. ‘Five, ten minutes before seven, two men exited the lobby and stood outside the main entrance for another couple of minutes. I could tell by their body language that the discussion was not exactly a friendly one, so I zoomed in with my camera.’

  Jess reminded herself to breathe.

  ‘One of the guys was Scott. He had something in his hand. A notebook or something. The other man I didn’t recognize at first, so I zeroed in closer on his face.’ He made a long, low whistle. ‘I knew that face but I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.’

  ‘It was Todd,’ Jess surmised.

  He nodded. ‘They talked or argued a minute more and then Penney got into his Corolla and drove away. Scott went back inside. Juliette drove up about that time.’

  ‘And you got your photos, is that right?’ Jess was kick-the-crap-out-of-him furious. Not only could he confirm Penney had met with Scott that night, but also he could likely confirm what time Juliette left. All of which was immensely relevant to her investigation.

  ‘Nope.’

  Unable to hide her surprise, she echoed his answer. ‘Nope?’

  ‘I decided I was more interested in what was up with Penney’s return. I rushed back to my Charger and followed him. He drove to one of those geeky places he used to frequent back in the day and that’s where he stayed until around midnight when he went to his mother’s house.’ Corlew scrubbed a hand over his face. ‘After that I drove back by the Village and saw all the official vehicles and I knew I’d picked the wrong guy to watch.’

  Jess wanted to shake him. ‘I could’ve used this information days ago.’

  ‘All it proves is that Penney didn’t kill Baker,’ Corlew argued. ‘And that maybe you need to look more closely at Juliette’s alibi. Where the hell were the rest of her buddies that night? Have you looked into that? I’m telling you, the Five were responsible for Len
ny Porter’s death and at least one of them is responsible for what’s happening now.’

  ‘You’re determined to prove it’s one of them, aren’t you?’ Jess had her suspicions along those lines as well, but there was no concrete evidence yet and she damned sure couldn’t nail down a motive unless Penney was blackmailing one of the Five. If that was the case, no one was telling. And the suspect pool was getting mighty slim.

  ‘What I’m determined to do,’ Corlew said, ‘is right the wrong that was done the first go-round.’

  ‘What wrong? Stop beating around the bush and get to the point.’ She needed specifics not innuendos.

  ‘When Porter took that fatal plunge, Daniel Burnett was the liaison between the mayor’s and the chief of police’s offices. He made sure Deputy Chief Black closed that case the way the rich daddies of the Five wanted it closed. Call me an asshole but this is my opportunity to take Danny boy down a notch or two with the truth. That’s why I didn’t tell you. You weren’t going to listen to me over Dan. I decided to do it myself. I thought I could nail the killer, close this case, and prove the department screwed up last time, but I was wrong. I kept an eye on O’Reilly’s house all night last night. Once again I picked the wrong guy to watch.’

  ‘O’Reilly never made it home last night,’ Jess said, the scenarios whirling in her head. ‘He worked late.’

  Corlew shook his head. ‘He didn’t work late. I called his office and asked for him at six. His secretary said he’d already gone for the day.’

  ‘His wife hasn’t seen him since he left for work yesterday.’

  ‘Taylor’s dead,’ Corlew offered. ‘That just leaves the princess. She was banging the first victim and all four of those guys always rallied around her like she was the last female on a dying planet.’

  ‘There was a cop sitting in front of her house all night last night.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean she didn’t go out the back,’ he countered.

  That was true. A surveillance detail was to help keep trouble away from Juliette, not prevent her from sneaking off to find it. That was her sister’s job.

  ‘What about Penney? Where has he been all week?’

  ‘That’s the thing.’ Corlew shrugged. ‘I haven’t been able to locate him again since that first night. The guy is too sharp even for me.’

  She opted not to comment on that last part. ‘Anything else?’

  ‘Ask yourself, Jess, why Penney would kill Carson and Taylor and not Baker? Doesn’t add up.’

  That was indeed the question of the day. ‘I need your statement in writing and I need any photos you took of Baker and Penney Monday night.’ If that notebook Baker had been holding was the journal, she wanted to know it.

  That might very well be how the killer got his hands on it.

  As she headed back to her office, Corlew in tow, she put in a call to Harper. She needed him to ramp up the efforts to find the former manager of that storage facility. So far they hadn’t been able to catch the guy. His cell phone had been turned off and he’d gotten evicted from his apartment. If he could be located, maybe he could identify the person who rented that storage unit.

  Jess was pretty sure the person who’d decorated that storage unit and the killer were one and the same.

  Kevin O’Reilly or Juliette Coleman? Either one could have easily accessed the material that covered the walls of that unit. But only one had admitted to being with Scott Baker the night he was murdered. Corlew saw Juliette arrive. Baker possibly had the journal in his hand. And they’d had wine and sex.

  Jess’s cell startled her. ‘Harris.’

  ‘Jess, it’s Blake.’

  Her sister’s husband. Jess’s heart did a dizzying flip-flop. ‘Is Lily all right?’

  ‘I . . . don’t know. She collapsed again and we’re at the hospital. They don’t like what they see in some of her blood work, so they’re admitting her. She wants you here.’

  ‘I’ll be right there.’

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  University of Alabama Hospital, Noon

  Jess sat on the side of her sister’s bed, worry eating away at her. ‘Has the doctor told you anything?’

  Lil shook her head, her own worry palpable. ‘They’re doing more tests. They’ve alerted Dr Collins. My liver numbers are wrong. This doctor said something about hepatitis and cirrhosis. How is that possible?’

  ‘Cirrhosis?’ Her sister scarcely even indulged in a glass of wine. But then, there were other causes besides alcohol consumption. ‘This is ridiculous,’ Jess said. Why the hell couldn’t they figure this out?

  ‘Blake is about to have a nervous breakdown. Alice and Blake Junior don’t know the half of what’s going on.’ Lil dropped her head back onto the anorexic pillow. ‘We’re afraid to tell them too much and have them running back here. They need to be focused.’

  Blake had gone for coffee and to give them a few minutes.

  ‘We’ll get to the bottom of this,’ Jess promised.

  She couldn’t help feeling guilty for being so busy this week. She’d scarcely managed one brief visit with Lil. She’d always let the job take over everything else. The whole time she’d lived away, she had been too caught up in the job to be here for much of anything. She should be ashamed of herself for letting it happen this time. Things were going to be different from now on. Lil needed her.

  And that damned medical history.

  ‘Dammit,’ Jess muttered.

  ‘What?’ Lil looked at her expectantly. She looked so tired. So afraid. So vulnerable.

  ‘I’ve had three murders in as many days and I keep forgetting to pick up that medical history from Wanda. Dammit!’ Jess stood and started to pace. How could she be so negligent? She had one thing to do for Lil and she’d fallen down on the job. What kind of sister was she? Never mind, she didn’t want to know the answer to that question.

  ‘I doubt anything she can tell us will help,’ Lil offered. ‘Her brain’s probably fried from all the alcohol and drugs.’

  Jess made a face. ‘I don’t doubt it.’ Still, she’d made a promise. ‘I’ll do it as soon as I get a break from this case.’ She made the mistake of checking the clock on the wall and suppressed a groan. This day was half over and she had a new victim, leaving her with three unsolved murders and a killer out there somewhere trying to have his revenge.

  Corlew’s latest revelation had her leaning away from the possibility that Todd Penney was the killer. Yet, he had the most glaring motive.

  Bullying was a serious matter. If one or all of the Five had taunted Lenny Porter or encouraged him to take his life, they were guilty of intimidation, a hate crime, and possibly other charges. These were smart kids with everything going for them. She hated the idea of what that meant about society.

  Some called bullying nothing more than the innate human survival-of-the-fittest instinct. Jess called it evil.

  One never knew what the face of evil would look like. She thought of Juliette Coleman and her tight little group. All smart, wealthy, and attractive. Yet, something evil happened that night and all these years the ugly secret had been kept hidden beneath the money and the power. Why had Scott Baker called Todd Penney now? Had something she hadn’t discovered yet triggered Penney’s need for revenge after all these years?

  Or had Scott Baker’s own son’s trials at school reminded him of what he’d done to Lenny Porter? His wife was convinced that Baker considered his son’s troubles a penance for some past wrong. Maybe he’d set out to make things right . . . only something had gone very wrong.

  A knock on the door had Jess putting aside those worries for another. Was Blake or the doctor back with news?

  A large peace lily sitting atop a cart was the first thing she saw. Her heart skipped a beat at the memory of the same plant being delivered to Burnett’s hospital room after Spears stabbed him. Then the young woman who was pushing the cart came into view, snapping Jess back to the here and now.

  The volunteer in the pink uniform smiled. ‘Good afte
rnoon, ladies.’

  ‘Oh my goodness,’ Lily said. ‘Blake must have ordered this.’

  Jess hated peace lilies. Reminded her of death and she got enough of that at work. She sure didn’t want to think of it when she was in a place like this with her sister as a patient with some unidentified ailment.

  ‘There’s a card.’ The girl in pink, whose nametag read BARBIE, plucked it from the ridiculously large plant.

  Jess took it from her before she could pass it to Lily. ‘Thank you, Barbie.’ She gestured to the plant. ‘Just put it wherever it’ll fit.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  ‘Who sent it?’ Lil demanded. ‘Blake or Dan?’

  Jess hadn’t even called Dan. She really had to get better organized this afternoon.

  ‘Y’all have a great day!’ Barbie called as she pushed her cart out of the room.

  Don’t let this be from him. Jess noted the name of the local florist on the front of the small envelope, then held her breath as she opened it.

  It was a simple card. Get well soon.

  Beneath those generic words was a single letter.

  E

  Of course Eric Spears hadn’t signed that initial . . . the local florist had.

  But he knew her sister was in the hospital almost as quickly as Jess had known.

  The memory of staring at the business end of a weapon in the hand of a man whose face she couldn’t see erupted in her brain.

  Someone was watching her . . . and the people she cared about.

  3.00 P.M.

  After listening calmly to her update on her sister and getting a heads-up about the plant from Spears, Dan sent Sergeant Harper to the hospital to pick Jess up. Corlew had given her a ride over here. She wasn’t sure who was the biggest speed demon, him or Lori. Corlew had promised to write up his statement and get it back to her ASAP. She wasn’t holding her breath. But she had what she needed from him for now.

  Since every minute counted, Jess used the driving time to make sure she was up to speed. ‘No one has seen or heard from Kevin O’Reilly?’ She just didn’t get this. If the killer had gotten to O’Reilly, why hadn’t his body turned up? And if he hadn’t, where the hell was the guy?