Beyond A Reasonable Doubt (9 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Michael stepped into the sweltering heat of the veranda and lit a cigarette. The doctors had warned him about smoking as well as leaving the hospital early. That wasn’t what was going to kill him. Stress from listening to the judge whine and cry about their predicament was going to kill him.

Clearly, in hindsight, he’d chosen the wrong side. If he’d stuck by his mother, he wouldn’t be in this predicament. He’d be sharing in his brother’s wealth, not wallowing in his father’s poverty.

Taking a long drag from the cigarette, he studied the fields surrounding the mansion. He’d taken them for granted all those years, and he’d taken for granted that one day the money, the house, and the prestige that went with it would all be his. He had to find a way out of this mess. He was smart, smarter than the rest of them, but even if he turned on the judge, there was still that damn evidence to deal with. What had his mother had on them? Was it just on his father, or did she know about the girl?

Even that had been his father’s fault. He’d been too young, too inexperienced for a girl like her. She’d laughed at him. He hadn’t meant to kill her, just to teach her a lesson. There was no statute of limitations on murder, and it wouldn’t matter that he had been only fifteen. He’d be ruined.

Tossing the cigarette, he reached for his cell phone and started to dial Jenna’s number. Then he closed the phone. He couldn’t call her. He needed to see her, look into her eyes, and tell her he loved her. He would convince her he was on Jordan’s side. After that, Jordan would do the right thing. That’s the kind of guy he was.

~ ~ ~

Jake opened the door, climbed inside the cruiser, and grinned. “You’re early, partner. Can’t wait to see JJ?”

Harry backed out quickly and headed into town. “Loki called. She wants to see us.”

Jake waited for Harry to elaborate but was met with stony silence. “You think she’s found something already? Or is something wrong?”

Harry shook his head, turned a corner on Mason, and parked in front of a small office building. “More on the wrong side. She sounded upset.”

An image of the petite, dark-haired beauty flashed through Jake’s mind. “Upset” could mean a lot of things. He reached for the door handle. “Scared upset? Weepy upset?”

Harry opened his door and climbed out. “Mad upset.”

“Ah, shit.” Jake followed him from the car and up the steps. He’d seen Loki mad only once. She’d gone on a repo, and the guy had hit her, busting her lip. By the time they’d arrived, Loki had him down on the ground, a knife pressed tightly against his throat. It had taken them half an hour to talk her out of slicing and dicing the guy.

Harry knocked on the door, which was opened immediately by a ball of spitfire fury. She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into the room. “You!”

Jake intervened, trying to grab her from behind and hold on. A quick head butt made him let go and grab his nose. “Damn it, Loki, stop.”

She spun on him. “Stop? You want me to stop?” She slapped at his head, and he ducked as she continued her tirade. Grabbing a box on the filing cabinet, she pulled out its ghastly contents and flashed them in front of their faces. “Look at this. Look at what I found on my front doorstep this evening!”

Loki tossed the scalp to Harry and flopped in an office chair. “You have a leak, and when I find it I’m going to plug it permanently. Where is this prosecutor? I’ll scalp her and send it to someone and see how they like it.”

Jake grabbed his handkerchief and pinched his nose tightly to stop the flow of blood. “Tell me that damn thing isn’t real.”

Harry turned it around so bits of flesh and dried blood were exposed. “It’s real. Question is… where’s the rest of the body?” Picking up the box, he dropped the scalp back inside and addressed Loki. “What time did you find this?”

“At nine, when I came in to check the office before switching out with Jules. We were taking four-hour shifts watching the funeral home while Dadron watched his house. I called you as soon as I opened it.”

“Call them in and shut it down,” Harry said. “You’re off the case.”

Loki glared at him, her lips lifting slightly around the corners. “You think I’m scared?”

Harry handed the box to Jake and sat down beside her. “I don’t think you’re scared of anything. The problem is, Loki, I’m scared. The next box could be mine, and it could be your scalp in there or Jules’s or Dadron’s. I’m not willing to take that chance.”

“Dadron said the man put suitcases in his trunk when he came home at lunch. Let us finish out the night. I will light a fire and call upon the little people.” She stood up and walked to the door. “You should go. I have a lot to do, and I’ll call you when I have news.”

Harry stopped just inside the door. “Be careful, Loki.”

She nodded and pushed him out the door. “You be careful, my cousin. There is a rogue wolf in your pack.”

“What the hell was that all about? Little people, a fire, and a rogue wolf?” Jake asked. He checked his nose in the mirror. At least the bleeding had stopped. “And what are we going to do with this?” He held out the box containing the long-black-haired scalp.

Harry took the box and set it in the backseat. “I’m hoping if we check the local deaths, we’ll find a woman with long black hair who died in the last day or so. We’re dealing with an undertaker. Easy enough for him to have access to a body.” He started the car and pulled back onto the highway. “As to the little people and the fire, Loki combines the Chickasaw customs with several new age concepts. She’s quite the little spell caster. The rogue wolf refers to a leak in our group. The only people who knew about Loki were her brothers, you, me, and Jenna.”

“Well, I didn’t tell anyone, and you didn’t tell anyone, and her brothers would die first, so that just leaves JJ.”

Harry turned toward the outskirts of town and Jenna’s house. “Did you get Cara off to her mother’s?”

Jake glanced in the backseat at the box. “Yeah. She wasn’t happy about it, but right now I’m glad she’s gone. You’re ignoring the obvious here, Harry. JJ’s smart. She may not be beautiful by Elkins’s standards, but she’s cute. She could get any guy she wanted. What the hell was she doing with a guy like Michael Elkins?”

Harry gripped the wheel. “She said she got caught up in the glamour.”

“Yeah, well evidently, she’s still caught up in it. I say we go in there, flash that thing”—he pointed to the box—“in her face, and ask some damn serious questions.”

The radio squawked, and Harry picked up the mike. “Car Twenty-two.”

“Need you and Sherlock to check out a domestic violence complaint at Thirty-three Hundred Sycamore.”

Harry did a U-turn and headed back into town. “We’re on it.” Hanging up the mike, he glanced at Jake. “Looks like those questions will have to wait until tomorrow.”

~ ~ ~

Jenna put the final touches on the roast and popped it back into the oven. If the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, Jake and Harry should both be falling in love with her. She felt as if all she’d done since meeting them was sleep, cook, and eat. At least she’d gotten an opportunity to go out today to buy a few new clothes, a purse, and a new cell phone.”

A loud knock came from the back door. Frowning, Jenna glanced at the clock. They were early. And why were they using the back door? She grinned and headed for the door. If the guy out front was still watching, using the back door was actually a smart move. She jerked open the door. “You guys are smarter…” Her voice faltered as her eyes widened. “Tom? What are you doing here?”

He pushed past her and glanced around the kitchen. “You expecting company? Otherwise, that was pretty damn stupid to just jerk open the door.”

Jenna blushed. He was right, of course. “Savior and Redmond. They usually stop by around ten. And you’re right about the door. I won’t do it again.”

“Got any coffee?”

Jenna poured him a cup. “What are you doing here? I’m being watched, and if they see you, they’ll follow you right back to Jordan.”

Tom downed the cup of coffee in two large gulps and placed the cup on the table. He reached inside his shirt pocket, pulled out a list, and handed it to her. “Jordan’s sick. Bad sick. I need a doctor, or that’s a list of medicine we need if we can’t get a doctor. Figured you could get me one. I’ll be back at midnight.”

He headed toward the back door, and Jenna reached out to stop him. “Wait a minute. Surely you know a doctor? Why did you really come here?”

Tom glanced at her hand on his arm before his gaze came back to search her face, stopping just for a moment on the greenish discoloration below her left eye. “I’ve run out of favors with doctors, and Jordan made me promise I’d make sure you were okay.” He nodded toward her front door. “Rumor had it there was a nasty character watching you. He’s not watching you anymore.”

The implication behind the words sent a chill down her spine, but she held up a hand. “Don’t say anything else. Savior and Redmond usually leave by eleven. I’ll have a doctor here by midnight.”

Tom nodded, opened the back door, and disappeared into the darkness.

Jenna glanced at the clock, turned off the oven, and headed for her phone. Harry and Jake were late, and she couldn’t wait for them. She knew only one person that could drum up a doctor at that time of night. Picking up the phone, she dialed the number.

“Hello.”

“Mr. Beaumont, this is Jenna James. I need a doctor—one that knows how to keep his mouth shut—and I need him by midnight.”

“Anything else?”

Jenna glanced at the note. “Antibiotics for an infection from a gunshot wound and pain killers.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

The phone went silent, and Jenna replaced the receiver and ran a hand through her curls.
What are you doing, Jenna Patience James?

She’d always known that world existed—a world of power so immense that a single phone call could result in people disappearing or political offices being vacated, a world where doctors were available at a moment’s notice. She’d never been part of that world—never wanted to be. Her gaze wandered through the empty room and then fell on her taped fingers. Somewhere out there in the shadows was a body. Right or wrong, Tom had done what he thought he had to do to protect her. Unless she found the proof on Elkins, the body count was going to rise.

“Damn it.” She glanced at the clock again—eleven fifteen. Harry and Jake weren’t coming. She made her way back to the kitchen and took the roast from the oven. Tom was out there somewhere in the darkness. She opened the back door and stared into the line of trees that bordered her property in the back. Her grandparents had bought the only house in the neighborhood with land all the way around it. Until that moment, she’d loved the seclusion it gave her. Maybe neighbors wouldn’t be so bad after all. “Tom, they’re not coming. You might as well come on in.” Leaving the door open, she went back to the kitchen and filled two plates with food. She pulled a beer from the refrigerator and set it next to his plate, poured herself a glass of milk, and sat down.

She heard the back door close a few seconds before Tom walked into the kitchen. She nodded toward the plate. “Might as well eat. The doctor will be here by midnight.”

Tom sat down, popped the top on his beer, and said, “Good” around a bite of roast.

Jenna wasn’t sure if he meant the roast or the fact the doctor would be there at midnight. They ate in silence as the kitchen clock ticked away until on the stroke of midnight, a knock sounded on the front door.

Tom pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it toward the door. “Best you get it.”

Jenna wiped her mouth, tossed the napkin on the table, and called out. “Who is it?”

A muffled voice came through the door. “Mr. Beaumont sent me.”

Jenna eyed the gun. “Don’t you think you should put that thing away?”

Tom stood up and placed the gun back in his waistband. “Can’t be too careful, Miss James.” He headed for the front door. “Might be a good thing if you don’t see the doctor. Could cloud your judgment someday.”

Jenna stayed seated at the table until she heard the car drive away. She picked up the plates, dumped them in the sink, and turned off the light. Her judgment was already clouded. She’d just shared a meal with a killer.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Jake dodged the fist aimed for his head, grabbed the arm, and twisted it behind its owner’s back hard and high as he grabbed the opposite shoulder and turned him around just in time to deflect a beer bottle flying through the air.

“You leave my husband alone!”

“Little help here, Harry.” Jake put a well-aimed knee to the back of the guy’s legs, bringing him to the floor as Harry wrestled with the wife. That was what he hated about domestic violence calls. They could beat each other to a pulp, but as soon as the cops arrived, they were all of a sudden best buddies, and the police were the bad guys.

“Stay down!” he warned the guy before pressing a knee into the middle of his back as he pulled out the cuffs and attached them. “Are you ready to behave, or do we need to go another round?”

The guy relaxed, and Jake pulled him to his feet and shoved him onto a couch.

Harry had finally subdued the wife and half walked, half carried her to the couch. “Sit down and shut up.”

“I’ll sue you. I’ll sue the whole damn police force.” She spat at him before turning to her husband. “Are you okay, honey? Did they hurt you?”

The husband glared at Jake but shook his head. “Take more than a wimp like him to hurt me, honey.”

Jake pulled up a chair across from them. “You two want to tell us what this was all about, or do we need to take you down to the station?”

The husband grinned at his wife. “Wasn’t nothing, was it pudding? Just a little love spat.”

The wife nodded. “Wasn’t nobody’s business either. Damn nosy neighbors.”

Jake shot Harry a glance. “What do you say, partner? You want to call it in?”

Harry walked to the couch and took off the handcuffs he’d placed on the wife, reached for Jake’s key, and removed the husband’s cuffs. “We’re going to let you two go this time. You need to keep it down. We have to come back, you’re both going to be spending some time behind bars.”

The two immediately started hugging and kissing, ignoring the officers. Jake nodded toward the door. “Let’s get out of here.”

Back inside the cruiser, Jake glanced into the backseat. “Probably should have took them in, but figured
that
was gonna be a little hard to explain.”

Harry followed his gaze and nodded. “About time we found out where it came from and who it belonged to.”

Jake pulled on his seatbelt. “Funeral home?”

Harry nodded, picked up the mike, and called the station to report an all clear on the domestic violence call. “What do you want to bet we’re not back here again before morning?”

Jake rubbed his shoulder. “The little guy is a hell of a lot stronger than he looks. Next time, I get the wife.”

Harry pulled up his sleeve to reveal a row of scratches. “Be my guest.”

Harry’s cell phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket. “It’s Jenna.” He hit the speaker button. “Hello.”

“Hey, I was wondering if you guys were still coming by? If not, I’m going to bed.”

Harry glanced at Jake, who shook his head. “Go on to bed. We’ll come by tomorrow night.”

“Okay. I’m going to meet my friend at the courthouse tomorrow. Hopefully, he’ll be able to help us.”

“Sounds like a good idea. We’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Harry hit the End button before shoving the phone back in his pocket. “I know what you’re thinking, Jake, but I’m going to have to see it to believe it.” He started the cruiser and headed downtown toward the funeral home.

Jake kept his thoughts to himself. He liked Jenna James, but he’d seen too many crooked lawyers, judges, and politicians to have blind faith in anyone anymore. Harry pulled in behind the funeral home and parked. “Let’s go find us a body.”