Into the Devil's Underground (33 page)

“Whatever. I don’t know why this couldn’t be done on the phone.”

“I explained that already. Even a disposable phone can be traced back to a tower. We don’t want to give the police any kind of starting point, do we?” Julian made it a point to stay one step ahead of the cops at all times.

“Guess not.”

“So, what do you have for me? I trust it’s good news.”

“Good for Davis. Not so good for you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Something’s going on between her and the cop. She was in the boss’s office today talking about how good he was for her. When she was harassed about it, she didn’t deny it. Said it was no one’s business.”

“I see.”

“Thing is, I didn’t need to hear any of that to know she’s got the hots for him. The look on her face when his name was mentioned was more than enough. It was sickening.”

Sickening indeed. Emilie’s betrayal enraged him. Didn’t she understand yet? Didn’t she care about all he’d done for her? She would be harder to tame than expected, and Julian would be devastated if she went the way of the last girl.

He couldn’t allow that to happen. Emilie was too perfect, their match undeniable. This time, he would have more patience, counseling her as to her true destiny. She would acquiesce. She must.

“You got my money?” The informant stood with crossed arms, foot tapping. She reeked of smoke as usual. “I got you the information. You promised me payment.”

Julian coughed and withdrew the bulky envelope tucked underneath his arm. “Your reward, as promised.”

It was time to tie up some loose ends.

34

“H
AS ANYONE TOLD
you why the coroner hasn’t released her yet? It’s been nearly a week.”

Emilie dry-swallowed two aspirin. “Tomorrow.”

“Good.” Sam sounded exhausted. “I just want to put this awful mess behind me.”

“You and me both.”

A red-faced Lisa suddenly appeared in Emilie’s doorway. “Did you sic that FBI Agent on me?”

“Sam, I have to go. I’ll call you later.”

“Be careful out there.”

“I will, I promise.”

Lisa swung the door shut. Her painted lips curled into a hateful sneer. She tapped her index finger on the edge of Emilie’s desk. “Well, did you?”

Emilie closed the report she’d been working on. “I told Agent Ronson you may be the stalker’s informant, yes.”

“Why the hell would you do that? Do I look like someone who associates with psychos?”

“No, but you act like it.”

Lisa gaped. “You’re crazy. Or are you just trying to destroy my life?”

“Your life? I’m the one with the stalker. You’re the one making threats.”

“What threats?”

“Innuendos, whatever you want to call them,” Emilie said. “You’re enjoying my suffering, and you’re the only person I know cruel enough to want to see me gone.”

“I may not like you, but I’m not a criminal.”

“Then I’m sure Agent Ronson will see that.”

“She’s questioning my family and friends, Davis.” Lisa clutched her head with both hands. Some of her blond hair slipped from the knot she wore. “Snooping around my neighborhood. Do you know how embarrassing that is?”

Emilie didn’t think Lisa knew the first thing about being embarrassed. “Sorry to inconvenience you, but this man killed my mother and is determined to kidnap me. I want to know who’s helping him.”

“And you don’t care whose life you screw up along the way. Typical.”

“I’ve done nothing to you.”

Lisa’s eyes narrowed. “You stole my job. I should be sitting in that chair right now, but you sucked up to Jeremy and did God knows what else to get that promotion.”

Emilie’s office chair hit the wall with a thud as she jumped to her feet. “You didn’t get that promotion because you treat people like crap. No one likes you. No one wants to work for you. And if you’re implying that there’s anything other than friendship between Jeremy and me, you’re absolutely out of line.” She thrust her finger in Lisa’s face. “I am your boss, and I can fire you.”

“You don’t need to. I quit.”

“Fine. I’ll need a letter of resignation, your keys, and your parking pass. Should I consider this your two-weeks’ notice, or do I assume you’re foregoing any chance at a decent reference?”

Lisa yanked a pink lighter out of her pocket. “I need a smoke.”

“I didn’t know you smoked.”

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Davis. And not all of them are bad.” Lisa stormed out, the sound of her heels ricocheting through the lobby as she made a beeline for the back doors.

Her cellphone rang. Emilie nearly threw it against the wall.

“Agent Ronson.”

“Are you missing an employee today?”

“Mollie. She hasn’t come in yet. Hasn’t called either, which is unusual.”

“I think we may have found her.”

*   *   *   *

“
S
HE FOOLED US
all. I didn’t have a clue.”

Nathan stepped off the treadmill and headed for the locker room. Chattering cops and loud music in the station’s exercise room made it nearly impossible to hear Emilie. He pressed his phone against his ear. “Ronson’s sure she’s Creepy’s informant?”

“She left a full confession. Probably coerced by her killer.”

He closed the locker room door. “Start from the beginning.”

“The manager at the Cascade Motel on Bonanza discovered her body after he realized she’d exceeded the hour she’d paid. Her throat was slit.”

“Mollie?” Nathan asked. “The teller?”

“Yes.” Emilie’s voice sounded shaky.

“When was she hired at the bank?” Nathan tried to wrap his thoughts around what she was saying. Mollie had been questioned and checked out. Sweet, quiet, with no previous record.

“Just a few weeks before the robbery,” Emilie said. “Her background checked out. She was nice. Normal.”

Too good to be true. “She was an expert con artist.”

“She also had help,” Emilie said.

“Creepy.”

“It was all in the confession.” Emilie’s voice had dropped to a monotone. “He found her working on the street, took her in, gave her money. Guess he didn’t help her kick her meth habit, though. They found some in her purse. Ronson said that’s probably how he controlled her.”

“What else did the confession say?”

“Robbing the bank was supposed to be a big score. Mollie wanted her share of the money, or she was going to the police.”

“Did she know you were his target?”

“Ronson doesn’t think so. The note says she just figured he decided to kidnap me on the fly and that I was going to be a casualty. She didn’t care as long as she had her money. She was so nice,” Emilie sobbed. “Always had a smile on her face. I can’t believe she could be as callous as the note sounds.”

“You’d be surprised at different masks people can wear. Some of the world’s worst criminals appeared perfectly normal.” Nathan saw it all the time. Drug dealers and cons who played the victim well enough he almost believed them.

“Ronson says Creepy probably dictated the note, so we’re likely not getting the full story.”

Jesus Christ.
Just when Nathan thought things couldn’t get any more complicated, everything was flipped upside down yet again.

“Maybe Mollie fought back. Did she have anything underneath her fingernails?”

“Ronson said probably, but it will be several days before she finds out if it matches the DNA found with Marie Adrieux, Claire, and me. And there’s still no suspect to compare it to.”

A raw, aching gasp echoed through the receiver. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take. How many more people are going to die before he makes his move?”

“No one,” Nathan said. “His informant is gone. We’re not going to let anything happen to you.”

“Until he decides someone else is in his way. I should just go to the tunnels and let him take me.”

He heard the defeat in her voice. “You’re at Jeremy’s, right? I’m coming over.”

“You can’t.”

Nathan shushed her. “I’ll be there in half an hour.”

*   *   *   *

E
MILIE PADDED THROUGH
the quiet house. It should have been full of the sounds of a happy family, but because of her, Sarah and the kids had been banished from their home.

Because of Creepy. He was the bad guy, not Emilie.

She stopped in front of a closed door. Jeremy had taken the news of Mollie’s betrayal hard and shut himself in his private office. Everyone’s lives were falling apart. How hadn’t she seen Mollie for what she was?

She knocked on the heavy oak door and then pushed it open.

“Emilie.” Jeremy sat in a worn armchair with a bottle of gin next to him. “I was just going to yell for you.” He waved toward the sofa. “We need to talk.”

She looked around the room. It was tidier than she’d ever seen it. Even Jeremy’s desk was clear. “Why are you drinking? You never drink.”

“Figured now was the time to start living it up.” He poured a shot and thrust it toward her. Some of the liquor slopped onto the floor.

“I don’t feel like celebrating.” She set the glass on his desk. “Nathan’s coming over.”

“Good, that’s good. You’ll need him here.”

A sheen of sweat covered Jeremy’s face and dark circles ringed his eyes. “You’ve lost weight.” She had been so preoccupied with her own problems, she hadn’t noticed until now.

“Stress has that benefit.” He threw back another shot and coughed. “Damn, that’s strong.”

“I’m sorry.” Emilie moved the bottle of gin out of his reach. “Your wife and kids had to leave, and you’ve been worrying about me. I never intended for you to become so involved in my screwed up life.”

“I’ve been involved from the very friggin’ beginning.”

“Only because I leaned on you too much.”

“For Christ’s sakes, stop. Please.” Jeremy lurched out of his chair and staggered over to the bookshelf. He shoved a stack of hardback books onto the floor, revealing a small bottle of Jack Daniels. Jeremy eagerly twisted off the cap and downed the whiskey.

“Jesus, Jeremy. You need to slow down. All that’s going to be coming back up soon.”

“Better not.” He fell back into the chair. “We don’t have much time.”

“You’ll be passed out before Nathan gets here.”

“Listen to me,” he shouted. “I’m trying to tell you something important.”

Emilie sat down across from her drunken boss. She’d never seen him like this. “All right, talk.”

“You know we’re almost broke?” Jeremy coughed. “Sarah has no clue. She thinks I pay the charge cards off every month, but we’re living on them.”

“What are you talking about? You make three times as much as me, and Sarah’s a nurse.”

Jeremy swayed in the chair. “I’ve got a gambling problem, Em. Started online about two years ago, then wound up at the casinos. It’s such a rush. When you’re winning, anyway.”

“You—what?”

“Yep. ’Parrently I’ve got addictive tendencies. Least that’s what a shrink told me once. Figured she was right ’cause I can’t stop no matter how deep a hole I dig myself.”

Nathan had said she would be surprised at the different masks people wore. Jeremy had just donned the ugliest one yet. “We’ll get you some help. Gamblers Anonymous.”

“It’s too late for me now, but you need to know the truth.”

Emilie’s stomach dropped. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what Jeremy said next. “What truth?”

“I’d lost almost three thousand that night.” Jeremy’s speech slurred. He paused and rubbed his face. “Sarah was working nights,” he finally continued. “Kids were with friends. Was so depressed I sat at the bar and drank myself into a stupor. Guy comes up and starts talking like we’re best buddies. Next thing I know I’m spilling my guts.”

“It happens.” Emilie’s hands started to sweat.
Oh no.

“Listen to me.” Jeremy inhaled an unsteady breath. “I swore that night was the end of my gambling. I had to take out almost eight grand on my platinum card just to pay the mortgage. But I came back. So did he. He was there when I got on a sweet roll at the craps table. I was up thirty grand, Emilie. Thirty!”

“Who are you talking about?” Something prodded at her brain, a nagging voice she didn’t want to hear.

Saliva pooled at the corner of Jeremy’s mouth and trickled down his chin. He shook his head. “Understand, Em. I couldn’t let…” He leaned toward her and almost slipped off his chair. “I…debt. Blackmailed me. Threatened…”

Jeremy closed his eyes. Emilie grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

“What? Threatened what? Who threatened you?”

“To tell…Sarah. I had to help.”

Dread bubbled in Emilie’s stomach. “Jeremy, please don’t say it. Please.”

“Was me.” His eyes half opened. “I helped Creepy.”

“No.” Emilie pushed her chair away from Jeremy. “Mollie was his accomplice. She confessed.”

“She was just his spy.” He half coughed, half laughed. “I had to find the tunnel for him, make sure the door was unsealed. Supposed to get twenty percent of the cut.”

“You knew?” All this time, the answer was right next to her, comforting her, protecting her.

“Not about you, I swear to God. Just trying to save my marriage.”

“We only had eighty thousand dollars that day, Jeremy,” Emilie screamed. “You did all this for sixteen grand. Was it worth it?”

“Sixteen grand would have paid the bills for two months.” His voice was slow, weak. He slumped forward. “I’d get help.”

“And you got nothing, you idiot.” She leapt to her feet. “Two people are dead because of you. My mother is dead because of you. And you’ve stood by like a coward the entire time.”

“You’re right.”

“Who is he? What’s his name?”

Jeremy gazed up at her with dull eyes. His breathing was labored. His face contorted every time he swallowed. Emilie hoped the alcohol left a hole in his esophagus when it came back up.

“I don’t know. Thought if I could keep you safe…maybe I’d have a chance at getting out of this.”

“You didn’t say anything because you didn’t want the whole world to know who you really are.”

Jeremy blinked once as if to agree. “Fixed that. Followed him. Found some things out. I don’t know his name, but I have information.” His eyes closed again.