The Harvest Club (18 page)

Matt asked what he could do to help, so she let him get the salad and dressing out of the fridge and fill the glasses with tea. They ate quietly, lost in their own thoughts. Jessie was wondering how long it would be before Gina could rest in peace.

“Jess, I have a major concern I need to talk to you about. The big guy who has been around may be the decoy. He can and will try to hurt you and scare you off, but he’s not the one who might really hurt you. You’re going to have to keep your eyes open for someone else. They may be following you or hanging around some of the places where you go.”

“What do you mean?”

“The person responsible for Gina’s murder, the one who harvested her organs, had to have had medical knowledge. The incisions were barely noticeable and had been done with precision. The bruiser’s hands don’t fit the criteria. Someone else may be your biggest threat. Keep your eyes open.”

“As if I don’t already have enough on my plate, now you tell me there may be someone even more dangerous. You must be kidding or trying to kill me with fear yourself!” She gave an exasperated laugh.

“I want you to be aware of your surroundings. Watch for someone who shows up at the same places you are often enough that it no longer seems like a coincidence. He might be someone nondescript who can fade into the background, or a real lady killer.”

“Okay, I’ll keep my eyes open.”

“Enough of the serious talk.” Matt rose to take his plate into the kitchen. “You need to chill for a while.”

“Duh, you think?” she replied smartly. “If I don’t, you’ll have a raging or perhaps a weeping woman on your hands. I think the latter would bother you most.”

“Lady, you’ve got that right.”

The rest of the evening was a relaxing one. They presented the idyllic picture of two friends enjoying their favorite programs, shoes off, one pair of feet with a hole in the socks propped on the coffee table, the other pair tucked neatly under her. A shared bowl of buttered popcorn, his choice, cherry coke, hers, both of them picking arguments over everything from who done it to who would win the Sunday evening baseball game.

When the news came on, Jessie got up and got a sheet and pillow for Matt. Setting them next to him, she smiled at him. “Thanks for the evening. It helped to forget for a few hours. I’ll keep my eyes open and you…” She smiled at him. “Be careful too.” She heard thunder. “It’s still raining pretty hard, so I imagine he won’t be around tonight. Goodnight.” She turned to walk out of the room.

“Goodnight.” He paused and then added “Jess…”

She smiled. Right now in this moment, she felt safe, and she would go with it. Who knew what tomorrow would bring. Once her head hit the pillow, she was out.

****

Matt was wide awake listening to the sounds of the night, sleep eluding him. She was sleeping in the next room, and he was painfully aware of it. He didn’t know how much more of the close quarters he could take. Moving on. He had to focus on keeping her safe.

He played back the conversation with Jeremy and events of the past several days. He was more convinced than ever that someone with medical know-how had killed Gina, probably someone reputable in the community with a wife and children. Maybe he had lost someone close to him because of a shortage of available donor organs, so he set out to make sure it wouldn’t happen to anyone else. In some twisted way, he supposed they all could justify that what they were doing was helping people. Somewhere along the line, it had gone from a noble cause to greed, and finally, to murder to cover their greed.

Jessie was starting to get to his heart. She had moved to the small town to be near her friend and had been welcomed into a living hell. Was Gina trying to reach from beyond to find her killer? How had Jessie become the target? Had Rick played a part in drawing her in? He knew she was a journalist when he hired her. Was he hoping she would snoop?

He couldn’t shut his mind off. He went over the plan again that would be in place when the men returned from their trip. There were officers who would watch them from their arrival at La Guardia, to their return home, and anywhere else they might stop in between.

This case was big and complex. The group could be as large as thirty people or more. Somewhere hidden in their midst was a murderer. If Brad hadn’t ordered Gina’s death, he sure as hell knew who did. He hadn’t been the same since Gina died.

Tomorrow was his D-day in Blue Cove. He was ready. Assignments had been made, the extras were coming in, and the command post would be set up here in the spare room right on schedule. He was prepared to put the greedy bastards out of commission. It was the waiting that bothered him most. Their crimes might still be undetected had Gina not been murdered and somehow involved Jessie. It was a hell of a case.

Matt was gone when Jessie got up. She noticed the neatly folded sheet and pillow on the couch. Pastor Rick would be back in the office Wednesday, so she had only today and tomorrow to formulate her plan.

By 8:15 she was ready and out the door for work. Jessie wanted to get a few things out of the way. Rick would be surprised by the new office furniture and computer or maybe not. Nothing was as it seemed.

“Thank you, oh, thank you,” Jessie whispered when she saw all the cars in the parking lot. She wouldn’t be in the building alone today. She had forgotten this was the day the District Conference was scheduled to meet with the nominating committee.

“Hey, there, Blondie. You’re here early this morning.” Melinda rushed toward Jessie. “This is my youngest daughter, Megan.”

“Hi, Megan.” Jessie smiled at the little girl. “I wanted to get a few things done before the pastor gets back.”

“There’s some kind of big meeting here this morning with all the uppity ups and the biggies.” Melinda gestured wildly with her hands. “Reba will stop by afterward to talk to you. She had a run in with you know who this morning.”

“Thanks for the information, Red.” She turned and walked down the hall.

When Jessie put the key in her office door, a cold chill went down her back. She turned expecting to see Gina, but she wasn’t there. Yet, the apprehension she felt was so strong she didn’t want to open the door.

Slowly she opened it, peering inside, then she flipped on the light switch, and her eyes saw him. The next thing she became aware of was her own voice screaming, which brought several people running from everywhere in the building.

Hanging from a noose over the beam was a man, an obviously dead man with a note attached to his shirt.

“Don’t touch anything. This here is a crime scene,” James told the crowd as he took charge. “Reba, you get Jessie out in the hall, and, Melinda, you call the police.”

Within the space of ten minutes, several police cars roared into the church parking lot for the second time in less than a week. Molly stared out the window as the police moved quickly into the building. “What in heaven’s name is happening at that poor church?” she asked loudly.

****

Matt and two other officers walked down the hall with Melinda leading the way. Jessie followed them into her office and stood in the doorway listening, but trying not to look. “Geez, you were the one to find him?” She nodded. Matt read the note. It was tagged and put in a plastic bag.

“
Jessie, my blue eyed girl, can you come out and play? You’ll run and I’ll chase you. You’d better not let me catch you or strike three you’re out. Kind of
like Matt’s friend and your new office companion
.”

“It’s Mr. Yamamoto,” she said softly. “I’ve talked with him a few times. He worked in the gardens at the inn.” Matt nodded at her.

“Let’s get the body down.” He looked at Jessie studying her pale face. “I had a call this morning from Blue Cove Funeral Home about a missing body. Mr. Yamamoto needs to get back to the funeral home for his funeral tomorrow. He died of a heart attack a few days ago.”

“Geez, a man can’t be left alone even after he’s dead.” The officer shook his head.

Matt called the funeral home to let them know Mr. Yamamoto’s body had been found, and they could pick him up at the church.

Matt walked over to her and draped his arm over her shoulder. “How are you holding up?”

“Why would they steal his body and hang him like that?” She shivered. “Was it just so they could scare me?”

“Probably. I hate to do this to you, Jess, but you need to read this note.” He handed the plastic bag containing the note to her.

She read it once, twice, and then over again.

For Matt this was a moment wrought with uneasiness. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know the right words. He felt awkward and not up to the task. He stood beside her patting her on the back a little too hard, not sure what he should say or if he made sense at all.

“Matt, I’m all right, really I am.” She smiled at him. “I’ve come to understand you’re not a man that is good in this kind of moment.” She lifted his hand away from her shoulder.

“You’re getting to know me pretty well.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “The suspect has connected us in his mind, which means he’s been watching your house. He believes in hurting you he’s hurting me and vice versa, which empowers him.” He paused hoping she would respond.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m mad. When I went to open my office door this morning, I think Gina was trying to warn me something was wrong.” She straightened in the chair. “I’m getting used to her hanging around.” She creased her brows. “I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to walk into the office again and not see poor Mr. Yamamoto swinging like that.”

He took her hand in his, lacing his fingers with hers. “Will you be okay?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to work today?” He tightened his hold on her hand watching her face. He could look at her all day. He practically did anyway. She was in his head even when he couldn’t see her. Staying away was no help at all.

“Yes, I’ll use the Sunday school office to answer the phones. I don’t want to be in my office today. I have to stay until 8:00 tonight because the town book club meets here, and I have to lock up when they leave. I usually go eat about 6:00 and then come back to lock the church.”

“Call me when you’re ready to go, and I’ll stop by and follow you home.” He gazed at her thoughtfully. “I’ll see you later.”

He handed them the note to put into evidence and walked out heading toward the exit. He passed the guys from the funeral home coming in with a stretcher to pick up the body. He told James he could have the office back to clean up for the second time in a matter of days. He held up ten and told him they were wrapping it up now.

Matt made it to his car before he allowed himself to think about what had just happened. He was angry. He didn’t like bullies, especially ones who picked on people he loved.

He admired Jessie and the way she was bearing up under everything. He had to admit she wasn’t the selfish, witless, shallow person he had originally thought she was. She had been an asset, a pretty one at that, and he was feeling pretty damn protective of her.

He knew that Gina’s murder was connected to the Harvest Club. The HC had been very active for the past five years, and it was time for them to be shut down. Gina’s murder may have been their first major mistake, but today was their second. He was mad as hell and felt like putting his fist into someone’s face. He drove back to the station.

****

Phase one was to tail the members and apply pressure. Hoping to get them to turn on each other and sing like little choir boys. He was prepared for the long haul, either way.

“So what’s the plan for tonight and tomorrow?” Dylan popped his head in the office door to ask him.

“I emailed everyone their assignments. You and I will be tailing Pastor Rick and taking care of tucking Jessie in at night. She seems to trust us, and as much as she’s been through, I hate for her to have to get used to someone else. I’ll follow her home after work, and you can come by after dinner. I already have Joe and a couple other guys on call during the day if she needs them. I think we’ll both stay there tonight because everyone is coming back tomorrow and if that guy is supposed to do something to Jessie, time is running out. He may throw caution to the wind.”

“In other words, she needs both of us to be there to protect her.” Dylan nodded.

“My gut tells me we need to stay close to her right now. The information we gained because of her puts her at greater risk.”

“I’ll eat dinner and come over about 7:00, if that’s okay?”

“She’s working late tonight and won’t be home until about 8:30. You won’t need to come until then.”

****

Matt worked on the HC case for a while when he noticed a typical summer afternoon storm was building. He tapped his fingers on his desk, reaching for his phone. He put it down only to pick it up again.

“First Community Church. May I help you?”

“You sure can. I need to eat dinner before I tuck you in and would rather not eat alone. Meet me at Patterson’s after work, say about 6:00. See you there. Oh, you might need an umbrella. It looks like rain.” Matt hung up before she could respond.

He made it to Patterson’s by 5:45 and got a table by the front window, so he could watch her come out of the church and cross the street. He ordered a Guinness and set back to wait.

She was prompt, and he didn’t have to wait for long. He watched her cross the street. Her long legs looked amazing. The dress she was wearing showed them to perfection. With her hair blowing slightly in the wind and a smile on her face, she looked like a model at a photo shoot.

Jeez, Matt, he thought, fate sends you a beautiful woman and practically hands her into your care. You need to stop lecturing her and thank your lucky stars.

He watched her come in the door. Patterson himself went over to talk to her. She smiled at him and said something that made him laugh. Patterson’s whole demeanor changed after a few moments with her. She had a way with people. The people at the church loved her. Hell, Patterson never smiled, and she’d won him over. What did she think about him, he wondered? Or did she ever think about him? She was always in his thoughts. He frowned.