Conviction: Book 3 of the Detective Ryan Series (4 page)

She was so naïve. How could she be so trusting? How could she trust the word of a man who was on trial and facing twenty-five to life for a shooting?

Chapter 6-PM

Sitting in the back of the Ulster County Courthouse, the Puppet Master waited in anticipation for Detective Johnson’s arraignment. Rodney had been Ali’s partner since she moved to the precinct in New Paltz. They had been an inseparable duo since becoming partners, but all that changed thanks to him.

“All rise,” the bailiff called.

Standing with the rest of the crowd, the Puppet Master surveyed the room, finding Rodney’s wife sitting in the front row. Her red, glassy eyes darted from one side of the room to the other. Her frizzy black hair was pulled back exposing the look of exhaustion on her face.

The bailiff announced the first case. The side door of the courtroom opened, allowing two officers to bring in the towering prisoner. Detective Johnson stood with his lawyer before taking a seat at the defense table.

It was laughable to see him sitting there. The big bad bodyguard for the Ryan family sat with his hands bound with handcuffs. The roles he was accustomed had been reversed. He was the one staring up at the judge. His life was the one on trial as every eye in the courtroom scrutinized him and condemned him for a crime he swore he didn’t commit. No one from the precinct came to support him during his arraignment.
Maybe they were sick of putting faith in a lost cause.

After the bail had been set, Detective Johnson’s wife fled from the courtroom. Knowing their finances, there was no way Rodney’s wife could raise the money to get her husband out of jail. He would be stuck there while the Puppet Master carried out his plan to destroy the great Detective Ryan.

As if right on cue, she stood up from her seat and followed her partner’s wife. There was no way for the Puppet Master to follow without blowing his cover. Her new flavor of the month, the Douche of Dutchess County, remained seated giving Ali her much needed time alone.

Cursing Detective Thornton under his breath, the Puppet Master waited for court to adjourn before making his next move. Glancing back at the crowd, he noticed the detective vacated his seat and joined Ali Ryan outside the courtroom.

The Puppet Master spent another hour in court waiting to conclude his business with the judge. There was no sign of Ali or Detective Thornton once court was dismissed. It meant she was on the move, and most likely heading back to her new safe house. Although, she was anything but safe there. The Puppet Master knew where she moved the moment Detective Thornton took her into his home. An alarm had been installed the day after she took up residence in the bachelor pad. Little did they know he had been part of the install team and had set up cameras throughout the house.

No one second guessed him walking in and out of the house. To the detectives, he looked just like one of the workers. To the technicians, he was the new guy learning how to do an install. He’s had eyes on Ali Ryan ever since. He knew when she was home, when she left and where she was going. He knew if her sister Amanda came back to the house, or if her supposed knight in shining armor decided to spend some time with her. The Puppet Master saw it all.

Checking the app on his phone, he was able to flip to the various camera angles. Seeing Ali enter the house with Amanda put a stop to his immediate plans. They were arguing about her helping Rodney and supporting his defense.

“We have to do something,” Amanda said.

“I already did. After court, I double backed and put up the house as collateral for Rodney’s bail.”

Hearing Ali admit to bailing Rodney out put a kink in the Puppet Master’s plan. Having him back in the fray could potentially cause a problem somewhere down the line, but not if he plotted his attacks correctly.

The wait was killing him. Rodney would be released from prison by the end of the day, and Ali had yet to leave the house. He needed her to go to implement the next stage of his plan. He glanced through the tinted windows of his Audi at the flower shop on Route 9W.

“Hey Ali, did you eat yet?” Amanda’s voice shouted from the phone. Checking the camera, the Puppet Master could see her entering the bedroom.

“No. Why? What are you in the mood for?”

“I could go for some Tai or Chinese food.”

Ali agreed and exited the house with her sister. It was the perfect moment for the Puppet Master to strike.
Time to let Ali know I’m still here
.

Scanning the sea of flowers inside the florist, the Puppet Master found a stunning display of bold red roses.

“Excuse me,” he said to the cashier. “Can I get this bouquet behind the lilies?”

The cashier was more than happy to oblige and grabbed the flowers the customer chose. “Are these for a special lady?”

The Puppet Master wasn’t in the mood to chit-chat, and he certainly didn’t want to be on camera any longer than he had to be. He pulled out a wad of cash. “Yeah, I’m actually in a hurry. I’m supposed to be meeting my girlfriend for our anniversary in ten minutes.”

“Say no more. I’ve got you covered.” She took the cash and put the finishing touches on the bouquet while handing the card off to the customer.

The Puppet Master’s gloved hand snaked around the stems of the bouquet. “This is perfect,” he said to the florist. “She’ll love it.” He was thankful to have scouted the shop several times, finding all the cameras and their angles. Keeping his head low, he managed to slip out without being picked up.

Racing to Thornton’s house, the Puppet Master hoped time would be on his side. The girls never specified if they were taking their food to go or if they planned on staying at the restaurant. With how little amount of time Ali spent outside the house, he believed Amanda would do her best to keep her sister occupied.

Checking the cameras one more time, the Puppet Master saw the house was empty. Parking the car next door, he slipped through the gate to the backyard and crept towards the door.

“Thank you to Detective Thornton for replacing the spare.” The Puppet Master brought his hand up to the top of the awning and grabbed the key.

There wasn’t much time before someone came home, but he wanted to make sure his message came through loud and clear. Removing the clear plastic, he set the bouquet down against the pillows. Ditching the wrapping in his pants pocket, he took a card from his pocket and placed it in between the roses.

“I can’t wait to see the look on your face, Ali.”

Chapter 7-Ali

Lunch with Amanda was the perfect way to unwind after the hectic morning and early afternoon. It felt like the old times as in the days before I hunted down psychopathic serial killers. It was nice to spend time bonding with my sister.

“So how’s your therapy going?” I asked.

“Good so far. I’m almost a month sober.” That was a huge relief. There were a few nights where I thought Amanda drank herself to death, or would have been stupid enough to get behind the wheel after a night of binge drinking. Hearing she was a month sober was refreshing. I almost expected her to crumble after learning Matthew died. “What about you? How are you holding up?”

“A little better now that I’m seeing Dr. Barron again.”

Her face lit up at the news. “That’s great!”

She knew just as well as I did that going to therapy was the first step on the road to recovery. It didn’t matter if that recovery was for substance abuse or for suffering a traumatic experience. Unfortunately, the last year of my life was a series of traumatic experiences.

The rest of our lunch consisted of avoiding another discussion about Rodney’s case, and tip-toeing around the Detective Thornton situation. I didn’t know how to handle either situation, and right now didn’t seem to be a good time.

An hour and a half later, we returned to the house. Something felt off the moment I stepped out of the car. Instinctively, I reached for my glock, finding nothing clipped to my side.

“What’s the matter?” Amanda asked.

I held a finger to my lips inching closer to the front door. I knew I was freaking my sister out, but I needed to be sure we were alone.

Unlocking the door, I slowly pushed my way in. “Ulster County Police Department,” I called out. There was no response, not that I really expected one. Grabbing the first heavy thing I could find, I swept the living room and bathroom. Nothing seemed out of place as I rounded the corner to the kitchen. Just as I was about to give Amanda the all clear, I saw something red leaning against the pillows in the bedroom.

Entering the room, I grabbed a handful of tissues before going near the small bouquet of roses. The stems were tucked under the top of the comforter. The rose buds were just beginning to open against the pillows I slept on. Carefully plucking the card from the center, I read the little note that was left for me to find.

Dearest Ali;

The last year has been fun. You’ve played your part so well in my games. So why not play one more? WINNER TAKES ALL

I dropped the card on the bed and rushed to the front door, grabbing my glock along the way. Thankfully, Amanda was safe inside the car. There was a look of worry on her face. The passenger side door opened as she slowly stepped out of the car.

“Ali, what’s wrong? What happened?”

I quickly stepped towards her, wrapping one arm around her shoulder. I watched the street for any sign of trouble and kept the safety off my gun.

“Pack your stuff, we need to go.”

“Why? What happened?”

Dragging her inside the house, I shut the door. “He was here.”

“Who was?”

“The man that took you seven months ago. The man that threw me off the Mid-Hudson Bridge.”

“Ali, you shot him. You killed him. How is he back?”

“I don’t think DeFalco was the man behind all of it. I think he had a partner, and that person has been stalking me.”

“Are you sure?”

I dragged Amanda to the bedroom and let her see the roses for herself. I forced her to read the card, letting the words sink in. “This isn’t the first time he’s left roses for me. He left them in my car and at the precinct a few weeks ago.”

“You need to call James and Lieutenant Esposito.”

“I know, but first we need to pack.”

“And go where, Ali?”

“Anywhere but here.”

I grabbed my bag and started shoving clothes inside it. Amanda slipped out of the room and returned twenty minutes later with two men at her side. One was a five-foot-five Cuban man with graying hair. The other was Mr. James “Suave” Thornton with his slicked back hair and khaki pants.

“Ali, what the hell are you doing?” James asked.

“For your information, I’m packing. I assume Amanda called you guys and told you what happened.”

“Good thing she did.” I chose to ignore him as James attempted to plead for me to listen to him. Instead, I focused on what I thought I needed to do.

“Detective Ryan,” the nasally, loud, annoying voice of Lieutenant Esposito said. It stopped me abruptly. “You know better than to break protocol. Those flowers are part of an ongoing investigation.”

“What investigation, Lieu?”

“You were attacked months ago. Your sister was kidnapped. You’ve received notes from this person several times, and there was an unexplained murder in your house. Now we can protect you…”

“It doesn’t matter,” I snapped. “He finds me no matter where I go or where I stay.”

“That’s not the Ali Ryan I know,” the lieutenant replied. “The Ali I know would do anything it took to find out who’s behind it.”

“And the Ali Ryan I know,” James continued. “Wouldn’t back down from a challenge, and isn’t scared of some guy hiding behind some bouquets of flowers and bullshit cards.”

“And the Ali I know, will do anything to protect the ones she loves,” Amanda concluded with tears in her eyes.

I knew they were right. I ignored this person’s existence when DeFalco tried to warn me. Running from him, from
this
cost me too much already.

“Fine, let’s take down this asshole. Lieu, get the Crime Scene Unit down here. I want this place dusted for prints. I want to know how this guy got in here, what he touched, and where he got these flowers from.”

The Lieutenant stepped away to make the necessary phone calls. The moment his back was turned, I continued to pack my bags.

“What the hell, Ali? I thought you were going to fight back and take this asshole down?”

“I will, but not from here. I’m not safe here.”

“And you think you’ll be safer somewhere else on your own?”

“James, he broke into your house, got past your security system and left roses on the bed for me to find. There was no sign of forced entry and your alarm pad still has power going to it. Who says he doesn’t just break in during the middle of the night and kill you or me or Amanda?”

“Okay, but you don’t have anywhere to go right now. Stay the night. I’ll stay up and make sure nothing happens to either of you.”

“You have work in the morning.”

“I can call out. Ali, you have to believe I will do everything I can to keep you and your sister safe.”

Sincerity, that’s what I saw in his eyes. “Fine, I’ll stay tonight. But in the morning, I’m going to look for another place.”

That night, I waited until the Crime Scene Unit left and cleaned up after them. I felt terrible staying with James and letting the C.S.U. Team leave a mess behind. He was nice enough to give me a place to stay since the shooting, but now his home was invaded by the same psychopath that’s been coming after me and my family for months. Now James is caught in the middle of this mess, and none of it makes any sense.

Why me? What did I do to piss this person off so much that he is willing to risk his life on destroying mine?
Those were the questions running through my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

Slipping into the same reoccurring nightmare, I found myself bursting through the front door to my house. Sweeping the room in the dark, I could feel James at my side. We cleared the living room just as a shot rang out from down the hall. I rushed to Amanda’s room. Only this time Rodney wasn’t laying on the floor. He was on his knees crawling towards me. He was covered in blood.

“Ali, please help me. I didn’t do it; I swear.” Rodney turned to look back at the room.

There was a shadow hiding in the darkness. The only visible sign of the person was the silver barrel of a revolver pointed at Rodney’s head. The blast from the gun woke me in a blood curdling scream. I was awake and alone, sitting with my sweat soaked shirt clinging to my body.

The door to the bedroom flew open. James ran in with his gun drawn, searching for the reason for my outburst. “What is it?” he shouted. “What’s wrong?”

The realization of the dream set in. “Nothing,” I whimpered while trying to conceal my distress. “It was just another nightmare.”

James moved towards the bed, placing his gun on the nightstand. “It’s all right. Nothing bad is going to happen here.”

I looked around the room expecting Amanda to come running in any minute. “Wh-where’s my sister?”

“She went out with a couple of her friends.”

“And you let her? You know there’s a psychopath that’s hunting me and my sister.”

“Relax, Ali. I sent two of the best guys from my precinct to follow them wherever they go. She knows not to ditch them and that I will check on her in an hour.”

He’s worse than an overprotective father
, I thought. “James, I just want this to be over.” He pulled me to his chest and stroked the curls from my hair. I felt relaxed in his arms, and let the tears break from the damn I built up inside.

“It’s okay, Ali. I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to either of you; I promise.” I glanced into his gorgeous big brown eyes. Damn I wanted nothing more than to kiss him, but knew it would only complicate our lives further. I think he felt it too. I could feel him pulling away from me.

“Please, stay with me until I fall asleep.” I’ve never asked or begged for a man to stay with me, but the nightmares would only continue their onslaught on my mind while I slept. At least if he was there, I would feel safe in his arms.