Everyone's Dirty Little Secrets (25 page)

Which is totally not cool.

Even if Chuck did conveniently provide
an alibi for a different murder. 

P
ay
ing
for Chuck’
s murder rampage, and taking the blame
, imposes just a little too much on Dodge’s generosity.
 

No, Chuck needs to get caught in the act
.

He can’t have been smart enough to cover his tracks very well.  DNA evidence, or something, will implicate him.  But if his DNA isn’t on file, it could take the police a while to catch up to him. 

Dodge could volunteer for a DNA test and exonerate himself, but for all he knows, he left some kind of DNA evidence at Dressler’s. 

If the cops have DNA, they would have asked for a sample. 

Unless the alibi is preventing them from doing that.

No probable cause.

No matter what is keeping Dodge out of jail right now, it’s just a thread.

That much he is certain of.

Chuck has to get caught in the act.  Then they’ll have his DNA, they can match it to the
other murder - or murders, even.  There may be more.

It all becomes suddenly clear to Dodge.

He
needs to frame Chuck for Siobhan’
s murder, and Dressler’s as well – not just
get him busted
for the crimes he actually committed.
 

He’s not sure how
to plant DNA evidence, or if it’s too late for that -
they’ve already combed the scene
.

No, he needs to create
a fake cyber trail that ties
Chuck
to Dressler or Siobhan or both that night. 

If Chuck is getting convicted for crimes, the flimsiest evidence could be enough to get this one thrown into the mix.  Even if he doesn’t get convicted, Dodge just needs the case closed.  If everyone believes Chuck did
it, and he goes to jail for
other crimes,
they will consider justice served - close the books.

Suddenly, Dodge sees the way out.  He just needs to implicate Chuck in
the one murder he did
n’t commit, and catch him in the next one
.  If the police bust Chuck here in Vegas
, and they investigate his activities,
Dodge needs to
make sure something
point
s
them
to the murder of Siobhan too.

So two things.

C
reate a
cyber trail
tying Chuck to Siobhan and Dressler the night they were killed.

And get
Chuck caught murdering someone.

He need to call
s Jason. 

Flying choppers.

Planting evidence.

The man has his uses.

Dodge
knows he
needs to get back downstairs as soon as they hit the room, but Jaime has differen
t ideas, sliding up behind him while he checks himself quickly in the mirror, sliding her arms around his chest, beneath his shoulders.  She stretches to her tippy toes to kiss him on the back of the neck.

Maybe he can take just a few minutes, he thinks, turning to wrap her in his arms, her soft roundness filling the cavities of his body.

“Not yet, Jaime,
” he manages to whisper, though
.

It kills him to say it. 

But this isn’t about ten minutes of abandon.

That’s what got him into this mess.

She deserves better.

She lets go of him
, much to his relief. 

“I know.”

“I’ve got to run back downstairs,” he explains.  “I have an idea, but I have to make a phone call right now.”

“Okay,” she whispers. 

He knows he has to go, but he
can’t
let go of her, can’
t stop his hand
from tracing the ridges of her spine down the length of her back
to the joyous places that leads.

“Be quick,” she orders him, her own hands exploring the soft and har
d parts of his body, tugging
hi
s shirt out of his pants
, t
o run her palm over his stomach, his chest.

“I will,” he promises her.

But doesn’t know what she wants him to be quick about doing. 

Her -
or making the phone call.

“Dodge,” she whispers, pausing the whole universe with just one breath.

“Yes?”

“Do you love me?”

At this moment, he feels nothing but love for her.

Almost enough even to erase all of his sadness and regrets.

“Yes,” he tells her tenderly.

“When this is over,
can we just finally
be together?” she asks, in the same hushed tone.

“Of course,” he promises.

“Then go make your call,” sh
e orders him, with a small sigh.
  “So we can get on with our lives.”

He
darts out the door, afraid of never leaving if he doesn’t just go.

*****

He needs to find a pre-paid cell.

He doesn’t want this call traced back to him.

He’s too impatient to run up and down the strip looking for a store, though.  He wants to get the frame job on Chuck rolling, and get back to Jaime.

Get back to the moment they just having, the moment they’ve been dreaming of for so long now.

So Dodge feels surprised, and just lucky, to find a pay phone within sight of the hotel doors on the strip.  He didn’t know they even exist any more.

It hasn’t been used in a while – it’s actually blocked off by yellow caution tape blocking off a section of crumbled sidewalk.

The irony doesn’t escape Dodge as he tears through the ribbon, steps carefully on the rough ground.

The phone still works.

And even better, he can see the entrance to the hotel from here.

He doesn’t want to leave Chuck unwatched, bu
t he
has to make this call.  And he certainly can’t send
Jaime down
t
here to watch him.  Given Chuck’s obsession, he would notice her - any woman even remotely resembling her would catch his eye. 

The real
thing would never escape him.

W
ould be his next victim.

It occurs to Dodge that Chuck is actually buildi
ng himself up to go after Jaime.  T
his may be what the murder of the woman at Checkpoint Chili’s is about.  The printout of Jaime on the wall, the Craigslist searches, a murdered woman who bore a slight resemblance.
  Dodge watches enough Criminal Minds to know that serial killers build up to their intended targets.

This has to end now.

Jaime is Dodge’s.  She
is waiting for Dodge right now.

If not for Chuck, Dodge would be upstairs, in her arms – in bed – right now.

Chuck
has to get
caught.

And be
locked away for a long time.

And right away.

“What the hell?” Jason
asks after he realizes who it is - from Dodge’s voice.  Dodge doesn’t introduce himself.
“Where did you find a
pay phone?”

“Never mind,” Dodge tells him.  “I need you to do me a favor.”

“What kind of favor?” Jason
asks, suspicious - the untraceable call
always a sure sign.

“One of those kinds of favors,” Dodge assures him.  “And I need it tonight.”

There’s a moment of silence.  Dodge knows Jason doesn’t want to get involved in this - he’s avoided Dodge since the murder, not wanting to know, not wanting to get dragged into
it
if it’s true.

“You’re a wealthy man, now, right?” Jason asks after a moment.

“You can retire to an island,
buy a volcano
,” Dodge promises him.
  “Fly over it every day.”

“Talk fast.”

Dodge spills his plan – the fake cyber trial.

Jason just hangs up.  Dodge knows this is a yes.  No need
to be on the phone any longer.

If Jason needs more convincing, he doesn’t hang up.

Now Dodge just needs to find a woman for Chuck to try to kill.

A prop.