Family Honor (20 page)

"Okay, let's go," she said to Webb.
There'd
be a split second when he reached for the door that she might have the chance to do something.

He felt behind him but
couldn't
place his hand on the knob. As
she'd
hoped, he glanced away for one moment to grab the door.

Mel launched
herself
backwards into the bushes.

Webb raised his arm, leveled his weapon at her and fired.

Mel's vision went black.

Chapter Eight

Mel blinked.

She heard Nate in front of her muttering, "Jesus Christ! Mel, are you okay?"

She squinted up at him, his face washed out by bright sunlight. "Am I in heaven?"

He chuckled. "Doubtful. St. Peter I am
not
." He felt her arms and rubbed both hands over her face. "Are you injured? I think I deflected his bullet."

She got her bearings. "Nothing hurts."

Nate clasped her hands and pulled her to her feet. Before she could take further stock,
he'd
drawn her into his arms.

"Damn that scared me," he whispered in her ear. "Thank God you're all right."

"Thanks." Aware that they were being watched, she shrugged from his grasp.

She
needn't
have worried. When he released her, Marshall stepped forward, wrapping her in another bear hug. "Nice work, Mel. You handled that perfectly."

"Oh, thanks." Still a little stunned, she tried to remember exactly what happened.

She accepted hugs from both Stone and Becker before the SWAT team leader approached and shook her hand. "Well played, Detective. Well played. That's the kind of outcome we strive for."

"Webb?" She glanced around. Two paramedics were tending to his arm on the front step.

"Nice clean shot through the arm," Marshall said. "He's going to be fine.
It's
a damn shame Willis has so much integrity. I might have preferred a nice clean shot through the brain.
If the sleazy bastard has one."

She turned to Nate. "You shot him?"

He raised his hands. "Seemed like the thing to do at the time. You
complaining?"

Mel laughed and hugged him once more.
"Not at all.
Where's Shelia?"

"We're fixing to find out. Want to come in, or would you rather have the paramedics take a look at you next?"

She shot him a look. "Let's go."

As they approached the stoop, a uniformed officer led Webb away. He glanced at Mel and smiled.

She averted her eyes.

Nate said, "Take him to the hospital and have him checked out. Keep him in cuffs and shackles the whole time."

"Docs aren't going to like that. They make us uncuff drunks all the time," the cop replied.

"I don't give a damn what the doctors tell you. Cuff his left arm to the bed if they need to examine his right. His feet stay shackled. Take no chances with this one."

"Yes sir," the man replied and led Webb
off
.

Nate stepped into the dark house and felt for a light switch. When the room lit up, it still
wasn't
bright. One dim bulb shone from a fixture that had room for four.

Mel followed him in, looking around. Filthy and rundown, the house was a far cry from the last two places
they'd
investigated. Both of those appeared normal.
Nothing about this place feels normal.

"What a sty," Marshall voiced her thoughts.

"Nasty," Stone agreed.

"I thought Masters and his cats were gross," Becker added. "I didn't know the meaning of the word."

What furniture there was lie broken and scattered around the room. Maggot-infested plates of unfinished food were piled high on a small table.

"Not much of a housekeeper," Nate mused. He bypassed the kitchen and went straight for the hall. The first bedroom was empty. The second room was a small bath.

They stopped in front of the last door. With Mel peering over his shoulder, Nate cautiously tossed it open. Sheila lay on her side on the bed, hands and feet bound behind her. Dressed in a white cheerleader's uniform, she had a thick rag shoved into her mouth.

"Shelia!" Mel rushed past Nate and removed the gag.

"Oh gawd, oh lordie gawd."
The woman's words came tumbling out. She smiled up at Mel and Nate. "You two fas' becommin' my fav-o-rite people in da whole world."

"What about me?" Marshall stepped forward, grinning.

"Brady Marshall!
Get oba here and untie me if'n ya wanna keep your spot at numba one."

Mel and Marshall worked together to release her, and help her stand. "Are you hurt, Sheila?" Mel did a cursory examination and
didn't
see anything besides the ligature marks.

"No, jes a liddle wobbly.
Been tied up like dat for a long time."

Nate said, "We're going to send you to the hospital to get checked out. Not taking any chances."

Sheila looked around. "
Where's ma
clothes?
Can't go wearin' dis."

"Here." Mel removed her windbreaker and wrapped it around Sheila. "We'll get you some clean clothes. The hospital should have some but if they don't, we'll bring you something."

"Thankin' ya." Sheila glanced around the room. "Thankin' ya all."

Mel cupped Shelia's face. "We're so happy you're okay. Go with Brady, now. He'll take you to the paramedics."

The woman nodded and allowed Marshall to lead her out.

Nate had wandered over to the walk-in closet and nudged the door open fully. He pulled the chain hanging there and the light bulb illuminated the chilling room. "Jesus freaking Christ," he mumbled.

Mel stepped in behind him. Words escaped her.
"Um, yeah.
What you said."

The walls were covered with photos of the dead women in various stages of their demise. Red and white school pennants were pinned up amongst them. Dozens of red pom poms littered the floor. A shelving unit held knives with multiple sized blades. All of them were stained with what appeared to be dried blood. "DNA Heaven," Nate murmured.

"Good," Mel whispered, barely able to breathe. She glanced down and spotted a plastic grocery sack on the floor. Colored fabric poked out of it. "What's that?"

Nate leaned over and lifted the bag gingerly. He removed a pink item and looked at Mel.

"Panties."
She made a face.

He dropped the items back where they were and glanced at her again. "Were the victims wearing panties when they were discovered?"

"Yeah.
Maybe not their own."

He nodded.
"More DNA evidence.
We're going to have so much on this guy Kansas will have to open up the lethal injection chamber again."

Stone said, "Not sure we've ever used it. We haven't executed a prisoner since 1965, and those were by hanging."

Nate chuckled grimly. "Texas has executed more prisoners than any other state since the 1980s. We have a comedian that says, 'If you kill someone in Texas, we kill you back'."

Mel shook her head. "I'm not sure how I feel about the death penalty, but standing in this room much longer is going to help me decide real fast." She pressed her way out between Stone and Becker.

Marshall stuck his head in the bedroom door. "Hey, I'm going to follow Sheila to the hospital.
She's
pretty shaken up. You don't need me here anymore."

"Thanks Brady." Mel watched him go.

"He's one of the good guys," Nate spoke from behind her.

She nodded.

He gazed from her to Stone and Becker. "You all are. Hell of a fine job you did here. I hope you all get commendations for this one."

Mel smiled. He was sweet to say it, but they probably
wouldn't
even get a pat on the back from anyone at the office.
"All in a day's work for you?"

He shrugged. "Some days are better than others. This is a good day. So Stone, Becker, we need you to stay here until the CSIs show up.
Can't
take a chance on any evidence tampering, and God only knows what Burton Webb is doing right now. Mel and I need to get back to the station. I'd like to talk to Dickie before he lawyers up, if he hasn't already."

"We'll hang out here," Stone agreed. "We can catch a ride with one of the uniforms."

"Thanks." Nate gave one last glance around the room before heading out.

Stone elbowed Mel. "He calls you 'Mel'." He grinned.

She stared at him blankly. "That's my name."

"I know, but everyone else calls you 'Curtis'. He calls me 'Stone', her 'Becker', and Brady 'Marshall'. He calls you 'Mel'."

She rolled her eyes, trying to appear nonchalant.
"Must be love."

"Might be."
Stone waggled his brows.

"Shut up." She tried to scowl but knew it was a pathetic effort. "We gotta go." Mel hurried out, figuring that conversation was going nowhere good.
She'd
tried to blow it off, but Stone had a way of seeing right through her.

Won't
matter after today
. The thought struck her like a ton of bricks. The case was solved. Nate would leave. Her stomach churned.

He was talking on his phone out by the SUV. He ended the call when she walked up.

She forced a smile.
"Another girlfriend?"

Nate tucked his phone in his pocket. "Not letting you off the hook that easy. That was my chief. He says good work on the case and congratulations to the WPD."

"Did he say anything else?" She blinked, hoping the tears she felt welling
wouldn't
fall.

He shook his head.
"Nope."

For the first time, Mel could tell Nate was lying. She let it drop, too emotional to open up the subject just then. "We'd better go. Burton Webb is hiring an attorney as we speak."

"If he hasn't already."
Nate repeated an earlier comment. They climbed in the SUV and headed to the office.

* * * *

Nate followed Mel up to the homicide department.
They'd
stopped on the first floor and discovered Dick Webb hadn't arrived from the hospital yet. The officer on duty promised to call Mel when the suspect arrived.

Police surveillance of Burton Webb ended when Dick was taken into custody. Nate felt sure the father had already begun making arrangements for his son, but he hoped for one shot talking to the perp. If he could get Dick to admit to any of the murders,
it'd
be the final nail in his coffin.

When they walked into the bullpen in homicide, the room fell silent. One lone person's clapping turned into several, and soon the whole room full of people were applauding and walking over to congratulate Mel and him.