Fatal Jealousy (Black Widow Book 1) (14 page)

****

Carson drove the car with much aggression. He’d hoped the long drive would calm him down, but so far he was still as livid as he was when he left home, “I hate this!”

Richard turned to him, “I understand. My wife barely speaks to me anymore.”

“My kids don’t think I love them,” Paloma spoke from the back seat, “Sometimes I just want to quit.”

“And why don’t you?” Audrey asked, “I mean, all three of you have families to think about, why keep doing this job?”

“Because the people we help also have families,” Richard answered.

“Because I feel like I’m making a safer world for Stacey-Ann. It keeps me sane when I’m away from them, knowing there will be one less person to threaten my daughter.”

“Well then, let’s catch this bastard and get you all back to your families,” Audrey announced. After a long pause she spoke again with urgency, “Carson, turn the car around!”

“Why?”

She scrolled through the police alert, “Because he or she just struck again... and very close to home.”

Carson didn’t need more prompting. He swerved, pushing the car harder as he sped back home, the sirens screeching loudly.

“What the hell?” Gwen exclaimed as she watched Carson speed past her.

“Well, what are you waiting for, follow him!” Doran prompted.

Gwen tried to keep up, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t used to driving that fast and if she tried now, she’d end up as roadside carnage. It took her twenty minutes longer than Carson to drive back.

“Did you guys fly here?” Gwen asked when she stepped into the office, “What was with the driving?”

“Carson had some aggression to get out,” Paloma answered.

“Did it work?”

“No. He’s still as angry as ever.”

Carson walked to the case board that Audrey had quickly set up, “let’s get started.”

Gwen moved to stand next to him, “What’s the hurry?”

“The sooner we catch this guy, the sooner the killings end and the sooner I can start to breathe.”

“Ellie?”

He turned to face her, “Yes Ellie, my wife!” He barked harshly.

Gwen stepped back, picking up a case file as she retreated.

“How about I take Carson and Kevin to the new crime scene and you guys can try to piece the other cases together,” Doran offered, sensing Carson’s need to get out. He was like a caged animal ready to explode.

“Okay,” Richard said.

Carson rushed to the elevators and the others had to run to catch up.

“I knew this family thing would change him,” Gwen grieved, “He doesn’t have a clear head anymore.”

Paloma stared at her, feeling irked, “Until you have a family of your own Gwen, you’ll never understand.”

****

Carson, Dale and Kevin walked into the room cautiously. There was blood all over the place. They had seen a lot of gruesome crime scenes, but this took the cake.

“The suspect stabbed him numerous times through the heart, after he or she tortured him continuously, with smaller less fatal cuts all over his body,” Kevin offered, taking more pictures of the bloodied bedroom.

Carson taking a closer look at the body, “This looks like a woman’s scorned situation.”

Doran stepped closer to Carson, “Why do you say that?”

“Look at this. What guy would spend such a long time torturing him? And stabbing him several times through the heart, he broke her heart, so she broke his, literary. If it were a man, he would have gone straight to the point and we should see some signs of a struggle.”

“No offense to women, but I don’t think a woman can physically subdue a man to do this,” Kevin added.

Carson smiled, “A woman doesn’t need physical strength to render a man useless. Trust me.”

“It doesn’t look like he was tied up. He would have defended himself the second he saw the blade coming at him.”

“She could have drugged him?” Doran offered.

“It’s possible...” Carson stopped to answer his ringing phone, “Audrey what’s up?”

“We found a link between the victims.”

“What is it?”

Audrey paused, biting her lower lip anxiously, “You are not going to like this Carson.”

Carson froze, feeling the dread stir in the pit of his stomach again, “What is it Audrey?”

“It’s Ellie. They all at one point have dated Ellie.”

****

Ellsa’s phone rang, interrupting her thoughts, “Hello?”

“Hi, this is Emma, George’s sister,” The sad voice came through.

Ellsa rolled her eyes, “Hi and how did you get this number?”

“Am I interrupting something?” Emma whispered.

“No, what’s up?”

“Kris gave me the number. She said she wasn’t sure you’d answer.”

“So why did you call?” She prompted impatiently.

“Ah... George is dead. He was murdered,” She cried.

Ellsa looked at her watch. She couldn’t stay on the call for too long. Faking a sad voice, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“The funeral is next week. I hope you can make it. It would have been sooner, but some Agent Beckett won’t release his body,” She paused and then, “I’m sorry about Taylor, I heard he was Ellie’s boyfriend too. Don’t worry, they’ll catch that monster soon.”

Ellsa was taken aback. Richard was on the case? That’s too close to home.... unless Ellie is a suspect.
I mean, they’ve already began to connect the dots... and Ellie was right in the center of it.
That would work out just fine for her. She purposefully endeavoured to commit the murders the weeks Carson was gone. It was perfect, “I promise to try. Bye Emma.”

Once she got back to Georgetown the next morning, she called Daniel, “Hi, do you know Ellie’s boyfriends are dead? Could that make her a suspect? I’d hate to see her get harassed by the cops.”

“Not really but I’ll find out...” Daniel paused on the phone, “It’s nice of you to look out for your sister. I never thought you cared about anyone else but yourself.”

“Well I’m full of surprises. One day I’ll surprise you too, you can count on it.”

“You’ve already surprised me.” He said, hanging up.

Ellsa sipped at her wine and then placed a red bow on the bottle of
Chivas Regal
, “Oh Daniel, you aren’t surprised yet.”

Chapter Sixteen

Carson ran out of the elevator and into the case room, “Show me!”

Audrey quickly brought up several images on the screen, “I got these from all their Facebook pages.” She brought the first victim up, “This is George Lucas the first victim,” she paused, scared of the eruption that was bound to follow. “And this is him with Ellie. It looks like a high school picture.”

Carson felt like his heart was in his throat as he stared at his wife with the victim. She was in a cheerleader’s uniform and he was in a football jersey, “That could be Ellsa.”

Audrey blinking back the tears, “The caption says me and my girl Ellie.”

“Show him the next one,” Gwen demanded.

Audrey had given her a livid glare before she brought up the next image. It was of Ellie kissing the second victim. She was wearing only a college sweatshirt and he was in the matching pants. “His name is Taylor Jones. This one was taken in his college dorm.”

“If you haven’t recognized him yet, he’s the one who won the Eagles the NFL championship,” Gwen spoke, watching Carson for a reaction.

Carson stayed quiet, the emotions on his face speaking volumes.

She brought up a picture of Ellie sitting alone at a restaurant, “And the third one is Elvis Banks.”

Carson felt a little hope fill his chest, “That doesn’t prove anything! She’s alone in that picture.”

“That’s because Elvis Banks edited the picture. I ran a search on the internet and I found the full picture at a dating site,” Audrey’s finger lingered over the button. She felt like with each picture she brought up, she was destroying her best friends’ lives.

“Audrey,” Gwen prompted.

Audrey bit down on her tongue and pressed the button. A full picture of Ellie sitting across another man popped up, “That is Ellie and...”

“The fourth victim,” Carson whispered in anguish. He sat down, his legs too weak to hold him up anymore.

Richard placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Those pictures could mean anything.”

“Like he married a sociopathic killer?” Gwen blurted out.

Carson shot out of his chair, ready to attack her, but Audrey beat him to it.

“Do you even know why you are alone? Because you are a bitch with no heart!” Audrey barked at her, “Everyone else is quiet, but no, you have to find a way to rub it in! For all, we know you could have done this out of revenge!”

Gwen’s clenched her jaw as she tried to stay calm, “What reason would I have to do this?”

“You are jealous Carson left you for Ellie.”

“Audrey that is enough!” Richard ordered, “Like I said, those pictures could mean anything.”

Doran stepped in between Gwen and Audrey, “Ellie might be the focus of this investigation but it doesn’t mean she’s a suspect. When would she have found the time to do all of this?”

Gwen’s lips spread in a sadistic smile, “All these murders were committed, when we were out of town on a case.”

“She went out on a killing spree with our daughter?” Carson’s anger was mounting past boiling point.

Audrey held onto Carson’s arm, “Well then Kris and I should be suspects too. When you guys left on the long trips, Kris and I moved into Carson’s apartment. After the last time he got shot, she couldn’t stay home alone worrying if he were okay.”

“So you showed her how we operate?” Gwen accused.

“Shut up already Gwen. You are just coming off bitter,” Kevin put in, “Like a woman scorned!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Richard asked.

Doran turned to look at her. Carson knew it was wrong for him to suspect a woman who had his back for years, but considering how hard she wanted to implicate his wife, he was very ready to push her off a cliff!

“We took a look at the fourth-crime scene and the body. There is no way a man could have done that to him with such passion. The only other explanation is a woman. A woman who can put a man down very easily, like you Gwen.”

She scoffed, “So I’m the killer now?”

Richard banged on the table with the files pulling everyone’s attention, “That is enough! We need to put our emotions aside and figure this case out. If the main focus is Ellie, for all we know the suspect could be building up to harm her next. She could be a woman scorned or a stalker. Either way we need to find this person as soon as possible.”

“Should we bring Ellie in for questioning?”

“Why?” Ellie’s voice sailed into the room.

“What’s going on Dale?” Kris asked stepping forward, from behind Ellie.

Stacey-Ann squealed, waving her hand at Carson.

Carson went to them, taking Stacey-Ann, “What are you guys doing here?”

Kris held up four cards, “I just got funeral invitations. And since Ellie’s mail still comes to my apartment, two of these are hers, to the same funerals.”

“Hi,” Kevin said as he took the cards from Kris. He opened them, “They are invitations to George Lucas’s and Taylor Jones’s funerals.”

“When we called to give our condolences, Taylor’s sister said Senior Agent Richard Beckett was the agent-in-charge. She said you guys came back because there had been another murder. I offered to get them some information since my husband was working the case. Now it’s your turn to explain.”

Carson swallowed hard and stared at her blankly, “Explain what?”

“Why Gwen wants to bring me in for questioning?”

Carson gave Stacey-Ann to Kris, “I have something to show you.”

Ellie took a step back, “If it’s bloody body parts, no thank you.”

“She should be questioned in the interrogation room like a real suspect,” Gwen blurted out with a smile.

“What?” Kris exclaimed. She put Stacey-Ann in her stroller and moved to stand next to Audrey, “What the hell is going on here?”

“Ellie Jabari Carson is a murder suspect,” Gwen spoke out again.

Ellie fisted her hand with Dale’s shirt, “Dale, is this a joke?”

“There are four dead people, all who’ve dated you. Do you find anything funny about that?”

Kris went right into Gwen’s face, “You red headed witch! I knew you were trouble the second I saw you!”

Ellie moved to the two women, “You might have trouble keeping track of the guys you date and sleep around with, but I don’t. I’ve dated three guys in my life. Two of them are dead and the last one I married. You might still hold a grudge over it, but I don’t care. I’m not in the business of pleasing people I don’t like.”

“That’s great because I don’t like you either!”

“We should just kick her ass!” Kris announced.

Gwen took a step forward, closing the gap between them, “I’ll take you both down in a minute!”

“You wanna bet?”

Carson grabbed Ellie, and Richard grabbed Kris, “All of you calm down!” Richard ordered, “Carson, take them to the conference room and question them.”

Carson grabbed Kris’s arm and dragged them both away, “Audrey, bring the baby and come with the files, please!”

Once Audrey was in the room he locked the door, “The two of you don’t want to pick a fight with Gwen.”

Kris paced the room, “We could take her. Tear that red mane off her rat-sized head!”

“What the hell is going on Dale?” Ellie demanded.

Carson laid out the pictures of the victims, “You said you know George and Taylor?”

“I dated George in high school and Taylor in college. I don’t know who the other two are.”

Carson held her and kissed her lightly on her lips, “Calm down and breathe, I need you to have a clear head if we are to figure out what is going on.”

She took a deep breath and nodded, “Ellsa could have dated the other two.”

Audrey held up a picture, “So this isn’t you, speed dating?”

Ellie looked at the picture and then she groaned, burying her face in Carson’s chest. He held on to her tighter, wishing there was a way he could make all of this disappear for her. Maybe being with him was a bad idea. She used to have a peaceful life before he met her.