Just Evil (41 page)

Connor had heard enough. “Both of you sit down and shut the
fuck up. Fighting among ourselves isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

Collin sat back down, but immediately began to fidget,
shaking his leg up and down, nervously tapping his fingers on his thighs. He
had to tell them what he’d done. “There’s something you guys need to know. I
took Auslo and Taft out last night and things might have gotten a little out of
hand.”

A warning bell went off inside Connor’s head. Used to
Collin’s immature antics, his brain went on alert. “What things?”

Collin began to squirm, and looked away not making eye
contact with either one of them. “I only meant to scare her, but Auslo had
other ideas. He got a little carried away, stepped on the gas and before I knew
what was happening, the car went out of control and…”

“And what? What are you saying, Collin?”

“The car Auslo was driving might have clipped Kit’s car out
on the PCH, knocked her Jeep off the road. She might be a little banged up.”

Connor exploded. “Goddamn it. What were you thinking? Oh
that’s an even more absurd question on my part. You weren’t. You never do.
You’re such a fuckup.” He slapped the side of Collin’s head with his open hand.
“Dad was right about you; you’ve got the brains of a piss ant. You’ve got
nothing upstairs. No wonder you haven’t been able to pass the goddamn Bar. At
this point, thinking with your dick would be a step up, wouldn’t it? Goddamn
it, Collin we don’t need this right now.”

Ready to fight a few minutes earlier, now Cade was his
brother’s loyal defender. “Stop railing on him. He just told you it was Auslo’s
fault. You know how dense that Auslo guy is and weird to boot. What are we
going to do about this whole fucking mess, Connor? Someone’s after us. And no
one’s taking me down without a fight.”

Connor rubbed at his forehead, feeling the beginnings of a
migraine coming on, and tried to assess the damage. “Can they connect you to
the car, to Auslo and Taft?”

“I think Kit might have seen me.”

“Shit. You’re fucked,” Cade decided. “Count on Quinn and Baylee
to come after you, make trouble anyway they can. Those three are tight…always
have been.”

Connor pointed out, “Not Baylee. She’s left town. Gone.”

Collin laughed. “To hell you say. I saw her the other day at
Kit’s little bookstore in bumfuck township. She’s dyed her hair some shitty
brown color.”

Something feral glazed in Connor’s eyes. But even as his
head pounded, he was quickly reeling in the fury coursing through his head.
Forcing himself to pull in those familiar feelings, he got himself under control
so he could think more clearly. One problem at a time, he told himself, before
turning his attention to what Cade was saying.

“What about that guy we used last year, the guy who took
care of that little political problem we had with the judge? We could use him
to take care of Auslo and Taft, get them out of the way.”

More composed now, in control of his emotions again, Connor
suggested, “We take care of this mess ourselves. First up, we make sure no one
finds out about Collin’s little scare tactic. We take care of Auslo and Taft,
then Kit, even if we have to go through Baylee and Quinn to do it. Despite what
Dad thought before he died, I think somebody out there knows. And if it gets
out, everything goes down the tubes.”

“Dad should have taken care of Alana a long time ago,”
Collin chimed in.

“Guys, there might be someone else besides the women we have
to go through.” Cade added.

“Jake Boston,” Connor said in agreement. “That just puts
another flavor in the punch, doesn’t it?”

Cade walked over to the railing, looked out into the water.
“We’re in this together and that means we take care of Auslo and Taft together
and whoever else gets in our way. Agreed?”

“Maybe we should increase security around this place,
utilize the round-the-clock, twenty-four-hour protection.”

With a bitch of a headache starting to form behind his eyes,
Connor was growing more tired of Collin’s mouth by the minute. “Yeah, like that
did Dad any good. For once, Collin, stand on your own two feet.” Pacing the
length of the deck with his hands jammed in the pockets of his khaki shorts,
Connor looked at his brother in disgust. “Thanks to genius here, we need to get
to Auslo and Taft before the police do. If they get picked up and spill their
guts, we’re all screwed. They know too much.

“And if they haven’t turned up the damned gun by now, what
good are they? I told Dad that was a mistake.” Connor added.

“I vote for taking care of those two dickheads. Getting them
out of the way is priority one. Then…” Cade hesitated. “We think about how to
get rid of Kit. If we get Auslo and Taft out of the picture, she’s the only
other witness, right?” He looked at Collin for confirmation.

Collin merely nodded, glad to be off the hook. But he’d been
working on an idea of his own. “What if Auslo and Taft were good for one last
job? We make sure they carry it out, maybe plant some evidence around, you
know, pull back, make it look like Auslo and Taft did the whole thing, then let
the police try to figure it out. We make sure our hands are nowhere near the scene.
That would lead the cops straight to them, not us.”

Cade raised his eyebrows. “Not bad, little brother. What’s
the plan?”

At the praise, Collin sat up straighter and shared his idea.

When all three men were in agreement, Connor raised his
glass in the air. “To a successful mission.” He downed the whiskey. “We need
women.”

“Good idea. My treat,” Cade offered, as he pulled out his
cell phone and punched in a number to call the escort service they frequented.

He didn’t like it. They were up to something. Looking
through the telescopic lens of the high-powered rifle, he decided the three
brothers were in panic-mode.

He’d seen Collin in action with Auslo and Taft. He’d
followed the SUV, witnessed the hit-and-run on Kit Griffin. And he’d observed
Collin’s pathetic attempt at using explosives in the  hope of blowing up
Boston’s sailboat.

They were getting desperate. And desperate people were
dangerous.

If he needed any more proof of that, there was no better
example than their parents. They’d all been desperate once, a long time ago,
and look what they’d done for the almighty dollar. They hadn’t been content
with the money they’d received just winning the lawsuit. No, they’d taken it
one step further and taken the lives of an old couple who’d never harmed
anyone.

As he began to take the rifle apart and pack it away, he
considered his mission essentially finished. Four out of five wasn’t bad. If
Frank Geller happened to be lucky enough to be half a world away, so be it. Was
it fair to let Geller live? Probably not. But then he’d essentially met his
goal and gotten rid of the source, the core.

He considered the scene he’d just witnessed between the
brothers. There was evil still there. All three men were replicas of their
parents. And that he couldn’t tolerate. He couldn’t walk away knowing it was
only a matter of time before they spread their evil, like a disease, infecting
their plague on everyone around them.

With the sons still breathing, walking away wasn’t an
option. 

Without knowing it, the three Boyd stooges had just upped
the ante, and he was more than willing to play.  

Strangely, that burned out and useless feeling he’d carried
around with him for so long had miraculously been replaced by an invigorated
rejuvenation of sorts. He knew the moment he’d started to feel it, too. As he
carried his bag to the car, he weighed his options. He liked this new feeling.
Hell, the fact that he was feeling anything again was a refreshing change of
pace, one he’d forgotten existed. And if he stayed, he’d have to get his hands
on that painting.

As he loaded the car, that idea had his lips curving.

Sitting up in bed, Kit had so many pillows propped up behind
her head she felt like she might tip over. Since she’d awaken from a foggy
sleep, the man sitting on her bed spoon-feeding her bites of a hot fudge
sundae, one slow spoonful at a time, had seen to her every whim. Thanks to the
generous IV drip, she was feeling no pain at the moment. She’d just slurped
down a big spoonful of ice cream when she looked up and saw Dan Holloway
standing in the open doorway. At the sight of him, she choked. Jake dabbed at
her chin with a napkin and rubbed at her back until she stopped coughing. Then
he noticed the reason. He swore.

Holloway stepped into the room and spoke to Kit. “Sorry to
interrupt, but if you’re feeling up to it, I need to talk to you.”

Realizing he’d just been ignored, Jake calmly set down the
bowl of ice cream. “The police just left, took her statement about the hit-and-run.
If you’re here to hassle her about Alana, you won’t. She’s been through too
much over the last twenty-four hours. I’ll go get her doctor before I let you
upset her.” 

“That’s the last thing I want.” Holloway came further into
the room to stand by the bed. “The media hasn’t gotten wind of this yet, but
it’s only a matter of time before they do. About seven o’clock this morning
Sumner Boyd apparently went for his usual run on the beach. When he didn’t come
back, his oldest son, Connor, went looking for him. He found him on the
beach…dead. He’d been shot in the head.” He pointed to the left side of his own
head and then held out his other hand, turning it palm up. It held a miniature
gold cowboy inside a plastic evidence bag. It matched the others. “This was
found in his mouth. In light of what happened to her last night, I’m here to
tell Ms. Griffin that she’s no longer a suspect in the deaths of Jessica and Jessica’s
sister, Eva Geller Gatz.”

Patience, thought Jake. Holloway wasn’t saying what he
wanted to hear. After several long seconds of staring each other down,
impatience won out and Jake finally said, “Okay, that’s big of you to stop by
and tell her. We appreciate it. But it seems to me a car had to run her off the
road before you guys came around. What I don’t hear is that you’ve cleared her
as a suspect in Alana’s murder. And you haven’t done that. Even though you
found one of those gold things…” A quick glance at Kit had him saying, “At
Alana’s.”

Even though he understood the man’s thinking, Holloway was
in a difficult position. For the first time in three years, he was in
disagreement with his partner. “It’s true all four murders had one of those
things left on or near the body. But Alana’s murder is different. She died from
multiple stab wounds, not a gunshot. That’s the big thing Max can’t get past.
Until we find the link, Kit’s still the person of interest there.”

Jake missed the fact that the detective’s voice lacked total
conviction. He sucked in an irritated breath before telling Holloway, “Let’s
step out into the hallway for a minute.”

Reluctantly, Holloway followed him through the doorway and
watched as Jake pulled the door closed behind him.

“Patience was never my strong suit, so I’ll just get this
off my chest. I’ve about had it with this ridiculous notion that Kit has
anything inside her that remotely resembles the kind of rage needed to kill her
mother the way Alana Stevens died. It’s not just that she couldn’t do it, but
she wouldn’t go back inside that house if you paid her. She didn’t know she’d
inherited a dime from Alana, and didn’t care. And just so you know, I’m in the
process of skimming over some of the papers Connor Boyd sent her to sign. So
far, I don’t like what I’m seeing. Alana’s will is a little too tidy and
predictable for a woman who didn’t give a shit about her daughter. And the
money isn’t adding up, either.

“Now, having said all that, the killer is obviously trying
to tell you something and you guys are too stupid to figure it out. Those gold
cowboys he’s leaving behind with each of the victims mean something to him. And
you may not like it, but you can’t ignore one of those things was found with
Alana.”

On a roll with no intentions of slowing down, Jake kept
going. “As you’re already aware, Detective, Alana’s house was ransacked. My
office was broken into and now this morning Gloria found Kit’s house in the
same condition. Someone’s looking for something they haven’t been able to find.
Don’t you see how it all fits? And then there’s the fact that Alana wasn’t a
very nice person. She’d made a lot of enemies through the years.”

He took a step closer. “Widen your circle. If you want to
get to the bottom of this whole fucking mess, you need to find what dirty
little secrets Alana had.”

He thought of the stuff still sitting in the trunk of his
car, considered handing it over, but decided he’d hold the stuff as close to
the vest for as long as he could. “I shouldn’t have to do your job for you, but
I did a simple search of public records. I found out Alana was married for a
short time to Jessica’s brother, Frank Geller, long before Kit ever came along.
Is it relevant? I don’t know, but that’s one more connection to the law firm
and to the Boyd family. I’m not sure what else you need at this point to clear
Kit, but coming here to question her today was a bad idea on your part.”

He reached into his wallet and pulled out a business card.
“From now on, Kit has an attorney, Reese Brennan. In the future any interviews
you want with Kit should be scheduled through his office with him present.” 

A visibly agitated Holloway stood his ground. “Look, when we
find the solid connection that links Alana’s murder to the others, I can assure
you Kit will be officially cleared. These things take time. I heard what
happened to her last night and I wanted to stop by, see how she was doing.
Someone handed me a copy of the report minutes ago and I wanted to check it out
for myself, ask her some questions about what happened.”

When he saw he had no chance at getting past this guy,
Holloway changed tactics. “Look, I’ve found out some things about her mother
that might move the investigation in another direction. Namely, Alana and
Jessica girls’ night out was a little more than we were initially led to
believe. I’m working on another angle. Just give me some time to make my case.
I’m telling you this as a courtesy and as a direct result of what happened to
Kit last night. In the meantime, I’ll let Max know he needs to go through Reese
Brennan for another interview.” He paused, changing the subject back to why
he’d really stopped by. “Did she really see Collin Boyd in the car with Auslo?”