Killer Love (11 page)

“Butler.”

“Hey,” It was Jennings from headquarters. “Got a call from DiMarco’s wife. I figured you’d want me to patch it through.”

“Sure,” he replied, ignoring the buzz that traveled through his system. It wasn’t excitement at talking to Jade, he told himself, only the anticipation that she had some information about her husband.

As he listened for the clicks that would tell him the call had been patched through, a thought occurred to him. If Jade DiMarco was calling, something might have happened. Had DiMarco found her?

After several anxious moments, he heard the call transfer and quickly answered. “Luke Butler.”

“Agent Butler?” A woman’s high-pitched squeak came over the line and he knew immediately the caller was not Jade DiMarco. It had been a while since he’d spoken to her, but he could never mistake this voice for Jade’s husky tones. That meant his worries were unfounded, nothing had happened to her. The relief he felt when he realized the caller was not Jade DiMarco was tinged with disappointment because...well...because the caller was not Jade DiMarco.

“This is Agent Butler. How can I help you?”

“I saw on TV where you’re looking for Bryce DiMarco, right? Well, I was...I mean, I
am
, married to him.”

“You’re Bryce DiMarco’s wife?”

“Uhm, not exactly.”

He took a deep breath, struggling to control his temper. He seemed to do that a lot lately. “What do you mean ‘not exactly’? Didn’t you just say you were Bryce DiMarco’s wife?”

“I am his wife.” The caller paused. “But he’s not Bryce DiMarco.”

His grip on the phone tightened until his knuckles turned white but he spoke as calmly as he could. “Look, ma’am. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing but I’m not in the mood and I‘m not very good at riddles. You have a nice day.”

He started to disconnect but her voice stopped him. “Wait,” she said with a hint of desperation. “I’m married to the man who calls himself Bryce DiMarco but that’s not his real name. That’s not who he is.”

“Then who is he?” he asked, slightly interested but still wary.

“Not over the phone.” There was another pause. “There’s a reward, right?”

“Yes. If the information you provide leads to his capture.”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Her voice dropped to a shaky whisper. For the first time, he heard genuine fear and knew she wasn’t a crank. This was the real thing. “The reward better be a damn good one cause I’m gambling with my life.”

“Headquarters handles that, but I guarantee if you help us catch DiMarco, you’ll be compensated. When can you come in and talk to us?” He headed back to the car, hopeful for the first time that they might have a real break in the case. This woman could very well lead them to Bryce DiMarco, or whatever the hell his name was.

“Oh, no. I can’t come in. He’d find out and kill me for sure. Can you meet me?”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. Somewhere safe.”

“Has DiMarco been in contact with you lately?”

“No. He doesn’t know where I am. Or at least, I don’t think he does, but I’m not taking any chances. I’m calling from out of state. It’s not far though, maybe we could meet halfway.”

“That would be great, but since I don’t know where you are, I sure as hell don’t know what’s halfway between us.” His patience snapped. This woman was giving him the runaround and he’d had enough.

“I know.” Her voice sounded like she was crying and he felt a little ashamed. Obviously, the woman was terrified. “I’m sorry. I’m just so confused.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ll do whatever you need me to do. Just tell me where you want to meet.”

“Do you know where Bloomington, Illinois is?”

“Yeah.” He didn’t say it, but he knew she was probably in Chicago. Bloomington was about halfway between there and St. Louis. If she were trying to hide, a big city like Chicago would be a good choice.

“There’s a zoo in Miller Park. Meet me by the rainforest exhibit in three hours.”

Bloomington was a hundred and sixty miles from St. Louis. That gave him enough time to get there but not a lot of time to spare. “How will I know you?” he asked.

“I’ll find you,” she assured him.

“How will you know me?”

Her voice now held amusement. “You’re an FBI agent, right? You all look alike.”

Luke looked down at the jeans and bomber jacket he wore. “You might be surprised.”

“Trust me, I’ll find you.”

They ended the call and Luke drove out of the cemetery. He wondered if this woman were telling the truth and if she had information that would help them find DiMarco. He also digested one other interesting fact that he found disturbingly satisfying.

If this woman were actually married to Bryce and they’d never divorced...Jade was not
actually
DiMarco’s wife.

Chapter Seven

Luke arrived at Miller Park just before dusk. At the ticket counter, he paid admission and picked up a map of the zoo. Following the brightly colored arrows, he made his way to the rainforest exhibit. The smell of popcorn and the odor of animals combined in an odd mixture that was pleasant and at the same time repulsive. A group of cursing teenagers shoved past him, followed by a harried mother, one child on her hip and another in a stroller.

A woman paced at the entrance to the exhibit. She looked out of place in the family-oriented environment. She wore a red blouse stretched tightly over surgically enhanced breasts and a short black skirt. The roots of her bleached blonde hair were so dark that at first glance, she seemed to be wearing a headband. She looked like a hooker...and not the high priced kind. DiMarco had definitely traded up when he’d married Jade.

“Mrs. DiMarco?”

Her head flew up and eyes surrounded by too much make up met his. She looked nervously over her shoulder.

“His last name was actually Lyons but I haven’t used it in years. You can call me Tracy.”

Luke nodded. “Want to take a stroll?”

She fell into step beside him, not speaking for the first few moments. The path they took wound through the exhibit beneath a canopy of lush foliage dotted by exotic flora. Birds twittered and squeaked, accompanied by the deep croak of frogs. From up ahead, the distant laughter of children filtered back to them.

Just when Luke was growing impatient for her to speak, she took a deep breath and began. “We met eight years ago. I knew right away he was trouble but that never stopped me before and it didn’t stop me then.” She paused, pulling a cigarette from her purse, and placed it between her lips. A soft mist from the rainforest showered them, but she still managed to light the cigarette, nervously blowing puffs from her lipstick-smeared mouth. “He was so handsome. I always wondered why he married me. I figured out later it was cause he had me pegged. I was used to being a victim and he liked having one around.”

“Was he violent?”

She gave a humorless laugh. “Only when things didn’t go his way. Fortunately, that wasn’t very often. Especially once he went to work for Sal. He moved up quick after that, started making big bucks.”

“Sal?”

She heaved a sigh, blowing out a stream of smoke along with it. “Sal Giamani, the man Bryce worked for. Hey, do I get that reward or what?”

“Only if the information you provide leads to his capture. Do you have any idea where he might be?”

She shook her head. “No clue. You mean I stuck my neck out to help you and I get nothin?”

“It’s possible you’ll get a reward.” They stopped on a bridge and Luke leaned his hands on the rails. He watched a brightly colored blue and red bird fly from tree to tree. A
Crimson Rosella
, the tag on the glass identified.

“Possible?” Her lip trembled and he thought for a moment she was going to cry. “I need that money.”

The ambience of the rainforest was strangely calming. It was probably the only thing that kept Luke from grabbing the woman and shaking some sense into her. “Look, we really need to find your husband. He’s extremely dangerous.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Her voice lowered and she looked around as if DiMarco might be hiding behind a tree. “I damn sure want you to find him before he finds me.”

“What about his friends? Anyone he was close to that he may be in contact with?”

“Maybe Sal. Last I heard, he was wasting away in a nursing home. Hell, he might be dead for all I know.”

“Do you know which nursing home he was in?”

“I got no idea but I’d bet my ass Bryce is the one paying for it. Once Sal got too sick to run the business, his son took over. He never gave a rat’s ass about his old man but Bryce was different. Sal took Bryce off the streets and gave him a job. They got really close, like Bryce was his kid or somethin’.” She took another pull from her cigarette and dropped it to the ground, crushing it with the toe of her stiletto shoe.

“What about his family?”

“Bryce’s parents are dead. A murder suicide thing. His mom was screwin around and Bryce’s old man went nuts.” She shrugged. “Bryce never talked about it to me. But you hear things, ya know?”

“Is there anything at all you can tell me that might help me find him? Friends, hobbies, bars he liked to hang out in?”

“I’m trying. I want that money and I want the bastard caught.” She shuddered, and then lowered her voice. “Especially now that I’ve talked to you.”

Luke handed her his business card. “Call me if you think of anything that might help us find him. Then we can talk about the reward. I’ll need a way to get in touch with you.”

“Bryce won’t find out I said anything, will he?”

“Of course not. If anything happens to spook you, if you think he might be around, call me. I’ll take care of you.”

Her laugh held a lifetime of bitterness. She shook her head. “Yeah, if I had a nickel for every time some asshole promised to take care of me, I wouldn’t need your damn reward.”

He chose to ignore the fact that she had just called him an asshole. “How can I get in touch with you?”

“You can’t. I’ll get in touch with you.”

She left and he followed at a discreet distance, watching her slip behind the wheel of a beat up Toyota. He took down the license number and kept an eye on her as he went to his car. Fortunately, the parking lot was nearly empty and he was able to keep her in his sights. He followed her out to the main highway.

Traffic on I-55 was light, allowing Luke to hang back as he tailed Tracy, keeping the Toyota in sight. He called Wayne and told him what he’d been up to.

“You could have let me in on this, you know.”

“Wasn’t enough time.” He dismissed Wayne’s complaint. “I need you to run a check on a couple of names for me. Sal Giamani and Bryce Lyons.”

“Got it. What are you doing now?”

“Following the woman. She wouldn’t tell me where she lives, I figure it’s something we might need to know.”

“I’ll save the lecture about going off on your own. It’s not like you’d listen anyway.”

“What the fuck?” Luke swerved as two men in a blue Mazda sped past, nearly sideswiping him.

“What is it?”

“Some dipshit nearly ran me off the road. Sorry.”

“You okay?”

Luke let out a breath and turned his attention back to his quarry. “Yeah, fine.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I get something on the names.”

“Thanks. You’re a peach.” Luke hung up the phone, eyes focused on the taillights of Tracy’s car. The assholes in the Mazda were long gone.

****

Luke followed the woman’s car to Chicago where she turned into a run-down neighborhood. She parked in the driveway of a dilapidated house that was about five years past needing a paint job. Shingles were missing from the roof and weeds had taken control of the flowerbed in front of the house.

Yeah, she could probably use the reward. Hell, he’d be willing to pay her out of his own pocket if she led him to DiMarco.

He watched her go inside and wrote down the address. He sat there for another ten minutes, wondering how long he should watch her and why Wayne hadn’t called yet when a car squealed by.

He had just enough time to see that it was a blue car but not enough time to get the plates when glass shattered and the driver side window next to Luke’s head exploded. The sonofabitch had taken a shot at him.

Then he saw that it was a Mazda. The same car that had almost taken him out on the highway. But now it looked like there was only one man in the car. Earlier there had been two.

Luke started his car and took off after the shooter, trying to keep him in sight without driving at a deadly speed. With one eye on the road, he punched 911 into his cell phone.

“This is Special Agent Luke Butler from St. Louis, badge number 2317616,” he told the operator. “I’m traveling west on 11
th
street, just past the intersection of Juniper and 11
th
. I’m in pursuit of a blue Mazda. Shots were fired. I need back up.”

“Dispatching back up now, Special Agent Butler,” the operator replied. Luke thanked her then ended the call.

An elderly man walking his dog stumbled back onto a curb as the cars sped by. Luke gripped the steering wheel and swerved, tapping the brakes as he backed off his speed. The last thing he needed was to take out an innocent bystander.

The gap widened between Luke and the Mazda. He would have to either pick up a considerable amount of speed, or let the guy go.

He couldn’t let him go. Not only had the asshole taken a shot at him, he might be a lead to Bryce. Hell, he might
be
Bryce.

The decision was taken out of Luke’s hands in a matter of seconds. The Mazda tried to take a corner too fast and flipped, rolling twice before coming to a stop on its’ roof.

Luke pulled up beside the wreck and jumped out of his car. He saw immediately that the driver was not Bryce. He was a large, dark skinned man and right now he was unconscious. Or dead. He bled profusely from a gash on his head. Something about the man seemed familiar but Luke couldn’t place where he’d seen him.

The door was crushed but Luke wrenched it open and knelt on the cement. A green pine tree deodorizer swung from the upside down mirror, giving off a sickeningly sweet odor that meshed with the smell of burnt rubber and gasoline.