Last Call - A Thriller (Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Mysteries Book 10) (2 page)

He hoped, for her sake, and for the sake of their young daughter, that she had not.

Because if she came, Jack, and anyone else she brought with her, would be caught and caged just like Phin had been. Forced to compete in these perverse gladiator games, run by a ruthless Mexican cartel and an insane, sadistic maniac wearing a gold crown and purple robe.

A maniac who now stood up and began to applaud Phin with a feeble golf clap.

A maniac named Luther Kite.

I
t was love bug season in Florida, and the sky was filled with so many it looked like it was snowing black. Giant clouds of hundreds of thousands of bugs, joined at the ends as they mated, flying everywhere and getting into everything; hair, drinks, food, mouths, etc. Mom moved to Tampa because she called it paradise, but my version of paradise didn’t have copulating insects flying up your nose every time you took a breath.

Samantha was chasing the love bugs around the pool area on wobbly, toddler legs, smiling and giggling. We’d brought her out here to go swimming, but there was an impenetrable love bug layer floating on top, and no matter how quickly the pool boy skimmed them off, they returned.

“How often does this happen?” I asked my mother. I was considering putting on more sunscreen, but I figured the bugs blocked out at least enough sun to be a natural SPF 20.

“Twice a year.” Mary Streng took a sip of her virgin Pina colada, through the napkin that had been placed over the glass rim to keep out horny insects. “Isn’t it lovely?”

“That’s not the term I’d use.” I kept my hand over my mouth.

“Lighten up, Jacqueline. When was the last time you had sex in public?”

“Phin and I keep it behind closed doors. And we don’t fly into people’s drinks.”

“I did it two nights ago, with Al Feinstein from 125-B. At midnight, in that very chaise lounge you’re sitting in.”

“That nice old guy we had dinner with? Who showed us pictures of his grandchildren?”

His bald head had so many liver spots it looked like the constellation Orion.

“Don’t let his wheelchair fool you,” Mom said. “The man is a sex machine. He can tie a cherry stem into a knot with his tongue.”

“Nice.”

“I was so pleased I just got that Brazilian wax.”

I grinned. “You’re such a slut, Mom.”

“I like that word. We need to reclaim it.”

“I’ll drink to that.” I clinked my beer against her glass, and then quickly took the cardboard coaster off the top to take a sip.

“So what’s wrong, dear?” Mom asked. “Is it a sex thing? I could get Mr. Feinstein to give your man some pointers.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“You’ve been here three days. Why can’t you relax?”

Relaxing didn’t come naturally to me. My two speeds were heightened awareness, and exhaustion. Lounging around my mom’s retirement community pool, watching my toddler run around eating as many love bugs as she could catch, was not conducive to relaxation. Add in the fact that her father had left me a voicemail three hours ago, saying he was going up north to fish with some old friends, and my unease had been steadily growing since.

Phin didn’t have old friends, as far as I knew. And he didn’t fish, either.
We’d recently had a bad experience up north
; so bad I couldn’t see him going back this soon. My calls to him had gone unreturned—which was something Phin said might happen because he was going somewhere without any cell reception—but I wasn’t buying it.

A paranoid woman, especially one who was a decade older than her husband and still hadn’t lost the ten pounds she’d gained while pregnant, might think he was having an affair. But my thoughts tended to be darker. While I was a homicide detective in the Chicago PD, I’d made a lot of enemies. Phin also had a violent past, much of it spent on the other side of the law. I would actually prefer him having an affair than getting tangled up in some of the dangerous things we once did.

We’d promised each other we’d given all of that up. I hung up my badge, he stopped doing all the crazy shit he used to do, and we lived off of savings, my pension, and the money I brought in as a part time private investigator. Phin had seemingly taken to being a fulltime father. He did most of the cooking and housework, raised our daughter, and kept the romance alive. Our relationship wasn’t perfect, but no one had shot at either one of us in more than three months.

However, his “I’m going fishing with friends” story didn’t pass the sniff test. He was up to something, and it probably involved violence. Since he didn’t include me, he must have been trying to protect me. And since I hadn’t heard from him, I was getting the feeling he’d found the trouble he was looking for.

“It’s Phin’s fishing trip, isn’t it?” Mom said. “You smell bullshit.”

“Yeah. Will you be okay watching Sam for a few days?”

“Of course. You’re going to go find him?”

I nodded and rocked myself out of the chaise lounge.

“He’s a big boy, Jack. And he knows you’re a big girl. If he wanted you involved with whatever he’s doing, he would have asked.”

“I know. That’s what’s bothering me.”

I looked at Sam, swatting at love bugs and giggling. She caught my eye and said, “Mommy!”

I scooped her up and hugged her, then gave her a kiss on the head. “I love you, Sam.”

“Love you, Mommy. I ate three bugs.”

“Were they yummy?”

“I ate them on accident. Can we go swimming?”

The pool looked like it had a black blanket floating on top of it. A wiggling black blanket.

“How about we get some ice cream instead?”

Sam pursed her lips as she weighed the decision, then said, “Okay.”

My mother stood up, taking my daughter’s hand. “We’ll be back in a few,” she said to me. Then Mom’s face became hard. “Jacqueline… do you think it’s…”

Her voice trailed off, but I knew what went unsaid. Out of all the loose ends in my past, there was one in particular that kept me up at nights.

“Hopefully Phin’s just cheating on me,” I told her.

Then I took out my cell phone and searched for the next flight to Chicago.

A
few hours before he called his wife and told her he was going on a fishing trip, Phineas Troutt was checking the security camera on his computer monitor to see who was at the door. It was a tall, slender woman, mid-forties, black hair done up in a large bun, dressed in khakis, hiking boots, and what looked like a tactical vest over a short sleeved shirt. She was staring into the camera, a neutral expression on her face. The way she stood, legs slightly apart, hands at her sides, reminded Phin of the
at ease
position in the military.

Phin pressed a key on his computer while he checked the other perimeter cameras. No one else was on the property.

“Can I help you?” he spoke into the monitor mic.

“Phineas Troutt?”

Phin didn’t reply.

“My name is Katie Glente. I’m here to speak with you and Lieutenant Daniels.”

Jack was in Florida with Samantha, visiting Jack’s mother. She also hadn’t been a Lieutenant for a few years.

“Jack is unavailable,” Phin said.

Katie’s expression remained unchanged. “I have information you both might want to hear. About Luther Kite.”

Phin opened the desk drawer and took out an FNS 9mm, double-checked the seventeen round magazine to make sure it was full, and said, “Hold on, give me a minute or two.”

Phin was at the front door within ten seconds. He gave Duffy, their chubby basset hound, the silent hand command for
stay quiet
and watched the video monitor on the wall. Katie was still in the same position. Phin disarmed the burglar alarm and pulled open their steel security door in a quick motion, the 9mm at his side.

Katie didn’t flinch at the quick movement.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She raised her hand slowly to shake.

Phin made no move to take it. “Do you mind if my dog checks you for weapons?”

“Excuse me?”

“Just stand still. Duffy. Weapons.”

Duffy padded out onto the front porch and sniffed at Katie. The hound was trained to recognize gunpowder and explosives, and Phin had been working with him to scent various types of metals. When he sniffed Katie’s left boot, he growled.

“Folding knife,” Katie said.

Phin raised his FNS. “Take it out, slowly.”

Katie lifted her leg, bending the knee, and pulled up her pants to expose the ankle sheath. She removed the folder and handed it to Phin. It was an expensive model, a Schempp Tuff. Phin flicked open the thick four inch blade.

“Duffy. Blood.”

The dog snorted at the knife, but didn’t growl. No human blood or viscera on the weapon.

“You can come in, but I’ll hold onto this while you stay,” Phin said, folding the knife and placing it in his pocket.

“Understood.”

“I’ll also need to pat you down.”

Katie’s mouth curled into a slight smile, and her dark eyes crinkled at the edges. “Duffy the crime dog isn’t enough?”

“He’s still working on detecting ceramics and polymers.”

“So you want to make sure I’m not carrying a ceramic knife, or made my own gun on a 3D printer.”

“Something like that.”

Katie continued to appear bemused. “Do you go through this routine every time the UPS man delivers a package?”

“We don’t allow packages to be delivered here. Are we doing this, or are we saying goodbye?”

Katie raised up her hands. Phin kept his eyes on hers, and the gun on her chest, as he gave her a thorough frisk. He found her Samsung Galaxy cell phone—something Duffy missed—in one of the pockets of her vest. No car keys, but that made sense because he’d watched the cab drop her off a minute earlier. The fact that she hadn’t asked the cab to wait spoke of confidence that Jack would want the information she had. It also gave Phin a bit of reassurance that she hadn’t come to do harm; everyone knew cabs kept records.

Still, anyone mentioning Luther Kite’s name had to be treated with a tad bit more paranoia than was the norm at their happy household. Having a PO box for deliveries, and bulletproof glass windows, and reinforced entry and exits points, and a state of the art surveillance and alarm system, along with a lazy dog who knew a few tricks, wasn’t enough to put Phin’s mind completely at ease. Even though Jack had retired, there were still bad guys who wanted to do her harm. And the bad guys Jack tended to attract were the worst of the worst.

Phin had been searching for one particular bad guy, Kite, since they’d returned from an ill-fated vacation up north. He’d lost the killer’s trail in Texas. If this Katie Glente had some info, it might be worth the risk of letting her inside.

The squirrel who had made its nest in the oak tree in the front yard chirped off-key, sounding like a dying bird. A mating call. Perhaps the most annoying in the animal kingdom. Duffy, for all his training, barked at the squirrel.

Phin looked hard at Katie, and had an uneasy feeling in his gut. That same adrenaline queasiness he used to get when he was on the street, about to get into a dangerous situation. But Katie was unarmed and maintaining a neutral attitude. Phin decided his instincts were overreacting at the mention of Luther Kite. He told Duffy to be quiet, took a step back, and invited the woman into his home.

Katie moved easily, seemingly relaxed but with that state of readiness Phin noticed in a small percentage of the population; cops, military, martial artists, and mercs. It was also shared by ex-cons and predators. He locked the door and showed her to the sofa against the far wall of the living room. Phin sat on the opposing love seat, maintaining a good view of Katie, along with the front door and the video monitor there. He placed the FNS on the cushion next to him, then told Duffy, “Ball.”

The hound went off to look for his favorite toy, and Phin waited for Katie to begin talking. She was quiet for several seconds, apparently sizing him up.

“You’re not what I expected,” she finally said, breaking the silence.

Phin didn’t reply.

“I’ve done a lot of research on Jack. Spoken to a lot of people she’s met. Your name has come up. You’re unemployed. Had some run-ins with the law. Including with Jack. She arrested you, years ago. You’ve also been involved in several of her more publicized cases. I find it interesting that a former police lieutenant wound up having a child with a criminal ten years her junior. But maybe, after all those years of catching murderers, Jack wanted to know what it was like to be with one.”