Revenge (14 page)

With every fiber of his being, he was certain the Nina he had known was gone. If he had been wrong about that . . . God he couldn’t even go there.

For years he had tortured himself about what he might have done differently. After all, he must have done something wrong or that day wouldn’t have happened. How could this beautiful woman he had married turn into a raging force of anger and hatred in the space of a day without some sort of event that caused the change?

Schizophrenia
.

Her family had explained that the illness had always been there. But sweet, beautiful Nina had somehow managed to triumph over those demons. She’d finished law school, had a thriving practice.

Then she’d met Dan. They’d been so happy at first.

He’d let her down. He’d spent too many hours at work. Had too many commitments that didn’t include her.

He hadn’t been there when she needed him most.

He’d let her down just like he did Jess after college.

Now all these years later he had a second chance with Jess. He wouldn’t let her down again.

But he would never forgive himself for letting Nina down.

Chapter Fifteen

1.30
P.M.

J
ess had the office to herself for the meeting with the Coleman sisters. As promised, Wells had coordinated lunch with Harper and Cook to discuss the similarities in the two murder cases and what they had on each so far. Hopefully Harper had something on Todd Penney’s whereabouts as well as Scott Baker’s personal life. Prescott had dropped back by the office long enough to prepare her report from this morning’s canvassing of Elliott Carson’s neighbors. Just when Jess was sure she would need to ask the detective to find someplace else to work for an hour or so, she had promptly informed Jess that she needed the rest of the afternoon off.

Now, if her luck would just hold out for the next hour, Burnett wouldn’t show up demanding an update or answers as to why she had been cavorting with Corlew. Lori had already warned her that pictures of her and Corlew in front of the Carson home had made the breaking news. Speculation as to his involvement in the investigation would soon be rampant and Burnett would not be happy. In light of his nasty break with the BPD, most likely no one in the department would be happy.

Gina and Juliette Coleman now sat in front of Jess’s desk, one looking as terrified as the other appeared determined.

‘We started hanging out as a group our freshman year,’ Juliette explained. ‘We’d known each other our whole lives and’ – she shrugged – ‘somehow we just ended up as close friends. We got the tattoos when we were seniors.’

‘Was there ever any trouble between the five of you?’ Jess asked. They were taking this from the beginning. She needed a good handle on the dynamics of the group.

Juliette shook her head. ‘Not at all. We backed each other up. We kind of made a pact that we would always be there for each other. You know, take over the world.’ She laughed, a sad, bittersweet sound. ‘We still try to get together when we can but everyone’s busy. When we do, we share photos of kids and partners. Brag about our accomplishments.’

‘I’m aware of Elliott’s and Scott’s accomplishments. What about the others?’ Juliette was a political analyst with the local CBS affiliate. Her family had major connections all the way to the White House. No wonder Burnett and Gina Coleman had clicked.

Stop, Jess
. This meeting wasn’t about Burnett’s sexual conquests.

‘O’Reilly Enterprises was started by Kevin’s great-grandfather. The company owns several newspapers and magazines in the southeast, including the
Birmingham News
. Kevin is the CEO. Aaron’s father is an Alabama Supreme Court justice, as was his grandfather. The hope is that Aaron, who is a very successful attorney, will follow in that same path.’ Juliette looked to her sister. ‘Did I miss anything?’

Gina shook her head. ‘You covered it, sweetie.’

‘Impressive.’ The mayor and every other uppity
-
up would be breathing down Jess’s neck on this one. On top of that, with Carson a national celebrity figure, the case would be followed by national news. Complicated things, but there was no help for that.

‘You and your friends met for lunch yesterday, you said?’ Jess confirmed, making a note on her pad.

Juliette averted her gaze, squirmed a bit in her seat the way folks who didn’t want to answer questions always did. ‘Yes. Kevin was worried that Scott’s death was somehow related to Todd’s return to Birmingham.’

Juliette Coleman was scared to death and still she was keeping some aspect of the reason to herself; otherwise she’d have no trouble with direct eye contact. The woman worked in the limelight; she wasn’t shy.

‘Why would Todd’s return have anything to do with Scott or any of you? Was there some sort of trouble with him before he left town twelve years ago?’

Juliette picked at her cuticles to prevent making eye contact. Certainly that fresh French manicure she sported didn’t require any further attention. Her older sister stared at her and still the awkward silence dragged on.

‘Tell her, Juliette,’ Gina pressed.

‘We were there,’ the younger woman said. ‘That night when Lenny Porter jumped.’

‘Why don’t we start from the beginning? Again,’ Jess said firmly. ‘Only this time let’s start with that May night twelve years ago. How did you and the other members of the Five end up on the
Birmingham News
roof?’

Juliette glanced at her sister.

‘If there’s anything you’d prefer not to say in front of your sister,’ Jess suggested, ‘I’m certain she would be happy to take a walk.’

Juliette cleared her throat, as if she needed to get past the emotion clogged there. ‘No. It’s fine. I told her the whole story when I heard about Elliott.’

‘And how did you hear about Elliott?’ Jess had still been at the scene when Gina Coleman called. Seemed some of Juliette’s sources had gotten the word to her even before an announcement had been made to the press. Either that or the woman had a friend in the department.

‘Kevin told me. He received a call from one of the paper’s investigative reporters who has a source in the department.’

How nice for Kevin. All cops hated leaks unless they were the ones doing the leaking. ‘All right, then. Tell me about that night. It was the night before your high school graduation?’

She nodded. ‘Seniors didn’t have school the next day, so we decided to have a private celebration. Since our parents were watching us like hawks – you know, a lot of seniors end up never seeing graduation because of last-minute celebrations that get out of control.’

Jess understood what she meant. Far too many seniors ended up in the morgue the nights before and after graduation. ‘So you took your party to a place they wouldn’t think to look.’ How clever.

‘We got together up there sometimes.’ She smiled, apparently recalling fond memories about those days. ‘When we were up there, we felt like we were on top of the world. That anything could happen.’

Something else Jess knew a little something about. She and Dan had a place like that as teens. They went back to Sloss Furnaces just a couple weeks ago. Her stomach quivered at the memory. How had so much time flown by when they weren’t looking?

‘We had a few beers. Talked about our futures and just chilled out.’

Jess waited for her to continue. From the distant expression on her face, she wanted to linger among the memories of that night before going on.

‘Lenny Porter showed up.’ She looked away. ‘Kevin was mad as hell. Apparently Aaron left the door open when he went down to the parking lot to get more beer. That’s the only way Lenny could have gotten in.’

‘The roof couldn’t be accessed via some exterior means? A fire escape maybe?’

Juliette shook her head. ‘You had to come through the building, take the elevator or the stairs to the top floor and then the maintenance access door to the roof.’

‘Was there any way Porter could have known you were going there?’

Juliette stared at her hands again. ‘He sort of had a thing for me. He followed me around. Left me notes. Sat in the street in front of my house. It was sweet but’ – she shrugged – ‘it got a little creepy the last couple of weeks of school.’

‘Creepy how?’

‘He started coming to my door at home. I tried to be nice but he just wouldn’t leave me alone. So the guys gave him a talking-to.’

‘Did this talking-to include a physical confrontation or public humiliation?’

‘I don’t think so. Scott was my boyfriend at the time and he wasn’t like that. He wouldn’t have hurt anyone.’

‘That still doesn’t answer my question about how Porter found out where you were that night,’ Jess countered.

‘Don’t you think it’s obvious that he followed her?’ the elder sister demanded. ‘I was already living in my own apartment, but Juliette mentioned that she had a stalker. She laughed it off. Thought he was harmless.’

Jess gave Gina Coleman a patient smile. ‘Why don’t we let Juliette answer the questions?’

Gina crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Jess.

‘She’s right. I believe he followed me there.’

‘The five of you were just hanging out and he appeared?’ How convenient. Jess wanted to reach across her desk and shake the woman. Maybe what she’d read in those journal pages was making her less objective. Either way she wasn’t letting Juliette off the hook. Jess needed the truth before someone else ended up dead.

‘We were sitting in a circle on a blanket, drinking beer and just talking. He showed up, looked at me for a moment while the guys were demanding to know what he thought he was doing. Then he walked over to the edge of the roof and jumped.’

‘Did any of the guys make a move toward him or threaten him in any way?’

She shook her head adamantly. ‘No one even got up. We were all kind of in shock.’

‘Did he appear to have been drinking or using drugs? Was he high?’

‘I don’t know. The papers said he was on drugs. The rumor was he was dropping acid.’

‘Was he a drug user, to your knowledge? You said he hung around you all the time.’

‘Not that I know of. He was like a genius. He and his friend Todd Penney were the top nerds at Carver.’

‘Where was his friend Todd that night?’ Jess kept firing the questions at her. She wanted to see the woman’s emotions – her true emotions. Two of her friends were dead for Christ’s sake.

‘He was in the car . . . I guess . . . waiting for him. He claimed to have tried to talk him out of coming but Lenny wouldn’t listen.’

‘So his friend had no idea Lenny had come to the roof to jump?’

She shook her head and shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Did Todd Penney come to the rooftop?’

Juliette hesitated before answering. Her gaze flicked around the room, looking for some place to light. ‘No. He didn’t.’

More evasive answers. ‘Despite having not witnessed any actions made by you or your friends, he blamed you for what happened.’

Juliette nodded. ‘But the police didn’t believe him. They believed us.’

Of course they did. These were the offspring of Birmingham’s movers and shakers. No one was going to call them liars without serious evidence. ‘Scott must have felt guilty over the incident. His father paid for Lenny’s burial and has paid his mother two thousand dollars every month for all these years. I find that curious.’

‘Scott thought that maybe something he said to Lenny pushed him over the edge, so to speak. He felt guilty about that night until the day he died. I’m certain he thought that was the right thing to do. That’s the kind of guy he was.’

‘He never mentioned to you that he was worried about Penney’s return? He gave you no impression that he believed Penney was a threat to you or anyone related to any of you?’ Jess pushed.

Juliette shook her head. ‘No.’

‘Yet his wife stated that he urged her to take their son and leave town. That’s why she wasn’t home when he was murdered. He also paid for Lenny Porter’s mother to go on a cruise so she would be out of town as well. Scott never mentioned he was worried about his family?’

‘No.’ Juliette looked puzzled. ‘I’m not sure I believe he said any such thing to his wife.’

‘You and his wife aren’t friends?’ Jess didn’t give her time to get a deep breath.

Disdain flashed on Juliette’s face before she could stop it. ‘Not really.’

‘In fact, you never married,’ Jess mentioned. Scott had sex with someone who wasn’t his wife just before he died. Corlew claimed he’d found no evidence the guy was cheating. Juliette could be the reason why. They were already friends. As long as they were discreet, who would know? ‘Were you and Scott still involved?’

‘That’s out of line,’ Gina Coleman snapped. ‘Juliette is trying to help with your investigation and you ask a question like that. I don’t like your tone and I damned sure don’t like your innuendoes. Do you want her help or not? We can end this right now.’

‘Yes,’ Juliette announced, shutting down her sister’s protests. ‘We got together occasionally. But no one knew. Neither of us wanted anyone to be hurt. I was perfectly happy being the other woman that no one knew about.’

‘Oh my God.’ Gina wrapped an arm around her sister’s shoulder and hugged her. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

Juliette stared at her hands some more. ‘It was too painful to talk about.’

At least she was honest about her relationship with Baker. ‘Did you see Scott the night he was murdered?’ Jess would just see how honest she intended to be.

Juliette squared her shoulders and looked Jess in the eye. ‘Yes, I did. We usually got together at his office. He worked late almost every night so no one would be the wiser if we met there.’

‘What time was this?’ Jess made a few more notes on her pad.

‘At seven. I brought wine and cheese. We shared the bottle and had sex. I left around eight-thirty and . . . that was the last time I saw him.’ Her voice trembled on the last few words.

Gina Coleman was speechless. That had to be a first.

‘Did Scott mention having any other appointments that night?’

Juliette shook her head. ‘He had work to finish up and then he was going home.’

‘I assume he always turned off the security system, specifically the surveillance system, whenever the two of you . . . had your private rendezvous?’

‘Yes, I believe he did.’

Jess would need to come back to this. ‘You stated that after Scott’s murder, Kevin called a meeting of sorts to discuss the possibility that Todd Penney was back in Birmingham for revenge.’

‘Yes. Kevin got really nervous when Scott told him Todd Penney was back in town. Kevin had been warning us that we should be careful but no one paid any attention. We were cleared of any wrongdoing twelve years ago.’

‘Maybe so,’ Gina spoke up, suddenly finding her voice, ‘but I told you that neat little closures like that rarely happen when emotions are involved. If Todd Penney believes the five of you had something to do with his friend’s death, he may only now have devised a plan to see that justice is served. Isn’t that right, Chief?’

‘That’s a possibility, yes,’ Jess agreed. ‘But there are others. There may be additional motives at play. If someone else was somehow responsible for Lenny Porter’s death, he or she may be attempting a frantic cover
-
up before Todd starts digging around or stirring up interest in the case.’