Revenge (25 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

K
evin froze.

He was coming back.

Oh sweet Jesus! He was coming back.

He tried not to breathe so hard but he couldn’t help himself. His wrists and ankles were raw from trying to work free from his bindings. He’d shit himself because the bastard had left him here for fucking hours. Tied in this damned chair.

‘What do you want from me?’ Kevin shouted. ‘I didn’t hurt you or your friend! It was the others, not me!’

The son of a bitch didn’t say a word, just walked into the room and turned on the light. Kevin didn’t know where the hell he was. Some cheap motel or something. Maybe an abandoned house. He couldn’t tell.

‘You may think you’ll get away with this but you won’t,’ he warned the fool. ‘The police will figure you out. They’ve got your face all over the news. They’re all looking for you.’ Dumb bastard. Did this lowlife really think he could get away with this eleventh-hour bullshit?

Todd Penney leaned down, his dark hair as unkempt as it had been back in high school. His eyeglasses looking like a midcentury castoff. Kevin instinctively drew away from him.

‘You’d better hope they don’t find me,’ he warned.

Kevin refused to show him any fear. ‘I’m not afraid of you, you stupid shit!’ Kevin had Penney’s number and it was zero. Z-E-R-O. ‘I hope they find you and put you away for the rest of your worthless life.’

‘You,’ Penney advised, ‘should be dead by now.’

Kevin stiffened. What the hell did that mean? Okay. Okay. Okay. Maybe he didn’t want to know. ‘If you let me go now, I won’t tell anyone about this. You can disappear and we can forget this ever happened.’

Penney laughed. He put his face right in Kevin’s. ‘If I let you go, you’re as good as dead. Now who’s the stupid shit?’

‘You’re wrong,’ Kevin urged. ‘Really, you have to listen to me.’

Penney started walking away. ‘Don’t worry, O’Reilly. You’re not going to miss the showdown. You’ll be center stage.’

Chapter Twenty-Five

Birmingham Police Department, 6.48
P.M.

‘
S
till nothing on Penney or O’Reilly,’ Lori reported.

Jess paced back and forth before the case board. She’d added the photos Corlew had e
-
mailed her and updated the timeline with Penney’s visit to Baker’s office. It had been a hell of a long day and it was only going to get longer.

There had to be something here they were missing.

‘We have three choices.’ Jess turned to the photos on the board. ‘If it’s not Penney out for revenge, then it’s Juliette or O’Reilly. What are we looking at in terms of motive?’

Harper approached the board and grabbed a marker. ‘Fear.’ He wrote the word under both Juliette’s and O’Reilly’s photos. ‘Depending on exactly what one or both did, they’re looking at prison if found guilty.’

‘Humiliation, financial ruin,’ Lori added. ‘Either one would have a lot to lose, besides their freedom.’

‘We could say the same about Penney,’ Jess noted. ‘He has a lot to lose as well. But it doesn’t add up that he would kill the others and not kill Baker.’

‘We only have Corlew’s word on that,’ Harper argued.

Jess put up her hands, relinquishing the point. ‘True.’ God knew she shouldn’t trust anything he told her. Somehow, this part she did.

Moving on. She surveyed the board. ‘Let’s look at the reactions of these two over the past few days.’

‘Juliette came forward with information first,’ Lori reminded her.

‘She was more than ready to accept a surveillance detail when O’Reilly refused,’ Jess recalled.

Harper pointed to Baker’s photo. ‘At the first indication of trouble, Scott Baker sent his wife and son away. Elliott Carson sent his family to his mother
-
in
-
law’s. Neither man wanted to risk his family’s safety.’

‘Even though Aaron Taylor and his wife didn’t go away as he’d planned,’ Lori picked up where Harper left off, ‘the wife stated that he had suggested they go but she had other plans. She left and he stayed home.’

‘Yet’ – Jess turned to O’Reilly’s photo – ‘Kevin O’Reilly never sent his family anywhere.’ Adrenaline fired through Jess. ‘His wife didn’t even seem to be aware there was a reason to be afraid.’

‘O’Reilly could have easily gotten all those newspaper clippings to use in the storage unit,’ Harper pointed out.

‘His family owns and operates
Birmingham News
. He absolutely could,’ Jess agreed. There was another loose end they hadn’t been able to tie up since the former manager remained MIA.

Chad Cook stood, sending his chair banking off the wall behind his desk. ‘Holy crap!’

Everyone in the room turned to the youngest member of their team. His job was to carefully go through the DMV records, fingerprint databases, whatever electronic files were at their disposal, of all persons of interest in this case. Those still breathing had priority.

‘I’ve got Channel Six on my iPad.’ He hunkered his shoulders. ‘I hope that’s okay.’

Jess motioned for him to get to the point.

‘That ex
-
cop, Buddy Corlew, just called Chief Burnett out in a one
-
on
-
one interview with Gerard Stevens.’

Stevens was the male counterpart of Gina Coleman at Channel Six. Both were attractive, beloved, top investigative reporters. The only difference was that Stevens had his own half-hour show that aired every afternoon.

Harper grabbed the remote for the big flat panel on the wall. He selected Channel Six. Sure enough there was Corlew running off at the mouth about the Porter case.

‘That son of a . . .’ Jess should have known he would get back at her for forcing his hand.

She grabbed her cell and called Dan. ‘Are you watching this?’

‘I am.’

She sighed. Dammit. ‘He’s doing this because I pushed him into a corner.’

‘Don’t sweat it.’

He was sure taking it a lot better than her.

‘I was just about to head your way,’ he said.

‘What’s up?’ She chewed her lip, giving herself a sec to brace for trouble. Like she didn’t have enough already. ‘We’re working on the case.’

‘I just got off the phone with Gant.’

The rhythm of Jess’s heart shifted and the noise in the room faded. ‘You told him about the plant?’

‘And the driver with the gun. He’s not happy.’

Like she was. ‘He’s never happy.’

‘There’s a new development, Jess.’

She steeled herself. What now?

‘They’ve found a discrepancy in the passport verification log for Chicago. He can’t say for sure, but he believes Spears reentered the country last Saturday.’

That reality hit her in the face like a bucket of ice water. Why the hell was she surprised? She had known it would happen eventually. She’d done everything she could to hasten it along with all those antagonizing responses she’d sent him. But somehow she wasn’t prepared.

He could be anywhere . . . he could be
here
.

She needed to warn Lori and Harper. Dear God. She hadn’t considered the full impact of her decision to taunt Spears. And Lily and her family. Fear pumped hard through her veins.

‘We need to talk about what this means.’

Not right now. She couldn’t go there yet. ‘I should get back to work.’ She glanced around at her team, who were still mesmerized by the attention-drawing antics of a grudge-carrying ex
-
cop. ‘Thanks for the update.’

Since his secretary passed him a note that he was wanted in the mayor’s office, Dan let her off the hook with the promise they would talk more about this later. All Jess could think about was how to keep Spears focused on her and away from the people she cared about.

Her cell clanged. She jumped like she’d been shot.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
She scrubbed at her forehead; damned creases were turning into more wrinkles every day. Most of them had Spears’s name written on them. Bastard. ‘Harris.’

‘My sister is missing,’ Gina Coleman said, her voice hollow.

Oh shit. ‘Are you at home?’

‘Yes.’ A shaky breath rasped across the connection. ‘She said she wanted a nap before dinner. I went to check on her just now and she’s gone. The patio door is standing wide open . . .’

Jess grabbed her bag. ‘Was there any other indication someone may have taken her?’

‘There’s no sign of a struggle.’ Gina made a frantic sound. ‘My car is still in the garage. Unless she left on foot, someone had to have taken her.’

Or she left on her own . . . to finish what she’d started.

‘We’re on our way,’ Jess promised. She ended the call. The members of her team waited expectantly for whatever bad news she had to deliver. ‘Juliette Coleman is missing. Sergeant, get whoever is on surveillance detail at the Coleman house inside now. I don’t want Gina talking to anyone else or going anywhere until we get there.’ She turned to Cook. ‘Get a couple of evidence techs over there.’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

Then she turned to Lori. ‘Make sure the unit watching Ramona Penney’s home is on full alert.’

Everyone went into scramble mode. Jess was out the door and in the corridor when Harper stopped her.

‘Hold on, ma’am,’ he said to his caller. He turned the cell away from his face. ‘Chief, this is dispatch. A janitor from the
Birmingham News
has called in trouble on the roof of the building. He says there’s at least three people up there and one of them has a gun.’

Jess went cold. Maybe Scott Baker was right . . . maybe Fate was about to catch up with the last of the Five.

4th Avenue, the Birmingham News, 8.25
P.M.

‘You know this one’s a new building. The one Lenny Porter fell off or jumped from was torn down a few years ago,’ Lori mentioned as they moved into position.

Jess had heard about that. The new
Birmingham News
was right across the street from where the old one had been. ‘I remember Lil mentioning something about it.’

‘We definitely have warm bodies on the roof,’ Harper confirmed. He passed the binoculars to Jess. ‘We have one on the ground but moving. I think that’s Juliette. O’Reilly and Penney are huddled together a few feet away. I believe Penney’s the one with the gun.’

Jess was immensely grateful for the sergeant’s state of preparedness. The man carried most everything necessary to collect evidence, fight a small war, or to break out of prison in the back of his SUV.

She was also very thankful for the big-ass lights on top of the building. Otherwise they wouldn’t be able to see a damned thing.

‘Yep, that’s Penney with the weapon all right.’ Dammit. She had hoped he wasn’t the one. ‘What’s the status on SWAT?’

‘Still ten minutes out.’

That was way too long. Even when they got here, time would be needed for getting into position. ‘Be sure the commander knows we need a hostage negotiator.’

‘On it.’

En route Jess had spoken to the janitor. He had assured her there was no one else in the building. He and his coworker had exited, leaving a side door open for the police to enter.

Jess turned to Harper and wished she had backup here now. ‘I don’t want to keep waiting. This could be over before we even get up there.’

Maybe no one would die. Maybe Penney just wanted Juliette and O’Reilly to understand what he and Lenny had felt that night. Or maybe he just wanted the truth. Whatever he wanted, three people were dead. She didn’t need him or anyone else adding to that body count.

One of the three on that rooftop was a killer.

‘Let’s do it,’ Harper suggested.

‘I can go,’ Lori offered. ‘SWAT will need you, Chief.’

‘Hold your position, Detective.’ Jess used her firmest voice. ‘We’ll need you to keep us informed of the movements on the roof until we’re in position up there.’

Lori didn’t argue, though she clearly wanted to. She took the binoculars from Harper. ‘Be careful.’

‘That’s the plan,’ Jess promised.

She followed Harper, staying close to the other buildings, hugging the brick walls and wishing she had worn jeans and sneakers today. If she was going to be a hands
-
on deputy chief, she needed to consider dressing the part. She thought of Gina Coleman and Sylvia Baron and decided maybe that wasn’t such a great idea. Neither one would be caught dead in sneakers and jeans on the job.

The side door the janitor had told her about was open.

Inside, they hurried to the elevator. Jess wasn’t a fan of elevators under the circumstances but they didn’t have a lot of options right now. At least they didn’t have to take it all the way to the roof.

Once they were in the car headed up, Harper gave her an update. ‘SWAT is getting into position. Wells still has a visual on Penney.’

‘At least that’s some good news.’ So far no one had flown off the roof and backup was here. If only their luck held . . .

‘Chief Burnett has arrived as well. And so’s a whole posse of reporters.’

‘An audience,’ she mused. ‘Fabulous.’

The elevator bumped to a stop on the uppermost floor. Jess and Harper moved to the side of the doors and assumed defensive positions.

Jess’s heart rate climbed higher and higher.

The doors glided open. The corridor was empty.

Jess felt the fresh burn of adrenaline rushing through her veins as they moved toward the final blockade between them and the roof. The stairs were narrower than the typical public stairwell but that didn’t slow them down. At the top, they exited into the small corridor the janitor had told them about.

Beyond the six- or seven-foot corridor was the door that led onto the roof. It was a solid door so there was no way to see outside and determine where Penney was relative to their current position. Jess couldn’t recall seeing the door . . . she’d been too busy looking at the man on the roof.

She sent Lori a text to see if she had a better visual.

Directly behind Penney’s position.

‘Good answer,’ Jess murmured. She showed the screen to Harper.

As good as that news was, there was always the chance Penney could turn around just as they opened the door. Or that there could be two doors.

Jess’s cell vibrated.

Penney and O’Reilly moving away from
your position toward the edge.

Shit!
Jess relayed the new message to Harper. ‘Let’s go.’

Harper slipped into a crouch at the door while Jess moved to the side. He reached up, eased the door open, and checked out the situation.

And then he was up and moving.

‘Freeze!’ he shouted.

Jess was out the door right behind him.

Juliette Coleman, hands secured with duct tape behind her back, was seated midway across the roof while Penney and O’Reilly were maybe two feet from the roof’s edge. O’Reilly’s hands appeared to be secured behind his back as well. Penney had the business end of a handgun rammed into the back of his hostage’s skull.

Juliette started to wail as soon as she saw them. ‘Please,’ she pleaded. ‘He’s going to kill us!’

Penney yanked O’Reilly in front of him as he wheeled around. ‘Tell the truth, Juliette! Who wants to kill whom?’

‘I can take him,’ Harper murmured. He had a bead on Penney, who was a head taller than O’Reilly.

‘Wait,’ Jess ordered. This was wrong. Statements and scenarios and those photos of him with Baker were swirling in her head. If Penney had wanted either of these two dead, they would be dead already. But they were alive, the same as Scott Baker had been when he’d left him. Penney wanted them to talk.

‘Who does want to kill whom?’ Jess shouted to Penney. ‘I’m a little confused here.’

No matter that it was Dog Days in Alabama; it was cooler up here, the breeze stronger.

‘Why don’t you ask the princess?’ Penney suggested. ‘She knows everything. Gets everything. Except the one thing she wanted most.’ Penney laughed as if he weren’t in the bead of both Jess’s and Harper’s weapons. ‘You could never have him, could you, Juliette.’

‘Shut up!’ Juliette screamed between sobs.

‘Chief,’ Harper murmured while Penney and Juliette ranted at each other, ‘SWAT is in position awaiting your signal to take him out. The hostage negotiator wants you to wait for him to catch up.’