The Killing Ground: A Foxx Files Thriller (23 page)

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, honey.” He stroked her brow. “It’s gonna be okay.”

He heard sirens in the distance, and knew help was close. Beyond the distant sirens, he heard something new. A small, shuffling sound. Whipping around, he saw Phillip pushing off the ground. He whipped around, his hand grabbing his gun. “Get down! Get down! Don’t make me fucking shoot you, you sick fuck.”

Phillip hit the ground with a loud thud and raised his hands above his head. “Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot. I’ll stay down.”

Rick watched him a second longer and knew he wouldn’t move. He turned his attention back to Rebecca. “It’s okay, Boss. We’re gonna get you taken care of.”

Rebecca smiled weakly. “I ne…need J…Jordan. P…please.”

He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I’ll get her.”

Rebecca’s eyes fluttered close.

“She’ll be there when you wake up.”

Chapter 23

Jordan listened to Rebecca’s slow, even breathing. When Rick called her and told her they were taking her to Mercy for a gunshot wound to the abdomen, she had nearly lost it. She had grilled him for hours before finally calming down. Fortunately, the bullet had gone straight through her abdomen and missed all her organs.

Richard Hudson was dead. A single gunshot to the head. Once Rick realized that he was going to shoot Rebecca, he had fired without even thinking. It was only the dark and Richard’s poor aim that had kept the bullet from penetrating her heart or some other organ and possibly killing her. Jordan was furious at them for following a lead without them.

Her anger had turned to concern when she saw Rebecca. Her face was incredibly pale, and even in repose, Jordan could tell she was in pain. Jordan hadn’t left the room except to shower for the three days that Rebecca had been there, needing to be there when she woke up.

She was exhausted and not even sure if Rebecca would be happy to see her when she woke up. She wasn’t certain where they stood anymore. Rebecca had told her she couldn’t do the relationship thing. She was too distracting. Then she had held her hand and Jordan thought everything was okay. But then after their disastrous meeting with Meghan Mercer, things had gone south again.

Confusion was the order of the day, and Jordan had had three full helpings. Even when she woke up, they probably wouldn’t be discussing the subject anyway. That is if Rebecca didn’t kick her out of the room when she saw her.

“Hey kid, how’s she doing?”

Rick’s soft voice broke through the silence, and Jordan shot him a weary smile. “Same as earlier.”

Rick squeezed her shoulder. “She’s going to be okay, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.” Jordan rolled her shoulders. She was tired and sore from being curled up in that chair for seventy—two hours.

“Listen, why don’t you take a break? I’ll keep an eye on her.” Rick nodded towards the door. “Besides, there is someone outside that wants to talk to you.”

Jordan’s brow knitted in confusion. “Who would be here?”

“Matt.” Rick bent over her. “I don’t think he feels comfortable coming in here, but he wanted to come by and check on Rebecca. Make sure she was okay, and I think check on you.”

“Oh.” Jordan swallowed. Things between her partner and her still weren’t great. His feelings for Rebecca were stronger than Jordan had known, and the fact that she had started a relationship with Rebecca stung his ego a little bit. It would take a while, but she knew in time, things would get back to normal. For now, she would just tread lightly.

She ran a hand through her unruly hair and pushed herself out of the chair, sighing loudly.

Rick cupped her elbow. “Don’t worry too much. Pretty soon this will all just be a bad memory. The important thing is we finally got the right guy.”

Jordan nodded, her eyes flicking to Rebecca and resting on her face. “But at what cost?”

Rick opened his mouth to reply, but Jordan stopped him. “I know, I know.”

Matt turned at the sound of Jordan’s footfalls, a tentative smile breaking out on his face. “Hey, Jordie.”

Jordan shot him a grateful smile. “Hey, yourself.”

Matt shuffled nervously. “How is she?”

“Oh, you know.” Jordan shrugged. “Still unconscious but stable.”

“Rick said she got lucky.” Matt met Jordan’s gaze. “How are you holding up?”

Jordan’s breath caught in her throat. No matter what, Matt was like a brother to her, and when things got tough, he genuinely cared about her well—being. “I’m alright. Anxious and worried.”

“I figured.” Matt nodded towards the door. “Let’s get some coffee. You look like you could use it.”

“You saying I look tired?” Jordan asked.

“Nah.” Matt smirked. “I’m saying you look like shit.”

Jordan punched him in the arm. “Thanks, dude. Way to kick me when I’m down.”

Matt chuckled softly. “You can take it.”

“Probably.” Jordan fell in step with Matt, and they walked to the waiting room and stopped at the vending machine.

He slid a dollar into the machine and punched several buttons. He waited while the machine dispensed a Styrofoam cup, filled it with hot liquid and opened the door for retrieval. He handed Jordan the first cup and bought a second for himself.

“Thanks.” Jordan blew on her cup and took a tentative first drink. “So, did you talk to Mitchell?”

“Yeah.” Matt sat in one of the chairs, and Jordan sank down beside him. “Until Stein is convicted and put away, she’s still worried. Especially after catching the wrong guy.”

“I’m sure she’s just worried about Julie. That somehow he’ll try to come after her.”

“Hell, can you blame her?” Matt stared at his cup. “I don’t think Mitchell’s let her out of the house for months without being attached at the hip.”

“Maybe now they can finally get back to normal.”

“She said she is going to push for a quick trial and conviction.”

“What Mitchell wants, Mitchell gets.” Jordan said softly. “In this case, I think she deserves it.”

“She’s not going to let anyone mess up the investigation or the trial.” Matt nodded down the hall. “Rick says he’s handling it, but Mitchell wants us on his ass twenty—four, seven. She doesn’t want any mistakes.”

Jordan nodded. “No, I know. I just need to make sure Rebecca’s okay. Maybe you could play detective with Rick for a while. I know that’s asking a lot, but I’m not there right now.” She tapped her temple. “In here, until I know she’s out of the woods, I can’t focus on anything else.”

“Yeah, I’m on it.” Matt crumpled his empty cup and stood up with a groan. “And whatever is going on with you guys, fix it. She’s good for you.”

“You think?” Jordan stretched her arms over her head and looked up at Matt. “So, are we good?”

Matt met her gaze and held it, obviously thinking over her question. He was quiet for so long that Jordan worried what he might say. Finally, a smile broke out on his face. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll be okay.”

Jordan watched him walk out of the waiting room and smiled at his retreating form.

She knew that whatever happened, they were good and Matty would always have her back.

“Jordan.” Rick’s voice broke through the silence. “She’s awake.”

Jordan shot out of the chair and practically ran to Rebecca’s room. She took a tentative step into the room and felt Rebecca’s emerald green gaze boring through her. She stood paralyzed, trying to find her voice.

Sensing her insecurity, Rick pulled her towards Rebecca’s bedside and stepped back behind her. He pointed to Jordan and mouthed so only Rebecca could see.
“Talk to her.”

He left the room silently, and Jordan laughed nervously. “Hi.”

Rebecca swallowed, and when she spoke, her voice was weak and raspy. “Hi.”

“How are you?” Jordan couldn’t hold her gaze, and she stared at her feet. “I mean, do you hurt? Can I get you anything?”

“Jordan.” Rebecca’s voice penetrated Jordan’s tough exterior and coursed through her veins like healing balm. “Sit down.”

Jordan slid into the chair silently and took her hand, caressing her palm with her thumb. Her eyes drank in Rebecca’s face hungrily. Despite her pallor, Jordan thought she was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. “I’m sorry.”

“For?” Rebecca’s eyebrows knitted in confusion.

“For not telling you about Meghan, for not being there to save you.” Jordan smiled ruefully. “I fucked up royally, and I messed us up.”

“That doesn’t matter anymore. It’s the past.” Rebecca shook her head. “And it’s my fault. I didn’t call in backup.”

“Why?” Jordan narrowed her eyes questioningly.

Rebecca shrugged. “I’m stubborn and selfish. At least, that’s what Jonesy calls it. Apparently, I have a habit of doing what’s right for me and not considering anyone else’s feelings. It’s that way with work. In my relationships. That’s why I pushed you away. I push everyone away. I don’t want to do that anymore. I don’t want to push you away. I need you in my life. You ground me. I was wrong. When I’m with you, I’m not distracted. It’s when I’m away from you that I can’t think. I can’t function.”

“Stop.” Jordan put a finger to Rebecca’s lips. “You’re being too hard…on the woman I love.”

Rebecca’s eyes locked onto Jordan's, and she smiled shyly. “You love me?”

Jordan nodded. “I’m sorry to just throw it out there, but I do. Somewhere along the way, you got inside me.”

Rebecca felt her chest clench tightly. It wasn’t hearing the words or seeing the look on her face. It was a feeling. Somewhere deep inside. A sense that everything would be all right because this woman loved her. And with that knowledge came the realization that her heart belonged to Jordan. There would be no pushing her away again.

Chapter 24

Jordan grabbed the phone on the last ring. “Gray.”

Rick’s gravelly voice came through the phone. “It’s Detective Jones.” He paused a second. “We got a problem.”

Jordan’s blood froze. “What? Rebecca?”

“No.” She could hear muted voices in the background, and she knew he must be at the precinct. “We got a call this morning. They found another body.”

The color drained from Jordan’s face. The nightmare was repeating itself. “Where?”

“Alley near Adams off Michigan.”

“Give me twenty.” Jordan grabbed her keys.

“We got a small break this time. We’ve got video of the alley. Hopefully, we can get something to identify this bastard.”

Jordan sighed. “I hope so. We can’t afford to be wrong again.”

“Well, you know what they say. Third times a charm.”

Jordan ended the call as Rick’s nervous laughter faded into the background. She pulled her coat on and ran to the garage. Within minutes, she had called Matt, picked him up and was pulling latex gloves on searching for Rebecca’s red hair among the crowd gathered around the body. She knew she would find her at the crime scene despite being shot only ten days before. She had one thing right about herself. She was as stubborn as they came.

She stopped next to Rebecca and lowered her voice. “What are you doing here?”

Rebecca flicked her eyes to the yellow tape. “It’s my case.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Jordan’s voice lowered to a warning tone. “I mean, why are you here? You shouldn’t be here after you know.”

“Jordan, I’m fine. Really.”

“Detective.”

Rebecca pulled her gaze away from Jordan’s face. “What do you have?”

“I think you will want to see this.”

Jordan pulled the crime-scene tape up and she and Rebecca stopped over the body. The M.E. pulled back the victim’s hair. A large bruise discolored the right side of her face from her forehead to her jaw. “This one got the shit beat out of her. These wounds are perimortem. She sustained them right before she died.”

Rebecca leaned over and tried to hide the wince of pain in her abdomen. She hadn’t had the stitches removed yet and pulling against them hurt. “Damn.”

“And look at this.” The M.E. lifted her hand and held out her fingernails. “We’ve got skin and blood under the nails. Probably the perp’s.”

Rebecca studied her hands. “Bag ‘em. I don’t want to do anything to compromise the evidence. In case you didn't notice, the CDD is pretty much the laughing stock of Chicago. Fucking this one up again isn’t an option.”

The M.E. nodded. Rebecca tried to stand up, but the pain stopped her and her breath caught in her throat. Jordan slipped her hands under her arms and pulled her up before anyone else noticed she was struggling. “Thanks.”

Jordan looked at her askance. “This is why you don’t need to be out here. You’re not ready.”

Rebecca’s eyes flashed, and she opened her mouth then shut it just as quickly when Jordan shot her a look. “I’m sorry, babe. I had to be here.”

“You know Rick can handle it.” Jordan cupped her elbow and held the tape up, so she could walk under it. “And there isn’t anything that you will see here that you can’t see in the crime scene photos.”

Rebecca wanted to object, but she couldn’t. Jordan was right. In one last attempt to show her independence, she rolled her eyes. “Take me back to the precinct. Let’s see if there is anything on the video that can identify this guy.”

Rick and Matt were watching the video by the time they walked into the bullpen surrounded by boxes of donuts and coffee.

“Anything yet?” Jordan passed the box around then grabbed a donut for herself. She had eaten more donuts in the past three months than in her whole life.

Rick pushed a couple of buttons and paused it on a woman walking across from the Institute. He advanced it several more scenes and stopped again. “That’s him.”

The footage was grainy, but Rebecca could see him in the dim lights of the jewelry store. His head was turned and he was obviously watching her. “Roll it forward slowly. I want to see if we can make out his face.”

Rick advanced it frame by frame with no luck. He had a dark hat pulled low over his face, and the collar of his coat pulled up over the lower half of his face. The description was dead on though. Tall and lanky, and from what they had witnessed on the previous victims, he was incredibly strong.

They watched in horror as each frame played out the scene they had just left. He caught up to her and when he grabbed her, she whipped around and swiped at his face. His hand flew to his cheek, and in the same breath, he stepped back on his right foot and dropped his right shoulder. His fist flew into her face with such force that they wouldn’t be surprised if there were shattered bones beneath the bruising.