The Wrong Side of Dead (19 page)

“Hello.”

“You wanna know why your old man isn’t in his room?” A gruff voice came over the line. “Do I have your attention?”

“Who is this?” He tried to keep his voice calm, but the rest of his body hadn’t gotten the message.

“Shut up and listen. I’ve got your cop father. And if you ever want to see him again, you’ll do what I say?”

Seth shut his eyes tight, picturing Max’s face and the frail shell of his body.

Damn it! This shouldn’t be happening. Not to my dad
.

“How did you know I’d be here? No one knew I was coming.” He had to know if this was real.

“Oh, baby, I got eyes on you. And I’ll know if you’re not playin’ straight with me. If you tell anyone or come with company, I’ll know it, and your old man will be put out of his misery. Am I makin’ myself clear?”

Seth fought the sudden rush of emotion. He shook with adrenaline and felt his heart pounding through his chest. And his legs threatened to buckle under him. He had no idea what his father actually saw these days, locked in his head and unable to communicate. It had been painful to picture him adrift in his past without a fragment of his old self to anchor him to the present. But being a former cop, he would know enough to sense danger. And Seth couldn’t imagine how frightened his father would be.

“Yeah, perfectly. Tell me what you want me to do. Just don’t hurt him,” he pleaded, knowing his words meant nothing to the bastard on the other end of the line.

As the man talked, telling him what to do, Seth stared at his own reflection in the window of his father’s room until lightning burst across the night sky to wash it away, casting eerie shadows on a rain-streaked window.

He’d brought this to his father’s door. Now it was time to end it.

Movement on the second floor had caught her eye—Max’s room. She saw the silhouette of a man.

From where she parked, Jess had peered through the windshield in time to see a man’s shadow near the window, someone not dressed in a white uniform. But by the time she’d shifted her binoculars for a better look, he wasn’t there. She hoped it was Seth, but the rain made it difficult to see. After getting out of the van, she locked it and headed for the front door. Rain pummeled her as she ran. She’d look like a drenched rat when she got inside. And the windbreaker she wore didn’t keep out the chill.

“Seth, please let it be you.”

Jess pulled open the front door and headed straight for the elevator, avoiding the receptionist on duty.

“Excuse me. Visiting hours are over. You can’t just…” The uniformed woman did her duty and objected, but Jess had spent a lifetime ignoring authority. A personal campaign.

“I left my car keys upstairs on four. As soon as I find them, I’ll be right down. I promise.”

Luckily, the elevator arrived so she could pretend not to hear the woman’s request to sign in. She punched the buttons for the second and fourth floors, a diversion and a stall tactic. Jess hoped to be gone by the time they came looking. She got off on the second floor and headed for the room of Max Jenkins. When she found the door closed, she eased it open and peered inside.

And came face-to-face with a frantic Seth Harper.

“Jessie, I need my van back. Give me the keys?”

“What’s going on, Seth?” She looked into the room. “Where’s your father?”

“I gotta go, Jessie. Please…I need those keys.” He held out his hand, and his fingers were shaking. Something had him really spooked. She’d never seen him like this.

“Let me go with you,” she pleaded.

“You can’t. I gotta do this alone.”

“Do what alone, Seth?”

When she handed him the keys, he brushed by her with a knapsack on his shoulder, heading for the elevator. He was done talking. And her mind raced with the possibilities of what was going on.

Seth had come to visit his father on their usual night, expecting to find him in his room, but his dad was nowhere to be found. And now Seth was rushing out again, only minutes after arriving. Something was very wrong. Add to the mix that Harper was very protective of those he loved and that he’d do anything for his father—despite their differences—and she made a leap in logic. Given all that had happened, it was the only thing that made sense.

“Where’s your father, Seth?” she pressed. “Why isn’t he here? Does someone have him?”

Harper did a subtle double take as he punished the button to call the elevator, but he didn’t answer her questions. And judging by the miserable expression on his face, she’d guessed right, but he held firm and didn’t cave with her prying.

“Damn it, Jessie. Please don’t make things worse.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Tell me what’s going on, Seth…please.”

He clenched his jaw tight and avoided looking her in the eye as the elevator arrived. But he held tough, neither confirming nor denying her suspicions. Reading his face meant nothing if he didn’t give her more.

“I’ve got nothin’ to say, Jessie.” He shook his head. “Besides…where I’m going, you’re not gonna want to follow. Trust me. It’s best to leave the past buried.”

Things looked bleak. And she had no idea how to help, but she wasn’t done arguing. She joined Seth for the ride to the first floor with a bad feeling that if she let go of him now, it might be for the last time. Someone depraved enough to use an old man in a wheelchair as bait in order to kill his son wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate them both.

A double tap to the head was a cheap fix.

“You have any idea who’s behind this?” she asked. When he didn’t answer and punched the first-floor button a dozen more times, she didn’t hold back. She saw no point in sugarcoating the situation. “You know whoever took your dad is probably gonna kill both of you. The guy’s already a murderer, and now he’s covering his ass. What’s your plan?”

“Stay out of this, Jessie. I’m begging you.”

Seth shoved through the elevator doors as they opened on the ground floor. He waved at the nurse on duty and headed outside into the rain. All Jess could do was follow him, her mind reeling with sinister thoughts, each darker than the last. Seth was taking a one-way trip, and she had no idea what was on his mind.

“You gotta let me help you, Seth. This can’t be how it goes down. Please…” She begged until he turned around, both of them drenched. “At least tell me where you’re going. I can meet you…and bring help.”

Seth stood on the curb in front of the nursing home and stroked her cheek with his fingertips. His eyes were brimming and mixed with the rain trailing down his face. She reached for his hand and held it, pressing it against her cheek—her last-ditch effort to connect with him.

“You’ve been a good friend, Jessie.” A faint smile touched his lips. “I wish…”

He never finished his thought. Seth leaned and kissed her cheek, lingering enough for her to feel the warmth of his skin. She shut her eyes and let it happen. But as she opened them again, he had turned and walked away, leaving her standing in the rain as he headed for the van, his knapsack jostling on his shoulder.

“Damn it, Seth,” she cursed under her breath and narrowed her eyes. “You’re not doing this alone.”

He started the van and pulled away, leaving her to watch his red taillights from a distance as he turned a corner. She waited long enough so he wouldn’t see her grab her cell phone to make a call. Alexa would be able to track the movement of his van—her last hope.

But Jess was faced with a dilemma.

To get Harper the help he needed, she’d have to ask Alexa to follow the van without wasting precious time picking her up from the nursing home. And that meant she’d be left out of the fight. Nothing pissed her off more than sitting on the sidelines when a friend needed her in the game.

But just as she hit the speed dial for Alexa’s number, another car down the street started its engine and flicked on its high beams. She shifted her gaze to the light. The car drove toward her. A dark Chevy Impala. It took a moment for her mind to register what Alexa had told her about the PI on her tail.

“Hey, Jessie.” Alexa’s voice came on the line. “What’s up?”

“Hang on. Something just came up.”

Gut instinct gripped Jess by the throat and forced her to move.

She shoved her open cell phone into the pocket of her windbreaker and ran for the Impala. Her feet splashed through puddles on the sidewalk until she cut across grass and vaulted over a low hedge of boxwoods. Darting into the street, she veered into the path of the car. Soaked and panting, she stood in the rain with her hair and clothes clinging to her body. The car’s headlights nearly blinded her.

“No guts. No glory,” she muttered, squinting. In a two-fisted grip, she raised her Colt Python and aimed for the driver’s head, praying she was right. “Stop…or I’ll shoot!”

The car screeched to a halt, and she heard a man yelling for her to get out of the road. She held her ground, forcing him to stop.

“Get out of the car. NOW!” she yelled. “I won’t ask a second time.”

When the man opened the door, he raised his hands and left the car running. “Don’t shoot. What’s going on? You need a ride?”

“Luís? Is that you?” she asked. The Hispanic man flinched, enough for her to know she was right.

“Yeah, who wants to know?”

“I don’t have time to explain. Sorry, man.” She nudged the Colt, directing him to back up, and he obliged. “I need your wheels, but trust me, you want no part in this. Hopefully, we can share a brew and talk about it another time.”

She directed him to the curb, where he stood in the headlights of the Impala. When he raised a hand to block the glare, she ordered him down on his belly with fingers locked behind his head. And the man did as he was told.

Time to leave. Shivering from the chill of wet clothes, she hit the gas and sped away in his vehicle, taking a peek in the rearview mirror. The PI lunged off the sidewalk and chased after her, flailing his arms and shouting curses in Spanish.

She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out her cell. “You still there?”

“Your powers of persuasion would be more impressive if you didn’t let your Colt Python do all the talking.”

“Consider me bilingual.” She didn’t wait for Alexa to counter. “I need you to get in your car now and track the van. Be my eyes, and tell me where it goes.”

Alexa didn’t hesitate or question her crazy request. Jess heard her move—the rustle of fabric, the ping of a computer, and the woman’s shallow breaths as she hustled out the door. And after Alexa gave her a quick reading on where the van was located, Jessie adjusted her course and headed to the general vicinity of Chicago.

“I’m on my way…and I’ve got a clear signal,” Alexa told her. “Now talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Seth’s in trouble. Someone took his father, and Harper’s not gonna walk away from this without help.” She had a lot of explaining to do and not much time. “I’ll explain when I see you. Just follow his van and please…don’t lose it.”

With her cell phone plugged into her ear, Jess listened to Alexa’s voice as she called out street names. She gripped the steering wheel of the Impala, speeding along streets she barely recognized, heading blindly in a general direction. Her gut twisted with a knot of fear that she’d be too late to help Harper and his father.

“Damn it!”

With Alexa unfamiliar with the Chicago area, she could only call out intersections as the van crossed. Many of the specific street names didn’t hold significance, especially not knowing which block. Jess veered onto freeways trying to make up ground, only to change direction and second-guess her choices.

But all too soon, Alexa’s voice came on the line one final time.

“He’s stopped. The van has stopped.” She gave the street name and the nearest intersection.

Jess hit the gas and sped to the location. She wasn’t far away.

Harper’s blue van was parked on a dark residential street in a shabby neighborhood—a hodgepodge of smaller dwellings built next to larger boardinghouses and vacated properties boarded up as condemned. Older estates had been converted into projects, once a grander residential neighborhood in the day. Now the structures stood amidst overgrown yards with cheap cyclone fences to catch blowing trash in their mesh. Deep ruts of muddy water and the litter of old tires and hulls of stripped cars on blocks marred front yards that had also seen better days.

Only a few residences had lights on and many of the streetlamps weren’t working. The roads were murky with shadows, and gang signs were painted on Dumpsters and on front doors—a show of intimidation—even for those who had no idea what the symbols meant.

But one of the larger houses to the left looked familiar. A recognizable pitch to a roof or its unique window shutters triggered a strange tightening deep in her belly. She glared at the house, searching her memory until she could no longer do it. A wave of nausea forced her to take deep breaths. She grasped the steering wheel tight until the queasy feeling went away.

Stay focused, Jess!
For Harper’s sake, she had to remain strong and not let her fears take root. This wasn’t about her. Seth and his father were depending on her.

“What’s going on?”

Jess wondered why anyone would have Seth drive here. She got out of the Chevy and stood in the middle of the street, turning to get her bearings. Down the street, she spotted headlights, and the car slowed as it drew near. She recognized Alexa’s rental car. The woman pulled in behind the Impala and parked, keeping headlights burning as she had done. They would need the light on such a dark night. The rain had died to wavering drizzle.

“You okay?” Alexa asked as she got out, drawing her weapon and slamming her car door.

“Yeah.” When she shifted her gaze toward the van, her heart lurched. “Let’s take a look inside.”

She pulled her Colt Python, keeping her eyes on Harper’s vehicle, looking for any sign of movement. Alexa spoke to her in a soft voice, telling her she’d take the right side, but she barely heard her. Jess raised her weapon with both hands and headed for the van.

“Seth…you there?” she called out, her voice cracking under the weight of her emotion.

No sound came from the van. And the street was deathly quiet. Something about the neighborhood sent shards of dark memories to cut her deep.

Jess felt her eyes sting with tears and a lump wedged in her throat. She imagined Harper slumped behind the driver’s seat—dead—his brown eyes staring vacantly into the darkness. Pale skin splattered with his blood.

She blinked back that horrifying picture and tightened the grip on her weapon, creeping closer to the driver’s door. After a deep breath, she swallowed hard and reached for the door handle. She yanked it open and aimed her weapon into the dark. Alexa did the same on the other side. Jess’s eyes searched the shadows, but nothing.

They were too late.

Seth was gone.