First to Die (7 page)

"Did you get a copy of the footage?" I said, changing the mood as fast as I could.

"Yeah, I reviewed the tapes before I left the station and that's the only shot of the guy." He handed the disk and a print to me. "Freaky son of a bitch, probably trying to get his five minutes of fame. I'll paste his face on the board for everyone to see. Anyone sees him around, we'll haul is ass in." He leaned back in his chair and took a long inhale, letting it filter out in a whistle.

I picked up the phone and dialed dispatch. "Hi, Brandi,” I said. “It’s Detective Kelly."

"Hi, Detective, what can I do for you," she said in a soft, professional voice.

"Every welfare check, I want a call. Every one of them."

"You got it." Jason threw a pencil at me and pointed at himself.

"Add Detective Bradford to the wake up calls." I laughed.

"No problem." I heard her giggle. "Anything else?"

"That’s it, thank you," I said, and reached over and pressed the button on the cradle to hang up that call and make another. I started to dial a familiar number.

"Who are you calling now?" Jason perked up."

"Randall." I put my finger to my lips.

One, two, six rings before the other end picked up. "Yeah." Bill Randall sounded out of breath, and I was sure that he wasn't expecting to hear my voice.

"Bill, it’s Sam Kelly.”

"What the hell do you want?" he said in a low steady voice.

"I was hoping that I could stop over and talk with Billy, if that's okay with you?"

"He's already done enough talking." I heard him tell someone to shut the fuck up in a muffled voice, his hand was obviously over the mouthpiece. He was a mean man, and I was wondering if he was directing his abusive mouth at his wife or little Billy.

"I understand that, but I would like to ask him a few more questions." I stared at Jason.

"No," he yelled. "Don't come near this house." I pulled the phone away from my ear as he yelled.

"I apologize, but it will only take a few minutes and ...." He cut me off.

"Come near my kid again, and you'll have to deal with me." It wasn't unusual for him to threaten me. I held the phone up so Jason could hear him. "You understand me, Kelly? You'll deal with me." He hung up on me.

"Jesus, I honestly don't know what his problem is" I let out a long sigh and rubbed my forehead. "All I've ever done is tried to help his kid."

"I'm sure all it does is remind him of your dad. He never put up with his crap, you know that. Your punishment from Randall is guilt by association," he sighed. "He's another one that's not worth your effort. He'll never change."

"I don't give a shit about that drunken fool, I care about Billy." I threw the pencil back at him and laid my head on my desk. The last several hours had sucked the life right out of me. I knew I would pass out if I closed my eyes.

I heard Jason get up from his chair and walk over to the side of me. He grabbed my hand and led me out the door. He interrupted my scattered thoughts of the wicked night, Billy and my mom that Ward calls Crazy Kelly and before I knew it, he was opening his passenger door.

"Get in, I'll take you home."

"'I'll walk. It'll do me good. I need some air."

"Get in," he demanded. "I don't want you walking around here alone."

"That's ridiculous. I have a big gun." I slapped my right side. "I'll be fine," I said, waving to him as I backed into the oncoming crowd.

"You're a pain in the ass. Call me later after you get some sleep," he yelled, and drove off heading out of town toward Somerville. Toward Rachel's house, his current squeeze.

I walked around the festival for the next few hours. It was past three o'clock, and it was apparent that my begging and pleading had been ignored. I didn't envy the position that the chief was in and if there was a way to compromise and control the situation, he would have found it. Two more hours and the crowd would be dispersing without a care in the world. My eyes and heart were heavy. I watched everyone. I waited for someone to make a suspicious move or comment. Too many innocent people. They had no idea what could be lurking in the shadows. Either did I.

Chapter 10

I
should have gone home, but I being pulled in a different direction. I had my own questions that needed to be answered. Somerville was only a thirty minute ride. I'd still make it home before dark and the Edwards were expecting me. I stood on the front porch for a few minutes to collect my thoughts. This type of interview was never easy, even if Hayes had already paved the way earlier this morning. The door opened before I rang the bell.

"You must be Detective Kelly." An attractive, middle-aged woman with puffy watery eyes stepped back against the door. "Please, come in."

I reached out and cradled her trembling hands. "Thank you for taking the time to see me, Mrs. Edwards." My heart pounded, and I knew that my words of compassion would do little to comfort her. "I know how difficult this must be for you."

"Yes, but I understand. Let’s talk in the living room." She motioned her arm to a room on the right. "Please, sit. Can I offer you anything to drink. Coffee?" I walked in and sat down on the edge of the sofa. She stood, rubbing her hands together.

"No, but thank you for asking," I said, looking up at her.

"Did you know Jennifer?" She sat down next to me.

"No, Mrs. Edwards. I'm sorry, I didn't," I said. "Is Mr. Edwards here?"

"He is, but he wasn't feeling well so I thought it was best that he rested."

"I understand." I touched her shoulder. "I don't want to add to your stress and take up any more of your private time with your family,” I said. “I wanted to ask a few questions that might help us find who did this to Jennifer."

She dabbed a tissue around her eyes. "Danny was here this morning, but didn't stay very long." She started to cry again. "It was nice of him to come out. We hadn't seen him in years."

"You call him Danny. I didn't know you were friends with Chief Hayes."

"Oh, yes, for many years when we lived in Riverview, and I can tell by looking at you that you're Ann and James' daughter. You were a little girl, the last time I saw you." She reached up and pushed a few strands of hair from her face. "You look just like your mother." She touched my hand and I saw I little smile beneath the sadness. "We moved from Riverview so long ago, I thought I had forgotten that part of my life."

I paused again to give her some needed time. "I understand that Jennifer was only back in Riverview for a few months?"

"That's right, she moved back for a new job." She looked down "I didn't want her to move there after what happened back then, but she was so excited to start her new life and a new career."

"Because of Louise Harper?" I asked softly.

"Yes. I know it was ages ago, but no one ever forgets something like that."

I hated to ask the next question. "Mrs. Edwards, do you know anyone who would want to hurt Jennifer."

"No, not anyone." The tears rolled into the tiny cracks on her face and raced down like a raging river.

"I'm sorry." I looked into her eyes. I wanted her to know that I was sincere. "Do you recall any friends that seemed to act out of the ordinary or anyone that was suspicious to you or her?"

"No, I don't. Jennifer was quiet and very shy." She stood up, walked over and picked up a picture that was sitting on the fireplace mantle. She touched it and then held it close to her chest. "Detective, did she suffer?" She turned and looked at me.

I wasn't expecting that question yet, and I was caught off guard for a few moments. I hesitated and took a deep breath. "We won't know that until the reports come back from the Medical Examiner’s office later in the week." My heart was pounding again. I didn't want to lie to her, but I didn't want to add to her pain. She was too upset to give her the gruesome details. "Did she mention any new friends or co-workers from Riverview? Maybe someone at the new job or something that might have been troubling to her?"

"No, she kept to herself. She was a workaholic, never slept, and when she did finally doze off she was having some terrible nightmares." She put the picture back on the mantle and clenched her hands again. "Not every night, but at least a few times a week. I told her to quit that job and come home, but she wouldn't."

"I know this sounds silly," I said. "If you don't mind me asking, what were they?"

"No, not at all. She said that she would be jolted out of sleep and felt like someone was in the room with her. She said it was all a bad dream. Nervous about being in a new place, I guess."

"I'm sure that was frightening for her. I've had a few of those myself." I stood up to leave. "Mrs. Edwards, can I ask you a few more questions? It has to do with Louise Harper, if that’s okay?

"It's all right, dear.” Her eyes were heavy. “Louise was a wonderful friend to all of us."

"Who do think did it?" I held my breath.

"That's just it.” She folded her arms. “Everybody had a finger pointed at them. Terrible fights about it all the time. It was too devastating for all of us. After she was murdered, everything fell apart, and we all went our separate ways." She was watching out the window now. "Please find who did this to our daughter."

I took a deep breath and stood up, not knowing what to say to relieve her pain. "I'm truly sorry for your loss and I promise that I will do everything that I can." We walked toward the door.

"Thank you, Sam." She put her hand to her chest. "I'm sorry, can I call you that?"

"Yes, of course." She was alone and I could feel her sadness reach out and grab me. My arms circled around and held her for a brief moment.

***

I made it home before the sun kissed my forehead and wished me a good night. Max jumped on me when I walk in the door and poured a layer on slime on me. I grabbed the sides of her neck and wrestled her back to the floor for a round of hugs. "Did you miss me?" She barked her orders for me to feed her and let her out.

I sat on the deck and watched her chase the squirrel up the trees and try to wrestle a long stick past the wood railings on the stairs. I picked up her favorite red ball and threw it as far as I could. She took far into the darkness and brought it back to my side. I threw it again. "Get it," I yelled when I heard the footsteps to the left of me.

Chapter 11

I
sat as still as possible. I didn't breathe. I felt the weight of my gun on my waist and pressed out a little sigh of relief. I still had the jitters from the scene and as far as I was concerned, we were all sitting ducks waiting to be popped off one by one. I listened for the footsteps to get closer.

"I rang your doorbell for at least twenty minutes." Ivy appeared from of the shadows. "You really need to put one of those ringy, dingy things out here." Pointing up at the wall next to my head.

"You really shouldn't sneak up on people with a madman on the loose."

"Oh, please." She leaned in and put her face up to mine so I could inhale the residual from her evening libations. "If somebody wanted me dead, they'd have done it a long time ago."

"And, if I had one of those
ringy dingy
things, as you call it,” I pushed my head back as far as I could get it, "I would have to answer the door. I don't have one for a reason." I laughed at her theatrics. "Why didn't you use the garage door, like you always do?"

"Don't you think I tried that first? The damn thing never works for me." She whined like a baby.

"It was working fine last night." I confirmed her impaired motor skills. "What’s going on?" She looked like she’d gone through a wind tunnel.

She slapped the
Daily News
Evening Edition in my lap. "Look at the front page." I watched her jerk around. "Look at it."

"Ivy, get a grip. What the hell could be so bad?"

"You should have told me first." Ivy was not a happy drunk, and it was times like these that I tried to avoid her. My dad always told me you can't reason with a drunk, and this was one of times that he was right.

"Tell you what?" I stood up and walked over to the light and read the front page. Thank goodness for second winds, because I probably would have hit the deck and cracked my head open from the headline,
THE RIVERVIEW REAPER
, along with the poems, and a picture of a black-hooded skeleton holding a scythe and an hourglass right at the top of the page. Reporters are notorious for giving nicknames to the killers and I thought it was pretty accurate. "Shit, someone leaked the information." I closed my eyes and tried to recall anyone at the scene or department that would do something like this. Blood raced through my veins. Several names came to mind, but I couldn't believe anyone would do it. We had a mole somewhere. I could feel the smoke coming out of my ears.

"Ivy, this information didn't come from us, and it was withheld for a good reason."

"How the hell did they get it?"

"I don't know, and I doubt if we will ever find out who it is unless we release or plant something fictitious to pull him out. But I honestly don't think that it's anyone from the department that did it, and no one is ever going to fess up to something like this."