Guilty Pleasure (19 page)

“
Why did you feel the need
to kick his ass?”

“
You have my file…he beat
my sister and I wasn’t going to let him get away with doing that.
When I got out of jail I found out my sister went back to this
asshole and he was abusing her again, so I kicked his ass
again.”

“
Why would she go back to
such a man?”

“
That is a damn good
question. She claimed she loved him.”

“
Do you talk to your sister
anymore?”

“
Nope.”

“
And why not?”

“
It was her choice not
mine. I guess she blamed me for that asshole leaving
her.”

“
Well now that is fucked
up.”

“
Yep.”

“
You had one DUI as well
about five years after that.”

“
I was in a rough patch in
my life. What the hell does this have to do with me supposedly
killing my landlord?”

“
Where were you that
day?”

“
I was here. Monica and
Nicole can back that up.”

“
I also found out that you
were the recipient of one of Michael Lyons’ art foundation thing.
Is this true?”

“
Yes.”

“
How long have you know,
Mr. Lyons?”

“
A few years
now.”

Tim’s attention went to the front door.

“
Well, I will be God
damned. Hello, Mr. Lyons, we were just talking about
you.”

“
Detective Dane, what are
you doing here?” Nicole asked as she came out from behind
Michael.

“
Hello, Miss Fisher. It is
always a pleasure. Since you are here can you vouch for Mr.
Mathew’s whereabouts on the day his landlord was
killed?”

“
Yes, he was here with me
and Monica.”

“
I didn’t know that Adam
knew you through your foundation, Mr. Lyons.”

“
What does that have to do
with anything?” Michael said.

“
Well, it’s your foundation
that paid the rent on Adam’s apartment. Did you ever talk to the
landlord of the building?”

“
Oh come on now, Mr. Dane,
I don’t have to answer any of your questions and neither do you,
Adam. I also got wind of you digging through my past. Do you have
just cause to be doing that? Or do I need to put a cease and desist
order on you. You are asking to be sued, Mr. Dane.”

“
I fucking hate you
lawyers. You always have to make everything so complicated.” Tim
stood. “Thank you for answering my questions, Adam. You have saved
me a lot of time.”

Monica came out of her room.

“
And you, Monica, I will
keep you updated about the case.”

“
Thank you, Mr.
Dane.”

“
It’s always a pleasure,
Mr. Lyons and Miss Fisher. I will show myself out.” Tim left the
apartment.

“
What happened?” Nicole
said.

“
Yeah Adam, why the fuck
did you answer that asshole’s questions?” Michael said.

“
I have nothing to hide. I
didn’t kill my landlord so what harm would it do to answer his
questions.”

“
You are so fucking naïve.”
Michael tried to control his temper.

“
No, I’m not naïve I’m just
honest. Why didn’t you just answer his questions,
Michael?”

“
That fucker was fishing.
He has no clue who killed your landlord. I have dealt with cops my
entire career, so I know how to handle someone like Tim Dane. Most
cops follow the rules, but there are some like Tim who like to
skate the rules. They want to pin blame on someone so badly that
they blind themselves to the truth. Then of course you have the
corrupt cops who conveniently put innocent people away to serve
their own needs. I’m not sure which of the two categories this
asshole detective falls under yet, so it’s best just to go through
legal channels.” Michael turned to Nicole. “This is one of the
reasons I became a defense lawyer, Nicole. I wanted to make sure
innocent people didn’t wind up in jail.”

“
What about the ones you
know are guilty?” Monica said.

“
Everyone deserves a fair
trial, Monica. Innocent until proven guilty.”

“
Is Adam in trouble?”
Nicole said.

“
No. You and Monica give
him an airtight alibi, so that should stop Tim in his
tracks.”

“
Adam…” Monica sat at the
table. “I didn’t mean to overhear what you and Mr. Dane were
talking about…”

“
This is a small
apartment.” Adam chuckled. He really didn’t want to pick at that
emotional scab, but it looked like he had no choice. “I served time
in jail when I was twenty one. My sister was being abused by her
boyfriend and I put a stop to it. Not the greatest time in my life
and I’m a bit ashamed for having a criminal record.”

“
You shouldn’t feel ashamed
about that. You were only protecting your sister,” Nicole
said.

“
That explains why Tim came
over here to question you. Your criminal record paints you as being
prone to violence even if your reasons were justified,” Michael
said.

“
Well great. First they
drag me in for questioning about Mindy’s murder now they think I
killed my landlord.”

Michael tried to hide his smile. This
couldn’t be working out any better. He had no idea that Adam had a
criminal record it never occurred to him to look. This will make
setting up Adam that much easier.

“
I have to stay here
tonight. Is it okay if I pack up my stuff later and bring it to
your place?” Nicole asked.

“
Sure, I
understand.”

“
Wait, you are moving in
with him?” Monica said.

“
Yep.” Nicole grabbed
Michael’s hand. “Don’t worry I will still chip in my share of rent
and hanging out with you guys.”

“
Don’t you think you two
are moving a bit fast?” Monica didn’t like the idea of Nicole
living with Michael. She looked at Michael…damn this guy gave her
the creeps. There was no way she was going to let her friend move
in with him.

“
I don’t think so,” Nicole
said.

“
I will leave you to talk
with your friends, Nicole. I got some work to finish up,” Michael
said as he leaned down and kissed Nicole. “I will see you at work
tomorrow then we will discuss the best time for you to move in. I
don’t want to rush you.” Michael turned his attention to Adam.
“Don’t be talking to any more police officers. They want to ask you
questions you tell them you need to speak with your lawyer then you
call me, alright?”

“
You know more about this
stuff than I do, so I will take your advice.”

Michael just smiled at Monica and didn’t say
a word to her. He kissed Nicole one last time then left the
apartment. He went to his car. He sighed when he saw Tim sitting in
a car a few car lengths back.

“
Alright, asshole, if this
is what you want.” Michael started his car and took off. He kept
looking in his rear view mirror to make sure Tim was still
following him. Michael headed to the warehouse district. This time
of night most of the truck drivers and warehouse workers will be
going home. There might be a few truck drivers lingering to get
their loads delivered or pickup tomorrow. Michael was counting on
this.

Michael smiled when he saw Tim still
following him. He pulled down Fulton Street to one of the
warehouses. There were two semi-trucks parked on one of the lots,
one was idling the other wasn’t. There was no obvious security on
this lot. Michael pulled up alongside of the semi-truck that wasn’t
idling. He got out of his car and walked around to the front of it
and leaned up against the hood.

Tim pulled up a few feet in front of him and
got out of his car.

“
Why are you following me?”
Michael said.

“
Why are you at some
warehouse?”

Michael stood straight. “I knew you were
following me and I wanted to see how long you planned on doing
it.”

“
Alright enough games.
There is something not right about you. I thought at first you were
just a major asshole who was full of himself, most of you pretty
boys are. Yet, the way you were so cold, so uncaring about that
child murderer, that didn’t sit right with me.”

“
Ah, were you disappointed
that I didn’t break down in tears after hearing what that asshole
did to those kids.”

Tim closed the door to his car and moved
closer to Michael.

“
I wanted to get anything
on you. Hell I didn’t care if it was just an unpaid traffic ticket.
I wanted the pleasure of putting your smug ass in
cuffs.”

“
Oh, that explains you
snooping around in my past.”

“
That’s another thing, how
did you know that.”

“
Your partner told
me.”

“
What? Why would he do
that?”

“
He knew you are like a dog
with a bone and you would keep harassing me until you got your
precinct sued. He was trying to protect you from yourself. He
assured me he would make you stop.”

“
Yeah, I am like a dog with
a bone and you want to know what this dog dug up.”

“
Sure, this should be
interesting.” Michael casually put his hand in his dress pant
pocket and grabbed his pocket knife. He pulled it out of his pocket
and held it in his hand as he flipped it open then he casually
placed the hand with the knife on the hood of his car.

“
When you were fourteen
your best friend died in a freak accident. When you were sixteen a
young woman was found dead near your family’s vacation home.
Strange that she was murdered just like these eight people around
the Chicago area had been.”

“
And…”

“
Just before you went to
Yale, your girlfriend…” Tim grabbed his little notebook and flipped
it opened. “Jenny Thompson was murdered.”

“
The point of bringing up
painful memories is?”

“
Oh, I’m not done. While
you were attending Yale, eight women and two men were brutally
murdered again just like the victims here in Chicago. A Maxwell
Stevens was convicted of their murders, who oddly enough, lived in
the same dorm you did. A Kim Nichols was also murdered, be it
differently than the others around that same time. She was seen
with you on occasion. And another thing that was rather odd Maxwell
Stevens looked remarkably similar to you. And I will be damned, but
the winner of your saving the arts bullshit foundation Adam
Matthews also bears a striking resemblance to you. I also did a
search of unsolved murders with the same M.O. as the ones here in
Chicago and there are ten of them. I bet if I dug up your flight
history I can put you in each area those murders
happened.”

“
Wow, I’m a prolific serial
killer,” Michael said sarcastically.

“
Johnny was terrified of
you. He kept saying you were fucking with his mind. Your odd
reactions to being around monsters and now this timeline it all
fits.”

“
Except for the part that
Maxwell Stevens was tried and convicted of murdering those people
in New Haven.”

“
As I’m sure, if I let this
go, Adam Matthews will be tried and convicted of these murders in
Chicago. Then you will simply move and find a new patsy to pin your
murders on.”

Michael chuckled.

“
I’m not going to let that
happen. Nor will I let you murder that sweet girl who was stupid
enough to fall in love with you.”

“
I’m going to murder Nicole
now. This just keeps getting better.”

“
I will find a way to tidy
this up and when I get those final pieces of the
puzzle…”

Michael lunged for Tim knocking him on the
ground. He immediately took Tim’s sidearm out of his hostler and
threw it aside before Tim could grab it. He quickly stabbed Tim in
the chest three times. He knew the knife wasn’t long enough to do
any real damage unless he cut Tim’s throat with it. He held Tim
down. Tim was no match for Michael’s strength.

“
You are a stupid man. If
you really believed I was a serial killer why did you follow me out
to this isolated area.”

“
Those truck drivers
will…”

“
Seeing how there is only
one idling truck I’m going to say there is only one of them. He is
more than likely sleeping. Now thanks to you I will have to kill
him too. You were right about me, Tim. I am the monster you think I
am. Your theory was spot on, bravo. I’m actually pleasantly
surprised you were clever enough to figure this all out on your
own. And don’t try to bullshit me with telling me you shared this
info with anyone. You wouldn’t have. Your boss told you to leave me
alone, so you couldn’t risk your pathetic job until you were sure
of your theory. Your partner tried to save you from
yourself.”

Tim tried to break Michael’s hold but
couldn’t.

“
You are going to die now,
Detective Dane…”

“
Don’t kill
Nicole…”

“
What?”

“
You killed your first
girlfriend and since that second woman you were spotted with died
the same way Jenny did you must have killed her too. Please don’t
kill, Nicole, let her go. I don’t care what you do to me. I’m a
threat to you. You have to kill me. She has done nothing but love
you.”