Jailhouse Glock (2 page)

“You might want to take a look at the text messages.”

Maddy jerked the phone from her ear and held it out in front of her as she pounded the menu button. Her fingers were shaking so badly
she hit the wrong one twice before finally getting to the right page. The minute she clicked on the message a photo popped up. “Oh my God!” she said, almost inaudibly as she dropped the phone on the desk.

Tessa leaned over and stared at the picture, her facial expression turning serious as she viewed the image of a hooded man standing over Jessie's bed, a gun pointed directly at her head.

Find out what they want.

two

“I'll kill you if
you touch her,” Maddy screamed into the phone instead. She envisioned what they might do to her daughter and giant tears streamed down her cheeks. “I don't have much money, but whatever I have, it's yours,” she pleaded.

“We don't want your money.”

“Then what? I don't have anything of value.”

“First of all, let me make myself perfectly clear. If you tell anyone about this or call in your cop friends, your daughter will never see the light—”

“I won't,” Maddy interrupted. “Just don't hurt her.” Her voice
cracked.

“Her chances of seeing the sun rise tomorrow depend entirely on how you cooperate with us. All you have to do is unlock the front door and put this cell phone along with your own phone and your gun and the keys to the cells in the back room on the desk. Then go into the ladies' bathroom. Lock the door and wait fifteen minutes. If you do that, your daughter will never know we were here. If not
…
”

Maddy's mind raced. Were these Bernardi's friends coming to get
him out? The last few times Gino had been arrested for drunk and dis
orderly, his lawyer had posted bail before the ink had a chance to dry on the sign-in sheet. Or maybe it wasn't Gino they wanted to spring. Maybe it was the other guy. He wasn't a local. Was it possible they were looking for something in the police station? If so, what? And how did they know Jessie was at her grandmother's?

“What's it gonna be, Madelyn?”

The distorted voice jarred her back to the critical decision she had
to make. She was way out of her league here.
Shit!
She'd only been an actual cop for three months.

In a flash, Maddy made the decision. She opened the bottom drawer
and pulled out her purse. She had to call her brother-in-law. Colt had been the head of Vineyard's police department for many years and would know what to do. “How can I be sure you won't hurt her?” she asked, hoping to stall while she frantically searched for her cell phone.

“You don't,” the voice replied. “It's a gamble you have to take, but if I were you, I wouldn't be stupid enough to call anyone on that cell phone you're digging for.”

Maddy dropped the purse with a thud, her eyes scanning the
room, coming to rest on the security camera in the corner. Flanagan said it had gone on the fritz earlier that day, and the company was sending someone up from Dallas in the morning to fix it. The red light was off. So how did he know what she was doing?

“That's right, Madelyn. I can see everything, so it wouldn't be real smart to fuck with me.” He paused before adding, “Unless, of course you prefer living alone.”

She covered her mouth to stifle the sob welling up in her throat. This was not a spur-of-the-moment breakout. This guy had planned every detail. Gino must have friends in high places.

“Tessa?” Maddy did a three-sixty, but her sister was gone. She was all alone and talking to a potential kidnapper. Or worse.

“I'm waiting, Madelyn.”

Maddy blew out a breath. This was a no-brainer. Her daughter was a helluva lot more important than making sure some slick gangster wannabe stayed locked up for the weekend. When his lawyer returned on Monday, he'd be sprung faster than an overwound clock anyway.

“When do you want me to do this?”

“Now would be good. My guy at Gramma's house is just about due for a fix, and he always gets major jitters when that happens. Wouldn't want his trigger finger shaking. Know what I mean?”

She pulled the cell phone out of her purse and slammed it on the desk along with the other one she'd been using. Reaching across her body, she unholstered her Glock and placed it next to the phones. After a final glance around the room failed to turn up the location of another camera anywhere, she unlocked the main door and sprinted to the bathroom.

Once the door closed, she searched for something she could use as a weapon just in case the caller had more on his mind than freeing Bernardi. She spotted a mop in the corner, cursing under her breath at her vulnerability without a gun. But she'd had no choice.

She grabbed the mop and crouched in the corner behind the
door. If someone did come in, at least she would have the element of surprise.

Unless there's a camera in here, too.

She did a quick scan but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The
smell of Clorox mixed with mildew caused her nose to crinkle, and she pushed the mop away from her body.

Good Lord! Don't they ever clean these things?

Minutes passed with no sound, and Maddy was beginning to believe one of the guys would pop in, laughing his butt off. Rookie cops
always got harassed, and she was due. She wondered who it would be? Flanagan? Rogers? Most likely candidate was Danny Landers. He was the practical jokester of the station. Probably called the minute he
finished the sweet potato pie at his folk's house.

Let's just see who surprises who, Danny, boy
, she thought. It
wouldn't be so funny when the mop connected with his crotch, and she sure as hell was going to make sure it did. It would serve him right.

She stiffened her back against the cold tiled wall when she heard a faint sound on the other side of the door. Leaning closer, she listened to the muffled voices.

Probably Danny and the other guys getting ready to march in and scare the crap out of me.
She tightened her grip on the mop.

Please God, let it be Landers.
A twisting in her gut told her it
wasn't.

Then a loud shot rang out, followed quickly by two more. Maddy
jumped up from her corner, nearly tripping over the mop. She pushed
at the door, giving no thought to what danger lurked on the other side.

It didn't budge.

She lowered her shoulder and jammed it into the door again.

This time she was able to open it enough to squeeze through past her desk that had been shoved against the door.

Raising the mop in an offensive position, she made her way to where the desk had been, aware her every move was probably being watched. She spied the keys to the cells lying in the middle of the floor next to her cell phone, but there was no sign of the other phone or her gun.

An icy chill sliced through her body. She needed a weapon, and she needed it now. She raced to Colt's office where she knew he kept a forty-
five locked in the bottom drawer. Trembling, she felt under the desk for the key taped behind the leg, and when her fingers touched it, she ripped it from its hiding place and quickly opened the drawer.

With the gun finally in her hand, she made her way to the back
room, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling. A quick glance at the
camera focused on the cell area revealed nothing unusual, yet, a sudden sense of overwhelming doom washed over her.

The minute she opened the door, she tried to convince herself the shots were only fired to scare her. Halfway to Bernardi's cell, she knew they weren't.

Charging through the already opened steel door, she felt the nausea bubbling in her throat when she saw a man's body sprawled on
the concrete floor, a crimson river flowing beside him. She bent down
and rolled him over, unable to stop her scream as she stared into the eyes of a very dead Gino Bernardi. She felt for his carotid, hoping to find a pulse, knowing she wouldn't.

Jumping up, she moved to the next cell only to see the other prisoner in a sitting position against the wall, his county-issue orange jumpsuit sporting a growing red ring. Two fingers on his neck revealed a pulse, weak and racing but still there.

Running from the cell, she reached for the phone on Landers's desk. After telling the 911 operator to send an ambulance ASAP, she called her mother-in-law, her fingers now shaking so badly she could barely dial the number.

After several rings, a sleepy voice answered.

“Sandra, where's Jessie?” Somehow she managed to sound semi-calm despite the ball of fear churning in her gut.

“Asleep in her bed,” Robbie's mother said after hesitating a few minutes. “Maddy, what's the matter?”

“Go check on her!” Tears fell unchecked down Maddy's cheeks. “Now!” She tried to slow her respirations with deep slow breaths, but the silence on the other end was maddening.

“She's sound asleep. Maddy, what's going on?” Sandra repeated, her voice escalating an octave.

“Wake her up,” Maddy commanded. By the time her mother-in-
law came back on the phone, she'd already made several bargains with
God.

“Here she is.”

“Hi, Mom.” Jessie's sleepy voice was like music to Maddy's ears. “Nana said you wanted to talk to me.”

“Oh, God, Jess. Are you alright?” Maddy heard the child's sharp intake of breath as she yawned.

“Why wouldn't I be?”

Maddy stifled the cry that threatened to escape her lips. No use terrifying her child. “Tell your grandmother to take you to her bedroom and lock the door. I'm calling Tom Rogers now and having him swing by the house to take a look. Don't come out of the bedroom until he says it's okay.”

“Maddy?” Sandra apparently grabbed the phone from her granddaughter. “What the hell is going on?”

Maddy repeated the command, adding, “It's probably nothing. I'll tell you about it when I talk to you after Rogers checks out the house. Keep the door locked. Do you still hide a key under the flower pot on the patio?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I'll let Rogers know. Stay in the room until you hear from me.”

Maddy found Tom Rogers at the diner and related part of the
story, telling him only what was absolutely necessary. She hung up just as the paramedics charged into the station with a stretcher. Her mind racing, she watched them assess the wounded man and start an IV. When he was on his way to County Hospital, she remembered she hadn't called Colt and dialed his number, again using the phone on Landers's desk.

“Maddy, what's wrong?” The concern in Colt's voice was apparent. A call from the police station in the middle of the night couldn't be good.

“Colt?” She heard her sister's sleepy voice in the background.

“Bernardi's dead.”

“I'm on my way.”

The phone rang as soon as she'd disconnected from Colt, sending a shiver of fear up her spine that only intensified when Tom Rogers's name popped up on caller ID.

She took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before answering. “Please tell me everything's okay,” she begged.

“Other than your daughter and your mother-in-law being scared shitless, everything's fine. I've checked all the nooks and crannies in this place and found nothing. No trace of anyone ever being here.”

“Thank God,” she whispered before lifting her eyes upward and promising to go to church more often.

“Do you want me to come back to the station now?”

“No,” she shouted into the receiver. “Stay there until you hear from
Colt. He's on his way in now.”

She hung up and sat down in Danny Landers's chair. Within
min
utes she heard the siren from Colt's police car and breathed a sigh of relief. Her brother-in-law would know how to make sense of all this.

She walked back to the cell block and took one more look at Bernardi, noticing that the trail of blood had snaked its way to the wall and puddled. The metallic smell reached her nostrils just as a shiny black object on the edge of his bed caught her eye. Slowly, she walked into the cell, being careful not to step in the blood around the dead man's head.

The nausea resurfaced. Jerking her head around, she puked into the stainless steel sink. The shiny object was a gun. Her Glock.

three

Maddy was relieved to
see Colton Winslow charge through the station door with her sister Lainey close behind. If anyone could make sense of this horrible situation, it was her brother-in-law. She crumbled into Lainey's embrace while Colt stood to the side, patiently waiting to hear what had happened.

As much as she wanted to stay in the warmth of her sister's arms, she knew the faster Colt had the details, the faster they could begin collecting evidence and find Bernardi's killer. Pulling away, she motioned for him to follow her into the back room where the cell block was located.

Lainey fell into step behind Maddy before Colt held up his arm to stop her. “You'd better stay out here, honey.” When she shook her head, he added. “We need someone to direct Mark Lowell to the back when he gets here.”

The look on Lainey's face said she clearly wasn't fooled by his suggestion that the medical examiner of Vineyard needed help finding his way to the cell block, and for a minute, Maddy thought she would protest. With an exasperated sigh, Lainey nodded.

Her younger sister had never seen a dead body before, and she probably would have nightmares forever if she saw Bernardi. Maddy was a cop, but she'd only seen one other body herself. She shuddered at the memory of old Mrs. Roosevelt who had died in her sleep. Ordinarily, it wouldn't have required police presence before the funeral home arrived for the body, but her son had insisted that his sister had something to do with his mother's death. Since Maddy had been Flanagan's shadow back then, she'd gone out with him to investigate.

Fortunately, she'd been able to get through the initial ordeal without a major GI disaster. It turned out the son had been right about
his sister, and the crime had been solved in less than a week. But she'd never forget the way the old woman's eyes had stared up at her—
almost as if she were begging for someone to find her killer. Maddy still had an occasional bad dream about those eyes.

“Maddy, you want to start at the beginning and tell me how this prisoner was shot to death on your watch?” Colt asked as he stared down at the body.

She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “I was in the bathroom when it happened.”

He walked around Bernardi to the other side of the cell. “There's a Glock next to the body.”

“Yes.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “It's mine.”

He whirled around to face her. “Thought you said you were in the bathroom.”

“Someone shot him while I was in there.”

“With your gun?”

A wave of nausea pulsed through her again, knowing how this must look to a trained police officer. “It's a long story, Colt, but you have to believe that I didn't kill him.” She swiped at the tear threatening to roll down her cheek.

His face softened, and he stepped closer to her. “Of course
,
I believe you, but I need help making sense of this. How it is that someone could waltz in here and kill this prisoner with your gun while you were in the ladies' room? And where was Rogers?”

She lowered her head, thinking there was no way she would be able to make him believe her. “Out checking a domestic disturbance call that came in around one from that trailer park by the airport. You
know, the one that keeps the guys busy nearly every weekend with drunk and disorderly calls.”

She waited until he nodded, deciding not to tell him that Rogers had stopped at the all-night diner for a cup of coffee afterward. Everyone knew the divorced cop was sweet on the new waitress who
worked the graveyard shift there, but it would serve no purpose bring
ing that up now. “Anyway, he told me to leave my gun and my cell phone on the desk and to lock myself in the ladies' room.”

“Why would Rogers tell you to do that?”

“Not Rogers. The guy on the phone.”

Colt's forehead wrinkled in question. “Somebody called you on your cell phone and told you to lock yourself in the bathroom?”

This time she couldn't stop the tears from falling, and she shook her head. “There was another phone in my desk drawer, and when it rang I thought one of the guys was calling to say he'd left it. The voice sounded like it was computer enhanced and—” She stopped to reach for the tissue Colt handed her.

“I don't get it, Maddy. You know the protocol when you're here alone at the station. Why didn't you go into lockdown? You're been here long enough to know you should never leave the front door open with no backup.”

“I was so scared.”

He wrapped his arms around her until the shaking stopped. “Did he hurt you?”

She shook her head and pulled away. She had to tell him the story before the medical examiner and the forensics team showed up. “He texted a picture of a man with a gun standing over Jessie while she was sleeping at Sandra's. Said if I didn't do exactly as he instructed, he'd kill her.”

Colts eyes widened, and he headed for the door. “Call Rogers and tell him to meet me at your mother-in-law's. Tell him to sit tight until I get there.”

“Colt, wait!”

He stopped abruptly and spun around to face her.

“Jessie's fine. Rogers is over there now, and other than being scared
to death because I freaked out, both my daughter and her grandmother are fine. Actually, they slept right through the whole ordeal, and neither had a clue that someone had been in the house.”

Colt blew out an audible sigh of relief. “Thank God for that.”
Maddy knew he loved Jessie almost as much as he loved his own
daughter. Switching back into cop mode, he narrowed his eyes. “Show me the picture. Maybe we can get forensics to pick up on
something.”

“Like what? He had on a mask.”

“Like a tattoo on the hand holding the gun or some other distinguishing mark.”

She turned and raced back to the front office with Colt close behind her. Ignoring Lainey's questioning look, she sprinted to her desk, which was still partially obstructing the bathroom door. After going through the drawer, she glanced up and shook her head. “It's gone.”

Just then Mark Lowell burst through the front door. “Heard
someone saved the taxpayers a lot of money tonight,” he said, winking at Colt.

“The body's in the back.” Colt sent the Vineyard County Medical Examiner a look that instantly wiped the grin from his face before he twisted around to face Maddy again. “Can you sit over there at Landers's desk while I do the preliminary exam with Mark? I'll be back shortly to take your full statement.” He motioned to Lainey. “You too. This place is about to become a zoo, and I'll need both of you out of the way.”

“Shouldn't I come with you?” Maddy asked.

His eyes told her more than she wanted to know. No matter how much of her story he believed, she was still a potential suspect—actually, the
only
suspect at the present time.

“Hang tight, Maddy. I promise we'll get to the bottom of this.” Then he nudged the medical examiner toward the cell block and disappeared behind him.

Maddy flopped down behind Landers's desk, and her sister
pulled
up a chair beside her.

“You must've been so scared,” Lainey said, reaching for Maddy's hand.

Maddy could only nod. She was the oldest of five sisters, and she'd always been the one to comfort the younger ones. It felt strange being the one needing support right now.

“Who's with Gracie?” was all she could think to say without breaking into tears again. She had to get the image of that man in Jessie's bedroom out of her head.

“She's with Colt's mom tonight. They're braving the Black Friday crowd in the morning.”

“I didn't kill him, Lainey. I swear.”

Lainey patted her hand. “Why would I think that? You couldn't hurt a flea. Everyone knows that.”

I knew you were in trouble, Maddy. I just didn't know how much.

Maddy glanced up to see Tessa sitting on the edge of the desk. “Please tell me you know who did it, Tessa,” Maddy said, hoping and praying her ghostly sister had seen everything and could identify the man who had killed Bernardi.

“Tessa? Don't tell me you're seeing her now,” Lainey said, jumping from her chair.

“You can't see her?”

Of course she can't. You're the one in big trouble. Tell Lainey I said she could have at least combed her hair. She's got that just been … well, you know the look. And personally, to flaunt it in front of me—and you, for that matter—seems a tad insensitive, don't ya think?

“Tessa said you can't see her because I'm the one in trouble.” Maddy
deliberately left out the other part, not wanting to dwell on the lack of romance in her life at the moment.

A slight grin wrinkled the corners of Lainey's lips. “Knowing my dead sister the way I do, my guess is that's not all she said.”

Oh, give it a rest, Lainey. You had your fun with me when you were the only one who could see and hear me.
Tessa leaned across
the desk, almost in Maddy's face now.
Now start talking, sis.
The only
way we can help you is if you tell us what happened.

Maddy felt the hope drain from her body. If Tessa was looking for details, that meant she hadn't seen anything and wouldn't be able to help. She lowered her eyes and recited the story to both her sisters.

“Oh my God! Is Jessie all right?” Lainey cried out.

“She's fine. She slept right through it. Rogers is staying with her until I get home.”

Thank God for that
,
Tessa interjected.
What asshole uses a child like that?

“Apparently, a very clever one,” Maddy answered. “There's only one scenario that would have persuaded me to follow his instructions
like I did. He knew Jessie was key to getting my full cooperation.”

“Why didn't you call Colt?” Lainey asked.

“I tried to, but somehow, the man on the phone saw me and threatened to kill Jessie.”

“How did he see you?” Lainey asked. “Was he hiding in one of the back rooms?”

Maddy popped out of the chair, nearly tipping it over. “Crap! I forgot to tell Colt about that. There has to be a hidden camera somewhere in this room.” She started toward the door to the cell block just as it flew open and Colt walked through.

“Get the forensics guy to check this room for a hidden camera,” she shouted, unable to hide the excitement in her voice. “Maybe we'll find fingerprints on it.”

“What makes you think there's a hidden camera, Maddy? It's a little far fetched to think someone could plant one without any of us knowing about it.”

She told him how the man on the phone knew she'd been searching in her purse for her cell phone and how he warned that he could see her every move.

“Like I said, it's very improbable that someone could get eyes on us in here.” When he saw her look of despair, he added “I said improbable, not impossible. But it makes more sense that he made a calculated guess, knowing you'd be looking for help.”

Damn! The man looks good even with bedhead.
Tessa walked around him, spending a few extra seconds giving his derriere the once-over.
I should have jumped his bones when I had the chance.

“Tessa's back,” Maddy said abruptly. When Colt narrowed his eyes,
she added, “She appeared before this all began and disappeared right after I got the call.”

“So she didn't see or hear the guy?”

Maddy shook her head. “No, but she knew I was in some kind of trouble.” She grinned. “Said St. Peter's wife sent her here to get her as far away from her husband as she could.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Colt deadpanned, before his expression turned serious again. “Tell her not to even think about getting involved in this investigation. The last time you Garcia girls tried to help out, Lainey almost died.”

Remind my ex that I'm the one who led Lainey out of the burning vines to safety.
She clucked her tongue.
I have a feeling this isn't going to be nearly as much fun now that Colt knows I'm hanging around. I liked it better when he couldn't figure out how you guys knew everything.

“What's going to happen now?” Lainey asked, grabbing her sister's hand and squeezing it. “Surely you don't blame Maddy for doing what she did?”

He stared at his wife for a moment before focusing back on her older sister. “I would've done the exact same thing if someone had threatened Gracie. But because it was your gun that killed Bernardi, I have to put you on leave for now.” When he noticed the look of dismay that crossed her face, he added “Paid leave, Maddy. Just until we get to the bottom of this.”

She nodded, grateful she wouldn't have to dig any deeper into her savings to make it through the next few weeks. She hoped it wouldn't
take any longer, but that meant they'd have to find clues quickly before the case went cold.

“There's really nothing more for you to do here. Why don't you go with Lainey back to our house and try to get some sleep. I'll wait here until the CSI guys are through and the body's on the way to the morgue.”

“No!” she said a little louder than she meant to. “I need to be with Jessie.”

“That's a good idea. I've already instructed Rogers to stay over at your mother-in-law's house until morning just in case whoever did this decides to return.”