Kee Patterbee - Hannah Starvling 01 - The Chef at the Water's Edge (27 page)

In no time, Hannah laid out her plan. “The beauty of it is in its simplicity,” she insisted. But she could already see the concern on Louie’s face.

“Look, I want this bastard as much as anyone. But this plan…” He glanced over at Vera, who interrupted him. “Dad,” she said, “I appreciate your concern. And I know you want to protect me. But I’m a grown woman. And I’m doing this. For Mom. And for you. And for me. And for Jazlyn.”

“But…”

“No buts. I love you. And it’s going to be fine,” she said as she leaned in and kissed him on the forehead. Louie produced a small smile.

“Dad. Mom. I like the sound of that,” he said as he gave his daughter a hug. The room went silent except for the sound of Buster sniffling.

Hym coughed. “Not to break the sentimental moment, but if we are going to do this, shouldn’t we get going?”

“We should,” Hannah confirmed. “So come on. We’ll need to stop at the hospital and talk to both Jazlyn and Asa. They’re going to release her today, right?”

“I’ll give her a call,” Vera said, already dialing.

Within moments, she confirmed Jazlyn’s release within the next hour. The group split up to make their way as fast as possible. Hym, Cate, and Hannah left in Hym’s car. Louie, Vera, and Buster took Louie’s. Once there, with Vera’s help, they approached Jazlyn in her room.

Jazlyn listened with a harsh, intent look on her face as Hannah explained what she had found over the course of her investigation. The falsification of reports, her suspicions, and her reasons. The most shocking moment came to Jazlyn when she was told of Vera’s place and role in the whole affair. “Her daughter?” she said quietly. She looked over at Vera. “I see it now. We all should have.”

Confronted with the truth, Jazlyn thought about her jealousy of her step-cousin. In the end, she had to admit that Julia had solid reasons for keeping Vera close at hand, and herself at arms length. “Aunt Julia always had a plan. Sometimes we couldn’t see it. But she always knew where it was going,” she said in a halting voice. She apologized to Vera and promised to make it up to her. “We’re blood now,” she continued, as she held Vera in a tight hug.

After resolving that issue, Hannah then restated to Jazlyn what she wanted to do. Every now and again, Jazlyn looked down at the bandages on her forearms or rubbed along the bandages around her mid-section.

“So, that’s my plan. What do you think?” Hannah inquired. Observing the injured young woman, she added. “It’s our best shot at getting him to confess.”

Jazlyn glanced out the window of her hospital room and took in the sunlight filtering through. Turning back, she looked to Vera, but answered all. “He’s taken so much from us. Hurt us all.” A determined, angry expression sprinted across her face. “It’ll be my pleasure. For Aunt Julia.”

Once Jazlyn was released, she, Vera, Louie, and Hannah went to see Asa. Entering his private room, Jazlyn hugged the man, as did Vera. A short exchange of apologies over his treatment of Vera after Julia’s death followed. Asa then expressed his regrets to Louie. The two men shook hands, each vowing to make amends for past sins. Both agreed that vanity and jealousy were the basis of their differences. And as Louie put it, “Just plain male idiocy.” Then, Hannah once again explained in detail her plan to draw out a confession from Xabiere. Asa agreed to all her requests and gave Jazlyn the authority to handle any matters necessary in his name. After he thanked him, everyone but Vera left to gather in the lobby.

“I need a word with Asa and Jazlyn,” Vera explained. “Would you mind joining me?” she asked turning to her new found step-cousin. Jazlyn agreed. “We’ll join everyone in a moment.” She then joined Vera to go talk with Asa. The rest of the group made their way down to the lobby.

Waiting, Buster nibbled on a piece of candy from a vending machine. Between bites, he confirmed, “Let me get this straight. When Julia rebuffed Xabiere, he turned his attention to Vera? Why?”

“Obsession. She was the closest person to Julia. She was going to take over the show in time. So Vera became a Julia substitute.”

“Then why’d he dump her for Jazlyn.”

“Obsession is more about control. He wanted to control Julia. When she rejected him, he killed her. Then I’d imagine he felt guilty. So he tried to recreate her, this time by controlling the person closest to her position. In his mind, Vera became Julia, and he obtained the relationship he always wanted by proxy.”

“I get it,” reaffirmed Cate. “But when Jazlyn became the heir to the throne, so to speak, he rid himself of Vera. But Jazlyn isn’t anything like the others. She played with his emotions then dumped him.”

Hannah smiled, “And it drove him over the edge. Now he has killed again to remain close to Jazlyn.”

Louie shook his head. “Good lord,” was all he said.

Hym nodded. “Right. So the whole incident at the studio was…”

”A plan,” Hannah interrupted. “He created a plan to hurt her, come to her rescue and win her heart.”

“That’s insane,” Louie interjected.

“I think what you meant to say was crrrraaaaazzzyy,” Cate commented in a sarcastic tone.

Everyone issued a stressful chuckle. After the laughter died down, Hannah continued. “No arguments here. In fact, that’s my argument in its entirety He doesn’t think in a rational manner anymore. In his mind, he believed that if he got rid of Julia, Jazlyn would get what she wanted. The show, wealth and fame. Once he revealed that all her success was because of him, she would fall into his arms out of gratitude.”

“Unbelievable,” Louie remarked. “She was so kind to him, too.” A bitter look came into her eyes. “I’d like to...”

“He’s not going to get away with it,” Hym promised. It was at that moment that the elevator chimed and Vera and Jazlyn stepped out into the lobby. They glanced around, found where their friends sat and approached. Louie was the first to speak. “You all right?” he inquired of Vera.

“Everything’s fine.” She then addressed everyone. “Jazlyn and I have something we need to do before we go through with this. We’ll join you in a few hours.”

Louie gave a look of concern, but Vera assured him everything was fine.

“We’ll be there,” promised Jazlyn. They looked out at the front parking lot just as Staples pulled up in Asa’s Bentley. They said their goodbyes, exited, got into the car, and pulled away.

“I wonder if I should have gone with them,” Louie said half aloud.

Cate grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Sounds more like a girl thing. They’ll be fine. Come on. We all need to get to Asa’s.”

“I’ll meet you there,” Louie informed her. “I need to make a run to the house.”

Cate said nothing but watched as he exited for the parking lot. On the way to the Karas mansion, she expressed her concerns for Louie to Hannah, Buster, and Hym.

“Do you think he’s that irrational?” Hym asked.

“I don’t know. Knowing that Xabiere killed Julia, his one love. And tried to kill him. Endangered Vera. Who knows?”

“I know he keeps weapons around the house,” Buster said. “And Uncle Wilson told me in the military, Louie could, and I quote, “shoot the hairs off a gnat’s derrière.”

Hannah noted the concern in both her friend’s voices.

Cate stared out the window, a solemn look on her face. Hannah looked at her, and read it to be guilt. “Hey. I’ve had my concerns about this all along,” she admitted. “This whole affair has put him under extreme pressure.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Hym said.

Cate, Buster, and Hannah all thanked him for his concern.

After arriving, Mrs. Staples greeted everyone. Asa called ahead, and she let them in with a gracious smile. She had coffee waiting in the security room above a massive, six-car garage to the rear of the vast house. There, she introduced everyone to head guard Jonas Grumby.

“Jonas,” he insisted, as he made sure to shake everyone’s hand.

Hannah put him in his early fifties. Medium height and weight. Solid build and handshake. Muscular. The way he moved and reacted suggested to her that he was former military. A quick question from Hannah revealed retired Navy.

“I’m here to assist in any capacity,” he informed. “This guy’s…” Angry, hurting words choked up in Jonas’s throat. “She was a fine lady, Ms. Karas. I’ll do whatever is necessary to rectify this.”

Hannah took his words to mean he felt some guilt in Julia’s death. According to the reports, he was not on duty the night she died. But it was clear he felt responsible in some way. Though it was Julia who died that night, Xabiere left a trail of victims in his wake, Hannah concluded.

Reassuring the guard that his guilt was not warranted, Hym insisted he help in taking down the murderous chef. “Tell us about this security system,” he encouraged Jonas.

“Happy to,” he said, a relieved smile lighting his face. “But someones going to have to explain that hat,” he said, pointing to Hannah. Everyone laughed in a release of mounting tension. It was at this point that Mrs. Staples explained that she and her husband were staying with friends. Jonas had insisted on insuring their safety. She then excused herself to wait for his return before leaving.

Jonas went on to explain that Asa had always been lax on security before Julia’s death. This was much to the chagrin of the guard who Asa employed only during the day at the time. This was in part due to Julia’s insistence. She felt that such systems invaded her privacy as much as invasive fans. “I don’t like having my every move watched,” she complained to both Asa and the guard. “After her death, Mr. Karas had this system installed.”

The security room consisted of a large furnished area. Just inside the space was a well-kept kitchenette where Mrs. Staples had made the coffee. At the far end of the area was three huge, wall-mounted monitors. Each covered up to six cameras. The outer two screens broke the images down into two rows of three. These were the grounds coverage.

The center monitor covered the interior of the house. The six blocks on the screen rotated images throughout the house. “It’s on a ten second rotation. And each image is captured in a repeating sequence,” Jonas explained to his guests. In front of the monitors was a small, two-person desk. A second chair and desk rest to the left of first.

“We operate in two-man shifts now,” he clarified. “One on monitor. The other on ground or at the entry.” He pointed at the screen. On the first outer monitor, a young man walked the grounds. To Hannah, he appeared to be in his late twenties, muscular, light hair, and wearing glasses.

“All former military?” Hannah asked in no uncertain terms.

“Good eye. Wes Walker...” Jonas Indicated to the man on the monitor, “is ex-Army. Former Ranger. He’s good people. You can trust him.”

“Already do,” Hym said, rolling up a sleeve to reveal a Ranger tattoo on his upper left arm.

Hannah asked to see Hym’s marking. She traced the outline with a finger when he presented it to her.

“Any others?” she asked.

Hym grinned. “You’ll have to find out for yourself,” he quipped, causing her to blush.

“And on that note,” Cate interjected.

Jonas cleared his throat and asked, “So what’s the plan?”

Having already explained several times over, Hannah let Hym do the honors. Jonas listened to every word. “Interesting idea,” he said when Hym concluded. “This is going to be a fun night. I’ll get Wes to bring up some extra chairs from storage.”

The sun was setting as Louie made his way to the Karas estate. Jonas informed Walker of his approach. He guided Louie’s truck inside the garage where there were two unoccupied spots. Once inside, Walker looked into the truck and backed away, his hand on his sidearm.

Louie stepped out of the truck. “Whoa. It’s okay. I promise. Just let me explain.” Then he proceeded to do so.

Waiting in the security room, Hannah heard the shuffle of two sets of footfalls coming up the stairs. But it was the third, familiar sound that caught their attention. The door opened, and Critic entered, tail wagging and tongue licking. Louie stepped in along with Walker. Jonas shot Walker a ‘what the heck’ look. The young man patted the dog on the head and headed to the monitor station to talk with Jonas.

“He’s what you went home for?” questioned Cate.

Louie grinned. “Yeah. What’d you think? I was going to bring my .9 mm?”

Cate reached out and hugged him. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Jonas made his way over to Critic for an introduction. Louie explained that Critic was a trained, yet retired, police dog. “You never know. He might be of use. And I bet he’s faster than any of us.”

Jonas agreed, having worked with canines in the military.

“So grab a cup. Join the Scooby gang,” he said.

Again, everyone waited. Louie chatted with Jonas and Hym about shared military experience. Buster listened with all ears. Cate and Hannah talked as they stood behind Walker and studied the monitors.

“There’s no audio?” Hannah asked the young guard.

“No ma’am. Just visual. We can see every end of the property. Most rooms in the house.”

“Can you focus in on a specific area?”

He smiled. “Sure can. Name one.”

Hannah’s voice intensified. “The gazebo.”

Walker typed at the keyboard, and the left hand monitor dropped all six camera views to one single image. The camera pulled in to reveal the inside of the gazebo.

“Close enough?” Walker asked.

Hannah patted him on the shoulder. “That’ll do.”

Cate watched for a moment and then asked, “How long does it take to learn this system?”

“The basics? About an hour, to tell the truth. Half that if you have a brain. Why? Looking for a new career?”

“You never know. Teach me,” she said, drawing up a chair.

For the next half hour, Walker explained the operation of the cameras to Cate. “You’re a natural,” he smiled. Noticing the far right monitor, he said, “Bring that in close.”

Cate performed the operation to perfection. Another car approached the garage. The monitor revealed Asa’s Bentley carrying Vera and Jazlyn. Walker, Cate, and Hannah watched as the car pulled into the driveway and up to the garage. Hannah rose and headed back to the door to greet the girls. Cate remained behind.