You Belong to Me (8 page)

Lucy wanted to scream.
No, I cannot meet you for lunch. I am in trouble here
. But of course she did not. ‘No thanks. I’ve got a ton of work. You two have a good time.’

‘Mel’s Morgue is always bursting at the seams,’ Gwyn said fretfully and Lucy knew her friend had not been convinced. ‘You’ve got to eat.’

No, I don’t. I really don’t
. Nausea was clawing at the back of her throat and she swallowed it back down, injecting a calm smile into her voice so that Gwyn would stop worrying. ‘I ate a really late breakfast so I’m not hungry. You have fun with Royce, and thank him again for me. It was sweet of you two to wait around for my late flight last night. I appreciated the ride.’

She looked up when the door opened. It was Craig Mulhauser, and he looked upset. Not angry, but very, very concerned and both the smile and the calm she’d conjured disintegrated. ‘I have to go, hon. Have Thorne call as soon as he can.’

She put her phone on the counter, squared her shoulders. ‘I was calling my attorney,’ she told him.

‘Probably wise, just to be on the safe side. Ruby told me that it’s Bennett. I’ll stay here with you until the detectives come. Then we’ll play it by ear.’ He smiled, but his was as forced as hers had been. ‘I wouldn’t worry, Lucy. You’re an innocent bystander here. You haven’t done a thing wrong.’

This time
, was his unspoken implication. Grimly she remembered her last exchange with a living and livid Russell Bennett. She thought of the blood gushing from Russ’s nose and the very public place in which she’d said some very unwise things.

Things that were now about to come back and bite her in the ass. Or worse.

Craig cleared his throat. ‘If they ask me about it, what should I say?’

Lucy sighed quietly. ‘The truth.’

Monday, May 3, 11.00 A.M.

‘I liked it a helluva lot better when she didn’t know the vic,’ JD muttered as he drove away from Christopher Jones’s neighborhood.

‘I know.’ Stevie Mazzetti studied her partner’s face. He’d been taken aback by Lucy’s admission that she knew Russell Bennett. He’d been taken aback by Lucy in general, and while under any other circumstances that might be a good thing, under these circumstances it was not. ‘Why didn’t you ask her how she knew him?’

He’d just told Lucy to stay where she was, that they’d come to her.

‘I almost did,’ he said. ‘But I figured Hyatt would have our asses for not doing it in person and he’d be right. The woman’s not quick to share, but her eyes say a lot. We need to be in the room with her when we talk to her about Bennett. Plus, we need to make sure it actually is Bennett.’

It wasn’t a bad answer, Stevie thought, even if it wasn’t the whole truth. Even though they’d been partners only a few weeks, she’d known JD a long time and knew when he wasn’t spilling all. He’d been relieved in Hyatt’s office when she’d said Lucy didn’t have a significant other. And he’d been stunned and annoyed just now when he found out she’d known Bennett.

He glanced over at her. ‘What?’ he asked petulantly. ‘You’re thinking again. I don’t like it when you do that.’

She smiled wryly. He knew her, too. ‘She’s cute. Lucy, I mean.’

This time his glance was a glare. ‘Stevie,’ he warned.

‘JD,’ she mimicked. ‘So, apart from the obvious, you’re right. We need to talk to her in person. But she didn’t do this. She’s being used for some reason. Let’s go by Bennett’s place, see if he’s home.’

‘He’d be at work by now.’ He frowned. ‘But if he’s alive, he’s got some explaining to do about those implants. He’d be able to tell us who got Jones’s cheeks, but he probably won’t. If he’s dead, we’re going to want to see his files. We’re going to need a warrant for his office either way. Gray’s not going to like us today.’

‘Gray doesn’t like us most days,’ Stevie said, although that really wasn’t true. DA Grayson Smith was one of the nicest guys a body could meet – outside the office. But at work he tolerated no bull. It would be terrifying to be on the wrong side of the courtroom when he was prosecutor. He was more dedicated than any DA she’d ever met.

Even more than the one she’d been married to, for which she’d been grateful. At least she’d seen Paul during the years they’d had together. Paul had understood the balance between his family and his job. Gray either didn’t or didn’t feel he needed to, as he had no family waiting at home. It was hard to say. Because even she, probably one of Gray’s oldest friends, had a hard time cutting through the steel exterior he’d forged.

‘I’ll call for Bennett’s address,’ she said, ‘then I’ll start the warrant. You call Hyatt.’

JD’s lip curled in a soft snarl that made him look like James Dean. She’d often wondered if that was what the JD stood for, but the one time she’d asked, he’d deftly sidestepped the topic. So she’d left it alone.

Stevie understood the value and necessity of boundaries.

‘Fine,’ he grumbled. ‘I’ll call Hyatt. I suppose it’s marginally better than requesting a warrant from Smith. Check and see if Bennett’s been reported missing. Hyatt’ll ask.’

‘He’s not been reported missing,’ she told JD when she’d hung up with Records, and gave him Bennett’s home address, a luxury condo overlooking Inner Harbor.

‘Pricey neighborhood,’ he noted. ‘Fits with the Rolex and the shoes.’

‘That’s a lotta mammaries,’ she said and he swallowed a snort, turning it into a cough. ‘Now, you call Hyatt and I’ll beard Gray in his den.’

Her call to Gray’s office line was picked up by Daphne Montgomery, a woman in her early forties who hailed from tiny Riverdale, West Virginia, a fact she told everyone the first time she met them, by way of apology for the ‘dang twang’. Stevie liked her a lot but knew that the woman was driving Grayson crazy with her big hair and the homemade casseroles and cobblers she brought in every day to tempt him to eat.

You go, girl
. The man needed a keeper.

‘Hey, Daphne, it’s Stevie Mazzetti.’

‘Stevie. How’s that precious girl of yours?’

Stevie smiled. ‘Cordelia is just fine, thanks. Is
he
about?’

‘Yes, but he’s in one terrible mood today.’

‘He always is. Put me through, please. Tell him I said it was important.’

‘It’s your funeral, baby girl.’

A moment later Grayson’s annoyed voice came over the line. ‘God help me, Stevie, I’m going to scream.’

‘What is it today?’

‘Peach. I’m allergic to peach. Gives me hives.’

‘Did you tell her you were allergic the last three times she made it?’

‘No,’ he said, sounding like her five year old daughter. ‘I will.’

‘She’s a nice lady, Gray. Put it aside and I’ll take it home. Peach is Cordy’s favorite of all Daphne’s cobblers. Look, I have a situation that needs a warrant.’

‘You always have a situation that needs a warrant,’ he said sourly.

‘This one needs a special one. It’s for a doctor’s office.’

Gray sighed. ‘And on a Monday, too. Let’s have it.’

She gave him the details. ‘So we need a warrant either way.’

‘We’re nowhere close to having enough for a warrant. It’s possible that your vic ended up with somebody else’s cheeks through an honest paperwork error.’

She’d known he’d say that. ‘Then if Bennett’s not dead, he knows who our vic is. He’ll cite doctor-patient privilege crap.’

‘But you think he’s dead.’

She thought about the ring and the watch. And the Roman numeral I burned into the victim’s back.
We don’t have time for this
. ‘Yeah, I think the stiff is Bennett. If he’s missing, can we get a warrant for his residence?’

‘We should be able to. I’m due in court in fifteen minutes, so call Miss Montgomery once you find out if he’s alive and kicking or not. She can get the paperwork started.’

She hung up at the same time JD did. He was rolling his eyes.

‘Hyatt has already decided Lucy Trask is involved,’ he said.

‘And you’ve decided that she’s not,’ Stevie said mildly.

JD flashed her an irritable look. ‘So did you.’

‘I don’t think she killed him, for God’s sake. But she is involved, JD, on some level. She was set up to find that man’s body, whoever the hell he is. The sooner we find out how she knows him, the better. I hope to hell she’s got an alibi.’

‘That would be ideal,’ he said dryly, slowing to turn onto Bennett’s street. ‘We’re almost there. Did we get a warrant for Bennett’s place?’

‘Nah. Grayson wants to know if Bennett’s dead first.’

‘That would be ideal,’ he repeated. ‘Maybe this guy can tell us.’ JD pointed to a uniformed doorman standing in front of Bennett’s condo building.

‘Sorry,’ the doorman called when JD parked on the curb. ‘You can’t park there.’

Stevie showed him her badge and the doorman frowned. ‘I’m Detective Mazzetti and this is Detective Fitzpatrick. We’re looking for a Dr Russell Bennett.’

The doorman’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘He’s not here.’

‘Not here, as in he doesn’t live here or he isn’t here at the moment?’ JD asked with an easy smile. Stevie liked that about him. He could be good or bad cop with ease, and that Irish smile of his had disarmed many an unwilling witness in the three weeks they’d worked together. Lucy Trask didn’t stand a chance against that smile.

‘He lives here,’ the doorman conceded grudgingly.

Stevie took a notebook from her pocket. ‘Your name, sir?’

‘Herrigan. Dennis Herrigan. What d’ya want with Dr Bennett?’

‘We just need to talk to him,’ JD said smoothly. ‘It’s with regard to an ongoing investigation. We can’t say more than that. You know how that is.’

‘Yeah, I know,’ Herrigan said with a big sigh. ‘But he’s not here. He’s on vacation.’

‘Oh.’ JD looked disappointed. ‘Do you know when he’ll be back?’

‘Should be soon. He’s been gone for two weeks.’

‘That’s some vacation,’ JD said with a shake of his head. ‘Wish I had two weeks to go off and party.’

‘Don’t we all,’ Herrigan said. ‘But he needed it. The doc works hard.’

JD frowned. ‘We’re going to catch . . . you know, from our boss if we come back empty-handed. Is there a Mrs Bennett? Could we maybe talk to her?’

Herrigan’s expression went dark. ‘Haven’t seen her in weeks.’

‘You don’t like her,’ JD said, his voice gone quietly conspiratorial.

Herrigan darted an apprehensive look Stevie’s way. ‘It’s not my place to say.’

Which, of course, said it all. JD was in the zone with this witness and Stevie knew the man would speak more freely if she weren’t there. She held up her phone. ‘I’m getting a call. Wait till I get back.’

She stepped away and put her phone to her ear, pretending to take a call when she was really listening to JD, who blew out a breath. ‘Sorry, man,’ he whispered. ‘She’s . . . you know how it is. But she’s senior and I gotta keep my nose clean.’

‘I know,’ Herrigan muttered. ‘Got one at home.’

‘So what about Mrs Bennett?’ JD clicked his tongue lasciviously. ‘I heard she was a looker.’

Stevie bit back a smile. JD had been a top narcotics detective, going undercover from time to time. He was almost too good at this.

‘Bennett don’t date the ugly ones,’ Herrigan whispered loudly.

‘I heard he . . . you know,
supplemented
her figure,
if
you know what I mean.’

Herrigan’s laugh was raunchy. ‘That he did. Not that she appreciated it. Bitch. She’s trying to take him for every cent he’s got. Luckily the doc had a pre-nup. I stopped her from going up last month when he wasn’t home. The doc had to get a court order keeping her out because she was stealing all the artwork he’d collected.’

‘She hasn’t tried to come up while he was on vacation?’

‘Not that I’ve seen.’

‘When did he leave?’

‘Let me think. Two weeks ago Sunday. I don’t normally work Sundays but I’d traded with one of the guys who had Orioles tickets. Third base line.’

‘Sweet. Wish I could take the time off for a game, but boss-lady over there won’t let me. So you saw the doctor in the afternoon?’

‘Yeah. I called him a cab.’

‘To the airport?’

Herrigan hesitated and Stevie turned enough so that she could see him from the corner of her eye, the phone still at her ear. He was frowning. ‘No. I can’t remember where, but it wasn’t to the airport.’

‘Did he tell you where he was going on vacation?’ JD asked.

‘No. Well, yes, but not me directly. He called the desk the next morning. I wasn’t on duty yet. Said he’d gone down to the Virgins and to make sure we stopped the paper and the mail. So we did.’

‘When you put him in the cab, did he have a suitcase?’

‘A briefcase. He must’ve come back for the suitcase when I was off duty.’ Herrigan straightened, his eyes narrowing suspiciously once again. ‘Why?’

JD smiled again, but Herrigan had caught on. ‘We’re just looking to talk to him.’

Stevie walked back to where the men stood. ‘Sorry that took so long.’

‘Not a problem,’ JD said, then took a card from his pocket and wrote his cell on the back. ‘Mr Herrigan, please call me if you see him or if you remember anything at all.’

Herrigan’s eyes widened at the ‘Homicide’ on JD’s card. ‘Is she dead? Mrs Bennett? ’Cause if she is, the doc did not do it. That woman had all kinds of men, bad ones. Any one of them coulda done it.’

JD’s brows lifted. ‘We could use some names, a place to start.’

‘Don’t know their names,’ Herrigan said, now surly. ‘She’d meet them down the street when she lived here and they’d go off to do God knows what. But I saw them.’

‘What about the wife’s name?’ JD asked.

‘Brandi, with an i,’ he said scornfully. ‘Signed for things with a little heart over the i. Was about as mature as a seventh-grader. Bitch.’

JD wrote it down. ‘If you see them again, call me. Thank you.’

Once they were in the car, Stevie nodded approvingly. ‘Good guess, that the wife had supplements.’

JD shrugged. ‘Thanks for the mammaries. It just made sense. Bennett must give that guy one hell of a Christmas bonus to inspire such loyalty.’ He pulled away from the curb, his hands tense on the wheel. ‘So do we talk to the wife or Dr Trask first?’