Faces of Evil [4] Rage (26 page)

Good grief! Was she being burglarized?

What next?

She grabbed her Glock, opened her door very carefully, and eased out. The guy still hadn’t moved. He had surely heard her car pull into the drive. How could he have missed her headlights?

Maybe he had a hearing problem. If so, he needed a new line of work.

Could be her landlord. But why didn’t he turn to greet her? Why keep his back to her arrival? She surveyed the back of his house. Lights were on downstairs. He was up it seemed.

Moving cautiously, she made her way to the stairs and slowly started upward. When she was two steps from the landing, her weapon in hand but aimed downward, she cleared her throat in hopes of alerting the man to her presence.

He turned around, seeming startled. This was no young man. Sixty-five or seventy. Eyeglasses with very thick lenses. Thin gray hair. Had to be her landlord.

“Mr. Louis?”

“Chief Harris, I presume?” He passed a hammer to his left hand and offered his right for her to shake.

Jess shifted the Glock to her left hand and accepted his gesture. His grip was firm. Steady. “Yes, sir. That’s me. Sorry about the gun. But I thought someone was breaking in.”

He shook his head. “We don’t ever have any trouble like that around here. It’s quiet. Peaceful.”

She could argue that point but she opted not to. Her problems had nothing to do with the neighborhood.

“I’m almost done here,” he said. “I noticed when the locksmith was here that some of the trim around the door was loose.” He pointed to the strips of painted wood around the frame. “I thought I’d tack them back into place and freshen the paint. So be careful, it’s still a little wet.”

That was when she noticed the bucket of white paint and well-used brush. She also noticed there was light. He’d taken care of the outdoor light on the landing.

“Thank you for taking such good care of me.” She gestured back to her car. “I’ll just get my stuff.”

“I’ll clean up and then I’ll be out of your way. With this heat, I have to wait until the sun goes down for outside maintenance.”

“Smart plan.” She smiled before turning to hustle back down to her car. She grabbed her shopping bag and the Chinese takeout she’d picked up on the way home. By the time she reached the top of the stairs again, Mr. Louis had finished his work and was preparing to be on his way.

She waved the box. “I picked up Chinese. I always order far too much. Would you like to join me for my first meal in my new place?”

He shook his head. “I couldn’t do that.”

“Please. I’d love to have the company.”

He kind of shuffled his feet and gave a vague nod.

“Great.” She picked through the keys and unlocked the door. After the day she’d had she could use the distraction and she needed to get to know her landlord. She flipped on the interior light and walked in. “Feels way better in here.” The heat index had neared another record today. Thank goodness the air-conditioning was up to par in this place.

“I repaired the light.” Louis pointed to the light outside her door, then flipped the necessary switch to turn it off then on.

“I can’t thank you enough.” She dumped the load in her arms on the table. “Maybe I’ll get one of those automatic thingies that makes the light come on at dark. My schedule is so crazy I never know what time I’ll get home.”

He nodded, his gaze directed more at the floor than at her. “I can install a sensor for you.”

“That’d be great. You can add the charge for the work onto my rent.”

He shook his head. “No charge. That’s part of being a good landlord.”

He needed to spread that word around. “Well come on in. Have a seat.” She gestured to the table. “I haven’t had time to get a sofa yet.”

Rather than take a seat, he waited a few feet away and watched as she spread the dinner on the counter. “Bottled water okay with you? I don’t have any beer or wine.” She wasn’t much of a host.

“I don’t drink alcohol.”

Oops. She should have considered that possibility. Lil said he was at church every Sunday and though Lil drank wine, not all churchgoers approved of alcohol consumption. Jess checked the bag to ensure they’d included more than one set of chopsticks. Usually they did, since they assumed she was ordering for two or more.

What they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. She might go all day without eating but when she did, she made up for the missed meals.

“We can eat in here or sit on the steps. I’m planning to get a glider for the deck.” She laughed. “Eventually.”

The sound of a car door slamming outside had her guest turning toward the door neither of them had bothered to close.

“I should get back to the house.” Louis backed up the two or three steps he had taken. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

Before Jess could argue he had snagged his toolbox, rags, and paint can and hurried across the landing and headed down the steps. She walked outside to see that he got down the stairs in one piece at that speed and with both hands full. The new arrival was Wesley. And she looked a mess. Too late to do anything about that. She ordered her jittery nerves to settle down. It was only Wesley. He’d probably spoken to Lopez’s people and had an update for her.

Wesley nodded and said hello as he and Mr. Louis passed. Louis didn’t appear to say anything but maybe he spoke too softly for Jess to hear. He just kept going as fast as he could walk until he’d disappeared into his house.

Nice man but quite peculiar.

“I brought dinner.” Wesley held up a bag that looked oddly familiar. “And wine.” He held up a bottle next.

“The wine will get you in the door for sure. But I hope you have a corkscrew and glasses. Otherwise we’re doomed to merely admire your taste in wine.”

When he was inside they laughed over the idea that they had chosen the same fast-food restaurant. That was one of the things that had drawn her to Wesley. They thought so much alike, or so it had seemed.

Not only had he brought a corkscrew and wineglasses, both of which were housewarming gifts, he had brought a blanket, which he promptly spread on the floor for their dining experience.

Jess couldn’t deny enjoying his company and the food. Not to mention the wine.

But she knew Wesley well enough to know that he wasn’t here just for dinner and conversation.

“I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“I see.” She’d wondered when that would happen. There was little more he could do here.

“Leonardo Lopez returned to Los Angeles late this afternoon. Based on our conversation, I must admit there appears to be merit to his allegations of a mole in my organization.” Wesley swirled the wine in his glass. “That’s difficult for me to believe but it’s my duty to explore those allegations.”

“What does he want in return?” Jess cradled her second glass of wine. “He wants something, I’m certain.” Lopez had mentioned wanting immunity for his daughter. Jess hoped he wouldn’t win that negotiation.

“If his claims prove true,” Wesley said with obvious reluctance, “he wants probation for his daughter. To keep this business out of the media, his wish may very well be granted.”

Jess downed the rest of her wine, a stall tactic to prevent speaking before thinking. The wine didn’t do a thing to slow down her building outrage. “You’re telling me that his daughter’s charges, which include kidnapping me, will likely be lessened to basically nothing if you can verify his claims.” That stunk like three-day-old roadkill in the middle of August.

Wesley refilled her glass. “You’re aware of the way these things work, Jess. You have to give to get.”

Yes, she was all too aware. “Seems incredible that our own people can create this sort of a predicament. And we don’t ever want to believe that evil can be working right alongside us. We walk around assuming the best of everyone until the knife is plunged into our back.”

Like the idea that someone in the Birmingham Police Department had rigged a bomb in her borrowed car. She glanced at her door. Not to mention broke into her place and left that message.

Wesley hummed a sound of agreement. “That’s the part of this job that gets to me the most. To know that one of us is capable of selling out to that kind of monster.”

Jess knew better than to ask any questions. So far he hadn’t mentioned the incident with the car. Her guess was Burnett hadn’t shared. She didn’t plan to either. “Just make sure Lopez gives you enough to get the bastard.”

Wesley held up his glass. “To getting the bad guys.”

“Hear, hear.” Jess bumped his glass and took a long drink.

“I’ve realized many things the past few days, Jess.”

She tangled her chopsticks in the lo mein. “Such as.”

“I’ve missed you.” When she looked up he was staring at her. “One day, when we have some time, we need to talk about that.”

“Wesley.” Her stomach knotted with the mix of emotions his words evoked. “I’ve missed you, too.” It was the truth. She wasn’t going to lie. She might never see him again. She had made a promise to herself not to take another moment for granted and she intended to keep that promise. “But I’m happy with my life here just as it is.”

That part was the truth, too. She was happy. For the first time in a long while.

Silence lingered for a bit.

“It’s Burnett, isn’t it?” he asked at last.

She’d expected that one. “It’s far more complicated than that.” She couldn’t explain to him what she didn’t fully understand herself. “Burnett and I have a history that’s difficult to define. My happiness at the moment is about a lot more than him.”

A smile spread across Wesley’s lips. She had always loved his smile.

“Good for you, Jess.”

She cared for Wesley. Respected and admired him. His approval meant a lot to her. She hoped that, moving forward, they could be friends. Somehow after taking their vows they had lost that ability.

Dinner went by too fast. Jess enjoyed the meal and the conversation more than any they had shared as a married couple. When they’d cleaned up and she’d walked with him to the landing outside her door, a feeling of uncertainty and just a pinch of regret lingered.

“I’ll be in touch.”

“You’d better be.” She hugged her arms around herself. She wished the feeling of uncertainty or restlessness would go away. Would she never see him again? Did she want to?

He leaned down, and for a fraction of a second she couldn’t breathe. Wesley kissed her on the cheek and whispered, “If you ever change your mind you know how to find me.”

And then he took his leave before she could say a word.

Jess watched him drive away and she wondered if their marriage had been her last chance at having the traditional life—the picket fence and the kids.

The need to talk to Dan rushed through her. Would they… could they ever have that? Maybe. She just didn’t know. They’d made that deal about turning sixty but what if one or the other met someone else before then? That was one worry she just didn’t have time for.

She downed the last of her wine. Besides, what did she need with traditional?

She had the unexpected, the unusual. Her gaze settled on the one window in her landlord’s home that poured light into the darkness. Oh yes. She had the unexpected, the unusual, and the peculiar.

What else could a girl want?

Jess turned to go back inside and the lovely stemmed glass Wesley had brought as her housewarming gift slipped out of her hand. She crouched and caught it just before it hit and shattered on the wooden deck floor.

“Oh good grief.” She was tired. Too tired to be entertaining.
And having three glasses of wine
. Glass firmly in hand, she prepared to push to her feet. Spots on the wood stopped her.

Jess reached down and touched the specks. Red and dried. Not paint. Mr. Louis had been using white paint. Had the spots been there and she just hadn’t noticed? She thought of the bloody message that had been left for her on that photo.

What if her intruder had come back? The new locks had obviously kept him out but maybe he left her a message on the… door?

Jess glanced toward her landlord’s house and then at the door to her rented space. Would he have thought cleaning up the mess was the proper thing to do? Without ever mentioning it to her? That was ridiculous.

“You’re getting paranoid, Jess.”

She went inside and closed the door, taking care to lock it. She washed her glass and placed it on the counter next to the others. Now what? She could better organize her new stock of dry and canned goods in the cabinets.

“Forget it!” She couldn’t ignore the spots.

She dug around in the take-out containers and got one of the chopsticks. After washing it thoroughly, she went back out to her landing and scraped up a specimen of the red spot. There were evidence collection bags in her car, but if she went down to her car the cop doing her surveillance would report that to Burnett. He was already going to get an earful about Wesley’s late-night visit.

She was going to hear about that. Especially if that chaste kiss was mentioned.

Really all she needed was something plastic and clean. After fishing around in her bag for a whole minute she found a Tampax. She removed the packaging and tucked her specimen inside. Might not be sterile but it was clean.

“That works.” She stored the package in the zipper compartment of her bag and then dusted her hands together. First thing tomorrow morning she’d hit up Ricky Vernon at the lab for a favor.

Two brisk knocks on her door made her jump.

It was past ten o’clock. Who in the world…?

Jess stamped toward the door. “Burnett, if that’s you checking up on me, I’m going to be…” She checked the window.

Sylvia Baron?

“What the hell?” Jess opened the door. “You have news on my vic?” The woman couldn’t call with news on the case? Why the heck was she working so late anyway? Surely Burnett hadn’t recruited her to check up on Jess, too.

Baron adopted an offended expression. “Hello to you, too, Harris.” She thrust a large bag at Jess. “That’s for you.” She pushed her way inside and surveyed the space. “So this is your new place.”

Jess closed and locked the door. “Sorry about the yelling.” No way she missed Jess’s tirade. “I was expecting to find Burnett at the door.”