Checkmate (Caitlin Calloway Mystery Book 2) (35 page)

Shark hesitated for a moment. “I found out he was doing a stretch down in Connecticut. Sadly, I don’t have any juice down there. I was working on it. Then I get word my fish is swimming right up here in Boston. A little infraction, good timing, and it was like Christmas came early.”

“I didn’t know.” CC felt like she was going to throw up. “I thought I kept everyone safe.”

“Geez, CC, you were just a kid yourself. I heard you went to the cops long before Stevie was born. You’re not the one who dropped the ball.”

“A jury might be sympathetic,” she tried to reason with him.

“No jury.” He dismissed the idea with an air of indifference. “I did it. I’m pleading guilty. I’m all for saving the taxpayers money. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. Good thing it happened up here. No death penalty.”

“Shark, you’re talking about life without parole.”

“I did it. I planned it. I acted alone.”

“I doubt that.”

“All on me,” he said with a brilliant smile. “I know you don’t agree, but some folks just need killing, and the guy who molested my baby sister tops that list. At least with the long weekend, I get a couple of extra days up here enjoying the peace and quiet.”

“Then back to Walpole forever?” CC still couldn’t believe what was happening.

“Not that much longer than I was already looking at.” He shrugged. “Truth is, when I’m on the inside, I stay clean, sober, and work hard. On the outside, I’m looking for the easy way to make a buck. Instead of working, I steal or sell drugs. If the loudmouth next to me in the bar bugs me, I’ll punch the shit out of him. I just don’t handle being out well. Inside, I’m a straight arrow with focus. Don’t argue with me on this. The bastard got what he deserved. This has nothing to do with you. This is on me.”

“Damn it, Shark. This doesn’t have to end this way.”

“Just do me one favor? Watch out for Carol.” He grimaced. “She’s gonna be pissed when she finds out. She told me to let it be, said she visited him down in Connecticut and got closure, whatever that means.”

“I never understood the concept. I’ll keep an eye on her for you, and maybe I’ll even visit you.”

“Uh, I’d like that, but having a cop show up to say hi wouldn’t be good for my health.” He laughed. “How about a Christmas card or some clean socks on my birthday? Just let me finish this my way.”

“Are you sure there isn’t anything else about this you want to share? Like how you knew he was here, or how you managed to get so close to a federal prisoner?” He just sat there with a blank look on his face. “Nothing huh? Okay then, have it your way. Take care and watch your back.”

“You do the same.”

She felt the urge to hug him; instead, she waved and walked out. She wasn’t surprised when Ledger and Brown met her outside the room. “You got everything you need?”

“That should wrap this up,” Ledger said.

“He had to have help to organize this,” Val tried to argue.

“No way he’ll rat out anyone.” CC explained. “Shark’s an honorable guy. He’ll do what he said. He isn’t going to recant. He’ll go in for his arraignment on Monday and plead guilty, because he didn’t like Beaumont.”

“Tuesday, long weekend,” Val corrected her. “You sound certain he won’t decide that life in prison is more than he bargained for.”

“He’ll do his time and keep his mouth shut. Like I said, for a thug, he’s got a strong sense of honor. Now, if you’re done with me, I have something I need to do.” She walked away, not waiting for a response, and caught up with Frank who was sporting a very grim look.

“I’ve got bad news. They pulled a body off the beach this morning. John Doe with sketchy details. Might not be your guy.” She wanted to believe him. She just couldn’t shake the feeling that things had just gone from bad to worse.

Chapter 33

The beach looked gloomy. CC had fond, and not so fond, memories of Revere Beach. It was a long stretch of beach just down the street from her childhood home. As a little girl, she played there with her brother and parents. Later, she would take Stevie there under the guise of having fun. In truth, CC often used the outing as an excuse to get out of the house.

In high school, it was a popular hangout. Later, when she lived in a rat-infested rooming house, it was her refuge. Now the city had cleaned it up as well as most of the surrounding neighborhood. Still, an unsavory element clung to the low-rent businesses and homes.

She tightened her coat around her body when she stepped out of the car. The October wind storming off of the ocean was freezing. Frank was already waiting for her by the seawall. They ducked under the bright-yellow, crime-scene tape just in time to catch State Medical Examiner Timmons. CC recognized the trooper in charge, Sean McManus, a good guy.

“Calloway.” He tipped his hat. “Would you mind?” He motioned to the body bag.

“Body is slightly bloated,” Timmons said as he unzipped the bag. The smell of decay assaulted her at once. The stench of a rotting corpse was something she would never get used to. His face was indeed bloated from being in the water. But there wasn’t a doubt in her mind.

“That’s him.” She sighed wearily, wondering when all of this was going to stop. “Dr. Jack Temple. He lived right over there.” She pointed to the tall building located across the street. “We should check out his place,” she said as the body bag was re-zipped.

McManus agreed with her suggestion, and the three of them, along with a CSU tech made their way across the busy street.

“How did it happen?” CC asked during the elevator ride up.

“Don’t know,” Timmons flatly stated. “Drowned, that we know for sure. But it appears he was only in three feet of water. Facedown, that’s all it takes. I’ll know more when we get him back to the lab.”

“I know he liked to go for a walk along the beach every night,” CC said. “Still doesn’t explain how a smart guy like Jack ended up drowning in a couple feet of water.”

“You never know with these things.” McManus sounded grim.

“You know this guy well?”

“He’s my wife’s boss at the hospital.”

“Does he have family we should contact?”

“He and his wife are separated.” CC was fighting to hold it together. “She’s on a cruise at the moment. His sons are in the area. My wife should have the contact information.”

“Thanks for the help on this one,” McManus said sincerely as they stepped off the elevator. “Without an ID, it might have taken a good while before we found out who he is.”

“This is it,” the manager gruffly announced while unlocking the door to Jack’s one-bedroom condo.

“Do you need a key to lock and unlock the door?” CC asked before they stepped inside.

“Yah.” He wiped his nose on his shirtsleeve.

“Portrait of a middle-aged man in the middle of a divorce,” McManus said when they stepped inside.

“Very little furniture and a big-ass television,” Frank noted as they took in the Spartan surroundings.

“Jack was a bit of a neat freak,” CC added to the conversation.

“What’s that?” She pointed to two objects lying in the middle of the living room floor.

She and McManus slipped on latex gloves as they began to search the empty surroundings while the tech snapped off a series of pictures. Frank hung back by the front door to ensure that the manager left and no one else entered, disrupting the search.

“We have a woman’s scarf and a Charlie Card,” McManus said and bagged the objects CC had pointed out. “The card has a photo on it. A woman.”

“Empty bottle of vodka sitting by the sink,” CC said while searching the tiny kitchen area. “You might want to bag that as well.” She paused for a moment to look inside the refrigerator. It was a collection of healthy food that had been ignored in favor of takeout. Inside the freezer, she found nothing but a couple of trays of ice and another bottle of Kettle One. She used her phone to take a quick picture of the bottle of vodka. “There’s another one in the freezer you might want to bag as well.”

“Okay.” McManus didn’t seem to agree with her suggestion, but he bagged the bottles. “Nothing else here,” he said after they checked everything. It didn’t take long. Jack seemed to be getting by with the bare essentials. His phone was sitting in the charger, clothes with dry cleaning tags hung in the closet, and his keys were in a bowl that rested on a well-worn table by the front door.

“Where are his keys?” CC asked, confusing her companions.

“Right there,” McManus grumbled and pointed to the bowl.

“I meant the keys to the condo.” Without touching the keys in the bowl, she pointed to the interlocking rings. “These are his car keys. Those are the hospital keys. You can tell by the way they have ‘Do not duplicate’ engraved on them. The rings interlock and have clips so they can be attached to a belt loop or a lanyard. There should be a third set with his house keys.”

“And you know this how?”

“My wife has the same key ring.” She pointed to the hospital logo. “It allows the staff to exchange keys without having to hand over their personal keys. It also makes it easy to just grab the set that you need.”

“Well.” McManus rubbed his chin. “He would have had them on him. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to lock the door when he went for his little walk. I’ll have CSU look for them. He might have dropped them when he fell. They could be anywhere by now.”

“I know you don’t have to…” CC hoped she wasn’t about to overstep her bounds. “But if you could keep me in the loop, I’d appreciate it.”

“No worries, Calloway.”

She and Frank left McManus to carry on with the investigation. She asked him for one more favor, and he agreed. She left Frank and headed straight to the hospital. With a flash of her badge, she brushed past the reception desk.

The emergency room was in full swing. Jamie was tied up with a patient. CC decided to wait in Jamie’s office. Just as she was about to enter, a doctor stopped her. She recognized him.

“Dr. Nolan, I’m Detective Calloway.” The surly man had been introduced to her on several occasions. He stared up at her with a blank expression. “Dr. Jameson’s wife.” She could never figure out if the guy was forgetful or simply rude. Given his chosen profession, she hoped for rudeness. She ignored his curious stare and waved him off. She made herself comfortable in Jamie’s office, curled up on the sofa, and watched the sunset. If it hadn’t been for the horrific events of the day, she might have appreciated the view.

*   *  *

Jamie hated the day she was having. The ER was overflowing with patients, and the staff was worried about Jack. Adding to her troubles was Dr. Nolan crawling up her butt. It was painfully obvious he was using Jack’s unexplained absence to move himself up the food chain. If she caught him yakking about hers or Jack’s lack of professionalism one more time, she was going to shoot him up with a healthy dose of Haldol. An evil smirk crossed her lips when the thought of drugging the annoying man played out in her mind.

“Jamie?” Stella waved her over.

“What now?” She snapped without meaning to.

“Didn’t Nolan tell you?”

“That he’s a big pain in the ass? He didn’t have to. I figured it out all on my own.”

“We all knew that long before you started working here,” Stella said with a snort. “No, did he tell you that your wife is waiting for you in your office?”

“What? No. For how long?”

“Over an hour.”

“Great.” Jamie knew full well that Nolan had intentionally failed to inform her. “I’ll be in my office.”

“Sorry, Jamie,” Stella said. “He said he’d tell you. I should have known better.”

Jamie rushed to her office, which was down the hall from the emergency room treatment area.

She rushed inside, ready to apologize. She found the love of her life sprawled out on the sofa, snoring like a moose in heat. She couldn’t help thinking how tired CC must be if she fell asleep on a sofa that was a good couple feet too short for her. She hated waking her, but it had to be done.

“Caitlin?” She gave CC’s shoulder a gentle shake. She jumped back when CC bolted upright.

“What? I’m awake.”

“Yeah, right.” Jamie almost laughed. “You look exhausted.”

“Today sucked.”

“I’m sorry I took so long.” Jamie winced, still troubled by the weary look in CC’s eyes. “Nolan failed to mention you were here.”

“The guy’s a dickhead.”

“Language,” Jamie said, although she wholeheartedly agreed with CC’s assessment. “What happened today?”

“I got a late start checking on Jack because I had to go downtown and answer some questions.” CC seemed reluctant to talk, which made Jamie even more nervous than she already was. “Bert is dead. I had to go through an interrogation. It was brief. No one thinks I was involved.”

“Wait, he’s dead? How?”

“Someone didn’t like him. Turns out I went to high school with the guy who killed him. He’s doing time for some very nasty stuff. Apparently, Bert molested his kid sister.”

“How old were you when this happened?” Jamie knew CC was blaming herself.

“I was a kid. Logically, I know that there was nothing more I could have done. I still feel guilty. That’s not the worst part. In fact that’s the good news for the day.”

“Geez, what’s the bad news?”

“We found Jack.”

“And?” Jamie was shivering, already sensing the answer.

“I’m sorry,” CC choked out. “His body was found at the beach. It appears that he drowned.”

“Are you sure?” Jamie knew it was the truth; part of her needed to be absolutely certain.

“I saw the body. It was him.”

“I don’t understand.” Jamie was fighting to keep her tears at bay. “In the middle of October, he decided to go for a swim?”

“We don’t have the details.” CC wrapped her arms around Jamie’s trembling body. “The state troopers promised to keep me in the loop. We’ll know more after his autopsy. Baby, I’m sorry. The troopers will probably be calling you soon, to get his contact information.”

“My God, poor Joyce. I contacted his son, Mike. He said he stopped by and saw Jack early yesterday morning. He dropped off some mail that had been piling up at Joyce’s place. I can’t believe this.”