Deceitful Moon (30 page)

“I don’t know her name. I met her like I met you two. She
said to call her
Penny
,
and all I’ve got is her cell.”

“I don’t care how you get her there, just do it. We have to end this now.”

“You want to
get rid of her
?”

“Do you have a better idea? She’s
not exactly playing for the team here. She’s
like Stella. We don’t have a choice.”

“Don’t forget who runs this
C
lub, and I’ll make those decisions.”

“Yeah, well
,
make one fast because prison’s not my idea of a good time. I’ll be at the usual spot in
thirty
minutes.” She hung up.

Looking to the
sky,
the third member of the Justice Club
stuffed the cell phone in her pocket. She had to come up with an excuse to get away for an hour. Her boss would buy just about anything she had to sell
,
so that shouldn’t be a problem.

She lit a cigarette and leaned her shoulder against the building. This wasn’t supposed to work this way. This was a zero risk proposition, at least for her, but Stella had screwed that up. And the unknown member of the Justice
C
lub had made it worse
, a lot worse
, particularly
with Williams and the Feds snooping around.
This had to stop. Maybe both Evelyn and “Penny” had to go. That seemed the only rational thing for her to do. She’d find ways to have the evidence point to them
and
away from her.

I mean. Who could do that better than
me
?

“Well
,
fancy meeting you here.”

She whirled around.

“You seem a little jumpy.”

The voice was familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.
The dark shadows and the hoodie concealed
the
face.
“Hello. You startled me, for sure. My head was somewhere else.”

“I suppose it would be
, b
ased on what I
just
heard. It’s probably far away and dwelling on things that couldn’t be good
. . .
for me.”

“How
. . .
how long were you there?”
But she already knew the answer to that one. Her pulse picked up the pace.

“Long enough.”

She
reached slowly for her sidearm
. Then stopped in mid-motion as she felt the barrel of
her visitor’s
gun press against her temple.

“Not a good idea, especially for you
, to try that
.
You see,
I plan to live a lot more years.” The visitor leaned closer and spoke in a low tone. “A lot more than you.”

The third member
suddenly recognized the voice. He
r
mind pounded with cont
radiction.
How could this be?
It
’s
crazy.
“Does he know what kind of woman you are? What you’ve done?”

“I could ask you
the same question, but I won’t.”

The visitor
pressed the gun
even harder
to
her
head.

She
yelped,
then started to cry.

“No, he doesn’t know. And he never will,” whispered
the fourth member of the Justice Club
.

Chapter-53

The FBI’s sleek Gulfstream
G-
V banked around Detroit and continued a shallow de
sc
ent to Lansing’s Capitol City Airport. The moon’s bright reflections danced off the portside wing in rhythm with every shimmy and shake
of
the plane
,
causing the moonbeams to act as if they had a life of their own.

At least that’s what
Dr. Fredrick
Argyle thought
.
He sat in the seat closest to the rear of the plane, shackled to
its
infrastructure
in
four different places. The manacles offered him no mobility, other than moving his toes and fingers, and of course, his eyes. Not to mention the mask that was strapped tightly across his jaw and mouth. Apparently biting off
the
ear of a
n
FBI
s
pecial
a
gent was a no-no
, e
ven if
the agent
was a total ass.

The
F
eds
don’t
seem to have much
of
a sense of humor about such things.

The
thick,
white plastic restraint allowed him to breathe and speak, but he could barely move his
jaws
. No
matter
. He had nothing to say
, n
ot yet
, b
ut the time was coming.

He glanced up to the three armed agents aligned in a semicircle to his right. None of them had
wiggled
an inch during the flight from Miami. They wanted him to move; even a small twitch would suffice. He smiled to himself when he thought of the famous line, “
G
ive me a reason.” Not that they needed much of one. He was truly fortunate that all FBI candidates had to pass extensive psychological testing. If he
’d
stayed in St. Thomas, he’d
probably
already be in the morgue.

Still,
for them, he imagined,
cleaning his blood and brains off the window and wall appeared to be an acceptable alternative to letting him stand trial in Michigan. He’d have to watch his manners.
The agent on his left was particularly vigilant. He was also the one who had made sure the mask was going to be a source of pain
.

I don’t think he likes me.

Argyle noticed the agent’s wedding ring. When he was through in Lansing, he’d make it a point to stop by and see what the agent’s wife thought of his
. . .
appetite.

But for now, he would play by their rules.
He’d s
peak how they wanted him to speak, sit where they wanted him to sit
, and
piss where they said to piss.

After all, he had a rendezvous or two to keep.

Chapter-54

Manny checked his watch as he leaned against the Fed’s SUV, then
squeezed his phone tighter
. Gavin was still hovering in the same status. “Hanging in there” the nurse had said. But did anyone really understand where “there” was? He didn’t think so. Just a phrase to use when saying “I don’t know
”
or
“
it’s really not good
.
”

He reached for the coffee sitting on the hood and downed what was left. Agent Corner, Sophie, and Alex would
arrive in the parking garage
any minute and none too soon
.
The quicker they compared crime-scene information, the better chance they had of running down the others involved with the deadly Justice Club’s vendetta
—
and Stella’s killer.

The crime scene at the playground was staged like the others, but there were some subtle differences,
as if
the killer had run out of time or maybe had some place to be. The victim was shot an extra time in the head
, at
close range
, based on the
black
-
powder residue.
The wrecking of the
body was
even more extensive
,
especially the genitals
.
Sick stuff.

Max
thought the victim was killed
around
11
p.m.
, about the same time they had left the
Mason Street Apartments
,
where
they’d been misled by the young hooker.

The
note
Stella had
written
told him to find the mess she was going to
handle
. Mission accomplished. He ran his fingers through his hair.
Stella’s
journey to Psycholand was still
more
mystery
than fact
.
H
e’d have to accept that for now.

The elevator chimed
,
and Chloe emerged. Max was nowhere in sight
,
and he knew instantly that was by design. She moved directly
at
him, never taking her eyes, those beautiful green jewels, from his.

Here we go
.

Looking to the floor, his stomach did flip
-
flops at a world-record rate. He’d always been able to throw distractions under the bus, to ignore everything that had nothing to do with the
current
investigation. But this woman, this captivating woman, had put a
huge
monkey wrench in
his tool box
.

Each step she took echoed through the parking garage like
thunder claps
,
and his temperature rose. She was five feet away when his body, somehow, became still more alive. Not with her perfume, or even her body language, just her. He’d felt this
same exhilaration
a few times dating Louise, but never this intense, this
. . .
alluring.

I’m in deep trouble here.

Chloe moved to within a few inches, searching his face. “Hey,” she said softly.

“Hey yourself.”

She stood silently for a moment
,
then touched his
hand
. “Manny. I
. . .
I’ve never felt quite like this about someone. Especially for a man I’ve only know
n
a few days. A married man, no less. But the first second I saw you, I knew I was in over my head.”

“Chloe
—
”

“Let me finish. I told myself that as long as I didn’t see you or work with you again, I’d be fine. As you can see, that didn’t work out so well. And I was lying to myself. I think of you every minute.” She took a
deep
breath.

Manny closed his eyes to ignore the way her breasts rose and fell.

Really not good.

Chloe swallowed hard. “I know you’re feeling something too. This profiling thing can be a bitch of a two-edged sword. You did a great job, for the most part, hiding your body talk and even your eyes, but not
that
great.”

“So I can’t lie about the distraction you are? The way I get flustered around you?”

She smiled a sad smile. “Not to me,
B
ig
B
oy.”

When Chloe
used
his wife’s nickname for him, his mind raced to Louise’s face, the curve of her lips and the shape of her nose. How she laughed. The way she held him
had
always felt like they fit together. Like God had ordained it.

“I’m married to a wonderful woman. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Not to mention, I said some vows I meant. In front of people
I care about
and God.”

“Wait. I’m not asking you to break those
vows
or leave your wife
, especially after three days.
Really. I only want you to know that
. . .
that if something happened
. . .
”
her voice trailed off
.

She straightened her jacket and smiled. “Or if you decide to get rid of that Boy Scout thing, I’m here.”

Manny put his hand on her warm shoulder and
just as
quickly
,
removed it.

Really, really, not good.

“Chloe, that’s the best offer I’ve had since Louise said
‘
yes
’
to me.”

She reached up and kissed his cheek. “I meant every word.”

“So did I.” He grinned. “Okay. Are we good?”

“For now, and as long as you don’t touch me again. You’ve been warned.”

“
It’s a deal
.”