Murder Stalks (32 page)

Chapter 33

Tony pulled up in front of his house. A
chill swept over him, leaving him wondering if calling Spade from
here was a wise choice. The memory of finding a dead body in his
bed was foggy, but it still sent a jolt of fear through his nerves,
causing him to hesitate as he walked up the steps to his front
door. He reached into the front flap of his briefcase for his keys,
but they were gone. Where had he put his house keys?

He used the key from his wallet, glad he
always kept an extra one on him. His hand shook as he slipped the
key into the lock. He had enough time to make it back to the motel
for the call, but he didn’t want to pay the connect fee, or the
huge hit for each minute the cheap motel would charge him.

Stillness had settled over his house and
left a dank, unpleasant smell in the air. He turned the air
conditioner colder, getting the circulation going. Upstairs, he
found the bedroom empty. The police had dismantled the furniture
and shipped the pieces off to the crime lab. The rug was missing
too. Tony shook his head. He would never sleep here again.

He returned to the kitchen, unable to stay
near the bedroom. He opened the refrigerator and found no bottles
of water. “Damn it.” He grabbed a glass and turned on the faucet,
filling it half-full. Tomorrow he would call a real estate agent
and put the house on the market. He wouldn’t be able to enter his
bedroom again without thinking about the violent death that had
occurred while he’d slept.

The phone rang, startling him. He dropped
the glass to the floor. The loud crack of it hitting the hard tile
brought him to action. His hand shot out and he grabbed the
receiver. “Santos here.”

“
Santos, I’ve got some
news.”

“
Spade, it’s good to hear
from you. Give me a minute, I need to take care of something.” Tony
grabbed a broom and swept the glass into a bag before picking up
the phone again. “So, what did you find out?”

“
Well, if it’s someone
from your college days then you’re screwed.”

“
Why do you say that?”
Papers rustled on the other end of the line, leaving Tony wondering
how much attention he was receiving from Spade.

“
You went to college in
south Texas, you live in south Texas, and so do a lot of other
people who went to college with you.”

“
Damn it, this is going to
take forever,” Tony said as he flopped down into a kitchen chair,
kicking his legs out in front of him.

“
Not necessarily. Who
would hate you from your college days? Is there anyone who sticks
out in your mind? Anyone who vowed to get you back?”

“
No, I can’t think of
anyone. What about that license plate partial?”

“
It was someone from the
Juniper PD. I called Rex, he confirmed that they put a tail on your
yesterday.”

“
Damn.”

“
What?” Spade
asked.

“
I thought someone was
following me for the last few weeks. This would have confirmed
it.”

“
Someone could still be
following you.”

“
What’s next?”

“
We need to check your
past case log. See who is out and operating in your
area.”

“
It could take weeks.”
Tony’s voice rose in pitch, his mind reeling at the possibility of
having to wait weeks to find their killer.

“
Well, not necessarily
weeks,” Spade interrupted his thoughts. “Only a day or so when you
have the power of the government behind you.”

“
Spade, you are the best.
So what did you come up with?”

“
Nada, there wasn’t one
person who you’ve arrested and sent to jail who could have pulled
this off.”

“
What makes you so sure?”
Tony reached for the notebook lying on the kitchen table and began
writing about Spade’s findings.

“
They’re either still in
jail, or they live too far from there. Their probation officer in
the other cities would know if they were traveling all this way to
murder these women.”

“
I don’t know. They could
have flown down here and done the kill, then flown back home,” Tony
offered, wanting to find a solution to this mess now.

“
Could have, but didn’t.
The airline records don’t show it.”

“
What about small
planes?”

“
Nope, no dice there
either,” Spade countered.

“
So, we’re fairly sure
it’s not a revenge hit for putting someone in jail.”

“
I have one of my FBI
friends checking on two people, but they weren’t violent offenders
in the past, and it’s doubtful they could have pulled off the type
of murders you’re experiencing down there. There are three people
living near you from your past. Jason Eckert was in one of the
boys’ homes you grew up in. He moved to south Texas about five
years ago and lives in Freeport. He has a wife, two kids but he
also has a dark side.”

“
A dark side?” Tony
asked.

“
Yeah, he likes kiddie
porn, not adult shows. He needs help, but he’s probably not our
guy. I need to know if you remember him.”

“
No, I can’t picture him.
Was he the same age as me?”

“
Two years
younger.”

“
Do you have a photo?”
Tony asked.

“
Yeah, dark brown hair,
dark eyes, a mole on his right cheek. Does he sound
familiar?”

“
Nope, I’m sorry, I don’t
remember him. There were so many different kids who went through
the system. I doubt I would remember many of them.”

“
Let’s move on. Sam
Jenkinson, or Samuel Jenkinson, do you remember him?” Spade asked
as he shuffled more paper.

“
No,” Tony answered
flatly.

“
Sam moved to south Texas
and lives in West Columbia. He was in the boys’ home in
Philadelphia with you.”

“
I don’t remember him at
all. There were so many boys, and I didn’t really make any close
friends there. We existed together, but no one really thought of
the other boys as brothers.”

“
Sam is a long shot
anyways. He lives with his girlfriend and works each night in a
grocery story stocking shelves. He’s been at work almost every
night you’ve had a murder.”

“
This is impossible. It
could be anyone and I could have been chosen as a random target.
What if our killer is some weirdo who goes around killing for
sport? He picks someone to bug and kills off people around
them.”

“
No, not when this guy is
spelling out your daughter’s name with each new victim.”

Tony rolled his shoulder before he could
stop himself. A good plastic surgeon could remove most of the scar,
but not all of it. He would permanently be scarred by the killer’s
handiwork.

“
Tony, I’m sorry, but this
guy is out to get you. It isn’t some casual acquaintance. This is a
person who hates you and wants you dead.”

“
Shit, this sucks,” Tony’s
voice sounded hollow. He stared around his kitchen, wondering if
life would ever get good again.

“
What is the phrase the
killer is spelling out?”

“
I think he’s spelling
‘life sucks’. Why?”

“
Our next suspect’s last
name begins with a ‘U’.”

“
What’s his name?” Tony
was tired of this already. His stomach turned and a queasy feeling
washed over him. All of this looking into his past would accomplish
nothing. There were too many people to check into.

“
It isn’t a ‘he’, it’s a
‘she’. Allison Underwood lived with you in Philadelphia. She was
eight and you were nine.”

“
Oh, yeah. Al. I remember
Al. He, I mean she, was strange. Wouldn’t shower with the boys,
wouldn’t go to the bathroom with anyone else in the room. Turns out
he was a ‘she’ trying to hide her identity.”

“
Allison Underwood lives
in Juniper. She moved there about two years ago. Before then, Ms.
Underwood lived in Freeport. As you can imagine, she’s not had an
easy life.”

“
What happened to her
after she left the home?” Tony had felt sorry for the little girl
and often thought of trying to get in contact with her, but never
did.

“
She lived with a foster
family for a while, but eventually she ran away and ended up living
in a home for runaway girls.”

“
God, we were so mean to
Al. If we’d only known Al was a girl, it would have explained so
much.” Tony ran his hand over his face again. He had so much to be
sorry for. Maybe he should have been a better friend to the other
boys at the home, but it was too late now, all he could do was move
forward.

“
Well, Al has been in
trouble with the law since she’s been in Texas. When she lived in
Freeport, she beat the crap out of a woman.”

“
Shit, how bad was the
woman hurt?”

“
She required thirty-seven
stitches, but she survived. Al moved to Juniper to start over. She
took anger management classes and passed with flying
colors.”

“
You did say the killer
could be a woman. Wonder if Al is into any of those strange sexual
devices.”

“
Well, thanks to the
proliferation of credit card use, Al’s spending habits have been
well documented.”

“
So tell me, where has Ms.
Underwood been spending her money?”

“
A company called Love
Slave,” Spade answered.

“
Really?”

“
Yeah, turns out that Al
has a penchant for dildos. She’s purchased at least six in the last
two years. She even has a harness so she can strap them on and do
it like a man.”

“
How did you get that many
details from an unofficial investigation?” Professional jealousy
surged through Tony. He wanted to be able to investigate suspects
like Spade was. Hell, he really just wanted to be back on the
job.

“
William, the owner of
Love Slave, has a problem with drugs. His computers were
confiscated two months ago. All I had to do was ask the right
person.”

“
How did you know who to
ask?”

“
It’s my job to know.
That’s why I’m usually in the office. I spend my days trying to tie
crimes together. You would be shocked by how many pedophiles shop
at Love Slave.”

“
I’m not sure I want to
know.” Tony stood up and paced around the room, trying to take in
everything Spade was telling him.

“
It’s disturbing.” Spade’s
voice was stiff.

“
So we know about Al, or
Allison Underwood. How can we find her?” Tony asked.

“
I brought the case to my
superior’s attention. The FBI should be placing a call to your
chief soon, informing him he needs to cooperate with the
bureau.”

“
He’s going to want to fry
my ass.”

“
Don’t worry, he won’t
hear about your involvement from us. It makes the bureau look bad
if we have to depend on local cops for information.”

“
Allison Underwood. That
name seems familiar.”

“
Do you think she’s made
contact with you?” Spade asked.

“
Underwood, Underwood, let
me think. I know her name from somewhere.”

“
Tony, this will end soon.
The feds will come in, talk to Allison, gather some information
about her, the evidence will come in line and we’ll make an arrest.
You and your family will be safe.”

All at once, it hit him. “Sonofabitch. I
know where I’ve heard that name.”

“
Where?”

“
She goes by Ally now.
She’s Marissa’s personal coach. Shit, Spade, Ally Underwood works
at the gym where Marissa is working out right now.”

Tony dropped the phone onto the base and ran
out of his house. Marissa had been with this woman all morning. If
he hurried, maybe he could catch her at the club.

Chapter 34

“
What happened to your
face?” Marissa blurted when she saw the purplish welt on Ally’s
cheek.

Ally raised a hand to cover the injury.
“It’s nothing.”

“
Nothing? It looks like
something to me. Did your boyfriend hit you?”

Ally averted her eyes, but not before
Marissa saw the tears. “I can’t talk about it here.”

“
How about we skip the
workout and grab lunch?” Marissa suggested.

“
Let me check with the
desk to see if I have another client.”

Marissa waited for Ally to check her
schedule. A quiet desperation filled her as she watched her new
friend. At some point, Ally had moved from acquaintance to friend.
Gone was her cocky walk that told the world Ally wasn’t a woman to
be messed with. Her head hung low, and her shoulders rounded in
defeat.

“
Where do you want to go
eat?”

Ally shrugged, her attitude one of
despondent disinterest.

“
How about the Purple
Patio?” Marissa said brightly, trying to bring back the vibrancy
she’d seen in the woman previously.

“
I’ve never been there,
but that’s fine.”

“
Let’s take my car,”
Marissa suggested.

“
We’ll have to. I still
haven’t taken mine to the shop to be fixed.”