Random Acts of Murder: A Holly Anna Paladin Mystery, Book 1 (Holly Anna Paladin Mysteries) (22 page)

CHAPTER
36

Slowly
, I peered over the back of the couch.

A man was there.
Lying down. Bleeding.

I gasped when I saw his face.

John. It was John. Jamie’s brother.

I dropped my tea and ran
to him. “John? Are you okay?”

I shook him, and he moaned.

He pulled his eyes open, each movement lethargic. “Shh. No one can know I’m here.”

“What happened?”

“Stabbed . . .” His voice trailed off, and his eyes started to close again.

“I should get you to the hospital.” I started to get up
, but John grabbed my arm, his grip viselike.

“No one can know I’m here. If they find me . . . they’ll kill me.”
His gaze locked with mine.

I froze, uncertain how to proceed.
“How about Jamie? Can I call Jamie?”

He swung his head back and forth.
“She . . . can’t . . . come.”

“Why? Why not?”

“Watching . . .”

I leaned closer as his voice faded out again.
“Watching who? Who’s watching who?”

His face distorted with pain.
“They’re watching you. Watching my house. Looking for me.”

“You’re not making any sense.”
I shook my head, trying to comprehend what he was getting at. Who was watching me?

“Please. Help.”
He let out a desperate cry and began writhing.

“Help? I want to help. But how?”

He stayed silent.

“John? Stay with me.”
I shook him, unwilling to let him lose consciousness.

He moaned.

There was only one thing I could think to do. One person who could help. “I’m going to call a friend. He’s trustworthy. I promise. But you need help I can’t give you. Okay?”

He stared at me and said nothing.
He was fading fast, I realized.

With panic, I picked up my phone and called Chase. My hands trembled along with my voice
when Chase finally answered.

“Holly? What’s going on?”
His voice sounded light, unaware.

“I need you to come over. Now.”

“Are you okay?” Instant worry gripped his tone.

I glanced at John. “Yeah, it’s a
long story. Listen, come dressed in normal clothes, okay? No work stuff. You’ll understand when you get here.”

“I’ll be right over.”

***

I saw Chase pull up and waited until he was halfway up the sidewalk before opening the front door. I ran out to greet him, planting a kiss on his lips before throwing my arms around him.

“Wow. What was that for?” His eyes widened.

“Just play along,” I whispered. “Act like you’re here to see me.”

After a brief moment of thought, his arms squeezed tighter around my waist and he pulled me off my feet. When he set me back down, his fingers intertwined with mine. We walked hand in hand into the house. Just like a couple in love, ready to spend the evening together. That’s what I was counting on, at least.

As soon as I closed the door, I turned all of the locks and my smile disappeared.

“John is here. He’s hurt. He needs help.”

“John? Jamie’s brother? Did you call 911?
” Chase bristled.

“I can’t. H
e’s hiding from someone. He said they’re watching me. If they find him, they’ll kill us both.”

His eyebrows furrowed together. “Take me to him.”

I led him into the living room. “I wrapped up his wound and gave him some water. He’d faded in and out of consciousness. I don’t know what to do.”

Chase knelt beside him, surveying his wounds. “He needs a doctor.”

“That’s what I told him. He refused. Made me promise not to take him.”

“We’ve got to clean this wound out. Get me some towels. Boil some water. I need a first aid kit.”

Chase worked for the next hour to clean John’s wound. John managed to wake up enough to take some pain medication and drink some water, and then he faded again.

When we’d done all we could,
Chase and I sat on the floor across from John, monitoring his breathing. I prayed over and over again that he would be okay.

My fingers itched to call Jamie. She’d want to know. But John didn’t want to put his sister’s life in danger. He didn’t want to lead the bad guys here, either. That meant that my hands were tied.
I was between the proverbial rock and hard place.

“You did well, Holly.” Chase patted my leg. His hand stayed on my knee.

“Thanks. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Did John say anything else?”

I shrugged, leaning back against the chair behind me. “That if they find him, they’ll kill him.”

“Who’s ‘they’?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea. Did you check out the warehouse, by chance? Were there any answers there?”

“We did. It’s owned by Orion Enterprises. There was nothing suspicious there.”

I frowned, dropping my head back onto the cushion. “Another dead end. Yet it’s not. Orion keeps coming up over and over again.”

“I find it hard to believe he would be involved in something like this.”
Chase ran his hand across his face.

“Are you telling me that you’ve never been surprised at a culprit before?”

He sat up straighter. “I’ve been surprised plenty of times. People can do the most unexpected things for the most unexpected reasons. I’m sure you’ve seen that as a social worker.”

“Plenty of times.”

“Holly, I know I shouldn’t say this . . .”

I waited, anticipating exactly what
this was about.

“. . . but I’m not sure who I can trust. I can’t help but wonder if this Caligula guy might be a police officer.”

That was not what I’d been expecting. I jolted upright. “Why would you think that?”

“I think things are being covered up.
I wrote a ticket to Orion Vanderslice for reckless driving about a month ago. I can’t find any record of it. Plus, all the fingerprints we collected at the crime scenes for the Good Deeds Killer? They’re gone.”

“Wow. Who do you think it could be?”

“I’m going to sound really crazy now, but I’ve wondered about the chief.”

I held back my gasp. “Why?”

“He’s been acting different lately. Quieter. Snappier. He disappears to his office a lot. Sometimes I don’t think he’s concerned enough about this serial killer we have on the loose. I think he should call in the feds—the FBI, the DEA. But he seems strangely calm.”

I let his words sink in.

“Don’t let this go beyond you and me, okay? I shouldn’t probably be saying any of this, but I just don’t know who I can trust. Except you.”

I remembered my role in all of this, and guilt again gnawed at me. I said nothing, though. I was beginning to realize that I coped best by avoiding anything unpleasant. Things like cancer, even.

“Thanks for trusting me, Chase. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

He offered a grateful smile. “Thanks, Holly.”

I stared at John, whose chest rose and fell steadily. “What now?”

“Now we wait. We hope that he’s okay.”

Chase put his arm around my shoulder and pulled my head onto his chest. I didn’t argue. It felt good to be held close, to feel cared about and protected.

I must have drifted to sleep, because the next thing I knew I was being jostled awake as Chase moved.

“He’s coming to,” Chase muttered.

I blinked.
A glance at the windows told me it was still dark outside. How long had I been out? It didn’t matter.

We scrambled toward John. He pulled his eyes open. After a few minutes, he pushed himself up.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, kneeling beside him.

He looked dazed for a moment before nodding. “Better, I think.”

“I cleaned your wound. Gave you some makeshift stitches,” Chase said.

John squirmed. “I remember. It
didn’t feel good.”

“Sorry, it was the best I could do.”

He nodded and sat up even more. “Sorry about the couch.”

I looked down at
the deep red stain on my mom’s cheerful yellow cushions. “Don’t worry about it. I know a crime scene cleaner who can give me some tips on getting that out.” My friend Gabby wouldn’t mind helping me from across the miles.

Chase sat in
the chair across from him. “John, can you tell me what’s going on?”

“
A friend of a friend told me about this great job offer where I’d make three times the money for half the work. I knew it sounded too good to be true. I picked this guy up. It was the only way I could meet with the boss.”

“Was this boss Caligula?” I asked.

John glanced at me, his face darkening. “I didn’t know that until I got there.”

“What happened when you got there, John?” Chase asked.

He sucked in a long, shaky breath. “He took me to this dark alley, in the back door of a building, down some steps, and into this room. There was a man waiting there.”

I held my breath, waiting to hear what happened next. Could this be the break we’d been waiting for?
Would we finally have some answers?

“He wore this mask. A ski mask. His voice was disguised.”

“Was he tall? Skinny? Fat?” Chase asked.

John shook his head. “It was dark. He was wearing a coat. I think he was on the taller side, but I can’t be sure. Anyway, he told me I could start selling Cena for him. He needed some more distributors. I had no idea
my friend was talking about drugs when he mentioned a job opportunity. I would have never gone if I’d known.”

“What happened next?” Chase asked.

“I told him I wasn’t interested and tried to leave. These guys who worked for him grabbed me. Told me that no one gets this far and walks away. If I knew what was best for me, I’d take the job.”

“And you said?” I asked.

He shook his head again, squeezing his eyes shut and touching his bandage. “I told him no way. I walked away from that kind of life. I don’t want to battle those demons again. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, though. Finally, I told him I’d do it. Only, I had no intention of doing it. I just wanted to get out of there.”

“So he let you walk away?” Chase shifted, leaning closer.

“He said I was in a trial period. He started mumbling about people forgetting the good and only remembering the bad. I had no idea what he was talking about. Anyway, he gave me some Cena and told me who to deliver it to. He told me if I didn’t do it, I’d die.”

“How’d you end up here?”

“I ran. I thought I could get away, and I did for a little while. But they followed me when I left my house. Roughed me up. Took me back to Caligula. He said that no one crosses him. That’s when he pulled out the knife.” John squeezed his eyes shut. “He didn’t want to kill me. He wanted to scare me into doing what he wanted.”

I leaned closer. “Then?”

“I don’t even know how much time went by. They gave me some drugs, and I passed out. Caligula left. When I woke up, the guys he’d left to guard me were high and totally out of it. When they turned their backs, I managed to slip past them. Once I was out, I ran.”

“Do you remember where the warehouse was?” Chase continued. “Could you take us back there?”

John shook his head. “They gave me some of that drug. I
t hadn’t worn off when I left. Everything was spinning. I passed out in someone’s car on State Street. Woke up, and some of the drug had worn off. That’s when I knew I had to keep running.”

“How do you know you weren’t followed?” I asked.

“They would have killed me off by now if they knew where I was.”

“Who were you supposed to deliver that Cena to?” Chase questioned.

“Some punks. High schoolers. Users.”

“I’m going to need that address,” Chase said.

John rattled it off.

“Why
’d you come here, John?” I asked, still trying to put the pieces together.

“I knew you were the only one who could help me.
That’s why.”

CHAPTER 37

W
e kept an eye on John for the rest of the evening, and he seemed to stabilize. Finally, at 6:00 a.m. Chase stood.

“If we don’t want to raise suspicions, I think I should go.
I’ve got to figure out a few things now, considering what I learned from John. Knowing that he made it to State Street can narrow our search perimeters.”

Someone could easily run from the warehouse where I’d spotted Brian to State Street.

“Do you think John will be okay?”

“As long as he stays on the down
low, I think he’ll be all right. Staying here all day will only arouse suspicions, though. I’ll make sure an officer patrols past this area. I’ll just say some people reported some suspicious activity.”

I nodded and walked Chase to the door. Thankfully, it was Saturday
, so I didn’t have to worry about going to work and Doris today.

“Thank you for everything, Chase. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

He smiled that smile that melted my heart every time. “Anytime, Holly.”

He opened the door and stepped onto the porch. I followed after him, ignoring the cool breeze and the brittle air.

“I hope I didn’t put you in an awkward position, Chase. I know you have a sworn duty here.”

His lips pulled into a tight line. “I’ll figure out something. It’s officially my day off, so I can buy a little time.”

I thought about that warehouse again. “There’s one more place I think you should check out. I’d like to go with you, though.”

His
eyebrows knit together. “Is that a good idea?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure what’s a good idea anymore.”

He finally nodded slowly. “Let me go home and get cleaned up. How about if I come to pick you up in an hour?”

I flashed a smile. “That sounds great.”

He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on my lips before pulling me into a long hug. “Trying to make it look real, you know?”

This was part of the cover, I remembered. I tried to tell my heart that, but it refused to listen and continued to beat out of control.

He kissed my forehead before walking back to his truck.

I looked over in time to see Mrs. Signet shaking her head. “
Your mom’s not going to like this. You having a guy over all night? I thought more of you.”

I opened my mouth to explain
but stopped. Instead, I slipped back inside. I had bigger worries at the moment.

***

I pointed to the warehouse where I’d seen Brian enter and depart. “There.”

“You think this is where they took John? Why
here?”

I was going to have to tell him the whole truth. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to do anything to put my brother’s campaign on
the line. But there were other things to consider, mainly people’s lives.

As
Chase pulled to the side of the street, I sucked in a deep breath and spilled everything. “I saw my brother’s campaign manager come here the other day.”

“I’m still not see
ing the connection, Holly.”

“His name is Brian. Brian would do anything to win.”

“You think he’d manufacture and sell drugs? How would that help him to win the election?”

I shrugged. “
Influence people? Bribe them? I don’t know. I just know that Brian isn’t the type to frequent a warehouse.”

“Maybe he was picking up some brochures for the campaign.”

“It was just weird. That’s all I know to say. Something didn’t feel right about all of it. The answers could be waiting for us inside.”

Chase leveled his gaze with me.
“You’d put your brother’s election on the line for this?”

I nodded
, confident this was the right thing, yet still feeling slightly queasy. “If that’s what I have to do.”

“You’re sure?”

I nodded again. “Yeah, I really want some answers, even if it makes people in my life look really bad.”

“Let’s go
, then.”

I tried to push away the nig
gle of anxiety that swept through me as I approached the building. I pictured opening the door, seeing Cena being manufactured, seeing Brian in charge of the whole operation.

“Should you get a warrant? I could talk to Alex . . .”

He shook his head. “There’s not enough evidence to justify a warrant. All we’re going on here is a hunch.”

I frowned, realizing this whole thing might be futile.

Chase turned the handle and the door opened. A brightly lit room waited in the distance. I wasn’t sure why I’d expected something dingy and shady.

I stayed at the door while he crept inside, his gun drawn.

That’s when I heard someone appear behind us.

I turned and saw a man standing there.