Seams of Destruction (14 page)

He dressed and drove to the police station in downtown LA. He hurried to the Chief’s office and asked to see him.

“He’s on the phone,” his assistant, said. “But he shouldn’t be much longer. Do you want to wait?”

“Yeah.”

“Where’s Jade? I thought you were supposed to stick with her until the real murderer is found.”

“That’s what I need to talk to Castillo about.”

“He just finished the call. I’ll buzz him and tell him you’re here.”

A minute later, Mitch was told to go on into the Chief’s office.

“Chief, I’ve got a problem,” Mitch said as he pulled a chair up to Castillo’s desk and sat down.

“What’s up?”

“When Jade and I got back from Colorado, she picked up the message from Stephenson and found out the charges against her had been dismissed. He also mentioned that I had been told. She was so angry I hadn’t told her, she ordered me to get out of her apartment, saying she never wanted to see me again.”

“That’s not good,” the Chief said, a thoughtful look on his face. “I’ll call her and tell her why I want you to continue to stay with her.”

“I don’t think it will do any good. Is there someone else you could send?”

“I don’t have anyone else free right now to take an assignment like this.”

The Chief picked up his phone and looked expectantly at Mitch, waiting for him to give Jade’s phone number. As Mitch repeated it to him, he dialed.

“It went to voicemail,” Castillo said a few minutes later as he hung up the phone. “Was that her home or cell number?”

“Like a lot of us anymore, she only has the cell phone. Maybe she went to the exercise room and left her phone in her apartment.”

“Well, whatever. I want you to get back over there and convince her you need to continue guarding her. In the meantime, I’ll keep trying to call her.”

Mitch dreaded the thought of going back to Jade’s apartment. He would never forget the look on her face when she realized he had known the charges had been dismissed before they went to Colorado and he hadn’t told her.

He gave a big sigh and got up from the chair and walked out of the Chief’s office. He strode down the hall and took the elevator to the parking garage. He didn’t know how he was going to handle this. He wished he could talk to Matt, but unfortunately he was on his honeymoon in France.

There was no one else he could talk to. Castillo had not been sympathetic at all. But then, he didn’t know there were feelings between him and Jade. At least, there had been feelings before this fiasco. He wondered if Jade had any idea how much he loved her. Now, she might never know. Not if today was any indication of how she really felt.

He drove out of the parking garage and as he turned onto the street, he looked up in his rear view mirror. Strange. He didn’t see the car that usually followed him. In fact, when he stopped to think of it, he hadn’t seen it when he had driven down to the police station a short time ago.

Feeling nervous, Mitch reached for the red light to put on top of his car and stepped on the accelerator. It seemed to be taking forever to reach Jade’s apartment. He swore when he had to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting a dog as it wandered across the street. He turned a corner, his tires squealing in protest. He let up on the accelerator. It wouldn’t help if he had an accident driving through the neighborhood that took him into Jade’s apartment complex.

He reached her building and turned into the parking garage. He saw her car was in its assigned spot, so he was sure she was there. As he parked, he reached out of the window and took the flashing red light off the roof of his car and set it down on the floor of the front seat. He jumped out, slammed the door, and clicked the remote on his key to lock it.

As he ran toward the door that led into the exercise room, his phone rang. He stopped and pulled it impatiently from his pocket. He saw it was Castillo and he wondered what the chief had to say.

Sliding his finger across the face of his phone in order to answer it, he said, “What ya got, Chief?”

“Are you there yet? I’m concerned that she’s not answering her cell phone.”

“I’m at Jade’s apartment now. After I talk to her, I’ll call you, but don’t hope for too much. She was really angry.”

“You’ve got to convince her. We’ve got us a killer on the loose.”

“Shall I tell her that?”

“Why not? If she has a brain in her head, she’ll know that’s the case.”

The Chief rang off and Mitch opened the door to the exercise room. He hoped Jade was in there using one of the machines or swimming in the pool. But there was no one, either in the exercise room or in the pool. He hurried to the elevator and pushed the button that would bring it to his level.

When the door slid open, he stepped in and jammed his finger on the number that would take him to the level where Jade’s apartment was. He tapped his foot impatiently on the floor as one number after another lit up above the door to indicate each floor.

The elevator stopped and the door slid open. He walked swiftly down the hall to Jade’s apartment door and not bothering with the doorbell, he pounded on the door and waited. Nothing happened.

“Jade, let me in,” Mitch said, pounding on the door again.

He listened.

Had he heard a muffled scream?

Chapter 14

Jade tried to remain calm as she took a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

Could Bennett be the killer
?

She knew he hadn’t liked Reannan.

He was left-handed.

Was he here for some reason other than the problem with the designs? Was he the one she had heard in the warehouse the night Reannan was killed?

She walked back to the table and stood looking down at the design Bennett had brought. She wondered what her next move should be. Would the excuse of needing to use the bathroom work? She could go and lock herself inside. Her cellphone was laying on the counter and if she did go into the bathroom, she would need to take it with her, so she could call for help.

But if he wasn’t Reannan’s killer she was going to look pretty stupid. If he was innocent, he would never forgive her. Did that matter, since she was no longer working for Sorrento’s and would never have to see him again?

I’d rather be safe than sorry.

In addition, it might look strange to Bennett if she told him she needed to use the bathroom and then went out of her way to pick up her phone. Unfortunately, that was the only thing she could think of to do.

Needing time to think, she asked, “What part of this design are you having a problem with?”

“See how the fabric at the neck is folded so it swoops down from shoulder to shoulder? Then it does the same thing at the side seams under the arms. I have counted the folds and there are ten all together. With the fabric they want to use, it will make the front too bulky.”

“I can’t believe this design. Do you know it’s exactly like a dress I bought in Colorado? But the fabric on my dress is much thinner.”

“You know Giovanni. He sees something he likes, and he just changes it slightly and markets it as his design.”

“Can’t you just tell Giovanni the fabric is too heavy?”

“I did, but he said it had to be that fabric, since he has purchased enough of it to fill the orders he’s received.”

“What if you made fewer folds?”

“Giovanni tried that and it just doesn’t look right.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. Since I’m not a designer, I have no idea how to fix your problem. Personally, I would think that would be Giovanni’s department. It would appear to me that he needs to design a different style dress.”

“We didn’t have anyone to drape the fabric on. That’s why I decided to call you. I thought it might make a difference. Giovanni went to lunch with his CPA and I decided I needed a break and thought I could use you as the model to swathe the fabric around.”

“If you think that would help, I’ll be happy to let you do that. But do you mind if I finish my salad?”

“Not at all.”

Jade sat down at the table across from Bennett and picked up her fork. She was still debating how she could get her cell phone and go into the bathroom without arousing Bennett’s suspicion. A loud knock sounded at the door and she heard Mitch calling her name.

Before she could make a move to answer the door, Bennett was around the table. He jerked her up from the chair with one hand. She tried to cry out, but he put his hand over her mouth and the sound came out muffled. She tried again, hoping she could make it louder.

Keeping his arm around her waist, he reached into his briefcase with his left hand and pulled out a dangerous looking knife. In the process, he knocked the case on the floor.

“Don’t make another sound,” Bennett muttered in her ear. “Or I’ll slit your throat.”

There it was again. Only louder this time. Mitch heard a thump as though something had fallen on the floor. He wasn’t going to wait any longer.

He put his shoulder to the door and gave a hard push. Nothing happened. He stepped back and hit the door with his shoulder as hard as he could. The frame splintered and the door swung open, the doorknob hitting the wall with a bang.

As he stepped over the threshold, his gun appeared in his hand as if by magic. He recognized the man who held a knife to Jade’s throat. Bennett, the pattern maker from Sorrento’s.

“Drop the knife,” Mitch ordered.

“I’ll slit her throat if you come any closer.”

“What would be the point of that?” Mitch asked in a calm voice. He tried not to let Jade’s frightened expression influence him. “If you slit her throat, you’ll be charged with two murders instead of one. On the other hand, once you slit her throat, I can drop you with a single bullet.”

“What do you mean, two murders?”

“Obviously, you killed Reannan and you think Jade saw you that night in the warehouse. If you kill Jade, according to my calculations that would make two.”

The two men stared at each other.

“If you think I’m going to shoot to kill, you have another think coming. I wouldn’t let you off that easy. My shot would incapacitate you for the moment and you would be in a great deal of pain. Then you would have to stand trial for two murders.”

“You can’t prove I killed Reannan.”

“Give me a break. Why else would you be here? Reannan was killed by someone who was left-handed. You’re holding that knife in your left hand.”

With a defeated look on his face, Bennett dropped the knife to the floor and gave Jade a shove toward Mitch. She stumbled and caught herself before she fell.

Mitch walked around the table and still holding the gun in one hand, he pulled a pair of handcuffs off his belt.

“Turn around and put your hands behind your back,” he told Bennett.

The other man did as he was told, and with a couple of deft movements, Mitch fastened the handcuffs around Bennett’s wrists as he recited his Miranda rights.

“Let’s go,” Mitch said. “Jade, I’ll send someone up to fix that door right away.”

“No need,” she said in a shaky voice. “I’ll call the building manager. He’s very handy and I’m sure it won’t be a problem for him.”

“Are you going to be all right?”

“Y-Yes.”

He hated to leave her but he had to get Bennett down to the police station. She looked pale and shaken. He wondered if he should take her with him, but realized that probably wasn’t such a good idea. Who knew what Bennett might be able to pull off, even if he was handcuffed? He had heard some pretty amazing stories about men in handcuffs.

“Did you have someone following Jade and me?” Mitch asked as he rode in the elevator with Bennett down to the parking level.

“Yes. A friend of mine who owed me a favor. I was pretty sure Jade had seen me that night leaving the warehouse and I was hoping to catch her alone, but you were always with her.”

“I’m curious. Why did you kill Reannan?”

“You know, I don’t have to answer that question?”

“I know.”

“I might as well tell you, since you already know I did it.” He paused and then continued. “I hated her. She wanted me to help her with a problem she said she had on one of her designs. Said she would see I got paid double time.

“She picked me up at my apartment and we went to the warehouse. After I showed her how she could fix the design, she started taunting me about being black and said most fashion houses wouldn’t even hire someone of my race. Said we were no good. She went on and on.

“You would have had to know her in order to understand how cruel she could be. I finally couldn’t stand it any longer and I grabbed her. I was so angry, I hardly remember attacking her.”

“But why let Jade take the rap for what you did?”

“I figured it would never come to that.”

“I must say, you weren’t thinking very clearly,” Mitch said as he released one of the handcuffs and put Bennett into the back seat.

Mitch refastened the handcuff with Bennett’s hands in front of him and made sure the screen between the front and back seat was firmly in place. He closed the back door, knowing there was no way for Bennett to unlock it from the inside.

When Mitch left her apartment with Bennett, Jade’s legs felt so shaky, she had to sit down on the sofa. She took a few deep breaths and felt better. When her legs lost their shakiness and she felt they would hold her weight, she stood up and walked to the counter to pick up her cell phone. She called the manager and told him of the problem with the door. He assured her he would be right up with his tool box.

She had no sooner ended her call with the manager when her phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw it was her agent.

“This is Jade,” she said.

“I have an assignment for you,” Kenneth said, not bothering to identify himself.

“Really? You certainly haven’t wasted any time.”

“How fast could you be ready to go to Peru?”

“Peru? As in South America?”

“That’s right.”

“How soon do you need me to be ready?”

“Could you fly out tonight?”

“Why the rush?”

“The model who had taken this assignment has been in a car accident. She’s in the hospital. You’re the closest to her size of any of the models I have on my list. Everything is set up to start shooting day after tomorrow. But you need to get down there ASAP for a fitting in case there should be a need for alterations.”

“Give me all the information.”

“I’ll have your airline tickets along with all the instructions messengered over to you in about an hour,” he said, and proceeded to give her the information on the trip.

The shoot would be different from anything she had done. She would be modeling equestrian fashions that were in style in Peru. Peruvian cowboys would either be in the background or surrounding her in most of the shots. She was looking forward to modeling for a company other than Sorrento’s.

Her telephone conversation with Kenneth Simpson had completely driven the events of the last hour out of her mind. As she packed her bag, she couldn’t help but wish Mitch could go with her. He had always been so solicitous of her when they had traveled together. Both in Italy and Colorado.

With the real killer apprehended, there would be no need of her ever seeing him again. The thought caused an ache in her heart. She wished she hadn’t been so angry with him when she found out she was no longer a suspect. The messenger arrived with the tickets and as she looked at them, she saw her flight was scheduled for midnight and she would arrive in Lima approximately nine hours later. Her hotel reservation was at the Sheraton.

She packed what clothes she thought she would need and looked for a book to take with her on the plane. She remembered Mitch’s book which was laying on the coffee table in the living room. She would take it. It was thick and looked like it would take a few days to read. Besides, she thought a little sentimentally, maybe it would make her feel a little closer to him, knowing he had read the book and liked it.

Looking at the packet her agent had sent her, Jade saw he had made reservations for the airporter to pick her up. No wonder other models had spoken so highly of him. He had obviously thought of everything.

The manager had come up while she was packing and replaced the wood around the lock that Mitch had broken.

“How did this happen?” he asked.

She thought for a minute, at a loss as to what to tell him. She didn’t want him to know she had been arrested for murder and the real murderer had been with her in the apartment when Mitch had arrived.

“Actually, my boyfriend knocked on the door,” she said. “We had a big fight this morning and I didn’t want to let him in. So . . . he broke the door down.”

“Next time, I suggest you let him in. Otherwise, I will have to charge you for the repair.”

“I’m sorry,” she said meekly.

The airporter picked her up right on time. When the driver called to tell her he was in front of her building, he asked if she needed help with her luggage.

“I have only one bag, so I don’t need your help,” Jade said. “I’ll be right down.”

The traffic on the freeway was light at that time of night and the drive didn’t take long. She had hoped Mitch would come back and check on her to see if she was alright. He would have had time before she left for the airport, but he hadn’t appeared. Obviously, he didn’t care that much about her, now that he had apprehended the killer.

The following day, Mitch went to Jade’s apartment to check on her. Her car was in its assigned space. When she didn’t answer her door, he tried calling her. It went immediately to voice mail. He tried calling Giovanni at Sorrento’s to see if she was working there, although he knew her contract had expired.

“I know nothing,” Giovanni told him. “I understand she has agent now,” he added in his accented English. “Maybe he gave her job.”

“Do you know his name?”

“No.”

Mitch thanked him and hung up. He could call her mother in Denver, but he wanted to do that only as a last resort. For the moment, he would continue to try her cell phone. But it was just possible that she was still angry at him and hadn’t wanted to talk to him. He could hardly blame her. If he had told her about the murder charges being dismissed and the Chief wanting him to continue to guard her until the real killer was arrested, he would have been inside her apartment when Bennett showed up and she wouldn’t have had such a frightening experience.

He blew out a breath of frustration as he remembered the look of terror on Jade’s face when he had broken into her apartment. He had been frightened himself when he saw Bennett holding a knife to her throat. It was all he could do to stay cool and in control. He had wanted to shoot the man right there on the spot.

Jade enjoyed her stay in Lima. She liked the people she worked with. They were organized and once some minor alterations had been completed, the shoot went smoothly. Every outfit was out of heavy material, very similar to the colorful saddle blankets they used on their horses.