The Killing Ground: A Foxx Files Thriller (21 page)

“I’m in love with Rebecca.” Jordan almost spit the words out for fear she wouldn’t have the courage to say them after all.

“The red—headed bird, right?” Tony rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “She’s a looker alright. So, what’s the problem?”

“Well, as of this morning, she may not even like me.” The pain etched in Jordan’s features was evident, even to Tony. Somewhere between walking into Rebecca’s office and waking up with her this morning, Jordan had fallen in love with her. She couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment, but now, before she had even had a chance to tell Rebecca how she felt, she was seeing the end of their relationship.

“What’s not to like?” Tony wrinkled his brow in confusion. “You got a great job, stellar personality, and if I do say so myself, good looks like your old man. That broad is crazy if she isn’t half in love with you already.”

“Thanks, Woz.” Jordan smiled. “I wish it were that easy. The crazy thing is I didn’t even do anything to mess it up. She says I distract her. That she needs space. She can’t concentrate enough to do her job.”

Tony chuckled softly. “You distract her? Well, kiddo, that’s sign enough that she loves you. She wouldn’t have any trouble working if you meant nothing to her.”

A hint of a smile worked its way onto Jordan’s face. “You think so?”

“I know so.” Tony smiled cryptically. “I know, because that’s what nearly blew it for me. Love almost messed my life up, and at the time, I would have let it. Hell, looking back, there are times I think I made the wrong choice. However, you, you’re different. I always knew you were meant for more.”

“What do you mean?”

He pointed at her chest. “’Cause that’s too big.”

“My boob is too big?” Jordan laughed. “Woz, I don’t know if you need glasses or not, but 34A isn’t exactly big.”

Tony reddened slightly. “I meant your heart, kiddo. People like you need love. You long for it.” He saw her open her mouth to protest. “Oh I know, you have spent your life running because you thought love was bad, but all you really wanted was to find it.”

“And now that I have found it, I’m about to lose it.” Jordan’s head hung low. The effect of the alcohol was making her totally bummed out and feeling sorry for herself. “Now do you see why I avoided it like the plague? I was right all those years. Love does suck.”

Tony shook his head. He recognized the despondency he had seen in his own eyes all those years ago. He grabbed her chin in between his thumb and forefinger, and forced her eyes up to meet his. “Don’t go getting all girly on me. Don’t let that broad flip you inside out. That kind of thinking isn’t going to do you a damn bit of good. You need to find a way to remind her why she fell in love with you in the first place. Odds are she’s going to realize not being with you is more distracting than loving you ever could be.”

Jordan swallowed her beer and gave his words some silent thought. “You think so?”

“I know so. You want to do something good for yourself? Do whatever it takes to show this girl you love her. If you need to, be an ass. Show her how distracting you can be when it matters. I gave up on my chance, and this is what you get, a man who barely learns a broad’s name before I sleep with her. In this case, don’t try to follow in your old man’s footsteps. It’s a long, lonely road.”

Jordan searched his eyes. “Who knew? Somewhere inside your devil-may-care exterior, is a heart.”

Tony growled softly. “Don’t you dare let that out. I got a rep to protect.”

Jordan laughed. “So, you think she’ll fall for it?”

“If you’re anything like me, she won’t be able to forget you.” Tony wriggled his eyebrows. “One night with The Woz and the ladies always beg for more.”

“Did you seriously just call yourself The Woz?” Jordan punched Tony in the arm. “I don’t know why I thought I could get sane advice from you.” Her tone was light, and she knew her teasing would only egg him on. If anyone had an ego bigger than hers, it was Tony, and he thought he was God’s gift to women. No amount of razzing from Jordan was going to change that.

“Best advice you’re gonna get.” His smiling eyes turned serious. “Take it for what it’s worth, kiddo. Don’t fuck it up like me. Even a man with a warm body in his bed every night gets lonely.”

Jordan nodded. Unfortunately, the ache in her chest was telling her that the words he spoke were true, and if she didn’t do something to change it, she was going to end up walking down the same road he had walked before her.

Chapter 21

“What we’re interested in, Dr. Mercer, is why you chose to lie to us about the altercation between Dr. Stein and Richard Hudson?” Rebecca’s gaze bore into Meghan, daring her to lie again.

Meghan pulled her glasses off and set them on her desk. She didn’t like this line of questioning. She didn’t like that Detective Foxx was sitting in her office grilling her again. She felt anger well up inside her. She had been the director for three years now, ever since Dr. Stein had been forcibly retired, and it seemed like she was still cleaning up his messes. “It wasn’t an altercation per se, and I didn’t feel that it had a bearing on the case. It was Richard Hudson that was wronged, not Dr. Stein.”

“I’m confused, Dr. Mercer.” Rebecca leaned forward pinning her with her emerald-green eyes. “When we ask you if you knew of any issues between Dr. Stein and Richard Hudson, one would assume that this altercation, or whatever you want to call it, would have warranted at least a mention.”

“I’m sure you can understand that given the nature of the issue, it would not have crossed my mind that Dr. Stein would have held a grudge against Richard Hudson. As a matter of fact, it makes more sense that the opposite would be true.”

Rebecca sighed loudly. She was getting nowhere with Dr. Mercer. She glanced at Jordan, wondering why she was choosing to remain as quiet as she was. Normally, she would have jumped in and said something. Instead, she was staying tight—lipped, which gave more weight to her suspicions that she and Dr. Mercer were previously acquainted, and not in a professional manner.

Finally, she rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Meghan. “Fine. Whatever your reasoning, can we put that aside? Tell me your side of the issue.”

Meghan shrugged. “Matters like this are always difficult to handle, Detective Foxx. It’s a case of he said, well he said/he said in this instance. Richard Hudson complained to me that Dr. Stein made unwanted and unwelcome advances toward his wife. He asked that I remove Dr. Stein from his wife’s procedures. Of course, I obliged. It’s the clinic's stance that the patient is always right, and we take complaints against our staff very seriously. We do whatever we can to ensure that the patient has the best possible experience. Dr. Stein jeopardized that relationship, and it was my responsibility to deal with the matter in the best interests of the patient. However, I did not feel like the matter warranted police attention, nor had anything to do with Dr. Stein’s alleged criminal activity.”

Rebecca watched her face as she spoke, still watching for something that didn’t match the cool, calm exterior. She wasn’t sure if it was just her suspicion of Jordan’s history with her or something else, but she didn’t like her. “How did Dr. Stein react?”

“As you can imagine, Dr. Stein was quite upset with the allegations. He seemed genuinely distraught that his actions could have been misconstrued in such a manner. Despite his missteps, Dr. Stein was an excellent doctor and performed many successful procedures. At no time, did I feel like this particular complaint against him warranted further investigation by the board, or the police, for that matter. It was handled as requested by the patient.”

“Did Dr. Stein happen to mention that Richard Hudson had threatened him?” Rebecca went into attack mode. “That seems like a perfect motive for Dr. Stein to have a personal vendetta against him.”

“I was not aware of that.” Meghan was caught off guard, and she didn’t like it. Nor did she like the predatory look in Detective Foxx’s eyes. If she didn’t know any better, she could have sworn it was directed towards her on behalf of Jordan. And that was another reason she didn’t do relationships anymore. One disastrous relationship for her was enough. Whatever fucked-up mess they were in the middle of, she wanted no part of it. “Dr. Stein kept to himself, especially after his ex—wife left him. I’m sure whatever went on between him and Richard Hudson didn’t alarm him enough to mention it.”

Rebecca narrowed her eyes. Meghan hadn’t done anything other than lie to them, or sin by omission. However she chose to look at it. Nevertheless, there was something she didn’t trust about her. “Did Dr. Stein ever have trouble with any of the other patients?”

Meghan didn’t miss the suspicious look that seemed ever present on Rebecca’s face. “Not to my knowledge. As I mentioned before, previous to Dr. Stein’s mental breakdown, he was a good doctor. He treated everyone with respect, and that included the patients.”

“All the patients, except Elizabeth Hudson, you mean.” Rebecca corrected her in a stern voice.

Meghan hated being corrected. “Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t mention it earlier, Detective Foxx. At the time, I firmly believed that the incident had nothing to do with Dr. Stein and his vendetta against Richard Hudson. I just assumed he was the unlucky victim of a mad man. By the time he was forced to resign, Dr. Stein was an entirely different man than the one that hired me. He took the divorce harder than most, and it changed him.”

“Explain to me again how he was different.” Rebecca didn’t need to know Meghan’s opinion. It didn’t matter anyway. She firmly believed that Dr. Stein was their perp. She was merely enjoying making her uncomfortable, and it seemed the longer she questioned her, the more uncomfortable she got.

Meghan closed her eyes and counted to ten. She was on to Rebecca’s game now, and she was out of the cooperating mood. “How do you mean?”

“What she means is what was Dr. Stein’s personality like before he was fired?” Jordan finally leaned forward and spoke. She could see the anger flaring in Meghan’s eyes, and she suddenly felt the need to stick up for her girlfriend. No, her ex—girlfriend, at least until she figured out a way to fix things with Rebecca.

Meghan rolled her eyes. “I understand that perfectly, Agent Gray. My confusion comes from the fact that we’ve discussed this several times already.”

“Why don’t you repeat it for my benefit?” The edge in Jordan’s voice was unmistakable. She could be pushed only so far before the fangs came out. “Pretend like you haven’t told me.”

Meghan sighed loudly. “Fine. He was sporadic, moody, volatile, and angry. Everything set him off. I saw him threaten techs, other doctors. It wasn’t unlike him to come to work drunk. He was angry and hurt, and he took it out on everyone around him.”

Rebecca opened her mouth before Jordan could ask any more questions. “I know we discussed this before, but tell me again. Do you have any reason to believe that Dr. Stein would be angry enough to kill?”

Meghan was silent as she contemplated her next words. “Given how angry he was, it is entirely believable that he could kill someone.”

“See how easy that was.” Rebecca said sarcastically. “I ask questions. You answer them.”

Meghan stood up and stretched her lanky body to its full height in an obvious attempt to intimidate Rebecca. It didn’t work. “If we’re done here, I think it’s time you and Agent Gray left. I’ve answered your questions and now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a business to run, which thankfully, is still here despite the CDD’s efforts to the contrary.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rebecca’s eyes blazed.

Meghan shrugged nonchalantly. “You figure it out, Detective. You have dragged the clinic’s name through the mud with your investigation. One, I might add, that hasn’t produced a viable arrest. I’ve managed to keep things running smoothly, no thanks to you. I just think if you spent time actually investigating instead of harassing me, you might have already caught the right guy.”

“Why you little…”

Jordan grabbed Rebecca’s arm and shook her head. She shot Meghan an apologetic smile. “Thank you for your time, Dr. Mercer.”

The angry snarl disappeared from Meghan’s face, and she shot Jordan a coy smile. “It was my pleasure, Agent Gray.” The words dripped off her tongue, and Jordan groaned inwardly.

Whatever suspicions Rebecca may have had were pretty much confirmed with one sentence. Jordan cupped Rebecca’s elbow and directed her towards the door. “Let’s go, Rebecca. She’s not worth it.”

The words were spoken no louder than a whisper, but they reverberated across the room, and Meghan winced. Only one woman she had ever bedded said she wasn’t worth it. She watched them walk out then slammed her fist against the desk. “Fuck you, Jordan! I’ll show you who’s worth it.”

Chapter 22

Rebecca slammed the file on her desk. Their interview with Dr. Mercer still had her on edge. She had to remain professional when she really wanted to punch the smug look off her face. The look that Dr. Mercer gave Jordan confirmed her suspicions that they had past history beyond boxing. She pushed Jordan for an answer and hearing her say it pissed her off even more.

Jordan tried to tell her that it had no bearing on the case. That it was a long time ago. That it meant nothing. But it mattered to Rebecca. As of right now, she had to look that bitch in the eye with the knowledge that she was laughing at her behind her back. It may not jeopardize the case, but right now, it was seriously jeopardizing her sanity.

“Hey, boss, I got it!” Rick walked into the bull pen waving several sheets of paper. He handed them to her and waited as she read them.

She read each one and muttered under her breath. “House, yard, car. Strong work, Jonesy. Let’s get this guy.”

“You want me to call it in?” Rick picked up the phone and started dialing.

“No.” Rebecca stopped him midway. “We go in alone. I don’t want to scare him off with a bunch of blue and whites showing up in front of his house.”

Rick hesitated. “Boss?”

“What is it, Jonesy?” Rebecca looped her badge around her neck and stuck her firearm in its holster.