Vicious (6 page)

Dan stilled. Outrage roared inside him. With tremendous effort he held it back. “Do not presume to understand my motives, Lieutenant. I’m doing you a favor. That’s all you need to understand.” Dan held his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “You are this close to being out of here. I’m giving you an opportunity to prove you’re as good as you think you are. Have I made a mistake?”

“No, sir.”

“Good.” Dan ignored the twitch in his jaw. “That’ll be all.”

Dan watched him go. Despite the anger and frustration raging through him at the man’s insubordinate attitude he almost laughed. If Hayes gave Jess any grief, she would take him down a notch or two. No worry there. She could hold her own with any cop in the department.

If she learned about his deal with Hayes, she would see the move as exactly what it was—a planned and executed deception. They were just beginning to make headway on the trust thing. He couldn’t afford for this to backfire on him.

Dan swallowed back the uncertainty that rose in his throat. There simply was no other course for ensuring her safety. Somehow he’d find a way to make it up to her when this was over.

His cell vibrating on his desk pulled him from the troubling thoughts. He picked it up and checked the screen. It was Gant.

More uncertainty trickled into Dan’s veins. He took a breath and tapped accept. “Tell me you have a break in the case.” Supervisory Special Agent Ralph Gant had been Jess’s superior when she was with the FBI. He was the lead agent in charge of the Spears investigation by virtue of the fact that no one, except Jess, knew Spears better.

He wouldn’t call unless there was a break in the case or bad news, either one or both could spell trouble for Jess and the Stinnett woman who remained missing.

“I wouldn’t call it a break,” Gant said, squashing any hope of good news. “We have nothing new on Stinnett, but we have found the hellhole where the three were held.”

Dan would lay odds Spears was never even there. The bastard was too good for such an elementary misstep. “You have a team on the ground already?”

“Our people arrived half an hour ago.”

Which meant the team hadn’t been on site long enough to make any sort of determination on what they did or didn’t have at this point. Dan raked his hand through his hair. “So what’ve you got for me?”

“We’ve narrowed down one geographic location from last week’s internet traffic related to Jess.”

Dan grabbed a pen. “You have an address?”

“No specific address yet, but this one suddenly became active again. He’s bouncing between Nashville, Atlanta, Birmingham and various smaller towns in that tri-state region. He’s good but we’re inching closer.”

For two weeks chatter about Jess and photos of her had been floating around the Net. Eric Spears had a surprisingly dedicated following. Whether there were two or twenty supporters at his beck and call, they were doing a damned good job of using up FBI resources. That was likely the goal. Spears wanted the feds distracted.

He wanted a clear path to Jess.

Over Dan’s dead body
.

Then the chatter had suddenly stopped and they had nothing. Hopefully this time the outcome would be different.

“What kind of timeline are we looking at before you narrow this lead down to a specific location?” Hell, Dan tossed the pen aside, they needed the names and locations of the perps involved in this not more talk about how the investigation was inching closer. A new twitch started in Dan’s jaw.

“We’re doing all we can, Burnett. Spears clearly handpicked the people carrying out his wishes. They know what they’re doing, and all we can do is follow their tracks. He’s been several steps ahead of us for years.”

“Meanwhile, the body count keeps rising.” Dan threaded his fingers through his hair again. Damn it! They were getting nowhere.

“Just be aware,” Gant said, his tone indicating the conversation was over, “we are closing in on at least one element of these unknown subjects. That’s something we didn’t have twenty-four hours ago.”

“I can’t tell you how reassuring that news is, Gant.” Dan ended the call and slung his phone across the desk.

Damn Eric Spears
.

He was a coward who watched from a distance, allowing others to do the dirty work. It wasn’t until his prey was captured that he bothered to come close. He loved torturing and murdering women once they were disabled.

And yet, Dan’s blood ran cold, the bastard had deviated from his usual MO and walked right up to Jess on Friday… close enough to touch her.

Dan clenched his jaw against the new blast of outrage. He and Spears had been face to face once. He hoped to have that opportunity again…
soon
.

6

109 Broadway, 10:49 a.m.

Jess surveyed the street as she emerged from Lori’s Mustang. Nothing like having Spears show up for a press conference attended by nearly every cop in the department to put a woman on edge. Arrogant bastard that he was, he’d not only dared to set foot in Birmingham again but he’d appeared in the crowd at last Friday’s press conference just to prove he could.

He’d touched Jess. She shuddered even now.

Lori joined her on the sidewalk. “He’s not here.”

Jess blinked. “Ellis?” He was supposed to be here speaking to a group of visiting art lovers from Alabama’s esteemed capital.

Lori held her gaze. “Spears. No one followed us here except our assigned BPD escort.” She inclined her head toward the cruiser parked across the street. “I kept an eye out for the Infiniti his friend drives and any other potential tails. We’re okay for now.”

That transparent, was she? Emotion welled so fast inside Jess it was all she could do not to sway with the weight of it. The urge to tell Lori just how high the stakes were now was nearly overwhelming. But she couldn’t. Lori was already too close. The first real friend Jess had had in a long time. But that friendship made Lori a target. She’d almost lost her life once already.

Spears could still be here, and the dark haired man who’d been following Jess for days in that damned Infiniti could be lurking somewhere close. Those possibilities disturbed her more than she wanted to admit, even to herself.

“Good to know.” Jess gave her friend a nod. “Let’s go meet this enigmatic Mr. Ellis.”

The vintage storefront windows on either side of the entrance to The Gallery were filled with lovely framed art pieces and sleek sculptures. A bell jingled overhead as they entered the elegant shop. The cardboard ‘open’ sign flopped against the glass in the massive wood door. The gallery turned out to be an unexpectedly generous space, but not very well lit. Smelling of oil and age, it reminded Jess of the library at the middle school she’d attended. The art classroom had been next door and the smell of wet oil paints wafted into the library and mingled with the scent of old books.

That library had been Jess’s favorite place to hide out when she wanted to skip class. Not because she’d particularly loved reading, it just felt safe and smelled comfortable, the way a home should.

Ellis’s gallery didn’t have that same comfortable vibe. The décor was too chic with that museum hush about it. Seating areas filled with graceful furnishings flanked the entry, making a corridor down the center of the space that led deeper into the building. Art hung along the walls, each piece spotlighted with a soft glow. Sculpted pieces sat on pedestals beneath their own spotlights.

The sound of a deep voice resonated from somewhere beyond Jess’s line of sight, interrupting the quiet.

“I guess he’s still with that visiting group.” Lori checked the time on her cell.

“Let’s give him a few minutes. Have a look around.” Jess wanted to get a better feel for the place and maybe some perception of the man.

Lori nodded and headed left. Jess went right. She moved from painting to painting studying the work. New work, she decided. The color layers were distinctly vivid, not dulled by time. The unique smell of oil lingered stronger near the paintings. Maybe Ellis preferred to focus on up and coming artists, local ones perhaps. Whatever the case, his gallery features were new and bold. The colors were strong, vibrant. Most of the work appeared to be landscapes or local landmarks. A few were renderings of people, mostly women.

As if she had nothing else in the world to worry about, she suddenly found herself trying to recall the last time she’d been to a gallery. Strange thing to have come to mind when her life was about as sideways as it could get.

The National Gallery of Art with Wesley
. That was it. Felt like a lifetime ago.

Wesley Duvall, her one and only ex-husband, had been another life. She’d hit forty and suddenly marriage seemed necessary. She and Wesley had married on a Saturday and were back at work on Monday. The marriage lasted barely longer than the senseless celebrity wedding debacles that made the news. Sooner, rather than later, Wesley transferred to the west coast where he was needed since Jess didn’t seem to need him after the initial ceremony.

Looking back, she understood now she’d only needed to prove to herself that someone wanted to marry her. Wesley just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. At least they had remained friends.

“That masterpiece comes from the admirable imagination of a local artist.”

Jess turned from the commendable rendering of Sloss Furnaces, a local landmark, to the man who’d spoken. He stood medium height with broad shoulders and a kind face. Late forties, maybe fifty, she estimated. Nice silk jacket, very expensive and a stark contrast to the comfortable jeans and gray t-shirt that sported the Crimson Tide logo. The man looked nothing at all like she’d pictured the owner of an art gallery or a master teacher of one of the fine arts. He looked more like a firefighter or football coach.

A stealthy one considering he’d walked right up to her and she hadn’t sensed his presence until he spoke.
Where was her mind?

“She’s quite talented,” Jess agreed. The artist’s signature read Leah J.

“Quite.” He extended his hand. “Richard Ellis at your service, Chief.”

So, he knew who she was. My, my. Jess shook his hand. His palms and fingers weren’t as smooth as she’d expected. Evidently, nothing about this man was to be what she’d anticipated. “Do you have an office where we can discuss an ongoing case?”

He gestured to the room at large. “This is my office.”

Visitors, those who had come from Montgomery, she supposed, filed out the entrance. Jess counted ten. He was a popular guy. “I was thinking of some place a bit more private, Mr. Ellis.”

“Please, call me Rick.”

Before Jess could respond, he strode to the entrance, made a parting comment in French, no less, to the exiting visitors, and then closed and locked the door. He rotated the ‘open’ sign to the closed side and released the Roman style shade so that it dropped down over the glass in the door.

“Now.” He glanced at Lori, and then turned back to Jess. “Would you and your friend like coffee? Water?”

“No thank you, Rick.” Jess moved to the nearest sofa and took a seat. She settled her bag next to her and removed her pad and pencil. “I hope we’re not catching you at a bad time.”

Lori continued to wander the gallery.

Ellis relaxed in the stylish sofa stationed on the other side of the marble and glass coffee table. “Not at all. What may I have the privilege of doing this morning for Birmingham’s newest deputy chief?”

“One of your former students, Lisa Templeton, was murdered.” Jess didn’t hear any sign of a European accent in his voice. What she heard was a northeastern one, most likely Massachusetts.

He nodded, his expression shifting from congenial to somber. “Stacey called me. She was horribly upset. Lisa was a dear friend of hers.” He shook his head. “I’m continually amazed at the evil one human can do to another. Lisa was a lovely young woman.”

Jess was amazed at what dear friends like Stacey could do as well but she opted to keep that to herself. “When did you last see Lisa?”

He inclined his head and flashed her a knowing smile. “Are you asking me for an alibi, Chief?”

“Do you have one?” Charm wasn’t going to buy him an ounce of slack.

“Let’s see. Sunday night I went to dinner with friends who will gladly corroborate as much. By midnight I was tucked in for the night.”

“Alone?”

He smiled again. “Unfortunately.”

Jess decided not to point out that he actually didn’t have an alibi for the time of the murders since the ME had estimated time of death at between two and four Monday morning. “When did you last see Miss Templeton?”

His brow furrowed in careful concentration. “She took one of my classes last spring. Until two weeks ago, I hadn’t seen her since the class ended in April.”

“How did you come to see her two weeks ago?”

He leaned forward, propped his elbows on his knees and folded his hands together. He had blue eyes. His hair was close cropped and brown, she decided, with a scattering of gray. No wedding ring. No jewelry at all.

“She’d completed a new painting and she wanted my opinion.”

“Did Miss Templeton hope to become a full time artist one day?”

Ellis laughed. “Many have that hope. It’s the misery all artists suffer, I’m afraid.”

“What was your opinion of her work?”

“Lisa beautifully captured the emotions she kept bottled up for most of her life. In fact, I was so enthralled I purchased the painting for the gallery.” He shook his head sadly. “Would you like to see it?”

“I would.” Jess shoved her pad and pencil into her bag and followed Ellis deeper into the gallery. Lori, who’d apparently already spotted the painting, had paused to admire the work.

“Breathtaking, isn’t it?” Ellis said.

“It is,” Lori agreed, stepping aside for Jess to have a closer look.

Jess adjusted her glasses and considered the work. Nude lovers, women, in the midst of a sexual act. The affection and ecstasy captured was undeniably compelling. The crisp colors and perfect brushstrokes conveyed the sensual moves and setting as if the scene were in motion. But it was one of the faces that told Jess more than anything else. Stacey Jernigan had been wrong about her friend.