“Sure.” Connor reached into his back pocket. “I know I wasn’t stopped for a moving violation, is something wrong with the car?” He handed his license to the officer.
“I couldn’t say, sir. I have orders to bring you in for questioning. I’ve also called a tow truck to take your car to the impound lot.” The young man was nervously tapping the license against the hood of the car.
“You’ve got to be kidding. You’re impounding the car? Why?” Connor was serious now, also.
“You’ve been implicated in a crime, Mr. McCrae. I’ll need you to step out of the car with your hands in front of you. I’ll be taking you to the station.”
“I’m sure we can straighten this out, but I can’t just leave my fiancée standing out here in the parking lot. Can’t she follow us with the car?”
The officer jumped as Connor opened his door to get out. Connor and Jordan exchanged alarmed expressions.
“No, sir,” the officer replied with his hand resting over the handle of his service revolver. “My orders are to have the car brought in, to process for possible evidence. A warrant will be here before they take it away. The lady will have to find other transportation.” He held out a pair of handcuffs. “Please turn around to the side of the car now, sir.”
A car hauler was pulling into the parking lot, heading toward the BMW. Connor knew he only had a mere moment to speak to Jordan. The situation had caught him off guard. His mind raced to figure out what to do next. He saw the frightened look on her face as she exited the car.
“Don’t worry, boss, I’ll have this straightened out in an hour,” he said lightly. “I’ll call Caleb when I get to the station. I bet he’s already on his way down here anyway. You go inside and call Joyce to pick you up. Go to her place. Don’t go back to the house until I come for you, okay?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Bobby Ray slumped down in the driver’s seat of the Bronco sketching a picture when he noticed Joyce pulling into the diner parking lot. He’d decided to follow the women and see where they went. Surely they’d find a place to hide, knowing he was close. The kid wasn’t with them. That was just as well. She’d be an unnecessary complication. He didn’t know how long McCrae would be out of the way so he had to move fast.
Exhaustion took over as he followed them through the little side streets of Mayville. He had to hold on just a little longer. Now that Doris, Bennett, and Nita were gone, he had to do everything on his own. He’d just spent hours setting the scene in Jordan’s barn that would keep the cops busy for a while. Since then he’d sat at the edge of town waiting for the happy couple to return.
It was so easy to get information in this little town. He’d approached the twin boys who worked at Jordan’s house. They were riding scooters along the road after helping the old man with a project in Jordan’s back yard. He told them he was a cousin to the McCrae brothers and that he’d come to help out with security. The boys told him that Jordan and McCrae would be returning from Tampa today.
Everything was falling into place nicely.
****
“Are you sure your mom won’t mind my being here?” Jordan asked as she walked into the old two-bedroom apartment at the back of the beauty salon. The furniture, carpet, and drapes looked as though they hadn’t been replaced since the seventies, but they were neat and clean.
“Don’t worry about Mom. She hasn’t been out of her room for two years. I’m going to run you a nice warm bath. We can have a glass of wine while you soak. You’ve had a rotten day. It’ll do you good.” Joyce put her purse on the end of the sofa and headed down the hall.
“You should be more careful about keeping your door locked.” Jordan turned the dead bolt on the front door.
Joyce reappeared ten minutes later to direct Jordan to the bath. “You just slide under those bubbles while I grab a couple glasses of sangria. We’ll have a little girl-time while we wait for your man.”
For the next hour, Joyce told Jordan stories about her mother. She removed her make-up and changed into a silk kimono. Jordan was surprised at how truly beautiful the older woman was after her long blonde curls had been brushed out around her shoulders and her face was clean.
Jordan curled up on the end of the sofa wearing Joyce’s white chenille robe. “So, tell me about you and Arnold Coleman.”
“I wondered when that subject would come up again.” She poured herself another glass of wine. “Arnie has been a friend of mine for many, many years.”
“Just friends?” Jordan asked.
“I guess you could say we love each other, but we’re not in love. You know Arnie has always had a thing for your grandmother. He’ll never get over her. We just act as each other’s security blanket.”
“But why do you do it? In all those years, you could have found someone you really did love. It’s still not too late.”
“That was Arnie’s excuse for dumping me the other day.” Joyce looked into her glass.
“I’m sorry, Joyce. I didn’t realize I was bringing up a sensitive subject. I’ve been so focused on my own problems I didn’t know you two had stopped seeing each other.”
Just then, someone knocked on the front door.
“Don’t worry about it, kid. It was probably for the best.” Joyce stood up to answer the door.
“I can’t believe Caleb is here already. He must have been on his way when Connor called.” She unlocked the door and swung it wide open.
****
Connor had been sitting in a room with only a square wooden table and four fiberglass chairs. The walls were a dingy gray like the floor tiles. On one side, a round clock hung on the wall. It made a swishing sound to announce each passing second. On the other side was a small window. It was too high for even him to see out. The last few rays of sunlight had disappeared long ago. A pair of fluorescent lights glared from the ceiling. He felt itchy in the clothes he’d been wearing in the car all day.
A young cop had come into the room earlier to bring a can of soda. It was barely cool then, now it was warm. He leaned in the chair as far as he could and rolled the can between his palms.
It had been almost two hours since he’d spoken to his brother. Caleb was coming back in his father’s plane. He should be walking through the door at any moment. Then, perhaps they could find out what this was all about and get to Jordan.
After finding out that the police had a search warrant for her property, he’d refused to speak to them. He couldn’t think about anything except Jordan’s safety. He was worried sick about her, out there alone. He wouldn’t be foolish enough to trust his own judgment in an interrogation. He needed Caleb. At this point, he’d be willing to sign any kind of confession to return to her.
He mentally kicked himself for not staying in touch with Detective Tucker while he was in Tampa. Maybe he would’ve had some idea of what this was about. The police had told him that Tucker was in the field. That had been the extent of the information they were willing to give.
Connor stood up and paced the floor just once when Caleb finally walked through the door.
“What’s going on here, Caleb? They said they were bringing me in for questioning and they’re searching Jordan’s place right now. They act like I’ve committed murder or something.” He was even more confused at his brother’s appearance. “Those are the same clothes you were wearing last night, and you haven’t shaved. Where have you been?”
“That doesn’t matter right now, although I will have to borrow some clothes when we get out of here.” Caleb sat in the chair Connor had vacated. “The desk sergeant said a detective would arrive any minute. I don’t have a clue why you’re here. You look like hell.”
The door opened. Two detectives entered that Connor didn’t recognize. They held up badges and identified themselves as Mullins and Dundridge. Dundridge was a tall man with short dark hair and sunken brown eyes. He closed the door and leaned against it. Connor figured he was standing guard while his partner started the interrogation. What was Dundridge expecting him to do, attempt an escape?
Mullins was the smaller man with a gray comb-over. He held a small file as he sat across from Caleb at the table. “Have a seat, Mr. McCrae. We’d like to hear what you’ve been doing for the last twenty-four hours.”
Connor wanted to get this done as soon as possible. He sat on the edge of the chair next to Caleb and leaned toward Mullins. “Yesterday I was in Tampa, where I attended the funeral of John Truman, along with about two hundred other people. Then, I had supper at my parent’s house. If their word isn’t good enough, you can check with the housekeeper, Miss Hannah. I went to bed at about one o’clock. I slept with my fiancée, Jordan Holbrook, all night. Believe me, she knew I was there the entire time. We ate brunch with my parents, and then left Tampa at about two. We took I-75 and stopped for gas in Sarasota. We arrived in Mayville at around six o’clock. We stopped at the diner to eat. We spoke to the Douglases, Charlie and Holly, in the parking lot before we went inside. I was picked up as we were leaving to go home. I got here at seven-thirty and I’ve been stuck in this stinking room ever since. Now can you tell me what this is all about and let me go? You have to know what kind of danger my fiancée is in right now.”
Mullins ignored Connor’s request and asked his next question. “Have you ever heard of a girl named Donna Bass?”
Connor stared straight ahead for a brief moment while he thought. “No, can’t say I have. Who is she?”
“She’s a seventeen-year-old girl that disappeared from a motel about fifty miles from here last night.”
“What does this have to do with my brother?” Caleb asked.
Mullins turned to Caleb. “Her body was found in your brother’s van about an hour ago. It looks like she was worked over pretty good. She’d been bound, raped, and tortured. She’s dead. A guest at the motel that her father owns gave the description of that van as being there last night.”
“You heard his statement. You can easily confirm his alibi.”
“You know, I think you’re right, Mr. McCrae.” Mullins stared intently at Caleb.
“Good.” Caleb stood. “Do you really have any reason to hold Connor any longer?”
“No, I think we’re ready to let him go. I just have one more question.”
“What’s that Detective?”Caleb asked.
“Where were you last night?”
Conner leaned back and folded his arms. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“The guest at the motel told Mr. Bass that his daughter had called the blonde man in the van, McCrae. He didn’t catch the first name.”
“I was with my brother in Tampa until he went to bed,” Caleb answered. “Since then I’ve been spending time with a young lady I met in a gentlemen’s club. Her name is Leah. She lives in an apartment over some old lady’s garage in Ybor City. It’s on Magnolia Street just off Main.”
“You can’t give us a last name or a full address?”
“I know, that sounds kind of bad. We were just being two consenting adults.” Caleb’s face turned red.
Mullins smiled, showing tobacco-stained teeth. “We’ve just found out how fast you can get down here when you take a notion.”
Dundridge chuckled at his partner’s comment. Suddenly the door shot open, nearly knocking him down. Tucker walked into the room looking steamed.
“This case has nothing to do with yours, Tucker. We have a witness.”
“Did you bother to check that witness out, Mullins?”
“We have someone tracking him down in Miami right now.”
“Don’t bother. He was using the name Jerry Bennett. That was Butler’s attorney, the one who blew his brains out on the beach.” Tucker stood nose to nose with Mullins. “Did you even take a look at the kid’s body in the morgue, asshole? She still reeks of rubbing alcohol, Butler’s calling card.”
Connor’s stomach flipped. Butler had killed again and set him up to take the fall. He’d used a seventeen-year-old kid to frame him. He wanted him out of the way. He wanted him away from Jordan.
Caleb must have had the same thought. He turned to Connor. “Where is Jordan?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Joyce returned to the living room with tears in her eyes and Bobby Ray’s gun to her head. “I’m so sorry sweetie.”
“Time to come home to Papa, sugar-boo.” Bobby Ray grinned triumphantly.
“Don’t hurt her, Bobby Ray. She doesn’t have anything to do with this.” Jordan tried to stay calm. Bobby Ray looked bazaar with his hair bleached to a bright yellow color. His eyes were bright and dancing. He truly was insane.
“Well I can’t leave her behind. That just wouldn’t be polite. Besides, she just may come in handy.” He used his empty hand to pull two zip-ties from the pocket of his jacket. “Your friend is going to tie your hands behind your back. Just turn around and hold still. If either of you try anything funny I’ll pull the trigger. You know I’ve done worse, so don’t test me.”
Joyce’s hands shook as she pulled the end of the plastic tie through the loop to bind Jordan’s hands. Jordan’s skin crawled when Bobby Ray giggled slightly under his breath.
“Do what he says, Joyce,” Jordan whispered. “He didn’t go to all this trouble just to kill me. There’s no need for you to risk your life.”
“She’s right, Joyce,” Bobby Ray whispered in her ear. “I only want my wife back. That’s all I wanted in the first place. I’m going to take you along for a little while to buy myself some time.” He placed the gun in his pocket for the few seconds it took to bind Joyce’s hands with the second tie. “You believe in true love, don’t you, Joyce? Jordan promised to love me for better or for worse and I intend to hold her to that.” The gun was back in his hand. “Now we’re all going to go through the kitchen to the back alley and get into my car. Don’t make a sound. I’ve got nothing to lose any more.”
Bobby Ray instructed Jordan to lie on her stomach on the back floorboards of the Bronco. Then he produced another zip-tie for her feet. He pushed Joyce through the driver’s door and across the console to the passenger seat.
The bump between the floorboards pressed painfully into Jordan’s stomach. After a few minutes, there were no streetlights passing across the windows to illuminate the interior of the car. She was fairly certain they’d left town.
Bobby Ray drove in silence. The only noise came from the car’s stereo. Tears ran down Jordan’s nose as a smile crossed her lips. The song,
When You Walk In
was playing. That was the song Connor had sung while they danced for the first time. She remembered his arms around her and the love in his eyes. She wondered if she’d ever see those eyes again.