Murder Stalks (35 page)

A knock sounded on the door, giving Rex no
time to answer. Sally poked her head in the room. “Detective Hague,
I have the information you asked for.”

“
I’ll be back in a bit,”
he told Tony. “For now, just hang tight.”

“
Don’t forget, Marissa is
out there. Don’t let her die because your pride’s caught up in
pinning this on me.”

Rex turned back towards Tony. Splotches of
red marred his complexion, and the fire in his eyes gave Tony hope
that Rex would send someone out looking for his wife. “If you think
for one minute that I like seeing you in here being reamed, then
you don’t deserve to call me friend. Fuck, I care about her too,
and I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”

Tony slumped down in the chair and curled
his body over the table. The cold, solid surface felt good against
his skin. He breathed in deep breaths, calming the fire burning
inside. He couldn’t muscle his way out of the interrogation room.
He knew that from experience. A few detainees had tried when he was
on the other end working a case. None of them succeeded. The
station was filled with cops, and cops had guns. He would stand a
better chance begging his way out.

****

Marissa’s head lolled forward and she caught
herself. Her thoughts were foggy, and she was surprised to find the
movie was almost over. Had she fallen asleep. More than an hour had
passed. She took another swig from the bottle of water, hoping to
clear her mind.

She needed to move around, needed some air.
Marissa stood, but her legs felt like licorice whips. She tumbled
forward but could do nothing to stop her fall. Michael shot to his
feet and caught her before she hit to the floor.

“
Going somewhere?” Michael
asked as he paused the movie.

“
I’m so tired,” Marissa
said. Nausea clawed at her stomach, threatening to spill its
contents. Suddenly she was in Michael’s arms, go where, she didn’t
know.

She closed her eyes, hoping to stop the
rolling of her stomach. “I want to go home.”

“
Not yet,” Michael said as
he laid her gently on Ally’s bed.

“
Are you okay?” Ally’s
concerned voice seemed to come from somewhere far away.

Marissa opened her eyes to see Ally above
her. She fought to stay awake, but couldn’t. Exhaustion pulled her
down, forcing her eyes to close. She didn’t want to stay but was
helpless against the tiredness that filled her. Fear raced through
her. This wasn’t normal, something was wrong with her body. Oh God,
what if something was wrong with her baby?

Chapter 39

“
Ally was working on two
of the nights when the women were murdered. There is no way
possible she’s our killer,” Rex said.

“
How late could she have
been working?” Tony asked, not believing Ally could be cleared this
easily.

“
Midnight. The club stays
open until midnight, and she had a client on two of those nights
who came in late.”

“
We don’t even have an
exact time of death on any of the murders,” Tony
countered.

“
No we don’t, but we do
have an exact time on the attempt on Marissa. Ally was busy with a
client that night.”

“
There has to be some
explanation. Maybe Spade missed something.”

“
He didn’t miss anything,
you jumped to conclusions,” Rex said, rubbing his eyes. Everyone
looked drained and spent. This investigation was taking its toll on
the police. No one was exempt from its weight.

“
Have you found Marissa?”
Defeat sucked at Tony’s spirit. Marissa was out there alone, had
been all day. A shiver snaked down his spine. What would happen to
her if the killer got to her first?

“
Not yet.”

“
Why not? It’s been six
hours. Do you at least have officers canvassing the streets?” Tony
stood and moved around the table, not caring that he was the one
being held.

“
Of course, but Ally moved
recently and didn’t leave a forwarding address. I don’t even know
where to look.”

“
Shit, we have to find
her. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“
I’ve tried Marissa’s cell
phone three times and each time it just rolls to voice mail. What
have we missed on this case? There has to be something we didn’t
see.” Worry lines wrinkled Rex’s brow, frustration evident in his
stance.

“
Let me out of here. I can
help you.” Tony laid his hand on Rex’s shoulder, trying to impress
upon his friend how worried he was.

“
You can’t help us. The
chief doesn’t think it’s wise to bring you back to your old job
yet. He thinks you might have a breakdown.”

“
What?”

“
The stress from finding a
dead body in your bed.”

“
I survived my daughter’s
death without a breakdown. I think I can handle the rest of this
shit. You need to check out Allison Underwood.”

“
This Allison girl, she
isn’t the killer.”

“
Fine, let’s say she isn’t
the killer, what if she’s next on the killer’s list? What if he
isn’t just exacting revenge on me, but she’s part of his plan too?
Her last name starts with ‘U’.” Tony heard his voice rising, but he
couldn’t help himself.

“
What does that have to do
with anything?”

Tony purposely lowered his volume, speaking
slowly so Rex wouldn’t miss anything. “Longfellow, Ingles, Fink,
Enzer, and then Santos. But he failed so he took Samantha Chambers.
You remember what Marissa and I told you, that we think the killer
is spelling out ‘life sucks’? Allison is the ‘U’.”

Sally popped open the door, worry bunching
her brow. “No one knows where Michael is.”

“
Is he off duty?” Rex
asked.

“
No sir, he’s not
answering his phone or his radio,” Sally replied.

“
Did you check his home?”
Tony asked.

Sally’s gaze shot to his then back to Rex.
“Yep, no one home.”

“
Get the gals down in
dispatch to ping his GPS locator.”

“
Already did. His cruiser
is parked in the lot out back,” Sally said.

“
Rex, come on. Let me out
of here. We’re wasting time standing around,” Tony pleaded. Every
moment Marissa was out there without protection left her open to
attack. He wouldn’t be able to survive if she was
murdered.

Chapter 40

Janice stepped behind Sally, opening the
door further. “Rex, you have a call. It’s Spade.”

“
Let me come with you. We
need to work on this together,” Tony begged.

“
Fine, just stick with
me.”

Tony followed Rex to the bank of phones. It
felt good to be free from the small interrogation room, but he
wasn’t really free. He still had to stay right with Rex.

“
Hague here. I’m putting
you on speaker, Tony’s with me.”

“
Rex, Tony, I have a file
I’m sending to you. It’s a picture of Andrew Carson. Mr. Carson
grew up in the same orphanage where Tony was housed.”

“
Do you recognize the
guy?” Rex asked.

“
No, I don’t think I’ve
ever seen him. He’s your typical jock type though. Big, strong,
muscles bulging everywhere.”

“
What’s the deal with
him?” Tony asked.

“
He faked his own death.
Had someone call in to get the corner to issue a death certificate.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a hunch, but something made my gut
twinge about him. It’s a loose end and you know how FBI guys don’t
like loose ends. You should have the file.”

“
Thanks Jackson, I’ll call
and tell you if we find this guy running about Juniper.”

“
Rex, wait,” Jackson
said.

“
Yeah?”

“
I’ve just received
notification that Mr. Carson’s fingerprints are a match. They
belong to--”

“
Oh shit,” Rex
yelled.

“
Rex, what’s wrong?” Spade
asked.

“
It’s Rains, Michael
Rains.”

Tony sunk into the chair beside the fax
machine. They’d been hand feeding the enemy all the information he
needed to jerk them around. Fuck. Marissa was in more danger than
she knew, and Ally too.

“
That’s the match I got on
these prints.” Jackson’s voice range out over the speaker
phone.

“
Shit, shit, shit. This
isn’t good. Damn it,” Rex said and hung up the phone, cutting off
whatever else Spade was going to say.

Tony ran to the war room. He skidded around
the corner, knocking a pile of paper off of the table near the
door.

“
It’s Michael Rains.”
Tony’s voice cracked.

“
What are you talking
about?” Randall demanded.

“
The killer is Michael
Rains. His real name is Andrew Carson.”

A chill shot down Tony’s spine. His insides
turned, and a cold sweat broke out across his face. The connection
clicked at that instant. He now remembered Andrew Carson. Andrew
was Wuss. Life sucks. That’s what Wuss had said to him when he’d
had him down on the ground. When Wuss had rubbed it in that he was
going to live with a new family and that Tony was still stuck at
the boys’ home. He’d been an ass to Wuss and he’d paid for it as a
boy. Only that had been small time, now Andrew was out for blood
and wouldn’t stop until he destroyed Tony.

“
Where the hell is Rains?”
Randall shouted.

“
Marissa, oh God, she’s
with Allison. Allison is Michael’s girlfriend,” Tony said. “Rex, we
need access to the utility company’s information.”

“
I want every officer in
the building in this room now,” Randall shouted.

Tony saw Janice pass by the door and he
hollered out her name. She poked her head around the corner, her
eyebrows raised. “I need you to go get a warrant so we can access
the utility company’s information. We need the address for Allison
Underwood. She moved recently. No one knows where she lives.”

“
The judge is going to ask
why her and why this late.”

“
Michael Rains is the
killer and Allison is his girlfriend,” Tony explained as he cleared
one whiteboard of information. He grabbed for a Dry Erase marker
and started jotting down notes for everyone to see. On the top of
his list was Michael Rains = suspect, real name = Andrew
Carson.

“
You are shitting me?
Michael is the killer?” Janice asked in bewilderment.

“
Consider him armed and
dangerous.” Tony stood on a chair and surveyed the war room. The
place had lost any sense of order. Papers were pushed off tables,
littering the floor below. People were running in and out; fear
turned each face into a caricature. One of their own was a
murderer. The worst thing that could possibly happen was
happening.

Tony put his fingers to his lips and let out
a piercing whistle. All motion and talking stopped and their
attention focused on Tony.

“
Here’s what we are going
to do. Every door to this facility will be guarded. If you see
Michael Rains, consider him armed and dangerous. Shoot to kill, ask
questions later. He may have one, maybe two hostages. He has killed
at least five women, maybe more. Do not underestimate him. Sally, I
want you to go to dispatch and have them call every officer who is
not currently on the clock and get them in here for instructions.
None of this goes out on the police radio. Cell phone communication
only.”

“
Yes sir,” Sally
said.

Tony searched the crowd, spying his target.
“Dickey Farris.”

“
Yes sir.”

“
Dickey, I want you to be
in charge of canvassing the neighborhoods. We have twenty officers
on duty right now. Draw a grid on the map so teams of two are
working together to cover the entire town. We don’t have any idea
where Allison Underwood lives. I think Michael has both Marissa and
Ally as hostages.”

“
Do you think he acted
alone in all of this?” The question was shouted from the back of
the room and people started mumbling before Tony could
answer.

“
I have no idea.” Tony’s
voice rose over the noise. “Assume his girlfriend, Allison
Underwood, will back him up. However, she may be a
hostage.”

“
Too many people on duty.
We need to operate on a secure channel or we’ll never be able to
keep up with the communication,” Randall said.

“
Fine, I want everyone on
secured channel eight.”

Rex’s voice rose up, “Tony, I have the
utility company on the phone. They have the records in front of
them and will release them as soon as we have a warrant.”

Rex held his hand over the receiver, his
gaze connected with Tony’s. Both of them knew what was at stake.
Marissa was only eight weeks pregnant. She could easily lose the
baby if Michael did something to her.

“
Where’s Janice?” Tony
asked.

Janice poked her head in the room, a smile
stretched across her face. “I’m on the phone to the judge. Lucky
for us he’s working late. He understands the situation and wants us
to visit him in his chambers now.”

“
Rex, go with Janice and
get the warrant.”

Tony spent the next ten minutes engrossed in
organizing their efforts. He looked out the window at one point and
noticed the sun was low in the sky. Soon it would be dark, making
it difficult to spot Marissa’s car. He had a few officers
researching Andrew Carson and his alias, Michael Rains. Every move
was purposeful, made to achieve their goal of catching Michael and
finding Marissa.