CHAPTER ONE
Friday mid-day
Alicia exited her vehicle and caught her thick shoe heel on the uneven road surface, almost planting her face on the ground. She gasped as she grabbed her side view mirror for balance.
“Oh my God,” she hissed out a breath. “I can’t believe I have to come out to this Godforsaken place.”
“What happened?” Stephanie’s voice boomed through the speakerphone.
“I caught my boot heel on this stupid gravel road. I still don't know why he couldn’t buy the Martin property.”
“Because the Martin property cost a small fortune…”
Alicia cut her friend off in mid-sentence. “Well shit.” She watched as the older model truck pulled down the drive. She waved at the handsome but creepy man behind the wheel. “Listen, Stephanie, my client is here…hang on...” Alicia looked up as he walked towards her. She held up her forefinger. “Mr. Bennett give me a sec to finish this call.” She smiled returning to her friend on the phone. “Stephanie, I gotta go. Remember, I’m heading out to San Diego right after I leave here.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot, but I thought the convention started this coming Monday.”
“It does. It goes from Monday to Friday,” she turned her back on Mr. Bennett, “but I may stay through next weekend. I may not. My return flight is scheduled for late Friday. I’ll call you by Thursday and let you know my plans.”
“What hotel are you at?” Stephanie asked.
“I’ll have to call you from the airport. I had a mix-up, I’m not staying at the hotel where the convention is being held. I don’t mind though. My new hotel is near the beach. I’ll call you later with the details. My flight leaves at five pm.”
“Okay, have a great time. Love you.”
The line went dead as Alicia spun around and glanced up to find her client directly in front of her. “I’m sorry, I had to finish a call,” she said taking a small step backward.
“No worries at all. Sounds like you are going on a trip,” David said.
“Yes, I am. I can’t wait either. Going to San Diego for a realtor's convention. Getting out of Illinois for the winter is a great plan.” Alicia glanced around. She stood in front of what amounted to a ramshackle hut. The wood had grayed and cracked from the harsh winters. She assessed the crumbling concrete stairs that would lead her to the decaying structure. They had shifted over time, and at the angle they rested, it was hard to tell if the house or the steps were crooked.
For all she knew the entire structure was sinking into the ground. Alicia glanced over at the new owner of the crappy shack. “Why did you buy this place? I have to know. I showed you so many other properties that were so much better than this.”
David reined in his annoyance with the elf-like creature in front of him. Her shrill voice caused his skin to tingle like an itch that can’t be scratched. “That may be true, but this one kind of spoke to me.”
She frowned. “Well, I wouldn’t want to be this close to Mallard Bay Campground anyway. That place gets crazy in the summertime.”
“But I never have to worry about the campground being sold, and it’s across the Fox River. I know I will never have an annoying neighbor.” He followed Alicia as she led the way to the small front porch.
“You better have those stairs fixed. They look like they’re about to fall apart at any given moment.” Alicia reached for the tattered screen door, glancing back over her shoulder. She yelped taking a step away from him. “Umm, you don’t want someone to sue you when they fall and break an ankle.” She fumbled with the lock box on the door. “I don’t even know why I kept this lock on here. Last time I came out here the lock on the back door broke.” She sighed. “I don’t know why you couldn’t come to my office. I could have saved a trip.” She forced an insincere smile his way.
David hovered watching over her shoulder as her trembling fingers fiddled with the lock. He rolled his eyes behind her back. She spent more time readjusting her oversize bag on her shoulder than she did unlocking the door. David took a long slow breath. He balled his hands into fists. Opening and closing them several times. “I do appreciate you entertaining me and meeting me here. I didn’t want to go into town if I could help it.”
Alicia stepped into the small living room. She crinkled her nose at the makeshift mantle Old Man Winston had put up. “You know, Mr. Bennett, the Martin property had a real fireplace. Not one made of plywood and a potbellied stove.”
David tilted his head. “I don’t think you have the appreciation I do for the value this place has. The potential is limitless.”
“Yes, but I know you have the money. After all, I had to run your credit. I know you’re a frugal guy from the truck you drive, but I can tell you have good taste.” She scrutinized his tailored shirt and expensive hiking boots. “I know you like the better things in life, so I still don't get why you didn’t buy a better house.”
David’s eyes narrowed into slits. “It seems you pay attention.”
“Don’t let my pretty girl looks fool you. I’m smarter than most people like to give a natural blonde credit for.”
David lifted a single eyebrow at her. He cringed at the sound of her cackling hyena laugh. He watched Alicia reach out and drag her finger across the surface of the potbellied stove, scrunching her nose at the black goop that stuck to her fingertip.
Alicia sniffed it and cringed as she vigorously tried to remove the substance by scraping her finger along the edge of the stove. “Oh my God, you are going to be cleaning for a month, to get this place livable.” She wiped the remaining grease like substance on her black leggings. “Do you fish Mr. Bennett?”
David’s eyebrows squished together. “No, I don't fish. Don’t have the patience for it.”
“Hmm, I thought as much. I didn’t get the impression you were a fisherman. Although my friend Stephanie said that’s why you bought the property.”
David sneered at her. “No, I’m more of a bury the body kind of guy.”
Alicia cleared her throat as she eyed the front door. “Ha-ha, that’s funny.”
“Hmm, I didn’t mean it to be funny.” He removed the six-inch blade from its sheathing and held it against his thigh as he took a step towards the mantle and Alicia. He raised the knife over his head, as he stepped closer.
Alicia’s eyes widened; a bellowing scream escaped her lips. She took a step back and caught the heel of her shoe on the raised edge of the tile floor, sending her careening back into the stove. Her hand reached out to catch herself and slid in the black grease that coated its surface. She continued to fall back onto the dirty tile. She landed with a thud, as she watched David’s knife stab the wooden mantle. Alicia exhaled sharply. “What the hell is wrong with you?” She panted as she tried to catch her breath. She looked up to find David’s hand outstretched.
He leered at her as he grabbed her forearm and yanked her off the floor. Once Alicia was back on her feet, David pointed to the mantle. His knife firmly planted in the body of a giant Wolf spider. “I hate spiders.”
Alicia gagged at the blood and guts that seeped from the gaping wound. She glanced around looking for something to wipe black icky goop from her hands. She found some old newspaper on the floor next to the stove. She watched Mr. Bennett out of the corner of her eye as he removed the knife and wiped it clean on his jeans. “That is so gross.”
He smiled devilishly at her. “It's just a little blood.”
She sidestepped him and walked to the lopsided table and chairs by the small kitchenette. “Well, umm, I have a few more papers I need you to sign and here are the keys.” Alicia placed the paperwork and keys on the table. She turned towards him and held out the pen. “As soon as you sign the top two pages, I can get the hell out of here. And leave you and your critters alone.” She nodded towards the mantle.
David still held the knife in his hand. The weighted blade had a serrated edge. It was the perfect instrument for gutting small animals. He smiled at the annoying woman before him. “Alicia, I’m sorry you had to drive all this way. And I’m sorry you’re going to miss your flight.”
Alicia’s eyebrow wrinkled. She glanced at her watch. “Why would I miss my plane? I have about four hours to get to the airport and thank goodness, we are about ninety minutes from O’Hare.”
David took a step closer. He held the knife next to his leg. “You see, Alicia, by your own words, you paid too much attention to who I am. I can’t let you leave now. You may tell someone about me and this place,” he squinted at her, “it seems you may have already done so.”
Alicia took a step back. “Umm, no. No, I haven’t really. I mean, I told the girls in the office, but that’s standard information. I didn’t tell them anything else. I mean, c’mon what’s to tell?” She glanced at the knife in his hand and then back up to his piercing eyes. “Seriously, Mr. Bennett, I should be going.” Her breath came in pants.
David reached out and grabbed her right shoulder. In a quick motion, he jabbed the knife into her flat stomach and yanked it upward. The sharpness of the blade, moved with ease as it ripped through flesh, muscle, and tissue, stopping when the edge hit the base of the sternum. “Sorry Alicia, but you’re not going anywhere.”
Alicia coughed as blood trickled out of her mouth. She placed her hands on the gaping wound trying to hold in her organs. Her intestines and stomach seeped through the opening and her fingers. A gurgling noise escaped just before she fell to the floor.
David watched as the last of her life vanished. He bent down and wiped the blade on her black leggings. “I don’t want that much blood on my pants.” He dumped the contents of Alicia’s purse onto the rickety table. He grabbed her cell phone and left everything until he returned later. He checked his watch and estimated the drive to O’Hare, the time it would take to dump the phone, and then drive to his hotel. He figured it should put him back just in time for dinner.
CHAPTER TWO
Friday evening
Damien’s stomach clenched. He exhaled the breath from his searing lungs. His heart raced, and he swallowed the bile that had inched its way up his throat. He now understood why Gage Price had told him to trust no one with this information. If he shared this with anyone, Damien would never be able to stop him. His eyes widened as he reread the note again. He had no idea how Glenn Rossdale had uncovered what he did before he was so brutally murdered.
Damien,
I’m afraid if you’re reading this, chances are I’m dead. I can only hope you found all my clues and have the Lockharts locked up. It also means Gage Price followed through and gave you the drive, and the one for the FBI too. He had said he would, but I wasn’t so sure if self-preservation would win out.
That’s not why I’m writing this now. While I was looking for the information that would lead to outing James Lockhart for rigging the election, I happened on some other information. I know you have already connected that train platform murder you and your partner covered five years ago, to James Lockhart, and that he hired a hitman to carry out all these murders. Price pulled those files and covered up the evidence, but he couldn’t remove the name of the station victim. That information had already been entered from the medical examiner, so it could not be wiped.
Something about the victim’s name, Kalvin Dale Draper, bothered me. I investigated it. Kalvin Dale Draper was an anagram for David Allen Parker. If that name doesn’t mean that much to you, it should.
By all the records, David Allen Parker ceased to exist at ten years old. I don’t know the name he currently uses, I’m sure he will continue to use variations of his real name. His mother changed their names after a tragic incident. She used the last name of Lindquist. David Arthur Lindquist. David’s mother died a few years ago, and that was as far as I got. Best I can tell, she pulled that name out of a hat. I couldn’t find any matching relatives in either parent’s past.
I tracked David through high school and college. He left USC before graduation, then he disappeared. I established that David went off the grid the same time his father was executed.
Damien, David Allen Parker is George Henry Parker’s son. George is the man who killed Dillon’s family. Because of her testimony, George Parker received the death penalty. I believe David will come after Dillon.
You are going to have to stop him, Damien. If you don’t, Dillon will never be safe.
Glen
Damien reread the note. He held his head in his hands pulling on the ends of his hair. “Merda, figlio di puttana!” Coach slinked in and jumped onto the desk. Damien sighed. “Hey buddy, did I scare you?” The overweight cat nudged his hand until Damien scratched his head. “Okay, already.” Damien rubbed the cat’s soft fur. “How do I hunt down a ghost? Do you know, Coach?” The cat cocked his head to the side before head-butting Damien’s chin. “You are no help.”
Damien grabbed the bottle of whiskey he had left on his desk and poured a glass, he downed it then poured another. He leaned back in his chair and placed Coach on his lap. “Shit,” he said as he picked up his phone. He punched in the speed dial number. “Hey Nicky, how’s it going?”
“Damien, what’s up fratello? How’s Joe?”
“Fat and sassy. He went home yesterday after the news conference. He should be cleared to work by Monday. He may be on light duty until the middle of next week, but he is able to handle his weapon.”
“Good, man, I’m glad to hear he is doing okay.”
“Listen I need a favor.” Damien fidgeted with a pen on his desk.
“Anything for you. What do you need?”
“Is Dillon still using the satellite phone you gave her during the last case with my stalker?”
“Yeah, she is. But we aren’t tracking it. Why? You think she’s cheating on you? She isn’t Camilla, you know?”
“No, I’m not worried about her cheating. But with all this shit going on with the Lockhart case and her contentious relationship with Robert Lockhart, I want you to track her phone. Just to be safe.” Damien cringed. The thickness in the back of his throat made it hard to swallow.
“You know, that’s a good idea. She’s been in the news a lot with this case, same as you and Joe. I’ll have it up and going by this evening.”
“Great. Can you set it up, so I get a copy of the log information? It will keep me from having to bother you when I want to check and make sure she doesn’t have another boyfriend.”
Nicky laughed heartily. “Yeah brother, no problem. I’ll set it to copy you a running log. Where do you want me to send it?”
“Send it to my secure email.” Damien pulled the jump drive from the computer and squeezed it in his hands. “Listen, don’t say anything to Dad or anyone else. And don’t say anything to Dillon. If she finds out I’m tracking her, she’ll kill me. I want to keep her safe.”
“No worries, Damien. I will set the log to stealth. Only you and I will get a copy of the log readings. You need anything else?”
“No. Thanks, Nicky. I love you.”
“Love you, brother. Later.”
Damien laid his phone on the desk. He stared at the jump drive in his hand. He closed his eyes as he tightened his fingers around it. He turned his chair towards the safe, the movement had Coach leaping off his lap in a huff. Damien placed the drive at the back, in a small compartment that wasn’t readily seen. Before he locked the safe, he pulled out a folder and opened it. He had kept the original sketch from the previous case, and now he had a name.
The thickness of his throat constricted more. He inhaled, pushing the breath out through pursed lips. There was no turning back. Planning the murder of another person was something he had never done. But knowing a killer was coming after Dillon made the choice easy. Damien stared at the sketch. He was going to kill David Allen Parker, and send him to Hell with his father.
CHAPTER THREE
Damien bolted up from his chair awakened by the garage alarm. He shook his head clearing the cobwebs. He dragged a hand down his face and glanced at his watch, ten p.m. The garage alarm shut off and he heard the living room door close. Stretching as he rose, he glanced at the safe.
As he exited the office, Dillon walked around the corner with Coach in her arms. Damien scowled at her as he leaned against the wall. “Really?” he asked. “That fat ass is the first thing you always hug when you walk in the door.”
Dillon tried not to giggle, but the dejected look the man shot her was too much. “You’re pathetic. Jealous of a furry cat.” She kissed Coach’s head and set him on the floor then moved towards the handsome Italian. She wrapped her arms around his lean muscled waist and craned her head to gaze into his eyes. Even though Dillon stood around five ten, Damien had about five inches on her. He looked down at her, and she saw the fatigue on his face. “Baby, you look exhausted.”
Damien took her chin in his hand pulling her towards him. He laid his lips on hers. When she pulled away she released her hair from the ponytail, the vanilla citrus scent wafted around him. He inhaled hoping the smell would linger. “Yeah, I’m exhausted. I must have fallen asleep in my chair.”
“Me too. How about we go up and snuggle in bed. I’m too tired to even stand in the shower.”
He led her by the hand, to the master bedroom at the top of the stairs. They undressed and crawled under the covers. It didn’t take long for Coach to make his way to his favorite spot. The cat walked across Damien’s chest. He grunted as the cat put his massive weight on each paw. “Damn, Dillon. You’ve got to stop feeding him three meals at every sitting.”
Dillon chuckled as the cat snuggled in between them. “He isn’t fat. He’s robust. And, he has big bones.”
Damien snorted. “Big bones my ass. He’s a tub of lard.”
As if Coach knew he was being made fun of, he kicked Damien in the ribs.
“Man, he needs to be locked out.” Damien scooted over an inch or so giving the cat more room.
“Don’t you dare lock him out of this bedroom. I can’t sleep without him.” Dillon reached over and caressed Damien’s chest as Coach snuggled closer to her.
“How did your day go?” Damien asked as he blinked his heavy-laden eyes.
Dillon yawned. “Oh man. We tried playing nice with the TV station to get the reporter to relinquish anything he had on the killer and the information he received from him. He held his ground. Until the Director of the FBI called the station. Come to find out the bastard didn’t have anything to speak of, and he knew it all along, he wanted to look important and puff out his chest.”
“You guys didn’t get anything? You’re not any closer to figuring out this guy’s movements?”
“No, not really. The reporter had received the information minutes before the news conference.”
“Do you guys have any leverage to make James Lockhart tell you who he hired? Seems like James would do anything to save his ass.”
“We haven’t gotten far enough into the investigation yet. AD Reynolds and Director Sherman are trying to keep any evidence from tipping off the Lockharts. Everything is on lockdown. Only a handful of us can even interview witnesses.”
Dillon scooted a little closer to Damien before continuing. “SAC Marks is arranging to interview the crew from the plane in the next few days.”
Damien waited for her to finish. He heard light snoring and knew he wouldn’t get anything else tonight. He glanced over at the woman he loved more than life itself. No longer able to keep his eyes open, her beautiful face was the last thing he saw before he drifted off to sleep. As slumber overtook him, he vowed that if it cost him his own life, he would make sure she was safe.
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