The secrets they keep, p.24
The Secrets They Keep, page 24
“Did he?”
“Not that I saw. I hadn’t seen or heard from him until my manager told me you were in. I didn’t know he was from Tall Pines, but when I read about his murder at that wedding…”
“Do you have any proof?” Mac asked.
“No, that’s why I shouldn’t even be telling you this,” she said, sniffling. “But I am because I’m leaving. And because Cory deserves justice, and so does his wife. I couldn’t help Ian…but this time…”
“I appreciate you calling, Julie,” Mac said. “Do you know anyone who’d be able to get me some more information? Someone who might know what the deal was exactly between Blaze and Cory?”
“Just Tom. I know they didn’t always meet at the casino. One time I saw Ian, and he told me Blaze asked him to meet him at a laundromat once. He said he went because it was a public place, but the owner closed it down so they could have a talk.”
“Did he say which laun—”
“He had a black eye,” she cried. “Next time I saw him, but he wouldn’t admit it was from Blaze. He was scared. I already told Amherst police this, and they didn’t listen. I hope you do.”
A beep announced the end of the call, and the cell phone screen light went out.
“That’s enough to bring him in,” Mac said.
“And Tom Portman too.” Grace nodded. “I’ll make some calls to the Amherst P.D. and have them send their information on Ian Long’s file as it pertains to Blaze. If she made the report, they must have it on file.”
“I want to pick him up before dinner,” Mac said as Police Chief Banning entered the room. “Hey.” Mac turned around and shook his hand before Grace did.
“Tell me you’ve got the guy,” Banning said.
“We’re close, sir,” Grace said.
“Putting in for an arrest warrant as we speak,” Mac said.
“I’ll let you get to it then.” Banning stepped back toward the door. “The press is hounding me, and our community wants answers. It’s the most salacious story since…” He turned to Grace.
Since the drama my sister and I were involved in last year.
“I want a full report on my desk of your progress, Sheppard.”
I’ll show you I deserve your trust.
“Yes, sir.” Grace nodded before they both went to work. “Mac, you get on the warrant for Blaze and Tom. I’ll look into Ian Long.”
Maybe it’s Blaze, and that’s the answer. He has motive, but so does Brad Hensen. Once we talk to Blaze, I doubt he’ll confess, but maybe he’ll slip up.
I need a break here. I have to prove I can get this done just as well and fast as anyone else here. Even better.
But whatever we do, we have to be right.
Chapter Thirty Two
Madigan made the turn away from the bridge and further along the coast to the city scrapyard, toward an old shortcut.
But I’d go right past The Scorpion. I guess it’s safer during the day. I’m sure no one’s in those abandoned buildings anyway.
She made the turn onto the old road and passed several industrial buildings still in use before riding by the last ones on the road.
They don’t seem so scary during the day.
Still, she changed into high gear, eager to pass the building that gave her chills. Two cars sat in the gravel lot out front where she’d trekked across with Luke the night before.
Black and red cars.
She did a double take.
Luke’s car.
She slowed down and veered off to the side of the road, rolling to a stop by the same chain-link fence in front of the building, but past it on the other side.
They saw him last night. They must have.
She pushed her bike over to the fence, hiding it behind the overgrown brush and setting her helmet down before walking cautiously along the fence toward the lot opening. She grabbed her cell phone, ready to call the police. Before she got there, a loud click echoed through the lot.
Luke’s getting out of his car.
She stopped and peeked through the fence again.
He’s alone.
As he jogged down the gravel path in the rain, he looked around him.
Has he seen me? Why am I hiding? I have to warn him.
He continued jogging around the side of the building, and she ran alongside the fence, crossing the opening to follow him.
Has someone asked him to meet there? Is he about to have his ass handed to him… or is this something else?
She jogged through the rain across the gravel path and stopped by the edge of the first building, sneaking a look around the corner. Luke stood in front of the door with the man Blaze had entered the club with the night before, the man with the shaved head who winked at her. They spoke for a moment before Luke opened the door for him, and they both slipped inside the building.
Luke didn’t look scared, and the man didn’t look angry. Luke hides his emotions easily, but… what if he’s going in there to find out who attacked me? Using his connections to do what he said he wanted to last night…
But why?
She ran to the door, took a deep breath, and opened it slowly. Lit by the overcast sky outside, she could see partially down the empty concrete hallway they walked down the night before as voices echoed to her right.
The door creaks.
She yanked it closed with a whoosh, and it clicked behind her. She exhaled only when the voices continued talking. She crept down the hallway and turned the first corner as the voices got louder.
“I want to know,” Luke said.
“Yeah, well, we’ll see what Blaze says when he gets here.” A deeper voice said.
Blaze is coming. Luke’s in trouble.
She ducked into a room down the hallway, closer to them, and took her cell phone out.
Do I call for the police now? If he’s about to find out the truth, I’ll ruin it. Or do I take a chance and press record?
“I keep my promises. I’ll do what you asked if you tell me,” Luke said.
It’s about me. He’s trying to find out. For me? Or so he can do something about it himself? It won’t matter if they kill him.
“How’d you get into this mess, Luke?” the other guy asked. “I thought you were out.”
“I was.”
Was…
“Did you go running back to Blaze hoping he could help your Ma out?”
“What?”
“You thought he’d pay for more treatments. Is he paying?”
She struggled but couldn’t make out Luke’s response.
This makes no sense…
Staring down at her phone, she hit record.
“You shoulda stayed away,” the deep voice laughed.
“I’ll save the questions for Blaze,” Luke said.
“Damn, and Johnny Boy didn’t suspect a thing, did he? You’re cold.”
After John got him out he went back? For more money?
I should leave. I should go right now, but Blaze is coming.
The thought gave her goosebumps as she leaned her weight back against the wall, trying to calm herself down.
“I did what I had to,” Luke said, “and now I’ve done everything that was asked of me.”
He did what Blaze asked him to do? That doesn’t make sense.
“We’ll see what Blaze says.”
We were less than five feet away from him last night…but they didn’t acknowledge each other.
As if on cue, a creak echoed through the hallway as footsteps slapped against the concrete.
Once he passes me, I should leave. Make a run for it.
“Boss?” the guy asked, and more footsteps came closer to her.
“Yes, Tom, it’s me. Thank God, because you were just standing there, gawking. Hello, Luke.” Blaze stopped in the hallway, just before her room. “You came.”
“I told you I’d finish the job.”
The job… Am I the job?
Her heart raced, trying to make sense of it all as they continued.
“What have you got for me?” Blaze asked.
Luke? Was it Luke who attacked me?
“First,” Luke said, “do you have the cash?”
“You think I’m playing you?” Blaze asked. “Gimme a break, ya jerkoff. I’ve got your money.”
Pulling me to the ground. His weight on top of me.
Crying out into the night…and the sweet smell… I smell it now.
“I did what Mickey wanted,” Luke said.
It was all him… but how could he have been right there with me… and I didn’t know it?
“You know why you’re here. Let’s cut to the chase.”
“Alright, fine, but I think I’ve earned the right to know who it was,” Luke said. “Let me guess… Tommy here?”
Nothing came. No sound. No noise.
Have they seen me?
“Ya got me,” the man with the deep voice chuckled.
“So I was right,” Luke said. “You attacked Madigan.”
It’s the man he’s with? Tom. He winked at me last night… He caused my panic attack…
“Why do you care?” Blaze asked. “Has getting close to her made you soft for her?”
He knows.
Her heart pounded so hard she could barely hear their voices.
“I went to a lot of trouble. I deserve to know who I’m cleaning up after, don’t I? Why her? Why not her sister?”
He’s in on it.
“Because that night you met with John and warned him not to further incriminate the boss, you told me he was worried about the woman detective. That she might see through him about his dealings. If John had already done the damage, we had to control things ourselves. We can’t have an open investigation with the boss as a suspect.”
“So why didn’t you have Tom go after the detective then?” Luke asked. “Her sister.”
“Wasn’t the orders. Orders were to attack her weak spot,” Blaze said. “You ever seen her? She’s like a robot or something, the way she operates. Hurt her, and she’ll just keep coming. Hurt her sister, and she’d know we meant business.”
“Did you mean to kill her?” Luke asked. “Is that why this is all happening?”
Two steps came closer to the door.
“All this is happening because you came in claiming John’s sister,” Blaze said, “or whatever she is to him, was poking her nose where it didn’t belong.”
“You trying to say I fucked up?” Tom asked. “Are you calling me out, Luke?”
After a pause, a rustling came from Luke and Tom’s side of the hallway.
“Hey,” Luke yelled.
“Cut the bullshit questions and tell me,” Blaze said. “Does she know?”
“No.” Luke said in a low voice. “And she’s finished trying to find out.”
“Is that right?” Tom asked, and more shuffling and rustling echoed through the hallway.
“Why is she done?” Blaze asked.
“Because if anyone could have helped her, it would have been me. She doesn’t remember enough from that night. She thinks she could identify the voice, but all you guys walked by, just like you said you would, and she had nothing. Recognized nothing. She was frustrated and told me she had some epiphany. That she was done looking.”
“I don’t believe you,” Blaze said.
A trilling phone ring echoed down the hallway.
“Yeah?” Blaze said. “They’re where? You’ve got to—no—just don’t answer the door. Fine. Fine. I’m on my way. Yeah—tell them.”
“She’s not going to look, man,” Luke said. “I’m not stupid. I know my life depends on whether or not I’m right. That’s why you gotta believe me when I say, she’s got nothing. I want my money.”
“Listen, we’re going to talk more when I get back,” Blaze said.
“Am I just supposed to stay here?” Tom asked.
“You’re both staying put until I get back. Either of you leave, and when I find you—you’re dead. Easy enough to understand, Tom?”
“Yeah.”
Footsteps slapped back down the hall, and then another set followed as Tom asked Blaze a question about where he was going, or when he’d be back, but Madigan couldn’t focus on anything.
I’m trapped here with my attacker and the man who set me up.
Her hands shook as she stared down at her cell phone—still recording.
I have proof.
Now I need to find a way out of here.
“This is a mansion,” Mac muttered as they stepped away from Blaze’s front door.
Curtains dressed the windows, and without a view inside, even with two Hummers in the driveway, Grace couldn’t tell if anyone was home. She turned back to Malone and shook her head as the door cracked open.
“Hello?” A thin, blonde woman stood in a short satin bathrobe just inside the door, squinting at them.
“Ma’am, I’m Detective Grace Sheppard. This is Officer MacIntyre. We have an arrest warrant to bring Blaze in for questioning. Is he here?”
She shook her head and yawned. “But he will be. Soon.”
“Who are you?” Grace asked.
“His girlfriend,” she said sleepily, rubbing at her eyes.
“Did you call him?”
She smiled at Mac. “Is my boyfriend in trouble, Officer?”
She’s on something. Maybe she’s high.
“We’ll wait out here for him,” Mac said, and they walked back down the path to the driveway.
The door clicked behind them, and as they met up with Malone at the curb, a few neighbours from the gated community had come to their windows and front porches.
“If she gave him the heads up, he could be gone,” Malone said. “I think we should be looking in other places. Both of Mickey’s businesses.”
Mac shook his head. “If he’s not coming home, he’s not going there either. We wait. How about Tom Portman?”
Malone nodded and took a step back toward his car, radioing it in.
“He’s got the heads up on this now,” Mac said.
“Even so, we’ve got the evidence now. We have the right to hold him.”
Mac nodded as Malone stepped forward. “Tom Portman’s not home, either.”
“He doesn’t live far from here,” Mac said. “I want that unit to stay there.”
“Helloooo,” the high-pitched voice called to them from the front door, and they turned around. The girlfriend put a cigarette between her lips and snapped the lighter to flame.
“He says he’ll meet you at the station,” she called, the words muffled, before she lit her cigarette and slammed the door.
“He probably doesn’t want a scene here,” Grace said.
“Or he knows we drove all the way here and wants us to drive back. He’s playing with us. Malone? Did you get that?”
Malone’s shoulders drooped as he nodded and grabbed the radio again.
“Change of plans,” he spoke into it. “Blaze is coming in.”
“I want you to stay here,” Mac said, pointing to Malone. “In case he comes back.”
Malone stepped back into his car as Grace and Mac walked toward theirs.
“What if he doesn’t show?” Grace asked before they parted ways.
This could be a trick. All for show so he can get away.
“We’ll figure it out,” Mac said.
We have to.
Tom’s voice echoed down the hallway as the entry door creaked open.
Maybe now’s my chance, but where’s…
The door in front of Madigan squeaked open, and Luke slipped inside. Madigan pressed her hand over her mouth to keep from gasping.
“Madigan,” he whispered. “I know you’re in here.”
She slipped her cell phone in her bag, still on record, and stepped out of the shadows.
“Why?” she asked.
He jumped and swiveled around. “Listen to me, you need to get out of here.”
He’s still pretending to be on my side.
“I heard everything,” she whispered.
He sighed. “Doesn’t mean you know everything. Take a left out of here, then another left, and then a right, straight down the hall and your first right will take you out of here. Never come back. Never share what you heard.”
She shook her head. “You did all this, and now I’m supposed to believe you want to help me? Keep me safe?”
“I did what I had to for my mom, but I didn’t know what he did to you. I swear. John didn’t tell me and neither did Blaze.”
“You sold John out from the beginning,” she hissed.
“I’m not proud of it, but I made my decision then, and I’m living with it now. My mom needed treatment. Experimental treatment. Knowing John was giving info to the cops about Mickey was my way in.”
“And he ordered that guy Tom to attack me.”
Luke nodded.
“It was supposed to be me. They wanted to hurt Grace, and they knew it was through me…”
I was the target. I was followed and attacked on purpose.
“We don’t have time for this. You have to go now.”
She stepped further around him to the door and stuck her hand in her bag, fishing for her can of mace.
I’m not going anywhere with you.
“Hey,” he hissed. “I’m sorry. I know you’ll never forgive me, but if you care at all about staying alive, you won’t tell anyone. You know the truth now. You’ve seen Mickey’s men. You know what they can do…”
“You brought me here last night on purpose. All part of the plan to see if I knew who attacked me. You’re sick. You might think because your cause is noble, the end justifies the means, but now you know what they did to me.”
I let my guard down and confided in you.
“I brought you here because I had to.”
“For the money.”
“Because I needed a way to get us both out of this. I had to tell them I’d test you. That’d I’d see what you knew. After I saw the condition you were in at the park… I knew there was more to it. I didn’t know what they’d done to you, but I got to know you, and you didn’t deserve it. I’m trying to protect us both—”
She peered out the door as Luke reached for her, but before he could get a grip on her, she turned left and started down the dark hallway.
