After the Evil – A Jake Roberts Novel (Book 1) (27 page)

There, in the middle of the shower floor it’s almost
centered, but not completely. Stooping down, I take out the pencil
I carry for just such occasions. I poke at the cover and find that
one of the two screws that hold the cover in place is missing. It
moves easily pivoting on the other screw. Out of my other pocket
comes my mini-flashlight. One click and the drainpipes illuminated.
I look, as far down as I can, but I don’t see anything. The voice
of an old friend of mine from Jersey echoes in my head. The accent
is heavy and says––
Forgetaboutit
. As I stand and begin to
walk away, something nudges me, my instincts maybe, or possibly my
angel is telling me to probe deeper. It is probably nothing, but I
march back to the drain for another look. If I didn’t, it would
bother me until I did.

My pencil slides the cover back and forth then I
hear it. I
think
I hear it. I slide the cover back and
forth. I hear it again. With every bit of self-control I can
muster, I move it one more time. It tinkles. On the back of my
mini-light is a screwdriver that rotates between a Phillips head
and a straight edge. I use the Phillips end to unfasten the
remaining screw holding the cover and gently lift it up. In the
light from the bathroom window, and my flashlight, I see what looks
like a small charm dangling from a chain. I hold it up to the
light.

On the charm is an engraved name––Emily.

* * *

Logan International was a busy, high-traffic-density
airport. International flights were in and out of there constantly.
It was also one of the airports that a 9-1-1 hijacked aircraft left
from, before flying into one of the World Trade Center towers. The
security camera replay of the hijackers nonchalantly walking
through security was burned into every American’s memory.

Captain Nick Parker touched down smoothly on runway
4R and taxied to his assigned gate at the expansive terminal. He
may have been a lowlife, but the man could fly. It was the last
flight of the day for the crew. They deplaned and piled into the
hotel van that would take them to the Marriott. Megan sat as far
from Parker as she could. They didn’t exchange eye contact the
entire time, although Parker watched for an opening. He spent the
rest of the ride clandestinely eyeing Lori. She could feel it.
Although she had originally agreed to meet with Megan for dinner
Lori cancelled at the last minute claiming fatigue. In fact, she
had other plans. Lori spent the time in the van from the airport to
the hotel trying to come up with an excuse to meet with Parker. By
the time she walked into her hotel room, she was still trying to
come up with something, anything to get to him. As she started to
settle in, the telephone rang. It was Parker. She was disappointed
she simply didn’t rely on his predictability.

Lori knew all too well how to play the role and she
sang her greeting into the phone adding the proper measure of
seductiveness.

“Hello?”

“Lori Powers?”

“Yes?”

She abhorred everything about him, particularly his
voice, but Parker absolutely loved the intoxication of hers. He
quickly shifted into his persistent mode and burrowed ahead not
giving her a chance to speak.

“Hi, it’s Nick, the captain. I didn’t get a chance
to meet you on the aircraft because of the brief turnaround time
and the early boarding. And of course the hotel van was so crowded,
so I thought I’d call and say hello.”

“Well hello, Captain Parker.”

They’re all the same, mommy.

“Anyway I was wondering if you had any plans for the
rest of the evening. I thought it would only be polite to offer
dinner. There’s a restaurant nearby called Legal Seafood. It’s a
great place, the best if you like seafood.”

“I love seafood.”

Lori cooed back. When she was done with him,
he
would be fish food. She laughed to herself when she
pictured the fishhook and line dangling from his mouth.

“I’ll take that as a yes?”

“I’d love to go. Did you get anyone else from the
crew to go with us?”

That was the last thing he wanted, unless he had a
chance to fulfill his fantasy of seducing worldly Lori and baby
Megan, but he knew that was a long shot. He did find it fascinating
he was forsaking the younger, tasty Megan morsel for the somewhat
leftover Lori buffet.

“You’re the first. If you like, I can make you the
last.”

All she had to do was reel him in. She needed to
keep Parker in his room. It would be the appropriate setting to
make him pay for what he had done to Megan. It was the perfect
place for Captain Nicholas Parker to go down in flames.

“That works for me, captain.”

“Nick, please.”

* * *

Mika couldn’t resist asking about Lori. It wasn’t
the time, or place, for such a question, especially when I had in
my hand what I hoped was a solid lead. All three of us were jogging
back to the car. We needed to find out if Thaddeus Abrams knew an
Emily.

Could she have been relative? A mistress?

Mrs. Abrams could answer those three questions. I
have to answer Mika’s.

“I thought I was in love, but I guess I was just in
lost.”

It’s my only answer. It will have to do.

“I don’t know what I was thinking, because I hate to
fly, it’s inherently dangerous. I would have had to deal with all
of the security screenings, wandings, and taking off my shoes. And
that was just to get into her house.”

Harmon and Mika crack up and I escape further
interrogation. Harmon can’t resist the opportunity to skewer
me.

“I thought you told me you were starting to bend to
the left, so you needed a right-handed woman to straighten you
out,” he says.

It sounds like he hasn’t fallen all the way into the
dark hole. He still has his sense of humor.

“I said a right
minded
woman.”

Superior rank, or not, he is going to pay for that
remark in front of Mika later. Right now, the charm is like a
magnet. We pile into the car. Harmon insists on driving. Mika and I
don’t care if he drives. Mika reaches across the front seat, and
asks for the charm, so she can take a closer look at it. I hand it
over. I can see a ray of hope in her eyes as she studies it. I have
a feeling in my gut.

What is it about that name?

Harmon decides to go for the flashing lights, and
siren, as he becomes impatient about getting back to the station to
see what the little jewel reveals. The excitement is growing in
each of us. It’s small, platinum, and hanging on a chain, but it’s
something, after months of nothing. It may very well turn out to be
insignificant, but right now, we are tingling with anticipation.
Mika is first out of the car. I follow Harmon. He is actually
shoving uniforms out of the way. The dash isn’t over until we are
behind the closed doors of Harmon’s office.

He grabs the phone and the file. He punches in Mrs.
Abrams’s number. Each time the telephone rings, the second hand on
the wall clock freezes. No answer.

“Damn it! Where is she, some charity event?”

Harmon is close to exploding. I can tell because he
never swears. Mika is pacing like a caged animal. The feeling we
have something intensifies.

* * *

“Why don’t I meet you in your room after I get
ready?”

She threw out the suggestion and he didn’t hesitate
to agree driven by his basic male urges. As the handset hit the
cradle, Parker did a victory dance. His blood was flooding his
veins so much he decided to pass on the Viagra. He had no idea he
was being stalked like prey.

Parker never imagined it would go so perfect, and it
was throwing off his timing, his entire routine. He stopped dancing
and began to prepare for her arrival. He unpacked the candles, and
the massage oil he brought along on every flight just in case the
opportunity presented itself. He hustled around desperately trying
to create an intimate atmosphere inside the otherwise boring,
conventional hotel room. He reviewed the important memory
items––compliment, be spontaneous and sincere, and savor the
moment.

She’s hot.

Two flights down, Lori’s choice was the mid-thigh
red dress. She had awesome breasts, but there was no doubt in her
mind that Parker was a legman, and her killer legs would keep him
off balance.

Killer legs. How funny.

In any case, she was determined to make the night
one that Nick would remember for the rest of his life, as brief as
that was going to be. A few well-placed sprays of perfume and Lori
wanted to rock.

He’s a bad man, mommy.

Lori cracked open her hotel room door. She heard
Benjamin and Bobby out in the hallway. They were just leaving their
hotel room and heading out to a dance club. She watched them walk
just far enough down the hall to feel safe to hold hands. As soon
as she heard the elevator doors close behind them, she took another
look in both directions to see if it was safe to venture out. It
would be tragic for Megan to see her now. It was fortunate that
Parker’s room was two floors up. Still, getting there unnoticed
would be a challenge. Convinced that the coast was clear, and
prepared for the events of the evening, Lori set out to accomplish
her goal. As she quietly closed the door to her room, she wondered
what Jake would think when he found out that Gates wasn’t, and that
she was, the “Who’s Your Daddy” killer.

She had to put the thought out of her mind. She was
good at that. As strong as her feelings were for Jake, and craving
a normal existence, she knew deep inside it wasn’t possible. She
had to let him go.

You were the one, Jake Roberts.

As she passed, the elevator the doors opened and
startled her. A young couple exited quickly wrapped in a cuddling
embrace. She watched them kiss their way to a room near hers. She
saw Jake’s face on the young man’s and her own face on the girl’s.
Not wanting to attract attention, Lori decided to use the stairs.
Dressed the way she was, she could easily have been mistaken for a
hooker. Holding tightly on to her purse, she climbed the two floors
it took to get to Parker’s room. Inside her purse, she carried only
the minimum tools necessary to accomplish her diabolical task.

Just what do you think you’re doing? How many times
have I told you that you have to plan? You’re going to ruin
everything for us.

Lori did not answer. There was no planning anything,
anymore. She had to do Parker for what he had done to Megan. He
deserved everything he was going to get and more. There wasn’t time
to prepare. The avenging angel was willing to take the chance.

Don’t listen to her, mommy. He hurt me.

“I know baby, mommy knows what to do.”

She whispered, but her voice magnified and echoed in
the hollow stairway. She looked for security cameras. The fire door
to Parker’s floor was all that stood between her and her goal. She
slowly cracked the door open enough to scan the hallway. Seeing it
was clear, she looked for his room number, the one she saw on the
sign-in sheet when they first arrived. Fortune was with her when
she found Parker’s room only a few doors down from the stairway.
That was going to be helpful later when she would have to flee from
the scene of the savage, brutal crime.

* * *

Emily, who is Emily?

It seems like I just heard the name somewhere, but I
can’t place it. The charm holds my complete attention as it dangles
from the chain. It hasn’t been touched by any of us. After I saw it
hanging on the drain cover, I had the presence of mind to preserve
it for analysis. Harmon hangs up the phone.

“Mrs. Abrams said she doesn’t have any relatives,
friends, or associates named Emily.”

Mika suggests a list of possibilities.

“Maybe we’re on another wild goose chase. Maybe it
was there since the place was built.”

“That house, forget the crime scene, is spotless.
There isn’t as much as a toothpick out of place. Someone would
definitely have noticed the loose drain cover if for no other
reason than to get it repaired,” Harmon says.

Full of hope, I agree with him.

“It had to be left there during the commission of
the crime. And I don’t think anyone would have seen it during the
initial investigation, because I only saw it by accident.”

“Did Gates ever mention an Emily?” Mika says.

“Not that I recall. We can read through the
transcripts though and see if he did.”

“What about the car? Did they sweep it like the
bathroom, or should we go tear it apart, too?” Mika says.

“They were pretty thorough, but we can always take
another look. It seems to be a good day for second looks,” Harmon
says.

His huge frame collapses into the high-backed
leather chair behind the mahogany desk that used to be Ed’s.
Something is making my eye twitch and rubbing it only makes it itch
more. The new detective chick knocks on Harmon’s door. Five foot
five, azure eyes and golden-haired Melissa walk in.

“Yeah, what did you find out?” Harmon says.

“No Emily’s mentioned in the transcript, Chief.”

“Thanks Melissa, tell Williams to bring me the other
item we talked about, the, you know, the––”

Harmon’s impatience was getting the best of him.

“The cloth?” she says.

“Yeah, bring it in here, will you?”

She bolted out of the office and headed for the
crime lab. Where she really wanted to be was headed out to the
streets to catch bad guys, but like Ed before him, Harmon felt the
need to protect Melissa a little longer from that.

“What did you want that for?” Mika says.

“There were some questions earlier about the—”

“HOLY SHIT!”

My raised volume unravels both of them.

“What’s wrong with you, man? You scared––”

Harmon stops in mid-sentence. His eyebrows clench as
he reads my face.

“What is it, Jake?”