Alana Candler, Marked for Murder (30 page)

“You ready to go in?” Jaydn asked, knowing she was dreading this stop.

“Yeah. Let’s get it over with.”

When they stepped into the large waiting room, the policeman at the front desk looked at them. “Can I help you folks?”

“Yes, uh . . . this is Alana Candler and she’s here to look at the mug shot of . . .”

“Gene Hollister. Yeah, I know about it. Come on into the administrative office, and I’ll get one of the guys to help you.”

Jaydn and Alana followed him into a large room that had a conference-size table and several desks and computers.

“Have a seat at this table right here. I’ll get one of our officers to bring the mug book out.”

As Alana walked over to the table, a man standing in the doorway of an adjoining room turned around.

“Kent! What are you doing here?”

Kent look surprised to see Alana. “Hey! We’re picking up DNA samples and doing interviews with some of the customers from the Lakeside Hotel.”

Elliott walked out of the room, shook hands with Jaydn, and turned to Alana. “Are you here to look at Hollister’s mug shot?”

Alana nodded.

A uniformed officer came into the room with a large black book and set it on the table.

“How do you do? I’m Officer Randall.” He shook hands with the three men then put the book on the table. “We’ve got the page marked here with an eye witness form.”

Kent walked over to the table and pointed to a man’s face on the right side of the page. “That’s him.”

Alana bent to look closer at the face in the edge of the page then shuddered. “That looks like him. I could only see his eyes, but I remember the scar in his eyebrow, just like this one.”

Elliott walked over to the book. “Are you sure, Alana? We don’t want to accuse the wrong person.”

Kent gave him a sharp look and then pushed the binding down farther so the picture was more visible. Something shiny on Kent’s hand caught Jaydn’s eye. A yellow diamond ring glittered in the sunlight coming in from the open window.

Jaydn tilted his head. He’d seen that ring somewhere before . . . and recently. But where? It planted an uncomfortable knot in his stomach. It was unusual to see a ring that gaudy. Why couldn’t he remember where he’d seen it? It would probably come to him eventually.

Alana leaned over the table and took one more look. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure that looks just like the face I saw . . . at least the part I could see.”

Officer Randall took out a piece of paper and asked Alana to sign it. She signed her name then turned toward Jaydn—her face a pasty white.

“Let’s go now. The kids are waiting.”

As they were making their way to the front of the building, Bo came out of a room filled with lockers. He was followed by another uniformed officer.

“Hey, you guys,” he said. He stopped to shake Jaydn’s hand and smiled at Alana. “How’d the mug shot turn out?”

Alana shivered. “It was him.”

Bo nodded—his face was emotionless. “You could tell with just the eyes, huh? Good job. Gotta run. See you guys later.”

Jaydn put his hand on Alana’s elbow for moral support. “It’s all over now, Alana. Maybe this will help them put Hollister behind bars, and you won’t have to worry about him anymore.”

“If they can find him.” Her voice held a touch of doubt, and Jaydn felt the same way. So far, nothing in this investigation seemed to be falling into place.

SIXTY-ONE

JAYDN DROVE THE WHITE BUICK
into the orphanage parking lot with a heavy heart. He closed his eyes when he saw the address engraved on the plaque on the side of the building.

The numbers matched the ones he gave Steve—the new location for the Bishop Parking Deck.

When Alana got out of the car and began pulling her photography equipment from the trunk, Jaydn pushed redial on his phone and waited for Steve’s secretary to pick up.

“Reynolds and Anthony.”

“Hey, Mattie, this is Jaydn again. Did you ever get in touch with Steve?”

“No, sir, I’m sorry. He doesn’t seem to be answering his phone, or he’s in a place with no service. I left him the message about the property in Bishop, but I don’t know whether he received it or not. I also left a note to have him call you as soon as he can.”

“Thanks, Mattie. Tell him it’s important.”

Jaydn hung up the phone rebuking himself.
This is what happens when you act like a big-time real estate tycoon. Now look at the predicament you’ve got yourself into
.

He got out of the car when Alana slammed the trunk and hurried to help her carry the equipment into the front door of the orphanage. When he stepped inside the doorway, the darkness of the walls made it hard to focus, but what he saw when things began to clear surprised him.

Laughing, shouting, happy children hurried to encircle Alana. She gave each of them a kiss and a hug, and each one hugged her back. Jaydn guessed their ages ranged from about four years old to ten or eleven, and he could tell they were overjoyed to see her.

The sense of belonging and acceptance transformed each little upturned face. They were all talking at once, making it hard to distinguish each conversation, but bits and pieces let him know how much they missed her visit last week.

The smile on her face was so genuine that it astounded him. It seemed to glow like the sunshine. It was obvious she loved children with an all-consuming love, and it was just as plain that the children adored her.

A little blond-headed girl hugged the wall with eyes lowered—far away from the other kids. When Alana saw the shy child, a sigh of kindness escaped her lips, and she rushed to give the slight form a hug and a smile. Carefully, she drew her into the ring with the other children.

Jaydn swallowed and leaned against the wall. One more thing to admire about her—she loved children. His heart was beyond hope.

A short woman in her late fifties came hurrying through the door.

“Now, children, don’t squeeze Miss Alana to death. Give her room to breathe.” The children pulled away for a second, but then they were right back, touching Alana lovingly as if they were afraid she would suddenly be taken from them.

Alana turned to Jaydn. “Jaydn, this is Shirley Hamlin. She and her husband Darrell are the ‘parents’ of all these children. Shirley, this is Jaydn Holbrook, a friend of mine.”

Shirley’s eyes narrowed as she turned to stare at Jaydn. She glared at him.

“Why are you here, Mr. Holbrook?”

Without moving a muscle, Jaydn cringed inwardly. The pointed expression on Shirley Hamlin’s face spoke volumes.

She knew who he was.

He let out a slow breath of air before replacing the flat expression on his face with the strongest smile he could summon.

“Shirley!” Alana seemed shocked. Shirley’s tone was condemning and Jaydn could see Alana was struggling to understand.

“Mr. Holbrook brought me today because I had,” she paused and looked around at the tiny faces watching, “uh . . . a problem last week with my car. He was kind enough to help me haul my photography equipment.”

The frown on Shirley’s face was replaced with suspicion, then an awkward confusion. Hesitation transformed Shirley’s face, but she finally said, “Well, Miss Alana, the kids are sure looking forward to getting their pictures made today, but Darrell and I are working on a water leak upstairs in the girls’ bathroom. We’ll be able to help you later if you’d like to wait,” she glanced at Jaydn’s red face, “until a better time.”

“Nonsense. Jaydn’s happy to help me. That’s what he’s here for. He can help the boys, and I’ll get the girls ready.”

The children suddenly sensed there was a question about having the pictures made and started groaning.

“Now, kids,” Jaydn said, raising a hand to get their attention, “see how quiet you can be, and we’ll see who gets to be the first one in front of the camera.”

Shouts of joy were suddenly replaced by little voices issuing the command, “Shhh . . . shhhh . . .”

Quite suddenly, there was silence.

Alana laughed and looked at Jaydn with a sense of awe. “Wow! Good job!” She smiled. “All right, kids, those of you who are in the third group for pictures line up here in the hall, and we’ll take you into the cafeteria. The rest of you have to wait your turn.”

Jaydn grinned at the mixed sense of happiness in the children’s faces. There was a little pushing and shoving, but for the most part, the ones being left behind knew their time would come.

Shirley reached around the edge of the door to a key rack hanging on the wall. Instead of handing the keys to Jaydn, she stepped across the room and put them into Alana’s hands. “Here’s the keys to the cafeteria, sweetie. Are you sure you don’t want me to come along?”

Jaydn heard the strained note in the older woman’s voice as she stole an annoyed look in his direction. He could tell by her tone that the offer to go with them was not one Shirley liked making.

“We’ll be fine, Shirley.”

They ushered the children out the door and into the long hallway. As they passed one of the large hall windows, Alana froze. The child following her bumped into her and stopped. Alana jumped back from the window and leaned against the wall—her face lost its color. She looked back at Jaydn. He could see fear in her eyes and wondered what was wrong.

“Okay, everyone, sit down on the floor for just a minute while Miss Alana and I discuss the, uh . . . procedures.”

The children groaned but slid down onto the floor.

Two redheaded boys starting shoving each other across the wide hallway until Jaydn grabbed their shirts and planted each one on either side of the line. Giving them each a stern look, he strode purposefully toward Alana.

She pulled him close—not wanting to scare the kids—and whispered, “Jaydn, that’s Martin’s car outside, parked by the curb.”

The memory of Brad’s description of Martin pushing Alana’s head against the wall set his jaw. He crouched low on the floor and peeked out the bottom of the window.

“Call 9-1-1 and then call Brad. Get Shirley to come down and stay with you and the kids. I’m going to slip around the back of the orphanage and see if I can sneak up on him from behind.”

“What?” squeaked Alana. “No, Jaydn! He might have a gun. Please wait for help.”

“I won’t do anything until they get here—just call 9-1-1.

SIXTY-TWO

ALANA DUG HER PHONE OUT
of her purse and dialed 9-1-1 to report Martin as she ushered the children back into the great room of the rambling orphanage. After handing them over to Shirley, she dialed Brad’s number.

“Brad Candler.”

“Brad, Martin’s here at the orphanage.”

“Call 9-1-1. They can be there faster than any of my men.”

“I already did.”

Brad mumbled something to someone with him, then his voice deepened, and his tone implied confidence. “Bo and Kent are right around the corner, Alana. Sit tight. Where’s Strands now?”

Alana slipped back into the hall and peeked through the window at Martin’s car. “Across the street, still sitting in his car.”

“Are you in the building?”

“Yes, but, Brad, Jaydn went around the back of the building to . . . I don’t know what he went to do. He said he was going to sneak up on Martin!”

“It’s okay. Jaydn won’t do anything foolish. Just sit tight. My guys should be there within a minute or two. Stay on the line with me, okay?”

Alana nodded absentmindedly, forgetting he couldn’t see her response. “Brad, how did he know I was here?”

“You’ve never made it a secret that you visit the orphanage sometimes, Alana. He probably just hoped you’d show.”

Alana stole another peek at Martin’s car. It was still sitting in the same spot, but Martin was moving around like he was agitated. When she picked up the sound of a siren in the distance, she realized he must have heard it as well. While she watched, he started the car with a grinding sound and barreled out into the street. She saw Jaydn run from behind the building across the street just as the patrol car came careening beside them. He pointed toward the gray car turning the next corner, and they followed without even slowing.

“He’s running, Brad!”

“I know. I heard Kent’s report on the scanner. They’ll catch him, and then he’ll have some explaining to do.”

At the same time, the city’s cruiser came barreling after them—its siren blaring and lights flashing.

The adrenaline rush left her, and she relaxed. Blowing out a sigh of relief, she spoke into the phone.

“He’s gone, Brad.” Her voice was shaky and distant.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just wish this would end.”

“Maybe it will soon.”

Alana hung up the phone as Shirley and Darrell hurried to her side.

“Are you okay, Alana? We heard sirens outside. Does that mean everything’s okay?”

“Everything’s okay now, Shirley.”

Shirley looked relieved until Jaydn walked into the room, then her expression suddenly turned cold. “I’m glad everything’s okay, sweetie. Come on, Darrell. Let’s go see about the kids.” The expression on her face as she passed Jaydn was wooden.