Checkmate (Caitlin Calloway Mystery Book 2) (39 page)

Val was still feeling the effects of her misspent evening cuddled up with tiny bottles of gin. She hadn’t gotten drunk in a very long time. At least this time she didn’t wake up with anything permanently stenciled on her body. She finally dragged herself out of bed and went back to work on her case files. Since Ricky still had the Do Not Disturb sign latched on his doorknob, she set about wrapping things up. It got late and her stomach was growling, but the thought of eating made her feel queasy. She decided to skip it. Instead, she headed out to Waltham for one of her last chores.

It was chilly by the time she arrived at Maria’s building. When she knocked on her door, she didn’t care if she was waking the older woman up. Val flashed her badge at the peephole when she heard shuffling.

“Deputy?” Maria seemed nervous as she looked up and down the hallway. Her face drooped when she didn’t see anyone else. “You’re alone?”

“Yes.” Val was determined to keep this little get-together as professional as possible.

“I was hoping Cattie was with you. Things didn’t go very well with her, did they?”

“It’s not for me to say. I’m here to inform you that Albert Beaumont has been apprehended.”

“Thank you, God. He’s locked up. You have no idea how worried I’ve been.”

“I have other news. While in custody, he was murdered.” She stopped there, not certain what to say next.

“Oh, my! Was it one of those gangbangers I hear about on the news?”

“No.” Val’s internal voice once again cautioned her to just wrap things up and get out of there.

“Then who?”

She knew she shouldn’t say anything, but she couldn’t stop herself. “It was another inmate. A family member of one of his victims.”

“Someone from Connecticut?”

“No.” Val decided to continue since she had already said far too much. “One of his victims from here.”

“Here? No, that’s not possible. We were married then and there is no way—”

“It’s the truth.” Val had no idea what Maria Gallagher’s reaction was. She didn’t bother to wait for it. She just made her way towards the elevator before heading over to the marshal’s office to finish up her paperwork. In the morning, Mr. Sharkansky would be arraigned. If Calloway’s prediction was true, Val’s work in Bean Town would be over and done with. She could be on the road before lunchtime.

*   *  *

CC pulled into the dilapidated parking lot of what was left of the old Ballard Restaurant and Fish Market. The once popular venue had closed months ago, and the buildings were fully in disrepair. By the look of things, they were going to be torn down. She grabbed her Maglite and began to look around. She circled the block and around the Fox Hill Yacht Club that was just a couple doors down. No sign of Max or his car could be found.

“I swear to God, Max, if you’ve got your fat arse planted on a barstool so you can duck your wife, I’m going to beat the snot out of you.” Something about what was left of the buildings caught her eye, just as blue and white lights lit up the parking lot.

“Great, more fun.” She lowered her flashlight and unclipped her badge from her belt. “Officers,” she said to the two patrolmen.

“Detective.” One of them nodded.

CC squinted in the darkness to see if she recognized him. “Sully, it’s been a long time.” She smiled brightly.

“That it has, CC,” the older police officer said. “What brings you out here? Heard you were tied into the floater they found at the beach the other morning.”

“I knew him. I’m out here because my partner is AWOL and his wife is calling me every ten minutes asking for him. He was supposed to be here looking at a boat.”

“We had a call,” Sully said. “There was an alarm at the car lot across the street. Turned out to be a false alarm. Wrapped it up a while ago. Just to be on the safe side I thought I’d swing back around. Then I noticed your car and someone prowling around.”

“Sorry about that. So nothing hinky at the car lot?”

“Probably just kids. These empty buildings have been busy since they shut down the old restaurant. The old place is coming down completely on Tuesday. We’ve had our share of looters. Mostly kids partying or folks looking for copper piping.”

“See an eighty-seven Buick roaming around?” CC still hoped Max was just laying low until Shirley calmed down. “Black. The plate is PBJ12.”

“I haven’t seen it, but let me call it in,” Sully said while his partner seemed content to lean against the cruiser.

While Sully called in Max’s plates, CC turned her flashlight back on and returned to her superficial search.

“Whatcha’ doing?” The youngster who had been napping against the cruiser suddenly came to life.

“Cool your jets, kid,” Sully told him. “This here is Detective CC Calloway from Boylston. She’ll forget more about being a cop than you’ll ever learn. If she wants to look around an old building, we let her.”

“Thanks, Sully.” CC nodded with appreciation.

“Got nothing on your partner’s plates. Sorry.”

“Do you mind if I go inside? I noticed the door has been pried open.” CC neared what was left of the back of the building.

“Probably looters, like you said, but I just want to make sure before I call it a night.”

“No problem. Covering your partner’s ass is all part of the job.” He directed the last part toward the kid who had returned to his position against the cruiser.

“Is he old enough to shave?” CC whispered to Sully who had grabbed a flashlight and was following her lead.

“I doubt it. The kid’s not gonna make it past his probation, if he doesn’t pull his head out of his ass.”

The battered old door creaked and teetered on its hinges when they pulled it aside. Even with the dim lighting from the flashlights, CC could tell the place had indeed been ransacked for anything and everything that might be of value. She wasn’t filled with confidence when the stairway they walked down buckled beneath them. She doubted Sully felt any more secure than she did. The basement reeked of mold and dust.

CC was thankful when she reached the bottom of the staircase without it caving in. Sully released a terse breath from behind her. The cold darkness along with a stronger stench was making her nauseous.

She shivered as a new scent invaded her senses. She knew the coppery smell anywhere. Blood. She and Sully shone their flashlights wildly across the expansive basement. Her heart leapt when she saw the outline of Max’s battered old trench coat. The same coat he had worn for almost as long as she had known him.

“Max!” She rushed towards the body lying on the dank cement floor.

*   *  *

“Having any luck?” Mills asked Val who was buried with an endless stream of paperwork.

“With?” Val groaned. She felt completely disgusted.

“Beaumont’s partner in crime?”

“I’ve got nothing.”

“We had another call.”

“They don’t know we nabbed him.” Val grinned, finally feeling a small degree of satisfaction. “Or that he’s dead. Did we get anything useful this time?”

“The voice is indistinct as always.” Mills frowned. “Call came in at 1730. We traced it to a payphone at Logan airport.”

“According to Calloway’s theory, we’ll have another body soon.” Val gave a snort, not liking anyone in the Calloway clan at that moment. “She’s probably right. Not that it matters. Feel like taking a trip to the airport? Maybe they have something on tape that will be helpful.”

*   *  *

“Max?” CC placed her fingers against his neck. “Sully, call for a bus. We’ve got a pulse.”

“Thank God.” Sully reached for the microphone attached to his collar. “Officer down. We need a bus, now.”

“Make sure they send him to Boylston General.”

“Kind of far.”

“If it was your partner?” CC defended her actions. Everyone knew that Boylston had a far better reputation than the hospital that was closer.

“BGH, it is.” Sully made it clear that Max was to be transported to Boylston General. “Any clue as to what happened?” He shined his flashlight around the scene.

CC’s nerves were beyond frayed. “Looks like someone clocked him from behind. Look at the nape of his neck.”

“Burn marks? Geez! Just who in the hell have the two of you been pissing off lately?”

“I have no idea.” In her heart, she knew. In all the years she had been wearing a badge, there was only one candidate. She began to search Max. The flashlight teetered while she was performing the task and dialing her cell phone. “Shirley, it’s CC. Get to Boylston General. He’s fine. Nothing but a bad bump on his head. The ambulance is on its way, and we should be there soon.”

“CC?” Shirley tearfully began to say.

“It’s okay. Just ask for Jamie when you get there.” She disconnected the call before she lost control. Her next move was to call Jamie. “His piece is missing,” she said to Sully.

“Son of a bitch.”

Sully was busy calling it in while CC was being connected to her wife. “Jamie, Max has been hurt.”

“My God, where are you?”

“Saugus. The ambulance is on its way.” CC’s chest tightened when she extracted a baggie out of Max’s pocket. “We’re taking him to you. Someone is seriously trying to piss me off.”

“Is he breathing?”

“Yes. But he’s lost a lot of blood. It looks like someone smacked him in the back of his head.”

“Show me on your phone? You remember the button for video?”

“Yeah.” CC fiddled with her phone. “Can you see him?”

“Can you shine more light on the gash?”

“Uh-huh.” CC’s stomach flipped. Somehow she did as Jamie requested. “Can you see?” She gulped and prayed she wasn’t about to throw up.

“That’s not good,” Jamie solemnly said just as the EMTs barreled down the staircase.

“The EMTs are here.”

“Give them your phone, and let me talk to them.”

CC did as she was told. Her body ached as she stood. She turned away. The sight of Max lying face down on the musty cement floor was making her sick.

“I put an all points out on his car and an alert that his gun is missing,” Sully grimly told her. “What did you find in his pocket?”

Reluctantly, CC handed over the bag filled with small amber colored vials.

“Coke?” Sully looked as if he were going to pass out.

“Someone is setting him up.”

“Good thing you came looking for him. No one would have looked down here until Tuesday. That’s if they bothered to check the basement before they began tearing the place down. How do you want to handle this?”

“We’ve got a case where high-grade cocaine was involved. The Feds are working it with us. Play it by the book. I don’t want anyone thinking the wrong thing.”

“You do know how to liven up your weekend. Okay, I’ll bag and tag it, and we’ll connect with your people.”

One of the EMTs handed her phone back and informed her that they were ready to transport Max. She shuddered as she watched the staircase buckle from the weight of the gurney.

“Told him to lose weight,” she couldn’t refrain from saying.

“I’ll be following with lights and siren. His wife will be there by the time you arrive.” She turned her attention to Sully. “I’ll keep you in the loop. If you could do the same, I’d appreciate it.”

“You don’t even need to ask.”

*   *  *

Before the ambulance arrived, Jamie had assembled the best of her team together. “I know we’re all tired, but I need you to focus,” she said. “This is a police matter. Pay attention to anything our patient may say.” Her staff was indeed weary, but they seemed eager to get to work.

Nolan had made the mistake of showing up that evening. Once again he failed to perform any duties other than annoying everyone in the building.

“Dr. Jameson.” He interrupted her while she was listing Max’s vitals off to the doctors. “You seem to be spread pretty thin. Perhaps I should step in on this case?”

“I’ve got this one.” Jamie knew he was only interested because the police were involved. For Nolan, that meant a chance at giving a press conference. “But if you’re eager to work, there’s a woman in bay three that needs an ultrasound.”

“What?”

“Or the little boy in bay five with a fever.”

“But…”

“Doctor, you did say you wanted to help. We have a lot of people who are in need of medical attention, and we have a lot of students who could benefit from your many years of experience. Stella, give Dr. Nolan a chart,” she said before he could voice his objection. “Okay, now back to business. We are awaiting the arrival of a fifty-eight-year-old man. I’ve been in constant contact with the EMTs.”

She continued right up to the moment Max was wheeled through the doors. “On my count, one, two, three.” Her nerves calmed once they had moved Max onto the bed. “CBC, chem-lab. Alvarez, clean and prep his head wound. Where is the portable X-ray?”

“On its way.” Stella stepped right into the fray.

In all the years Jamie had been dealing with the harshness of emergency medicine, nothing had prepared her for working on someone she knew. When CC had called, she had a bad flashback to her mother lying in a hospital bed withering away. Dying from the cancer they had failed to discover until it was too late. Jamie had sat by her bedside feeling helpless. She barked orders at the nurses, doctors, and anyone else that had the misfortune of being around her. She was a doctor. She needed to do something, anything, to make her mother’s suffering stop. Now she found herself responsible for Max’s life. The pressure nearly overwhelmed her.

Jamie took a calming breath and went to work. She tried to pretend that this was a stranger, not the man who had been like a father to her wife. She instructed her team carefully. Stella was there jumping in whenever the pressure got to be too much.

“Good job,” she said with relief. “Get him downstairs for a cat scan. Don’t wait for transport, let’s just get him moving. Thank you, everyone.” She patted Stella on the shoulder. “A moment?”