Deadly Deception (SCVC Taskforce) (34 page)

“The feds never wanted to touch him before because he was Daniel Karsni’s son. I
might
have stretched the truth a bit to my bosses about him being a real threat. They
might
have passed on some of that intel to the Bureau. I have a sweet thing going here. But now you and that asshole showed up. Guess I supplied a little too much believable intel. Someone inside the Bureau decided to check it out.”

“You falsified reports about the guns and teargas? About the snipers?”

“Snipers?” He stepped to her right, forcing her away from the bench of tools. “I never said anything about snipers. Someone else must have made that up. Doesn’t matter. Adam is a threat, even if it’s not with guns. At least he wasn’t a threat with guns until yesterday.”

“Adam didn’t kill Kristine.” Her nerves tingled with dread, but she had to say what she thought. “
You
did. I just can’t figure out why.”

“Me?” He laughed cynically. “It’s sweet you want to protect your bat-shit crazy brother, but I didn’t kill Kristine.” He took a casual step forward, gave her a sad smile. “Look, all I wanted was an easy assignment for once. I got tired of working the streets day in and day out. You know how it is. You never know when the next bullet with your name on it is going to strike.”

Or the next knife
.

Focus
. “You’ve had a tranquil life here with Melanie, haven’t you? Had your fingers in everything from the donations to the security.”

“I like it here. Beats the streets any day.”

“Well, you’re done now.”

He chuckled with disgust. “Yeah, with no crazy cult leader to investigate, my operation is over. But I’m thinking of getting out of police work. Melanie and I…we can continue to run this place together. We’ve got a good thing going. One of the reasons I’d appreciate it if you didn’t let on to the others I’m a cop. They never need to know.”

She didn’t believe his act. He wasn’t a happily-ever-after kind of guy, and either way, he was an unethical cop. “Where are the guns, Jacob?”

He gave her a look of disbelief. “There are
no guns
. Don’t you get it? I made that shit up.”

“What is the truck for?”

“God, you’re dense. Lance told you, we use the truck for hauling stuff.”

“He’s telling the truth.” Thomas—God, he was a sight for sore eyes—stood in the doorway. “The only thing in the truck—today, anyway—are six giant cartons of paper towels and a hundred and forty-four cans of tomato sauce. But there is a nice little homemade shooting range out back. That yours, Jake?”

While happy to see Thomas, Ronni was disappointed in the lack of evidence. There had to be something here. Why would Jacob be delivering something in the middle of the night like on the photos?

She needed to alert Thomas that Jacob was armed. “Why are you carrying a gun?” she asked.

“I always carry it when I leave the farm, and yeah, I might have done a little target practice out back. Big deal. Lance called me to pick him up at four-fucking-a.m., so I strapped on my gun and took my badge. I haven’t been to my room yet to lock them away.”

Thomas gave Ronni a look that said he wasn’t buying Jacob’s story. Then he pulled out his cell phone. She hadn’t heard it ring, but the screen was lit with an incoming call. Thomas continued blocking the door as he answered. “Yo.”

Sounded like a man’s voice, although she couldn’t hear what he was saying.

Thomas quirked an eyebrow, looked at Jacob. “Is that right? The pills in the lithium bottle were placebos?” A pause. “I see. So someone tampered with Adam’s meds.”

He continued to stare down Jacob. Jacob frowned.

“And there was a partial print on the bottle? They matched it already? Wow, that was fast. Yeah, guess my hunch paid off, just not about the gun. Interesting.”

Thomas stealthily shifted into the shack as the voice on the other end spoke again. “Funny coincidence, he’s standing right here. I’m sure he’ll be more cooperative now. Police are on the way? Great. We’ll hold him until they get here.”

He disconnected, casually slid the phone into his pocket.

“What’s going on?” Jacob said.

“I told my boss that Ronni and I suspected you were setting up Adam and asked him to run your prints against any they found on the gun confiscated from the poor guy’s room. Because this is a Southern California Violent Crimes taskforce case, a rush was put on the results—my boss, and my boss’s boss, have a lot of pull with the crime lab. Turns out, the techs couldn’t find any prints on the gun, but they pulled a partial off Adam’s pill bottle. Yours.”

Jacob shrugged, struggling for nonchalance. “I gave the kid his pills all the time. He listened to me better than Mel.”

“But you were giving him placebos. Sugar pills.”

He raised his hands in the air. “Hey, I don’t know anything about pills. If they were placebos, someone else did a number on him.”

Ronni glanced at Thomas. “Dr. Elgin? Melanie said that’s who prescribed them for Adam, but we know Elgin had to be obtaining them illegally.”

“We’ll notify the police and have them talk to him too.” Thomas picked up a hive tool from the bench and slowly tapped it against the side of his leg. Such a subtle thing, and yet, in that moment, it made the hair on the back of Ronni’s neck rise. Thomas was challenging Jacob.

Such an alpha male
.

But Jacob had a gun. A hive tool, while effective in hand-to-hand combat, could do little against a bullet.

Diffuse the tension. Distract Jacob
.

How?

“I don’t know about you two,” Ronni said, channeling Melanie. “But I need caffeine. Let’s head up to the house and I’ll make a pot of coffee. We can sit down and sort all of this out before the police get here.”

Thomas shot her a questioning glance.
He thinks I’ve gone looney.

Maybe she had, but a showdown in the honey house was going to end badly for someone, and she wouldn’t let Thomas risk his life.

Jacob planted his feet, squaring off. His hands brushed back his jacket and settled on his waist, putting his gun in plain sight. “I didn’t fuck with the kid’s meds, and I didn’t kill Kristine. I may have fudged a few reports, but I’m not a cold-blooded killer.”

Thomas stopped rapping his thigh with the hive tool, and instead, spun the end in his hand like a tennis player twirling a racket. “Let’s head up to the house like Ronni said. You can give your statement to the cops when they get here.”

“You can’t tell them about the reports.” Complete indignation. “I’ll be fired.”

First he talked like he wanted to quit and settle down with Melanie. Now he was worried about being fired?

“I’ll lose my insurance. My pension.”

Jacob was dangerous, regardless of his claims. Ronni eased behind him, wishing she had a weapon. He’d backed her away from the bench and all the tools.

Over her shoulder, jars of honey lined the shelves.

“Hand over your gun, Jacob.” Thomas kept the man’s focus on him as Ronni slowly and quietly lifted a jar and held it at the ready. “Cooperate, and I’ll do whatever I can to help you out.”

“You help
me?
” He snorted. “You two have been out to frame me for something since the moment you arrived. I’m not giving you my gun. You’ll probably shoot me and say I tried to kill you.”

Adam wasn’t the only one around here with paranoia. And the burning between Ronni’s shoulder blades was shooting white heat into her arms.
Now or never
.

With one fell swoop, she brought the jar down on Jacob’s head.

The glass shattered upon impact, knocking him off balance. Thomas, ready for the blow, jumped on Jacob before he’d staggered two feet to the left. He kicked Jacob in the side of the knee, buckling his leg and brought an elbow down on the back of his neck.

Jacob fell, honey coating his hair and the back of his coat. Ronni grabbed the twine from the bench and experienced a déjà vu moment from the previous day with Lance.

Thomas put his knee in Jacob’s back. The man ranted and cursed, but the blow to his head kept him unstable enough while Thomas secured his hands behind his back without too much trouble.

He used a foot to flip Jacob over. Then he reached down and removed the gun from its holster.

“You bastard! You’re not framing me for Kristine’s murder!”

Jacob continued to spew accusations and curses. Ronni wiped her hands on a towel, handed it to Thomas.

He grinned at her. “Nice shot.”

“Thanks.”

“Let’s get him to the house. I could use that coffee.”

He stuck Jacob’s gun in his waistband and kissed her over the top of his prone body. Jacob tried to kick Thomas and Thomas planted his heel in the guy’s sternum, cutting off his breath. Jacob contorted and wheezed, but at least he quit yelling.

Each of them grabbed one of Jacob’s arms and hauled him to his feet. He fought, but he was too off balance to do much. They marched him toward the house, past onlookers who were out feeding chickens, milking cows, and preparing breakfast. Eyes widened and a few glared at Thomas and Ronni, but none questioned them. Seemed to Ronni like this was becoming a daily ritual.

By the time they made it to the house, Jacob was regaining his senses and his breath. He tried to run, but Thomas grabbed him and knocked his feet out from under him. He dropped to the ground and refused to move.

“Always the fucking hard way,” Thomas murmured.

Her partner was more muscled than Jacob and far stronger. He lifted the guy by his tethered hands and brought him to his knees. “On your feet, Jacob.”

The man yelped. “Fuck you.”

“You’re not my type, Kemo Sabe.” He jerked Jacob’s arms straight backward, forcing him to stand or dislocate his shoulders. “But then again, you’re not a Lone Ranger type. You’re more of a…”

Thomas glanced at Ronni. “For the first time in possibly forever, I have no movie comparison.”

“How about a biblical one?” she offered. “Judas comes to mind.”

“Huh. You’re right.” He glanced back toward the farm. “By the way, keep an eye out for Adam. He escaped the mental hospital early this morning. He’ll probably turn up here soon.”

“He escaped? In his condition? Was anyone injured?”

“No. They’re not sure how it happened, but he might have had help. Just keep an eye out.” Thomas launched Jacob forward. “Okay, Judas. March.”

Ronni headed toward the house. She shouldn’t enter the crime scene again, but she wanted to gather her things and she really could use some caffeine. It had been another long, mostly sleepless night. But as the coonhound lifted his head and wagged his tail at her approach, Thomas steered Jacob, now yelling at the top of his lungs for Melanie, down the driveway and toward the parked cars—her rental and Melanie’s sedan sat side by side.

“Where are you going?” Ronni called, scratching behind the dog’s ears.

He pointed with his free hand at her rental. “I’m going to wait for the cops out here with Judas. I’ll stick him in the car until they arrive. Bring me some of that coffee, will you?”

She watched him force Jacob into the car. The guy was still putting up a fight, but had lost steam again.
If only I’d found those guns
…

Ronni headed around back to the kitchen door.

Chapter Thirty-six

The smell of brewing coffee sent a wave of calm through Ronni’s nerves, still buzzing with adrenaline. Lance was innocent and Thomas had Jacob in custody. The guns were still MIA, but maybe there really weren’t any guns.

Knowing Adam had escaped the hospital and might be roaming the streets of San Diego wasn’t good news. He’d been through so much, and now this. Someone, thinking they were helping him, had added to his problems and set him free.

As soon as they had things settled with Jacob, she would go looking for him.

Jacob.
Why would he kill Kristine and frame Adam?

The thought circled her brain as she retrieved a clean mug from the dish drainer and willed the coffee maker to hurry up. Jacob had admitted he’d dropped breadcrumbs to his superiors so he could stay undercover on the farm and off the streets. Why blow that and bring heat on the farm by killing Kristine?

He could get rid of Adam, but Adam was his meal ticket in this sense. With Adam gone, how would the cult continue? The people living there weren’t there for the organic farm only. They wanted a religious leader.

Maybe Jacob hadn’t planned on killing Kristine and then had to cover his tracks. Had she discovered his duplicity? The guns? The fact he and/or Dr. Elgin had switched out Adam’s medications?

As soon as the glass pot had half an inch of coffee, Ronni snagged it from the burner. Maybe caffeine would restore her logic and reasoning. The liquid steamed as she poured, and after returning the pot, she raised the cup and blew on the coffee to cool it before taking a sip.

Ahhh.
She closed her eyes and sipped more. Strong. Hot. Delicious. Just the way she liked it.

If the police hadn’t confiscated the scrapbook Adam had in his drawer, she was taking it with her. It still creeped her out, and no one outside the FBI needed to know the classified cases she’d worked on. Jacob had to have a contact inside the Bureau. Tracking the slime bag down was next on her to-do list after she found Adam and checked him back into the hospital.