The Lady Who Cried Murder (A Mac Faraday Mystery) (20 page)

They all exchanged glances before Mac said, “You went to work for Senator Palazzi a dozen years ago. His wife disappeared over twenty years ago.”

“That’s right,” Cooper said. “She disappeared with her best friend. Palazzi had me move their bodies ten years ago when they decided to build a subdivision on top of an old farm in Virginia where he had buried their bodies. He killed them because he raped the friend and she told his wife. She believed her friend and was going to leave him and tell the media about him being a rapist. So he killed them both and framed some guy he had arrested who had just gotten out of jail.”

Cooper chuckled. “I got it all in both audio and video, in Palazzi’s own words. Samuel Brooks was there in the meeting, too. Plus, I can lead you to their bodies. Is that good enough to get me immunity and protection?”

Every officer and detective in the hotel room gazed at each other in silence, too stunned to form words to respond to the private detective’s news. The only noise in the room was Kevin Cooper’s arrogant laughter.

Mac’s words were very low. “Do you mean to tell us that you not only knew, but got evidence a decade ago, that Senator Harry Palazzi killed his wife and her friend, and framed an innocent man, and you did nothing?” His voice rose in anger. “All these years, over twenty years, an innocent man has been rotting in jail for something he didn’t do while you—a former police officer—did nothing to make it right!”

“If he had, then he wouldn’t have been making all the sweet money he has been making helping Brooks and his powerful political friends who have gotten sweet jobs for life,” Joshua said with sarcasm.

“Yeah,” Cooper said. “I want my lawyer, and I want a deal. Once I get the deal in writing, you’ll have Brooks and Palazzi.”

“Do you have any idea what a reputation you would have gotten if you had turned over this evidence a decade ago?” Mac replied. “You would have put Senator Palazzi away, solved a double homicide, prevented the rapes that Palazzi has committed since then, and freed an innocent man.”

“Do you have any idea how much Brooks and his friends pay me to keep them in power?”

Mac raged. “You were a cop!”

“Hey,” Cooper shrugged, “shit happens. Where’s my deal?”

Afraid of what he would do if he got too close to the private investigator, Mac turned away.

Cameron stepped into his space. “I’ve got an idea that will make us all feel better.” She took the gun that she had taken from the private investigator from out of her waistband. “We’ll shoot him.”

The officers and detectives in the room were uncertain if they should believe her or not. They looked to David for his reaction. He was equally unsure.

Joshua’s smile stretched across his face.

Confident, Cooper laughed. “Yeah. Right.”

Cameron went on. “We know what’s going to happen. We’ll take Cooper to the police station. He’ll call Brooks or another lawyer. Since he knows where all the evidence that we want is, he will refuse to talk until he gets a deal, which he’ll get because that’s the only way we’ll get to Palazzi and Brooks and all of their bottom-sucking friends in Washington. Cooper here is going to get immunity. He will skate and be taken into witness protection where he’ll get a new life without any payback for the slimy existence that he has lived. Meanwhile, all of the women who Palazzi has raped, something he got away with thanks to Cooper’s protection, will continue to suffer for the rest of their
lives.”

She waved Cooper’s gun. “Well, this is our chance, men—our only chance—before the slimy lawyers get their hands on him—”

“Hey!” Joshua interjected.

“No offense meant.”

“None taken,” Joshua replied with a grin.

“As I was saying,” Cameron continued, “This is our only chance to give Cooper here the payback that he deserves. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’ll shoot Cooper dead. Then, we’ll say that when we burst in, Cooper pulled his gun and took a shot at me and I had to kill him in self-defense. If we all say that’s what happened, no one will ever know, and there will be one less slime ball wasting oxygen.”

“We can’t forget to shoot his gun,” Joshua said.

“Of course we’ll do that,” Cameron said. “Do I look stupid? I’ve done this before.”

Seeing the sly grin on Joshua’s face, Mac said, “Sounds good to me.”

“Now we can’t contradict each other,” Cameron said, “but we can’t all tell the same story in the same way. If we all use the same words then they’ll know that we got our stories straight.”

“Now wait a minute,” Cooper objected.

“Shut up, “Cameron ordered.

“I want to shoot him,” Mac said.

“Can I hit him before you shoot him?” Bogie cracked his knuckles. “I want to break his nose.”

David said, “You know, it would be more believable if we had an actual gun fight before we killed him. I think we should shoot out his kneecaps and wound him really good before we actually deliver a kill shot.”

“How about if we make it a big gun fight,” Joshua suggested. “We’ll all get to shoot him.”

“But I get the kill shot,” Mac insisted.

“Then we’re going to need a bigger gun to explain how he was such a big threat that we all had to shoot him,” Cameron said.

“I have a throwaway assault rifle in my cruiser,” David said. “I’ll go get it while you stage the scene.”

“Who wants to shoot out his kneecaps?” Bogie asked.

“You can’t do this!” Cooper struggled while the deputy chief pulled him up to his feet.

“Oh, yes we can,” Cameron said while leaning over to tell him in a low voice. “We have the badges. We can do anything we want.”

“Be a man, Cooper.” Mac cocked his gun. “Shit happens.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Knowing the justice department would quickly accept Kevin Cooper’s offer for a deal in exchange for the evidence he had been collecting for a dozen years, David waited until the private detective had broken into hysterical pleas for mercy before ending their charade of planning to kill him. Even if Cooper didn’t change as a result of thinking he was going to be killed, at least the detectives got their frustration off their chests.

Hours later, armed with arrest warrants, David, Mac, and his officers swooped in on the senator’s mountain home to take him in for questioning about his wife’s disappearance and murder. Senator Harry Palazzi had a seasonal home on Spencer Mountain that provided a view of the whole lake and surrounding mountains.

The house was dark when the cruisers swarmed in from all directions. Mac was hoping that they would wake up the senator. He deserved to be woken up. When no one answered the door, they broke it down and the police poured in with their assault rifles, ready for a fight.

Wanting to see Senator Harry Palazzi’s face when they snapped the cuffs on him, Mac was jogging up the steps behind the police when he heard the lead agent come to the door to tell them, “You need to see this.”

Mac followed David inside. The first thing they noticed when the lights came on was the blood spatters on the walls and doorframes leading into the living room.

Lying in the middle of a blood-soaked rug was the senator, dressed in what had to be a smoking jacket. His body had been mutilated.

“Revenge for one of his attacks?” David asked.

“This one’s still alive!” one of the officers called out from another room.

Expecting to find Bevis, Mac rushed into the den where they found Samuel Brooks lying in the middle of the floor. Like his client, he had been stabbed several times in the chest and stomach.

That he’s still alive could only be a miracle. Mac knelt down next to the man struggling for every breath. “Brooks,” he asked, “who did this?”

“Be-Bevis,” the lawyer gasped out while clutching Mac’s jacket with his blood soaked hand. “He’s crazy.”

“Why?” Mac ignored the EMTs coming in with their first aid equipment. Fearing that Brooks would die before he could give them the whole story, he refused to move.

“Crazy…he found out…Harry had to…ordered Fields killed. Bevis flipped out…said he…he was husband.” Brooks let out a pained gasp. “He thought…money he was paying…he believed it. He thought Fields was his hus…band. Fantasy…thought real.”

The grip on Mac’s jacket loosened. As he stared up into Mac’s face, Samuel Brooks’s eyes filled with fear. His mouth dropped open. In death, he released Mac and his hand dropped down to his side.

“Excuse me, Mr. Faraday,” one of the EMTs ordered him to move so that they could tend to the lawyer.

Mac found David with Cameron and Joshua outside. Afraid of missing Senator Palazzi’s arrest, Joshua had refused medical treatment for the cuts and bruises he had suffered in the fight at the hotel.

“Bevis?” Cameron asked.

“He’s lost it,” Mac said. “Brooks said he killed his father because he thought he killed his husband—he believed Fields was his husband.”

“And killed his father?” Joshua said. “Avenging his husband’s murder. Now he’s killed a man. Remember Cooper said he blamed women for everything.”

“Maybe there was no woman here to blame,” Cameron said.

“No woman here,” Mac said. “He had to strike out upon learning the news. This is a crime of passion. Now that he’s had time to think, what’s he going to do?” When none of them answered, he concluded, “Find a woman to blame.”

As much as she loved Mac and their friends, Archie Monday loved those occasions when she was home alone at Spencer Manor.

Well, on this particular day, she wasn’t really alone.

Irving had just as much attitude as Gnarly. Unlike Gnarly, who was an independent sort, Irving didn’t like being alone. So he had spent the day following Archie while she went from room to room in the huge manor home doing laundry, cooking lunch, stretching out across the sofa while editing a book, and then cooking dinner to eat with Chelsea after Ben had driven her home.

After they had dinner, Chelsea took Molly out for a long walk, which she did every evening. It had become a habit for David to take Gnarly and go walking with them, but on that night, David was out closing the case, and Gnarly was still recovering on a bed Archie had made for him up in the master suite.

After Chelsea had left for her walk with Molly, Archie resumed busying herself. All the while, she was under the penetrating emerald green gaze of the Maine Coon that looked like a giant skunk.

No wonder Joshua Thornton refused to let Cameron leave him alone with Irving in Chester, West Virginia. It’s creepy the way he stares. Does he ever blink?

She finished folding the last load of laundry, which consisted of her Victoria Secret silky lingerie, and took it upstairs with Irving leading the way. In the bedroom, she smiled while placing the intimate clothing away in the walk-in closet and dressing room. Each piece brought back memories of special moments she had shared with Mac.

Life is good. I have been blessed to have him in my life.

When she came out of the closet, she realized Irving was missing. Gnarly was still sacked out in his bed.

Don’t tell me Irving has finally decided to let me out of his sight.

Picking up her clothes basket, she stopped to listen for any sound of the stealthy feline. The house was too quiet.

Maybe it’s because I’m used to hearing a hundred pounds of fur, paws, and teeth getting into everything. Maybe Irving decided to make a lone raid on the kitchen.

Leaving the basket behind, Archie started for the door only to be stopped with a sense of dread. Ben and David’s warning about Bevis had sounded serious.

He wouldn’t be crazy enough to come after me—after that little argument…but his rage was out of proportion—and he is crazy.

She grasped the gun that she had tucked in the pocket of her sweater.
As long as I have the gun close at hand, Bevis won’t show up. If I don’t have it, he surely will.

At the top of the stairs, Archie peered over the bannister down to the foyer and sitting room. “Irving? Are you down there?”

His leaving her side was certainly strange. Irving suffered from separation anxiety, which was why Cameron took him everywhere. When left alone, he would tear up the house. He had only recently adjusted to spending his time with Donny, Joshua’s teenaged son. Not so much with Joshua, though.

Her hand on the gun in her pocket, Archie descended the stairs one at a time while searching for the cat. As big as he was, he certainly would have been hard for her to miss. But then, cats can be quite clever and devious—as evidenced by the kitchen raid.

He must have needed a litter box break.

With a shrug of her shoulders, Archie went into the kitchen.
Time for a snack. How about a delicious chocolate mousse?

She went through the kitchen door and went to the fridge. Yanking it open, she reached in to take out the crystal dessert cup. She felt drool form in her mouth at the sight of the rich creamy chocolaty dessert. Closing the refrigerator door, she went to the silverware drawer and pulled it open to reach in for a spoon. A reflection of movement in the silver tray propped up against the splashboard under the cupboard caught her eye.

Irving, what are you up to?
She turned around to face the skunk cat, only to see Bevis, his eyes wide and red with rage coming at her with a butcher knife poised to thrust into her back.

Her hands full of chocolate mousse and spoon, Archie had no way of grabbing her gun. Her only defense was to duck out of the way of the knife and drop the mousse. She dodged out of the way and ran across the room.

The crystal dessert bowl hit the floor with a shatter and mousse went everywhere.

Bevis lunged forward and the knife plunged into the oak drawer.

In her escape across the room, Archie reached for her gun and turned around. As she was taking the gun out of her pocket and turning, her feet hit the chocolate mouse and she slid across the floor. The gun flew out of her hand.

Catching herself against the kitchen counter on the other side of the room, she stood up and turned around to face her attacker. For the first time, she got a good look at him.

What’s he wearing?

Bevis’ fat, hairless legs were fully exposed up to where the hem of his blue dress covered his butt. If he hadn’t been intent on killing her, Archie would have laughed out loud.

Her delay gave Bevis time to wrestle the knife free from where it was embedded in the wood. He spun around for her to see his heavily made-up face, complete with false eyelashes. The eyelashes were overshadowed by his huge bosom.

“You’ve got to be kidding?” she blurted out.

“Go ahead! Laugh, bitch!” He raised the knife up over his head. “It’s because of you he’s dead! My husband! The love of my life! You’re going to pay!”

Shocked into action, Archie searched for where the gun had fallen.

The assault was launched from the top of the fridge where Irving had been taking a nice nap on the warm appliance. When he landed on top of Bevis’ head, the wig went soaring like a flying carpet.

Archie dove for the gun, only to hit another blob of chocolate mousse that sent her feet out from under her. She landed on her stomach. When her hand hit the gun’s grip, she sent the firearm spinning across the room.

Bevis was still trying to determine what had happened to his wig when Irving bounced off the kitchen counter and landed on top of his head to imbed ten sharp needles into his’ skull. The cat’s high-pitched cry filled Bevis’ ears. Forgetting about the knife, his hands flew to his head in an effort to free the enraged feline that was ripping through his scalp to his skull.

Seeing that the knife was closer, Archie got up onto her knees and crawled toward the weapon. All the while, she was aware of the fat man in the blue dress whirling around in the kitchen while grappling with the black and white cat who was holding on for all it was worth. When his feet hit the chocolate mousse, Bevis slipped and landed on the kitchen table. Chairs fell over, which caused him to tumble to the floor. His dress flew up to reveal his bare bottom. His eyes filled with blood, he groped about to climb up onto his knees.

Still, Irving refused to stop in his attack.

Cursing, Bevis grabbed the cat, ripped him from his head, and hurled him away.

Irving bounced off the table and on to the floor.

Spotting the knife block, Bevis replaced his weapon. Seeing his blood-covered hand, he felt his face and learned that it was coated with his own blood.

Directly below him, Archie, still on her hands and knees, grabbed the fallen knife.

“You bitch!” Bevis screamed in rage, “Look at what you did to me! I’m going to make you pay!”

Archie rolled over onto her butt and thrust out the knife to him. “Bring it on!” She was at a disadvantage with him standing over her, but she couldn’t risk taking her eyes off him to climb up to her feet.

Refusing to back down, the cat jumped up onto the table and hissed at him as if to say, “That makes two of us.”

“You have no idea who you’re messing with! I’ll show you who’s boss!” Bevis raised the knife and lunged forward.

He was so enraged that he didn’t hear the gunshot that tore through his lower back at a downward angle, ripping out his testicles and penis. Bevis’ bloody body parts splattered over Archie. The bullet ricocheted off the granite floor between her legs and hit the wall.

With one hand, she wiped the blood from her eyes while holding up the knife to defend herself.

Stunned, Bevis looked down at his mutilated lower body. With a roar, he raised his knife and stumbled forward, but he only made it one step before a second bullet tore through his midsection.

This bullet flew over Archie’s head to ricochet off the refrigerator. It shattered the cookie jar on the kitchen counter. Ginger snaps went flying everywhere. Irving leapt from the table onto the kitchen counter.

Archie ducked to avoid the second shower of blood and body tissue. Luckily, she was able to scurry away before Bevis collapsed onto the floor. Any chance of survival was thwarted when he landed on top of his knife.

Expecting to find Mac waiting for her, Archie stood up to find Chelsea standing in the kitchen doorway, Archie’s gun in her hand. Her naturally pale face was white. Her hands were shaking. Tears seeped into her eyes.

Molly had scurried under the breakfast table with her tail between her legs.

“Chelsea?” Slowly, Archie moved toward her. She spoke softly. “It’s okay, Chelsea.” She held out her hand to her. “Give me the gun.”

“Is he dead?” she whispered. “Archie, did I kill him?”

“I believe so.” Gently, Archie took the gun from her hand.

“I had to do it,” Chelsea repeated what David had told her. “I didn’t want to, but there was no other way. He left me no choice.”

“That’s right.” She took her trembling friend into her arms. “He left you no choice.”

Ready to fire again, Archie approached the still body to ensure that the threat was over. His head looked like it had been through a blender.

Definitely a closed casket funeral for you, Bevis Palazzi.

Once again, the manor was filled with silence…except for the sound of Irving helping himself to the ginger snaps on the kitchen counter. Archie went over to pet the cat, who welcomed her touch on his head. “You’re not such a bad cat after all.”

The buzz of her cell phone startled her so much that Archie jumped with her gun ready to take on the next attack. She saw by the ID that it was Mac. “Hello, hon…”

“Archie, the state police are coming out to the manor.” Mac’s voice was filled with worried. “Is everything okay there? Bevis—“

“I know,” she interrupted him.

“Are you and Chelsea okay?”

“Oh, Mac, there’s blood and chocolate mousse everywhere.” She looked at Bevis Palazzi’s body bleeding out across the kitchen floor. His blood was mixing with the chocolate mousse to make a grotesque-looking ooze. “I’m going to have to clean up the kitchen again.”