The Last to Die (23 page)

"What's go-ing on with that car in the ra-vi-ne?" Ca-leb as-ked. "I ho-pe wha-te-ver it is won't hold
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me up for long. I've got a very im-por-tant da-te at two-thirty this af-ter-no-on."

"With Jaz-zy?" Jacob as-ked.

"Yeah, with Jaz-zy."

"When did this co-me abo-ut?"

"Why so cu-ri-o-us, But-ler? I tho-ught you two we-re just fri-ends."

"We are," Jacob rep-li-ed. "And as Jaz-zy's fri-end, I lo-ok out for her."

"I'm Jaz-zy's fri-end, too. Re-mem-ber that." Jacob ba-rely knew McCord, but his gut in-s-tincts war-ned him the-re was mo-re to the man than met the eye. And tho-se sa-me in-s-tincts that had sa-ved his li-fe mo-re than' on-ce when he'd be-en a SE-AL told him he co-uld trust McCord. Jacob cer-ta-inly didn't pos-sess Genny's in-he-ri-ted sixth sen-ses-her gift of sig-ht-but he usu-al-ly gu-es-sed right abo-ut pe-op-le. He had his own kind of sixth sen-se. Li-ke get-ting go-od vi-bes from Dal-las Slo-an when they'd first met. He got tho-se sa-me po-si-ti-ve vi-bes from McCord.

"And you want to be mo-re than fri-ends with Jaz-zy, don't you?"

"I might." McCord's fo-re-he-ad wrin-k-led as he nar-ro-wed his ga-ze. "You got a prob-lem with that?"

"Nope. Not as long as you tre-at her right. Jaz-zy ne-eds a man who'll ap-pre-ci-ate what a spe-ci-al lady she is. And} she's go-ing to ne-ed a man to stand by her wha-te-ver co-mes."

McCord's ga-ze cen-te-red on Jacob's eyes. "What's re-al-ly go-ing on and how is Jaz-zy in-vol-ved?"

"What ma-kes you think-"

"Cut the crap, But-ler. Just lay it on the li-ne for me, will you? You're tal-king in rid-dles."

"Jamie Up-ton's de-ad," Jacob sa-id. "He was mur-de-red so-me-ti-me early this mor-ning. In one of her vi-si-ons, Genny saw the mur-de-rer-a wo-man who fits Jaz-zy's des-c-rip-ti-on-dri-ving a gre-en sports car"-Jacob nod-ded to-ward the ro-ad-"t-hat we're pretty su-re is the sa-me one that was dum-ped in the ra-vi-ne over the-re and set on fi-re."

"Genny thinks Jaz-zy kil-led Jamie?"

"No, Genny be-li-eves a wo-man we-aring a wig to gi-ve her a si-mi-lar to-ok to Jaz-zy-"

"Reve Sor-rell," Ca-leb sa-id. The-re was this wo-man who ca-me to town yes-ter-day who dro-ve a gre-en Jag and lo-oks eno-ugh li-ke Jaz-zy to be-"

"Her twin. Ye-ah, I know. And be-li-eve me, as so-on as I le-ave he-re, Ms. Sor-rell is first on my list of pe-op-le to qu-es-ti-on. But for now I ne-ed to know if you or any of the ot-her re-si-dents aro-und he-re saw an-y-t-hing ear-li-er to-day."

"I can ma-ke it short and swe-et. I didn't see or he-ar an-y-t-hing un-til yo-ur de-puty ca-me po-un-ding on my do-or. I was up most of the night, so I'd plan-ned to sle-ep all mor-ning. And just so
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you know that Jaz-zy has an ali-bi- I was with her un-til ne-arly dawn." 'Jamie was pro-bably kil-led af-ter dawn," Jacob sa-id. "But we fi-gu-re he was with this wo-man most of the night. We think she drug-ged him, then-"J-acob cle-ared his thro-at. "She tor-tu-red him for ho-urs. Cut him up with kni-ves and ra-zor bla-des and used a hot po-ker on him."

Caleb didn't so much as flinch. "Gru-eso-me stuff. I'd say yo-ur lady kil-ler is a re-al sic-ko."

"Yeah, I ag-ree." Jacob glan-ced at the ca-bin. "I ne-ed to qu-es-ti-on the ot-hers. You're free to go."

"Has an-yo-ne told Jaz-zy abo-ut what hap-pe-ned?"

"Genny and Dal-las are pro-bably with her right now."

"I think I'll he-ad on in-to town. Jaz-zy's go-ing to ne-ed all her fri-ends."

Jacob nod-ded, then tur-ned and wal-ked up the steps and on-to the front porch. Ye-ah, his gut in-s-tincts we-re right on the mo-ney abo-ut Ca-leb McCord. He'd be re-al sur-p-ri-sed if the guy didn't co-me thro-ugh for Jaz-zy a hun-d-red per-cent.

Four pe-op-le wa-ited for him in-si-de the ca-bin. Three Wo-men and one man. He re-cog-ni-zed Erin Mer-cer, of co-ur-se. She was a we-althy ama-te-ur ar-tist who'd co-me to li-ve in Che-ro-kee Co-unty over a ye-ar ago. Ru-mor had it that she was Big Jim Up-ton's la-test mis-t-ress. Ru-mor al-so had it that Jamie had be-en snif-fing aro-und her sin-ce his re-turn ho-me this past Janu-ary.

"How do you do," Jacob sa-id as he en-te-red the ca-bin. "I'm She-riff Jacob But-ler and I ap-pre-ci-ate y'all vo-lun-te-ering to co-me he-re and an-s-wer a few qu-es-ti-ons."

"Your de-puty was rat-her myste-ri-o-us," Ms. Mer-cer sa-id. "He told us only that you wan-ted to ask abo-ut a car I that was set afi-re in a ne-arby ra-vi-ne."

"Yes, ma'am, that's right." Jacob glan-ced from per-son to per-son. "Sin-ce y'all are sta-ying in the ca-bins clo-sest to the si-te of the fi-re, I was ho-ping one of you might ha-ve se-en so-met-hing-eit-her the car or so-me-one on fo-ot along the ro-ad."

"I'm af-ra-id I didn't see an-y-t-hing or an-yo-ne," Erin sa-id. "I dro-ve in-to Knox-vil-le last night af-ter din-ner and just ar-ri-ved ho-me less than thirty mi-nu-tes be-fo-re De-puty! Wil-lin-g-ham knoc-ked on my do-or."

"All right. Thank you, Ms. Mer-cer." Jacob tur-ned to the lo-ne man in the ro-om. He had his arm aro-und the yo-ung wo-man who se-emed ter-ri-fi-ed. "And you folks are?" 'Tony and Mandy Lan-dis.

We're he-re on our ho-ney-mo-on. And my wi-fe"-he hug-ged her pro-tec-ti-vely aw-ful-ly up-set abo-ut be-ing qu-es-ti-oned by the she-riff."

Jacob lo-oked re-as-su-ringly at the pretty red-he-ad, who wo-re no ma-ke-up and had her long, auburn ha-ir pul-led back in a pon-y-ta-il. "Mrs. Lan-dis, I'm sorry we had to bot-her you on yo-ur ho-ney-mo-on and even sor-ri-er that be-ing her-ded over he-re has up-set you. All I ne-ed from you folks is to know if you saw or he-ard an-y-t-hing that might help us find the per-son who dum-ped that car off in the ra-vi-ne."

Tony Lan-dis blus-hed pro-fu-sely, and only then did Jacob re-ali-ze that des-pi-te his black fi-ve-o'clock sha-dow and de-ep ba-ri-to-ne vo-ice, the guy pro-bably wasn't a day ol-der than his
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bri-de, who lo-oked abo-ut twenty. If Mandy was in-de-ed his bri-de. Jacob's gu-ess was that the-se two twen-ty-so-met-hing kid§ we-re not Mr. and Mrs.

"We-we didn't see an-y-t-hing. Ho-nest to God, we didn't. We're on our ho-ney-mo-on. You know how that is."

Jacob pat-ted Tony on the back. "Ye-ah, son, I know how that is." Ac-tu-al-ly Jacob didn't know what it was li-ke to be on his ho-ney-mo-on sin-ce he'd ne-ver be-en mar-ri-ed, but he su-re as hell knew what it was li-ke to spend a who-le we-ekend in bed with a lady fri-end. "Why don't you two go on back to yo-ur ca-bin? And thanks for hel-ping us out."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Tony grab-bed Mandy's hand and all but drag-ged her to-ward the do-or.

Jacob then tur-ned to the lo-ne wo-man sit-ting qu-i-etly on the so-fa, her hands res-ting in her lap, her an-k-les cros-sed in a lad-y-li-ke fas-hi-on. Just lo-oking at her, it was dif-fi-cult to jud-ge her age.

She co-uld be eit-her a well-pre-ser-ved fifty or a ro-de-hard-and-put-away-wet thir-ty-fi-ve. Jacob fi-gu-red she was in her mid for-ti-es. For so-me re-ason she lo-oked fa-mi-li-ar, but he co-uldn't pla-ce her.

"Ma'am?"

When she lif-ted her he-ad, he got a go-od lo-ok at her. A re-al pretty lady, with a warm smi-le, big blue eyes, and whi-te-blond ha-ir. "No, I'm af-ra-id I didn't see or he-ar an-y-t-hing eit-her. And I'm ter-ribly sorry that I can't help you." She pa-used for a mo-ment, then as-ked, "The-re must be so-met-hing mo-re go-ing on than just a car set on fi-re for the she-riff him-self to be qu-es-ti-oning to-urists."

"Yes, ma'am, the-re is," Jacob ad-mit-ted. "And you'll he-ar all abo-ut it on the lo-cal news so-on eno-ugh. We've had a mur-der in Che-ro-kee Co-unty this mor-ning. A yo-ung man was kil-led, and we ha-ve re-ason to be-li-eve that the mur-de-rer was dri-ving the car that's bur-ning over yon-der in the ra-vi-ne."

"My Lord! If you know the mur-de-rer was dri-ving that car, then you must ha-ve an eye-wit-ness."

"I'm af-ra-id I'm not at li-berty to say, ma'am. By the way, what is yo-ur na-me?"

"Oh, for-gi-ve me." Her small, de-li-ca-te hand flut-te-red over her chest. "I'm Mar-go Ken-ley. I'm just a to-urist. I ren-ted a ca-bin for a mon-th-long stay."

"Well, Ms. Ken-ley, you've just ma-de it una-ni-mo-us- no one saw an-y-t-hing."

"Sheriff?" Erin Mer-cer sa-id.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Can you tell us who the vic-tim was? Is it so-me-one I might know?"

"As a mat-ter of fact it is. The mur-de-red man was Jamie Up-ton."

Erin gas-ped, her eyes wi-de-ning in shock. "Jamie's de-ad and-and so-me-one kil-led him?"

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"That's right."

"Does Jim-do-es his fa-mily know?"

"Big Jim was with us when we fo-und the body," Jacob sa-id.

"Oh, mercy. Po-or Jim. That boy me-ant the world to him. And to Miss Re-ba, too. They must be de-vas-ta-ted." Te-ars glis-te-ned in Erin Mer-cer's eyes.

Jacob tho-ught Ms. Mer-cer's sur-p-ri-se and te-ars we-re ge-nu-ine. He didn't peg her for the type of wo-man who wo-uld tor-tu-re a man. But then aga-in, he didn't re-al-ly know the lady. Didn't know an-y-t-hing much abo-ut her. "La-di-es, thank you." Jacob tip-ped his Stet-son, then tur-ned and left.

He had anot-her stop to ma-ke be-fo-re he-ading back to his of-fi-ce and star-ting in on the mass of pa-per-work in-vol-ved in a mur-der in-ves-ti-ga-ti-on. May-be it was too much of a co-in-ci-den-ce that Re-ve Sor-rell's car had be-en dri-ven by the kil-ler, that Jamie had ro-man-ced her, and that the lady bo-re a stri-king re-sem-b-lan-ce to Jaz-zy. If so, did that me-an the kil-ler had set up Ms. Sor-rell to ta-ke the fall and not Jaz-zy? Or co-uld it be that the wo-man was as gu-ilty as hell and just hadn't co-ve-red her tracks very well?

Galvin Mac-Na-ir fi-nis-hed his exa-mi-na-ti-on, then re-mo-ved his ste-ri-le glo-ves and sho-ved them in-to a plas-tic sack in his me-di-cal bag. Po-or girl, Gal-vin tho-ught as he glan-ced at La-ura Wil-lis. Small and de-li-ca-te, with an et-he-re-al be-a-uty, she lo-oked li-ke a wo-un-ded an-gel. His he-art went out to her. He knew he sho-uld con-t-rol his emo-ti-ons bet-ter when it ca-me to de-aling with pa-ti-ents, that he sho-uldn't ago-ni-ze over tel-ling this yo-ung wo-man her true con-di-ti-on. His ex-wi-fe Ni-na had on-ce told him that he ca-red too damn much and that fact wo-uld ke-ep him from ever be-ing a suc-ces-sful doc-tor. May-be she'd be-en right. And per-haps the day wo-uld co-me when he co-uld be to-tal-ly obj-ec-ti-ve when it ca-me to de-aling with pa-ti-ents, but he do-ub-ted it. It wasn't in his na-tu-re to doc-tor anot-her hu-man be-ing wit-ho-ut truly ca-ring, wit-ho-ut be-co-ming emo-ti-onal-ly in-vol-ved to so-me deg-ree.

"Would you li-ke for yo-ur mot-her to co-me in now?" Gal-vin tur-ned his back to al-low La-ura so-me pri-vacy whi-le she red-res-sed.

"No. Not yet. I-I want to know if…" She burst in-to fresh te-ars.

Galvin rus-hed to her si-de, sat down on the ed-ge of the bed, and put his arm aro-und La-ura's trem-b-ling sho-ul-ders. "Hush, hush. I pro-mi-se that I'll do ever-y-t-hing m my po-wer to help you. I can't even ima-gi-ne what you're go-ing thro-ugh, lo-sing yo-ur fi-ancé and now… yo-ur pa-rents will be he-re for you. Yo-ur sis-ter. And Big Jim and Miss Re-ba."

Laura lo-oked at him, te-ars glis-te-ning in her eyes. "Am I go-ing to lo-se my baby?"

God, how he ha-ted to tell her the truth, but he co-uldn't lie to her. Su-gar-co-at the truth just a lit-tle, he told him-self. What will it hurt? "The-re's a chan-ce you'll mis-car-ry. You're ble-eding he-avily and… but the-re is al-ways ho-pe. We'll get you to the hos-pi-tal right away and I'll-"

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"No one knows I'm preg-nant. I hadn't even told Jamie." She ma-de a lo-ud cho-king so-und when she gas-ped.

"Laura, I want you to lie back and try to re-lax," Gal-vin told her. "I'm go-ing to call the hos-pi-tal and ma-ke ar-ran-ge-ments. Then I'm go-ing out-si-de"-he nod-ded to the clo-sed bed-ro-om do-or-"and tell yo-ur pa-rents and the Up-tons abo-ut what's hap-pe-ning."

She gras-ped the la-pels of his sports co-at. "Ple-ase, Dr. Mac-Na-ir, sa-ve my baby."

"I'll do ever-y-t-hing hu-manly pos-sib-le." For se-ve-ral mi-nu-tes, he held her in his arms and let her we-ep softly. He lif-ted his hand and ca-res-sed her long, silky ha-ir. When she cal-med so-mew-hat, he eased her down on-to the bed, got up, and wal-ked to the do-or. On-ce out-si-de the bed-ro-om, he was bom-bar-ded by the Wil-lis fa-mily and by Big Jim.

"What's wrong with her?" Ce-cil Wil-lis as-ked, his eyes fil-led with con-cern.

"I want to see her right now," An-d-rea sa-id. Gal-vin's ga-ze scan-ned the gro-up, then ze-ro-ed in on La-ura's mot-her. "La-ura is preg-nant. Pro-bably six or se-ven we-eks. But I'm af-ra-id she's abor-ting the child and the-re isn't a gre-at de-al I can do to pre-vent it." "My God!" Ce-cil gas-ped.

"Yes, I was af-ra-id of this," An-d-rea sa-id. "The mi-nu-te I saw the blo-od, I sus-pec-ted. You see, I've had se-ve-ral mis-car-ri-ages myself."

"You say La-ura is preg-nant." Jim Up-ton ca-me ali-ve with ho-pe.

Galvin ha-ted to be the one to dash that ho-pe, es-pe-ci-al-ly gi-ven the pre-sent set of cir-cum-s-tan-ces, but he co-uldn't al-low the man to be-li-eve that a gre-at-gran-d-c-hild was a pos-si-bi-lity. It wo-uld ta-ke a mi-rac-le to sa-ve La-ura's baby.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Up-ton, but I don't think the-re's any way we can pre-vent La-ura from mis-car-rying."

Chapter 14

Numb, her mind ba-rely fun-c-ti-oning, Jaz-zy sat the-re sta-ring off in-to spa-ce. She had felt so many things at fir-st-gri-ef, fe-ar, an-ger, des-pa-ir-that such a strong res-pon-se, such a com-bi-na-ti-on of fe-elings, had ren-de-red her emo-ti-onal-ly im-po-tent. Men-tal-ly she ac-cep-ted the fact that Jamie Up-ton was de-ad-bru-tal-ly mur-de-red by so-me sa-dis-tic per-son. The tho-ught had re-gis-te-red in her mind, but not in her he-art Only last night she had be-li-eved her-self free of him fo-re-ver. She'd even ce-leb-ra-ted that li-fe-al-te-ring re-ali-za-ti-on. But God in he-aven, she sho-uld ha-ve known that she co-uld ne-ver be free from Jamie. He was li-ke so-me in-cu-rab-le di-se-ase. From ti-me to ti-me, she went in-to re-mis-si-on, but the il-lness do-omed her hap-pi-ness.