Текст книги "Damsel In Danger"

Jason shifted the file folder on his legs and stretched his back and shoulders, careful not to wake the sleeping woman beside him. Brinley had dozed off in the middle of the movie thanks to a couple of pain pills, but as usual he was having trouble falling asleep. To pass the time he’d started examining the file that Lita had found in her apartment. West had retrieved it but with the incident with Brinley yesterday no one had been able to give it much time.

Brinley had started to but she’d been so tired she hadn’t been able to keep her eyes open long enough to make a dent in the paperwork. She’d said it was pretty much a repeat of what they’d already seen.

There were copies of the statements from the police file from all the relevant players – Wendell, Gail, and Damian. When Anita recovered, Jason would have to ask her how they got their hands on these.

There was an interesting drawing that perhaps Anita or Roger had made of the crime scene depicting where the body was located and then another of the surrounding area where Wendell was found by the police, complete with estimated driving times from the house to the lake and back.

Wendell could have easily committed the murder. He had ample opportunity and motive, plus the strange act of recreating his life with Linda – perhaps out of guilt. Love and hate were strong emotions and closely related enough for Wendell to have acted in a frenzy of passion.

That’s what the case came down to. Supposition. Hunches. Theories.

None of that was going to protect Brinley’s life.

He wouldn’t sleep a wink tonight so he might as well go downstairs and make a pot of coffee. He’d spend the hours until morning reviewing every piece of evidence they had. Slowly he levered up from the bed, trying not to shake the mattress although Brinley was deeply asleep and probably wouldn’t stir even if he made a racket. He picked up the file from the bed and tiptoed across the bedroom, cursing when a scrap of paper fell from the folder and fluttered to the floor.

Snatching it up, he made his way downstairs and into the kitchen, starting a pot of coffee and settling at the island. The small piece of paper was still in his hand and he flipped on an overhead light to examine it. The half sheet looked like it had been torn from a yellow legal pad and had a note scratched in black pen. Slipping on his glasses, he was able to make out the words more easily.

Need to talk to D. Barnes and friends.

Cop said alibi seems solid.

Jason read and re-read the note, something he couldn’t put his finger on bugging him, niggling in the back of his brain, the word “seems” jumping out at him. That’s how everyone’s alibi started out. They all seemed plausible. It was up to the investigator to make sure it was bulletproof. Beyond question. At least until the criminal was caught. A shaky alibi didn’t mean someone was guilty, but it also didn’t mean they could be omitted as a suspect either.

Had the cops twenty years ago simply assumed Damian Barnes’s alibi was strong? Because he was a kid? Anita and Roger couldn’t have talked to the investigating officer because he had passed away five years ago, so they could only be working off of the reports.

Jason reached behind him for the police file stacked on the kitchen table and plopped it down, flipping through it looking for Damian’s statement. He’d been at the movies with his friends. That seemed conclusive.

There was that word again.

The detective had a short report where he’d talked to the teenagers and they’d confirmed the four of them had all seen the seven-fifteen Braveheart. It was the film’s opening night and they’d been talking about going for weeks. They’d even waited in line for almost two hours and the theatre had been packed.

Jason had been at college at the time but he and his friends had also gone to see Braveheart on opening night in their own city. He too had waited in line and the theatre had sold out. When it came time to find a place to sit, the group of ten young men had to split up because the seats left were only singles and a few doubles. After the movie, they’d regrouped in the lobby and headed out for pizza and beer.

Son of a bitch. Had anyone bothered to ask those boys if they had all sat together for the entire three hours plus previews? If Damian Barnes had sat separately he would have had plenty of time to slip out, commit the murder, then slip back in to see the end of the film and meet back up with his friends.

Jason needed to talk to those young men and a quick glance at the clock on the wall told him that it would be indecent to phone this late at night. Shit. He’d have to wait until morning. The one decent idea he’d had in days and now he had to sit on his hands for the next seven to eight hours.

Wait. Jared had sent him the current phone numbers and addresses of Damian’s friends. Jason hopped off the bar stool and waded through the files on the kitchen table until he found the right one. A quick check to confirm his memory and he was grinning like an idiot. Fred March had moved out to Hawaii after graduation to manage a hotel.

Adrenaline surged through Jason’s veins and that little voice was telling him this meant something. His gut agreed.

And it was only eight o’clock in the evening in Honolulu.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

‡

“I don’t like this one bit,” groused Jason as he, West, and Jared took up their designated places in Brinley’s home. “She could get hurt.”

“She’s not going to get hurt.” West settled next to Jason in the entryway closet, the door partially open so they had an unobstructed view of the living and dining room. “We walked her in the front door and then snuck her out the back under the cover of darkness and into the garage where Logan is keeping her tucked up and safe until this is all over. Hopefully we won’t have to do this every night for a week.”

They’d already staked out Brinley’s house for the last two nights waiting for Damian Barnes – at least they assumed it was going to be Damian – to show up. After Jason had talked to Damian’s friends from the movie he’d found his hunch was correct. The boys had been forced to separate and Damian had sat near the back, all alone. He’d had plenty of time to leave, shoot his stepmother, and then return to the theatre. The boys had answered the cops’ questions honestly; they simply hadn’t been asked the right question.

Jared had also dug up financial information that gave Damian a clear motive to getting rid of Linda Barnes. She was spending his inheritance and Wendell had changed his will so that if he died Linda would get a cut of the estate right out from under Damian.

Add in the fact that he disappeared a few weeks ago just before Roger Gaines’s murder and he was looking good as a suspect. A murderer who wanted the woman Jason loved dead.

He wasn’t going to allow that to happen which was why they were here hiding in a closet. Damian had been on the run, living a lie for over twenty years and no one close to him seemed to have any idea where he currently was. The best plan they could come up with was to lure him here. If he wanted in the house and he wanted Brinley dead, logic dictated he would eventually show up to take care of what he considered loose ends.

West pressed the button on his ear piece. “Report.”

His brother kept his voice low although there were only the three of them in the darkened house, along with Logan and Brinley in the garage and several cops hidden in a circle around the perimeter. If Barnes showed up they’d be ready for him.

“I’ve got a car coming down Alder Avenue slowly.”

Jason didn’t know which of West’s men was reporting but finally something might be happening. He hadn’t realized he lived in one of the most boring neighborhoods in the entire world until he’d sat back to watch it all night.

“It’s parked and a man is getting out. Wait…now he’s disappeared in between the houses.”

Jason’s heart sped up in his chest and he had to force himself to sit, quiet and controlled. He’d been in this situation enough times to know the drill but then there had never been so much hanging in the balance.

“Okay, this is it. No talking.” West nodded to Jason. “Here we go.”

There was silence except for the sound of the wind chimes on Brinley’s patio moving softly in the slight evening breeze. Jason waited impatiently, his fingers finding the handle of the handgun tucked into his shoulder holster. There was a good chance Barnes was armed. They already knew he was dangerous. He’d killed two people and made attempts on two more. Jason had no expectation that the man would come quietly.

They’d left the front door locked but the large windows in the living room wide open as if Brinley wanted the night air to cool the house. Jason heard a clip-clip sound – possibly Barnes snipping the screens – and then a tall man shrouded in shadow stood in the middle of the room, holding what looked like a gun in one hand and a crowbar in the other. There was just enough moonlight coming through the sheer drapes to highlight the outline but none of his features.

Every muscle in Jason’s body was coiled and ready to spring, the tension in his gut churning up acid into his throat. He waited, never taking his eyes from the figure who simply stood there for the longest time. Perhaps waiting to see if he had woken the lady of the house?

Finally the figure crept up the stairs where Jared was crouched in the hall closet. Jason’s phone lit up with an incoming text.

Went into bedrm.

Jason held his breath, waiting to see what the intruder would do. Once he found Brinley’s bed empty would he leave or would he do what Jason was counting on?

Checkg othr bedrm.

Hopefully Barnes wouldn’t find Jared, although the closet was deep and piled high with boxes. They’d made sure of that. If someone opened the door all they’d see was clutter, not a fully trained and armed ex-lawman.

Comng dwnstrs.

This was the moment he’d been waiting for. Barnes was standing at the bottom of the stairs, paused as if not sure what to do next. He’d come for Brinley but she wasn’t there.

Come on. Come on. Look for it. You know it’s here. This is your chance.

Jason was frozen in place but his heart was beating so loudly he was shocked that it couldn’t be heard blocks away. Sweat had begun to trickle down his back, the lack of air in the small space almost stifling. The seconds stretched and time seemed to stand still as he waited. And waited.

Finally the figure slowly crept into the dining room before shining a small flashlight on the floorboards near the entrance to the kitchen. Jason slowly expelled the breath he’d been holding, relief and exultation flooding him all at the same time. Barnes was kneeling now, using the crowbar to pull up the floorboards. Jason could see him reaching down and then another long pause before the crowbar pulled up a few more boards.

It had been too long since the last time he’d caught a criminal red-handed. But he remembered the rush as if it was only yesterday. How long had it been? Months and months and all because he’d been playing it safe. He’d been doing it with Brinley too, trying to protect himself from being hurt.

He was done with that, here and now. No more tip-toeing through life, half-assing everything. As of this moment he was back and it felt more than good. It felt like the part of him that had been missing for so long. He was finally someone that not only he could respect but that he could ask Brinley to love.

Jason quietly stood and reached around the door, flipping on the overhead lights while West and Jared, who had snuck down the stairs, pointed their guns at the intruder. Bright light filled the room and Jason blinked several times as he directed the muzzle of his handgun right at the surprised man’s chest.

It would soon be all over.

*