Deception with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Two) (14 page)

“Well the officers that were there couldn’t seem to stop talking about it to the coach of the department boxing team, and he approached me about joining. I figured it would be fun,” he explained.

She reached up and grabbed his chin to get a better look. “Well, I would hate to see the other guy. You should put some ice on it, it’s starting to swell.”

“I’ll be okay. He only got one punch in before I knocked him out.”

She ran her thumb over it one last time before returning her attention to her drink. “So, who were y’all fighting?”

“The construction workers,” he said almost in a nervous tone, though Rilynne couldn’t think why. She was about to ask him when she got her answer.

She was in a ring surrounded by close to two hundred cheering fans. In the corner just behind her she could see Thomas LaShad, a handsome, muscular detective from her unit. He was saying something that she couldn’t make out above the crowd.

There was a loud ding and she turned to face the opposite side of the ring. The man she saw in front of her was wearing yellow shorts and a look of pure contempt.

“Let’s see what sweet Rilynne thinks when she hears how I’m going to destroy you tonight,” he said. “I bet she’ll be in my arms by the end of the week.”

She could feel the anger building inside of her.

She had just made out the man’s face when his gloved fist landed on her lip. He smiled and raised his arm again to deliver another, but before he could move, her left fist connected with his cheek, immediately followed by her right one hitting his eye.

The smile seemed to be frozen on his face when his unconscious body hit the floor. She was overcome with a sense of satisfaction and glee.

“You were saying?”

“My neighbor’s a construction worker,” Rilynne said shortly, thinking back to the face in her mind.

“Yeah,” Ben said on a long, low breath. He wouldn’t meet her eye.

Rilynne was overcome by several different emotions all at once. Not knowing exactly how to feel, she finished her drink and stood up. “I’m going to head home. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

He threw money down on the bar and followed her out. “Rilynne, wait,” he said, catching up to her.

“Were you going to tell me, or was I going to find out when Joe said something, or just started avoiding me?” She couldn’t even explain to herself why she was so angry, but she was. “You know, you’re starting to make a habit of knocking out men who talk about me.”

“It was a boxing match,” he started to sound flustered. “The whole point of it is to hit people. It’s not like I sought him out looking for an altercation. And when have I ever knocked anyone else out for talking about you?”

She didn’t even slow to think before she answered. “How about Officer Ross?”

He stopped abruptly. “What? How…?” She stopped and turned to face him.

“How’d I know?” she asked in response to him dumfounded expression. “How did I know he made a comment about me to you and you responded by clocking him?” She stepped toward him. “And that’s why he thought you could be a serial killer. That’s why you have this,” she said as she reached up to the scar that was just visible in the hairline above his left eye. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out about it?” She was just a foot from him when she stopped. She knew that she shouldn’t have brought it up, but she couldn’t help herself.

Ben didn’t seem to know how to respond. The expression on his face was somewhere between bewilderment and concern. He opened his mouth several times to speak, but didn’t manage to get a word out.

In between the waves of anger she was feeling, she was hit by something else, heat. Rilynne could feel the fire rising in her cheeks. As her breathing grew rapid she added, “I’m going home.” She turned before he could respond and stepped into the street.

“Rilynne!” he yelled as he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up against him just as a passing car sped over the exact spot where her feet had been.

She could feel his chest rising rapidly against hers. With the hand that was free, he ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it gently away from his face. “Are you okay?” he asked, looking deep into her blue eyes. She felt all of her anger melt quickly away. “I didn’t hurt you?”

She just shook her head, not moving her gaze from his. Her chest tightened as she felt his hand leave her hair and slide gently down to her waist. Her mouth opened slightly to let out her increasingly rapid breath. His gaze swept across her face before landing on her lips. She could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks, but she didn’t care as his head dipped ever so slightly and she felt her own chin rise.

A wall of water suddenly flew over them as a passing car sped through a standing puddle a few feet away. Ben let out a shocked laugh as he released his hold on Rilynne and stepped back. “Where are you parked?” he asked shaking off the water.

“I, err…” she hesitated. “I ran in this morning. I was just going to walk home.”

He rolled his eyes and took her by the arm. “I’m just over here.”

Nether of them spoke again until the car stopped in front of her house.

“I’m sorry,” Ben said, looking down at the steering wheel. “I would love to be able to say that they had done horrible acts which prompted me to want to clobber them, but I can’t.”

“No, I’m sorry,” she turned to face him. “I overreacted, and I honestly don’t even know why. Ross is an idiot and deserved to be clocked, and it’s not like you requested to be paired against Joe just so you could hit him. Besides, I’m sure you did the department proud.”

Ben let out a low chuckle. “Actually, he requested the match. It would appear that you’ve made quite the impression on him.”

Rilynne couldn’t think of anything else to do but laugh.

D
ing, Ding. Rilynne was standing in the middle of a boxing ring, surrounded by thousands of cardboard spectators that appeared to be straight out of the fifties. In the corner to her left there was a masked man wearing giant red boxing gloves. He pulled his fists up and started to move toward her.

“I’m not a boxer,” she said as she backed quickly away. “You have the wrong person.”

As her back hit the ropes, she pulled her hands up to try and ward him off only to find that they were enclosed in bright pink alligator print gloves. She swung her fist when the large man reached her, and with one blow, he was sent flying to the other side of the ring.

She stepped cautiously toward him, but broke into a run when she saw a pool of blood forming under him. “Don’t do this,” he said as she reached down and put her hands on the visible holes in his chest. “Stop. Don’t do this. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

Her hands pressed on his chest, but the bleeding didn’t slow. As she pushed harder, she felt the last breath leave his lungs. She pulled her hands back only to find them blood free. “I’m sorry,” she found herself saying. “I had no choice. I had to protect myself.” She reached up gently and pulled the mask off of his face, but before she could see who was behind it, a loud bang sounded out behind her.

Rilynne jumped up and looked around, seeing a door swinging shut in the corner. She turned back to the man at her feet only to find that a pile of rose petals had replaced him. With one last look around the ring, she slid through the ropes and made for the door.

The light hurt her eyes as she stepped out onto the street. “Where am I?” she asked the passing crowd, but no one acknowledged her. She turned back around to see a blinking red sign. “Pickens? I’ve passed this club, but what am I doing here now?”

As she finished her sentence, her answer walked out of the door. She was walking after the men as they made their way down the sidewalk when a ringing sounded quickly around her. She looked around, but couldn’t find its source, so she continued after the men. After another few steps, the sound rang out again, even louder.

It took Rilynne a moment after her eyes opened before the ringing registered to her as coming from her phone. “Hello,” she said as she tried to sound awake.

“We’re joining the undercover team today,” Matthews said. “Dress in street clothes, and I’ll be there to pick you up in fifteen.”

Rilynne stared at her ceiling for close to five minutes before she managed to pull herself out of bed. Luckily, she had unpacked the box that contained her undercover outfits just two days before, so she knew exactly where they were. After pulling her clothes on, she looked herself up and down in the mirror. She had on a pair of jeans and with a light gray T-shirt and a thin scarf wrapped around her neck. Before running for the door, she stuck her head back in the closet and grabbed a khaki safari jacket.

Matthews was waiting for her when she walked out of the front door. “What did you do to your arm?” he asked as she climbed into the passenger seat. “Did someone hurt you?”

Rilynne glanced down at the fresh bruise on her upper arm in the shape of a hand. “I’m apparently more clumsy than I realized.” He squinted at her curiously as she slipped her jacket on. “Only I would save a kid from being hit by a car, just to step out in front of one myself the next night. I’m lucky to only have a hand print on my arm.”

“You must have a night in shining armor out there,” he said, shaking his head slowly side to side, as he chuckled softly.

Rilynne tried to keep the smile off of her face, but was obviously unsuccessful judging by the look on his. There was a quick shot of understanding in his eye, but he didn’t push her on the subject. “Did you have to go shopping?” he asked jokingly as he looked at her assembled outfit.

“No,” she replied. “I don’t always dress like I’m going to the office you know.”

“Really? I didn’t know that you actually did anything other than work,” he laughed, backing out of her driveway. “With the exception of running, that is.”

“I…” she hesitated. “Okay, fine. I had them left over from the last time I worked undercover. But it’s actually something that I would wear if I ever had time to just go out. I call it my ‘soccer mom’ look. So it wasn’t really a lie.”

He just shook his head as he started down the street. “We’re going to be between the warehouse and the Peterson house so we can be wherever they need us. Officers have been sitting on the Peterson house since last night, but there has been no activity. It doesn’t look like they’re home.”

Rilynne thought back to her dream the night before. “Take this next turn,” she said abruptly. Matthews seemed almost startled. “I, uh, want a donut from this shop up here.” He looked at her as though she had lost her mind. “I didn’t have time for breakfast,” she added.

He rolled his eyes as he made the turn. “Where’s the donut shop?”

“It’s right on the other side of the bar up here.” She pointed to the red flashing sign just down the street. “They have the best donuts I have found in the city. The sugar…” she trailed off. “Wait, aren’t those the Peterson brothers right there?” She did her best to sound surprised.

“What, where?” he asked looking around.

She pointed to the door of the bar as two thin men stepped out. The older, a head taller than his brother, had shaggy brown hair that reached his shoulders. The younger of the two had blonde hair just visible with his buzz cut. His short sleeve shirt revealed a tattooed sleeve that covered nearly his entire left arm. “Right there, the ones who just stepped out.”

He looked from the two men walking down the sidewalk to Rilynne. He seemed as if he wanted to ask her something, but instead just reached for his phone. “We have a visual on the Peterson brothers moving south on Irwin.”

After setting the phone back down, he peered over to Rilynne. “Of all the donut shops in the city, you pick the one our suspects just happen to be walking past. Now that’s what I call lucky.”

“I guess. But now I don’t get my donuts,” she joked as she stepped out of the car. “I’ll follow them on foot. Stay close in case I need back up.”

She didn’t wait for an answer before shutting the door and walking down the street. She followed them for eight blocks before they stopped at a small café, taking a table on the sidewalk.

“They stopped at Molly’s,” she said when Matthews answered his phone. “It looks like they’re going to be meeting someone here. Make sure to have a team standing by.” He was just pulling up as she put her phone back in her pocket. She slid back into her seat, eyes trained on the table across the street.

“Are you sure they’re meeting someone?” Matthews asked ten minutes later.

“The waitress laid out three menus,” she explained. “They’re probably just running late.”

Just as she said it, a well-built black man walked up and joined them. Despite being strikingly handsome, something about him frightened her. “So, who are we tailing?” she asked as she snapped photos of the men.

“We’ll take the new man,” he replied. “The team following the Peterson boys just pulled up.”

After another twenty minutes, the older of the brothers handed their guest a note and they all stood up. “Looks like we’re on,” Matthews said as he turned the car back on. As the Peterson brothers walked back in the direction they had come from, the other man crossed the street and climbed into a car. After giving him a head start, Matthews pulled onto the street and began to follow.

The black car weaved carelessly through traffic before finally stopping in front of an apartment building.

“What’s the plan if he goes in?” Rilynne asked.

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that,” Matthews replied as a short man with shaggy black hair walked out of the building and climbed into the car.

“This is going down tonight isn’t it?” Matthews asked as he pulled the car back onto the road and followed the car as it took the next left.

Rilynne pulled out her phone. “This is Evans. Our mark just picked up a second man and appears to be stopping for another,” she said as they stopped in front of a second apartment building. “Double the amount of undercover cars out on the streets. It looks like the next home invasion may be taking place tonight.”

The third man, a tall man with a crew cut, seemed slightly more observant than the other two had been. After walking out the front doors of the building, he spent two solid minutes looking up and down the block before climbing into the car.

“Are they going to the warehouse?” Rilynne asked after another ten minutes of driving.

Before Matthews could answer, they made another turn and watched the black car pull into a warehouse. “All of the robberies happened between eight and ten, so it looks like we’re going to be sitting here for a while,” he said as he leaned back in his seat.

Rilynne checked the clock, twelve-eighteen. “This is going to be a long day,” she mumbled.

She wasn’t wrong there. The three men did not emerge from the warehouse until just before nine.

“Call it in,” Matthews said as he pulled out behind them. They drove straight to a residential neighborhood, and after circling the block twice, pulled in front of a beautiful white stone house.

After looking up and down the street several times, the men disappeared around the side of the house. Rilynne was about to ask if they could just be visiting someone when all of the lights simultaneously went out.

“We’re going to need backup at 5702 Walior Street,” Matthews radioed in as they both jumped out of the car.

By the time they had strapped on their vests, three other cars had arrived. “Okay,” he said as everyone gathered around. “The power was cut three minutes ago. We’re unsure if the homeowners are in the house, so we need to move in quietly and try to take them down as smoothly as possible. You two cover the front door while the rest of us go around the back,” he said, motioning to two of the officers.

Rilynne drew her gun and followed Matthews across the street and around the side of the house. When she stepped up onto the back deck, her eye caught the reflection of the moon off of the glass littering the pine deck. The window next to the backdoor had been broken, and the door itself was standing wide open. “Do you hear that?” she whispered to Matthews. As she quietly stepped closer to the open door, she could just make out the faint sound of whimpering coming from somewhere inside.

They spread out when they walked in and swept through the house. Rilynne had made it through the first room when she heard two men speaking just around the corner in front of her. She hugged the wall, Matthews right beside her, and waited for them to appear. When the two men walked out in front of them, Rilynne and Matthews both raised their guns toward them. “Don’t make a sound,” Matthews said, firmly but quietly. After a few moments of hesitation, both men dropped to their knees and raised their arms.

Two of the other officers handcuffed them and led them out of the darkened house. While Matthews entered the room directly to their left, Rilynne followed the faint sounds of crying toward the back of the house.

With each step, she could hear the voices growing louder. When she reached the door in the corner of the sitting room, she could make out a woman’s voice from just inside.

“Just let my daughter go,” she cried. “She’s only two. You can do whatever you want with me, just please let her go.” She could hear the desperation in her voice.

Then Rilynne heard a low, malevolent chuckle. “You know,” said a gravely voice. “That actually sounds pretty good to me.”

Mere seconds later, a painful cry sounded out. Rilynne knew she couldn’t wait until Matthews or the other officers joined her. She stepped into the doorway, her gun directed at the source of the crying. A woman was pinned down on the floor by the man she had seen meeting the Peterson brothers. In the corner just behind them was a cowering toddler in nothing but a diaper.

“Get off of her!” Rilynne yelled.

The man jumped at the sound of her voice, but in one swift move he had the woman on her feet, with his gun firmly pressed against her temple.

“My baby,” she begged. “Get my baby.”

Rilynne kept her eyes on the man as she called out to the terrified child. “Come to me, sweetheart. It’s okay, let’s go into the other room.”

“Go to the nice lady,” the woman said when the child didn’t move. The little girl slowly walked toward Rilynne, keeping her eyes on her mother as she passed. “It’s okay baby. Mommy loves you so much. You go with the nice lady and she’ll take you to daddy.”