Last shot, p.9
Last Shot, page 9
"Thank you. I appreciate everything," he said.
With no further leads, he knew that the next step was to confront Jess's parents.
Problematic as this meeting would be, and as much as he didn't want to have to do it, he knew it would have to be done.
Tomorrow, he would knock on their door, and ask to pry into what was left of Jess's bedroom, her belongings, and her life.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Kaylie felt bruised and battered from her dive for cover onto the hard floor, and she was still half blinded from the glare of those headlights.
Worse still, this driver was getting away. His crazy, dangerous bid for freedom would succeed unless she could stop him.
Where was he going to get out?
There was only one possible way, and that was the closed, metal gate that had been rattling down when they had arrived. He must have a remote control for it and be intending to open it up in time to allow him to make a getaway.
As yet, they hadn't even seen him. Kaylie was only guessing that it was even him in the car. There was nobody else it could be. Murray had been working late in his second-hand car dealership, with its dark, gigantic back room. Murray James had been called and warned by his wife. And now, without a doubt, Murray James was behind the wheel.
If she could get to that steel gate before him, she might have a chance, Kaylie thought.
"The gate!" she yelled, not even knowing if Joshua could hear her over the wail of the engine and the screech of tires. But thanks to all the parked cars in this enormous back lot, Murray had to drive the whole way around to get to the gate. All she had to do was run in between the rows, and she would be heading directly to that gate.
She ran, as fast as she could, hurtling between the cars, skidding on another patch of oil, managing not to fall but righting herself. Even though her shoulder bashed painfully into a dusty SUV, she kept going, racing for that door.
He'd pressed the button. The door was starting to open, rattling up, letting in fresh air from the darkness outside, and a twinkle of light. What could she do?
With a pounding of feet, Joshua raced toward her.
"We need to get something into that mechanism," he shouted.
"What?" Kaylie asked.
"I'll look!" He set off, staring frantically from side to side. It was a car repair shop, she thought, so perhaps there would be something they could use. If not, what could she do? Stand in front of the open doorway and hope he wouldn't run her down? Kaylie had the feeling that was likely to be a vain hope.
The headlights blazed again. Murray had rounded the final corner, and now, he was on the home stretch, heading for the gate.
"Here!" Joshua was searching along the back wall, and he'd found something. She heard his triumphant shout. The next moment, a piece of steel piping slid and skidded along the floor toward her.
Kaylie put out her foot and stamped on it to stop it. Then, as quickly as she could, she lifted the piping and jammed it into the gate mechanism.
The gate jerked to a stop, just below the level of her chest. Just too low for him to get out. Kaylie jumped back as the car careened toward the gate, fishtailing with its speed. She had no idea what would happen if he didn't hit the brakes, but it would be messy and potentially fatal. She didn't want to be in the way if he tried to use his speed alone to force this too-high car through this solid, too-low gateway.
She could see him peering out, his face aghast. She could see his mouth opening, and he was shouting something, but she couldn't hear it over the roar of the engine.
At the last minute, he realized that he couldn't make it and that the gate wasn't moving.
The screech of brakes nearly split Kaylie's eardrums open. She crouched down, hugging the wall as the car slewed to the side, tires finding inadequate purchase on the slick concrete floor.
And then, with inches to spare, the car stopped.
Kaylie let out a long, shaky breath. She couldn't believe that he'd come so close to what would have been a sickening crash. The smell of scorching rubber suffused the air.
It took her a moment to take in what had happened, but Joshua was ready to act, and fast.
He lunged for the car door and wrenched it open. The next moment, he was dragging the tall, overall-clad man who was at the wheel, out of the car. Now realizing she needed to help urgently, Kaylie rushed over.
"You're not going anywhere!" Joshua was shouting at him. "You're not going anywhere!"
"You're Murray James, right? What the hell was that all about?" Joshua sounded furious and frustrated. Grabbing Murray's arm in one hand, and the back of his overall in the other, he was shunting him over to the wall.
"Yes, that's me. Let go of me! I was trying to leave! That's all!"
Murray's voice resounded in the echoing space. "This is my business! Get off me! I know my rights!"
"You don't have any rights!" Joshua shouted at him. "You're under arrest."
"I was just trying to get away," Murray said. "I was going to my brother's house in the suburbs. I didn't do anything wrong."
."But you nearly ran both of us over! You could have killed us, you know that! Why did you have to go and try to run us down?" Joshua looked as if he was ready to shake Murray.
"What were you doing, sneaking around my place? I thought I saw a prowler, and I was trying to get away!"
"We identified ourselves as police, and you ran."
"I didn't hear you," he insisted stubbornly.
"You knew we were coming to your workplace because your wife called you. That's what I think happened here. You've been warned that the police are looking for you. You have some questions to answer, Mr. James."
Now that the chaos of the situation was calming down, Kaylie was able to get her first good look at their suspect.
He had a craggy face and wide, pale blue eyes. His face and hands were smudged with oil. His navy blue overall also bore the signs of a long day in the repair pits. But the gold ring on his finger was wide and expensive looking, and Kaylie also saw the edge of a thick, gold chain under his collar.
He was a working man, but a wealthy one. He'd put in a lowball offer on the home where Sandi had been killed and had then gotten persistent and nasty when it had been turned down. Looking at the scale of this motor dealership setup and the obvious evidence of wealth in his expensive accessories, this was even more suspicious, Kaylie thought.
"We're taking you in for questioning," Joshua said. "Nobody behaves the way you do, tries to lie about it afterward, and gets away with it. You're going to be charged with failure to obey, and reckless endangerment. Other charges may follow."
Murray pressed his lips together as Joshua clipped the handcuffs over his wrists, but he didn't try to resist. Perhaps he'd given up fighting for now, Kaylie thought.
She was even more suspicious of him now than she had been initially.
The crazed efforts at escape that had put everyone's life at risk were totally out of proportion to the arrival of the police to ask a few simple questions.
If the questions were that frightening to Murray that he'd tried so hard to escape, then Kaylie couldn't wait to hear what his answers were going to be.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
In the harsh light of the police interview room, Murray James looked older, and shiftier, than he'd done when defying death in his own car dealership, Kaylie thought.
Now, she could see the first signs of uncertainty in his pale blue eyes, as he took a seat on the other side of the desk.
He had been processed and was still in handcuffs. Kaylie saw that Joshua was still looking furious and also deeply suspicious of him. She hoped that since she was the one who had pressured him to drive out to the James's residence, this questioning would yield results.
Joshua took his seat, his expression fierce. "Let's start with why you were trying to escape," he said.
Murray looked up at him. "You know why. I was trying to get away from you. I was frightened and thought you were armed prowlers."
"Armed prowlers who identified themselves as police?" Joshua said disparagingly.
"We've had problems," Murray insisted.
"Okay. That's still no excuse. But let's go back to this morning. Did you attend an open house in Miami Park, at the property you put a low offer on a couple of months ago?"
"No," he said, but his eyes shifted away. Kaylie picked that up instantly.
"You were angry that your offer didn't get accepted," Joshua insisted. "You blamed Sandi, the estate agent. You gave her a hard time. Then, this morning, she was murdered."
He knew, for sure, Kaylie saw. Whether he was the killer, or he'd been forewarned, she wasn't sure, but she saw that knowledge clearly in his eyes.
"I didn't do it."
"Why such a low offer? Did you intend to try and get the house by committing a murder in it?"
Murray shrugged. "It's what I do. I offer low and sell high. It's how I make my money in cars and in properties. I've flipped over a few properties in my time. Being persistent gets results."
"Do you flip homes, and also kill the people that live in them?" Joshua's voice was scathing.
"No!"
"But you wanted this property so badly. You tried to talk Sandi into selling it to you. She refused, and then she was killed. It's not a huge leap of logic to make that connection, is it?"
"No, it isn't," Murray said, suddenly sounding as if he was beaten. "You're right. I wanted that property. But I didn't kill Sandi. I was just hoping that I could bully her into getting the sale through. She was being illogically obstructive about selling and yes, to me, it did become personal. That works, sometimes. Bullying tactics. Especially when it’s a fair offer. I mean, it wasn’t a ridiculous offer."
Joshua looked at him, his expression unimpressed. "You went there this morning and tried to bully her again, didn't you? What, did you think you were going to bribe her with a better offer, and changed your mind when you arrived? Or did you intend all along to threaten her with some form of violence?"
Murray looked resolute. "I didn't go there."
"You thought you could bully her into selling it to you, same as you always do. But she still refused, and that made you angry."
"It wasn't like that!" Murray now sounded as if he was at the edge of his patience. "I'm not a killer!"
"Where were you this morning, then?"
He looked down. "I was in my workshop. I had a lot of work to do on the red Corvette. I got started on it early. I didn't go to the open house. I didn't do anything wrong."
"Can anyone confirm that?"
Murray took a breath, then let it out again.
Kaylie watched him closely. There was something strange going on with this man, that was for sure. He was hiding something, he was guilty of something. But now, she wasn't sure if it was the murder, or something else.
Kaylie saw that Murray was growing visibly more uncomfortable. He was obviously trying to think of something to say, but he was coming up blank.
She was fitting the puzzle pieces together, at last. That enormous workshop, that fantastically profitable business, all those cars in the back. The desperate attempt to flee that screamed “guilt” without a doubt.
"You've got something else going on at that workshop, don't you?" Kaylie said. "That's what you don't want to tell us."
Now, his eyes widened. He looked horrified.
"Perhaps you can't tell us what was going on this morning. Because it wasn't legal."
"No, no." He was pale now. "It wasn't like that."
Joshua was looking at Kaylie with reluctant admiration. "You think that's what he's got going?"
"Yes. I think if we look into that business, we're going to find that everything is not above board. Am I correct?" she asked sternly.
"Please. It's nothing like that. It's just some work I do for a few people. Some people don't have the money to buy a new car, but they want a classic car, they want something they can be proud of, something they can get the kids in and show off. I help them do that."
"How? By chopping stolen cars? Using stolen parts?" She watched his eyes.
"Look, I'm not a criminal, but I do have a few suppliers who sell parts more cheaply than they should. I know I should ask questions. I haven't asked questions. I buy the parts and use them. And yes, I was with one of them this morning. He came to make a delivery."
"This morning? At the time of the murder?" Joshua was looking intent.
"Yes. He had a delivery for me, a few parts, hard to obtain items that are usually very costly. He dropped it off just before eight, we chatted for a bit, and then he left."
"Who delivered the parts?" Joshua asked.
"It's a guy I've known for a while. His name is Bill. He's an okay guy, he's been around a long time. He knows all the people; he can get hold of anything he wants."
"So, you met Bill at the workshop this morning, and he delivered stolen parts to you. And the reason you didn’t want to tell us where you were was that you suspected Bill to be breaking the law."
"Yes," Murray said in a small voice.
"You're saying that you're not a killer, but you're willing to break the law in order to get what you want," Joshua said.
"Look, I'm sorry," Murray said, when he realized that no one was going to speak. "I know I should have told you, but I just panicked. It's not how it sounds. I just wanted to earn an honest living. And I'm not sure Bill’s breaking the law, I just suspect it. All I want to do is protect my suppliers. I’m a loyal guy."
Joshua sighed. "Show me the proof you organized this meeting. Show me the delivery information for these parts. I presume you've got something on your phone?" He took it out of the tray and handed it back to Joshua, undoing one of his handcuffs. "And then, give us Bill's details. We're going to put the police onto him and find out what he is doing and dealing. And feel lucky that you aren't facing a murder charge," he said sternly.
Kaylie felt suddenly exhausted, battered, and bruised, and also disappointed. She'd thought that Murray would be a strong lead, and it had turned out to be the opposite. He'd been buying stolen goods at the time and hadn't been at the house at all. He was a shyster and an unethical dealer, but he wasn't a killer.
Sighing, she stood up when Murray had showed Joshua the proof and followed the men out of the office. They were all wrapped up for tonight and would have to start afresh with a new line of investigation in the morning.
As they took Murray to hand him over to the local police to pursue the other charges, Kaylie checked her own phone.
There, she saw that the day had brought a spark of hope after all. Zoe had texted her an hour ago.
"I'm about to meet with someone from the Brooks family. Wish me luck! I'll call you straight afterward."
The meeting surely couldn't take longer than an hour? Kaylie felt excited. Turning her phone off silent, she hoped that at any time, it might ring. She couldn't wait to hear how this meeting had gone.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
"I guess we should check into a motel if we're going to make an early start tomorrow," Joshua said to Kaylie, as they left the police department, but Kaylie barely heard him. She was too busy finishing off a text to Zoe.
"How did it go? Were they willing to go ahead with the peace brokerage? Thank you so much for doing this!"
The thought of not having the Brooks family with their knives out for her was like a weight being lifted off her soul. What would it be like to not have to worry about their attempts at revenge, and to stop having to look over her shoulder whenever she got home?
What would it be like to not wake up at night, sitting up in bed, feeling her heart pound, holding her breath because she thought she heard a sound from elsewhere in the house and wanted to listen to it more carefully?
So much rode on this. Looking up, she then realized that Joshua was looking at her expectantly. Quickly, she replayed in her mind what he'd said.
"A motel. Yes, I think that's a good idea."
"You seem like you’re distracted," Joshua said, as they got into the car. "Is everything okay?"
Kaylie knew she could tell him. But then he'd worry too. On the other hand, he was her partner. He deserved to know something.
"I'm trying to sort things out with my ex's family," she said as Joshua started the car up. "To smooth things over, so that I don't feel like they're out to get me. Someone's helping me do that."
It was the sanitized version for sure, but she felt it was a step forward for her, because at least she was being open with him and not holding back. She was trusting him enough to tell him what was happening in her life.
"That's good," Joshua said, clearly also satisfied with the explanation and that Kaylie was getting to grips with something he knew was problematic. After all, he remembered, on the first case they'd worked together, the Brooks family had sent someone to attack her. That was when she'd confessed to Joshua what her situation with the family was. It had clearly been weighing on his mind since then.
Then, she jumped, as her phone buzzed with an incoming text. What had Zoe managed to do? Eagerly, she grabbed it.
But she found to her confusion, that the text was from Lance, the lawyer she’d met a while ago and had been on a couple of dates with since.
"Hey there good looking!" he'd messaged. "Are you free tomorrow night for drinks?"
Reading the text, Kaylie felt her cheeks turn crimson. She didn't know exactly why. It was just that right now, in the car with Joshua, it felt awkward to be getting texts from another man who she was sort-of dating.
It felt wrong. And Kaylie wasn't ready, now, to go into the reasons for that, or what it meant. Instead, she closed the text and put the phone back in her purse.
"You okay?" Joshua asked. "Everything good?"
He sounded concerned now, clearly worried that the Brooks family were going to cause trouble in Kaylie's life again.
