Fallen Angel Read online

  “No.”

  “All right. That’s good. That’ll make this easier.” Though Scott didn’t have to resort to those measures since he had a lot more resources at his disposal. He could probably trace her cell phone or have someone pull up the GPS anti-theft tracking info on her vehicle. “As soon as we leave here, I’ll get you a new cell phone. And I’ll rent you a car at the airport.”

  “Where am I going to stay? What about work? I can’t just skip town.”

  “Call in and tell them you have a family emergency. If they need documentation or proof, I’ll get it for you.”

  “How?”

  “Don’t worry about that.” I offered a reassuring smile. She finished packing her clothes and toiletries and whatever sentimental heirlooms she had. “How much of this furniture is yours?”

  “Just the futon and that bookcase.”

  “What about the appliances or TV?”

  She pointed to a small set on the kitchen counter. “That’s mine.”

  “I’ll buy you a new one once you get settled. What about the computer?”

  “My laptop died three months ago. Scott’s been letting me use his.”

  “Did you do any research on his computer that might be damning or lead him to believe the note is a lie?”

  She shook her head.

  “Where does your family live?”

  “My dad’s in Maryland. My mom’s in Colorado.”

  “Does Scott know that?”

  “I think so.”

  “Okay.” I turned on the computer, searching for flight information. Then I looked up information on ischemic strokes and left the window minimized. With any luck, Scott would believe the lie. Since Jade had family in Maryland, I didn’t want to risk leading Scott to them, so I checked flights to Portland, Maine. It might be enough to confuse him or at least delay him since they were both M states. “So this is everything?” I stared at the half a dozen duffel bags and two boxes.

  “When I moved here, I only took what fit inside my car. My campus apartment came pre-furnished, and when I graduated, I moved in with Scott.” The look in her eye told me she regretted that decision. She probably regretted ever coming to the city.

  “Does he have access to your bank account?”

  She shook her head. “No. We’ve always had separate accounts. He bought whatever we needed.”

  “Did you chip in on the rent?”

  “He knew I didn’t make enough for that. He said he wanted to take care of me.” She snorted, her face dropping, and she glared at the recliner. “Asshole.”

  I checked the time. According to Jade, Scott wouldn’t be home for hours, but I wanted to get Jade as far away from here as quickly as possible. “I’ll load the car. Stay here until I’m done.” For all I knew, Scott might have neighbors keeping watch. I didn’t spot any surveillance cameras or security systems inside the apartment, but I couldn’t be too careful.

  Three trips later, I poked my head into the apartment. “Are you ready?”

  She nodded, locking the door behind her and following me to the car. Once we were on the road, she let out the breath she’d been holding since we stepped foot inside the apartment. “What comes next?”

  That’s what I’d been asking myself this entire time. “First, we pick up your car and go to the airport. You’re going to buy a plane ticket to Aunt Bonnie’s.” I saw the panic on her face. Flights were expensive, and she didn’t have money to waste, especially to travel to see a fictitious aunt. “I’ll reimburse you, just put it on your credit card in case Scott runs your financials. Once you get your plane ticket, I’ll rent a car for you in my name. While I’m doing that, use the ATM to withdraw whatever cash you have remaining in your account. You won’t be able to use your credit or debit cards after that.”

  I kept some emergency cash in a safe at the office. It would be enough to get her started. I pointed to the cell phone she held tightly in her hand. “Don’t forget to call work.”

  “Right.” Dazed, she lifted the phone and repeated the lie to her boss since that would be the first place Scott would go to verify her story. Overwhelmed, she hung up. “Shouldn’t I feel relieved?”

  “You will once you realize you’re free. This is the hard part. It should get easier after this. Right now, we just have to make sure you’re safe and he can’t find you.”

  Four

  After leaving the airport, I brought Jade back to the office, handed her two hundred dollars in cash, and made some calls. She needed a safe place to stay, a place where Scott and the rest of his cop buddies wouldn’t think to look for her. One day, Cross Security and Investigations would be equipped to deal with these types of situations, but my company wasn’t there yet. Maybe I should have passed her off to someone more experienced, but I thought I could handle it. Now, I wasn’t so sure.

  Jade fidgeted. “Y’know, I spoke to a few other private eyes in the past. I didn’t know where to go and thought, y’know, they could help. But they always passed me off to battered women’s shelters or simply refused to take my case after they found out Scott was a police sergeant. Why aren’t you doing the same thing?”

  “I’m not that smart.” I hung up the phone, relieved to have found shelter for Jade on such short notice. “Come on.”

  I stared through the windshield at the apartment building. Having a few friends in real estate made securing a place easier. Unfortunately, it didn’t offer much in terms of security. The front door automatically locked, and visitors had to be buzzed in. But that was the extent of it. If Scott located her, he’d flash his badge and get inside the building. No one would stop him.

  I unlocked the door and handed Jade the extra set of keys. “Here we are.”

  She stepped inside, looking around the empty apartment. “I don’t know.”

  “It’s fine. Let me get the rest of your things. Stay here. And stay out of sight.”

  On my way outside, I checked my messages. My assistant performed a background check on Jade to make sure she was who she claimed. Although I believed her story, I wasn’t naïve enough to think I couldn’t be conned by a damsel in distress. Wasn’t that the plot of more than half the noir films I’d seen? Plus, certain people wanted me to fail. They wanted my latest endeavor to crash and burn, and this could be a creative way of making it happen. Or I was just paranoid.

  Reassured Jade was as she appeared, I grabbed the rest of her belongings and locked the car. I rented the apartment under one of my LLCs to make it harder to trace. The rental car was under my name, so even if Scott came looking for her, he wouldn’t find her. And I doubted he’d think to come after me. According to Jade, she saw an ad I had taken out on the back cover of a business magazine while at work and decided to stop by. No connection existed between the two of us, so Scott would never be the wiser.

  “A medic needs to look at you.” I put her boxes near the door. “We need documented proof of the abuse.”

  “No,” she bit her lip and looked away, “I don’t want that.”

  “We need it,” I insisted. “It’s bad enough there isn’t a paper trail to establish repeat behavior, but one assault is more than enough.”

  “Yeah, but Scott knows people. He’s friends with a lot of other first responders, paramedics, EMTs, even some of the people who work in the emergency room. He’ll deny it, and they’ll believe him.”

  “No, they won’t.” But I didn’t know if that was true. “I know some people who’ve used concierge medicine in the past. Let me see if I can get a name. I doubt any of those doctors rub elbows with law enforcement or first responders.”

  “How do you know so many people? Who are you? A long lost heir to the Rockefeller fortune?”

  “I wish, but I’m just your average Joe.”

  “Somehow, I doubt that.” Even though Jade had warmed to me, she kept her distance and wouldn’t look me in the eye. She took her things and piled them in the corner, positioning herself near them like a dog guarding a bone. And I realized those material
possessions were all she had left in the world.

  After making some calls, several to my assistant, I put down the phone. “Furniture will be here tomorrow. Justin’s bringing an air mattress and some freshly washed linens and towels for tonight. Grocery delivery is on the way. I just ordered basic staples. I didn’t know if you were vegan.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Okay.” I opened a cabinet, finding it empty. “I also ordered a set of stainless steel cookware, serving for four, dish soap, sponges, and things like that. Y’know, the basics. Tomorrow, you can make a list of whatever else you need, and I’ll have someone deliver it. You have the car for emergencies, but I’d prefer if you stay here, at least for now.”

  She nodded, toying with the zipper on one of the duffel bags. “How long am I supposed to stay out of sight?”

  I didn’t have an answer. “I contacted a law firm, Reeves and Almeada. Have you heard of them?”

  She shook her head.

  “They take a lot of criminal cases. They know the ins and outs of the law. Mr. Almeada will meet with us tomorrow to go over your case.”

  “My case?”

  “Yes. Scott needs to know you mean business and that he can’t just push you around. Mr. Almeada will go over the steps you should take. Listen to him.”

  Jade sniffled. “I don’t know. This is a mistake. I made a mistake. I shouldn’t be here.” She looked at the cheap Timex on her wrist. “Maybe there’s still time. I can go home. Put everything back where it was. He won’t know.”

  “You can.” Pushing her wasn’t the answer. “But what happens if he comes home drunk or angry? What happens if you say something that sets him off? What is he going to do next time?” I studied her, the way she cowered and trembled. I’d seen people act like that before. It signaled the body was going into fight or flight. “It’s up to you, Jade. It’s your life. Your decision. Lots of abused individuals never leave their abusers. I’m not telling you you should.” Though my actions spoke much louder than my words. “It’s your call. You know how dangerous Scott is. You have to do what’s best for you.”

  She looked up at me. “He will kill me one of these days. But being here gives him an excuse to do it sooner rather than later.”

  “I won’t let him hurt you. He won’t find you. And by the time he knows what’s going on, he won’t be in a position to hurt anyone ever again.”

  “Do you promise?”

  “Yes.”

  She thought long and hard about everything. And then she cried.

  Five

  I slammed my palm against the steering wheel and blew into my closed fist, hoping to calm down. Right now, I felt like I might explode. I wanted to march into the police station and show Scott Renwin exactly what it felt like to be powerless and scared, but I wasn’t crazy.

  Instead, I waited in my car, staring at the clunky pickup. Obviously, Scott felt like a little man. That’s why he needed to drive a big, powerful vehicle and why he thought it was a good idea to beat up on the weak. It might have also been what originally attracted him to join the police force – he craved power and authority. He didn’t want to feel small or helpless, but by the time I was through with him, that’s all he’d be.

  At shift change, several officers, no longer in uniform, exited from the rear door. I spotted Scott; his face indelibly etched in my brain. He slapped one of his pals on the back, hollered something about meeting at KC’s, and climbed into his truck. Revving the engine, he peeled out of the parking lot.

  “You smug asshole.” Checking the screen mounted to my dash, I watched the steady red blip move down the orange line. After his buddies drove off, I followed the tracker to the bar.

  When I arrived at KC’s, that eyesore of a truck caught my attention. I only recognized one other car from the police parking lot. Regardless, it was a cop bar, so starting a fight with a cop in front of a few dozen of his brothers-in-blue would result in unnecessary bloodshed. As in, my blood would be unnecessarily shed. Though the prospect might make Jade’s claims more believable, it would tip our hand. And I didn’t want to do that.

  I stepped inside, squinting in the dim light. The bulk of the illumination came from the neon signs hanging behind the bar. I kept my eyes on the bartender, a grizzled, retired police lieutenant named Jim Harrelson. Scott leaned against one of the high-tops, sipping his beer. The foam left a white mustache on his upper lip.

  “Hey, kid, what’ll it be?” Jim asked.

  I cleared my throat, my left eyebrow twitching. It had been a while since I stepped foot inside this place, but Jim didn’t miss a trick. He remembered me.

  “Gin.”

  Jim put down a glass, poured my preferred brand, and slid it toward me. “You lookin’ for your pops?”

  “Is he here?”

  “Nope, hasn’t been for a while.”

  I slid onto the stool, keeping an eye on Scott by using the reflection provided by the mirrored back wall. “He thinks he’s too good for a place like this.”

  Jim shrugged. “I don’t have a beef with your pops.”

  “That makes one of us.”

  The bartender didn’t say anything. He wiped off the counter and moved to the other end to talk to some regulars. I hated this place. It made me twitchy and uncomfortable. And bad things happened whenever I got too twitchy. That was partially the reason I wasn’t managing seven-figure accounts or trading on the floor anymore.

  A glass broke, and I blinked, unsure if it just happened or if I was remembering the sound of sending my boss’s desk chair careening through the window. I turned on my stool, finding a waitress kneeling down to pick up the shards. My gaze traveled up to Scott, who scowled while staring down at her. His fists involuntarily clenched.

  Jim grabbed a broom and dustpan and stepped out from behind the bar to help her clean it up. From here, I couldn’t make out their words, but the waitress hurried around the bar, filled a glass, and brought it back to Scott. He took it, nodded at the waitress, and turned back to the dartboard. Due to the angle, I didn’t see exactly what happened, but from the annoyed look on the waitress’s face, I suspected Scott had done something to cause her to drop the glass.

  Scott’s buddy laughed, slinging his arm around Scott’s shoulder and clearly joking about something. Eventually, the pinched look disappeared from the bastard’s face. He chugged down the rest of the beer, signaled to Jim, who was now back behind the bar, for another, and approached the dartboard.

  For the next twenty minutes, I watched Scott and his friend take turns plucking the darts out of the board, throw them with terrible precision, and repeat the process until they ran out of beer. Scott looked at his watch, said his goodnights, and paid his tab. The asshole walked right past me, never noticing me, and clueless to the fact his entire world was about to turn upside down.

  Once I was sure he was gone and wasn’t coming back, I cornered the waitress when she took the trash out. “Hey, is everything okay?”

  She narrowed her eyes, confused. “Sure.” She glanced at the open side door, figuring if she screamed a dozen off-duty cops would rush to her rescue. Admittedly, she wasn’t wrong, which meant I needed to make sure she didn’t scream.

  “I noticed the incident inside, but I didn’t see what happened. Did Sergeant Renwin do something to you?”

  Her gaze traveled up and down my body. I didn’t have a badge or gun, like most of the guys inside. “Why do you ask?”

  “Just curious.”

  She shook it off. “It’s nothing new.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Hey, come on,” she looked uncertainly back at the door, “it’s nothing. Guys blow off steam. They think they’re funny or cute. They want to show off to their friends. That’s it.”

  “What did he do?” My voice sounded hard, like granite.

  “He slapped my ass.”

  “Has he done it before?”

  “Half the guys in there have done it before. It’s nothing. But I wasn’t expecting i
t. I got startled and dropped the beer. Enough said.” Suddenly, something dawned on her. “Are you investigating Scott?” She scrutinized me more carefully, probably assuming I was with internal affairs. However, I doubted they dressed this nicely. They couldn’t afford it on their salaries, unless they were on the take, which would defeat the entire purpose of IA.

  “Perhaps. Can you think of any reason why someone should?”

  “Nope.” She slammed the lid on the dumpster. “Just be careful around here, Detective. No one likes a rat.” She went back inside.

  Realizing I made more of an impression than I intended, I got into my car and followed the red blip on my monitor back to Scott Renwin’s apartment, wondering if she’d tell him about me the next time he stopped by for a drink. I parked halfway down the street, reached for my camera and the directional mic, and took a few snapshots while Scott threw a temper tantrum. I missed the initial explosion when he first arrived home and found Jade’s note, but I knew there must have been one. He was a powder keg. It didn’t take much to set him off. And I knew, after tonight, we were on a collision course. He just didn’t know it yet.

  Six

  I forwarded Jade’s calls to my phone since her cell phone was in the airport parking lot. Since finding the note, Scott had called seven times. I listened to the messages again. Desperate, pleading, and angry. At first, he sounded concerned. He wanted to know where she went, when she’d be back, and what family member had fallen ill. He probably intended to drag her home, kicking and screaming. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like any of this.

  According to the tracker I planted on Scott’s rear bumper, he was at work now. But given the number of unreturned calls and texts, I didn’t doubt he’d illegally use police resources to track her phone, her car, and her. I just hoped I covered all my bases.