Part 21 (2/2)
”What's up?”
Mustering up a sociable tone, she said, ”You sound better.”
”I feel better. Fever's gone.” He yawned. ”What's going on with you? You can't sleep?”
She glanced at the door. Listened for any sound. ”Remember when you told me there were things about BPD I didn't know. You made some shallow innuendoes about Chief Black.”
”Hey. Shallow is one thing I'm not,” he argued.
Depended upon who was doing the measuring, she supposed. ”Do you have resources that could look into something inside BPD?”
”I knew you'd see the light,” he said, triumph in his voice. ”I told you I lost my job because of Dan and his cronies in the department.”
”This is serious, Buddy.” A beat of silence pa.s.sed. She hadn't called him by his first name since they were in seventh grade.
”Okay, okay. I know Dannie boy is a pretty decent guy. Maybe it wasn't him. What's so serious?”
As much as she needed his help, she couldn't bring herself to trust him with all the details. ”I want you to dig up what you can-without anyone in the BPD finding out preferably-on Captain Ted Allen.”
”The cop who went missing?”
”Yes.” She checked the hall. ”Don't think I expect you to do this or the investigation into my parents' accident for free. I'll pay your going rate.” When he started to object, she cut him off, ”I insist. This is business.”
”Okay, okay. Got it. And, yes, I have a contact inside the department. I'll see what I can get.”
Jess moistened her lips and went for broke. ”I want you to check into Chief Black as well.” The thump, thump beneath her sternum made it hard to breathe. She was taking a major risk here.
Corlew laughed. ”h.e.l.l, I'll do that one for free.”
Jess wished she didn't have to do it this way but she couldn't ask Lori or Chet to put their jobs on the line. ”You have to be careful. No one can know. I mean it.”
”You have my word.” All signs of humor vanished. ”No one will know what I'm doing or who I'm doing it for. I just have one question.”
Jess couldn't wait to hear it. There was no telling what he would come up with. ”If I can answer it, I will.”
”What's Black done to get on your bad side?”
For a long second she hesitated but there was no way to keep him entirely in the dark. ”I think he's trying to hurt Dan.”
More silence.
G.o.d, she hated this. Her attention s.h.i.+fted to the door again. Dan would be upset with her if he learned she was trusting any part of this to Corlew.
”That's all I needed to know. I'll get on this ASAP.”
”Thanks. Call me as soon as you know anything.”
”You got it. Get some sleep, kid.”
Jess watched her screen go black. It was done. She prayed this wouldn't turn into another complication.
Things were already complicated enough.
22.
11:59 p.m.
It was only moments until midnight.
The final canvas had been chosen. The perfect medium for the work. And the subject, of course. The subject was the piece de resistance.
Richard wondered if Jess Harris had any idea just how spectacularly important she was in this pa.s.sionate endeavor.
He watched the two beauties he had trained so well as they added the final touches to the masterpiece that would be his gift to one of the greatest killers the world would ever know.
Selma came to him. Wrapped her arms around him, her soft skin warm against his. ”Will he like it?”
Richard smiled. ”He will love and treasure it for the rest of his days.”
He motioned for Olive to join them. Though she possessed little artistic talent, she was loyal and dedicated to his cause. She curled her arms around his. ”We are ready for tomorrow?” he asked.
Both smiled and looked to him with such admiration. ”It will be amazing,” Selma enthused. ”I can hardly wait to begin the next part of our journey.”
Olive puckered her lips in a pout. ”Don't keep us waiting long for you, Richard.”
He was such a fortunate man. To watch two magnificent savants emerge from their sh.e.l.ls and open to the pa.s.sions that only he could show them. He had shown many the wonder and beauty of true art. He had taken those who yearned to feel the deepest of pa.s.sions and immortalized them. But none had been as important as these two young women.
Together they were his final masterpiece.
Now everyone would know his utter brilliance and the depth of his immense pa.s.sion. His own beauty would no longer be hidden in the shadow of others.
And the woman, the mother of these two lovely creatures, would forever remember the heart she had shattered and tossed away.
He looked from Olive to Selma. ”No one has ever loved you the way I do.”
”No one,” they echoed in unison.
”You must promise me that you will not fail,” he urged. ”This is the moment I've always waited for. The moment he is waiting for. You must not disappoint us. You are the instruments of our destiny.”
”You have my word,” Selma promised. ”We will not fail.”
”We will not,” Olive vowed.
He kissed each one on the cheek. ”I will be right behind you, my darlings.”
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