Part 25 (1/2)
25.
9911 Conroy Road, Sat.u.r.day, August 28, 2:10 p.m.
Jess poured the second bag of popcorn into the big plastic bowl.
”I've got the Pepsis,” Dan said as he kneed the fridge door closed.
”You don't have to drink Pepsi just because I am,” Jess reminded him.
He kissed her cheek and grinned. ”I want to. I plan on sharing the entire experience.”
Jess laughed. ”Do you plan to wear the empathy belly, too?”
”Maybe not quite that much sharing.” He reached for her tummy. ”But I'll be happy to rub yours. And your back and shoulders. Legs. Wherever you need attention.”
”I plan to hold you to that, mister.” She'd heard her sister complain about all sorts of pregnancy aches and pains. ”You know we have to tell Lil tomorrow.” She absolutely could not put that conversation off any longer. ”She's invited us to lunch.”
”We'll tell my folks, too.” He plopped down on the sofa and grabbed the remote. ”They've invited us to dinner tomorrow night.”
Jess bit back a groan as she trudged barefoot over to join him on the sofa. ”Can't we do that later? Like next year?”
”Be nice. My mother will be over the moon.”
Jess poked her hand in the bowl of warm popcorn. ”That's what I'm afraid of.”
”She'll want to know when the wedding will be.”
Jess scoffed. ”She does not get to plan anything about our future. Are we on the same page with that, Burnett?”
”We're on the same page.” He grabbed a handful of popcorn. ”This is about us and our son.”
”Daughter,” she countered. No boys. She would be totally lost and Katherine would use that as an excuse to plow her way into Jess's business. She could hear her now: I raised Dan and look how well he turned out.
”The insurance adjustor is coming on Monday,” Dan said. ”According to the fire marshal, the house is a total loss.”
Jess turned to him. ”You heard from the fire marshal?”
He nodded. ”Arson. There'll be an investigation but we all know who's responsible.”
Jess wished her throat didn't feel so tight. ”What about Black? Is he backing off?” Corlew was out on bail. She felt terrible about his arrest. Her efforts to help Dan had further complicated things, it seemed. She had told Dan what Corlew learned. Dan didn't trust him and was nowhere near ready to throw Black under the bus. Jess was past ready.
”He can't back off. He's in charge of the investigation. He has to prove I didn't burn my own house down to destroy evidence.”
”I cannot believe he would even suggest such a thing!” She wanted to shake Dan.
”He has to do this by the book, Jess. Just because we're friends doesn't mean he can cut me any slack.”
”Right.” Jess shoved more popcorn into her mouth to prevent saying something she would regret.
”Manning called while you were in the shower.”
”You're just telling me this now?” She'd taken a shower at least two hours ago. If he started protecting her from phone calls, she was really going to give him what for. ”Any news on Rory Stinnett?” Jess held her breath, prayed they had found her safe and sound.
Dan shook his head. ”Nothing on Stinnett. Manning called about Richard Ellis. He tried to leave the country this morning. They caught him.”
”That's good news! Why didn't you tell me this before?”
”He was in holding less than an hour when he attacked another prisoner and was killed.”
Anything he might have been able to tell them about Spears was lost. Dammit. ”They should've put him in a cell by himself.”
”True.”
Jess shuddered each time the double suicide of the Vance sisters replayed in her head. Dan had done the next of kin notification. Jess was grateful. Lori was still blaming herself for being distracted when she was supposed to be watching Jess. Whatever anyone else thought, Jess wasn't buying the idea that Black's arrival had been coincidence.
Was there anyone besides Dan and her team and maybe Corlew that she could trust?
How could Spears reach into the department like that? Or maybe Dan was right and she was being paranoid.
Another shudder quaked through Jess at the thought of the vial of blood Selma had marked her with. It was supposedly Spears's blood. Whoever it belonged to, it was at the lab now.
Selma's cell phone held several other videos. One of Templeton and Burgess at a club before their murder. Ellis had been captured seated at one of the tables in the background. Jess a.s.sumed that was the reason she hadn't received a video prior to those murders as she had with the others.
There were two videos of Jess and dozens of photos. The sisters had been following her well before the first victims were found. That was probably the part that bugged Jess the most.
How many other freaks out there were doing the same thing?
”The game's about to start.” Dan adjusted the volume on the television he'd insisted on buying for her apartment. It was a guy TV. Big, with all the bells and whistles. Jess didn't really mind. It made him happy. She wouldn't complain about it as long as he didn't complain about her homework case board.
Dan's arm went around her and he pulled her close. ”Thank you for agreeing to watch the first game of the season with me.”
”Just don't expect me to watch them all.”
He laughed. ”We'll be too busy building our new house and picking out nursery colors.”
And obstetricians and maternity clothes.
The popcorn suddenly turned into a ma.s.sive lump in her stomach.
The alarm sang out, warning that someone was coming up the outside stairs that led to her door.