Chapter Twenty-Five

 

Gemma dropped down onto the hotel sofa and leaned her head back, exhaustion tugging at her. The hotel suite had been turned into a war strategy room. Dana and Sylvie, who’d been discharged earlier in the day, slept in one of the bedrooms.

News of the Wedding Veil Killer’s death at police hands while he’d held another victim captive had hit the papers. Reporters had descended upon the police demanding details. Normally, she would have been in the fray.

For the first time ever, she’d felt a strong distaste for her profession.

“Why don’t you have a cup of tea, dear,” Jack’s mom said. She’d arrived shortly after they’d been installed in the hotel.

Gemma had liked Eileen Donahue immediately. She was down-to-earth, friendly and sensible. She’d taken charge of Aunt Sylvie’s and Dana’s care, easing some of the burden from Gemma’s shoulders.

“Thank you,” Gemma said. “I’d like that.”

Eileen squeezed her shoulder and went over to a tiny kitchenette where she prepared the tea. At the small dining table, T.J., Jack, his dad, Stan and Jack’s old partner, Gordon, who’d come out of retirement to guard Sylvie, Dana and Eileen, conversed over the plan.

Gemma closed her eyes. So much had happened in twenty-four hours.

On top of it all, her boss was hounding her for an exclusive. She’d told him that she was the victim that had been rescued by the police and he was salivating for information. She’d tried to sit down and write a story, but she hadn’t been able to concentrate, not when she was so worried about Dana and Aunt Sylvie, and not when she had this scheme to blackmail the chief on her plate.

The sofa dipped beside her and she opened her eyes to see Jack sitting next to her, half turned so that he could face her. “How are you doing?” he asked.

“About as well as can be expected,” she said. “I’ll be happy when this is all over.”

A shadow crossed his features. “You don’t have to go through with this. We can figure out another way.”

Gemma reached out and rested her fingers lightly on his hand. “You know I can’t. If we don’t act, the Chief has a very good shot at becoming mayor. He belongs behind bars, not in another position of even greater power where he can do more harm.”

Eileen came back with the tea and passed it over. “Here you are. Would you like milk or sugar?”

Gemma gratefully took the cup. Tea had always soothed her when she felt out of sorts. “Yes, please, both.”

“What about you, honey,” Eileen asked her son. “Can I get you something?”

Jack shook his head. “I’m good. I’ve had loads of coffee. Why don’t you get some rest? You can use the other bedroom.”

Eileen shook her head. “I’ll rest after you all leave. Now, let me get Gemma that milk and sugar.”

Gemma watched her move away. “I like your mom. She seems dependable.”

“She is,” Jack said.

He didn’t get to say more because T.J. hurried over to where they were sitting. “I got the Chief’s private number.” He looked at Gemma. “Are you ready to do this?”

“Yes,” she said. “And for the last time, I’m not going to change my mind.”

“What about you?” Jack asked T.J. “This could derail your career. There’s still time to back out.”

T.J. shrugged. “I’m not going anywhere.” He checked his watch. “Your dad wants Gemma to make the call at ten p.m.”

Gemma glanced at her own watch and saw that it was already a quarter to ten. “Fine.”

Jack looked as if he wanted to say something, but held back. He got up instead and moved back to the table, T.J. trailing in his wake. She supposed Jack wanted to go over everything again.

The plan was fairly simple. She would call the chief and propose a deal. They’d meet. She’d get him to incriminate himself on tape and then they’d arrest him.

It had to work, but the possibility of things going wrong preyed at the edges of her mind. The chief had been very careful to keep his hands clean. He might not take the bait. Even worse, he might send some of his private thugs after her.

She was taking a big risk, especially after what she and Dana had just survived. A part of her wanted to call it off. No one would fault her if she did. She was the closest thing to a parent that Dana had.

But another part of her felt she owed it to her mother and sister to follow through with this. She’d never be able to live with herself if she allowed Chief Williams to go free when she could have stopped him.

She would have protection. The men grouped around the table, with the exception of Jack’s old partner, would be watching out for her.

Fifteen minutes later Gemma stood by the table and listened to her instructions. “Honestly, I’ve got it,” she said to Jack’s dad. “Don’t worry. Let’s just get this over with.” She took the pre-paid phone that Jack handed her and punched in the number T.J. had written down.

The phone rang three times before it picked up. “Who is this? How did you get this number?” The voice sounded impatient, arrogant and Gemma instantly recognized Chief Williams’ voice.

“Good evening, Chief Williams,” Gemma said pleasantly, though inside her stomach twisted in knots. “This is Gemma Fitzgibbons of the Carville Gazette.”

“I don’t care who you are, Ms. Fitzgibbons. It’s late. If you want an interview call my campaign office and speak to my publicity manager.”

“This isn’t about your campaign,” Gemma interjected swiftly before he could hang up on her. “It’s about Robert Kowalski, Stan Moretti, and Frank Hurley.” As she said the names, she felt the weight of the gaze of all the men in the room on her. She focused on Jack, taking strength from his presence.

“What about them?” The Chief sounded more cautious. “Those men are dead. I haven’t had anything to do with them in years.”

Gemma paced a little as she spoke. “You visited Frank Hurley after Stan Moretti died. Were you worried he might start talking?”

“You’re wasting my time, Ms. Fitzgibbons,” he growled across the line.

“Then how about this. I have a witness who saw your man hit Stan Moretti’s boat head on and then shoot at him in the water, and I have evidence of payments tying you to the deaths of those three men.” The last wasn’t exactly true, but the Chief only had to believe her bluff.

A pregnant silence filled the line and Gemma waited.

She looked at the men surrounding her. Jack leaned against the wall, his arms over his chest, his gaze never leaving her. T.J. lounged beside him like a jungle cat. Jack’s dad sat at the table, his hands wrapped around a cup of coffee, a worried expression on his face. Moretti constantly fidgeted, tugging on his shirt collar, putting his hands in his pocket only to pull them out again.

“What is it you want, Ms. Fitzgibbons?” Chief Williams asked tersely.

Gemma took a deep breath. She had to play this right. If he had an inkling that he was being set up, he’d slip through their trap. “I want out of Carville. This place has too many bad memories and I want to get my family away. But,” and she paused, dragging the word out, “moving and setting up a new life costs money.”

“How much?” The words sounded cold and deadly.

Gemma wrapped her free arm around her waist. “Two hundred and fifty thousand.”

“That’s a quarter of a million dollars. How do I even know you have what you say you have?”

“You want proof. I figured you would.” They’d expected he would make such a demand. “Check your email. I’ll wait.”

Gemma put her hand over the phone. “Are you sure he’ll bite?” Now that she had him on the hook, she didn’t want anything to prevent the deal from taking place.

“He’ll bite,” Moretti assured her. “Like I told you, the info in the email connects a payment from him to his so-called bodyguard the day before Hurley fell down the stairs.”

Yeah, he’d told him them about the payment and even shown them. Apparently, he’d paid for someone to hack the chief’s accounts. None of it was legal.

She knew Jack didn’t trust him. It was in the way he looked at Moretti and talked to him. Privately, he’d expressed his skepticism to her that Moretti had the money to pay a hacker. Still, Moretti had produced the evidence and it seemed legit.

All they had to do, Moretti had said, was dangle it in front of the chief. Well, that was what she was doing. Feeling antsy, she walked a few steps in either direction, waiting for the chief to come back on the line.

What she was really waiting for was to see whether their plan had a chance.

Gemma heard a throat clear on the other side of the line and halted in her steps. “That’s a very interesting document, Ms. Fitzgibbons. How did you come by this information?”

“You know a reporter can’t reveal her sources. Do we have a deal?” She pressed the phone to her ear, afraid of missing his answer.

“Let’s say, I were to lend you that kind of money, what would I get in return?”

The man was cagey. He wasn’t about to call it blackmail or extortion. By referring to it as a loan, if the conversation ever came out, he was covered. “If you were to give me this loan,” she said, meeting Jack’s gaze to see if caught the wording, “I would give you all I had on the subject and your problem would go away.”

Again, silence filled the line and she waited.

“It’ll take time to get that kind of money together.”

“You have twenty-four hours, or the information goes public. I’ll call you tomorrow night at the same time to set up a meeting. One more thing, Chief,” she said, “if anything happens to me or my family, I’ve made arrangements for the information to go to the authorities and the media.” As the words left her mouth, she prayed she wasn’t making a big mistake. Grabbing a tiger by the tail had consequences. She had to trust that Jack and the rest of the men had her back, because it was impossible to back out now.

“Your information had better all be there.”

“It will be, I promise. It’s a pleasure doing business with you.” Gemma disconnected the call and passed the phone over to T.J.

She rubbed her hands against her pants. She felt dirty, as if she’d been dipped into a bucket of slime. She buried the feeling and forced herself to focus. “What now?”

Jack pushed off the wall he’d been leaning against and straightened. “Now we wait for the Chief to make his move.”

Jack had been on stakeouts that had lasted longer and had occurred in much more uncomfortable surroundings.

None of them had left him as much on edge as this waiting game.

T.J. had gone into the station to help with wrapping up the Wedding Veil Killer case. Jack had taken the day off to act as bodyguard to Gemma and her family. Gemma had agreed to stay inside. Sylvie appeared stronger, but she still needed more rest. Dana seemed a shadow of the little girl he’d first met and he shared Gemma’s worry over the little girl’s healing.

His mom and dad had come in the afternoon and his mom had brought a doll and some toys for Dana to play with. All the adults had taken heart when Dana had shown signs of animation over the toys.

T.J. arrived in the early evening along with Moretti and Gordon, Jack’s old partner. They gathered around the table, which held a map of the city, and Jack called Gemma over. She glanced over at Dana playing, while his mom and Sylvie talked, before joining them.

“Gordon, what do you have?” Jack asked.

“I tracked down the guy Moretti ID’d as having tried to kill him. He made a stop at the bank and then I followed him back to his apartment where he hasn’t moved. I’ve got a friend sitting on him now. He’s supposed to call me when the guy leaves. He also lent me this.” Gordon reached into his pocket and pulled out a man’s watch. “It’s got a voice recorder. Just hit this button here.”

He demonstrated the watch, then had Gemma try it out. The watch hung loosely on her wrist, but she assured him she could take it with her. Gemma sat back down in her seat and placed the watch on the table in front of her.

“Thanks,” Jack said. “Dad, what about you?”

His dad pointed to an area downtown. “The Chief gave a speech in the morning and then visited his campaign office in the afternoon. He has two guys guarding him. They’re both ex-cops. I recognized them.”

“You weren’t seen?” Gemma asked.

“Nah,” his dad said. “Stan and I used disguises and took turns, so that neither of us stayed in his vicinity for long.” His dad cleared his throat. “Stan thinks the Chief has the wind up.”

“What makes you think so?” T.J. asked.

Moretti shifted and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “He was barking orders left and right when no one was looking. He bit the head off that aide of his; some nerdy looking guy.”

Gemma winced at that. “So, do we go ahead with the next part of the plan and set up a meet with the Chief tonight?”

She met the gaze of each man at the table and one by one they nodded. Then she got to Jack. “It’s on, but for the record, I wish we had another way.”

“So do I,” Gemma said with a small smile. “All right, it’s a go.” She looked at her watch. “I’ll call the Chief in two hours.”

Jack blew out a breath. “Dad, you and Moretti get into position. T.J. I want you to follow us.”

“You got it.” T.J. said. “I also managed to get a tracker. I’ll put it on your vehicle for extra insurance.”

“I don’t understand,” Gemma said, looking at him. “You can’t come with me. It’ll blow the whole deal with the Chief. Why not ride with T.J.?”

“I’ll be hiding in the backseat. Before we arrive at our destination, I’ll tell you to slow down and I’ll get out.” No way would he let Gemma go into the situation alone. That wasn’t even up for discussion, no matter what she might think.

Gemma walked over to the mini-refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. She took it out and twisted the cap, a pensive expression on her face. “But we don’t know for sure where this meeting will take place.”

Jack gestured for her to join him and pointed to the map. “Do as we planned. Suggest the mall first. He won’t go for it because it’s too public. He may suggest an alternative. Reject it. It doesn’t matter what it is, it’ll be on his playing ground and we don’t want that.”

Gemma nodded. This wasn’t the first time she was hearing it, but they all needed to go over it again. “So, assuming he rejects my first suggestion—”

“He will,” Moretti interjected. “Count on it.”

Gemma continued. “Then I suggest the fairgrounds. It’s Friday night and the last weekend before the carnival there closes, so they’ll be open until eleven p.m. Since I’ll set the meet for ten p.m., the crowds should have left, but there will still be people so that it’s not completely isolated.”

T.J. pulled a paper from underneath the map and laid it on top. “This is a close-diagram of the fairgrounds.” He pointed to a large space. “Park in the parking lot here. When you get into the grounds, head left and go all the way to the far end here.”

Jack picked up the thread. “The Whirling Dervish ride is closed for repairs. Meet him behind it. It’s far from the main action, so he shouldn’t balk too much at the suggestion.”

“All right,” Gemma said and checked her watch. “Let’s do it.”

At nine o’clock, Gemma took out the phone. His dad and Moretti had already left for the fair. Gordon sat on the couch talking quietly with his mom and Sylvie, while Dana slept in one of the bedrooms. Jack and T.J. followed Gemma into the tiny kitchenette area where she made the call.

He wished all of them were someplace else. He really wanted to take Gemma into his arms and hold her. He hadn’t liked reporters when he’d first met her and his opinion hadn’t exactly changed, but his opinion about her certainly had. She had guts and determination to do the right thing. He admired her a great deal, which said a lot, because he didn’t admire many people.

Gemma held up a finger. “Good evening, Chief. Do you have my money?”

She listened and Jack waited for some indication of what the chief was saying. Gemma shook her head. “It’s a quarter of a million paid tonight or I take the information I have and go public with it. Which is it?”

Jack watched her pace. He glanced over at T.J., and saw his partner coiled like a predator ready to pounce. He knew the feeling. If the chief were standing right here...

“Ten o’clock at the shopping mall,” Gemma suggested. She stuck her thumb down. “I don’t think so. That is way outside the city limits and too isolated. I’d be crazy to meet you there.” She was quiet for a moment. “Okay, then how about the carnival at the fairgrounds. They close at eleven, so most of the crowds will have gone home, but it’s not completely empty either. Remember, if something happens to me, the information I have will find its way to the authorities and the press. And Chief, it had better be you who shows up and not one of your lackeys. The deal is with you or it’s off.”

Gemma stuck her thumb up. “Ten o’clock behind the Whirling Dervish ride. It’s out of service and we shouldn’t be bothered. Don’t be late, Chief.” She hung up the phone and looked at the two of them.

“Good work,” T.J. said. “I’ll head downstairs and follow you. Don’t be too long and don’t forget the watch.” He pointed to the timepiece that still sat on the table.

Gemma picked it up and snapped the metal band around her wrist. “Got it.”

“We’ll be behind you,” Jack said. Once T.J. left, Jack took Gemma’s arm and pulled her toward the one empty bedroom.

“What’s the matter?” Gemma asked. Her green eyes held shadows and the dark smudges underneath testified to the stress she’d been under.

Jack closed the door behind them and drew Gemma into his arms. “I don’t want you to take any risks. If I tell you to back off, you get out as fast as you can. Don’t worry about me or the others. Got that?”

Gemma placed her palms on his chest. “Got it. But the same goes for you. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

There was more he wanted to say, needed to say, but they didn’t have time. T.J. was waiting, and he’d be checking in soon, if they didn’t move it.

So, Jack said what he needed to say without words. He leaned in and kissed her, taking his time, despite the clock ticking in his head. Whatever happened tonight, he wanted the taste of Gemma on his lips, and he wanted her to have this memory of him to pull out if she got nervous or scared.

He poured everything he could into that one meeting of the lips and hoped she understood his message.

The phone in his pocket vibrated. He ended the kiss, his forehead pressed against hers. “Promise me you’ll stay safe,” he said, ignoring the persistent buzz.

“Since you’ll be protecting me, I promise to do everything you say and to stay safe. Now, don’t you think you should answer your phone?” She stepped out of his embrace and he reached for his phone.

“We’re on our way down,” he announced in lieu of a greeting.

T.J. snorted. “Thought you’d forgotten. You two need to move it.” He disconnected the call.

“Come on,” Jack said. “It’s show time.”