Black Bird: A Murder Mystery Suspense Thriller, page 8
“That would explain his death and the doll being a warning to others,” said Rem. “Don’t mess with the big guy.”
Lexie stood. “Did you go to Bailey’s place of business?” She headed into the kitchen.
“We did this morning,” said Rem, resuming his eating. “Didn’t learn much, though. And his family is back east. We talked to them, but that didn’t help either.”
Lexie grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee. “Cream and sugar, right?” she asked.
“And lots of it.” Rem ate another chip.
Daniels reached for a chip, too. “How does this whole occult thing fit in with the black birds, though?” He popped the chip into his mouth. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Rem spoke through a mouthful. “Have you come across anything occult-related in your research of the list?”
Lexie returned with a mug of coffee and set it in front of Rem. “No. I haven’t.”
“What have you come up with?” asked Daniels.
Lexie sat again. “I wish I could tell you I hit the jackpot, but it’s slow going.”
“Tell us about it.” Rem sipped his coffee and sighed. “It’s good. Thanks.”
“Any names pop out at you?” asked Daniels.
She dug through some papers and grabbed an open notebook. “A couple.” She picked up a pen. “The first is Olivia Nightingale. I recognized the name and wondered if it was the same person.”
“Who is she?” asked Daniels.
“I worked for The Independent for a while. You familiar with it?”
Daniels nodded. “Yeah. Smaller, local paper?”
“Yes. Olivia Nightingale was an editor while I worked there. She never liked me, and I despised her. She’s the reason I left. I looked her up after I saw her name on the list, and guess what? She’s since been promoted to editor-in-chief.”
“Interesting.” Rem dunked another chip in the dip. “You find anything that ties her to the black birds?”
Lexie tapped her pen on the notebook. “Just that The Independent has done a series of articles heavily in favor of that new development going in. One of them even featured an interview with Pinnacle Properties, which is overseeing the project. Considering Ackerman worked there, I find that pretty coincidental.”
Daniels immediately thought of Rook, who owned Pinnacle, and looked at Rem. “That is coincidental,” said Daniels.
Rem swallowed his bite. “So, if this is the right Olivia, she’s using the paper to support the development.”
“The question is, what is she getting in return?” asked Daniels. “Or is she just an ardent follower who believes in the cause?”
Rem sipped some coffee. “Who else you got pegged?” he asked Lexie.
“The other is Ezra Grimm.” Lexie looked up. “You heard of him?”
Daniels didn’t recognize the name. “No.”
“Remember that big story about Montes Pharmaceuticals?” asked Lexie. “When they were accused of manufacturing and testing drugs on patients in rehab facilities without their consent? And some died? Ruben Montes, the wealthy philanthropist who left the family business, died not too long ago in Texas.”
Daniels dropped his jaw. Mason Redstone, Mikey’s brother, had gotten on Montes’ bad side after Mason’s experience in a rehab facility where the illegal drugs had been tested on fellow patients. His involvement had led to the arrest of Ruben’s son, Rain, for murder. When Mason’s father had later gone missing in Texas, Mason had immediately suspected Ruben’s involvement. He and Mikey had luckily located their father, but not long after, Ruben had been found murdered.
“We’ve definitely heard of Ruben Montes,” said Rem.
“What does Montes have to do with Ezra Grimm?” asked Daniels.
“Grimm is the Montes’ cousin and the family attorney. His firm is currently defending the family name in the government’s case against them. He’s been pretty successful at delaying and putting off all the civil and criminal filings against the business. Ultimately, it’s going to catch up to him, but for now, he’s giving the government, and the families who are owed restitution for the death of their loved ones, fits. It could take years to get through it all.”
Daniels tried to absorb that Ezra Grimm was Montes’ cousin. “How would that benefit the black birds?”
Lexie shrugged. “I don’t know, but word is Grimm is just as smart and diabolical as Montes and his family.”
“Ruben’s sister, Gloria, isn’t too nice, either,” added Rem. “The whole family is dangerous.”
“And loaded,” said Lexie. “With that kind of money, you could do some damage and put on a lot of pressure. Enough to scare people or influence them.” She stared off. “I know you two think this mysterious Dirk on the list is a big player, but could Ezra Grimm be the ringleader?”
Daniels eyed Rem, who fiddled with a chip and didn’t say a word. Daniels stared at his glass of juice.
Lexie abruptly sat up. “Okay. That’s it. I thought I picked up on something between the two of you. What are you not telling me?”
Daniels cleared his throat. “There’s been a few developments.” He took a big swig of his drink and set the glass down.
Lexie closed her notebook. “What developments?”
Rem moved some more papers around. “It’s a lot.”
“When is it ever a little?” she asked. She sat back and crossed her arms. “Is this about Jerry Lee?”
“You could say that,” said Daniels.
“Do you know something about Cain and Arnold Bertrand?”
“You could say that too,” said Rem.
“Oh, for God’s sake. Just tell me.”
Daniels glanced at Rem. “You want to, or should I?” asked Daniels.
Rem fell back in his seat. “Hell. Okay. Here goes.” He paused and cracked his knuckles. “Cain and Bertrand were killed with a gun from my closet, and Daniels had a hefty personal debt paid off anonymously. Turns out Damien Rook, along with his new sidekick Tex, are blackmailing me and Daniels into killing Jerry Lee Caruso. If we don’t do what Rook wants, he’s threatening us with prison.”
Lexie dropped her jaw. “Are you joking with me?” She paused and scoffed. “Very funny, you two. Can we be serious now?”
Daniels intervened. “How’s this for serious? If we don’t kill Jerry Lee within forty-eight hours, they’re going to kill you next.”
Lexie’s face went white.
Rem grabbed a chip, ate it, and wiped his fingers on a napkin. “You got anything sweet to eat? I could go for a cookie.”
Lexie sat in stunned silence. Staring at the detectives, she waited for them to laugh, but they stared back with flat faces. “You’re not joking?”
“Not about the cookies,” said Rem.
“Or the other thing,” replied Daniels. “Damien Rook is the ringleader of the black birds. Not Ezra Grimm.”
Lexie, trying to wrap her head around their revelation, stammered. “How…when…did all of this happen?”
Daniels filled her in about Rem’s gun, his debt, meeting Tex and Rook, and Rook’s plans to recruit them because of some ugly grudge. If they didn’t comply, Tex would ensure the gun was found and that Daniels and Rem would be tied to the crimes. Adding to the pressure, Rook had threatened Lexie and Erin as well.
Trying to grasp it all, Lexie held her head. “Wow. I did not see this coming.”
“Guess how surprised we were,” added Rem.
Lexie rubbed her forehead, trying to think.
“You okay?” asked Daniels.
“Not really.” As a reporter, Lexie prided herself on handling the unexpected, but this level of corruption surprised her. “Who else knows about this?”
“The three of us, Mikey and Marjorie,” said Rem. “That’s it.”
Lexie widened her eyes. “Don’t you think you should tell someone?”
“Like who?” asked Rem. “Crow? What’s she going to do other than arrest us?”
“Her father is a member,” added Daniels. “That makes it hard to trust her.”
“We told Manetti about the society,” said Rem, “but didn’t mention Rook and the assassin thing. We figure that may be a bit much for him.”
Lexie’s mind raced. “Um, forgive me if I’m overreacting, but what the hell do you two plan to do? Jerry Lee is nowhere to be found, and that forty-eight hours won’t last long.”
“Don’t worry,” said Rem. “We don’t think they’ll actually kill you.”
“It’s a threat,” replied Daniels. “Like the doll.”
Lexie, perplexed, shook her head. “And Martin Bailey is dead, along with Cain and Bertrand.”
Rem glanced at Daniels. “I think she’s worried.”
Daniels grabbed a chip and dunked it into the dip. “I don’t blame her.” He ate the chip. “That’s good dip.”
Lexie couldn’t understand how calm they were. Recalling the two men who’d assaulted her and taken Ackerman’s box, Lexie stood. “How can you be so cavalier about this? Rook is blackmailing you. He wants you to kill people.” She raised her hands. “How do you know he won’t expect you to kill me?”
Rem raised his brow. “I hadn’t considered that.”
Lexie bit back a curse. “You need to tell someone. If not Crow, then the FBI.” She put her hands on her hips. “Before someone else gets hurt.”
“Can’t risk it,” said Rem. “Rook would plant that gun, and the FBI could end up going after us like they did Lozano. Then where would we be?”
Daniels swallowed his bite. “Plus, someone on that list could be with the FBI.” He licked his finger. “Too risky.”
“So you’re doing this alone?” asked Lexie. “That’s crazy.”
“We know it looks that way,” Daniels swiped some crumbs off his shirt. “And we’re not taking it lightly.”
“As bad as it seems,” said Rem, “there’s actually an opportunity here. And we need to use it.”
“What opportunity?”
Rem wiped his fingers on a napkin. “Rook wants us to work for him. We figured if we do, and play the part, we can get behind the scenes and find out the players in this society.”
“But we have the list of members,” said Lexie.
“Which makes this even more ideal,” said Daniels. “Rook doesn’t know about the list. When we suggested we’d gone through the contents of the box, he ridiculed us. It didn’t bother him at all.”
“Which means he has no idea the list exists.” Rem sat up. “If we can get inside the organization, and put names to faces, and maybe even get them to trust us…”
“We can blow this wide open,” said Daniels.
Lexie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “This is suicide. The only way to do any of that is to kill Jerry Lee. How do you plan to accomplish that?”
Rem tossed his napkin on the table. “Daniels and I have been talking. There are ways to fake Jerry’s death and convince Rook we did it.”
Lexie flapped her arms again. “But you can’t find him.”
“We have some ideas about that too,” said Daniels. “But we have to be careful.”
“We can’t let Jerry Lee turn himself in,” said Rem. “If he goes into custody, this becomes much harder, if not impossible.”
“We’ve got to get to him first,” said Daniels. “Before anyone else.”
Trying not to think about being dead in the next forty-eight hours, Lexie paced. “How do you plan to do that?”
“After we leave here, we’re meeting with Crow,” said Daniels. “We have an idea on how to draw Jerry out.”
Rem finished his coffee and set his cup down. “We want to use his mother, Patricia.” He sat forward. “If Jerry thinks she is in trouble, he’ll come running.”
“What kind of trouble?” asked Lexie.
“We say she’s sick,” added Daniels. “And in the hospital.”
Lexie sat again and thought about it. “I don’t know. That means you’re actually going to have to put her in the hospital. Will Patricia go for it?”
“She will if it means finding her son,” said Rem.
Lexie tapped one of her notebooks. “Hospitals mean involving lots of people. If Jerry comes out in the open, he could be seen. Maybe turned in. And then you two are screwed.”
“You got a better idea?” asked Rem.
Lexie considered another option. She grabbed one of her notebooks and flipped through it. She stopped and pointed to a name and number on the page. “Austin Rieckart. Head of the broadcast news division at a local affiliate. I can call and tell him I have the inside scoop on a big story.”
“What story is that?” asked Daniels.
Lexie tapped her jaw. “What if Patricia Caruso had a break-in? The assailants threatened her, demanding to know where Jerry Lee was. They roughed her up, broke things, and then left when she couldn’t tell them anything. They warned her not to go to the police, or they’d be back.”
There was a brief pause before Rem spoke to Daniels. “Patricia would have to verify that with the news.”
“She’d have to make a police report,” said Daniels.
“She can make it to us. We can handle that.”
“It’s a false report.”
Rem sighed, but then raised his brow. “Let’s bring Crow in on it. We tell her this is the plan. She’s been on our ass to find Jerry Lee, and this is a good way to do it.”
“She may go for it as long as Patricia’s on board.” Daniels stared off. “And if Crow tells her father, he should be all for it if he knows Rook’s plan to recruit us.” He paused. “So the news channel airs the report, and we pray Jerry Lee sees it, or hears about it. He calls Patricia to check on her…”
“…only we’re there when she answers.” Rem sat back. “It’s not bad.”
“But what about Captain Crow?” asked Lexie. “She’ll know Jerry called in.”
“Only if we tell her,” said Rem.
“All we need is to talk to Jerry and get him to turn himself over to us, and only us.” Daniels’ eyes gleamed with a look of hope. “We do that, and we might just survive this.”
“And keep Lexie alive,” said Rem. “An added bonus.”
“It’s a good idea, Lex,” said Daniels, “and it just might work. Let’s just pray Jerry’s watching the news.”
“In the meantime, go stay with your mom,” replied Rem. “And keep the alarm turned on.”
Lexie groaned at the thought of staying with her overbearing mother. “I think I dread that more than the death threat.”
“If we really thought they’d follow through,” said Daniels, “we’d tell you to get out of town.”
“Which you can do if you want.” Rem closed the bag of chips. “No hard feelings.”
“If we get to hour forty with no results, we’ll make sure you’re safe,” said Daniels. “Rem and I will risk our lives, but that’s by choice. We’re not going to risk yours.”
Lexie appreciated the sentiment. “Like you said, it’s by choice. And I’m not going anywhere.”
“We’ll see about that at hour forty,” said Rem. “None of this is worth your life.”
“When it comes to Damien Rook, something tells me nowhere I go is safe.” Lexie stood. “So I might as well stick around.” She grabbed Rem’s coffee cup.
“Is that our cue to leave?” asked Rem.
“No. That’s my cue to get you a second cup and get one for me. Only mine will have that shot of whiskey. Besides, I can’t kick out the two guys who have to kill someone to protect me.” She headed into the kitchen.
“We appreciate that,” said Rem. “But I’m jealous of the whiskey shot.”
“Me too,” said Daniels.
Lexie opened the pantry and pulled out a bag of Oreos. She brought them to the table and set them on top of it. “This should make you feel better.”
Rem’s eyes rounded. “I can see why Lonny likes you.”
“Enjoy ’em, sport,” said Daniels. “If this plan doesn’t work, you may never eat them again.” His cell phone rang. He pulled it out and answered. “Detective Daniels.” He listened and glanced at Rem. “Hi, Martha. Thanks for calling me back.”
Lexie poured two glasses of milk while Daniels talked on the phone. She brought them to the table.
Rem spoke softly. “That’s Martha Cravitz. Durning’s assistant.”
Lexie nodded, returned to the kitchen, got her coffee and Rem’s, and returned to the table.
“You’re sure?” Daniels’ eyes widened. “When was this?”
“Sounds promising.” Rem took his coffee from Lexie and bit into a cookie. “Thanks.”
Listening, Lexie sipped from her mug and grabbed a cookie.
“That’s great, Martha. That’s a huge help. If you remember anything else, please call me.” Daniels said his goodbyes and hung up. “Guess what?” He tucked his phone back into his pocket.
“Martha’s having a secret affair with Rook,” replied Rem.
“She knows all the secrets of the black birds, and she’s ready to come clean.” Lexie pulled the Oreo apart and ate the insides first.
Daniels stared at them flatly. “Reginald Durning got a weird doll, with buttons for eyes, a black feather on its chest, and a black star on its leg, two weeks before he died.”
Rem stopped chewing. “Oh, shit.”
Chapter Eight
Finally home after a long day, Rem sat back on his couch with a groan and laid his head back on the cushions. Mikey had texted, telling him she had stopped for food and would be there soon. Trying not to think, he did the opposite. After his and Daniels’ meeting with Lexie, they’d returned to the station, only to learn that Crow had postponed their meeting until the following morning and had left for the day. Frustrated, he and Daniels had debated what to do. Waiting meant losing a news cycle, but going ahead meant jeopardizing their jobs if they didn’t clear their plans through Crow first. After talking it over, they decided that one news cycle might be all they’d need, and if Jerry didn’t initially get in touch, they’d call Tex and ask for an extension. It was all they could do. In the meantime, Lexie had agreed to stay with her mom until they knew more.
Trying to relax, Rem wondered how Rhonda managed the stress of being an assassin and decided he wasn’t suited for it.
