“Ray knew you were trouble from the start,” Jessica confirmed. “He was familiar with you. I thought he was overreacting, but he was right. You’ve caused a heckuva lot of trouble.”
“That’s rich coming from you,” I shot back, opting for aggression because I didn’t know what else to do. “You killed a bunch of men dressed in Santa suits and left their bodies to rot like they were nothing more than garbage.”
Jessica’s rage was palpable. “They were garbage! We had a system in place. Beau was part of that system. He agreed to work for my father. It was a well-oiled machine, but then he broke away.”
“He wanted more of the pie for himself,” I deduced. “He figured you guys were making more than him and he wanted to cut you out of the equation.”
“He tried to go around us, take our distributor, but it didn’t work because he couldn’t guarantee anything. That’s when he decided to move out here. We had plans to expand, but it’s not as easy as you might think. We needed time to get our network in place.
“Beau leapfrogged over us,” she continued. “He took over the territory we were eyeing.”
It turned out to be nothing more than a turf war. “You decided to kill Beau and his team and take the territory for yourself.”
She bobbed her head.
“Why were they wearing Santa suits?”
“Oh, that.” She let loose a hollow laugh. “I’m not entirely sure. They were covering what they were doing by volunteering their time as Santas at the metroparks. It made delivery easier because they could go wherever they wanted without garnering suspicion. They could also carry bags of product in plain view. People thought the bags were part of the getup.”
“Right.” The rest of the pieces came together. “You guys killed Beau’s team together. Ray freaked out when I started asking questions and began following me. When I showed up to question Cal a second time, he decided to make sure nobody would talk.”
“He killed my father.” Jessica’s voice was like liquid ice. “I’m going to make him pay. You’re going to help me.”
That sounded unlikely. “And how do you expect me to do that?” I asked. “What can I possibly do for you?”
“Money. I need money to get out of here. And you know people who know people. I need someone to rat on Ray. He’s hiding, but he couldn’t have gone far. You have sources who can tell you where he is. You found me and my mother. You can find him, too.”
“I found you and your mother via a fluke,” I countered.
“You still managed it. I want you to do the same for me. Find Ray ... and give me all the money in your bank account. I’ll let you live — more importantly, I’ll let your friend and her baby live.”
“Sure. Let’s go to the bank right now.”
Carly furrowed her brow, clearly confused, but I spared her only a cursory glance. Jessica had my attention, and it needed to stay that way. “We need to head out right away if you want the money.”
Jessica hadn’t expected me to acquiesce so quickly. I’d given her exactly what she wanted ... and yet she was leery. “You’re up to something.”
I shook my head. “I want my friend to be safe. I’ll give you whatever you want to ensure that.”
“But ... you’re lying.” Her expression was grotesque. “You’re not going to help me.”
“It wouldn’t be my first choice,” I readily agreed. “But I don’t see that we have any choice. I mean … you’ve got the gun.”
She stood there a long moment, bewilderment flushing her cheeks. “Okay.” She took a step away from the door. “You lead the way. Take me to that side lot you were talking about.”
“No problem.” I risked a brief glance at Carly, flashed a small smile that I hoped conveyed things would be okay, and then pulled open the door. “Just one thing ....” I waited until Jessica had moved to the hallway.
“What?” Her expression was quizzical.
“You’re just as drugged out as your father. Rehab is definitely real.”
I grabbed her wrist and forced the gun toward the ceiling, cringing when she pulled the trigger. Hopefully there was nobody directly on the floor above us. Jessica was younger than me, but she barely put up a fight when I slammed the forearm of my free arm into her nose, causing her to gasp as she flew back and hit the wall.
People were panicking behind me, some running, others taking cover. I kept my focus on Jessica as I pinned her to the wall.
She was thin — barely weighed a hundred pounds if I had to guess. Even as she gasped and struggled, I couldn’t decide if I was angry or sympathetic. The girl had gone looking for her father and found an excuse to hide from life. She wasn’t solely to blame for all of this.
“Let me go,” she spat, spittle forming at the corners of her mouth. “You’re a freaking cow and you’re crushing me.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” I settled on anger as my main emotion. “There’s no reason to be nasty. You decided it was okay to murder people for drugs.”
“Not drugs. It wasn’t about drugs. I’m not some loser junkie. It was about the money.”
Did that make it better? Not in the least.
“What’s going on?” Eliot raced to my side, immediately reaching for the gun Jessica pointed at the ceiling. “Is this ...?”
“Jessica Shepperly,” I confirmed, forcing a smile as two nurses raced around me into Carly’s room. “She wanted money ... and for me to help her find Ray.”
“I was just about to find you.” Eliot used his hip to prod me to ease up on Jessica so he could take control. “Jake found Ray. He was hiding in a strip club in Warren. One of the locals called the tip line hoping for a reward because Ray was mouthing off about the cops looking for him. He’s
