Deadly Noel Page 12

  Gabriel entered the police station and nearly ran into Chief Shaffer who was leaving.

  The man scowled “Why are you here? To confess?”

  “After being shot at and in the hospital last night, I don’t have the time to listen to the same old thing. You know I’m not guilty. When are you going to admit you messed up? Three more women are dead because you didn’t do your job right in the first place.”

  Bill closed the space between them and stabbed his finger into Gabriel’s chest. “Be careful with your accusations. I’m not someone you want as an enemy.” His words were low and full of anger.

  “What did I do to you? Or is it because you’re on Ruth Morgan’s payroll, too?”

  The lines on his tanned face slashed deeper. “Marcie was too good for you. I used to hear stories from my dad about your reckless behavior in high school. You kept him busy as the police chief. Remember the time you raced Carson, and he ended up wrecking his car? He couldn’t play football after that. He was the best receiver on our team. He wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t goaded him.”

  The year Carson was a senior and Gabriel a sophomore, they had raced on the highway along with several others. There was a group of teenage boys who loved cars and loved to race. They usually did every weekend until that accident with Carson. “Yes, I was one of the guys racing Carson, not the only one. I won, but I didn’t goad Carson. He was part of the group, actually the leader. We were just doing what we loved to do. Was it smart? No, but back then we all thought we were invincible. Haven’t you done things you regret?”

  Bill harrumphed. “Why are you here?”

  “I wanted to see when my truck would be released to Premier Garage, and if you found any evidence pointing to who shot it.”

  “Your truck’s at the garage. Other than the similarity in the bullets in Kira’s car and your truck, no. I was heading out to talk to Evan Jones. His truck was seen on the traffic cam, leaving town not long before the incident. Also Al Nelson’s and Pastor Dunkin’s vehicles. With snow being predicted and the late hour, the road to the highway wasn’t busy. Otherwise, nothing but the boot print, but I’m sure you already know that since you and Kira are working on this case. As I told her, don’t interfere in my investigation. I won’t hesitate to throw you in jail if you do.”

  Gabriel waited until the police chief left then made his way to Al’s Diner on Main Street between the station and the garage. He wasn’t interfering. He would grab a cup of coffee he desperately needed and see what Al had been doing last night.

  His cell phone rang a few steps away from the diner. “Is something wrong?” he asked Kira.

  “Grams’ ankle is broken, but they have to wait until the swelling goes down before they can cast her foot. I thought we’d be here for hours, but Craig has helped to move everything along faster. We’ll be leaving soon. Are you at the house yet?”

  “No. Bill released my truck. It’s at the garage. I’m heading there to see when it’ll be fixed. Jeremy might hurry it along.”

  “We can pick you up if you want.”

  “I’m fine. Quit worrying. I’ll be at your house within the hour. Has your grandmother been giving you grief about having to stay with you?”

  “No. I think she’s relieved. See you soon.”

  Gabriel entered the diner and sat on a stool, not far from where Al stood. When not in the kitchen, he often served the people at the counter. When the owner came his way, Gabriel said, “I’d like some coffee to go.”

  Al set a cup in front of Gabriel and filled it nearly to the top. “You look like you need the caffeine. I heard this morning about what happened to you and Kira. Business has been slow ever since Mary Lou was found, but I can’t blame people.”

  “Are you still staying open until ten?”

  “Yes, but I don’t leave until later, except for last night.”

  Al’s house wasn’t along the road where his car was captured on the traffic cam. “So you were home before it started to snow?”

  “Not exactly. I gave Melinda a ride to her place. I’ve been doing that since Mary Lou went missing. Her husband drops her off on his way to work, but he doesn’t get off until midnight.”

  Gabriel blew on the coffee then took a sip. “This is good as always. I’d better get moving. I need to check on my truck. I can’t go long without it. I’m just glad the snow didn’t stick or stay around for long.”

  The short walk to the garage only took five minutes. It sounded like Al had an alibi, but Gabriel would let the police follow up with Melinda. With Kira involved, he knew Bill would check all the leads. If it had just been him in the truck, he had his doubts. But then he remembered Bill’s dad, the police chief in Pinecrest for twenty-five years. Bill was downright pleasant compared to his father.

  When no one was out front, although a few cars were parked at the side of the building, Gabriel called out for Jeremy, the owner, and rang the bell that signaled a customer had arrived. Nothing. He had one other mechanic working for him part-time but only in the afternoon. This didn’t feel right. Gabriel tossed his coffee cup in the trash, skirted the counter, and headed for the door that led to the work area.

  When he stepped into the large garage, not one sound filled the air. Gabriel spied his truck in the second bay. As he approached, all his senses sharpened. If Jeremy had left he would have locked up when his part-time helper wasn’t there. Besides, Jeremy’s car was parked at the side. Who owned the other vehicle?

  “Jeremy,” he called out several more times as he walked around his truck.

  On the other side, he found a set of legs covered with Jeremy’s blue uniform and black boots sticking out from under the vehicle. Gabriel knelt and leaned down to look under the truck.

  “Jeremy, are you okay?”

  Still no response.

  He thought of pulling Jeremy out by the feet, but if he was hurt, he didn’t want to harm him anymore by moving him the wrong way. Instead, Gabriel removed his overcoat, got his flashlight out of his glove compartment, and then wiggled under his truck. Alongside Jeremy, he could see the mechanic’s eyes were closed. As Gabriel checked Jeremy’s neck for a pulse, his fingers encountered a wet substance. Gabriel shone the light on his hand, red with blood.

  Chapter Ten

  Kira shut the drapes in the spare bedroom then turned to see if her grandmother needed anything before she left her alone to rest, but Grams’ eyes were already shut, and her chest rose and fell gently. Kira tiptoed into the hallway and quietly closed the door.

  When she entered the living room, she looked around. “Gabriel isn’t back yet?”

  Larry shook his head as he opened the front door to do a walk around the house.

  “You’ve got it bad for that man,” Penny said from the dining room.

  Heat singed Kira’s cheeks. “He was shot last night. I think I have a reason to be concerned about him.”

  Her secretary jotted something on a piece of paper then glanced at her. “Yep, I know that look. There’s more than concern in it.”

  “Yes, embarrassment.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be here soon. Maybe Jeremy and he began talking about cars or trucks. You know how men can get when they do.”

  “Any progress on the women’s profiles?”

  “Nothing that they all have in common. They go to different hairdressers, grocery stores, and so on.”

  “I’ll call Gabriel then help you.”

  Penny’s cell phone rang, blaring one of the latest country western songs. “Hello.” Her secretary listened to the other person on the line, slowly the corner of her mouth turning down. “Okay, I’ll let Kira know. Someone will come pick up a copy of the report.” When Penny disconnected, she said, “We got the information from StarPoint, but they only keep the past twelve months. All we’ll get is the last five weeks of Marcie’s life.”

  “Let’s hope that’s enough. Larry and I will pick it up at the police station if you’ll peek in and make sure Grams is doing okay a couple of
times. She’s sleeping and probably will for a while.”

  “I will. Are you swinging by the garage to see if Gabriel’s there?”

  “You know me too well.”

  Kira sat in the front of the patrol car with Larry. The first stop was the police station because it was closer. When she went inside, she’d hoped that Bill was there.

  After getting a copy of the StarPoint data, Kira asked the dispatcher/receptionist, “Where’s Bill?”

  “He’s talking to the people on the traffic cam who were driving on the highway where the shooting was last night.”

  “Like who?”

  “Al at the diner, Pastor Dunkin, and the elementary school principal.”

  “Will you have the chief call when he returns?” She wanted to know how the interviews went. She couldn’t see any of those men being the shooter.

  “It’ll probably be within the hour. Oh, I forgot. I have a copy of Mary Lou’s autopsy for you. It just came in, too. I put the other one on the police chief’s desk.”

  Kira walked back and took the report in a manila envelope then started to leave but paused. “Did Gabriel Michaels come in here?”

  “Yes about half an hour ago. He was going to the garage.”

  After returning to the patrol vehicle, Kira laid back against the headrest. “Gabriel’s probably gone from the garage, but let’s check. I didn’t see him on the street walking to my house.”

  When Larry pulled up at the Premier Garage, Kira quickly exited the car. She looked down Fourth Avenue and didn’t see him heading toward her place. Her steps quickened the closer she was to the building. Was Jeremy almost through with his truck, so Gabriel was waiting?

  As she entered the front area of the garage, it was empty. She frowned. “Must be in the back.”

  “I’ll go first.” Larry came around the counter and strode to the rear door. He opened it, his body blocking Kira’s view. “Gabriel. Jeremy.”

  The quiet taunted Kira. She pushed past the patrol officer and called out, “Gabriel.”

  Still nothing.

  As she moved further into the three-bay garage, the silence ate at her composure. The building was wide open.

  Her heartbeat hammered against her skull, echoing through her head. Her stomach knotted. “Okay, Gabriel isn’t here, but where is Jeremy? His car’s at the side of the garage.”

  Larry slid his gun out of the holster and pointed it toward the concrete floor. “I don’t like this. Stay behind me.”

  A moan penetrated the stillness.

  Kira tensed.

  Larry lifted his gun and held it out in front of him.

  When they skirted the front of Gabriel’s truck, another groan floated on the air. Her gaze riveted to legs sticking out from under the F-150. They moved, and she gasped. She hurried forward. From the pants that were showing, she could tell it wasn’t Gabriel, so it had to be Jeremy.

  She glanced under the vehicle. “It’s Jeremy.” She lifted her head and peered over her shoulder at Larry who was panning the garage. “He’s hurt, I think. There’s a flashlight under there but shining away from Jeremy.”

  Larry knelt next to her and checked out the situation. “I’m calling this in. I saw evidence of a struggle in front of Gabriel’s truck.”

  While Larry rose and withdrew his phone, Kira scooched under the truck to Jeremy, the light glaring in her eyes, making it hard to tell exactly what occurred.

  He rolled his head toward her, opening his dazed eyes. “Kira…?”

  “What happened?” That was when Kira positioned the pink flashlight on Jeremy and saw the blood on the concrete floor. Then she recalled Gabriel asking her to hand her a flashlight similar to that one when he’d exited his truck the night she’d been shot at and she’d needed her purse. She’d dug it out of his glove compartment. If this was the same one, how had it gotten here?

  Jeremy’s eyes slid shut for a moment. “I don’t know—how—I got—here. My head hurts. Did I—fall?”

  Her mind raced with various scenarios, but they all came back to one question: how did Gabriel’s flashlight get under the truck. “I don’t think so. Do you remember seeing Gabriel this morning?”

  “No.”

  “Was someone else in the garage this morning besides you?”

  “Craig Addison.”

  “When?”

  “First thing—worked on his car. Mayor, too.” Jeremy began inching out. He grimaced, sucked in a breath, and stopped.

  “Stay put until the paramedics come.”

  “Head spinning.”

  Larry ducked down. “The paramedics have arrived. So has the police chief.”

  “Help is here, Jeremy. I’m going to give them room to work on you.” Kira wiggled her way out from under the truck. Then one paramedic took her place while the second one went around to the other side.

  Larry helped Kira to her feet. “Chief Shaffer wants to talk to you.” He nodded toward Bill at the front of the F-150.

  Kira joined him, her gaze drawn to fresh blood on the concrete and bumper. “Do you think that’s Jeremy’s blood?”

  “Probably. Someone must have hit him with this lug wrench then hid him under the truck.”

  “Why?”

  “Don’t know. Hopefully Jeremy will be able to tell us.”

  “He doesn’t remember what happened to him.”

  “He might in time.”

  Kira thought about the pink flashlight. “Just a minute. I need to check on something.” She headed to Gabriel’s glove compartment and opened it. The only things inside were maps. She returned to Bill. “This may be connected to the case. Gabriel and I wondered how the shooter knew we were going to be on the highway. Maybe something like a GPS tracker had been put on the truck.”

  “You think the killer did this so he could remove the tracker?”

  “It’s possible. The pink flashlight under the truck was in Gabriel’s glove compartment.”

  “He was looking under the truck?”

  She prayed Gabriel left before the attack on Jeremy. “I don’t know. I’m calling Gabriel. He was coming here. That might narrow down the time the killer attacked Jeremy or whoever did this.” She hoped so because the alternative might be that something happened to Gabriel—something far worse than what happened to Jeremy. As she removed her cell phone from her pocket, her gaze latched onto the blood on the floor. What if it wasn’t Jeremy’s but Gabriel’s?

  Kira hit call on her phone and a ringtone like Gabriel’s sounded in the garage. She locked gazes with Bill. “His phone is here.” She strode toward the truck’s driver’s side where the ringing sounded.

  “Let me look.” Bill stepped in front of her, put gloves on, and searched under the seat. Gingerly he extracted the cell phone.

  * * *

  A groan pierced through the throbbing pain pulsating in Gabriel’s skull. He inched his eyes open partway. Darkness enveloped him. His cheek rested against a frigid slab, the cold shivering through him. He tried to move. His hands and feet were tied together. Rope dug into his wrists.

  He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to figure out what happened. Vague images flitted across his foggy mind. In the garage. Under his truck. Blood on his hand. But how did he get here? Where was he?

  The increasingly rapid beat of his heart lured him back toward the void.

  * * *

  When Larry finally drove Kira home, Penny opened the front door before Kira had a chance to insert her key.

  “Anything new?” Penny glanced between Kira and Larry.

  “No. Gabriel hasn’t called, has he?”

  Her secretary shook her head.

  “Is Grams up yet?” Kira walked toward the hallway.

  “No. I’ve been peeking in every ten minutes or so. What should we do?”

  The doorbell rang. Kira halted and swung around while Larry checked before letting in the police chief.

  Kira came back into the foyer. “We have to assume the person who attacked Jeremy has Gabriel since he�
�s missing. We need to find him before he kills him.” The memory of Jeremy’s nasty fracture on the back of his head mocked her statement. Gabriel can’t be dead. Please, Lord. I can’t lose him.

  Bill gestured toward the papers in Kira’s hand. “I agree. Let’s look over the information from StarPoint and see if there’s a location Marcie visited that might help us connect the dots.”

  She handed the paperwork to the police chief. “I need to see how Grams is doing. I’ll be right back.” Kira quickly looked in on her grandmother, sleeping peacefully.

  Back in the dining room, Bill gave each person a copy of the report. Kira had asked the receptionist at the police station to make three copies and now she was glad she had. Patterns would be easier to see if they went through the whole five weeks.

  “Mark anything that’s repeated. Then we’ll list those places.” Bill took the chair where Gabriel had been earlier. “I’m gonna look over Mary Lou’s autopsy.”

  Every time she glanced at the police chief, Kira’s chest constricted and her breathing became shallow. When did my feelings for Gabriel change?

  * * *

  Gabriel struggled to loosen the rope around his wrists. It was only a matter of time before his captor returned and killed him. But worse he might go after Kira. He couldn’t let that happen.

  What if he was at the garage? Jeremy’s part-time mechanic should be arriving soon. That ray of hope spurred him on.

  Wincing, Gabriel rolled over onto his back, trapping his hands beneath him. Then he rocked until he could sit up, his effort aggravating his gunshot wound. He pushed away thoughts of his pain as much as possible. He needed to know where he was. Maybe there was something that could help him get loose. He wouldn’t give up and wait for the murderer to kill him. He had people depending on him—Abbey, Jessie—Kira.