F-BOMB: Curvy Vigilantes 4: Fierce
Autor
Mary E Thompson
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20
Chapter 1
Mackenzie Chambers shook as she hung up the phone. It was happening again. No. It couldn’t. A woman was dead, and her killer was trying to get away with it.
She couldn’t believe she answered both calls. After the man called, she immediately dispatched police. When he hung up, the line rang again. What were the odds Mackenzie would be the one to speak to both of them?
She knew she shouldn’t have said anything to Jessica German. She should have listened and done her job. But her head spun and her heart broke, and she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Not when she knew what the woman was trying to do.
Mackenzie logged off and walked away from her desk. She needed a minute. She jammed two dollars into the machine and selected a pop. It dropped to the bottom, where she grabbed it. She twisted off the top and tipped the bottle to her lips, enjoying the sweet fizziness.
“Hey, Mackenzie. How are you?”
Holden Cross. A paramedic and consummate nice guy. He was always talking to Mackenzie and asking how her day was. They ran into each other almost daily since he worked on the other side of the building. He was cute if Mackenzie could bring herself to be attracted to him. She usually couldn’t bring herself to be open to being attracted to anyone.
“Hey, Holden.”
“Whoa, what’s wrong?”
Mackenzie shook her head, hating that he could see through her so easily. She couldn’t say the words, though. Not when she knew the look she’d get. The look she always got. She loved her job because no one judged her. Not when the only reason they called was that they needed her help. It didn’t matter to them that she’d been wrongfully accused of killing her best friend.
But her coworkers were a different story. They knew her story. They knew what she’d been through. And some of them thought she was guilty.
“Rough call?” Holden asked, assessing her with his endless brown eyes. His dark hair was pushed back from his forehead in a stylish way she was surprised hadn’t been messed up while he was on duty. He looked put together and perfect—counter to the disaster Mackenzie always was.
Mackenzie nodded and bit her lip.
“I’m sorry, Mack. Is there anything I can do?”
The nickname threw her. Jaclyn was the only person who’d ever called her Mack. Jack and Mack. They were a team. It had been years since she’d heard the nickname—years since she had anyone in her life she was close to.
Mackenzie shook her head. “I’ll be okay. Thanks, Holden.”
“You sure?”
Mackenzie forced a smile and made a move to go around him. “I’m sure. Thanks, though.”
Holden grabbed her hand and squeezed before she could get past him. His eyes were soft and kind—understanding. It would be so easy to lean on him for a minute. Just a minute.
Mackenzie pushed away the fantasy of having someone else—anyone—to lean on. She couldn’t. She had no idea who she could trust, so it was better to not try.
“Thanks, Holden.”
He released her, his gaze locked on her as she backed out of the room.
It would be so easy. But she couldn’t give in.
* * *
Every call for the next three weeks put Mackenzie on high alert. She was determined to find Jessica German—to make sure she didn’t get away with killing her friend. Mackenzie knew she was guilty. Innocent people didn’t run.
She got home after another long night with no leads on where the killer was. Mackenzie was getting frustrated. Someone had to be helping Jessica German. It wasn’t right.
Mackenzie turned on the news and stopped cold at the reporter’s words.
“Jessica German, the woman accused of killing local art therapist Karli Sloane, was brought into the police station last night. Another man was brought in with her, a man police are now saying was the lead suspect. Ms. German had no connection to the man, and she was released from police custody after being questioned last night. The suspect, Silver James, died before police were able to question him. His death is currently under investigation.”
There was no way. It was not possible. Mackenzie watched the report through her tears. She couldn’t believe Jessica German was going to get away with it.
Mackenzie hated that a woman died, but even more, that the woman’s own friend was to blame. When she got the first call from the neighbor, her heart stopped. But when the killer called and tried to pretend she was innocent, Mackenzie was furious.
Karli Sloane deserved better than to be forgotten. Better than having her killer go free. Jessica German deserved justice. And Mackenzie was going to make sure she got it.
* * *
Mackenzie sat in her car outside Braden Wright’s house for the third night in a row. She’d watched him and Jessica German come and go for days, smiling and laughing and acting like nothing was wrong. He was living with a woman who was cold and evil—a woman who killed her friend. He could be next.
He was a firefighter, a good man. He saved people. Mackenzie couldn’t sit back and let Jessica German kill him—or anyone else. One thing she knew was people didn’t stop with one. Not unless they were caught.
Mackenzie waited until the lights went out behind the drawn curtains, then sighed and accepted she wasn’t going to get anything new. She drove home, hating that she hadn’t been able to prove Jessica German killed Karli Sloane yet.
Mackenzie was off the next day. With any luck, she would find something. Prove something. If nothing else, she could claim it was a citizen’s arrest and force the police to look into the case.
The next day, Mackenzie drove the now familiar roads back to Braden Wright’s house. There were more vehicles in the driveway than usual. It looked like he was having a party in the middle of a Friday afternoon. It was the perfect time to tell them all what she knew about Jessica German.
Mackenzie snuck to the door, praying she didn’t have to use the pepper spray she kept tucked in her handbag. She wrapped her hand around it just in case. Then she twisted the doorknob gently. It turned. It was unlocked.
Mackenzie didn’t stop to think about what she was doing—she just acted. She burst into the house, finding the living room full of people. “Stop! This is a citizen’s arrest. Jessica German, you are guilty of killing… you.”
Karli Sloane sat on a couch across the room. Mackenzie knew her face, right down to the birthmark on her neck. How was she alive? What was going on?
“Who are you?” Braden Wright demanded, putting himself between Mackenzie and Jessica.
“I’m Mackenzie Chambers. I came to arrest her.” Mackenzie pointed at the woman she was there for.
Jessica stood and moved around Braden. “I recognize your voice. You were the nine-one-one operator. You’re the one who thought I killed Karli.”
“You did. I know you did. But how…” Mackenzie’s gaze shifted to Karli Sloane. “You’re not dead. How are you not dead?”
“I’m not, but another woman was killed in my apartment that day.” Karli’s voice was even and solid.
“How is this not public knowledge? The police—”
“Are aware of the situation,” another man said, stepping toward Mackenzie. “I’m Captain Marcus Patrick. This is Adam Johnson with the FBI. His partner is Lorelei Sloane, sitting next to her cousin.”
The police captain and FBI agent blocked Mackenzie’s view of Karli and her cousin. Mackenzie stared back at the men. “Who was the woman who died?” Panic filled her. Something wasn’t right. The whole thing wasn’t right.
“Her name was Tonya Warren. She came here because her cousin was missing.”
“Why was she killed?”
The police captain and FBI agent exchanged a glance. After a second, Captain Patrick stepped forward. “Ms. Chambers, I know your story. I read your personnel file after Jessica’s call. I know about your roommate.”
There it was. The look Mackenzie hated. The assurance that she’d been the real killer. Her argument got stuck in her throat. “I didn’t kill her.”
“Marcus,” Karli said from behind the men. “May I?”
Karli moved past Captain Patrick and took Mackenzie’s hand. Karli led Mackenzie to a seat and sat next to her.
Mackenzie swallowed her fear and emotions, both sticking in her throat as she looked at the woman she’d believed was dead.
Karli smiled kindly at her, then spoke. “I was in my apartment when Tonya broke in. I was scared, so I left through the fire escape. I didn’t have my phone or ID, so when Jessica found her and my personal items were there, the assumption was she was me. We look enough alike that it was reasonable—even I saw it when I saw her. I didn’t believe it was an accident, which left me to think they thought she was me, and someone wanted me dead. The man who had her killed is Damon Street.”
“Who?” Mackenzie asked.
“We believe he runs a criminal organization in the area. He moves guns, people, drugs—anything he can—through legal organizations that may or may not know what he’s doing,” the FBI agent explained.
“Why would he care about you?” Mackenzie asked Karli.
“He didn’t. He was after my roommate. She dated him without knowing who he was. She left when he almost killed her one night. He wants her back because he believes she belongs to him.”
“What? No. She doesn’t deserve that.” No person belonged to another. No one had a claim over another.
“Thank you,” a brown-haired woman Mackenzie hadn’t noticed before said. “Damon is evil. I didn’t realize it until it was almost too late for me. But I’d gladly sacrifice myself if it means no one else is hurt.”
“You can’t do that. A man like that will never stop hurting people. I can’t tell you how many calls I get every day like that. Many times it’s the same woman over and over again, but they always go back. Until they can’t.” Mackenzie couldn’t bear to think of the woman across from her going back to a man who would surely kill her—not when he was clearly not afraid to kill people.
The woman hugged herself, running her hands up and down her arms. Karli reached out to her, taking her friend’s hand.
“Damon thought I was dead,” Karli explained to Mackenzie. “When he thought that, Raina was safer. But he knows I’m alive. And he’s on the run. He also knows where Tonya’s cousin is. She’s alive, and we believe he can tell us where. Marcus, Adam, and Lorelei are planning a press conference for this afternoon. That’s why we’re all here. We’re discussing what we’re going to say and how we’re going to get the public’s help to bring Damon in.”
“I promise you, I will make sure he pays. I will do whatever I can to help. I hear things. I might be able to help find Tonya’s cousin. The calls I take… Let me help. Please.” Mackenzie looked around the room at the group gathered there. She wasn’t sure she was wrong about the situation, but if she was, she was not going to let a man like that go free.
“We’re asking everyone to help,” the FBI agent said. “But not all of what we’re going to tell you is public information. If you’re willing—”
“I’m willing. Tell me what I can do. I won’t stop until he’s brought to justice. I promise you.” Mackenzie met Karli’s gaze and nodded.
“Good. Then let’s get started,” the FBI agent said.
Mackenzie listened as they detailed what they knew so far. Damon Street was a sick man who preyed on innocent people. Mackenzie wondered how many calls she’d taken from people who were victims of his.
As they laid out their plans for the press conference, she kept her gaze on Jessica German. The woman looked ordinary. Her expressions fit what was expected when talking about a man like Damon Street, but Mackenzie wasn’t convinced Jessica German was innocent. A woman was still dead, and just because it wasn’t the woman they all thought, didn’t mean Jessica German had nothing to do with it.
“Are you going to be able to keep all of this to yourself?” Captain Patrick asked Mackenzie.
She nodded and smiled at him. She’d never met the man before, but she knew of him. He seemed to be a man of integrity and honor. It was the only reason Mackenzie was willing to put a pin in her suspicions and let things play out.
“How is it no one knows who this man is?” Mackenzie asked. It was the question she was most curious about. If Damon Street was so bad, how had he evaded police custody for so long?
“Damon is smart,” an older woman said. “He’s been working the city for decades. He knows everything there is to know about how things operate here. We believe he has a network that extends into the police department, which has allowed him to stay undetected.”
“Into the police department?” Mackenzie asked.
Captain Patrick nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. We’re not sure who his contact, or contacts, are, but it’s unlikely he doesn’t have at least one. We think that’s how Silver James was killed. He was given water that had been poisoned. The officer who gave it to him has been cleared of all wrongdoing, but someone put drugs in the bottle. Someone who knew it would end up in the hands of the man who could tell us everything about Damon Street.”
“Wow,” Mackenzie breathed. If she didn’t have trust issues before, she definitely had them after that. The police couldn’t even be trusted? How would she know who to go to? What if she heard something?
“Are we all clear on the plan for today?” the FBI agent asked. He looked beyond Mackenzie to Raina, still standing in the doorway.
Raina nodded, as did everyone else.
“What plan are you talking about?” Mackenzie asked.
The others exchanged a glance. They weren’t sure if they wanted to tell her the rest. She knew about the press conference, but there was more. More that she didn’t know about.
“Never mind. I get it. None of you know me, and you have no way of knowing if I’m involved in this somehow. If I find out something I think could help, who should I be in touch with?” Mackenzie asked, moving on before they could make excuses for why they didn’t want her to know everything.
“Me,” Captain Patrick said. He stepped forward and pulled out his phone. “Put your number in here so I know it’s you. I’ll give you mine, too. I always have my phone with me. You can call me anytime, day or night. Please don’t call anyone else on the police force. Not until we know who we can trust.”
“I won’t trust any of them,” Mackenzie said, knowing none of them understood how true that statement was.
“We need to go,” another man said, holding hands with a woman who’d been more comforting to Raina than talkative the entire time. “We have to get the boys from school.”
The woman hugged the others while the man nodded to everyone.
“Thanks for your help, Wray and Stacey,” Captain Patrick said. “And thanks for bringing lunch.”
“The least we could do. We’ll see everyone soon,” Stacey said.
The others moved around, but they all seemed to be staying put. Waiting. Mackenzie realized they were waiting for her to leave.
“I guess I should go, too. Is it okay if I come to the press conference?” she asked.
Captain Patrick nodded. “Absolutely. We appreciate your help. And I’m truly sorry about Jaclyn. And everything you went through. I know it doesn’t make up for it, but I’ve heard good things about the work you do and know it’s very important. You’re exceptionally kind, Mackenzie. Thank you for working with us.”
Mackenzie was oddly touched by his statement. Maybe he was placating her, or maybe he was keeping her close so he could watch her, or maybe he was sincere, but his words made her trust him just a little.
Maybe Jessica German was innocent and Mackenzie had been wrong. Or maybe she was the mastermind behind Damon Street. An abusive man who’d been operating for that long didn’t do it alone. He had a team. And if he was that fragile with his emotions, he usually had a boss—one who was smarter and stronger and more dangerous than him.
Was Damon the one in charge? Or did he have a boss he got his orders from? Could Jessica German be that boss?
Mackenzie was going to find out—and make sure justice was served.
