“Checking on what?” he asked.
“I pulled his cell-phone records.” She raised an eyebrow. “And it would appear our man Burke is something of a superhero.”
“Yeah? How so?”
“Tracing his movements by cell-phone tower on the night Mandy was murdered, the guy used his phone in South Chicago at the same time he was supposed to be on the West Side in Lombard. Now if we search his apartment and find he’s got spandex and a cape in his closet, then I might change my mind, but I think he lied to us about being in the burbs, and I’d like to know why.”
“Yeah, so would I. I’d say Jason Burke has a solid spot on our suspect list. Culver’s lead on this. I’ll tell him and make sure he knows the tip came from you. He’ll bring Burke in for questioning.” He shrugged. “But you had that morsel in your hip pocket all along. Did you set me up about calling off our bet?”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it a setup. I had faith that you’d do the right thing.” She smiled.
“Thanks…I think.”
“You’re a good man, Raymundo.”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d keep that to yourself. I’ve got a reputation to think about.”
She took a sip of her coffee, and asked, “So what’s your news?”
His face turned grim. “I’m glad you’re sitting down.”
South Chicago
Off Cicero Avenue
Why did morning have to come so damned early?
Feeling every ache in her body, Jess glanced at the clock to see morning had actually come and gone. It was past noon when she rolled to her side and pulled a pillow over her head to block the daylight that filtered its fingers through her bedroom blinds like a rude poke in the eye.
Sleep had not been her friend. And despite the repair job on her face with butterfly stitches over her eye, she’d messed up her bed linens with smears of blood. When she caught a glimpse of smudged red on the pillow, she had enough and tossed it aside.
Nice, real nice. She stumbled out of bed and trudged down the hall, grabbing a change of clothes as she went. After getting a look at her face in the mirror—the bruise on her cheek, the busted lip, and the new cut on her brow next to her old scar—she winced and shook her head.
“Harper…only for you, pal.”
As she got dressed, she replayed the events of last night, the ones she remembered. After her run-in with Nadir Beladi, Jess had way more to think about than her latest bruises that made her body look like a shrink’s Rorschach test.
Something Beladi had said bothered her.
…you came to my turf…my place of business…setting off grenades at my feet…
Sure, a grenade could be construed in a negative light, but the man had taken the whole thing personally. At first she thought he’d taken exception to her treading on his turf, but having the crap beat out of her had triggered an epiphany—and there was nothing like head trauma to render clarity.
“‘My place of business’?” she muttered.
Jess headed for her kitchen to make coffee, the caffeine-laden ambrosia of the gods, pretending it was still morning…somewhere. But a look into her living room stopped her. Looking cramped and bent, Alexa lay asleep on her short sofa. Fully clothed, the woman still wore her black Matrix gear and had a small comforter over her.
“Hey, Goldilocks. Rise and shine.” She waited until the woman opened her eyes. “I thought you left after you patched me up last night.”
“Last night? Try this morning.” Alexa yawned and was slow to sit up. She ran fingers through her hair when she was upright. “And yeah, I was going to, but you might have had a concussion. You don’t remember me waking you? I thought you’d slug me the last time.”
“Sorry I missed the opportunity. Normally, I don’t pass up a free poke.” Jess rounded the corner into her kitchen and checked her fridge.
“You hungry?” Jess turned toward her houseguest and grinned. “I’ve got Malt-O-Meal.”
“Oh no, not on your life,” the blonde objected. “We’re going out to eat, and you’re buying.”
Alexa stood and stretched, but a knock on the door saved Jess’s pocketbook. She peeked out the window and grimaced when she saw who it was.
“This can’t be good,” she muttered.
She opened the door to find Ray Garza and Sam on her doorstep. But before she said a word, Ray got in a quick jab.
“I always thought you were tougher than a three-dollar T-bone.” He shook his head and gazed at her cuts and bruises. “But maybe I should check out the other guy.”
“Yeah, you do that. He’ll be the one with the new corn shoot.”
Ray tried not to laugh, but he lost his fight with a smile.
“What happened, Jessie?” Sam rushed through the door, but when she saw Alexa smile and wave, she narrowed her eyes. “Actually, maybe I don’t want to know.”
“Good idea.” Jess shut the door behind them and quickly introduced Ray to Alexa. “I’d get you guys some coffee, but I get the feeling this isn’t a social call. What’s up?”
She looked at Sam, but when her friend kept quiet and shifted her gaze to Ray, Jess knew something was terribly wrong.
“Someone start talking…please,” she pleaded.
“Sam told me she called you about Jade filing charges against your friend Harper,” he said.
“Yeah, what about her?” Jess didn’t dare look at Alexa.
Her confrontation with Jade and her head-on collision with Beladi last night weren’t up for discussion until she knew more. Sam was her friend, but Ray was the cop who’d nearly gotten her arrested for the murder of Lucas Baker a few months ago. Just because Sam had the hots for the guy didn’t mean he deserved her complete trust.
He’d have to earn that.
“She was killed early this morning,” he said. “Butchered with a knife, same as Desiree—right down to a series of distinctive puncture wounds. If the DA wants to proceed with charging Harper for Desiree’s murder, those shallow wounds will tie him to Jade’s killing even if the link is only circumstantial. And Jade’s assault charges against him don’t help his case. We’ve got an APB on Harper.”
“And I suppose you want me to magically produce him, like I know where he is.” She turned on him, walking into her living room to slump onto her couch. Things had gone from bad to worse in seconds flat. And she had a headache brewing at the base of her skull.
“Actually, we’re here to update you on other developments. Then we can talk about what’s best for Seth.” Sam sat next to her on the sofa, with Ray taking a spot on the armrest near her friend. Alexa remained standing, her face stern.
“This morning I put a hole through Jason Burke’s I-PASS alibi,” Sam began.
“She’s being modest,” Ray said. “She annihilated it.”
Sam touched a hand to his thigh and smiled. Jess hadn’t missed the gesture. And neither had Alexa.
“Talk to me, Sammie. What’s going on?” Jess didn’t want to get her hopes up, but this was the first bright spot she’d heard in Harper’s case.
“I had a hunch about Burke. Remember, the guy claimed to be in Lombard at a club and he used his I-PASS for an alibi?” After she nodded, Sam went on, “Well I ran his cell-phone bill and checked it against the night of the killing. He lied to us about being in the burbs.”
Sam explained about triangulating cell-phone towers and how she had determined Burke’s location and exposed his lie.
“That’s good news, right?”
“Yeah, I’d say so. Detective Culver is bringing Burke in for questioning. We’ll have him for forty-eight hours if he doesn’t lawyer up. It’ll give us time to check him out.”
“And we should have Harper’s drug test soon,” Ray said.
“That should help with reasonable doubt,” Sam nodded.