Part 8 (1/2)
Her brother didn't answer. His partner, Noah, did.
Dear G.o.d in heaven, she couldn't catch a break to save her life.
”Hi, Jordan. Nick can't talk right now. I'll have him call you back. You still in Texas?”
”Yes, but Noah-”
”Great state, isn't it?”
”I'm in trouble.”
The panic in her voice came through the phone loud and clear. ”What kind of trouble?” he asked quietly.
”There's a dead body in the trunk of my car.”
He didn't miss a beat. ”No kidding.”
Could he have been more blase? ”He's in a Ziploc bag.”
”Yeah?”
She didn't know why she'd felt the need to add that extra bit of information, but at the moment it seemed vitally important that he know about the plastic.
”And he's wearing blue-and-white-striped pajamas. No slippers though.”
”Jordan, take a breath and calm down.”
”Calm down? Did you hear what I just said? Did you catch the part about the dead body in the trunk of my car?”
”Yes, I heard what you said,” he replied, his voice maddeningly unruffled. He sounded as though her news wasn't such a big deal, which of course was ridiculous, but even so, the fact that he was so calm helped her get a grip.
”Do you know who he is?”
”Professor MacKenna,” she said. She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. ”I met him at Dylan's wedding reception. I had dinner with him last night. No, that's not right. Two nights ago. I thought he was disgusting. He ate like a wild animal. It's horrible to talk about the dead like that, isn't it? Except he wasn't dead...”
She realized she was rambling and stopped in mid-sentence. A minivan pulled into the lot and parked near the front door. A middle-aged woman got out, squinted at Jordan, and then went inside.
”I've got to get out of here,” she whispered. ”I've got to get rid of him. Right? I mean it's pretty obvious I'm being set up for murder.”
”Jordan, where are you now?”
”I'm in a grocery store parking lot in Serenity, Texas. It's so small it's barely on the map. It's about forty miles west of Bourbon, Texas. Maybe I could dump the body there. You know, find an isolated spot and-”
”You're not going to dump the body anywhere. Here's what you're going to do. You're going to call it in, and so will I,” he explained. ”I'm also going to get a couple of FBI agents over there within an hour, two tops. And Phoenix isn't that far away. Nick and I will get there real soon.”
”I am being set up, aren't I? Oh, G.o.d, I hear sirens. They're coming for me, aren't they?”
”Jordan, hang up now and call it in before they get there. If you're arrested, you ask for a lawyer and don't say another word. Got that?”
The wailing of the siren indicated the police were just a couple of blocks away when the 911 operator answered Jordan's call. She quickly explained what the emergency was and then gave her name and location.
The operator was giving her instructions to stay where she was when a gray sedan came careening into the lot.
”The sheriff's car just pulled in.”
”The sheriff?” The operator sounded surprised.
”Yes,” Jordan said. ”That's what's printed on the side of the car, and I'm sure you can hear the siren through the phone.”
Jordan couldn't hear the operator's next question. The car screeched to a stop about twenty feet away, and a man jumped out of the pa.s.senger side of the front seat. He wasn't wearing a uniform.
He ran toward her, a chilling look on his face. She saw something flying at her and instinctively turned away trying to protect herself, but the blow caught her on her right cheek and she went down.
THE ARGUMENT WAS OVER JURISDICTION. JORDAN HEARD raised voices and opened her eyes just as a paramedic placed an ice pack on her cheek. She tried to push it away. She was dazed and disoriented. raised voices and opened her eyes just as a paramedic placed an ice pack on her cheek. She tried to push it away. She was dazed and disoriented.
”What happened?” she asked in a whisper as she struggled to sit up. The cement was burning her arm.
One of the paramedics, a young man dressed in a blue uniform, took hold of her arm to help her. Still feeling light-headed, she leaned against him.
”You got hit,” he said. ”That's what happened. When Barry and I pulled up, the d.i.c.key brothers were here. We heard Sheriff Randy yelling at his brother, J. D., because J. D. jumped out of the car and lit into you. He stopped yelling at him, though, when he saw me sprinting across the lot. Now he and his brother are arguing with Serenity's chief of police.”
”What are they arguing about?” she asked. Her head was pounding, and her jaw felt as though it had come unhinged.
”J. D. insists that you were resisting arrest and that he thought he was helping his brother out when he hit you to restrain you so Sheriff Randy could get his handcuffs on you.”
Jordan grew more and more clearheaded by the second. ”That's not true.”
”I know it isn't,” he whispered so the d.i.c.key brothers wouldn't hear him. ”Barry and I heard your 911 call, and we got here as quick as we could, which really wasn't any time at all because our little clinic is only three blocks away. We knew something had happened to you. One second we could hear you talking as clear as a bell, and the next second we hear what sounded like a half shout. You know what I mean?”
”He knocked the phone out of my hand.”
”He smashed it to bits is what he did. I'm afraid you're going to have to buy yourself a new one. Right now they aren't arguing about your phone though. Sheriff Randy is saying that you were in his county when you took off and headed over here. You're in Grady County now,” he explained. ”Randy d.i.c.key is sheriff in Jessup County, and how he ended up sheriff is a mystery none of us can figure out. He must have made a lot of promises. Anyway, Sheriff Randy's jurisdiction ends at the foot of the bridge that crosses the creek. Once you get on that bridge, you're in Grady County. We have a sheriff too, but he's in Hawaii on vacation with his wife and kids, and we only see him once in a blue moon because he lives way east in Grady's county seat.”
Barry, the other paramedic, had been listening to their conversation. He popped a toothpick into his mouth, parked it in the corner, and strolled over.
”The only reason Sheriff Randy comes around here is because his brother lives in Serenity. He likes to go fis.h.i.+ng with him. Del, you ought to make her keep that ice pack on her cheek. It's already swelling under her eye. I think we need to take her to the clinic and get an X-ray.”
”No, I'm okay. I don't need an X-ray.”
”We can't make you go with us,” Del said. ”If you refuse treatment, there's nothing we can do, but if you start feeling sick to your stomach or dizzy, you tell us, okay?”
”Yes, I'll tell you.”
”Could I ask you something?” Del asked. ”What was it like finding a body in your car? It would have given me a heart attack. Barry and I figure you didn't have anything to do with the murder because, if you did, you sure wouldn't have called 911, would you?”
”You look like you're hurting,” Barry said.
”I'm okay. I've just got a little headache, that's all, and I don't want to take anything that might dull my anger. I swear to heaven-”