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“Just shoot me if I ever get to that point. The man’s been working for sixty years and has nothing to show for it.”
“Who left the money in his mailbox?”
“He doesn’t know. There was a note that said what they wanted and how much to get, and they said if he delivered the product on time that the other half of the payment would be sent. I took it all into evidence, and maybe we’ll get a couple of prints, but they’ve been careful so far. It was a quarter of a million dollars.”
I whistled between my teeth. “That’s a hell of a price to pay to make sure a gay preacher is taught a lesson.”
Jack looked at me and nodded. “That was pretty much my thought. Which means something else is going on here that we’re not seeing.”
He filled out the rest of the timeline, his block handwriting square and neat below each photo. Doctor Vance went on the board next, and underneath him went two more pictures. The first I didn’t recognize, but something flickered in my mind about the second.
“Hey, I know that guy,” I said.
“Oh, yeah?”
“I don’tknow him,know him. But I recognize him from somewhere.”
“That’s the younger Doctor Vance. He’s a cardiologist.”
“That would explain the temper,” I said. “Cardiologists all have a God complex.”
“Have you spoken to him before?”
“I don’t think so, but I must have seen him at the hospital before.” I stared harder at the photograph, trying to place where I’d seen his face, but I was drawing a blank.
“Greg Vance Jr. is alibied by his wife for the night in question, but William here doesn’t have anyone to vouch for him. He says he was home alone and asleep. We’re not pressing for now because they have a few political connections, and the younger Doctor Vance is already crying harassment.”
“Where was George going when he left this morning?” I asked. “Does anyone know?”
“Yeah. He logged it in at the garage before he left. The form he filled out said there’d been a request for a tow—a 1994 grey Taurus—and it gave the address at the location we found his body. But I didn’t find any calls that matched the request on the garage phone, and we didn’t find a grey Taurus anywhere in the vicinity. We’ve yet to recover George’s cell. I’m thinking the killers probably took it with them. I’ve got a trace on it, but they’ll have ditched it. Probably in the river. Unfortunately, they’re not stupid killers.”
He continued writing and put up more photos.
“Whoa, why are you putting Lorna up there?” I asked when her face went up next to the others Jack had questioned. “They don’t let women into the Aryan Nation.”
“No, but she knew about Vaughn and Oglesby. As far as I can tell that was a well kept secret. Especially in a town like this. I didn’t have a clue, and I’m usually one of the first to hear the gossip. I’m mostly just keeping a visual record of everyone we’ve talked to and what they know. And Lorna’s been awfully damned nervous every time I try to talk to her, so something is up with that.”
“That’s hormones. Trust me.”
“An expert, are you?”
“At watching other women throw themselves at you? Yes, I am.”
He looked over his shoulder and gave me that smile that had brought legions of women to their knees. Only this time I felt that low pull in my gut, and I knew I was now a member of that exclusive club.
“Trust me. You’ll be glad I had the practice,” he said, winking.
“Jesus, Jack.” Heat rushed to my face, and I cursed my pale complexion.
“Relax, J.J. You’ll know when I’m ready to make my move.” Jack went on like he hadn’t just upended my world. “Lorna goes on the board anyway. Along with Vaughn. I need to talk to him again, but he isn’t answering my calls. Tell me who was at the auto shop when you were there this morning. Obviously someone saw you talking with George.”
“Wormy Mueller was there like usual. Mr. Martin was putting up a new sign in the window of the grocery store, and he came over and talked a while. Jimmy Hayes and Kenny Laubach were both working in the bays, but they stopped to talk with Mayor Glass and Rufus Swain when they brought their cars by. George worked on my car in the bay on the end, and we didn’t even speak much until he wrote up the ticket. That doesn’t mean a hundred other people didn’t walk by during the time I was there, and a good number of them I didn’t know. The station is right there on the corner of the square, and you know he’s the best mechanic in the county. People from all over take their cars there.”
Jack grunted and put up another photograph. “I did some research on the five-point crown Doctor Vance pointed out on Oglesby’s body. It’s a symbol used by a group called Blood Brothers. There wasn’t a lot I could find, and Carver, my FBI contact, said they had little to nothing about the group in their files, though he did know of them. They’re supposedly a different hate organization all together, but there have been a few loose ties between them and the Aryan Nation.”
“They’re supposedly more violent, but there are no arrests. Nothing more than suspicion at this point. A fairly young organization is what Carver told me. Only a few years old. They don’t have any associated names, but their victims are tortured before death. They leave a letter behind with their crest and the reason that person had been punished. And then you don’t hear anything from them again until the next time. Very cut and dried. Carver said almost professional in their presentation.”
“Do they brand the victim?”
