The Ghost of a Chance (Krewe of Hunters #38.7)

Chapter 7

Jackson headed back to the police station to speak with Billy Mendelson.

The ghost of Captain David Clancy had told him he’d planned to hang around the men in their separate cells, hopeful one of them might mutter the truth while sitting around.

If a ghost could look weary, that one did.

Clancy was seated at the foot of Billy Mendelson’s bunk, his head in his hands. He looked up when he heard the guard coming to escort Billy into an interrogation room to speak with Jackson.

Jackson gave David a barely perceptible nod. In turn, Clancy just shook his head. He hadn’t heard anything.

Billy looked at Jackson eagerly when he was seated across the table from him, the guard having left to close the door and leave the two of them alone.

Of course, it wasn’t really just the two of them.

The captain’s spirit was with them, as well.

“I can see the question in your eyes, Billy, and I’m going to waylay your fear straight away. We found your friend, Cassie. She was hidden in those tunnels.”

“You found her?” Billy said.

“Yes, we found her. She might have died soon of dehydration, but we found her in time. The doctors say she’s going to be all right.”

“Oh, my God, thank God. Thank God,” Billy breathed. “Did she tell you what happened?” he asked anxiously. “I have to see her. I need to tell her I’m so sorry. I know they went after her because of me. She’s so sweet and wonderful. I’m so grateful, so very grateful.”

“You can’t see her right now, Billy.”

“Why?” He lowered his head. “I told you I never wanted to rob the bank. I never wanted to do anything bad. I did what Kenneth told me to do so he wouldn’t hurt Cassie. And you found her alive. He hadn’t killed her—”

“Billy, I’m sorry. We’re still talking to the assistant United States Attorney—federal crime, bank robbery—”

“No! You’re feds. That’s why you’re trying to turn this into more than—”

“More than armed bank robbery, Billy?” Jackson interrupted. “I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”

“I never touched Cassie. I swear. I was willing to do just about anything to save her life!” Billy protested. “Cassie will tell you—”

“I’m afraid Cassie believes she was kidnapped by monsters. Of course, she likely means people dressed up as monsters,” Jackson told him.

Billy was silent, his head hanging.

“But she didn’t recognize either of them?” Billy asked, shaking his head.

Was that relief on Billy’s face? Had he been one of the kidnappers?

Billy looked up at Jackson, tears in his eyes. “There were two. Just like at my house. Just like when my parents were murdered. Two of them. At our place, they didn’t dress up as monsters; they just wore masks so they wouldn’t be recognized.”

“All right—”

“If they hadn’t given up on finding my parents’ killers, none of this would have happened. Not the bank, not Cassie, not…” His voice trailed off, and he sobbed.

Jackson believed the man’s emotions were real.

But it still didn’t tell him if Billy might have been involved in what had happened at the bank—or what had been done to Cassie.

Maybe trauma had turned him.

Perhaps it was a way to make law enforcement pay more attention to the fact that his parents had been murdered.

“Billy—”

“Kenneth. He’s a monster with or without a costume,” Billy cried.

“Well, according to his past record, he is a monster. However, whether he’s one of these monsters or not remains to be seen,” Jackson reminded him.

“Don’t you have forensics? Gloves, costumes that cover the hands, whatever. There must be something. Haven’t forensics gotten incredibly advanced? Like, you didn’t find a hair, a fiber, anything yet?” Billy demanded.

“Nothing that proves anything. Whoever snatched Cassie up did so weeks ago. When did you find out there were old tunnels that branched off the sewer system?” Jackson asked.

Billy frowned. “Um, well, I’ve never been in them. Kenneth said they were there and told me he’d find a way into them when it was time to leave the bank. He knew all about them, I guess, though I don’t know…well, I mean, I don’t know how he meant to get into them or where they let out. I just knew he had Cassie, and if I didn’t obey him, he’d kill her.”

“How was he planning to kill her when he was with you in the bank?” Jackson asked.

Billy frowned as if he’d never pondered the question.

“I just… I mean, I knew he’d gotten her and had her…somewhere. I didn’t know anything about the tunnels until that day. And then I thought he might have buried her somewhere. If I shot and killed him, I’d never know where she was. Maybe he had someone working with him outside the bank. If he did, that person would likely kill her if they didn’t get their part of the loot,” Billy said.

It sounded true.

Plausible.

Jackson nodded. “Well, you can rest assured in this: Cassie is okay. I’ll speak with you again later.”

“Wait! Am I being arrested?”

“You’ve already been arrested. And read your rights. You chose to speak with us, though you can call for an attorney anytime.”

“But…what am I being charged with?” Billy demanded.

“At the moment? Armed robbery. Billy, Kenneth is claiming it’s all your fault. Right now, the attorney has determined that you both must be charged.”

“But I didn’t want to do it!”

“I’m sorry. The charges may be dropped if we can make a few more discoveries that help you,” Jackson reassured.

“Kenneth is a monster. He has to go back to prison no matter what, right?”

“Correct. But he’ll have a few more charges added to those he’s already been convicted of.”

Billy closed his eyes tightly.

“I didn’t…I…well, I did do it. And I guess I’m willing to pay. If Cassie is all right, then whatever happens is worth it.”

“Billy, trust me, we’re all hoping the best for you. What you went through was horrible.”

“And you’ll try to find out who robbed my house and killed my parents, right? You’re not lying? The cops…they said they tried. They said they didn’t have any evidence. And I couldn’t give them a decent description of the people who broke in.”

Jackson nodded. “Trust me, Billy. I know they wanted to find the killers. Tell me. What do you remember about them?”

“Average,” Billy said wearily. “Medium height, medium build. Faces masked.”

“Scars on their wrists or anything like that?”

“I couldn’t see their wrists. They wore sweatshirts and gloves, and the sleeves on the shirts covered their wrists. I couldn’t see anything about them at all,” Billy said with frustration.

“Men who weren’t very big. Kenneth isn’t very big, but…”

Exactly when had the man escaped from prison? He remembered what they had learned about Kenneth Martin. He had been given a life sentence already for robbing a savings and loan and killing a teller.

And he’d escaped with plenty of time to take part in the robbery at Billy’s home. He’d had an accomplice then.

He probably had an accomplice now. Someone out there had been planning to be in the tunnels, ready to bring Kenneth and Billy out of the bank in an escape route through the system.

While escaping, the two had probably planned to tie Billy up in the tunnels, as well, leaving him to die where no one would ever find him.

Unless…

Jackson gave himself a mental shake. Kenneth had been convicted of armed robbery and murder.

It was truly doubtful the man would tell the truth.

Jackson glanced at the ghost and gave him a brief nod. Billy didn’t notice.

He was staring at the table.

He looked up at Jackson. “Will you tell her, please? Tell Cassie how grateful I am that she’s going to be okay.”

“I will. For now. We’ll try to arrange for you to see her.”

Billy looked at him with tremendous hope in his eyes. He smiled and nodded at the guard, rising. Billy did the same.

When the man had escorted Billy away, Jackson spoke to the guard again.

“I’d like to see Kenneth Martin again for a few minutes.”

“Want him chained to the table?” the guard asked. “They want him back where he’s supposed to be, you know. Not sure a trial will matter with him. He’s already doing life.”

“He needs life without parole,” Jackson said.

The guard shook his head. “He got out of federal prison without parole. Guys like him…do you know how he got out?”

“No, I don’t. But he’s been out long enough to have been involved in the murders of Mr. and Mrs. Mendelson, right?”

“Yeah, we were all warned. He faked a heart attack. Escaped from the infirmary and made it to a laundry room—and then out with a truckful of sheets. The guy is always maneuvering something.”

“Not a good guy. Be careful.”

“Oh, I guarantee it. He’ll come to you in cuffs.”

Jackson nodded.

Cuffed yet grinning, Kenneth took a seat at the table in the interrogation room again.

“You still don’t get it, right?”

“I still don’t get what?” Jackson asked him.

“You know. Think about it. No one ever found anything. And yes, cops can be extremely incompetent, trust me. But I think in the case of the Mendelson couple, they tried pretty hard. No one saw the supposed killers. No one saw any kind of a getaway vehicle. Don’t you think it’s possible that Billy killed his own parents? Maybe they beat him or did something to ensure he was such a brilliant, straight-A student. Maybe he just couldn’t take it anymore.”

Jackson groaned.

“Couldn’t describe anyone, right?” Kenneth asked, sitting back and smirking. “I mean, think about it. Seriously. What difference does any of this make to me? I go back to life in prison no matter what. Why would I make this up?”

“Let’s see. Because you’d enjoy it tremendously if we wound up believing you and prosecuting Billy for the murder of his parents as well as being the brains behind the bank robbery,” Jackson said dryly.

“Why would he be so willing?” Kenneth asked.

“Could be you told him you’d murder his friend if he didn’t,” Jackson said.

“What friend?”

“Cassie—Cassandra Payton,” Jackson said. “We checked. She wasn’t with her camp group or her parents. Someone used her to threaten him.”

“I don’t know anything about any girl,” Kenneth said.

“Right.”

“I don’t. Not really. But think about it. If she was his friend, he probably took her. And she’s probably dead already.”

“Sorry. She’s been found.”

“Alive?”

“Alive.”

“Well, that’s great. Ah, then maybe she’ll tell you herself that Billy is the guilty one.”

“Yeah, maybe. Or perhaps she’ll describe you to a T,” Jackson said, watching the man. Kenneth just shrugged and shook his head. He wasn’t worried about anything that Cassie might have said.

And why would anyone be worried about anything Cassie said since she’d been kidnapped by monsters?

Costuming. He had a feeling Kenneth was good at it.

And he wasn’t getting anything else here. It was time to head back to the hospital and see how Cassie was doing before checking in with Bruce and the others to find out what, if anything, forensics and the medical examiners had discovered about the tunnels.

Bodies. Left through the ages. It was horrible to accept, even if they were to discover the victims had been killed decades ago.

As Jackson headed out of the building, he smiled.

The ghost of Captain Clancy had fallen right into step with him.

“You can’t let it drive you too crazy,” David said.

Jackson turned to him and arched a brow.

“What you’re discovering in the tunnels,” David said. “The skeleton. Maybe it’s been there more than a hundred years. The others…they weren’t your failures. And you found the girl before she—you found her alive. You need to be grateful for that.”

Jackson smiled at the ghost.

“I am. And we’re grateful to you. She wouldn’t be alive without you.”

“No, being dead doesn’t mean you know everything,” David assured him. “At least not while…while a man is still hanging around on Earth.”

“Well, we are grateful that you hung around.”

“Team effort,” David said, then shrugged, grimacing. “Life was hard but beautiful. I remember the safe houses—and these tunnels—when my mom took us away from our owner. You know, I don’t think he ever came after us. We were just part of the economy. He wasn’t a cruel man, but…well, I don’t care what continent you’re on, no human should ever own another.”

“Agreed!” Jackson told him. “But it does still go on. Not legally in most cases, but the world is full—”

“Of those who will use others. . . yeah. I do what I can when I can.”

“I’m sure you do. Escaping, the war, everything after—it must have been hard.”

“I got a good job after the war. I’m exceptionally good with horses and worked for a great fellow who raised them. I married and saw my children grow up, as well as my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One day, I know I will join those I loved who went before me. But until we discover just who was doing what with that whole bank thing…well, curiosity has always been a thing with me, alive or dead.”

“Great. Let’s see what kind of a read you get off Cassandra Payton. She should be feeling a little better by now.”

“Monsters,” David said and shook his head. “There is someone else out there. Someone who was in on that heist. Someone who was, perhaps, supposed to make sure the girl Cassie was dead once the heist had been completed.”

Jackson nodded. “Somehow, we must discover who.”

Jackson’s phone vibrated in his pocket. It was Angela. He answered it quickly.

“Hey. Anything?”

“Cassie was out for a while. Her parents are here with her now. I told her you’ll want to talk with her a bit when you get here, but…all I’m getting—still—is a tale about monsters. Oh! The hotel the cops put Billy up in while his home was closed with crime scene tape happens to be about a block away from an entrance to the sewers, oddly enough. If Billy wasn’t in on this and had nothing to do with Cassie’s kidnapping, whoever did most likely saw her leaving Billy’s hotel.”

“That was weeks ago. She’d have been dead if she was in the tunnels for that long, starving, and with no water.”

“But she might have had someone taking care of her at first. When you get here, we’ll try to talk to her again.”

“And her family seems to be okay? They never knew she had gone missing?” Jackson asked.

“She was supposed to be having a wonderful time on a camp outing, but they filed a report the day before the bank robbery. That’s when they figured she’d been busy and having fun but really owed them a call.”

“Remind me to talk to our kids every single day—even when they’re supposedly grown up,” Jackson said.

“Well, kids can get involved with friends, jobs, camp.”

“Right. I’m on my way in.”

“Great. Is David with you?”

“He is.”

“Wonderful.”

“Monsters,” Jackson said wearily. “She can only tell us that she was kidnapped by monsters.”

“Come on, Jackson,” Angela said. “We’ve been in law enforcement for a long time. And we’ve always known that human beings are capable of being the worst monsters out there.”

“Right. And you are right. I shouldn’t need to be reminded.”

Monsters, indeed . He glanced at David.

He knew the ghost was just as eager as they were to find the monsters who had kidnapped and nearly killed Cassie and threatened the lives of so many.

Jackson was certain, in one way or another, that the murders of Billy’s parents were just the beginning of a much larger plot.