Maximum Guilt (Hidden Guilt Book 2) by Terry Keys Read Free Book Online Page A

Sulphur, Louisiana. Stacy struck again there last night.”
    “Okay. How long before you get here to pick me up? And what do you mean struck again? What did the bitch do now?”
    “Excuse me? Pick you up? I’m riding solo on this one.”
    “Yeah, pick me up. I’m going with you.”
    “Like hell. You need to rest. I know you’re tough, but you need to recover—mentally and physically.”
    “Listen, that bitch . . . she can’t get away with this. I’m coming with you. Come pick me up.”
    I knew arguing with her any longer really made no sense. She had her mind made up. If I didn’t pick up her stubborn behind, she’d drive herself to Sulphur anyway.
    “Call Cap. Get it cleared with medical and call me back. I’m about thirty minutes from your place, so hurry.”
    De Luca and I both had a personal connection to this case, and neither of us should have been on it. I knew that. I’m sure Wilcrest knew he wouldn’t be able to talk either of us out of it. De Luca came to our department with the highest recommendations. I was certain she would be a valuable addition to the case.
    Within minutes, she called me back with the approval from Wilcrest. If I had to guess, she’d used the same speech she’d given me. I’d known that’d be the case, and I was already heading her way.
    I pulled up to De Luca’s house. She was already sitting on the porch, bag packed, awaiting my arrival.
    “You sure you got this cleared with Cap?” I said as I rolled down the window. The look on her face told me everything I needed to know. De Luca wore a baseball cap, T-shirt and jeans, and had her hair pulled back. No makeup.
    “So, what, you trade in your pumps for tennis shoes? You know how to walk in those things?”
    “Porter, you are two seconds away from the ass-whooping I have reserved for Stacy.”
    We both grinned. She threw her bags into the back seat, shut the door, and we were off.
    I filled her in on what I knew about Sam Wilson.
    “Well, other than to check on you, the reason I called was so you could get a start on Sam Wilson. We need to find out everything we can. I’m betting something he did in his past is why he’s dead. We figure that out and maybe it will tell us where Stacy’s headed next. Or at least what the hell she’s up to.”
    “So what do we have? What do we know about Stacy? She killed young girls because you have two of them. She wanted to scare you. I’m willing to bet your boy Sam is a sex offender,” De Luca said as she rapped the window with her fingers.
    “Maybe. That’s good thinking. Call Fingers. Give him Wilson’s social, and let’s see what we can find out.”
    Sometimes I felt like I shouldn’t being using Fingers as much as I did. I was torn. He had done some pretty bad things, all hacker-type shit, but he was a criminal nonetheless. Police officers all had informants, and to me that’s just what he was. Others on the force may have disagreed, but I wasn’t exactly broadcasting my use of him either. Besides, we had our own data analysts who were good, but Fingers was a tad better.
    “See? You need me, David. I haven’t heard the full story, but I know she accuses you of being part of some hazing back in college. So you going to fill me in?” De Luca asked.
    “Something like that. Yeah, I’ll break it down for you later. We’ll see about you being right on Wilson, too. Make the call.”
    Bad news always spreads faster than good news. Some things never change. I didn’t mind De Luca tagging along at this point. I really didn’t care where the help came from. I had the same sneaking suspicion she did regarding Sam Wilson. After all, Stacy wasn’t exactly killing priests.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 8
     
    “What did you find out about our vic?” I said when Fingers called me back.
    De Luca tugged at my arm, trying to get me to put the call on speakerphone.
    “Hey, David. Well, your guy Sam was a sex offender. He’d done some time for a DUI, too.