Deeper Than The Ocean by Julie Ann Walker
Chapter 21
1:22 PM…
The sullen sky brightened to a less gloomy gray, and the fat raindrops sliding down the windshield became little more than a smattering of mist.
This allowed JayJay to see the precise moment the uniformed officer retook his position on the front porch as if nothing had happened.
As if moments ago, he hadn’t been running around like a chicken with his head cut off opening all the windows. As if several minutes before that,Ricky and Mateo hadn’t hopped Chrissy’s back fence, snuck in through the back door JayJay had covertly unlocked, and turned on Chrissy’s gas stove. As if they hadn’t lit the candle in her living room. As if JayJay hadn’t been waiting with her heart in her throat for the whole lot to kaboom!
Several times in the intervening minutes, she’d been tempted to call the whole thing off. To run inside and switch off the gas and save Chrissy from the terrible fate of burning alive. She’d grabbed the door handle to do just that at least a dozen times. But Chrissy’s words in the hospital had always stopped her…
The big guy looked familiar somehow, but I can’t put my finger on where I’ve seen him.
Soon Chrissy would recall where she’d run into Mateo. JayJay had no doubt of that. Chrissy’s mind was a steel trap.
Once Chrissy did remember, her next move would be to point that disheveled detective JayJay’s way. After that, everything would fall like dominos. Everything JayJay had built for herself and her family.
Damn, shit, piss, and fuck!
“Looks like this plan failed too.” She rubbed a hand over features she knew were heavy with weariness.
“Hey, hey! Don’t look at me.” Ricky lifted his hands in the backseat. Both he and Mateo, the latter of whom sat beside her in the passenger seat, were soaking wet and wrecking her leather. But she had bigger fish to fry than ruined car upholstery. “I was all prepared to incapacitate the woman, but there was no need. Chick was out like a light. Did I mention she was in her tub?”
Oh, yes. Only about a dozen times since he’d returned from his little mission. JayJay would rather remove her own appendix with a fork than sit and listen to him rhapsodize one more time about how long and tan Chrissy’s legs were or how sweet her tits were. Just the thought of Ricky ogling Chrissy while she was out made JayJay sick to her stomach.
“So what?” Mateo turned to scowl back at Ricky. “You’re saying it’s my fault?”
“How many burners did you turn on?” Ricky asked.
“Just one. I don’t know how forensics works, but I sure as shit suspect someone might’ve found it suspicious if all the burners had been on. And I made sure to light the biggest candle she had. The sucker had three wicks. Maybe her stove is faulty or something, ’cause I’ve seen places a lot bigger than hers go up like a neutron bomb in less time.”
JayJay briefly closed her eyes. She did not want to know who or what Mateo had blown up.
“I don’t care why it didn’t work.” Her voice was ragged with exhaustion and regret. “It didn’t. End of story.”
In the rearview mirror, she caught the reflection of Ricky’s skinny shoulders shrugging. “Ya win some, ya lose some,” he muttered.
In a moment of weakness, she spoke before she could think better of it. “You truly are an absolute ingrown toenail of a human being. You know that, right, Ricky?”
A laugh burst from Mateo, but it turned into a cough when she shot him a withering glance.
Ricky punched Mateo in the arm. “You wanna laugh at me, huh? Huh? Well, how about I feed you a dick instead?”
“Had one for lunch,” Mateo deadpanned. “I’m full, thanks.”
Ricky’s face was florid with indignation. He began to sputter.
JayJay figured she’d started it, so it was her place to stop it. “Look, Ricky. I’m sorry for the ingrown toenail comment. I didn’t mean it.” Of course she’d meant it. “I’m sad and scared and frustrated, and I took it out on you.”
“Okay, okay.” Ricky’s expression was sullen as he sat back against the seat, his long, scrawny arms crossed. “So what do we do now?”
A terrible chill stole over her at the question. She knew the answer and didn’t like it. Not one bit.
“Well,” she said tersely, trying to psyche herself up for what must be done. “You had two chances to make her death seem like an accident, and both times you failed. We’d better take the training wheels off this bike, don’t you think?”
There. That sounded convincingly cold-hearted, didn’t it? Like I’m a true crime boss?
Jesus. She was a true crime boss. How had it come to this?
Mateo slapped the dashboard. “It’s about damn time.”
“The question is how?” she asked, feeling every one of her fifty-seven years.
“Easy.” Mateo shrugged. “We sneak in tonight, grab her, and shove her in the hold of the boat. Once we’ve dropped our clients off tomorrow morning in Mooney Harbor to do surf fishing, we’ll kill her and toss her body overboard before we meet with the Colombians for the next shipment.”
“Why not kill her as soon as we get her on the boat?” Ricky posited. “Easier that way. Much easier that way. She won’t have a chance to escape or make any noises to alert our clients or nothin’ if she’s already dead.”
“Don’t you want to have some fun with her first?” Mateo’s eyes sparked. His smile was downright evil.
“Oh. Oh, I gotcha.” Ricky nodded, sucking on his teeth. “Yeah, yeah. I wouldn’t mind tappin’ dat ass a time or two before—”
“You will do nothing of the sort!” JayJay’s blood boiled with revulsion. “I don’t want you raping and torturing that poor woman. You make her death quick and clean, or I swear I’ll cut you both loose and find someone else to make my runs.” She glowered at Mateo since he was the one who called the shots when he and Ricky were out together.
The big man’s shrug was insouciant, but his syllables were cold and clipped when he replied, “Sure thing.”
She didn’t believe him. Not for a minute. And something inside of her died, because she knew…
What recourse do I have?
She’d been bluffing when she said she’d find someone to take their place.