Page 39 of Killer Knows Best (Fallon Baxter FBI Mystery #4)

39

SPECIAL AGENT FALLON BAXTER

T he second we hear the woman’s screams cut through the cold night air, Jack, Nikki, and I bolt in her direction.

A pair of headlights arrive on the scene, and I’m hoping it’s the backup we called for when we left the bar. But it’s not. It’s an older maroon sedan careening this way as it screeches to a halt with gravel crunching under the tires. The door swings open, and Brenda Billings stumbles out, her dark hair wild in the dim light.

“What’s happening?” she shouts, wide-eyed, as she sprints toward Phillis. “I came as soon as you called!”

“Who the hell are you people?” the naked woman screams from behind.

“ FBI ,” Nikki shouts as she quickly approaches while waving her badge at the woman. “You’re safe.”

Jack takes off his coat and wraps it around the woman, and she begins to shudder and sob.

“Who are you and who did this to you?” he asks just a hair away from shouting at her.

“I’m Marsha,” she sniffs hard. “I’m Marsha Warren. ”

“Call it in and stay with her,” I shout to Nikki, who flashes her badge as I hitch my head toward the women standing just behind us—Phillis and Brenda—and both Jack and Buddy fall in beside me as we make our way over.

Brenda’s eyes flick from Marsha to us, then back to Phillis. She looks confused and more than slightly terrified, and yet the tip of her lips look to be struggling from curving into a smile.

“What do you know about the death of Madeline Hazelwood?” I ask, cutting through the tension and straight to the point.

Brenda’s startled gaze lands on me.

“What? Are you talking about Maddie ?” She glances at Phillis. “I don’t—what’s going on?” she stammers. “What do you think has happened here?”

I step closer and narrow my eyes in on her. “There’s been a rash of homicides in the area. Prostitutes have been targeted. Do you know anything about that?”

Her hands fidget as her eyes widen, flitting from me to Phillis and back.

“Homicides? Prostitutes?” She shakes her head, her expression flipping between confusion and fear. “Oh, Phillis… I knew you weren’t well after you lost Maddie, but this?” She turns, wild-eyed, toward her friend. “Phillis, what have you done?”

Phillis recoils and her face glows white in the night. “I haven’t done anything. I swear I’m innocent!” Her voice cracks, teetering on the edge of hysteria.

“Calm down.” Brenda grabs her by the shoulders and Buddy jumps forward and barks at the woman. “I knew we should have sought professional help when you told me about the dreams.” She takes a moment to brush the hair from Phillis’ eyes.

“What dreams?” Phillis snaps. “What are you talking about?”

Brenda sighs as she looks from Jack to me. “She’s been having nightmares. PTSD from the trauma of losing her daughter. She told me—” She shakes her head. “Oh, I can’t say it.”

“Spill it,” Jack growls and Buddy growls right along with him.

“She said she dreams that she pushed her daughter off that trail herself.” Brenda’s voice drops to a whisper as she glances back at Phillis. “I’m so sorry.”

Phillis’ face twists into shock and fury. “I’ve never said such a thing! What the heck are you talking about? Who are you? And what have you done with my friend?”

“She’s no friend,” I say, stepping closer. “Brenda, your husband was a known philanderer. You were aware of that, weren’t you?”

She lifts her chin as if she had just been struck.

I don’t let up. “You suspected he was having an affair with his secretary at the time—Madeline Hazelwood.”

“What?” Phillis shrieks. “Maddie was an angel.” Her voice hits a panicked pitch. “She would never stoop so low!”

“She was no angel,” Brenda seethes at the woman and her voice drips with venom. “She stooped so low. Hell, she bent over. She got down on her knees.”

Phillis offers Brenda an open-handed slap and the sound echoes through the night like a gunshot. Brenda barely flinches, and instead rubs her cheek in its wake.

“ Liar ,” Phillis rages at the woman. “Get off of my property! You’re a bald-faced liar! All of you off! I want you all to leave right now!”

Brenda’s eyes flash with a cold fury as she leans in close to the redhead. “You’re the only liar here, Phillis. And you’re the worst kind because you believe your own lies. You raised a common street whore.” Her voice drops to a growl. “I have video footage of your precious little angel doing all sorts of demonic things with my husband! It’s women like you who are the real problem. You’re the one who made me do it.” Jack and I exchange a glance as she presses a finger to the woman’s chest. “If you had known how to raise your daughter right, and keep her from turning into a tramp, I wouldn’t have had to confront her that day. We argued and she tried to push me away, so I pushed back. That’s when she fell. Don’t you see? You made me do that. You, in fact, killed your own child because it was you who refused to train her in the way she should go.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Phillis doles out another hearty slap and Brenda grabs ahold of the woman’s wrist.

“You made me do it. I had to kill Maddie just like I had to kill the rest of the whores Thomas was cavorting with.” She tosses Phillis’ hand back at her as if it were poison. “I still have his phone. I have the intel of who he was seeing and how he found those filthy beings. I met up with his madame. I should have done away with her first. But she’s only a small blip on the screen when it comes to the problem. I’ve been tracking the whores that people like her parade through the streets and have been picking them off one by one.”

Jack steps forward. “I’m guessing you used the stainless cookie cutters to mark your victims? If it’s the right alloy, stainless can be sharpened to a blade if needed.”

Brenda lifts her chin again and presses her lips tight.

She’s been caught again.

“You did this to frame Phillis,” I say without hesitation. “I bet you borrowed her car recently.”

“She did,” Phillis says as her eyes widen with a whole new fright.

I nod at Brenda. “Phillis was your target just as much as those other women were.”

“She deserved it,” Brenda cries. “She should spend the rest of her life behind bars for what she did to my marriage.” She shoots a scathing look at the woman. “I had to do it. You forced my hand. It’s my duty. I’m saving families. I was chosen for this and it’s a good thing.” She looks over at Jack and me. “I was chosen for this honor. So you see, there’s nothing more for you to do here. All is right with the world.”

“That’s her ,” Marsha’s voice cuts through the night as she stumbles forward and Buddy gives a soft bark. “That’s the voice I heard! I’d remember it anywhere!”

I quickly wrangle Brenda’s arms behind her back and cuff her.

“Brenda Billings, you’re under arrest.” No sooner do I get the words out than the backup we called for arrives in droves.

The darkness ignites with a seizure of blue and red lights as Nikki hustles Brenda to a waiting vehicle.

“I need to sit down,” Phillis says as she stumbles over to a bench near the carriage house, and Buddy takes off after her and curls up beside her.

A swarm of deputies head this way and Jack takes a few steps out.

“I want every last inch of the grounds searched for any more potential victims,” he shouts to them. “Search that house from top to bottom.”

“We did it,” I say, holding out a hand and Jack clasps onto it before pulling me into a tight embrace.

“We always do.” His phone chirps and he pulls it out and glances at the screen. A heavy sigh escapes him. “It’s Jet. There’s something wrong with my mother.”