Collateral damage, p.32
Collateral Damage,
p.32
But even as Juanita said the words, she knew she wouldn’t take advantage of Marcia’s offer. Family was important to her. Juanita was happy to stay right where she was, in Blythe, California, a place where her kids could grow up with cousins scattered all over town and with a loving grandmother living just down the street.
CHAPTER 67
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
Thursday, January 9, 2020, 9:00 a.m. (CST)
Danielle Lomax-Reardon’s murder may have vanished from public view for an extended period of time, but by Thursday morning, her name made for headline news all over the city. An abusive former boyfriend named Frank Muñoz had hired a contract killer to slaughter her on the front steps of her place of employment, Madeline Dahlke House, a local shelter for battered women. The irony of that wasn’t lost on anyone. Danielle had perished as a result of the same deadly violence from which she was trying to protect others.
Captain Amos Anderson was at his desk. The Frank Muñoz case had blown up into a jurisdictional free-for-all. Even though he had made what appeared to be a comprehensive confession, everybody wanted a piece of him. For the first time, investigators at St. Paul PD had finally identified the man who had shot Danielle dead. Unfortunately, the actual triggerman was already beyond the reach of the legal system. He’d been murdered by a girlfriend’s angry ex-husband a year earlier.
Karma, Amos thought. What goes around, comes around.
Regardless, the case was closed at last. Both Amos and Russell Thomas would finally be able to move on. At that point the desk sergeant appeared, accompanied by a young Muslim woman wearing a headscarf. The new arrivals came to a stop in Amos’s doorway.
“Ms. Baan Ibiri to see you, sir,” the desk sergeant said.
Who is this woman? Amos wondered. A witness, perhaps?
Puzzled, Amos got to his feet. “Do have a seat,” he invited. “How can I be of service?”
Baan settled into her chair. “Three years ago, I was trapped in a violent marriage. On Halloween night of 2017 I attended my first-ever domestic violence support-group meeting at Dahlke House. While there, I met Danielle Lomax-Reardon and heard her story. No one in the investigation ever said her death was related to domestic violence, but I for one was sure her husband killed her.”
“He didn’t,” Amos said.
Baan nodded. “I know that now, and so does everyone else, but what happened to her that night changed my life forever. I took my children and left my husband. For several months we lived in one of the apartments at Dahlke House, and now, much to my amazement, I am the executive director.”
Amos was surprised. “You have Danielle’s job?” he asked.
“Yes,” Baan said, “and it’s in that capacity that I’ve come to see you today. We’ve decided to hold a candlelight vigil in Danielle’s honor on the steps of Dahlke House tomorrow night. We’ve asked Luke Reardon and his sons to attend, and we’d like to invite you and Detective Thomas to be there, too.”
For a moment Amos Anderson was too moved to speak. “Thank you,” he murmured at last. “I’d be honored to attend, and I’m sure Detective Thomas will be as well.”
CHAPTER 68
SEDONA, ARIZONA
Saturday, January 11, 2020, 7:00 p.m. (MST)
It was Saturday evening on Manzanita Hills Drive. B. was still in recovery mode, and so was Ali. Earlier in the afternoon, they had heard from Hal Holden’s daughter, who had told them that her father’s recovery was proceeding well and that he was finally off the ventilator. On Sister Anselm’s recommendation, she had hired a retired LPN who would be available to oversee Hal’s care at home once he was released from the hospital.
Now, with visitors and well-wishers gone for the day, B. and Ali were enjoying a quiet evening next to the fire in the library when a howler from Frigg came in over Ali’s iPad.
Salvatore Moroni was found unresponsive in his cell in the Lompoc Correctional Complex and has since been declared deceased. His death is being investigated as a possible suicide.
After reading the message aloud to B., Ali grabbed her phone, dialed Stu, and put the call on speaker. “Is that really true?” she demanded. “Is Moroni really dead?”
“As far as we can tell,” Stu replied. “So far the deceased has not been publicly identified while attempts are made to contact his next of kin. Corrections officials have been referring to him by only his prison ID number.”
“Which Frigg just happens to know,” Ali observed.
“Yes,” Stu said. “She does, and since his daughter is supposedly now in witness protection, I don’t think that next-of-kin notification is going to work out very well.”
“Any word on the cause of death?”
“With the autopsy pending, the preliminary cause of death is strangulation due to hanging.”
“How’s his hyoid bone?” Ali asked. “Did he happen to hang himself the same way Jeffrey Epstein supposedly did?”
“Too soon to tell,” Stu answered. “Anyway, if someone calls to notify you, remember, we’re not supposed to know.”
“Got it,” Ali said. “Mum’s the word.”
As the phone call ended, B. gave his wife an appraising look. “The three of you really stirred up a hornet’s nest this time,” he observed, “but it sounds like a lot of bad guys are now off the streets and/or out of commission as a result of your efforts.”
“The three of us stirred up a hornet’s nest?” she replied indignantly. “We never would have gotten involved in any of this if you and Hal hadn’t wound up in the hospital. Fortunately, for all concerned, we didn’t get caught.”
“Fortunately,” B. agreed with a fond smile. “And believe me, no one is happier about that than I am.”
More from this Series
No Honor Among Thieves
A Last Goodbye
Web of Evil
Book 2
Hand of Evil
Book 3
Cruel Intent
Book 4
Trial by Fire
Book 5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J. A. JANCE is the New York Times bestselling author of the Ali Reynolds series, the J.P. Beaumont series, and the Joanna Brady series, as well as five interrelated Southwestern thrillers featuring the Walker family. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tuscon, Arizona. Visit her online at JAJance.com.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR:
SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/J-A-Jance
SimonandSchuster.com
@GalleryBooks
ALSO BY J. A. JANCE
ALI REYNOLDS MYSTERIES
Edge of Evil
Web of Evil
Hand of Evil
Cruel Intent
Trial by Fire
Fatal Error
Left for Dead
Deadly Stakes
Moving Target
A Last Goodbye (A Novella)
Cold Betrayal
No Honor Among Thieves (A Novella)
Clawback
Random Acts (A Novella)
Man Overboard
Duel to the Death
The A List
Credible Threat
Unfinished Business
JOANNA BRADY MYSTERIES
Desert Heat
Tombstone Courage
Shoot/Don’t Shoot
Dead to Rights
Skeleton Canyon
Rattlesnake Crossing
Outlaw Mountain
Devil’s Claw
Paradise Lost
Partner in Crime
Exit Wounds
Dead Wrong
Damage Control
Fire and Ice
Judgment Call
The Old Blue Line (A Novella)
Remains of Innocence
No Honor Among Thieves (A Novella)
Random Acts (A Novella)
Downfall
Field of Bones
Missing and Endangered
J.P. BEAUMONT MYSTERIES
Until Proven Guilty
Injustice for All
Trial by Fury
Taking the Fifth
Improbable Cause
A More Perfect Union
Dismissed with Prejudice
Minor in Possession
Payment in Kind
Without Due Process
Failure to Appear
Lying in Wait
Name Withheld
Breach of Duty
Birds of Prey
Partner in Crime
Long Time Gone
Justice Denied
Fire and Ice
Betrayal of Trust
Ring in the Dead (A Novella)
Second Watch
Stand Down (A Novella)
Dance of the Bones
Still Dead (A Novella)
Proof of Life
Sins of the Fathers
Nothing to Lose
WALKER FAMILY MYSTERIES
Hour of the Hunter
Kiss of the Bees
Day of the Dead
Queen of the Night
Dance of the Bones
POETRY
After the Fire
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Interior design by Erika R. Genova
Jacket design by Ervin Serrano
Jacket photograph by 123RF
Author photograph by Mary Ann Halpin Studios
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022949908
ISBN 978-1-9821-8915-0
ISBN 978-1-9821-8917-4 (ebook)
J.A. Jance, Collateral Damage
