Cold feet(32)
Author: Brenda Novak

Pulling the book into his lap, Caleb opened it to pictures of Madison in a hospital bed, smiling proudly as she cradled a red-faced newborn. Standing next to her was a man who had to be her ex-husband, Danny.

Caleb stripped off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, then scrutinized the man she’d been speaking to on the phone a few days ago. Danny wasn’t anything like he’d expected. Short and balding, he looked too old for Madison. And even though he was in the picture, his body language suggested he didn’t necessarily want to be. While Caleb read joy on Madison’s face at the birth of her first child, Danny seemed far less interested.

"What a guy," he muttered, and turned the page to find more hospital photos, these featuring Madison’s parents. Danny’s backside or leg appeared here and there, so Caleb knew he wasn’t the person behind the lens. But neither was he posing with the others. From the relative positioning of everyone in the room, Caleb got the impression that there’d been no love lost between Madison’s parents and her husband, even while she was married.

The next few pictures were of Grandpa and the baby. Caleb held the book closer as he examined Ellis Purcell. What could Ellis have been thinking as he looked at his wife, daughter and brand-new granddaughter? Was he feeling any remorse for the women he’d murdered so brutally? Or was his mind a million miles away, anticipating his next victim?

If so, Purcell had outsmarted them all.

Or maybe he hadn’t outsmarted anybody. Maybe they’d set their sights on the wrong guy from the beginning. Gibbons was becoming more and more suspicious of Johnny. He thought Johnny might’ve picked up where his father had left off. Who else would have access to Purcell’s truck? Gibbons had argued. Who else would have known exactly how to position the body except someone with inside information?

Caleb couldn’t answer those questions. But he wasn’t convinced that Johnny was their man. In Caleb’s mind, Johnny didn’t have the nerve to do what this killer did. This killer was cool and cunning, far more controlled than Johnny. Stealing a car was one thing. Sexually assaulting and strangling a woman was another. That kind of brutality took a deep-seated rage….

"She’s finally asleep," Madison said, emerging from the hall.

"I hope you don’t mind," Caleb said, indicating the photo album. "It was on the table."

She frowned slightly but crossed the room and sat on the sofa a few feet away from him, wearing the same jeans and tight-fitting T-shirt she’d had on when he arrived. "Brianna dragged it out."

"I take it this is your ex," he said, turning back to the picture of Danny on the front page.

She made a face and scooted closer to look. "Handsome devil, isn’t he?"

Caleb smiled at her sarcasm. "I’m guessing he must’ve had other attributes."

"Not really."

He raised his brows in question.

"I’ve decided he was an escape," she said. "An escape from everything that was going on in my life at the time. I didn’t realize it when I married him, of course. But I had to face the truth shortly after. Especially because my marriage didn’t really change anything, at least not for the better."

"You mean you couldn’t get along with a guy who frowns at the birth of his own daughter?" he asked with feigned surprise.

Madison laughed. "That passes as a smile for Danny."

"How did such a love match unravel?"

"We weren’t ever what you could call a ‘love match.’ Danny’s persistence and his confidence that we were meant to be together finally won me over. He was five years older and had his life all neatly planned out. He was also pretty understanding about the investigation–at first. And I’d just lost my best friend, so I was particularly vulnerable."

She brought her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. "Most of all, I was longing to settle down, have a family of my own and live what I hoped would be a ‘normal’ life. He claimed he wanted those things, too."

Caleb still couldn’t believe Danny had managed to get a woman like Madison to even look at him. "What changed after you were married?"

"Danny was a lot more complex and difficult than I’d ever expected. Emotionally, he was like a child–everything revolved around him. He could never see how what was happening with my father affected me, only how it affected him. And after the first few years, two more bodies were discovered and the investigation intensified, so he stopped being as understanding."

"How long were you married?"

"Seven years." She drew an audible breath. "But we had detectives following us around toward the end. So that probably made a big difference to his behavior."

Caleb got up to pour himself some more wine. "You knew the police were following you?"

"Sometimes the detectives would sit at the curb out front and wave to us as we went in and out. I think they were trying to intimidate us."

That must have been after Caleb quit the force, because he’d never seen Danny in person. Gibbons had always kept him busy taking care of the hundreds of peripheral people who had to be interviewed. "Did it work?" he called from the kitchen.

"It was intimidating, sure," she said. "It would be intimidating for anyone. But I don’t think they were very smart to bully us."

"Why?"

She accepted the glass of wine he brought back for her. "Their tactics only made me more determined to remain firm. Not that it did me any good. When the killings started up again, the police felt so much pressure to solve the case, they transferred that pressure to us, including Danny. Pretty soon the neighbors were accustomed to seeing detectives coming and going from my house, but they certainly weren’t happy about it."

She paused to take a sip of wine. "They formed their own opinions," she continued, "and hinted that if I’d only cooperate and ‘do the right thing’ it would all be over and my ‘poor husband’ could hold up his head again. They quit inviting us to neighborhood barbecue parties. They wouldn’t let their children play with Brianna or come to our house." She sighed and shifted position so she could stretch her legs out in front of her. "Danny couldn’t tolerate all the negative attention."

"Why didn’t the two of you take your baby and move somewhere else? Somewhere the murders and the investigation weren’t so publicized?" Caleb asked, thinking that if he were Danny, he would’ve done anything to protect his family.

"By the time we realized things weren’t going to die down, Danny had landed a fantastic job at Waskell, Bolchevik and Piedmont. You’ve probably heard of them."

"The big engineering firm downtown?"