Page 25 of Dead Rattled
“I don’t think so.” Ronan stood up and paced around the room. “Let’s say Amanda wasn’t the only baby sold by an employee of the St. Agnes House. Let’s say a new nurse stumbled onto the Savini’s side gig and threatened to tell the police, or better still, the grieving mothers, what happened to their babies and either father or son bumps her off.”
“That sounds crazy, Ronan.” Jude shook his head. “But then again, this whole situation is crazy. Empty graves. Stolen babies. Grief-stricken mothers.”
Ten was about to ask Jude if Kitty Maxwell had any family they could speak with, when Ronan’s phone rang.
“It’s Fitz,” Ronan said, before hitting the button. “Must be nice to sleep in.”
“Can it, Ronan,” Fitz barked. “I need you, Jude, and Tennyson to meet me at 27 Pickman Road. The sooner the better.” The phonebeeped three times indicating Fitzgibbon had hung up. “What the hell is on Pickman Road?”
“Beats me,” Jude said. “According to Google Maps it’s a residential road that backs up to the South Campus of Salem State University.”
“We’d better hustle,” Ronan said, shutting his laptop and grabbing his coffee. “Fitz sounded pissed and for once not because of me.”
“Whatever the hell is going on out there has him in one hell of a mood.” Jude followed Ten and Ronan out of the office, locking it behind him.
Ten motioned for everyone to get inside his SUV. He was sick and tired of being stuck sitting in the back of Ronan’s Mustang or Jude’s Thunderbird. He started the car and headed off in the direction of the college, knowing Ronan would direct him where to turn as they got closer.
It turned out Ronan didn’t need to give directions. The upper part of Pickman Road was swarming with police cruisers with their lights on. An ambulance sat in front of the house with its lights turned off. Yellow crime scene tape spanned from the driveway, across the front lawn to a neighbor’s fence post.
Ten parked the car half a block away from the scene. He started toward the police tape, when Ronan grabbed his elbow.
“Hey, isn’t that Jace’s Porche?” Ronan pointed to the cherry pepper red SUV parked in the driveway.
“Sure looks like it to me,” Ten muttered.
“Oh, shit. Is it Jace?” Jude asked. “Ten, please tell me something didn’t happen to Jace. Sweet Jesus, Fitz will never get over that. Aurora either for that matter.”
Ten shut his eyes and focused on the house. Jace was alive and well. “He’s sitting on the stairs with his head in his hands. Thank God.”
“Let’s get in there and find out what’s going on.” Ronan pulled out his badge and approached the police tape.
“Captain Fitzgibbon is waiting for you all inside,” the young patrol agent said, as he lifted the tape for Ronan to duck under.
“What the hell would Jace be doing here?” Jude asked.
“Remember a few days ago when Fitz told us Jace had fallen in love with a new property for a food pantry and shelter for LGBTQIA+ kids? I bet this is the property he had in mind.” Ten wasn’t getting that information from his gift. It was only a guess, but Ten hoped he was right, or otherwise, what the hell would Jace be doing at a house on the other side of town from his own?
Ronan climbed the front steps and walked into the house. Jude and Ten were right behind him. For all the police activity outside the house, there was fairly little going on inside the house.
“Thank fuck you’re here,” Fitzgibbon said, stepping into the empty front room. “You’re not going to believe this. What a fucking shit show.”
“What’s going on?” Ten asked, acutely aware that he should at least have some clue thanks to his gift. He didn’t like flying blind like this.
“Jace put in a bid for this house a few days ago, with his offer contingent on an inspection. He’s going to turn it into a shelter, like Everly said. The inspection was scheduled for this morning. During the walk-through, Jace tripped against a wall that started to crumble. When the dust had settled, he and the inspector saw that it was a fake wall with a crawl space behind it, whichbacked up to a bricked in fireplace. Jace saw that the mortar was breaking apart. He moved a couple of bricks and found a body.”
“What?” Ten couldn’t believe his ears. He took a step back and noticed the spirit of a young woman was standing a few feet behind them, looking out the window. He stepped toward her and asked her name.
“Figures, right?” Fitzgibbon sighed. “I wanted to spend the day working on the St. Agnes House case and now Cisco wants us working to identify who the bones belong to.”
“You’re not going to believe this, Fitz, but youareworking the St. Agnes House case. The body bricked up inside the fireplace is Kitty Maxwell.”
“Are you sure, Ten?” Ronan asked, sounding nervous. “Are youabsolutelysure?”
“I am,” Ten said, feeling a little annoyed at his husband. “Fitz, where is Jace?”
“In the other room. I’ll go get him.” Fitz left the living room.
“What the hell are the odds? Twenty minutes ago, Jude’s telling us that Kitty Maxwell has been missing since 1973 and Jace found her during a routine home inspection? If this were an episode of Law and Order, I would think it was too ridiculous to be true.”
