Eyes on The Damned

Chapter 13

September 4, 2021, 11:37pm

There were things he should be doing, Jim knew. His search of the loft had been as thorough as the Feds' had been. He knew everything they had touched. He knew what they took. He wasn't sure where that would lead them next. The Feds seemed determined to pin the murders on him. Jim knew they couldn't prove him guilty, but all they really needed was a circumstantial case. And what they might find while building it troubled him.

He should be taking care of it.

Jim turned off all of the lights in the loft and walked out onto the balcony. Sure enough, there was a black Ford in the street below. There were two men inside: the same two he spotted at the Roca girl's apartment. He could probably lose them if he tried...but if he did that they'd be all the more certain he was guilty.

There was one thing he could do.

Jim changed into dark clothing and sneakers. He jogged to the nearest ATM and withdrew three hundred bucks. Then he headed on down the hill. There was an all-night diner at the bottom of Prospect. Jim ordered coffee and a burger then made a call from the payphone in the corner. He was lucky: the call was answered.

Forty three minutes later he heard a motorcycle outside the diner. He glanced out and grinned. Black Harley, black helmet, black leather jacket...and purple pyjamas. Fingers had dropped everything to come out here.

Jim put all of his cash on the table as Fingers sat down.

"What do you need?"

Fingers was a computer nut. He'd hacked into Cascade PD – just for giggles – and turned CI to avoid charges. Jim didn't know how good the kid really was. He'd been caught, after all. But he was the only option Jim had.

Jim passed him a paper napkin on which he'd written the names of the six FBI agents. "I need information. Anything that will give us a little leverage."

"Dirt?"

"If it's there. Or personal stuff. But I need it fast."

Fingers shoved the napkin into one pocket and Jim's cash in the other. "I'll call you in the morning."

"No, not on the phone. Call me and hang up. I'll meet you here."

"You're the boss, boss."

                                                                                       *

September 5, 2021, 8:30am

Simon knocked on Jim's door at 8.30 sharp.

He had been awake all night. The evidence against Jim Ellison was a long way from being conclusive, but Simon understood why the BAU agents were so close to being convinced. He was beginning to share their doubts.

The alibi was an odd one: if Jim genuinely had forgotten what he was doing that afternoon, why wasn't he more worried about the gap in his memory? Simon expected him to seek out a doctor right away, but he hadn't mentioned any such intention. Was it possible Jim knowingly lied, assuming that the gym staff would confirm his usual routine?

On the other hand, Jim's explanation for watching the Roca girl's apartment rang true. Ellison had always been a maverick. He wouldn't work with a partner like any other cop. This wouldn't be the first time he'd continued an investigation unauthorised. But why hadn't he mentioned it to Simon? If not before, then why not after he'd found something? When Irwin was questioning him, Jim said, I played a hunch he wouldn't return to the actual scene, but to wherever he watched Tania before he killed her. I found the place. If Jim discovered the place where Tania Roca's murderer watched her apartment, why hadn't he said something? They should have sent a CSU team out there to go over every inch of the place.