Murder List

Chapter Forty

Peter Morris made two mistakes and both of them were doozies.

His first mistake was to give in to temptation. He walked into a bar in downtown Chicago and started drinking hard liquor, and lots of it, which not only impaired his judgment but also gave him a false sense of security. The more he guzzled down, the more convinced he became that he was safe, and for the moment, untouchable.

The second mistake he made was to call Regan Madison. It took him several tries, and by the time he finally got through to her, he had worked himself into a froth.

Regan had told the operator to hold her calls and that she would be back in her office by three. Time got away from her, though, and when she and Alec reached her door, Detective Wincott was waiting. She assumed he was there to talk to her.

“Is there news?”

He shook his head. “I’m just here to pick up Alec. We’ve got a thing to go to. Sort of a going-away party for Alec,” he explained.

She noticed a policeman standing down the hall. Her phone rang. Wincott was turning to leave, but Alec lingered. She picked up the extension on Henry’s desk and answered. “Regan Madison.”

“This is your last chance to do the right thing.”

The anger shocked her. The words were slurred, but she still understood what he had said.

Alec saw the change in her expression, motioned to Wincott, and then went running to the phone in her office so he could listen in.

“Who is this?” she demanded.

“Peter Morris,” he answered. “Remember me?”

“Yes, I remember you.”

Wincott was moving away as he flipped his cell phone open.

“You’re a liar.” Morris drew the words in a long whisper.

If Morris wasn’t drunk, he was certainly well on his way, she thought. She could hear glasses clinking, music pulsating, and voices mumbling in the background. She was sure he was calling her from a bar.

“I’m not lying. I remember you.”

“I meant what I said. This is your last chance.”

His voice was chilling now. She heard him swallow, then the sound of ice striking the glass again.

“My last chance?” she repeated.

“To save yourself.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m not going to keep chasing you. It took me precious weeks to get past your assistant and finally talk to you, and what good did it do me? You wouldn’t listen. You already had your mind made up. I told you that if we could only get together, sit down and talk, I could convince you. If you had just stopped and listened to me, none of this would have happened. You could have stopped it.”

“Stopped what?”

“You know what.”

She decided to pretend she knew what he was talking about. “All right. Tell me how I could have stopped it.”

She looked at Alec. He nodded to her.

“I tried to get to you, but you left.”

“When? Where?”

“At Liam House.”

She nearly dropped the phone. Her breath caught in her throat. “You were there?”

“I just said I was.”

“Did you follow me?”

“No.”

“Then how did you know…?”

Impatient, he answered. “She told me.”

“Who? Who told you?”

“Emily. She said her name was Emily when she answered the phone. She told me where you were.”

She was so stunned she fell back against the desk.

“Do you know how long I stood out there in the rain waiting for you to come outside?”

“No, I don’t know how long you waited.”

“I want the money,” he snarled. “And you owe me, now don’t you?”

“Why do I owe you?”

He didn’t answer her but said, “It’s gone too far. If you don’t give me the money, you’ll be sorry. You get it ready. You hear me? I want cash, not a check. We’ll meet tomorrow. I’ll let you know when and where.”

“And if I don’t have the money ready when you call?”

“Someone’s going to get hurt.” His words trailed off into a slurred mumble.

Regan heard a crash, and then the line went dead. Alec was suddenly there by her side. She started to speak, but he put his hand up for silence and then nodded toward Wincott.

The detective had his back to them as he was talking on his cell phone, but when he turned around he had a big grin on his face.

“We got him.”