BENEATH THE SILK

  * * *

  Contents:

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

  Epilogue

  * * *

  * * *

  Chapter 1

  ^ »

  They called him the NOPD's loose cannon. His boss, Clide Blais, simply called him a pain in the ass. It was true that Jackson Ward hadn't bonded well with his police chief—after three years of working together, they were still deadlocked as to the proper conduct befitting a New Orleans homicide detective.

  To back up Clide's argument, Jackson had gone through eight partners in two years before he'd found one that had stuck. But like everything in life, change is the one thing you can count on. After a year with Ry Archard, Jackson was again faced with the task of finding a partner he could work with—or more to the point, who could work with him.

  Three partners had come and gone in the past three months, but still Jackson didn't blame Ry for taking the desk job he'd been offered. If he had a beautiful wife like Margo to come home to, he would have wanted out of the hot seat and better hours himself. But the fact remained that he was still in limbo, sampling partners, hoping to find one who could appreciate his all-or-nothing, you-think-it, you-say-it approach to his job.

  And that's where Jackson found himself on a hot and sticky Friday afternoon in October as he wheeled his issued cruiser into the visitors' lot at Charity Hospital, his newest recruit riding shotgun.

  He parked the puke-green '96 Ford, then turned to speak to partner number thirteen. Thirteen was a bad number, Jackson mused, staring at the aging has-been who had fallen asleep. Seeing no point in waking him, he climbed out of the car and headed for the hospital.

  On entering the lobby, the old memories of how much he hated hospitals hit Jackson square between the eyes. As a kid he'd spent countless hours in hospital waiting rooms with a cereal box between his knees watching cartoons—too young to understand the seriousness of his father's diabetes.

  Harold Ward had been dead for fifteen years, but Jackson still hated hospitals, hated the feelings they evoked. The memories they resurrected. Only today he had no choice—last night his police chief's peptic ulcer had erupted, landing him in a hospital bed.

  Inside the elevator, Jackson hung his thumbs in the back pockets of his jeans. He was tall—six foot three—with a case-hardened body and shaggy black hair that had been freshly cut that morning. He and Clide had been butting heads for two weeks, and with his suspension record being what it was, Ry had suggested that a new-and-improved look might raise Jackson's image a notch with the boss—that is, if he was willing to play suck-up to a man who clearly didn't like him, or the way he did his job.

  He found Clide's room and knocked. A second later the gravelly voice inside barked, "You're late."

  Jackson set his jaw, then swung open the door. "I'm not late—" his eyes found his boss slumped on the bed "—visiting hours don't start till—"

  "Screw visiting hours, Ward. I got a crisis on my hands. If I could have found you last night, a black-and-white would have picked you up."

  Now what? Jackson wondered. Other than Clide, he hadn't pissed anyone off for two or three days—not that he was aware of, anyway. He stepped inside and closed the door. "What's your crisis, Chief?"

  "Milo Tandi. He was murdered night before last."

  The name Tandi was as commonplace in Chicago as the Loop and Wrigley Field. The Tandis were also front-runners in the Chicago-Italian Organization. Jackson had gone to school with Milo and knew from personal experience that his old classmate was about as likable as fungus on a toad.

  Clide poked a finger at the electronic device attached to his bed and hoisted the mattress to raise him upward. "Well, give me some background on him. Draw me a picture, Ward. Don't just stand there irritating the hell out of me."

  Jackson fished in his pocket for a cigarette, then remembered hospital regulations and slid the pack back into his shirt. "Milo's thirty-four, same as me. He was born to Vito and Grace Tandi. The sole heir to the family fortune. Vito is alive, but he's been a recluse since the scandal."

  "What scandal?"

  "Grace was caught in bed with Vito's best friend."

  "Go on."

  "Frank Masado was the friend. He's also worth millions, and connected. Some say Grace was carrying Frank's kid when Vito decided to slip her pretty long legs into a pair of concrete pantyhose and drop her off in the middle of Lake Michigan."

  "He killed his wife?"

  "It was never proved." Jackson grinned. "Guess Grace never popped up."

  "Don't be cute, Ward. Keep going."

  "Milo ran Vito's nightclubs. The Shedd, his favorite, is famous for its exotic dancers."

  "So it's the usual? Prostitution? Gambling? Drugs? Tough guys playing tough?"

  "It's all that." Jackson narrowed his clear green eyes—eyes that had come from his Irish grandfather on his father's side. His black hair, prominent cheekbones and classic nose were gifts from his mother's Sicilian heritage. "What's this all about, Chief?"

  "Someone put a hole in the middle of Tandi's forehead in an apartment at the Crown Plaza. He was found naked, tied to a four-poster bed with red silk scarves. Scarves that have been traced to Silks Inc."

  "Was he offed before the fun started or after?"

  "God, Ward, what the hell difference does it make?"

  "Just wondered if he died happy, Chief."

  "He did, if that makes any difference."

  "It would to me," Jackson confessed. "This place, Silks… I've never heard of it. Is it suppose to mean something to us?"

  The color drained from Clide's already pale cheeks. "It means something, all right. It means my baby girl's gotten herself in trouble in your town, Ward. Normally I wouldn't give a damn that some Mafia mogul's son ate a bullet. But when the evidence is pointing straight at Sunni that changes things."

  "Sunni?"

  "My daughter. She's been living in Chicago for the past two and a half years."

  While Clide started at the beginning, Jackson sauntered to the third-story window and gazed down at the congested street traffic. The crowded city had never been a problem for him. Having grown up in Chicago, he was used to people. But it was the heat that he'd never gotten used to. That's why he'd taken Ry's suggestion and cut his hair. No, not for a second had he considered playing suck-up, but sweating less had definitely appealed to him.

  "So you see, Sunni's the prime suspect," Clide was saying. "She started Silks six months after she moved to the city. It's one of those fancy lingerie shops. And her apartment is at the Crown Plaza. That's why Detective Williams thinks he's got his case sewn up."

  "Stud Williams?" Jackson slowly turned from the window.

  "What's that look mean, Ward?"

  "Stud was one of my partners when I worked for the CPD."

  "Well hell, that's no surprise. You change partners damn near as often as I change my shorts." Clide rubbed his gut, made a face. "Williams claims the scarves are Sunni's. I thought he meant that they came from her store, but he says they're her personal property. That she identified them and that her fingerprints were on all four scarves."

  Jackson relaxed his shoulder against the wall and tried to imagine what Clide Blais's daughter looked like. He'd never seen Mrs. Blais, but Clide was five foot six, seventy-five pounds overweight and the only place he could grow hair was on his upper lip.

  "Williams also told me the only reason Sunni hasn't been arrested is that she's got an alibi for the night of the murder."

  "At least that's something."

  "You won't think so once you hear who it is. Sunni's alibi is Frank Masado's son. The oldest one. Williams says Joey Masado is my daughter's boyfriend."

  Jackson winced. "You're telling me she's bee
n seeing both Joe and Milo Tandi at the same time?"

  "Hell, no. That would be stupid."

  Deadly was a better word, Jackson thought. Just ask Grace Tandi.

  "Masado claims Sunni was having dinner with him in his suite when Milo Tandi took the hit." Clide rubbed his gut again, the obvious strain of the situation adding to his chronic ailment. "It's bad, ain't it? She's in deep, and it'll take a miracle to pull her out of this quicksand mess she's gotten herself into without dragging her face-first through the mud."

  "If she's innocent, then—"

  "Of course she's innocent. Only…"

  "Only What?"

  "I've got more bad news. Sunni's store is in Masado Towers."

  Jackson frowned. "You didn't know that before last night?"

  "Don't look at me like I'm some negligent father. Sunni made it clear when she moved to Chicago that she was tired of living in a fish bowl. Asked her mother and me to give her some space. We agreed that being the police chief's daughter had stifled her some. We phone back and forth. We're planning a trip up there for Christmas." Clide paused. "I know you and I haven't seen eye-to-eye too often, Ward. Hell, maybe never. But whether I like it or not, you're the man."

  "The man?"

  "You know how to get around department bureaucracy better than anyone I know. And you're familiar with who's who. You not only know the Tandi family, but you and the Masado boys were pretty tight, I hear. You lived in the same neighborhood, right?"

  "That's true. But—"

  "But nothing. I want you on this case. Back in Chicago today, Ward. Before supper if you can manage it."

  "I don't think I'm the man, Chief."

  "There's that look again. What you're telling me without turning over the dirt pile is that you were a pain in Mallory's ass for four years at the CPD before you became the pain in mine. Confession time, Ward. Is there bad blood between you and your ex-police chief?"

  As far as Clide knew, Jackson had relocated three years ago for a change of scenery. He hadn't needed to know more then, and he didn't need to know more now. Yes, there was a problem. Only he wasn't going to turn over the dirt pile, as Clide called it. "I'm NOPD, Chief. I—"

  "I know what you are. You're the only man I can trust to do whatever it takes. I need a man who isn't afraid to go head-to-head with the devil if need be. That man's you."

  Jackson was sure he'd heard wrong. He'd been called a lot of things by his boss, but the word trust used in the same sentence with his name… No, Clide must be on some pretty powerful painkillers.

  "You heard me right. So get that dumb-ass look off your face. Yes, I trust you. Which isn't the same as liking you. There will be no Christmas present at the end of the year, and I'm not interested in knowing when your birthday is, or if you like white cake or chocolate."

  "But, Chief—"

  "Ry pointed out that he's seen you put a rat's eye out at fifty yards. That you keep your Diamondback .38 cleaner than your teeth. Which, he tells me, is saying a lot since you're obsessed with your teeth and carry a toothbrush in your back pocket wherever you go."

  "But, Chief—"

  "Okay, dammit! I admit you're the man I would pray to God was on the end of the rope if I found myself dangling ten stories in the air. But if you ever repeat that I'll call you a liar and have you demoted to a meter maid." Clide looked as if he were doing a math problem. "Sunni's twenty-six, Ward. She grew up a cop's kid, and that makes her smarter than most but she's no match for a bunch of slick gangsters who've got more notches on their bedposts then I got hairs on my ass."

  No, she would be no match for men who had been carrying guns in their back pockets since age fourteen, Jackson thought. Joe Cool and Nine-lives Lucky had the market on street survival. And the boys Milo Tandi had run with had no conscience.

  There were plenty of reasons why Jackson should tell Clide to get someone else to pull his daughter's butt out of the fryer. But his boss was right—he would have an advantage over someone who didn't know the boys. He knew who was who, and where to dig. And he knew something else, too. He knew this was a golden opportunity, a chance to set things right with Hank Mallory—if that was at all possible.

  "Bottom line, Ward, you're Sunni's best shot. Her only shot, the way I see it. Now, how much more stroking is it going to take for you to hop on that plane? Do you want me on my knees? If that'll make the difference, then I'll—"

  "I can be there before supper."

  His words had Clide sighing deeply. "All right, fine. Good."

  "When did Sunni call?" Jackson asked, suddenly anxious to get out of the oven and into his favorite leather jacket. Chicago in October… Yeah, he could handle that.

  "She didn't call, which doesn't make sense. I learned all of this last night from Detective Williams. Three hours later—after imagining the worst—I ended up in here. Sunni's mother is in Europe with her sister. I don't want Ellen to know about this. If we're lucky, she won't have to until it's all over. She'll be gone for four weeks."

  Four weeks? "That doesn't give me much time, Chief."

  "You have a knack for raising hell, Ward. And I've seen you when you get obsessed with a case. So get obsessed and raise some hell. This time you have my permission and my blessing."

  "About Mac—"

  "Take him with you. You know what they say about two heads."

  Jackson could see all sorts of problems taking his partner to Chicago with him. But he was sure Clide wouldn't be interested in hearing a single one. "How do I handle Sunni?"

  "Think of her as a member of your family, Ward. Your favorite cousin, or better yet, the sister you never had. The old cliché, guard her with your life, works for me. If it don't for you, imagine there's a crazy police chief holding a gun to the back of your head ready to blow it off the minute you screw up."

  After all that, Jackson said, "That's not what I meant, Chief. Do I tell her why I'm in town? Or am I undercover?"

  "Undercover would speed things up. But Sunni's safety takes priority, so it'll be your call. Sunni's no killer, Ward. Take my baby girl out of that ugly picture Williams painted me last night and I'll give you whatever it is you want. A raise. A promotion. A new partner… You name it and it's yours."

  * * *

  The idea of how to get close to Sunni Blais and still stay undercover for a couple of days came to Jackson on the airplane. Now, two hours after arriving at O'Hare, he stood inside the Wilchard Apartment Building across the alley from the Crown Plaza with half the battle won—old man Ferguson was still alive and the Wilchard's landlord owed him a favor.

  "Never figured I'd see you again, Jackson."

  Thinking much the same thing—Crammer Ferguson was at least ninety—Jackson stuck out his hand. "You get a face-lift, old man? You look twenty years younger than the last time I saw you."

  "Still a smart-ass. Some things never change." Grinning, Crammer shot his bony hand across the counter and pumped Jackson's eagerly. "Ain't seen you in… Hell, how long's it been?"

  "A good three years." Jackson caught Crammer eyeing Mac. He decided to forgo the introduction for now. "You got an apartment on the fourth floor that faces the alley. Is it vacant?"

  "They're all vacant up there. Got pipe trouble and them damn plumbers are as independent as the no-good bankers and crooked lawyers in this city. What you want a place for? Your mama finally disown you?" Crammer's grin exposed six teeth evenly divided between his top and bottom jaw.

  "We don't want to impose on Ma."

  The we word sent Crammer's aging eyes back to Mac for a second time. "Who's that?"

  "My partner."

  "You got a dog for a partner?" Crammer's surprise shot his sparse white eyebrows into his wrinkled forehead. Looking back at Mac, he asked, "What happened to his ear? Looks like somebody chewed it half off."

  Jackson had wondered that same thing. It had prompted him to dig up the reports surrounding Mac's five-year service to the NOPD. "A burglar," he explained, "and you're right, the guy bit a chunk out
."

  "God! A burglar bit your dog?"

  "He's not my dog. He's my partner."

  Crammer must have caught the irritation in Jackson's voice, and his eyebrows creased. "He lives with you, right?"

  "That's right."

  "And you feed him?"

  "Don't have a choice."

  "A year ago a tomcat started hanging around. A fella asked me, is he your cat? I said no, he ain't. He said, but be lives here, right? I said, no, he's a free agent. He comes and goes. He asked what I fed him. I said, I don't feed free agents. I already told you, I don't own no cat." His point made, Crammer asked, "So, what happened after the burglar bit your dog?"

  "Mac bit him back. The guy's missing his left ear. With two counts of burglary, and an aggravated assault charge as a prior, he sued the department."

  "Bet the son of a bitch won, too."

  "He did."

  "Hell, them fool judges got no better sense than the crooked lawyers and lazy plumbers." With that, Crammer went back to studying Mac.

  It was something that happened often—Mac drawing stares. One night, with time on his hands, Jackson had counted forty-three scars while the K-9 slept sprawled across his bed.

  "He ain't ugly mean like he looks, is he?"

  "Only when it's called for."

  "Well behaved otherwise?"

  "Damn near perfect." Jackson recited the lie stone sober. He wasn't going to mention Mac's flaws. Everybody had flaws, he silently mused, but Mac's chronic problems of late had been the reason why he'd been put on the top of the List.

  Jackson hadn't even known the List existed, or what it meant, until after he'd accepted Mac as his partner. But within two days he had decided that a K-9 partner, with problems, wasn't for him. The next day he'd driven back to the pound, only to learn that dogs no longer of value to the department were destroyed—and since Mac topped the List, the only thing that stood between him and a lethal injection was Jackson.

  He'd walked out of the pound minutes later and climbed back into the cruiser. He'd sat a minute, eyeing the new hole Mac had chewed in the seat while he'd been gone all of ten minutes, then he'd driven back to his apartment with his new partner.