Justice Delayed (Memphis Cold Case #1)(14)

“Okay. Lacey Wilson has called me several times over the years.”

“What did you talk about?” Brad took out a notepad.

“Mostly about Lacey and how she missed Steph. She didn’t call that often.” Andi placed her fork on the empty plate, and Treece whisked it away.

“When was the last time you talked with her?” Brad asked.

“This morning. She wanted me to meet her at the airport tonight at six, and I drove there in a blinding rain, but she never showed.”

Will leaned forward. “You’re the one she was meeting? Why? And why wait until tonight? Why not earlier?”

“She planned to go to Riverbend.”

“Riverbend Maximum Security Prison?” Will asked. That’s where his cousin was incarcerated. Why would Lacey be going there?

“I don’t know. She wouldn’t discuss it over the phone, said something about her phone being tapped. Said she’d tell me everything when we met.” Andi’s eyes widened, and she put her hand to her mouth. “The SUV at the airport.”

“What are you talking about?” Brad demanded.

“A dark SUV followed me into the airport. And if I hadn’t suddenly changed lanes and it passed me, I never would have seen it when I left. Do you think it was the man who attacked me? What if the breakin at my apartment is connected with Lacey’s death?” Andi asked. “If her phone was bugged, maybe he knew I was meeting her, and then he followed me home.” She halted. “But why?”

“Did you get a tag number?” Will asked as his phone rang. He pressed ignore when he didn’t recognize the number.

“No.”

His phone rang again, same number. He almost ignored it, and then thought better of it. “Excuse me,” he said and walked away from the table. “Kincade,” he said into the phone.

“Will, it’s Jimmy. I need your help. I have proof I didn’t kill Stephanie, and we don’t have much time.”

Will’s heart pounded as he recognized his cousin’s voice. “What do you mean, you didn’t kill her? You confessed.” He pressed a hand to his forehead. With five days until he was set to die, was Jimmy pulling some kind of stunt?

“Please, just listen to me. I—”

“How did you get a phone?” Prisoners on death row did not have access to cell phones.

“One of the guards. He could lose his job because of it, but he’s trying to help me.” Jimmy’s voice cracked. “I got this letter from a friend of Stephanie’s asking to come see me, only it wasn’t delivered for three weeks. But right now that’s not important. In the letter she said I didn’t kill Stephanie and she had proof. Can you come to Riverbend tomorrow?”

The hair on the back of Will’s neck raised. “Did she tell you what the proof was?”

“No. She’s coming to see me. Says she’ll tell me what it is then.”

If only it was true. He’d never wanted to believe his cousin had murdered Brad and Andi’s sister. “Who is this woman?”

“Lacey. Lacey Wilson.”

Will’s throat tightened. “What? Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I’m looking at the return address and her signature now.”

“Let me talk to the corrections officer.” Will waited while Jimmy handed the phone off.

“Hello?”

“Who is this?” Will asked.

“Walter Simmons. I’m one of the COs here at Riverbend where Jimmy is incarcerated. He’s telling the truth.”

“You’ve seen the letter he’s talking about?

“Yes, sir. It looks like the real deal.”

“Can you take a photo of it and send it to me?”

“I’ll take a picture, but I don’t have one of those smartphones. I’ll have to get my granddaughter to help me tomorrow.”

Will bit his bottom lip. “Tell Jimmy I’ll be at Riverbend first thing in the morning,” he said and disconnected. He’d take his own photo. But if it was true and Jimmy didn’t kill Stephanie, then who did?

Lacey Wilson hadn’t shown for her meeting with Andi, and now she was dead. If she’d written Jimmy a letter saying he didn’t kill Stephanie, was she going to tell Andi the same thing? And maybe divulge who did?

People had been killed for much less.



Andi kept her gaze on Will as she pushed her salad bowl away. He had turned as pale as Treece’s plate.

“You okay?” she asked when he stuffed his phone in his pocket and returned to the table. He looked like he’d been punched in the gut.

“I don’t know.” He sat in the chair he’d vacated and stared into space.

Goose bumps raised on her arms. “What’s wrong?”

He turned to Brad. “I may know why Lacey Wilson was murdered—if she was. She wrote my cousin Jimmy a letter stating he didn’t kill your sister. And from what you said earlier, she was going to see him before she left town.”

Silence rocked the room. Andi clenched her fists, and the pizza settled in her stomach like concrete. “That’s not possible. He confessed.”

“I know, but I’ve always had a problem with that confession . . . with Jimmy being Steph’s murderer,” he said.