First to Die

Chapter 78

WE KEPT A CLOSE WATCH on Jenks's movements with a surveillance team of three cars. If he made a move to dump the gun, we'd know. If he moved to kill again, we hoped we could stop him. No matter how clever he was, I didn't see how he could execute another murder right now. I wanted to speak with someone who knew him, who might be willing to talk. Raleigh had mentioned an ex-wife, a history of violence between them. I needed to talk with her. It wasn't hard to track down Joanna Jenks, now Joanna Wade. A search through the police files had her maiden name listed as part of the domestic complaint she had filed against her husband years before. A Joanna Wade was currently residing at 1115 Filbert Street on Russian Hill. It was an attractive limestone town house on the steepest part of the hill. I buzzed, identified myself to the housekeeper who answered. She informed me that Ms. Wade was not at home. "Ehersizing," she said. "Gold's Gym. On Union." I found the gym around the corner between a Starbucks and an Alfredson's market. At reception, a buffed, ponytailed staffer informed me that Joanna was in Exercise Room C. When I asked what Joanna Wade looked like, the staffer laughed. "Think blond. And kick-ass fit." I wandered in, and through a large observation window, spotted a Tac-Bo class in Exercise Room C. About eight women sweating in Lycra and jog bras were kicking their legs out karate style to loud music. I knew that Tac-Bo was the latest exercise craze, the biggest burn. Any one of these women looked as if she could take a resisting suspect up against a wall, then beat the patrol car back to the precinct with breath to spare. The only blonde was in front. Trim, sculpted, pushing herself hard and barely breaking a sweat. It was her class. I hung around until she finished up and most of the class had rushed out. She toweled the sweat off her face. "Great workout," I said, as she headed my way. "The best in the Bay Area. Looking to sign up?" "Maybe. First I thought I could ask you a couple of questions." "Try Diane up front. She can tell you the whole deal." "I wasn't talking Tac-Bo." I flashed her my badge. "I'm talking Nicholas Jenks." Joanna stared at me, flapping her blond ponytail off her shoulders to cool her neck. She smirked. "What'd he do, get caught shoplifting one of his books out of Stacey's downtown?" "Can we talk?" I asked. She shrugged and led me over to a changing area that was unoccupied. "So what could I tell you about Nick that you couldn't find out from one of his jacket flaps?" "I know it was several years ago," I said, "but you once filed a domestic complaint against him." "Listen, in case the paperwork didn't catch up, I dropped the charge back then." I could see the terror of the moment exploding all over again for her. "Look," I said genuinely "no one's trying to dig up old wounds, Ms. Wade. I'd just like a read on your ex husband." "Up to his old tricks again?" I could see her sizing me up. Was I an ally or a foe? Then she let out a capitulating breath and looked right at me. "If you're here about Chessy I could've warned her. If he hadn't been such a creep about how he dumped me. How did he put it, I write through her, Jo. She inspires me. You ever read his books, Inspector?" she asked. "She didn't have to inspire him by holding a job down while he went off and found himself, did she? She didn't have to read his drafts, deal with his rages when he got rejected, tell him every night how much she believed in him. You know where he met her? In the makeup room at Entertainment Tonight." "What I'm asking, Ms. Wade," I said, "is how violent is Nicholas Jenks?" She paused, looked away. When she turned back, her eyes had filled up as if she were about to cry. "You know, you come in here after all this time and make me go through this again. What do you want me to say? That his mother didn't love him? That he's a screwed-up, dangerous man? Life with Nick… it's so hard. He's holding something in and God only knows when it's going to come out. I would ask myself, Why? What had I done? I was just a kid." Her eyes glistened. "I'm sorry." I truly felt for her. For both Mrs. Jenkses. I couldn't even imagine what it was like to wake up and find myself married to someone like him. "I need to ask," I said. "What are the chances things with your ex-husband have intensified? Become more serious." She looked stunned. "Is Chessy all right, Inspector?" "Chessy's all right." I nodded, making it clear I felt there were others who might not be. She waited for me to blink. When I didn't, she gave me a mirthless laugh. "So I guess we're talking a lot deeper than pilfering a book from Stacey's bookstore?" I nodded again. Woman to woman now, I said, "I need to ask you a crucial question, Ms. Wade."