All the Deadly Lies Page 11

“Yes, damn it.”

  “Thank you,” Louie said, and then continued. “For the middle part of your statement, you know from our conversation a few days ago that I don’t know why he didn’t return your calls. In fact, I told you to give him a call and ask him directly?” Louie asked, pushing the issue.

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, for the last part of your question, you also know from the same discussion that we haven’t caught your sister’s killer. We need new information, a new direction, if you will, to lead us to the killer. Everything we’ve investigated has led to dead ends.”

  Her eyes scorched, burning with passion and hatred as she responded. “I did inquire why he hasn’t returned my calls. Is that a crime?” she snarled, looking over at Jake.

  “No, it’s not a crime, though it is a crime to stalk someone. Lieutenant Carrington has kept records of every time he’s run into you while out on his personal time. In fact, they are too numerous to be considered a coincidence. He also recorded the number of times you’ve contacted him on his personal cell, along with the messages you’ve left for him. None of them refer to your sister’s case.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you, Detective.” Chloe shrugged.

  “Chloe, tonight’s interview is your formal notification that a complaint has been filed against you for stalking. As of now, you will not sit outside of the lieutenant’s home. If you wish to inquire about your sister’s case, you will contact the main number of this precinct and go through the switchboard. You can ask to be directed to either me or the lieutenant, but you may not contact us directly. Understood?” Louie finished.

  “Understood. What do you have to say about this, Jake?”

  Louie had to give it to her, the woman had balls. “Ms. Wagner, the lieutenant has nothing further to say on this matter. You’re free to go.”

  She got up, undulated her hips as she left the room without a backward glance.

  “Well, we couldn’t ask for more fun, could we?” Jake said, without mirth.

  “Boy, she’s ballsy, no doubt about it. Burke, you can come in now.”

  “You’ve got a live one there, Jake,” Burke said as he came through the door.

  “I do, but let’s hope it’s over. I don’t know if the other times I ran into her were coincidence, but I doubt it. Thanks, guys.” He dreaded the thought of telling McGuire. It would be a censure against his record. But the time had come to cover his and the department’s asses.

  He tapped on McGuire’s door. “Cap, can I come in?”

  “What’s up?”

  He filled McGuire in. When he finished, Jake took a deep breath.

  “You stepped out of line when you dated her. If it happens again, you’ll lose your stripes. I have no choice, this will go into your permanent record. The interview also shows she’s been told to stay away from you in case this goes any further. But let me remind you, you should’ve reported this sooner. You put the department in the crosshairs unnecessarily.”

  “It won’t happen again,” Jake said, standing at attention.

  “No, it won’t. You’re supposed to be setting the standards for your department, not breaking them,” McGuire said.

  Chapter 9

  Nerves jumping, Mia adjusted her short leather jacket and knocked on Jake’s front door. I hope he likes unexpected surprises. Too pushy, she thought, turning toward the street. Her mind jumbled, she swung back, shifted the bottle of wine from her right hand to her left, and raised her hand to knock again. The door opened. She stopped mid-knock before she hit Jake in the face.

  “Mia?”

  “A whim… I should’ve called before dropping by,” she said, embarrassed.

  “No, I like whims.” He smiled. Taking her in his arms, he gave her a kiss.

  “Jake, what’s up? Who’s there?” Louie yelled from the kitchen.

  Louie came running into the room with his gun drawn when Jake didn’t answer. Startled, Mia tried pulling back. Jake pulled her in closer. They were still half in, half out the door.

  “Damn it, answer a man when he asks you a question.”

  “Put the gun down, Louie. It’s Mia.”

  “I can see that for my damn self who the hell it is. You guys are gonna get killed, if you don’t respond the next time. I should’ve shot the both of you to teach you a lesson.” Louie’s voice wavered as he slammed his gun back in his holster. She watched him whirl and head back into the kitchen and thought his reaction a bit extreme.

  * * * *

  “Mia, come on into the kitchen. Here let me take that.” Jake took the wine from her and placed it on the counter. “We need to talk.”

  “Ominous words.” Mia looked from Jake to Louie, retreating back.

  “Do you want a drink?” Jake asked.

  “Coffee’s good.”

  “I’ll make a fresh pot,” Jake said, placing the wine on the counter.

  “No, I’ll make the fresh pot. Tell me what’s wrong.” Mia hung her handbag off the chair and slipped her black leather jacket over it.

  “I don’t want to mess this up, what’s going on between us.” Taking a deep breath, he continued, “If Chloe Wagner ruins this…”

  “Who?”

  “Here goes.” He gave her all the details. He finished up by saying, “I’ve kind of ignored her actions—that is, until she came after you this morning.” He stopped, drank some coffee. It was weak. Civilians didn’t know how to brew a decent cup.

  “Something didn’t add up with her from the beginning—she’s off.” He pointed to his head. “It got me questioning myself. I also questioned the direction of the investigation. I’ve no proof at this time that she might be involved in her sister’s death but her actions have us looking closer at her.”

  “Is she dangerous and should I be worried?”

  “To be honest, I would be. What she’s capable of is anyone’s guess. Why did she follow you in the first place? It bothers me both as a man and a cop. I don’t think she’d hurt you, but it would be wise to err on the side of caution.” He pursed his lips.

  “I understand. I’m a big girl who’s been on her own for a long time and I don’t need a babysitter. I can protect myself. I’m not going to let her ruin whatever this is,” Mia finished, pointing her index finger at Jake and back at herself. She sat down with her own coffee, sipped, and watched him over the rim as she analyzed everything he said.

  “I can help analyze the case for you. My background will offer you insights into your killer,” Mia said.

  “I can’t let you see the file, Mia, they’re for authorized personnel only. It’s still an open investigation.” I’m in this freaking situation because I broke the rules. Damn it!

  “I understand, though sometimes a new set of eyes can pick up something you missed.”

  Maybe down the road he’d let her look at Eva’s, but not this one. “I agree, except I can’t allow it. The department could be sued, not to mention it could be considered tampering with evidence by letting a civilian handle the investigator’s file before it’s closed and tried. It’s not public record yet.”

  She nodded. “I understand.”

  “Do you want to hang around? We’re going to be at least another hour. If you didn’t eat, we could have a late supper.”

  “Dinner sounds good. I’ll wait in the living room.” Mia grabbed her coffee, walked into the living room with it, and settled in on his sofa. She pulled a book from her purse and started reading it.

  Louie looked over at him.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, let’s get back to this. The stack here is all the statements from the other detectives and in this pile on the right is ours. I figured we’d look over the other detectives’ notes first, because we’ve got our memorized.”

  “Let’s get it done. I’ll take half, you take the other half. We’ll get through it f
aster.”

  Jake opened the first file. Within fifteen minutes of reviewing Detective Kraus’s interview with Shanna’s best friend, something popped.

  “Louie, didn’t we also interview Meryl Drake?”

  “I think we did.” Louie went through his notes. “Yeah, we did a follow-up with her four days later. Kraus interviewed her first. Why?”

  “When Kraus interviewed her, Meryl focused on the ring Shanna’s grandmother gave her. But she skimmed over the ring in our interview. She made a point of telling Kraus Shanna never took the ring off. In fact, she verified Shanna wore it the last time Meryl saw her. According to the transcript from Kraus’s interview, it would’ve been on the night Shanna disappeared. Don’t our notes say she didn’t see Shanna for a whole week before the disappearance, because they were both cramming for exams?” Jake pulled out his interview notes on Meryl and read them.

  “What do yours say?” Jake scratched his head.

  “I have to dig out my interview notes, it’s not on top.” Louie wet his index finger and flipped through the pile of papers at the speed of light. “Ah, here it is.”

  “Let’s review mine first. I’ll read her statement aloud. You make notes against yours where mine are different. Then we’ll do the same thing with Kraus.”

  “Got yourself a little tingle there?” Louie said.

  “Yeah, it’s not much, but the statements don’t add up. It’s not embellishment, they don’t match.”

  “Now you’re leaning toward her friend?” Louie scratched his chin.

  “No, but there has to be a reason her story changed. Let’s see why with a follow-up interview. You know, pull a string, see what unravels,” Jake said.

  “Okay, start reading.”

  “I’m also gonna play the tape. This way, we can get their rhythm.”

  Jake scanned the statement—started reading it as he played the tape version. He listened as Kraus recorded the standard info and Miranda rights. He liked Kraus’s and Brown’s rhythm as they lead Meryl through their questions. Jake stopped the tape when Meryl mentioned the emerald ring before Kraus was able to. He hit rewind, replayed it and made notes.

  Drake: Most of the time. We were friends our whole lives, but we didn’t agree on everything, especially her sister. Chloe was mean to her. Shanna would never fight with her, though Chloe tried to fight with her all the time. She’d take Shanna’s clothes, her jewelry, whatever she wanted at the moment, without asking.

  Brown: They didn’t get along?

  Drake: Chloe doesn’t get along with a lot of people. She’s a self-involved bitch.

  Brown: Who’s older?

  Drake: Chloe.

  Brown: Give details why they didn’t get along, Meryl. Did they fight over boyfriends, clothes, money?

  Drake: Shanna excelled at everything she did. Her grades were the best. She had the best boyfriends—when she wanted one. Her parents doted on her. She’s friendly, outgoing, she always volunteered to help if help was needed. I don’t know. She was great. Chloe is the opposite, always jealous of her parents’ attention toward Shanna. Plus, Chloe thought she should have been given the emerald ring because she was older than Shanna.

  Jake noted the way Meryl switched from present to the past when referring to Shanna. A normal reaction when a person hadn’t fully accepted the death. He continued to listen until Kraus asked her if she saw Shanna the week of her disappearance.

  Kraus: Did you see Shanna the week she disappeared?

  Drake: I saw her Friday night.

  Jake flagged his notes.

  Kraus: What did you guys do? Where did you go? It’s important. I need you to describe your night in detail. Who did you talk to, especially Shanna?

  Drake: We hung out in her room at the dorm. A couple of the girls from her floor came over around nine o’clock, asked if we wanted to join them for pizza and beer. We did, and a couple of guys from her school dropped by our table to chat, though they didn’t stay long. Her cell phone rang the whole time the guys talked to us. She would check who was calling, then she’d look disgusted, and press the ignore button.

  Kraus: Who kept calling her?

  Drake: I don’t know. She never said.

  “What do you think, Louie?” Jake asked, when the tape concluded.

  “I don’t know. Why’d she lie to us? Because you’re right, when we interviewed her, according to my notes, she claimed she didn’t see Shanna on the night of her disappearance. She couldn’t have forgotten what she said four days earlier. I’ll set up a formal interview with her. Maybe this environment will shake something out of her.” Louie made a notation on his pad.

  “Let’s pull Shanna’s cell records tomorrow. For some reason, they’re not in the file. I don’t remember any repeat or excessive calls the day she disappeared. It’s almost nine o’clock, why don’t we pick this up again tomorrow. I’ve got a couple of stops in the morning before I’ll be in. I want to go by the lab and have them explain the drugs they found in Adams’s system. They’re not prescription meds. You got kid duty tomorrow, don’t you?” Jake asked.

  His day wasn’t done. After Mia left tonight he’d need to put in some time on Eva’s files. Last night, a couple of things he had dug out had poked at him.

  “Yeah, I have a conference with Marisa’s teacher. I’ll be in by nine though.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Jake held up Louie’s jacket, walked him to the door, and all but pushed him out.

  “Hey, I don’t have to leave right away. Not gonna offer me a beer?” Louie said, shrugging into his jacket.

  “No, I’m not. I’ve known you long enough to be rude.” Jake lowered his voice. “Don’t bust my chops. Say good night.”

  “Oh, all right. Good night, Mia,” he said in the voice of a chastised child as he walked out.

  “You didn’t have to ask him to leave. I’m the one intruding here.”

  “I don’t think you’re intruding.” Jake sat down next to her on the couch.

  “What would you like to eat?”

  “I hadn’t thought about it. Do you have anything in mind?” Mia asked.

  “What I have in mind doesn’t involve food. Well, then again…”

  Mia laughed. “I’m starving.”

  “Let’s go get some burgers. I can guarantee they won’t be as good as what I had in mind.”

  “I’m sure. I want to talk about this morning.”

  He’d scared her with the warning, but what else could he do? “I understand. We’ll do it over dinner.”

  He pulled her off the couch, wondering if this would be their last date.

  Chapter 10

  They never made it to dinner. On the way, Jake’s radio crackled to life. The dispatcher reported a ten-forty in progress. The code for a shooting in progress, cautioned the responding officers to proceed with care. Dispatch phoned moments later, informing him of the shooting. As senior officer on call, he had no choice but to take it.

  Jake was happy he and Mia had taken separate cars. He put on his lights and siren and pulled Mia over to explain. He phoned Louie and arranged to meet him there.

  It was nine-fifteen when Jake arrived at the scene. He parked and observed the building and the neighborhood while he waited for Louie. Eleven Wiggins Street sat at the beginning of one of the worse neighborhoods in the city. The six-family brick apartment complex towered over the one- and two-family homes on either side of it. One window in the apartment complex had curtains, the rest were covered with sheets or shades.

  It remained one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city despite the administration’s campaign promises to clean up the streets. Once elections were over, both the candidates and the residents went back to business as usual. The area housed the local drug dealers and prostitutes, along with the city’s poor and downtrodden.

  A few minutes later, Loui
e pulled up and got out of his car. He wore jeans, his off-duty attire. The first officer on site, Connelly, told them a neighbor called in the 9-1-1 with no other information. Dispatch told them to see the woman in apartment 3C, at eleven Wiggins Street—they weren’t sure if the shooter was still on the premises.

  As they entered the lobby, their senses were assaulted with a combination of scents. The most prevalent was the distinct odor of pot, along with takeout Chinese, pizza, and unidentifiable home cooking. The familiar scent of decay hung in the air. Jake guessed a dead mouse or some other small animal must be lodged in the walls. He wondered why these places always smelled of urine.

  Taking the stairs, he and Louie avoided the elevator and stopped to listen at each floor before heading up to the third floor. As they opened the hallway door on three the odors were stronger. Everyone had left their garbage outside their doors for tomorrow’s trash collection.

  Louie thought he’d lose his dinner. He could never figure out how people accepted living this way. He’d kill himself trying to find a way out.

  Back to back, they proceeded down the hall to apartment 3C. When they reached the apartment in question, Louie spun away and faced the door, which was riddled with bullet holes and held open by a body sprawled against it. Their weapons drawn, radios in hand, Jake shoved open the door. The body didn’t budge much. Dispatch had said to speak with a Blanca Santos.

  Poised at the door, Louie heard a woman crying. He exchanged a look with Jake but continued their scan of the scene. A male dressed in loose-fitting pants and sweatshirt filled the doorway. Half of his face had been blown away, but he appeared to be in his late teens. Blood spatter decorated the floor, door, and walls. Blood also ran down the kid’s neck. The overpowering smell from a puddle where his body had released its contents at the moment of death filled the air—the stench of death, the rusty metallic odor of blood, urine, and intestinal fluids burned his eyes as he blinked to focus.

  Three bullet holes riddled the metal door. Jake would try to match them to the body wounds once they cleared the apartment. Trying not to disturb the scene, Jake shoved it open enough for them to get through. Louie swallowed hard. He pulled open the closet doors located by the door, while Jake covered him. From there they walked down a long hallway, back to back. The first room—the kitchen—opened into the living room, where they found a crying, pregnant young woman. Not a woman, a girl, if he was any judge of age. She looked to be no more than seventeen and ready to pop. She gripped the wastepaper basket, holding it to her face while she threw up into it. The girl appeared compact, with long black hair braided down her back. Her black eyes were red from crying. As though somehow making it worse, Louie discovered this was the apartment with the curtains in the window. The place appeared clean, though it smelled of burnt meat.