IF I FAIL: A Jake Carrington Mystery Read online

“Really, what did he say?”

  “He said to leave it be. He wouldn’t talk about it.”

  “You’re not his guardian angel, Louie. This is his baggage, not yours. He’s the one who has to deal with it.”

  “I know, I feel helpless. It’s a good thing the other guys didn’t see it.”

  “Yeah, God forbid he shows any emotions. Like it would kill his authority,” she said sarcastically.

  “On an up-note, it looks like things are going good with Mia. Here’s a scoop you don’t know…” He paused for effect. “He went to dinner at her place on Saturday and didn’t get home until this morning.”

  “You told me this morning, Louie, remember? It’s still awesome.”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “I see you have your file folders out. Working tonight, Louie?”

  “If you don’t mind, I want to spend an hour or two on it.” He knew his wife, so he asked instead of telling her—and got the results he hoped for.

  “It’s not a problem, Louie.” She picked up a book and started reading.

  He picked up his file, reviewing everything for the hundredth time.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Buried in the Wagner file for hours, Jake’s neck ached. Standing up, he stretched, reaching for the ceiling. Then he walked from the kitchen to the living room and back again. A little restless, a lot lonely, he couldn’t believe how his feelings had taken over in such a short time. Him—the love ’em and leave ’em guy. Two weeks, who knew? The thought brought a smile to his face. He occupied his mind with work, though he missed her a great deal. Normally, Jake cherished his time alone when in a relationship. No other woman in his life had left him feeling complete, like she did. A loner, he hated to have his privacy invaded, that’s what he always told himself. He could spend hours on his files, dissecting them without interruptions or complaints. Now all he wanted was Mia to be there; to be talking to her, joking with her, making love to her.

  Admitting to himself that in the short time he’d known Mia, he’d fallen in love with her. The realization floored him. A first time for everything, Jake thought. He’d never been in love before, but he knew for sure, deep down, he loved Mia totally. He wouldn’t tell her this soon. He didn’t want to scare her away, take a chance when he didn’t know how she felt about him. Weird to have your heart in someone else’s hands. There’s so much they need to learn about each other before they could move forward. He told himself he’d enjoy the journey, discovering everything about her.

  He decided to go back to his files, continue to work, giving his heart a rest. At this point, he only had questions about how Mia felt. No answers. He couldn’t wait to see her tomorrow to find some of those answers.

  Tuesday morning proved to be busier than Monday. They headed back over to Judge Warner. This time they waited forty-five minutes for him. Finally, he called them into his chambers.

  “What’s up now, Jake?”

  “I need some search warrants on the Wagner case.”

  “What are you searching for?”

  “Shanna Wagner’s diary. We told you about it yesterday.”

  “Where are you going to look for it?” Warner asked, dragging out his questions.

  “I need warrants for the Wagner’s house, Meryl Drake’s house, Mark Cavilla’s house, and their cars.”

  “What’s your probable cause?”

  “We read her old diaries last night. They explain her relationships with her sister, Meryl Drake, and Mark Cavilla. They weren’t always flattering. Chloe Wagner called me last night…” Warner interrupted.

  “I thought you had a restraining order on her, Jake? Doesn’t it also include contact on your personal phones?”

  “Yes, it does. She wanted to let me know Cavilla called her last night, after months of no contact. He asked her about her arrest, questioned her to see if we found any new evidence. Asked if she knew the reason for the new interviews.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Chloe Wagner, when asked, let us know about the diaries. Even offered the old ones, stored at her parents’ house. She gave them up without a warrant.”

  “If that’s the case, why the warrant for her house?”

  Getting frustrated, Jake talked himself down. He needed to remain calm, lay out his logic. “Maybe she held back on the last one. We need to be sure. Your Honor, the violence in this crime has always reminded us of a crime of passion. Both Drake and Cavilla were Shanna Wagner’s lovers. I feel the recent evidence, and new information warrant a second look at these people.”

  “Relax, Jake. I want to make sure it’s not another goose chase. You have your probable cause, get it done.” Wagner issued the warrants.

  Outside the courthouse, Louie asked, “Are we taking a team with us?”

  “Not to the Wagner house. I know this goes against the grain, Louie…I…I want a few minutes to explain to the Wagners, including Chloe, why we got a warrant.” Frustrated, Jake looked at Louie, noting his frown. “Louie, she turned them over without a warrant. Are you leaning toward her for this crime?”

  “It goes against procedure, Jake.”

  “Are you leaning toward her for this? Plus, Louie, aren’t the procedures there as guidelines?”

  “What if she’s the guilty one? You’re giving her ammunition for her defense.”

  “My gut tells me she’s not the one.”

  “Well, Jake. Didn’t your gut tell you last week she was the one?”

  “No.”

  “No? Then why’d we arrest her?”

  “You’re right. Last week she crossed a line when she went after Mia. What would you have done if she’d gone after Sophia?”

  “The same thing.”

  “Alright, let’s go set up our teams for Drake’s and Cavilla’s houses. I want to take the Wagner’s first to eliminate them.”

  “I’ll review today’s roster, see who’s on.”

  “Okay, I’ll update the captain while you do that. Meet me in my office in twenty minutes.”

  “Will do.”

  Jake chose his team, consisting of three uniformed officers—Burrows, Sherman, and Jones. They’d impressed him on other assignments. Jake briefed them, showed them the diaries the police already had in their possession. Let them know what they were looking for. Officer Jones smiled.

  “Is something amusing, Officer Jones?” Jake asked.

  “No, sir,” she replied, coming to attention.

  “Okay. It’s going to be a long day. We’re not going to stop until we find the diary. Pick up lunch on your way to the first house. We’ll eat on the road on our way to the second house. Sergeant Romanelli or I will give you a call when we’re on our way. Questions?” Jake looked around.

  In unison he got, “No, sir.”

  “Great, we’ll see you in an hour or so.”

  Officer Jones hung back, apologized. “Sorry, sir, for the smirk.”

  “What’s so amusing?”

  “The diary, sir. Having to explain what it was.” She smiled again.

  “Most men, Officer Jones, don’t have a clue that women keep them.”

  “I know, that’s why we keep them.” She flashed a full smile, turned, and left his office. He smiled at her back.

  Jake called the Wagner home, surprised to find Chloe home when she answered the phone. He told her he needed to speak with her and her parents about the diaries, offering no other explanation.

  “What’s up, Lieutenant?” Mr. Wagner opened the door before Jake had the chance to knock.

  “Can we come in?”

  “Sure, I’m here. Anna’s at a doctor’s appointment. I dropped her off before your call.”

  “Good, because we don’t want to upset her.” Jake looked up as Chloe walked into the room. “Hi, Chloe.”

  “Hi, Jake, Sergeant, what’s this about?”

  “Chloe, you gave us the diaries with no warrant. I want to return the courtesy. I need to speak with the both of you. We have a search warrant here to see if Shann
a’s missing diary is still hidden somewhere within the house…”

  “You mean if I hid it, after I killed her,” Chloe said bitterly.

  “No, Chloe. I don’t think you did. But we have to be thorough. We have warrants for all the suspects in the case, we can’t show favoritism,” He stressed the word suspects. “Do you understand? It will only be us, not a team.”

  “You have to do this to eliminate Chloe?” Mr. Wagner understood.

  “Yes.”

  “Get it done, Lieutenant. We’ll be in the kitchen having coffee. Do either one of you want coffee?”

  “No, thanks.” They turned, walked down the hallway to Shanna’s room, and began their search.

  They went through the drawers, the closet, tested floor boards, found where Shanna kept her diaries.

  Jake went into the kitchen, spoke with Chloe. “Your room’s next. Do you want to be there?”

  “What, and watch you rifle through my underwear? No, thank you.” She turned away from him, poured another cup of coffee. He left the room to continue the search.

  *

  A thought hit him and Jake turned around to ask Chloe. At the door he stopped in his tracks when he heard her father talking. Deciding to wait before entering the room, Jake eavesdropped on them.

  “I’m sorry I ever doubted you, Chloe. Please forgive me,” Mr. Wagner said.

  “Dad, I wish there was nothing to forgive. I understand Jake planted the seed in your head, but you should have had more faith in me.”

  Jake heard the pain in Chloe’s voice as he listened. Unfortunately, in a murder investigation the innocent got burned while the police searched for their answers, and the killer. Sometimes it ripped their lives apart and they could never be mended. He was always sorry for his part in that, but it was the victims he worked for, to give them justice.

  “I understand your grief. Nobody realizes how much I miss Shanna. You should never have doubted how much I loved her.”

  “I have no explanation, Chloe. I do love you as much as I loved Shanna. Finding the ring in her room—it threw me. I didn’t even think about Meryl being here. I didn’t think…I rushed to hock the ring so it would be out of this house. I knew they’d look at you first. I didn’t want you involved. I can’t lose you. Please forgive me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you, honey. This past year almost destroyed all of us. Maybe the three of us can go away for a couple of weeks when this is settled. We’ll try to heal. What do you think?”

  “I don’t know if we’ll ever heal, Dad.”

  “We’ll always miss her, honey. And I know we’ll never be whole again, without her, but we’ll heal somehow and go on with our lives.”

  “I love you, Daddy.”

  “I love you too, honey.”

  Jake decided he would ask his question later. He turned and walked down the hall to help Louie search the house.

  *

  They searched the whole house, from the attic to the basement. Found nothing. They made their exit, calling the team on their way to Drake’s house. It was up next.

  On the way, they stopped off at Nardelli’s and picked up grinders for lunch. Already eleven o’clock, Jake didn’t want anything to hold him up from leaving on time. Nothing would keep him from Mia tonight.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Jake gave Meryl Drake a call, explained the search warrant. She wanted to be present. Waiting outside her apartment complex for her to arrive, Louie turned to Jake.

  “I’m glad it wasn’t at Chloe’s.”

  “I am too, Louie.” Meryl pulled up to the curb.

  Jake explained the scope of the warrant. What they were looking for. He also introduced her to the team. Though not happy, Meryl cooperated.

  “If I took the diary, Lieutenant, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave it here.”

  “You wouldn’t believe what people leave around, incriminating themselves, Meryl,” Jake stated.

  “I do have a request though…” She looked away. “If you do find it, can I have it after the case is tried?”

  “Meryl, her parents are her heirs. You’d have to ask them.”

  “Oh.”

  Jake, along with Louie, searched the bedroom. Officer Jones searched in the kitchen, Officer Burrows searched in the second bedroom/office. Officer Sherman searched the basement storage bin assigned to Meryl Drake.

  Meryl stayed in the bedroom while they searched her most intimate things. Jake saw anger in her eyes as he went through everything.

  He noticed the pictures of Shanna, at different times in her life, lined up on Meryl’s dresser. A picture history of their life together, nothing to connect her to the crime.

  Jake asked, “You don’t keep a diary?”

  “No, it’s too much work.”

  “Do you know why Shanna did?”

  “Her mother gave us each one for our sixth birthdays. Shanna had nice things to write in hers, I didn’t. My parents are alcoholics—abusive. I didn’t want to put stuff like that in my diary. I felt if someone read it, they’d take me away from Shanna. My mother always threatened if I told anyone, I’d be worse off.”

  It’s the most she’s ever said about herself, Jake thought. He could see it cost her. It explained a lot about Meryl’s personality. He’d seen it often on the job—the abused child—it still generated sympathy for the adult the child became.

  “I’m sorry, Meryl. Is that why you always hung out at the Wagner’s?”

  “Yes. They even called social services once. SS thought the Wagners exaggerated the situation. So they recommended no action be taken—left me with my parents to fend for myself. I could’ve brought suit when I reached legal age. The SS agent was a friend of my mother.”

  “Sometimes the system doesn’t work, Meryl. Why didn’t you sue the state?”

  “Because by failing to do her job, the woman gave me the one thing I wanted. To be near Shanna. It’s all that mattered to me.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. Jake saw her eyes un-focus as she looked back in time. Something struck a chord with her; she abruptly turned away, walked out of the room.

  He and Louie spoke with the other officers when they finished their search. They also found nothing. Jake thanked Meryl for her time and apologized for the mess left behind. There really wasn’t a neat way to search an entire apartment. He asked her to tell no one of the search.

  “Who am I going to tell, Lieutenant?”

  “I don’t know, Meryl. For now, keep it to yourself. We have others we need to search today, so I stress, please don’t talk to anyone.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Jake watched Mark Cavilla pull up to his house and jump out of his car. Frazzled, Jake thought, definitely frazzled. They stepped out of their car the same time he got out of his.

  “You have to wait until my lawyer gets here.” Mark pushed past Jake, heading into his house.

  “No, we don’t. If you want your lawyer present, we’ll wait out here together.”

  “You mean I can’t go into my own house?” he screeched.

  “That’s right, Mr. Cavilla. We’ll all wait out here for your lawyer. Who is it?”

  “Who is what?”

  “Your lawyer, who is it?”

  “Oh, Attorney Calvin from Keats & Keats,” he answered, looking between Jake and his house.

  When John Calvin arrived, Jake gave him a copy of the warrant. Calvin read it. When he was satisfied, they all entered the house.

  They encountered Mark’s mother in the living room. A petite woman, around sixty, with gray hair; she wore a sleeveless dress, slippers on her feet. A clean, modest room cluttered with knickknacks. She sat in an old worn recliner, watching a game show.

  “Mark? You’re home early. Are you okay, dear?” she asked. Her expression changed quickly when she saw the uniforms.

  Jake spoke up, explaining their warrant—how it would be executed. He asked her to stay in her chair, while they conducted the search of her home.

  “You
can’t do this to my son. He didn’t do anything. He’s a good boy. Get out of my house,” she yelled.

  “Mom, they have a warrant. This is my lawyer, Mr. Calvin. He said they can do this,” he told her, subdued.

  “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Cavilla. I’m sorry to say their warrant is in order. They’ll conduct their search and be out of here as soon as possible.”

  “I’m going to call my husband.” She stood so she could get to the phone.

  “Mrs. Cavilla, while the search is in progress, you’re not allowed to make any calls or have any visitors. You son has his attorney here to protect both of your rights,” Louie informed her. “Please sit back down.”

  In all their searches, Louie held the video recorder, while Jake did the actual searching. Extremely organized, Mark’s closet gave Jake a glimpse into Mark’s personality. Jake found the diary and Shanna’s purse right away, hidden in his closet behind his shoe boxes.

  The team of officers in the kitchen followed the same routine. Officer Burrows held the video recorder, while Sherman and Jones searched the different rooms. When they found nothing, they moved outside to Cavilla’s car, leaving Officer Sherman with Mrs. Cavilla. In Mark’s car they found a billy club, a cleaning kit, and bloodied rags. The kid didn’t have enough sense to wash them.

  “Good work, guys,” Jake told them. He called the station to have Cavilla’s car impounded. He hoped, after nearly a year, there’d be some evidence left for the lab to match to Shanna’s, like blood or hair samples.

  After they finished up in the bedroom, Jake had Mark and his lawyer go into the living room to wait with his mother and Officer Sherman.

  Jake whispered in Officer Sherman’s ear. “We have the purse and the diary from Shanna Wagner. Don’t let him out of your sight. If you need to draw, do so.” Jake looked into Sherman’s eyes; what he saw in them satisfied him. Sherman would have no problem drawing his weapon if need be.

  Jake left the room to direct the uniforms in the collection of evidence. Mark tried to make a mad dash to the back door. Officer Sherman ran after him, and tackled him to the floor. He yanked Cavilla’s hands hard behind his back and cuffed him.