Trust No One (Devlin & Falco), page 35
“What’re we doing here?” Kerri held her head, wished the pain away. The urge to vomit rushed into her throat, and she twisted, shoved the car door open just in time to heave. Those damned dry heaves went on and on.
When her stomach stopped spasming, Falco waited outside her door. “You need water or something?”
“No.” She wiped her mouth with her forearm.
“Come on. We need to talk.”
Kerri dropped her feet to the ground and forced herself into a standing position. Deep breath. “So talk. I feel like hell.”
“First, I need you to tell me what happened at that cabin.” He held her gaze. “All of it.”
She drew in a steadying breath. She might as well get this over with. Falco was her partner. He deserved to hear it from her. “Like I said, I followed York there. He went inside, and I needed to know what he was doing.” Her body trembled with the images that tumbled one after the other through her mind. “He caught me. We argued, and I drew my weapon.”
“Son of a . . .” Falco shook his head. “Did you kill him?”
Kerri nodded.
“Fuck!” Falco walked a few steps away. Hands on hips, he took a long deep breath.
And she’d been worried about him screwing up. Emotion burned her eyes. What the hell was she going to do? This was her mistake; she didn’t have a problem with owning it. But Tori would be the one to pay the most for what she had done.
Falco turned back to her, recovered the ground he’d put between them. “Was it self-defense?”
Kerri allowed those moments to replay once more. “He charged me. We struggled. The weapon discharged.”
“Okay.” Falco reached out, gave her arm a squeeze. “We’ll figure this out. For now, there’s something you need to know.”
It wasn’t his words as much as the regret in his eyes that had a new kind of fear chilling her blood. “What?”
“I came back here yesterday after Cross called with what she’d discovered about the history on this place.”
She steadied herself, swallowed at the bitter taste lingering in her mouth. “I know this already.” He’d come here while she’d waited to see Theo Thompson. It felt like a lifetime ago.
He shrugged. “While I was here, I got this hunch. So I walked this property over and over, and I found something the others missed.” He reached into his shirt pocket. He extended his hand to her, a small piece of what looked like jewelry in his palm.
A tiger. Like a charm from a bracelet or the dangly part of an earring. “What does this prove?” She shrugged even as some latent instinct stirred. The tiger was the mascot of the University of Alabama’s number one rival, Auburn. “Someone is an Auburn fan.”
Definitely wasn’t Amelia. Their whole clan was hard-core Alabama Crimson Tide fans. She didn’t recall seeing either team logo in the Abbott home. This didn’t prove anything. Anyone could have walked across this property and lost . . . whatever it was.
“That was my first thought too. But then Cross called me back and said she had the location where Amelia’s cell phone last pinged a tower.”
Since they still didn’t have anything from the carrier, Cross had agreed to go through a contact of hers to get Amelia’s phone records. The woman was just full of resources. Kerri should be grateful. She was. But just now, she was so damned tired and so damned worried that she couldn’t think straight.
“What does Amelia have to do with this place?” Kerri reminded herself to breathe. Some instinct deep inside warned she did not want to hear this.
“I checked, and Princeton has a tiger mascot too.”
“Why are you doing this?” Fresh hot tears stung her eyes, but she would not buy into his insinuations. Denial shrouded itself firmly around her. She recognized it. “Just say it,” she demanded despite the fact that she didn’t want to hear any more. The intellectual part of her brain wouldn’t stop. “Say it!”
“I asked Moore to check her dental records,” Falco said gently. “Since most doctors and dentists in the area have digital file sharing, it wasn’t difficult.”
She stared at the burned-out house, and the earth shifted beneath her. “No.” The word erupted from Kerri in a long wail.
Falco pulled her against him and held her tight. “I’m sorry, Devlin.”
62
11:00 a.m.
Swanner Residence
Twenty-Third Avenue South
Falco parked in front of Diana’s home. Kerri stared at the house. Tori had spent the night, so she would be inside already. Robby had picked up the twins last evening. Everyone was here.
Everyone except Amelia.
And Jen. Where the hell was Jen? A strange mixture of outrage and fear churned inside Kerri. Jen had been at that house. Had Amelia been in there already? Alive?
Kerri closed her eyes for a moment. This wasn’t about her feelings or what Jen had done. It wasn’t about Diana and Robby’s anniversary. The cake and balloons no longer mattered. There wasn’t going to be a celebration today. Her heart twisted in her chest. Her gut churned violently.
Amelia was the victim who had died in that burned-out house. Anger and hurt ripped through Kerri all over again, making her tremble.
Nothing in this world would bring her back.
Falco was suddenly at her door, opening it. Kerri climbed out, her mind and body numb. They walked together to the front door. Falco knocked.
Robby came to the door, but he didn’t say anything, just opened it and returned to the sofa to sit next to Diana.
The defeat they both wore warned that they understood; deep in their hearts they knew Amelia wasn’t coming home.
“Where are the kids?” Kerri asked, her voice hollow.
“Upstairs playing video games in the twins’ room,” Robby said.
“We should go to the kitchen.”
Robby nodded his understanding.
Kerri’s cell vibrated. She ignored it as they all moved into the other room. They gathered around the table, though no one sat down. “There’s something I need to say.”
Falco touched her shoulder. “Dispatch is calling. I need to take this.”
She nodded, and he went outside.
Diana and Robby stared at her, waiting for the news that would change everything.
“I don’t even know what to say.” Kerri closed her eyes, reached deep inside for the courage to do this. To tell her sister that her daughter wasn’t coming home.
“Amelia’s dead, isn’t she?”
Kerri met her sister’s gaze. She looked so tired, so hurt, as if she could just melt away into nothing. “Yes. The body that was found in the house that burned was identified through dental records. It was Amelia.”
Diana covered her mouth with both hands to hold in her sobs. Robby hugged her close and wept like a child.
“It was York, wasn’t it?” Robby demanded. As if her face gave him the answer, his entire body shook as he asked, “Do you have enough evidence to get him?”
Kerri held his gaze a moment. “I already got him. He’s dead.” More hurt welled inside her. For that she would likely go to prison, and still she was glad the bastard was dead. But now she wanted the ones who had ordered him to do what he’d done.
Robby’s gaze held hers. “Thank you.”
Tori and the boys appeared in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, but Kerri herded them back up the stairs. That challenge would have to be handled later.
By the time Kerri returned to the kitchen, Falco had come back inside. He pulled her aside.
“That was dispatch. One of the crime scene guys found human bones in the rubble at Whisper Lake Circle. Bones that have been there since the pool was put in. Fifteen years ago, Devlin.”
Son of a bitch. The Thompsons had wanted the property back so badly because the only known evidence of Janelle Stevens’s murder was buried there.
“Looks like you were right about Suzanne Thompson,” he went on. “Her car was found in the garage there. There’s a big dent in the rear end, like she backed into another vehicle or a telephone pole or something.”
“We need to round up Theo Thompson,” Kerri said, grateful at the moment for how numb she felt.
“You know he’ll lawyer up. He’s not going to talk to us.”
Kerri shrugged. “Maybe not, but we can at least pick him up, considering he needs to identify his wife.” The chief couldn’t suspend them for that.
Kerri went over to her sister. “I will make sure that everyone responsible for what happened to Amelia pays. Do you hear me?”
Diana nodded. Her violent sobs made speech impossible. Kerri hugged her hard and promised her she would be back as soon as possible. Nothing would ever be the same. Amelia was gone. Kerri pulled herself away from her sister and gave Robby a hug next.
She wanted to rush upstairs and hold her daughter tighter than she’d ever held her before. But she had to do this first.
For Amelia.
When Kerri and Falco were in his car driving away, she said, “I’ll have to come clean with the LT.” She couldn’t keep what she had done a secret. There had been too many secrets already.
Falco, one hand on the wheel, fished his phone from his pocket. “We’ll figure that out later. I have some ideas.” He took the incoming call.
Kerri closed her eyes and rested her head against the seat. She had never felt so tired in her life. The idea that Amelia was dead ripped her in two, and yet somehow she felt empty and numb.
When she opened her eyes again, Falco was turning onto Augusta Way. Maybe Thompson would fall apart and give them the whole story.
Falco parked in front of the piece of shit’s multimillion-dollar mansion. “That was dispatch again. They located Ramsey’s car.”
Kerri forced her mind to focus on the investigation. “Is he in custody? We need to talk to him. He could fill in some of the blanks in all this.”
Falco shook his head as he shut off the engine. “He’s dead. Hit and run.” He looked Kerri in the eyes. “First officers on the scene found a Ruger SR22 hidden under the driver’s seat.”
“Ramsey is our shooter in the Abbott case?” What the hell? Bellemont’s investigator had killed his best friend? Ramsey’s relationship with Gibbons had likely given him the access he’d needed. The question was, Who had hired him to do the job?
The idea that the weapon Sela Abbott had illegally purchased had been a Ruger SR22 as well wasn’t lost on Kerri. This case had been this way from the beginning. Each step forward, each piece of the puzzle, took them backward or added more questions and holes.
“The Thompsons don’t get their hands dirty,” Falco pointed out. “Maybe Theo Thompson is the other client Ramsey mentioned.”
How the hell had Bellemont not known that his own man was working against him?
Somehow, maybe with the help of adrenaline, Kerri managed to keep up with Falco’s long strides as they approached the Thompson home. The front door stood slightly ajar. They drew their weapons, paused, and listened.
Silence.
Falco pushed the door inward and stepped inside.
Kerri moved in right behind him.
A faint sound brushed her senses. A sob? A moan?
On the left.
Falco pointed to himself and then the left. He pointed to Kerri and made a circling motion. She nodded her understanding.
As Falco moved deeper into the entry hall, Kerri went right, checking the front parlor. Clear. Then she moved through a doorway into the massive kitchen, then to the dining room. Clear. As she reached the great room from the kitchen side, a voice stopped her at the doorway.
“I’ve been waiting for you to get here.”
Theo Thompson.
But he wasn’t speaking to Kerri. His back was to her.
Someone screamed, the sound muffled. A woman. Kerri moved quickly through the opening between the kitchen and the great room. With Thompson facing the other direction and holding the woman in front of him, she couldn’t see who it was. Maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe his wife was here with him. Kerri could see nothing but the woman’s legs. Thompson wore trousers and an untucked shirt. Judging by how wrinkled they were, he’d been wearing them since this time yesterday. Now that she thought about it, the pin-striped trousers did look familiar.
“Nice to see you too, Mr. T.” Falco now stood face to face maybe four yards from Thompson and the woman. He’d approached from the other side of the room. “How you doing, Jen?”
Jen? Trepidation pierced Kerri. Then she spotted the shoes . . . green. Spiked heels. The same ones Jen had been wearing yesterday at O’Malley’s. Kerri’s fingers tightened on her weapon.
“Why don’t you put down the weapon and let your lady friend go?” Falco suggested.
He had a gun? The air evacuated Kerri’s lungs.
Thompson said nothing. Jen sobbed. Kerri’s gut twisted. She needed to think! Did she move closer? Give Falco time to talk Thompson down?
“She’s not part of this,” Falco said. “This is just between you and me.”
Thompson raised the weapon. Kerri froze. He planted the muzzle against his right temple.
“It doesn’t matter now,” Thompson muttered. “Nothing does.”
A new tension slid through Kerri. With the weapon no longer aimed at or near Jen, Kerri had an opportunity here. She could move up behind him as long as Falco kept his attention focused forward.
“I think we found your wife,” Falco said. “Someone pushed her into that swimming pool at your in-laws’ old house and poured a little concrete over her.”
More sobbing from Jen. Her feet twisted, and Thompson’s upper body jerked, as if she had tried to wrench away from him. He pulled her harder against him; her stiletto-clad feet lifted slightly off the floor. One shiny shoe dropped onto the hardwood.
Kerri moved a step closer. Then two. Her pulse hammered in her brain. She had to be oh so careful. No room for error.
“Oh yeah,” Falco said, “they found what was left of your girlfriend too. You remember Janelle? Janelle Stevens.”
Thompson’s body twitched the slightest bit. Jen whimpered.
Kerri extended her arms and readied to press the barrel of her weapon to the back of his head. All she had to do was take one last step.
Thompson suddenly twisted around, shoved the barrel of his weapon in her face. “You!” he snarled. “I knew you’d be here too.”
Jen’s eyes rounded with renewed fear. Thompson’s arm was around her, his hand clasped over her mouth. Her muffled sobs grew more frantic.
Kerri held perfectly still. Her weapon aimed at his face too. A familiar calmness spread through her. All she had to do was keep her focus on Thompson.
Do not look at Jen.
“How many people have to die to keep your secrets?” Kerri asked, her voice amazingly steady. “You didn’t really think your pal York could fix all this, did you?”
Fury flared in his eyes. “It wasn’t even me. It was my father. He was the one who started this. He and his buddy Daniel Abbott. They were the ones who loved toying with their female employees. This day and time they’d both be burned at the stake.”
“If you despised what he did so much, why did you do the same thing?” Kerri asked. She zeroed her aim in on his forehead.
“I didn’t.” The hand holding his weapon shook the tiniest bit. “Janelle and I were in love. We were going to get married as soon as I could file for divorce. But my father intervened on Suzanne’s behalf, and Janelle disappeared. They were going to kill Jen too. They’ve always taken whatever I wanted away from me.”
Jen cried out, tried to speak around his hand. The arm wrapped around her tightened; his hand clutched harder at her face and mouth.
“But she betrayed me too.” He glared down at Jen. “Showing up here in the middle of the night, trying to console me. She was recording the whole thing on her cell phone.”
Jen’s body rocked with sobs.
Over his shoulder, Falco came into view. He was almost on Thompson now.
Keep him talking.
“I know what you did to Amelia.” Fury so hot it scorched her from the inside out roared through her. “I’m going to see to it that you spend the rest of your life regretting that, you son of a bitch.”
“Believe me, Detective, I do regret my part in that, but it had to be done.”
Something changed in Jen’s eyes. She suddenly fell slack against him. Thompson glanced down at her.
Kerri moved.
His attention whipped back to her, and he steadied his aim.
A mournful, gut-wrenching scream filled the room. Jen jerked free of his hold and shoved at his right arm, forcing it upward.
The weapon discharged into the air above Kerri’s head. She rushed him before he could attempt to get off another shot.
Falco grabbed him from behind, twisted his arm, and wrenched the weapon from his hand.
Kerri took the weapon, and Falco secured his hands behind his back, all the while reciting the bastard his rights. He ordered him onto his knees. Thompson complied.
Sobbing, Jen collapsed to the floor. Kerri sat down with her and pulled her into her arms. They cried together. They cried for Amelia and all the others who had given their lives for no other reason than to satisfy the wants of greedy, selfish bastards like the Thompsons.
Somewhere beyond the agony consuming her, Kerri heard Falco calling for the crime scene investigators and backup for preserving the scene.
Her cell vibrated. She swiped at her eyes and nose and dug the damned thing from her pocket. It could be Tori. She didn’t bother checking the screen. “Devlin.”
“Detective Devlin, this is dispatch. Two officers just reported picking up a pregnant woman wandering along Shades Crest Road. She identified herself as Sela Abbott.”
63
1:30 p.m.
UAB Hospital
Sixth Avenue
After suffering through a scan to ensure there was no serious damage to her head, Kerri dropped by the vending machine and grabbed a coffee. She didn’t trust herself to eat anything yet, but she needed some sort of fortification.
