The Partners in Crime Collection, page 21
“You know I’d offer you one, but I don’t want to be mopping up beer from the chair,” Jamie replied.
“Smartass,” Mike said and put his feet up on the railing. “Gotta admit, though. I love this view. It’s nice in the middle of the day, too, when the bikinis come out to play.”
“I’ve not been able to enjoy that aspect too much yet. Where’s Noah?”
“Hanging around Soraya. He’s worried about her,” Mike said.
“Well, hopefully Jack and I get a chance to talk to her tomorrow. Did you know Noah was trans?”
“No, but unless this is a hate crime, why does it matter?” Mike asked.
“Because it’s more likely that it’s a hate crime, considering he was seeing Soraya Halston and her family supports politicians that run on ‘family values’ platforms. Having their daughter tied to a transgender person would cause them no end of grief if the news got out.”
“Good point. I’m wondering how much of the case hinges on her, and how much hinges on Noah being Noah. Have you learned anything new?” Mike asked.
“Just that he was hit in the back of the head with a pipe picked up at the scene, then tossed over the cliff. I’d think it was a crime of opportunity, except for the lack of fingerprints on the murder weapon. That means someone wore gloves – and it’s been warm weather, so why would someone be wearing gloves, unless they expected to need a way to hide their prints?”
“This case is weird, but then, we’ve solved weird ones before,” Mike said.
“Like that one where the guy was drowned in his own fish tank and the only way we figured out where he died was because the particles in the water in his lungs matched the water in the tank? That was weird. He’d been drowned, then his co-worker that killed him dried his hair and put a clean shirt on his body, cleaned the house, and did a load of laundry. I mean, that’s a lot of work to go to, to hide a crime,” Jamie said.
“That’s the case that made Finney’s career, too. He always liked us best after that,” Mike said.
“Yeah, made it easy to get the results ahead of some of the others. Still gives us a boost, but with the new regulations, we don’t get to jump to the front of the line too often.”
“Speaking of results, I asked Noah to listen to what was said around the Halston house and report it back to us. Maybe he’ll hear something we can use.”
Jamie lifted his bottle in a toast. “Here’s hoping.”
Dead Wrong: Chapter Seven
Noah sat and watched Soraya sleep. Not being able to touch her, to feel the softness of her skin or the silk of her hair was its own special kind of torture. Seeing the tears on her cheeks broke Noah’s heart. Exhausted after another argument with her parents, Soraya ran to her room, curled around the rainbow unicorn stuffed animal he’d won for her at the carnival during spring break, and cried herself to sleep. Her parents wanted her to agree to go to a boarding school outside of London, England. Soraya didn’t want to disappear to some foreign country and lose the few friends she had. Noah knew this but couldn’t tell Soraya to go to London and get a fresh start away from all of this mess.
She couldn’t hear him.
Sitting here, while she slept, wouldn’t help him help her, so he headed back to Jamie’s place where Mike sat on the upstairs balcony, looking out over the water.
“Whatcha doin?” Noah asked.
“Thinking,” Mike replied. “Where’ve you been?”
“Watching Soraya. She got into another fight with her parents about boarding school. She’s sleeping now. It’s killing me, watching her suffer like this.”
“Then maybe you should stop watching,” Mike said as he turned to look at the other ghost. “I miss my kids, but you don’t see me spending all of my time in Florida, torturing myself with my inability to connect to them anymore.”
“I don’t know if I can stop yet,” Noah said. “Her family doesn’t care about her feelings, just how it looks to their colleagues or whatever. Her father is still pissed that she didn’t stop seeing me after he told her to stop. Raya is a stubborn lady, and she didn’t care that I wasn’t physically myself yet. She knew I had to wait until I was eighteen. She loved who I was as a person, not what my body looked like.”
“Did you hear anything interesting while you were there?” Mike asked.
“Nothing about how I died if that’s what you mean. Her parents are just happy I’m gone out of her life. They didn’t care how it happened, just that now they don’t have to worry about their daughter being around one of Them. Meaning not cis-het people. They want her to be with someone who can be presented at the country club without embarrassment.”
“Well, screw them,” Mike said. “Did you get hassled a lot for being who you are?”
“Not really, because not many people knew I was different under my clothes. I’ve been taking meds to block puberty changes since I was ten. I never really grew breasts – but then I never grew facial hair either.”
“Kid, I didn’t grow any facial hair worth discussing until I was nearly twenty-two. The curse of being a mix of Irish and Native American – among other things. I’m a real mutt, but I have more Irish and Abenaki in me than anything else.”
“I have no idea what I am. Mom died when I was so young and I never knew who my father was. It was always Mom and me, then Mom, Donna, and me. Then mom died and then Donna died. Now, I’m dead. I hope I’ll move on at some point. I want to see my Mom again. Do we see our dead people again?” Noah asked.
“I don’t know,” Mike said. “I never moved on – obviously. I’m still here.”
“Do you think you’ll ever move on?”
“No clue. I thought, for a while there, that once my body was buried, I’d be forced to move on. I ended up in a place that was, well, nothingness. A voice gave me a choice, and I chose coming back to solve my murder. Once the murder was solved, I thought that’d be it – but I’m still here. I’m still helping, still relevant, and still doing what I can for others – like you. So, until I can’t be much help any longer, I guess I’ll be sticking around.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” Noah said with a sigh. “I’d be freaking out for reals if you weren’t here to help me figure it all out.”
“Just lean back and enjoy the beauty,” Mike said. “Sometimes, the best parts of being dead are being able to simply exist in the moment.”
Noah leaned back and put his feet up on the railing. “Y’know, you’re right. This is kinda nice.”
“Yeah, kid. It’s kinda nice.”
Jack and Jamie showed up at the Halston estate a little after noon. They identified themselves to the butler and were shown into a magazine quality sitting room where one of the candle holders on the marble mantle probably cost more than their yearly salary. Neither one sat as they waited for the Halston’s to make an appearance.
The click of heels brought their attention to the arched entryway where Marissa Halston, in a couture silk dress and pearls, stepped into the room. “Good afternoon, detectives. I’m Marissa Halston. How can I help you?”
“We need to speak with your daughter, Soraya, Mrs. Halston. Could you have her join us? We just have a few questions about the death of her friend, Noah Riggs,” Jack said.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Marissa replied. “Soraya is unwell and not fit for company.”
Jamie reached into the inside pocket of his suit coat and pulled out a folded paper. “We have a summons for her to appear for questioning at the station, but we would rather just have her sit here with you and answer our questions. Then we can leave you all alone. It’s for the case, and unfortunately, murder trumps most any excuse.”
“Let me speak to my husband,” Marissa said as she turned and left the room.
A woman in a white blouse, black slacks and a black apron appeared a few moments later. “Would you like a coffee, water, or anything else?”
“No, thank you,” Jack said. “We won’t be here long.”
Jamie gave her a faint smile and shook his head, then turned back to look out the window.
Jack approached the woman and held out a business card. “I’m Jack Forbes, a homicide detective with Harbor PD. Do you know anything about Noah Riggs?”
“No, ma’am. I’m just a maid here,” she replied as she took the card and slid it into a pocket.
“What’s your name?” Jack asked.
“Maria Juarez,” the woman said.
“Is Soraya home today?”
“Yes, Miss Soraya is up in her room. She is most upset about…”
“Maria, you’re dismissed. Go back to the kitchen,” Marissa snapped as she came up behind the woman.
Maria jumped, startled, then ducked her head and scurried away.
“I did not give you permission to question my staff,” Marissa said.
“I don’t need your permission, Mrs. Halston,” Jack reminded her. “Now, where is your daughter?”
“I’ve changed my mind. You can’t speak with her.”
“Oh, I think you might have misunderstood us,” Jamie said as he turned to look at the woman. “We were not asking your permission. Now that Soraya is over the age of sixteen, we do not need your permission to question her. We were trying to be polite and considerate. Now, we’ll just go get her ourselves and bring her down to the station. I’m sure the media will love to see us walking her through the front door to discuss a murder.”
Marissa Halston raised one well-manicured hand to them. “No, no, just give me a moment. I’ll go get her. We don’t need a spectacle.”
“I had a feeling you’d come to see things our way,” Jamie said.
It took about fifteen minutes, but soon Marissa reappeared with Soraya. Hair neatly braided, face washed, clothes changed, Soraya looked every inch the proper school girl—except for the reddened eyes, pale skin, and expression of utter hopelessness on her face.
“Soraya, I’m Detective Jack Forbes, and this is my partner, Detective Jamie Kennedy. Jamie and I have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind?” Jack said as she stepped closer to the girl.
“If it helps find out who killed my Noah, I don’t mind,” Soraya said.
“Thank you,” Jamie replied. “Can we sit down?”
“Sure,” Soraya said and moved to sit in a wing chair at the end of one of the three sofas in the room. Jack sat closest to the girl and Jamie on Jack’s other side. Marissa sat at the far end of one of the other sofas where she could listen, but not be involved.
Jamie took out a tablet and set it up to take notes while Jack leaned her elbows on her knees, clasped her hands, and met Soraya’s gaze.
“I want to start by saying I am so sorry for your loss,” Jack said.
A faint snort of derision came from Marissa, but a look from Jamie had Mrs. Halston sinking back into her seat in silence.
“Thank you,” Soraya said. “Noah was very special, and I’m not sure how to go on without him in my life.”
“We’ve heard how wonderful he was,” Jack said. “But we also know he was special in ways some people might find distasteful. Do you know anyone that might want to harm Noah?”
“The only people that knew how special Noah was, were my parents, a couple of the school staff, and me. He’d kept the secret since he was small, so people just assumed he was as he appeared. It’s my fault my parents found out. I got in a fight with my mother because Noah wasn’t a country club kid and she didn’t think he was good enough. She accused me of having sex, and I screamed that we weren’t because he hadn’t had his surgery yet. Then it got worse because I was in love with a ‘freak’ and a ‘pervert’.” Soraya’s gaze turned to her mother, the anger and hate nearly palpable. “It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that they had something to do with his death.”
“Oh, no. We had nothing to do with killing a child,” Marissa stuttered. “How could you say such things, Soraya?”
“Well, you want me to go to a boarding school in England and leave all of my friends behind. I’d rather become emancipated and go find a job somewhere,” Soraya said.
Marissa gasped, hand to her throat, horror in her expression. “Please, Soraya…”
“Back to Noah, please,” Jack said to the girl. “Did you have plans to meet the night he went missing?”
“Yeah, we did. I got a ride out to the bonfire on the cliffs with Ashley Wentworth. Noah was supposed to meet me there and hang out for a while. He never showed up.”
“We know he got off the bus a little after seven that night, and we found where he was killed, just off the path near the cliffs. Whoever killed him, tossed his body over the edge. That’s why no one found him until we got a tip to go look over the edge,” Jack said.
Soraya hugged herself and a tear slid down her cheek. “I was pissed when he didn’t show up. He’d been talking about this big surprise he had for me and he couldn’t wait to see my face when he gave it to me. Then he never got there. I called and left messages, but he never answered.”
“So, Noah had a phone?” Jamie asked.
“Yeah, just one of those pay as you go burner types,” Soraya said.
“Could you give us the number, please?” Jamie asked.
“Sure,” Soraya said and pulled out her phone and read off the number.
“Thank you,” Jamie said.
“Is there anything else you can think of?” Jack asked.
“Noah said that a car had been following him the past week or so. A black four-door sedan with tinted windows. He thought it looked like a government car. The plates had those tinted screens over them that keeps them from being read by traffic cams, so he never got the plate. He texted me a picture of it, though.”
“Can you bring that picture up?” Jack asked.
Soraya searched through her phone, then showed Jack the image.
“Mind if I send that to myself?” Jack asked. When Soraya shook her head, Jack took the phone and sent the image to herself, then pulled out her phone and transferred it to Jamie’s tablet. He pulled it up and hit a few keys, then sent the enhanced image to the tech squad to see if they could get the rest of the plate.
“This is going to help, Soraya,” Jack said. She handed the girl her business card. “My cell is on there. If you think of anything else, you can call or just text.” She leaned in closer and murmured to the girl. “Honestly, if I were you? I’d go to England. Get a fresh start. I’m sure Noah would want you to live your life. You both had big dreams – now it’s up to you to live them for both of you.”
Soraya paused at the words, then nodded. “You’re probably right. Noah would want me to keep going. Thank you, Detective Forbes. Please, let me know if I can help in any other way.”
“I will. Thank you, Soraya,” Jack said and turned to Marissa as she stood. “Thank you, Mrs. Halston. This has been extremely helpful. Good day.”
Marissa looked a bit shocked at the detective's encouragement to her daughter, and simply nodded as they left.
“Well, that went better than expected,” Jamie said as they got into the car.
“And we got a lead. Here’s hoping tech can figure out what the plate is on that car. Black sedans are a dime a dozen these days.”
“Makes me wonder who might have been following Noah, and why. Did Halston put a tail on the kid? Were cops or feds interested in him for anything?” Jamie said.
“Why would the feds be interested in a foster kid?” Jack asked.
“No idea. Just spitballing.”
“I think we need to dig a little deeper into Noah Riggs and find out what the kid was into, if anything.”
“Let’s stop at my place and see if Mike has anything to add. Maybe Noah has info for us,” Jamie said.
“And you can order lunch,” Jack replied.
“And I can order lunch,” Jamie said with a laugh.
Dead Wrong: Chapter Eight
Jamie and Jack grabbed drive-thru food and brought it back to his place. They sat at the kitchen counter and started to eat when Mike came down the stairs.
“What’s news?” Mike asked.
“Well, we met with Soraya,” Jamie said, then turned to Jack. “Mike’s here.”
“You talked to Soraya?” Noah asked, and Jamie heard him as the kid grabbed Mike’s shoulder so Jamie could see him.
“Noah’s here, too,” Jamie told Jack. “Too bad Ellis wasn’t around, we could try and get it so we could all see each other.”
“Ellis is upstairs,” Mike said. “She’s watching a movie. Give me a minute, I’ll get her.”
“Apparently, Ellis is upstairs watching a movie, so Mike’s going to go get her,” Jamie said.
Jack swallowed a mouthful of food and shook her head. “If anyone had told me that I’d be waiting to have a conversation with three ghosts about the murder of one of them – with my partner, no less, I’d have told them they were crazy. Yet, here we are.”
Jamie finished off half his sandwich before Mike returned. “Did you get her?”
“Yeah, she’s just being a pain in my ass,” Mike said and reached out to take the hand of the other two ghosts.
“Quit being a pain in the ass, Ellis,” Jack said at the same time Mike was talking.
“I don’t like being told what to do,” Ellis said and Jamie blinked.
“Woah, hey there,” Jamie said.
“Holy...wow,” Jack said. “I can see all three of them. You must be Mike. Honored to meet you. And you’re Noah, right?”
“Yeah, thank you for doing what you’re doing. So you guys talked to Soraya?” Noah said.
“We did. Jack really connected with her,” Jamie said.
“She’s hurting, and her mother is a piece of work, but I think she’ll be okay. I told her that she should go to London and start fresh. Live the dreams the two of you planned for the both of you,” Jack said.
“Thank you. That’s what I would’ve told her to do if she could hear me. She needs to get away from those so-called parents of hers and figure out her own life,” Noah said.
“I had Noah hanging out at the Halston house to see if he could hear anything about his murder, but…” Mike started, and Noah interrupted.
