What Burns Within (55 page)

“Political posturing while our friend might be dying in there? This is bullshit.”

Daly shook his head. “I can tell you this. The three people shot were the suspect, Craig and Lori Price.”

Tain’s elbows propped on his knees, his face in his hands. “What the hell was she doing there?”

Daly didn’t answer.

The man was your quintessential pencil-pusher—balding, with thick black glasses and Coke-bottle lenses. He’d been doing most of the talking. The two nondescript women with him also made notes and glanced up to scrutinize Ashlyn’s expression, she guessed to gauge her responses.

They asked her question after question about what happened next, the few minutes that had seemed to pass in slow motion for Ashlyn at the time, everything moving forward frame by frame, Lori pulling the trigger, Craig falling to the ground, Rob Kearns jumping out of the way, Ashlyn hearing the boom of the gun going off in her hands, not realizing Lori had gotten another shot off until she saw Kearns on the ground after Lori fell….

By the time the questioning was over, she’d given up trying to wipe away the tears. Finally, the man put his pen down. “You’re quite upset about this.”

Ashlyn blinked, her mouth hanging open. “Is that a question?”

“Officers have to be prepared to handle life-and-death situations all the time without getting distraught to the point where they can’t function.”

“I’m not on the street. I’m in a hospital, where I’ve been for hours, and nobody will even tell me how my partner is.”

The man pushed his frames up on his nose. “You were here last night, weren’t you?”

She nodded.

“You shot a suspect in another case.”

Ashlyn nodded again.

“How is that suspect?”

“He died.” Ashlyn paused, and then she shook her head. “He jumped out a window and broke his neck.”

“In the past twenty-four hours, you’ve been involved in two high-profile arrests where suspects have died, and on both occasions, you fired your gun. How much sleep did you get in the past forty-eight hours?”

Ashlyn stood, imagining she must look like a newborn fawn trying to stand for the first time. She reached for the table to support herself. “If you have any more questions, I expect to have counsel present.”

She didn’t have the energy to slam the door behind her, just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as she moved steadily back to the small room that had been cleared for police officers. Through the doorway, she could just see Daly and Tain, others gathering as well, before everything went black.

AFTERWORD

“Did you go to see Ashlyn today?”

Alison nodded, poking at the food on her plate with her fork.

She did more poking than eating. Daly frowned, though it didn’t feel like much of an effort for his face to slip into that expression. There hadn’t been much to smile about in the past few days.

Questions, accusations, internal investigations, funeral arrangements. Never mind the grief. The regret. All the things he could have done, should have done differently.

He studied his wife’s face for a moment, noting the way the corners of her eyes sagged, the droop of her shoulders. “She’s not doing well?”

“I think she’s lost some weight. Doesn’t look like she’s sleeping much either. Can you explain to me why she’s still staying at the house?”

Daly groaned. “With everything going on, we never had a chance to get her moved back to her own place. And until they’ve finished the investigation, it’s likely best not to do anything through the department.”

“It’s not like Craig would mind. But I can’t imagine it’s helping her right now.”

“No, probably not.”

“I tried to persuade her to move in with us for a while.”

“Do you want me to talk to her?”

Alison shook her head. “We can let her know we’re there for her, but that’s about the best we can do. She’s going to have to work through this on her own.”

“I always thought of Ashlyn as being pretty tough and capable.”

“Not invincible, though. She cares, Daly. Handles the guys like one of the pack, but she has a big heart.”

“It would be a shame to lose someone with so much promise.”

“Do you really think that could happen?”

Daly shook his head, pushing his plate aside.

Alison looked at him. “Since when does the department refuse to disclose whether an officer is alive or dead, anyway? The way this is being handled, I don’t like it.”

“Me neither. But there are a lot of things to consider.”

“Like how Lori Price found out who the suspect was.”

Daly nodded. “I’m being questioned this afternoon.”

Her shoulders drooped even further, something he hadn’t thought possible. “Why do I get the feeling there’s something you haven’t told me?”

“Because you have good instincts?”

“Where were they when I decided to marry a cop?”

Daly knew part of her was joking, but it was the other part of her, which was deadly serious, that had him worried.

Ashlyn opened the door. “I thought you were going away.”

Tain shook his head. “I didn’t want to be unreachable.” He followed her inside. “I didn’t think you were here. Your car…” He gestured to the empty driveway.

“I parked it in the garage,” she said, offering no further explanation.

He followed her to the living room. “I thought you’d like to know about Rob Kearns.”

She sank down on the sofa, hugging a pillow. “What about him?”

“They found all sorts of stuff on his computer. Security footage that he’d edited and made photographs from. Karen, Cindy, Stephanie, Nitara, Lori…” Tain swallowed. “You. And the reporter who covered that case years ago, he confirmed Rob was the teen arrested. Juvenile record wiped clean.”

“Guess that should make it easier to tie up the loose ends.” She mumbled the words as she leaned against the arm of the sofa, her feet tucked under her body.

“The department went public today. He died in the hos pital.”

She didn’t respond.

“We do have some good news.”

Ashlyn’s eyes turned in his direction.

“Lindsay Eckert’s in stable condition. Long-term prognosis is good.”

“That’s…that’s great, Tain.”

“We should go out, have a quiet dinner, just a few hours to clear your head and take your mind off things. What do you say?”

She didn’t answer. Her mind seemed to go from an endless jumble of disconnected thought to blank.

“Ashlyn…”

“Nobody will tell me anything.”

She could hear Tain blow out a deep breath.

“I do know something. Lori and Hawkins were having an affair, and she used it to find out where the rape suspect lived.”

She looked up. “Is that why they’re keeping such a tight lid on this?”

He shrugged. “I suppose it’s as good a reason as any. There are rumors about internal reviews on all our procedures because of the whole mess.”

Tain put his hand over hers and squeezed it gently. “It wasn’t your fault, Ashlyn. There was no way you could have known Lori would find out the address and beat you there. The officers who were sent around back and deferred to her have a hell of a lot more to answer for than you do.”

“I shot another cop, Tain.” She pulled her hand back, rubbing her forehead as she squeezed her eyes shut. “That’s something I’ve got to carry.”

“And she shot your partner first. Nobody’s going to forget that.”

“I guess Lori has a lot to answer for.”

When he didn’t respond, she dropped her hand and opened her eyes. Tain wasn’t looking at her; he was looking at the floor. She’d seen a lot of raw pain from him, a lot of concern for her. Avoidance wasn’t something she was used to.

“Tain—”

“Ashlyn…” He looked up, looking like he was trying to find the right words. “Lori didn’t make it.”

“At what point did you become aware of the relationship between Inspector Hawkins and Constable Price?”

Daly cleared his throat. “When the results of Constable Price’s rape kit were put into a report that I received.”

“And why did you receive that information?”

“The officer on the case, Constable Nolan, was doing field work.”

“You mean the undercover arrangement with Constable Hart?”

“That’s correct,” Daly said.

“What did you do with the report?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“I didn’t inform Constable Nolan of the contents.”

“Did you inform any of your commanding officers?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“As you know, we were in the middle of three very serious investigations. Lor…Constable Price had been taken off the case, and dealing with an affair didn’t seem a high priority at that time.”

“So you did not reveal your knowledge of this matter to anyone.”

“Yes.”

“You did disclose the results of the kit?”

Daly nodded. “It came to my attention that Constable Price was still trying to get back on the rape case. I told her that if she continued to pursue an involvement with the rape case that I would disclose the results of the rape kit.”

“There’s one thing I’d like to be clear on,” one of the women said. “How was it that Inspector Hawkins’s DNA came to be on file with our crime lab?”

“A few years ago he was involved in a case where he was injured. There were several blood samples taken at the scene, and his DNA was taken for elimination purposes in the investigation.”

“Shouldn’t it have been deleted from the system?”

Daly shrugged. “I can’t explain why it wasn’t. All I know is that when I confronted Constable Price, she didn’t deny it.”

“Did you have any other supporting evidence in your possession that confirmed the affair?”

“No, sir.”

The questioning continued, covering his working relationship with all the officers involved….

When it was over, Daly went to his office, locked everything away, took his few personal photos down from the shelves, put them in his briefcase, and went to hand in his badge and gun.

He unlocked the door and stepped inside. The night was already unusually dark because of the growing storm clouds, but he didn’t turn any lights on.

No matter how many times he was questioned, he found it hard to believe that the case was being handled the way it was. No telephone, limited access to a select group of people…. All this time and he still didn’t even know exactly what had happened. From the moment he’d hit the pavement everything was hazy or non ex is tent. There were so many gaps, so many questions.

And he’d had a hell of a fight to get released from the hospital. They’d tried to persuade him to wait until morning, but he’d pushed back hard, arguing over the merits of a good night’s sleep in his own bed.

Now, as he stood there, listening to the sound of nothing, his anticipation of being home was overshadowed with the new reality. Finally, he could get some answers. He swallowed, wondering if he really wanted to hear what he dreaded, what he feared most.

Nobody would answer him when he’d asked about Ashlyn. The way their eyes had skirted away from his gaze, the slight tensing of the facial muscles…

He leaned against the wall, closing his eyes as the image of her walking into the kitchen in her pajamas, taunting Tain, flashed through his mind. He rubbed his forehead, thinking about the first night she’d slept there, sitting in bed with a book in her hands, the way she’d glared at him when he made her move over….

Those moments when they’d talked over the case, and the moments in between, when they didn’t have to say anything at all.

The clock ticked softly as he stood there, coming to terms with the fact that he was going upstairs to an empty bedroom, not knowing whether it was too late to tell her how he felt.

Craig trudged up the stairs and walked down the hall. He paused. The warm orange glow of the fire shimmered on the walls of his bedroom.

He stepped inside the room and turned toward the walkthrough closet. He felt a lump rise in his throat and swallowed hard.

She had a loose robe pulled around her, and her eyes were focused on the ground, as though something was pushing her head down. Then, as if she could feel his gaze, she looked up.

Ashlyn’s eyes widened, her hand covering her mouth as she gasped, and then her whole face lit up with a smile, despite the tears that started trickling down her cheeks.

“You’re okay?” he asked her.

“Me?” She brushed the tears from her face. “I was…I didn’t…They wouldn’t let me see you.”

He tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Nobody would tell me anything, either.”