Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 08 - Foul Play (20 page)

CHAPTER 30

After rehearsal, I walked
into The Slug House with the rest of the gang, minus Arie, who’d been absent from practice because of some prior engagement. We sat at the corner table, gabbing as usual.

This was so not my scene, but I need
ed to be here in case anyone revealed a clue of some sort.

Everyone seemed content to talk about TV shows and football instead.

Arie showed up ten minutes into the gathering, offering no clue as to where she’d been. “How was practice?” She looked at me when she asked the question.

“It was fine,” I answered.

“I hope you don’t let me down.” Her glare turned icy.

So
many snide comments were on the tip of my tongue, but I kept them silent. Every time I held back my sarcasm, I counted it as a victory.

“Hey there, Love,” a familiar voice said behind me.

I
looked up and saw Garrett. He kissed my cheek and then slid in beside me. He’d called earlier and asked if he could come by. His timing was impeccable.

E
veryone stared at Garrett, but people had a tendency to do that. It wasn’t just his looks, it was the way he carried himself. He had a natural charisma that couldn’t be learned.

I noticed Arie’s gaze volleying between me and Garrett and her lips parting in what appeared to be surprise.

“Everyone, this is Garrett. Garrett, this is everyone.”

“Pleasure to meet you, everyone,” he quipped with a charming grin.
He surveyed the establishment, which was anything but first class. “This is quite the place.”

“It’s so honky tonk, isn’t it?” Arie said, all iciness gone from her voice. “But it’s close, so that’s why we choose it.
”

He glanced around. “It’s got personality, at least.”

“That’s what I always say, too.” Arie smiled.

I wanted to roll my eyes. I really did.

Garrett nodded toward my new “friends.” “I’ve heard so much about all of you. I can’t wait to see the play. In fact, I bought everyone at my company a ticket.”

I felt the blood drain from my face
. “You really did that?”

“Of course I did! We like to support our local community, not only communities around the world.”

“You support communities around the world?” Bennie asked, her eyebrows jammed together in confusion.

“His company builds wells for impoverished areas globally,” I responded.

“Global Coffee Initiative,” Garrett finished like any good entrepreneur might. “Maybe you’ve heard of it?”

“I
love
GCI coffee. It’s the
best
!” Arie gushed, suddenly coming alive. “It’s your company? Like,
your company
your company?”

I glanced over at Jerome and saw him scowl. Did he like Arie? Why else would he act like this as Arie
turned all her attention to Garrett? He almost looked jealous.

While Garrett charmed everyone, I n
oticed the bartender from the other night. When our eyes connected, recognition washed over him and he waved me over.

“Excuse me one minute,” I whispered to Garrett.

I sauntered over to the bar. Just as before, the bartender was wiping a glass dry with a clean white towel.

“You were asking about that m
an the other night,” he started, lowering his voice.

“That’s right. The one I showed you a picture of.”

“I thought you might want to know that someone else came in looking for the same person.”

Things suddenly got interesting here. “Really? What did this person say?”

He gave me a look that reminded me of someone trying to scalp fake tickets to a major league baseball team. “What’s it to you?”

He was asking for money?!? I couldn’t believe it.
Looking around me again, maybe I could. This place hadn’t bothered to upgrade the tables or chairs in at least twenty years. That made me doubt the owners could afford to pay the employees that well either.

Sighing, I reached into my purse and pulled out a twenty.

He shrugged. “I don’t remember that much after all.”

“Are you serious?” I sighed again and pulled out another twenty. It was a near miracle I even had this much cash on hand. “Good enough?”

He pulled his chin up in a homeboy nod. “Now you’re speaking my language. He said that the man owed him some money. I told him that I stayed out of other people’s business and that I hadn’t seen him in more than a week.”

“And he said?”

The bartender shrugged. “Nothing. He grunted and left.”

“Did he leave a phone number? A name?”

“Nope.”

My lungs deflated.
“What did this man look like?”

“He was on the
smaller side with his hair cut so short he was almost bald.”

“Military short?” I asked. We had so many military
personnel in the area and that could describe any number of them.

“No, shorter. I think he was bald but his hair was just growing back.
It had a red tint to it.”

“Thin? Stocky?”

“Thin,” the man answered. “He wore all black. I’ll tell you what—the man may have been small, but I sure wouldn’t want to get on his bad side. He screamed trouble, you know what I mean?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I do. Thanks for sharing.”

I wished I could say the information was helpful, but the truth was that I still had no idea who he was.

***

Garrett insisted on driving me home. He said he’d send his assistant to pick up my car in the morning and have it back at my place before I even woke up. Normally, I would have told him no, but having some extra time to chat with Garrett had its appeal, for more than one reason.

“Did you find out anything interesting while I was gone
from the table?” I asked, relishing the heat pouring from the vents at my feet. The car was nice and toasty, a pleasant contradiction to the frigid weather outside.

“I’m not sure. How do you define interesting?”
His hands were draped casually across the steering wheel as we started down the road.

“Noteworthy.”

“I’ll give you my take on everyone there. How about that? I consider myself an excellent judge of character.”

“Do you?”

“Well, I think you’re great. That should say a lot.” He cast me a glance out of the corner of his eye.

I almost blushed. “
I won’t hold that against you. Give me a rundown. What are your thoughts?”

“The Twins are creepy,” he started.

“I know, right?”

“Jerome has shifty eyes,” he said.

“I thought that same thing!”

“Speaking of which, h
e was texting someone as we spoke. I just happened to look over his shoulder at one point.”

“Did you see who it was?”

“I saw that the email address contained ‘Entertainment Now.’”

“The news magazine?”

He nodded. “That’s what it said.”

I chewed on his words for a moment. “Well, that’s interesting.”

“Noteworthy, isn’t it? It seems like lots of people would like to get some publicity for this musical.”

“But of all of them, I didn’t think he’d have any motivation to bring attention to the show. He didn’t write it. He doesn’t own the theater.”

“But he’s your costar. Besides, something about him just doesn’t ring true. For instance, the scarf he’s wearing. He kept tugging at it, like he wasn’t comfortable with it around his neck. It made me wonder if he’s trying to create a persona that doesn’t feel natural.”

“The n
eed for attention seems like a bad reason to murder someone.”

“What does a need for attention boil down to, though?”

I thought about it a moment. “Greed?”

“Exactly.
The desire for more can cause people to do irrational things.”

I supposed that Garrett, of all people, would know that. His money had made him a target before.

I shook my head. The answers seemed like they were so close, but I still needed more details before anything would fit together.

I turned my thoughts to another subject.

“What did you think about Arie?” I felt a touch of possessiveness toward Garrett as I asked the question, which was crazy.

“She was quite
gregarious.”

“
Gregarious? That’s one way to describe her. She was all about you.” In fact, when I’d returned back to the booth, she’d been beside Garrett, her eyes wide as she leaned toward him.

T
hankfully, Garrett had stood and let me slide into the booth, which then meant I was sitting smack dab between Arie and Garrett. It also meant that when Arie tried to have a conversation with Garrett, she had to talk loudly over my head.

I
’d only lasted ten minutes after that and then I was ready to go. I’d had enough of that place, of those people, and the meaningless conversations.

“Are you jealous?” Garrett asked with a sparkle in his eyes.

“Jealous? Me? No. Besides, she’s not your type … is she?”

He reached over and squeezed my hand. “No, you’re my type.”

This time, I definitely blushed. Garrett was a good guy. I could be very happy with him.

I knew at that moment what
my answer would be to his proposition concerning Africa.

When we reached my apartment, I
’d tell Garrett. I wanted to be able to look in his eyes, though, with nothing to distract us.

The probl
em came when we pulled up to my apartment. Police cars surrounded it.

I exchanged a worried glance with Garrett. “I wonder what’s go
ing on.”

As soon as the car was in park, I rushed out the door and into my building. To my horror, I saw officer
s parading in and out of my apartment.

I sprinted up the steps, desperate to find out what was going on. I
pushed my way toward Charlie. “What happened?”

She held up a paper. “We’ve got a search warrant for your residence
.”

CHAPTER 31

“
A search warrant? For what?” I screeched.

“You’re a suspect in the vandalisms at Ocean
side Middle School,” Charlie informed me.

“That’s
ludicrous. Why would I vandalize the school?” I jabbed my finger into my chest so hard I might have left a bruise.

“That’s a good question.”
She raised an eyebrow, looking perfectly calm and in control.

Garrett joined me
at the top of the stairs, concern etched into the wrinkles around his eyes. “What’s going on?”

“They’re searching my apartment. They can look all they want because I don’t have anything to hide.”

“We’ll be the judges of that.” Charlie motioned for the officers to continue.

I looked around and saw that everything in my house had been ruffled and
tousled.

I closed my eyes, lifting up
a prayer. I hadn’t misunderstood. This was really happening.

“Detective,” one of the officers muttered. Charlie joined him by my desk.

Nausea pooled in my stomach. Garrett put his arm around me and kissed the top of my head. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Nothing feels okay right now.
I’m being set up, Garrett.”

Charlie held something in the air as she approached me. “Articles on Rose? The woman who died at Oceanside? Could that be because you set up this elaborate scheme?”

“Again, why would I do that? Besides, the vandalisms started before I even knew this play was going on.”

“The evidence is saying otherwise. You’re under arrest.”

My mouth dropped open. Certainly I hadn’t heard her correctly. This couldn’t be happening.

“Excuse me? You can’t possibly have enough evidence to arrest me.” My voice came out shriller than I anticipated.

“We can and we do. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and
will be used against you …”

I glanced at Garrett and saw his e
yes widen.

“
You can’t be serious.” His hands went to his hips as he stepped closer.

“We’re more than serious,” Charlie said. “
I’m really sorry, Gabby. But I warned you that I’d go wherever the evidence led.”

My heart
rate quickened. “How in the world did it lead to me?”

“We had two witnesses who spotted a woman with red, curly hair snooping around at the time of the vandalisms.
A woman matching your description was also seen at a bar with the man who died. There was the dress and the paint cans in your trunk. We also found gasoline cans outside behind your trash.”

“I would be smarter than that! If I did this, I’d know to hide the evidence. You know it’s true!”

Charlie narrowed her eyes. “The fact that you’ve disappeared often right before the acts occurred doesn’t help your case either.”

“
All of that is circumstantial!”

“It’s corroborating,” Charlie said.
“Put it all together and it leads to you. I’m sorry, Gabby.”

“Then I was set up. I
didn’t do this!” I insisted.

“We can’t arrest you for the murders, Gabby, but we can take you in for the vandalisms.”

“You’re out of your mind!” A rock formed in my stomach and I thought I might be sick.

“We can make this hard and use handcuffs or you can cooperate,” Charlie said.

I glanced at the officers behind me. They had the cuffs in their hands just waiting for word to use them. I couldn’t let that happen.

I raised my hands
in surrender. “I’ll go. But you’re making a mistake.”

“I’ll get my lawyer on the phone,” Garrett insisted.

My head was spinning. How had this happened? And what in the world was I going to do about it?

***

I hadn’t been able to stop pacing the holding cell where I was being kept. I’d been taken to the police precinct, photographed, fingerprinted and interrogated.

Sure enough, Garret
t sent a lawyer who encouraged me to remain quiet. I personally thought being quiet made me look guilty. But I kept my mouth shut, the words “Anything you say can and will be used against you” swishing around in my mind.

When Charlie finally looked exhausted from
interrogating me, I was moved to central booking. While a paramedic asked me a million and one questions, I had to also fill out paperwork for my arraignment.

Everything seemed like
both a blur and a nightmare.

I was allowed to make a phone call. The fact that no one person stood out in my mind disturbed
me and reminded me that I was alone.

No way would I call my dad.

Riley had his own life now.

Sierra had enough on her mind and I didn’t want to stress her out.

Chad still wasn’t speaking to me.

That meant Garrett was the natural choice. And he was a good choice. I knew he was worried.

I dialed his number and waited as he accepted my collect call. Immense comfort washed through me when I heard his voice. “How are you, Love?”

I glanced around
the jail where I was being held and thought of a million sarcastic comments, but decided now wasn’t the time to be a smart mouth. “It looks like I’m being charged with a Class 6 felony.”

The sickly feeling in my gut sloshed with even more intensity.

“A felony? For vandalism?”

“Something about the
damaged items costing more than $1000.” All I could think about was the fact that I could be a felon.

Me.

The girl who loved justice. Who believed in the system. Who wanted to be a part of the system.

“I’m sorry, Gabby.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I can’t believe they would think you’d do this.
Did you tell them about your theories? About Arie or Paulette?”

“I mentioned
to Charlie that Arie may have plagiarized the musical. Who knows if she’ll check her out or not? And Paulette? Even if I’d mentioned my theories about her, no one in their right mind would arrest or even question Paulette.”

“Why not?”

“Look at her family. She comes from money and power.”
Meanwhile, I’m motherless with a father who’s had more DUIs than I can count and a brother who routinely dumpster dives.

“Money and power aren’t everything.”

He just couldn’t possibly understand. I shook my head. The odds had been stacked against me before and I’d pushed through. I had to do the same thing now. But I also couldn’t deny the facts.

“
I look guilty, Garrett. I had a key to the school, gasoline cans were found behind my apartment, research about Rose was in my desk, and black spray paint was in my trunk.”

“All those things go back to Paulette, don’t they? It was her car. She gave you the key. She knows where you live.”

His words startled me. He was right, though.

“Nolen is one of the best attorneys I know. He’ll look out for you, Gabby.”

I leaned against the wall. “He seemed very bright.”

My meeting with him was like a blur right now. He’d given me instructions and asked me questions. He was a stern looking man, and if Garrett thought he was smart then he probably was.

“What can I do for you?”

“Pray,” I told him. “That’s the most important thing.”

“I’ve been praying for you, Gabby.” His voice sounded husky.

The phone beeped
, and I knew my time was running out. “I need to go. But thank you for believing in me, Garrett.”

“Always, Gabby. Always.”

When I got back to my cell, it was well past midnight and my body felt tired, but my brain was going at full speed.

Who would do this to me? Why?

All my thoughts of a future career in forensics went down the drain. Being arrested and charged—even if I were found innocent—could do terrible things to my reputation.

Down
the cellblock I could hear shouts. Someone seemed to be tapping metal against metal. A prison guard walked the hall.

The
dingy, yellowed lights flickered. There was a strange, nauseating stench of urine and body odor in the air. But none of that even began to match the trauma going on in my heart.

I’d felt fear before in my life. Quite often, truth be told.
I’d been held captive by a serial killer in a shack in the middle of a swamp. I knew what it was like to be terrified.

But this time it was different.
At the hands of a serial killer, I’d feared that my life would end. Here, I feared my life being destroyed while I still had to live it.

In the past, it h
ad been the bad guys after me. People who seemed heartless. Who were selfish. Who wanted life their way without regard for others.

But now the justice system
—the very one I believed in, that I wanted to be a part of—had falsely accused me. Betrayal and confusion collided with despair and disappointment in my heart.

Lord, sometimes I really feel like
You don’t like me. Like You’re punishing me. Like You want to drive me away.

Otherwise, how can you explain the trials that keep lining up in my life? Why, Lord? Why?

I hung my head, desperately wishing I’d wake up and discover this was a nightmare. But that would be too easy. If life had taught me anything, it was that grace and mercy came moment by moment, but very rarely did they occur day by day.

In the meantime, I
was on the docket to appear before a judge tomorrow. This judge would tell me if I could be released on bail or not.

Now, I had
no choice but to wait.

***

“Bail is set at $20,000.” The judge pounded his gavel on his desk.

My
mouth gaped open.

“$20,000? It might as well be a million!” I screeched.

“That’s enough,” the judge warned. He was a fifty-something man who was practically bald, had small eyes, and hadn’t cracked a smile since he walked into the room. Based solely on his sour expression, he probably liked to steal lollipops from kids off the street.

Nolen had his hand on my elbow, trying to lead me away. “Because of your history with the medical examiners officer, they think you’re a higher risk. You know how to manipulate evidence and that’s
working against you right now,” he whispered.

“
But $20,000?” I wanted to cry. I’d been happy to simply pay my bills every month. A savings account wasn’t even a possibility for me right now. I didn’t own a house. My van was probably worth $10,000 at the most. My net worth was seriously lacking.

“We’ll figure out something. In the meantime, just hold tight,” Nolen said.

“I have no choice but to do that when I’m sitting in a prison cell.” I wouldn’t cry. I wouldn’t give anyone that pleasure. But I had to fight my tears. This wasn’t fair.

An officer
led me toward my cell.

I got back to my new home and
this time, instead of pacing like a lion, I sat on my bed in the corner with my knees pulled to my chest. I sat like that for what felt like hours. My thoughts turned and turned. My future flashed before my eyes. It was filled with iron bars and orange jumpsuits.

Lord, why?

I guess You know all about being falsely accused. You know about taking punishments You didn’t deserve for crimes You didn’t commit.

What had happened after Jesus died?

He was resurrected. With His resurrection came hope.

If I got out of here—
and even if I didn’t—I needed to bring back to life the parts of me that had been withering lately. Maybe this was my scared straight moment when I pulled myself together.

The guard appeared outside my cell.
“You have a visitor.”

“It’s not visiting hours,” I mumbled.

“Your lawyer.”

Nolen hadn’t told me he was coming by again. Maybe he’d discovered something new.

I didn’t care. I just wanted to get out of this cell that confined me.

The
guard led me down the cellblock, through some gates, down another hallway, and into a contact room—which meant no glass or wall, for that matter, would separate me from my visitor. This space was reserved for meetings with attorneys.

I stepped inside and
stopped in my tracks.

Nolen was
n’t standing there as I’d expected.

No, Riley was.