Deception with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Two) (16 page)

Matthews and Ben both dropped down into chairs when Dr. Carnes left.

“I promised I would tell Clair when we heard anything about King. I’m going to go run down there real quick,” she said as she left them in their seats. Ben looked for a moment like he was about to follow, but only made it a few inches out of the chair before sitting back down.

Clair was up tucking her still sleeping child into the pediatric bed that had been moved into her room. “They wanted to put her on the pediatric floor, but I insisted that she was going to stay with me. Your boyfriend is obviously very persuasive, because he talked to them for a few moments and they agreed to move a bed in here for her. I’m just glad she’s slept through the majority of this. With any luck, she’ll just think last night was a bad dream.”

Boyfriend?
She opened her mouth to correct her, but couldn’t get the words to come.

“She’s beautiful,” Rilynne said instead. “She looks just like you.”

“Thank you,” Clair said as she ran her fingers gently through the little girl’s hair. She pulled the blankets up snuggly around her before returning to the other bed.

“We just heard from the surgeon who was working on Officer King,” Rilynne said gently so as not to wake the child. “It looks like he’s going to be fine.”

“That’s great,” she said, the relief clearly visible on her face. “Would it be possible for me to speak with him? I was hoping to give him my thanks.”

Rilynne smiled as she sat down on the foot of the bed. “I imagine that he’ll want to speak with you himself,” she replied. “The surgeon also said that if he hadn’t gotten here when he did, he might not have made it. Your actions tonight more than likely saved his life.”

“I didn’t do anything more than anyone else would have done in the same situation,” she said modestly.

“Trust me, Clair,” Rilynne said, patting her feet kindly. “You showed bravery that most people couldn’t find when there’s a gun involved. You should be proud; I know your daughter will be.”

R
ilynne was still reeling from the night’s events when she opened her eyes. She lay in bed watching the ceiling fan spinning circles above her until her alarm went off twenty minutes later. When she reached over to shut it off, she saw the notification light flashing on her cell phone. It was the mass text message sent out from the station house, informing all members of the department of any updates in a wounded officers condition. As of an hour before, King was moved to intensive care in stable condition.

Rilynne let out a sigh of relief.

She seemed to move on autopilot after she finally dragged herself out of bed. Before she knew it, she was grabbing her purse and reaching to open the front door.

“Mom,” her jaw almost dropped from the shock as she swung the door open and found her mother standing in front of her, hand raised as if she were about to knock. “What are you doing here?”

Amber Evans smiled and sat her bag down. “Don’t look so excited to see me,” she said jokingly.

“Of course I’m excited to see you.” Rilynne gave her mom a long hug. “Come in.” She reached down and grabbed her mom’s bag and led her into the house.

“Oh, I like it,” Amber said, walking around the living room. “And I’m glad to see that you’re mostly unpacked this time. Usually it takes you months to get this far.”

Rilynne lugged the suitcase into the guest room before walking back out to join her surprise guest. “Yeah, well I had a little help. I wish I had known you were coming out, I would have taken some time off.”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” she said, dropping herself down on the couch. “You go to work. I’m fully capable of keeping myself entertained.”

Rilynne reached for her purse, which she had dropped down on the counter. “Are you sure?”

“Of course,” she said with her stubborn determination. “After last night’s events, they’re going to need everyone in. Have you heard anything about the condition of the officer who was injured?”

“I had a text when I woke up that said he’s in stable condition,” she responded. “But they can get by without me for one day. Why don’t I just call in and we can spend the day together.”

“Go,” she pointed to the door. “I’ll be here all week, we’ll get in plenty of time together.”

“Okay, but I’m taking you out for dinner tonight,” she said as she pulled the door back open. “And call me if you need anything.”

The office was buzzing when she walked in ten minutes later. She hadn’t even reached her desk to put her stuff down before Wilcome threw a file in her hand.

“We get first crack at the men on the murder charge before we hand them over for the home invasions. Matthews is going to take Jerry Peterson in room one,” he said. “We have Stephen waiting for you in room three.”

If Stephen Peterson was at all worried after spending the night in lockup, he was not showing it. On the contrary, he seemed almost amused, with a smug expression that seemed to carry into his eyes.

“Oh look. They decided to send in the big guns first,” he said sarcastically to his attorney when she walked in.

Rilynne grinned as she took her seat, trying to decide just the right way to go about this. “I’m so sorry for this inconvenience,” she said coyly. “I just have a few questions for you if you don’t mind. Let’s see,” she said as she fumbled with the file. “I know I had it right here,” she added, sounding flustered. “I’m sorry about this, I know they gave it to me. Oh, here it is.”

Rilynne glanced up to see a relaxed smile stretching across his face. “Has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful blue eyes?” he asked as he winked at her.

She giggled as she bit down slightly on her lower lip. “Thank you,” she said playfully. “I, uh… they wanted me to ask you just a few things. I’m sure we’ll have this sorted out really soon. Now, do you know this man?” She slid a photograph of Shane that had been taken just two weeks before across the table.

He glanced down at it briefly before sliding it back to her. “I can’t say that I have ever seen him before.”

“Maybe you’ll recognize him a little more like this,” she said as she slid a second picture toward him, one taken by the crime scene investigator when his body was found.

“Is he dead?” he asked pushing the pictures away. There was just a hint of shock in his voice.

“Yes,” she said abruptly, showing him her level of confidence for the first time since walking in. “Yes he is. This man has been working for you for close to a year. Surely you have seen him around.”

“My brother and I run several businesses,” he said. “I haven’t met all of the people under our employ.”

“Maybe if I’m more specific,” she said, all traces of her flirtatious tone now gone. “This man has been selling the stolen property from your home invasions, and delivering the funds to your brother, James, to be deposited in your account at Addison Valley Bank. Does that help your memory any?”

He folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, still looking as cocky as he had when she first walked in. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. If my little brother has gotten himself caught up in some devious activities, it’s news to me. Jerry and I would never think about involving ourselves in any such activities.”

“I have heard that about you,” she smiled. “Well, I have heard that you enjoy planning such ‘activities’ while making sure they could never be tied back to you. Tell me, is it as easy to find such loyal followers now as it was when you were in high school?”

His grin faltered for a moment. If Rilynne hadn’t been waiting for it, she might have thought it a trick of the eye. “So, let me ask you again,” she continued. “Do you know this man?”

He didn’t look at the photo again, just shook his head.

“’James said that he’ll take me to meet with the men Saturday morning to see about getting me moved up in the ranks,’” she read from a copy of the journal pages.

“So?” he asked, looking slightly more shaken. “I didn’t hear my name mentioned anywhere in there.”

“Is this your warehouse?” She slid another picture across the table.

He glanced down at the photograph. “It could be. My brother and I have acquired several buildings around town.”

“You see this tree here?” she asked as she pointed to the corner of the picture. “That’s an American Smoketree. Believe it or not, there aren’t many of these within city limits. A combination of the sap from this tree and the residue collected from your warehouse were found on this man, meaning that he was at your warehouse the day he was killed.”

“Well, there was a break in at that warehouse last week,” he spouted off. “It looks like you found the culprit. Congratulations.”

“Did you file a report?” she asked.

“The warehouse was empty so nothing was taken. I didn’t see the need of involving the authorities.”

Rilynne sat back and studied his expression for a few moments before continuing. “So, you’ve never seen this man?” she asked again.

“That’s what I said,” he replied, sounding slightly more confident.

She reached in her file and pulled out another picture, this time one of Villarreal in his uniform. “Maybe he looks more familiar like this.”

She couldn’t help but notice that Stephen seemed genuinely surprised by this picture.

“He’s a cop?” he asked.

“Mr. Peterson, I recommend that you don’t say anything else.” His attorney spoke for the first time.

“So you did know him?” It was more of a statement than a question. “Why don’t I tell you what I think happened,” she said firmly. “After meeting with Shane on the morning of the twenty-fourth, you discovered that he was an undercover cop. You followed him and once he was alone, you silenced him before he had a chance to expose you.” She leaned forward and grinned. “How did I do?”

“No,” he said abruptly. His eyes were wide and for the first time, had fear in them. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t have anything to do with this, and I sure as hell didn’t kill this guy.”

“Are you aware that an officer was shot in the neck last night during your home invasion? If he doesn’t make it, everyone involved can be charged with murder, whether you were present or not. I suggest you start talking now and help yourself out before it’s too late.”

“Is that true?” he asked his attorney, who just nodded in response.

He leaned over and whispered with his attorney for several minutes before they both turned back toward Rilynne. This time it was the attorney who spoke.

“My client admits that he did meet with this man on the morning of the twenty-fourth, but he didn’t have anything to do with his death. After meeting with him, he spent the remainder of the day with his brother, Jerry.”

“What time did you meet with Officer Villarreal?” she asked.

“Just before eleven,” he responded quickly. “We talked for maybe fifteen minutes and he left.”

“Where did you go after?”

“Jerry and I are in the process of buying a bar. We went straight there and spent the remainder of the day working through the details.”

“Is there anyone who can confirm that?”

“Yeah, about twenty people,” he said. “Look, I had no idea this guy was a cop. And I sure as hell didn’t have a reason to want him dead.”

“Tell me about the drugs,” she slipped in casually.

“No, we don’t have anything to do with the drug market,” he said. “We may not always do the best things, but increasing the amount of drugs that are already out on the streets is a line we would never cross.”

“Terrifying and brutalized women and children during home invasions is fine, but selling drugs crosses the line?” she asked.

He opened his mouth to speak, but his attorney stopped him. “We will gladly discuss the murder of this fine officer, but we won’t be discussing anything else at this time.”

Just as she leaned forward to push the subject, the door opened behind her and District Attorney Kristin Greene walked in.

“Madam District Attorney,” Rilynne said, rising from her seat. “Please come in. We were just about to go over the attempted murder of Officer King last night.”

“Perfect timing,” she said as she sat down next to Rilynne. District Attorney Greene was the youngest district attorney Rilynne had ever worked with, but she was by far the fiercest. “Please continue.”

“Yesterday you met with a well-built black man at Molly’s for lunch. After you handed him this paper-” she pulled out an evidence bag containing a napkin with ‘5702 Walior Street’ written on it, which had been taken out of the man’s pocket by the medical examiner. “-he picked up two more men and proceeded to your warehouse. Just after nine, the three men drove to this address. Once there, the man you met with attempted to force himself on the homeowner in front of her two-year-old daughter, before shooting a police officer. That’s the second police officer shot in a week that was involved with your case.”

Stephen didn’t seem to know what to say. “If any of my associates were involved in the shooting of this man, I was not informed of it. Murder had never been part of any plan that we may or may not have had. And if there had been any kind of plan, which I’m not saying there was, rape certainly wouldn’t have been part of it either.”

“Unfortunately,” the district attorney said. “If any member of your crew was involved with Officer Villarreal’s murder, you can still be charged with it. I’m willing to cut you a deal and take that charge off of the table if you will name everyone involved in the home invasions.”

Stephen leaned back over to his attorney to discuss his options.

“The murder of Officer Villarreal didn’t happen during the commission of a felony, so that wouldn’t apply,” he said. “But my client wants it to be known that he’s cooperating, so he’ll give you the names of the men that he associates with. He’s in no way admitting to being involved in any crimes that these men may have been involved in.”

In addition to the names they already had, Stephen gave them the names of the three remaining men, as well as the name of the man in the morgue.

“What do you think?” District Attorney Greene asked her as they walked out of the room.

“Honestly, I don’t think that he had anything to do with Villarreal’s murder,” she replied. “He was too smart to talk about the home invasions, so as not to say anything that could implicate him, but he adamantly denied having anything to do with the murder. I also don’t think that he had any clue that Shane was a cop, and he appeared to be genuinely surprised that he had been killed.”