Faces of Evil [4] Rage (34 page)

BPD, 9:05 a.m.

“I appreciate you coming in this morning, Mrs. Riley,” Jess said. “I hope you didn’t have any trouble finding a sitter for your children.”

“They’re with my mother and father. They love going to visit their grandparents.”

Thank God. “Let’s get started then. You stated that the last time you saw Gabrielle alive was on Sunday when you and your husband had lunch with her and her husband, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

Sarah Riley was as calm as a cucumber and her husband was furious she was being questioned again. Burnett had sequestered Sergeant Riley and his superior, Deputy Chief Waters, to the conference room. Harper had sent Jess a text since she’d entered the interview room to let her know that Lieutenant Grayson had arrived to show his support for the Rileys.

“You may find some of these questions repetitive,” Jess warned, “but it’s important that we’re thorough.”

Sarah Riley nodded her understanding.

“Did Gabrielle appear to be worried about anything or anxious in any way?”

“Not at all.”

Sarah really was a petite woman. Maybe five two and ninety or so pounds. Far too small to physically control a woman Gabrielle’s size unless the OxyContin had already kicked in, and even then handling her dead weight wouldn’t be easy for someone Sarah’s size.

This morning she was calm and poised. Where was the cowering, beaten-down housewife who feared her husband? Today she wasn’t even nervous.

Abuse victims often covered for their abusers. Fear that no one else would love them or that there would be even more severe repercussions was often the motive. But sometimes the victim enjoyed the cycle of fighting and making up. Could Sarah Riley be one of those? Was she protecting that bond?

Maybe.

“And when you spoke later that evening? No indication that anything was wrong?”

“Our conversations were short but she sounded just fine.”

“You and Gabrielle were very close,” Jess went on. “You knew each other well. You stated that you even took vacations together.”

“Yes.” Sarah carefully resisted adding any other details. She answered only the question Jess asked.

Her husband had coached her well.

“You met on the job when you were both nurses at the New Life Rehabilitation Center.”

“Yes.”

Jess flipped through her notes. “You harassed patients for their drug connections and even went so far as to steal some drugs, isn’t that right?”

Sarah blinked and her expression closed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Really.” Jess made a surprised sound and pretended to reread some of her notes. “I have statements from several of your coworkers that suggests otherwise.”

That deer trapped in the headlights look abruptly vanished and determination took its place. “They were jealous of my relationship with Gabrielle. You can’t believe what they say. If those accusations were true Gabrielle would have written me up and I would have been fired and charged with a crime.”

“So Gabrielle didn’t tell you that you had to resign?”

“I resigned after my first daughter was born because I really wanted to be home with her.”

“I see.” Jess jotted a few words on her notepad. “So the notations Gabrielle made in your personnel file about suspected drug abuse were untrue.”

Fury lit in Sarah’s eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Gabrielle was my friend. She would never have made up lies like that.”

“Maybe I misread the notes. I’ve read so much about you and your husband that it’s just all running together.” Jess shook her head. “Does your husband still have a problem with OxyContin? I noted where the drug was found in several of the required drug tests here at BPD.”

“What’re you talking about? My husband doesn’t have a problem with drugs or anything else. Why are you saying these things?”

Jess decided to take a chance. She leaned across the table. “I know what you did, Sarah. We found your prints. Your neighbor told us about you leaving the kids at home alone on Sunday and the timing just happens to coincide with the timing of Gabrielle’s murder. You were there, Sarah. I know you were. Gabrielle didn’t call Jack at eleven that night, you did. Using her phone. Did you tell him there was a problem? What did he do, Sarah? Something you’re afraid to tell me? I’m prepared to give you until four o’clock today to get your story straight but after that, the deal is off the table. You’ll be picked up and charged with first-degree murder.”

Confusion and fear claimed her features. “What deal? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Gabrielle never called my husband! I was at Gabrielle’s house all the time. Of course you found my fingerprints there. And yes, I left the house Sunday night. Jack and I had a big fight on the phone so I went to see him. Ask anyone on shift with him that night, they saw him come out to my car but we never left the street. We just sat there in the dark and talked. Anyone on duty could have looked out the window and seen the car.”

There was a new revelation. No matter, Jess shook her head. “Save yourself, Sarah, so you can be there for your children. Otherwise you’ll go down with him.”

“I think I want a lawyer now.” Fury twisted the woman’s face.

Jess closed her notepad and set her pencil aside. “I understand. You’re afraid.” Jess pushed to her feet. “But keep in mind that we have a witness, Sarah. He saw everything.”

With that Jess headed for the door.

“Wait.”

Victory roared through Jess’s veins. She turned back to the woman who could help them nail Gabrielle’s killer.

“You’re wrong,” she said, to Jess’s surprise. “Jack would never hurt anyone that way. He loves me and he loves our children too much. He worships Larry and thought the world of Gabrielle. You’re wrong, Chief Harris.” Sarah picked up her purse. “You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to ruin an innocent man’s life. A
cop’s
life and career.”

Stunned at the about-face, Jess opened the door and let her go. “Just remember,” she said as Sarah walked past her, “you have until four o’clock today before I take my witness and the evidence we have to the DA. After that I can’t help you.”

Sarah walked out.

Damn it. Harper was right. The woman acted like some weird Stepford wife.

Burnett joined her in the hall. He’d watched the interview from the viewing room. “I’ve sent a cruiser to keep an eye on the grandparents and the children.”

“I was just about to set that up myself.”

“Chief Harris.”

Jess turned to find Lieutenant Grayson striding her way. Judging by the outrage on his face and in his posture she was in for a battle. “Lieutenant.”

Grayson acknowledged Dan. “Chief Burnett.”

Burnett shook his head. “Lieutenant, it would be in your best interest if you stayed clear of this mess.”

Jess spoke before Grayson could. “Let him have his say. There are a few things I need to clear up with him.”

“All right.” Burnett turned to Grayson. “Don’t make me regret that decision.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re thinking, but Jack and Sarah Riley are friends of my family. I wouldn’t have gotten through the past few days without their support. How dare you make them feel like suspects!”

“They are suspects, Lieutenant.” Jess wasn’t going to sugarcoat this for the man. Not anymore. She’d given him some time to grieve, but right now he needed a wake-up call. “Your wife discovered Sarah was stealing OxyContin on the job two years ago. She swept it under the rug to protect Sarah for the same reason you’re standing by them now. That was her first mistake. Continuing to trust a woman who would steal drugs to support her husband’s habit was her second.”

Jess took a second to calm the outrage now rushing through her. “Those two so-called friends of the family know what happened to your wife, Lieutenant. I would suggest you be more careful who you trust. Particularly who you trust with your baby son’s life.”

He shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”

“Believe what you will, but you work with Jack every day. You haven’t seen any sign of drug abuse? You don’t feel the odd tension between him and his wife? Snap out of that denial you’re in and look closer.”

“I know what your problem is.” He stabbed a finger at Jess. “You can’t solve this case so you’re using my partner as a scapegoat.”

Jess ignored the accusation. “Did your partner’s wife show up at your surveillance location on Sunday night before midnight?”

Confusion furrowed his brow. “What? Wait. Yes. She and Jack had a fight. He sat out there in the car with her for probably half an hour before he came back in. They’re young, they still have stupid arguments.”

“And nothing about that incident seemed amiss? It’s happened before?”

He hesitated. “Well, no… I mean she’s dropped by before but never for an extended time in the middle of the night like that. What the hell difference does it make? That alone should tell you Jack couldn’t have killed Gabrielle. He was right there with me the whole shift.”

Except for when he was in the car with Sarah. “Think long and hard, Lieutenant,” Jess urged. “You’ve already allowed blind trust to cost you your wife. Will you allow it to cost you your son, too?”

11:30 a.m.

In Burnett’s office, Jess set her phone to speaker so he could hear the update from Harper.

“I followed the Rileys to Sarah’s parents’ house. They picked up their children and then drove to their town house and, judging by the frantic gestures in the vehicle, they argued the whole way. Jack was mad as hell when he got out of the car. He kicked it a couple of times before storming into the house.”

“Did Sarah get out of the car then?” Jess was beginning to have second thoughts about her. She hadn’t reacted the way Jess had expected at all. She had given the woman the perfect opportunity to get free of the twisted situation with her husband and she’d walked away.

What if Jess were wrong? What if Sarah wasn’t a victim? Grayson had confirmed that she had come to their surveillance location that night. Though Jack had sat in the car with her, the two had not left the scene.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

But a spouse showing up at a stakeout like that was way, way outside protocol. The kind of action that would get a cop written up. And what were they fighting about that night?

No, Jess decided, she wasn’t wrong.

But what about the children? Now they were caught in the middle of this precarious situation. Damn it.

“She and the children went inside as well.”

“Stay on them, Sergeant.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Jess ended the call and plopped into a chair in front of Burnett’s desk. “We didn’t get the confession I’d hoped for,” she admitted, “but we’ve got them worried and in a reactive state.”

“They have four hours to make a move,” Burnett reminded her. “If one or both were involved in Gabrielle’s murder, there will be a reaction.”

“That’s what I’m counting on.”

Lori was at the safe house with Leslie and Devon. Jess wanted this over for their sakes as well. Devon needed his routine back. They needed to feel safe in their own home again.

“Chief Waters has placed Riley on administrative leave until this is cleared up.”

Jess shook her head. “Why is it when something like this happens, no one seems to have noticed all the signs leading up to it? How could Larry Grayson not know Sarah was being abused or that Jack was hooked on painkillers? Has our entire society become so oblivious that we don’t see anything we don’t want to?”

Burnett got up and came around to her side of his desk to sit beside her.

Uh-oh. “You got news on the Audi?”

He nodded. “Someone jimmied the lock, but the car is clean. The perp either changed his mind or got interrupted. Nothing else in the car was touched. They lifted prints and we’ll be running those. I’m having the Audi delivered to the parking garage this afternoon.”

“Looks like my landlord was wrong.” Jess shook her head. There was no such thing as a safe neighborhood these days.

“Wrong about what?”

“That break-ins and stuff like that didn’t happen in his neighborhood.”

“Jess,” Burnett said in that voice that warned she had better listen up, “someone is trying to hurt you. It’s not a random act. Don’t even think about wrapping yourself in the denial you keep throwing in everyone else’s faces. Until we find the source of this threat, you won’t be safe.”

God, she was so tired. Tired and frustrated… and scared.

“I know.”

He pulled her out of her seat and into his arms. She let him. She needed to feel the strength of his arms right now.

No more denial.

3:00 p.m.

Jess checked her cell again.

“Eat,” Burnett ordered. “You can’t function on no sleep and nothing but coffee.”

She picked at the fries. Tara, Burnett’s receptionist, had gone out for burgers and fries. Jess appreciated the gesture but she had no appetite. Besides, she’d had her fill of burgers and fries this week.

If this plan didn’t work, they were back at square one. There was no other evidence. Devon wouldn’t be able to return to his normal life.

And Gabrielle Grayson’s killer would continue to get away with murder.

Burnett had refused to let her out of his sight since he got the report back on the Audi. She was a prisoner. She couldn’t even do her job. Admittedly the investigation was kind of in a holding pattern right now. But she would like to be out there doing something!

“Jess,” Burnett scolded.

She stuffed a fry into her mouth and chewed.

Her cell clanged. She jumped, almost choked.
Harper.
Thank God!

“Harper, what’s going on?” She had her phone on speaker so she wouldn’t have to repeat the news to Burnett.

“Chief, we have a problem.”

Tension coiled tighter. “What’s going on?”

“About twenty minutes ago Mr. Haines went over to the Rileys’ door and started pounding. Eventually I got out of my car and asked what was going on. He said the babies were crying and no one was coming to the door. I heard the crying too and after identifying myself, I kicked in the door…”

Jess braced for bad news. She had pushed too hard. If Sarah was dead… or, dear God, if the children were hurt…