Finding Justice (9 page)

She opened her eyes and met his. His gaze blazed with anger.
Cat pulled back her shoulders, refusing to apologize for not understanding the
complexities of this small town.

“That’s not it at all. I have the utmost respect for any
headquarters, wherever they might be. But I’m here for Sarah. I want to help. I
have to help.” Cat leaned forward. “Sarah was killed in cold blood. I’m a cop.
How can I walk away and do nothing?”

His gaze wandered over her face and Cat practically heard the
cogs working in his brain, the good cop/bad cop playing out in his mind. He had
to let her in. If she didn’t know how far along the police were with the
investigation, it could easily add a week, maybe more to her and Jay’s efforts
as they went over ground the Templeton team had already covered.

“Why should I trust you’ll share what you learn with me?”
Bennett stared. “You’re cozying up with a suspect, for crying out loud.”

“A suspect you clearly don’t have enough on to charge. I can
help. I know I can. Jay provided an alibi, why do you still suspect him?”

He narrowed his eyes and curled his lip back from his teeth in
blatant distrust. She suppressed the shiver that ran up her spine. Bennett was
no pushover. She had to get in on the case.

“The only thing I can give you is my word and my honor as a
cop.” Cat pressed a hand to her chest. “I won’t do anything to jeopardize your
trust. I wouldn’t dare, judging by the way you’re looking at me right now.”

A glimmer of a smile brushed over his lips and then vanished.
“What if you find out Sarah had a whole other life going on, a life where she
was in trouble up to her eyeballs? What then? Would you cover it up for her
sake? Her parents’ sake?”

Cat frowned. What the hell was he suggesting? “Of course I
wouldn’t. Sarah was a grown woman. A responsible woman. If she was involved in
something illegal, then she clearly made some wrong choices along the way, but
whatever she was involved with, good or bad, I’ll never believe she deserved to
have the life wrung out of her.”

This man was capable of cold, hard policing. Their eyes locked.
“Am I in?”

Bennett swiped a hand over his face and looked at her again.
His exhaustion showed. For all his front, it appeared he was as invested in the
investigation as she and Jay were. Living in a small town had its downside with
regard to interference and gossip, but it also brought with it a community that
would wrap its arms around you or fight in your corner whenever necessary.

“You have friendship, nothing more.” Bennett interrupted her
thoughts. “I need more than that to include you in this.”

Irritation prickled along Cat’s skin. She refused to let this
golden opportunity slip from her grasp. If he wanted to play hardball, that was
fine. She could show the same kind of ruthless challenge.

She stood and planted her fists on her hips. “Fine. Yes, Sarah
was a good friend, but first and foremost, I’m a cop with an unblemished record.
Every murder case I’ve worked on, I’ve pinned the killer. Every burglary, I’ve
gotten the intruder, every rapist...” She paused, shook her head. “You get the
idea.

“I loved Sarah, and there is no way I’m walking away from her.
I will find who did this, sir. That I promise you.”

He glared. “If I say you’re out, Sergeant, you’re out.”

“If this was one of your close friends we were talking about,
one who was strangled and left to rot in a forest that happened to be situated
in another jurisdiction, would you take no for an answer by the SIO and walk
away? Walk away and keep your promise to mind your own business?”

His ruddy cheeks turned scarlet and his eyes flashed with
intelligence. The minimum Cat wanted was a look at the board. Her mind whirled,
scrambling for the right thing to say to him, the words that would be her
gateway in.

“Sir—”

“Shut up, Sergeant.”

Cat flinched.

He leaned forward on his elbows and clenched his hands tightly
together. “You’re in, okay? I decided you were in the moment you said you knew
the victim, but I wanted to see how much fire you had in your belly first.”

“What?” Cat dropped her hands from her hips.

“You heard me. If it was just a flicker, no chance. But you
have a damn inferno burning inside you and if I don’t let you in, I might well
have a cop meltdown on my conscience as well as a murder.”

Cat pushed out her held breath in a rush and smiled. “Thank God
for that. I was running out of ideas.”

A small smile lifted his lips. “If you’re as good at policing
as you are loyal to your friends, I think you’ll be useful, but I refuse to put
my own neck on the line justifying your involvement without knowing I can trust
you first.”

Cat’s smile dissolved and she gave a curt nod.
“Absolutely.”

“Good. Then in that case, I want Garrett to know none of this.
He’s a suspect and until either of us proves otherwise, he’ll remain one.
Understood?”

Cat swallowed. “Yes, sir.”

“Are you staying at his home while you’re here?”

“Yes, sir.” Cat kept her face impassive, wondering where
Bennett was going with this. Would he want her to move out of Jay’s?

“You’re to stay there. Keep your friends close, your enemies
closer.”

“Jay will never be my enemy, sir.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Really? Not even if he killed Sarah
Cole?”

Damn it. Why had she said that? She pulled back her shoulders.
“I mean if Jay did this then my heart will be ripped out because I would have
lost two friends that mean the damn world to me.”

He studied her and Cat stood immobile. He had to believe her.
He had to understand....

At last, he nodded. “Right. Now we’re getting somewhere.” He
pushed back his chair and stood, coming around the desk to stand in front of
her. “I’ll let you see the board and relay all the information we have so far.
In return, you’ll tell me anything and everything you think, feel or find out
about this case from here on in. Me first. Not another officer. Not another
civilian. Do I make myself clear?”

Excitement churned like a million jumping beans in Cat’s
stomach and her hands shook. She was in. She was really in. She nodded and
couldn’t quite stop her smile. “Yes, sir.”

He glanced toward the window. “I don’t want that lot out there
knowing who you are or what you’re doing. You’re the victim’s friend and a
police officer. Nothing more. Anything you want to talk about concerning this
investigation, it goes no further than me and you.”

“And Jay...Mr. Garrett is still a suspect? Even with an
alibi?”

“Yes.”

Cat stared. “Why?”

“Gut, Sergeant. There’s a lot to say about an inspector’s
gut.”

Cat swallowed. The determination in Bennett’s glare could not
be ignored. He knew more about Jay than he was telling her. She resisted the
urge to grab his lapels and demand to know why Jay’s alibi was in doubt. Why
Bennett hadn’t crossed him off as a suspect. Instead, she nodded.

“Fair enough.” Unease rippled through her. It had to be more
than Bennett’s instinct keeping Jay in the frame. Was she not seeing the facts?
Addicts were the best liars in the world. Cat swallowed. Everything had just
grown ten times worse.

“Right, let’s get on with it.”

She tilted her chin. “Yes, sir.”

Cat followed him to the door and they walked out into the noisy
humdrum of the working police station. Ringing telephones, chairs scraping
tiles, the odd shout above muted conversation filled the room. Cat drew in a
breath, inhaling its familiarity like a lifeline. Her work was the only thing
that kept her going in the long, alcohol-dominated years of her life. Her time
in the Cove was work. Jay’s face appeared uninvited in her mind’s eye. Work.
Nothing more. Nothing less.

“You’ve got three minutes to take it in,” Bennett said under
his hushed breath. “Then you disappear.”

She nodded.

He led her to the board and stood silently beside her. Cat shut
her eyes, drew in a shaky breath and then opened them.

Sarah’s body lay on the dark, almost black, foliage covering
the ground, her skin stark white in death. One arm was thrown above her head,
her legs were apart. Cat blinked against the hot tears pricking her eyes like
sharpened needles. Sarah wore a white blouse and black skirt that had ridden—or
been forced, high onto her hips revealing a flash of white panties. A set of
silver bangles glinted at one wrist, a black wristwatch was on the other.

Cat’s gaze flitted back and forth over the photo. To the left
of it was the map of Clover Point and its immediate surrounding areas. The lake
and adjacent roads could easily have served as escape routes and were marked in
red on either side. A close-up picture of the log cabins closest to the forest
had been blown up and pinned beside the map.

Cat leaned closer to Sarah’s picture and concentrated on
memorizing every tiny detail. The picture of her friend could be deemed
seductive if it wasn’t for the dark purple bruising around her neck and uneven
line of dried blood beneath her left nostril. The killer, or Sarah, had closed
her eyelids, leaving her looking as though she slept in peaceful slumber. Her
blond shoulder-length hair was spread around her like a golden halo.

Several feet of area surrounding the body had been
photographed. There wasn’t a lot to see apart from trees and foliage. Cat closed
her eyes, the familiar prickling skittered across the back of her neck. A new
case. This time murder. This time personal.

Sarah would have known Jay’s cabin was just a few hundred feet
away, which meant she was more than likely hoping to meet him. After not turning
up at the bakery, had she been planning to drop by? Or run to his cabin for
help?

Even in her current state, Sarah’s beauty shone through. High,
defined cheekbones, strong jaw, flawless eyelids covering vivid blue eyes and
full, full lips that every boy this side of the Atlantic wanted to kiss when
they were teenagers. Cat opened her eyes.

“Okay. I’ve seen enough.”

Half an hour later, Cat stepped outside into the bright
midmorning sun and hurried down the stone steps in front of the station.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she rushed across the parking lot, praying
her tears didn’t break. Her heart ached for her dead friend and her mind reeled
with the information she’d gained at the tongue and allowance of Inspector
Bennett.

The man was a cop; there was no doubt about that. Steady,
distant and professional, yet when he said he knew Sarah, it meant the case was
personal for him and all the other officers involved, too.

“Cat?”

The sound of footsteps to her side had her turning. Her stomach
tightened at the sight of Jay’s concerned expression as he hurried toward
her.

“What are you doing here?” She resisted the urge to fall into
his outstretched arms. Suspect. Liar. Lover.

“You told me your meeting was at nine o’clock. Where else would
I be? Are you all right?” He cupped a hand to her elbow and stared into her
face, his brown eyes questioning and dark with concern. “I’d hoped you’d want me
to come here with you. What time did you leave?”

Why didn’t you tell him about the phone
call, Jay? What else are you hiding?
“Early. I didn’t want to wake
you.”

He continued to stare, a muscle jumping in his jaw. She’d
pissed him off. Instead of berating her, he gestured toward his Mercedes
glinting like liquid silver in the sunlight.

“Let’s get in the car. You’re shaking.”

He slipped his arm around her shoulder and Cat leaned into him.
She couldn’t help it. Just for a moment, she wanted to feel his strength against
her. Wanted to remember him as he was seven years ago and not as a man she could
never love again.
Not as a possible killer.
He led
her to the car and helped her into the passenger seat.

She dropped her head against the headrest and closed her eyes.
His door opened and he slid into the seat. Sensing him watching her, Cat prayed
he possessed enough patience to give her a moment to regain her equilibrium.

Thankfully, he did.

The engine purred to life. “Hotel California” blared from the
speakers and the alloy wheels crunched over the graveled parking lot before he
pulled onto the smooth Tarmac of the main road. His silence only lasted to the
end of the song.

“Cat?”

Turning her head on the headrest, she opened her eyes. “She’s
dead, Jay.”

He frowned and faced front. His hand left the gearshift and
covered hers where it lay on her thigh. “How bad was it?”

She tightened her hand around his fingers. “Bad. It wasn’t
until I saw her picture, saw her lying there in the grass, that it truly hit
me.”

His jaw tightened. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I couldn’t
imagine seeing Sarah that way.”

Cat stared as he faced front. Would she suspect every word he
said from now on? Every look? Every caring gesture he offered her? She turned to
the windshield as regret wound tight inside her. Bennett had ordered her to tell
Jay nothing, but instinct told her that letting him know certain things could
help her eliminate his guilt. Doing that was rapidly becoming her priority. If
she could trust Jay, the burden would be so much lighter.

“The first thing we need to do is go back to Clover Point. Back
to where she was found.” She stopped. “Damn. I forgot to ask Bennett who found
her.” She looked at him. “Do you know?”

“The press said she was found by someone staying at the holiday
park adjacent to the forest. Apparently, the guy was walking his dog in the
forest. No name was given.”

She reached into her bag and extracted her phone. “I’ll make a
note on my phone to call Bennett later. See what they found out about this dog
walker. I can only assume there was no suspicion, because I’d like to think
Bennett would have told me otherwise, but then again...” What did she really
know about Bennett’s generosity at this stage? About as much as he knew about
hers. The promise to exchange new information wasn’t going to be easy and they
both knew it.