Icy Betrayal (14 page)

TWENTY-SIX

K
eller had very little time to make things happen. Unless he moved quickly, Lisa might be arrested and held to answer for her role in the murder of George Lombard. But he was only able to pick up bits and pieces from McCallister’s call.

Lisa’s text read, “Scott called, I didn’t answer, but he left a message. What do I do? Pls call.”

Keller was dialing his burner phone even before he made it to the truck.

“Hello?” Lisa said, shaken.

“What did he say on the message?”

“He said there was an article in the paper this morning and that the cops were reopening the investigation. He said we needed to meet to get our stories straight. He wants me to meet him at noon. I’m so scared.”

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m at home.”

“Okay, Lisa, I need you to listen carefully. One way or another you can’t stay there. I need you to pack. One bag only. Meet me at Tamale Jack’s near your house, you know the place, right?”

“Yes.”

“Meet me there in thirty minutes.”

“Uh, okay.”

“Lisa, everything’s going to be all right. We’ll work it out. I’ll take care of you.”

“I’ll be there in half an hour,” she said.

Jack stewed with each passing mile as he headed south on I-25. An old man had followed him, his captain was apparently screwing his partner, and somebody planted an article about his case without consulting him.

The article pissed him off the most. It was a clear sign he wasn’t trusted at RCSO. Where did that come from? Serrano? McCallister? Were they conspiring against him? Could they know more about Lisa than they let on? And why the hell was Serrano’s father following him?

McCallister was back in his office twenty minutes after dispatching Keller and Mia. He had begun planning on the way to the office. Keller and Mia would take the lead. He’d need another four undercover cars with eight undercover deputies. The captain doubted Lennox and Sullivan had the potential to become violent when confronted, but it was a public place on a Sunday afternoon and he wasn’t going to take any chances. The UC cars would be strategically placed—two in the parking lot of Bean Crazy and the other two parked out on Petal Highway, pointing in opposite directions and ready to initiate a pursuit in the unlikely event Lennox and Sullivan decided to run. Uniformed deputies working the beat would be alerted and be ready to assist if it turned into an actual pursuit. McCallister was confident there was no way Lennox and Sullivan would elude capture.

Mick called Mark Archer so he could alert Anita Sanchez at the News-Press to the takedown. It was payback for the article that put things in motion. She wouldn’t get the story before anyone else, but the tip would allow her to prepare and be first online with details. Most media outlets only had inexperienced, skeleton crews on weekends, giving Sanchez an even bigger advantage.

Next, McCallister dialed Sheriff Connelly. He hoped the boss hadn’t decided to sleep late. Mick never liked waking him up, but he was confident this was a call the sheriff wouldn’t mind taking.

“Sheriff, it’s Captain McCallister. We got a break in the Lombard case…”

When she got to the office, Mia began reviewing the murder book. She knew the case inside and out, but by refreshing her memory of every detail, she’d be ready for the interrogations. Any suspect can refuse to answer questions, but most choose to talk. It’s often the best opportunity for investigators to catch a perp in a lie, so every detail mattered.

Mia had trouble concentrating after the bizarre scene that had played out in her living room. Why would her dad follow Keller after she’d specifically told him not to?

Keller wasn’t likely to let it go. Mia thought it might be best just to come clean and tell him why she had him followed and why she was suspicious. No cop is above the law.

It was a little before ten, less than two hours before the takedown. There was enough time to talk with Keller before the bust. She picked up the phone to set a meeting. After all, he probably had a few things to say to her, too.

TWENTY-SEVEN

T
amale Jack’s in Rosebud was a hot spot during the week, but on weekends the place was mostly deserted. It was far from fancy; food was ordered and picked up from the same counter. The morning special was a chorizo and egg burrito.

“What can I get you?”

“Iced tea and a Diet Coke,” he replied.

“Chips and salsa?” the high school-aged counter girl offered.

“For breakfast? Uh, sure,” Jack smirked.

Keller took his tray to a table along a side wall, keeping a safe distance from the other customers; namely an elderly couple that looked close to finishing their meal. He took a long draw from his Diet Coke while getting a good look at the old man across the restaurant. Elderly gentlemen were on Keller’s radar this morning, and he amusingly hoped to himself that Charles Serrano hadn’t enlisted a team of senior citizens in some AARP chat room to follow him around the state.

Lisa arrived and came right to the table. They hugged. It was evident she had been crying.

“Look, we don’t have a lot of time. We need to talk things through and lay out a plan of action from this point forward.”

Lisa agreed.

He leaned in close to her. “Just so you know, Scott will be arrested this afternoon when he shows up at the coffee place.”

Lisa was torn. While she wasn’t willing to go down with him for this crime, she had loved Scott Lennox, or at least loved the man she thought he was and had planned to spend the rest of her life with him. All that was gone now.

“I still can’t believe he lied to me about the insurance money. I wonder now if he ever really planned to leave his wife. I mean, I think he did love me, but maybe he got cold feet. He knew I would keep the secret. I couldn’t go to the police and tell them what happened; he knew I was in too deep. Maybe he planned to give me part of the $500,000 to shut me up, then stay with his wife and have the rest of the life insurance money.”

“I think that’s a very likely scenario. It happens, Lisa, don’t beat yourself up over it. One way or another, your relationship with Scott is over. It can’t be anything but over, unless you want to go down with him. Listen carefully to me, you really need to be sure about the next step because there’s no going back. If you run, you’ll be running for good. They aren’t going to forget about you. It’s a sexy case and the media will eat it up. But even when they lose interest, from time to time, the story will resurface. Your picture will be everywhere, at least everywhere within the U.S. That’s why Mexico could be your best bet, and I have a place there.”

“I’ve thought it through a thousand times. Mom is dead. I don’t have any close friends. The only person in my life now is the father I never knew.”

“Yeah,” Keller said, sad for his daughter and sorry for all the years lost.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s okay,” Jack said, trying to reassure her.

“I love that we have a relationship now. And I hope that can continue even if I am on the run. Will those phones that we use still work in Mexico?”

“Yes, they’ll work.”

“I just can’t go to prison. I’d rather die. Do you really think I can have a life in Mexico?”

“Yes, I do. Is that what you want?”

“I think so.”

Keller continued, “I’ll do everything possible to help you with whatever decision you make, but at this point you don’t have a lot of options, and I think Mexico is your best bet.”

“I want to go,” she said sternly, nodding for emphasis.

“Okay, then we’ll make it happen for you. Now, this is important. No matter what, don’t use your cards. No ATM withdrawals, no debit cards, no credit cards. Everything in cash.” Keller pulled a thick envelope from his jacket. “This will get you started.”

Keller checked to make sure no one was looking as Lisa thumbed through the contents. “Oh my God,” she said. “How much is this?”

“Twenty thousand. Be careful with it.”

“I can’t take this…”

“Please, you’re my daughter.”

“You’re risking so much by helping me.”

Jack shook his head. “Don’t worry about me; let’s just get you into Mexico. We’ve only got half an hour or so before I need to leave to get back to Castle Springs for the arrest. Let me outline what you need to do, step by step, to get out of the country and what you need to do once you’re in Mexico. You have to do exactly what I say.”

Jack laid out the plan in detail as Lisa committed it to memory. There was no room for error, he reminded her.

“C’mon,” her father told her. “It’s time to go.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

K
eller drove back to Castle Springs, alone with his thoughts. It was hard to leave Lisa, but if she followed his instructions, she’d at least make it out of the country.

Then there was Serrano’s phone call. Why did she want to meet before the takedown? What was her angle? Fuck her, he thought.

Jack had just left his daughter and already wondered where she was.

Mia arrived for their meeting a few minutes early. Soon, Keller pulled in. Why, she wondered, was he driving his own truck instead of his unmarked department car?

He drove up next to her so their cars were positioned driver’s door to driver’s door. With their windows open, the two were face-to-face a few feet apart. The weather had turned cold and a stiff breeze was coming from the west. This would be an uncomfortable conversation on many levels.

“You called this meeting, Serrano, so spill it.”

Mia took a deep breath, “Jack, I have great respect for you as an investigator, but I have something to say, and I’m just going to say it.”

Jack braced himself. “Geez, Mia, then go ahead and say it.”

“The reason we, I mean my dad, put the GPS on your car… Well, I had some concerns that you were helping Lisa Sullivan. If you’re having an affair with her and are trying to keep her from being arrested… I mean, c’mon, Jack, do you really want to jeopardize your career for some woman? I thought you were a better man than that.”

Keller broke out in laughter. So that was it? She thought he was screwing Lisa Sullivan? God, if she only knew, he thought to himself.

“Wow, Mia,” Keller replied, struggling to get the words out. “I don’t know what to say. Except that I can assure you that I am not sleeping with Lisa Sullivan. There is no romantic, sexual, or deviant relationship between me and our suspect. For God’s sake, Mia. That’s why you had your father tail me? I guess I should take it as a compliment, but seriously… You thought I was screwing her?”

His reaction caught Mia off guard.

“You were so protective of her,” Mia replied defensively. “Every time I brought up her possible involvement in the case you found a reason to shoot it down. You climbed up my ass for looking for her sister in Big Pine, and you made it pretty clear to me and the captain that you thought Lennox acted alone in the murder.”

“You could have just asked me straight out, Mia. Look, I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I know how to investigate a fucking murder. I’m not trying to disparage you or the captain, but I just have more experience than you guys. You’ve got a lot of potential as an investigator, or at least I thought you did until now. But I’m twenty, almost thirty years of homicides, rapes, and robberies ahead of you. I follow my hunches because they’re usually right.”

“So, I have your word,” Mia said, trying to retain some dignity, “that you aren’t involved romantically with Lisa Sullivan?”

“With God as my witness, I have never laid a hand on that woman, and I never would. Maybe if she had an aunt I might…” he added jokingly.

Mia looked long and hard at Keller. She was a pretty good judge of people, and she believed Keller’s response was genuine. But she wasn’t fully convinced that Keller was being totally honest with her. It was an intuitive sense telling her to be cautious. But with the arrests of Lennox and Sullivan about to go down, she let him off the hook.

“All right, Jack, I’ll take you at your word. And I’m sorry about the GPS tracker. I was out of bounds, and I apologize.”

“Ya think? I’d be a little more pissed off if I wasn’t so flattered you thought I was banging Lisa Sullivan. Now, if you don’t mind, can we go to work?”

“Okay.”

“Oh, and I promise not to cop a feel when we bust her today. But if she’s all worked up and tries to put the moves on me, I’m counting on you, partner, to keep me safe,” he teased.

“You know, you really are an asshole, Jack,” she shot back.

Keller smiled and gave Mia a little nod as he rolled up the window and pulled away.

By 11:30, the RCSO team was assembled for the takedown of Scott Lennox and Lisa Sullivan.

The route Lisa Sullivan was taking out of Colorado would put her in New Mexico by late afternoon and Arizona before she would need to stop for the night. Keller repeatedly told Lisa to drive carefully and obey all traffic laws. He was hoping her car wouldn’t make the state’s “hot list” before she was able to cross the New Mexico state line, but regardless, it was critical she didn’t draw any attention from law enforcement.

“Hey everybody, let’s get this thing done,” Captain McCallister shouted to the RCSO personnel gathered in the industrial park just east of Petal Highway.

“You’ve seen the pictures of our two subjects. Our intel says Scott Lennox and Lisa Sullivan plan to meet today at noon at Bean Crazy Coffee. Neither of our subjects have a criminal history so we don’t expect any problems with the takedown today, but keep in mind these two are wanted in connection to a homicide, so take no chances. Scott Lennox is our primary. The girlfriend, Lisa Sullivan, is the accomplice.”

“Our leads today are Investigators Jack Keller and Mia Serrano. They will be watching from across the street during the takedown. Both our subjects know these two investigators, so we can’t have them in the line of sight for obvious reasons. Robert Garcia and Doug Saint, I want you in the coffee shop. Once they’re in custody, Keller and Serrano will Mirandize them, and then they’ll be transported separately to the station. We want to keep the two apart from each other so they won’t have a chance to talk, understood?”

There were nods all around.

“The location, Bean Crazy, is almost always busy. There will likely be many customers. So we wait for them to leave the coffee shop and make the arrest in the parking lot. I want every effort made to take these two into custody before they get to their vehicles and have a chance to leave the area. We sure as hell don’t need a pursuit that puts the public in danger. Everybody got it?”

The team was in agreement. As takedowns went, this was pretty basic.

At 11:45, everyone drove the few blocks to Bean Crazy and took up their assigned positions. Jack and Mia took Mia’s unmarked car and parked a hundred yards away. From there they would have a clear view of the shop, but were far enough away to avoid detection.

At precisely 11:50, Saint and Garcia walked into the shop together. Mick was right, it was busy with about two dozen customers inside. Once Saint and Garcia were in position, he came in, got coffee and a newspaper, and took a seat by the window.

Two cars took their positions in the Bean Crazy lot and two others were out on Petal Highway as directed.

At 11:59, Scott Lennox pulled in. Once inside, he scanned the room for Lisa Sullivan, didn’t see her and took a seat at one of the few empty tables. Mick was just ten feet away. Garcia and Saint were on the opposite side near the exit door. Lennox looked around toward the parking lot every few seconds for Lisa. He shifted nervously in his chair and repeatedly glanced at his watch. By 12:05, there was still no sign of her.

By 12:15, both McCallister and Lennox were growing concerned. Mick remained patient; his people wouldn’t make a move until Lennox did. And so they waited.

Finally, at 12:40, a perplexed Scott Lennox stood to leave. Mick nodded to his men, and they casually followed the target outside. Mick was close behind.

“On the ground! On the ground!”

As perps often do, Lennox hesitated, prompting two deputies to help him to the ground, quickly and forcefully.

“What the fuck is this?!”

Seconds later, Mia and Jack pulled up, coming to a quick stop next to Lennox’s car. He was cuffed and yanked to his feet.

“This is ridiculous. Who the hell…?”

“Mr. Lennox,” McCallister said. “I think you’ve met Investigators Keller and Serrano.”

Keller turned to Mia, giving her the honor.

“Scott Lennox, you are under arrest for the murder of George Lombard. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?”

“What the fuck are you talking about? This is some kind of mistake. I had nothing to do with…”

Mick cued the deputies and they placed him in the back of Saint’s unmarked car. Garcia sat in the back with him, and the car sped away. The arrest of Scott Lennox had taken less than three minutes.

“Where the hell is Sullivan?” McCallister asked, looking at Keller and Mia.

Keller shrugged, but hoped she was out of state by now.

Lisa was filled with relief as she crossed the border into New Mexico but couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever see her home again. She guessed Scott was in custody by now, facing a murder charge. She envisioned him in jail. On one hand, she was sad for the loss of what they had once had, the plans they had made together, and the love she thought they had shared. But at the same time, she felt some perverse pleasure knowing Scott would pay for what he did. After all, he lied to her and was never going to leave his wife. He lied about the insurance, and he used her to help him kill a man.