Revenge of Innocents (28 page)

“Here,” the girl said, removing the phone from her back pocket and throwing it at her. “You don’t even trust me now. I hate you. You jump through hoops for someone else’s kid when you never have time for me. Between that and your job, I might as well not have a mother. You’re just like Dad. He doesn’t give a shit about me. It’s been over a year since he even called me. Jude isn’t your daughter. She’s not even related to us.”

Carolyn exploded. “When Jude wakes up, I’m the one who’ll have to tell her whether she still has an arm. Then I’ll have tell a girl whose mother was just murdered that the same thing happened to her father. Don’t you have any compassion, Rebecca? Are you that self-centered?” She paced around the small room, determined not to say anything else until she calmed down. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to spend more time with you lately. Haven’t I always been there when you needed me? Most of the time, you’re with your friends or locked in your room. There’s no law that says a mother-daughter relationship runs in only one direction.”

“What’s going on?” Marcus asked, bolting upright in his chair. “Why on earth are you screaming at each other?”

“It’s my fault,” Carolyn told him, picking the phone up and handing it back to Rebecca. “I trust you, honey. I was wrong to take your phone away. The police suspect Anne Marie’s father may have killed her sister. That’s why I can’t let you speak to her right now.”

“That’s ridiculous,” her daughter said, glaring up at her.

Carolyn walked over and sat back down beside her. “I’m going to tell you something, but you can never, ever repeat it. If you do, you’ll start something that will come back to haunt you. The person this is about isn’t here to defend herself. She died a horrible death. She doesn’t deserve to be disrespected by people who earn their living off someone else’s pain and misfortune.”

Rebecca flicked the ends of her fingernails. “You’re talking about Haley, right?”

Carolyn sucked in a deep breath, then blurted out, “The coroner who performed the autopsy said she’d been sexually active since she was approximately ten.”

“That can’t be true. Anyway, how could he tell?”

“Because when a prepubescent girl engages in sexual intercourse on a regular basis, it leaves scars. It can also cause permanent damage to the vagina. I’d rather you not hear things like this, but you didn’t give me any option.”

Rebecca stared at her in stunned silence.

“Maybe Donny, as you call him, didn’t buy Anne Marie a BMW because she didn’t do the things for him her sister did. I failed at protecting Jude, but maybe I can help prevent this from happening to someone else. This is the world I live in, sweetheart, and girls like Haley are why I work so hard at my job. I generally only learn about these crimes after they happen, but every now and then I get a chance to prevent them. My job is to make certain the men and women who hurt innocent people are punished. When it comes to pedophiles, there’s no cure. A pedophile could be in prison for thirty years and still be compelled to molest children the day he was released.”

Rebecca wiped a tear from her eye, then threw her arms around her mother’s neck. “I’m sorry I said those hateful things to you. I didn’t mean them. I’m proud to have a mother like you.” She pulled back and glanced over at Marcus, kicking out and touching the toe of his shoe. “You did good, Mom. You got me a new father, someone who actually cares about me.”

Marcus stood and came over, pulling Rebecca to her feet and embracing her. “I’m going to make certain you have a good life. I made a lot of mistakes with my own children. I won’t make them with you.”

Carolyn draped her arms around both of them. “You guys go on home,” she said. “I’ll stick around here for a while, then call and have you pick me up. Unless something goes wrong, we’ll have dinner together. Marcus, can you arrange for someone to watch out for Jude while she’s at school tomorrow?”

“Certainly.”

“You mean I’m going to have my own bodyguard?” Rebecca said, excited. “That will be totally cool. Everyone will think I’m a celebrity.”

Marcus smiled. “You’ve had a bodyguard for a long time, even before your mother asked me.”

“Really? Why didn’t you tell me? I never saw anyone.”

“You’re not supposed to see him,” Marcus told her. “That’s why they call it shadowing someone. I told you I wasn’t going to make any mistakes this time around. My family is my most important asset.”

Tuesday, October 18
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1:45
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arolyn stared at Jude through the glass in intensive care. Her left arm was heavily bandaged, her eyes tightly closed, and her bodily functions were being taken care of by machines. Dr. Samuels, a man in his late forties with thinning brown hair and dark-framed glasses, stepped up beside her. He spoke with a New York accent. “The reattachment went remarkably well. Barring infection, I think your daughter will be able to keep her arm.”

“Where’s Dr. Martin?”

“He’s not available,” Samuels told her. “He still has privileges here, but his primary practice is in LA now. We were lucky he was in town visiting his daughter. I’m an orthopedic surgeon as well, but Greg Martin has far more experience when it comes to this particular procedure.”

“When will she wake up?”

“We’ll start tapering off the drugs in forty-eight hours unless a problem develops. She’s still going to need narcotics for pain control, but she should be conscious and able to speak with you.”

Carolyn felt like a talking head. The rest of her body was numb. “Will she be able to use her arm?”

“To what extent, we’ll have to wait and see. Before we start physical therapy, however, the wounds need time to heal.”

Carolyn decided her ruse had to end. “I’m not Jude’s mother, Doctor. Her mother is dead. She was murdered a week ago. Last night, her father was shot and killed as well. My name is Carolyn Sullivan.”

Dr. Samuels blinked several times, but otherwise didn’t react. “What relationship do you have to the patient? Are you her legal guardian?”

“Technically, Jude doesn’t need a guardian since she’s eighteen. I’m a close friend of the family.”

“But, Ms. Sullivan,” he said, somewhat agitated, “this patient isn’t able to make decisions for herself right now. Surely, she has relatives.”

“She has an aunt in San Francisco,” Carolyn said, unsteady on her feet. “I may be her legal guardian, though. Her mother and father made provisions in their wills for me to take care of their children should something happen to them. I haven’t verified this yet. Everything happened so fast.”

“Are you all right?” Dr. Samuels asked. “I can have the nurse bring you some water. How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”

“I’m…” Everything went black as Carolyn crumbled to the floor at the doctor’s feet.

“Where am I?”

“You’re fine,” a redheaded nurse told Carolyn. “You’re in the emergency room. You fainted. Dr. Samuels ordered you a dinner tray. It should be here any minute. He said we couldn’t let you go home until you ate.”

“But I was supposed to have dinner with my family,” Carolyn protested. “What time is it? I have to call my fiancé.” She tried to sit up when she realized she was attached to an IV. “What are you giving me?”

“Just fluids.” The nurse handed her a juice box with a straw in it. “The doctor suspected you might be dehydrated. Have you been drinking?”

“I don’t know,” Carolyn said, lacing her fingers through the bars on the bed.

“Then you’re probably dehydrated. Just relax, sweetie. Your fiancé and your daughter are on their way.” She checked the IV. “This is almost finished.”

Carolyn closed her eyes and fell back to sleep. She dreamed she was in a morgue. Veronica was there, as well as Drew. Jude’s severed arm was resting on a gurney by itself. She screamed, but no one came.

“Wake up, honey,” Marcus said. “You must have been having a bad dream. Rebecca’s waiting outside with Anne Marie. Her mother called and asked if she could stay with us for a few hours. The police picked up her father, and they’re searching their house. I didn’t know what to do, so I said okay.” He hit the button on the bed to elevate her to a sitting position, then positioned a table in front of her with a tray of food on it. “All you have to do is eat some of this, and we can get you out of this place.”

“How’s Jude?”

“I spoke to her nurse in intensive care,” Marcus said, cutting a piece of chicken and stabbing it with a fork. “She’s doing fine, Carolyn, no sign of infection. Come on, open your mouth. This looks tasty. Don’t worry, we’ll go out for a nice meal later.”

Carolyn let him feed her. The chicken tasted like rubber soaked in mushroom soup. He gave her some orange juice to wash it down. “This is disgusting. They can’t hold me here against my will.”

Marcus dropped the fork, his brows furrowing. “Why do you want to cause a scene over such a minor thing? Don’t we have enough problems to deal with right now? Jesus, I have a deadline to meet at work. If I don’t start paying attention to my business, I could lose everything.” He paced beside the bed. “I seriously underbid the competition, or I wouldn’t have these contracts. That means I’m operating on a tight budget. We can’t predict how long it will take to write or repair a complex program. My people need me, you need me, Rebecca needs me, other people’s children need me.”

Carolyn picked up the fork and shoveled the remaining pieces of the chicken into her mouth, then pushed the table away. Her problems were overpowering him. She felt sorry for him, but making money was business, and even if his company collapsed, Marcus had enough wealth to last a lifetime. She dealt with life-and-death situations. Preventing another murder took precedence over anything else, even her health, her fiancé, and her daughter. “Call the nurse to get this needle out of my arm, or I’ll do it myself. I need to be there when they interrogate Don Snodgrass. I’m sorry I got you involved with my problems, Marcus. If you want Rebecca and me to move out, all you have to do is tell me.”

“Why would I want you to move out?” he said, frustrated. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Wasn’t your preoccupation with your business what ended your first marriage?”

He jerked his head back as if she had struck him. “I shouldn’t have said anything, okay? I just didn’t see a reason to make such a big deal about eating a…” His eyes expanded. Carolyn was reaching for the IV needle.

“I’ll get the nurse,” Marcus said, hurrying out of the room.

At just over five-six, Don Snodgrass was a small man, with a pudgy face and small brown eyes. His hair was thinning on top and he wore a baseball cap to cover the bald spot. Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt with a beagle dog on the front, he sat anxiously in the observation room at the police department. Hank and Mary watched him through the one-way glass.

“The guy’s pathetic,” Mary said. “It’s hard to imagine him killing a mouse, let alone his own daughter. Maybe we made a mistake on this one, Hank.”

“What kind of man would be caught dead in a puppy dog shirt?” he argued. “He’s a classic pedophile. They dress and act like kids so they can lure their prey.”

“I don’t know,” Mary said. “He may be a pedophile, but I’m not certain he’s a murderer. Let me go in first. Where’s Carolyn? She was supposed to be here. Since Rebecca is a friend of his surviving daughter, she might get him to talk without an attorney. The wife obviously trusts her. She called Marcus and asked him to take Anne Marie so she wouldn’t be there when we executed the search warrant. Try to call Carolyn again. God, when is that woman going to start answering her cell phone?”

Mary composed herself, then entered the room and sat down at the table across from Don Snodgrass. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for your loss, Don,” she said, trying to mimic Carolyn’s nonconfrontational technique. Before she had became a supervisor, the probation officer had gone so far as dressing in suggestive clothing and flirting with offenders to get them to drop their guard. Even within police circles, Carolyn was renowned as an interrogator.

“Call me Mr. Snodgrass,” he said, removing his baseball cap and slapping it down on the table. “If you’re sorry for my loss, why are you harassing me and my family? My wife is on the verge of a breakdown. Do you have any idea what it’s like to lose a child, Detective? Instead of wasting your time with me, why don’t you catch the maniac who murdered Haley?”

“We’re doing everything we can,” Mary told him. “We just want to ask you a few questions.”

“My attorney is on her way down here. If you want to talk to someone, you can talk to her. I have nothing to say to you.”

Once a suspect refused to waive his rights, they couldn’t question him about the crime. Since she had no desire to make small talk, Mary got up and left.

Hank poked his head in the door a short time later. “Mr. Snodgrass,” he said, “a woman named Carolyn Sullivan is asking to see you. She claims to know your daughter, Anne Marie. She also said to tell you that Jude Campbell has been staying with her.” He acted as if he’d forgotten something. “Oh, your attorney, Beth Levy, called and said she got tied up in court. What do you want me to do about Ms. Sullivan?”

Snodgrass’s beady eyes roamed around the room. He’d already been sitting there for over an hour, and perspiration was popping out on his forehead. “I’ll see her,” he said, evidentially mistaking Carolyn for an ally.

Marcus had brought a change of clothes to the hospital, but Carolyn’s makeup had long disappeared. She walked straight up to Snodgrass and clasped his hand, one palm over another. “I’m Carolyn Sullivan,” she said. “You know that, though. Forgive me, I should have introduced myself a long time ago. I met your wife once at a school function. Anne Marie is a lovely girl. How is Angela holding up?”

“Not good,” Snodgrass said, his face muscles relaxing. “This foolishness with the police isn’t helping. What are they trying to accomplish? Drew and Veronica were close friends of ours. I heard on the news that he was killed. And Jude…she was like a second daughter to me. It’s all so awful.”

“I know,” Carolyn said, taking a seat beside him, then turning her chair so she was facing him. “I just left the hospital. I’m embarrassed to say I collapsed.” She didn’t have trouble mustering up a few tears. “I’m sorry,” she added, reaching into her pocket for a tissue. “Are you aware Jude’s arm was severed? If a nurse hadn’t witnessed the accident and stopped, she would have bled to death.”

Snodgrass froze. He looked as if he’d been encased in glass.

“The good news is she didn’t suffer a brain injury. We’re hoping she can identify the driver when she wakes up. At least the nurse got the vehicle description. The police think it may not have been an accident, that someone could have intentionally hit her.”

When he spoke, he seemed preoccupied. “I thought she was killed. I guess I was so shocked when I heard about Drew, I blocked everything else out.”

Interesting, Carolyn thought, putting on her most compassionate expression. The driver of the hit-and-run vehicle might have made the same assumption. “Maybe it struck too close to home. You know, because Jude and Haley were such good friends.”

“The girls had a falling-out last year. Angie and I felt it was for the best. Haley was the more stable of the two. That is, until she developed an eating disorder. We thought it was just a phase she was going through. From what I…” He stopped speaking, staring at the one-way glass. “It’s really hard for me to talk about this. Out of curiosity, how did you know I was here? Anne Marie mentioned that you were a probation officer. That’s not the same as a police officer, is it?”

“No,” Carolyn told him, sensing he was getting suspicious. She wanted to see what else she could get out of him, but she didn’t want to burn herself. If it came out she was working with the task force, his attorney could claim she’d violated his rights. “Angela called and spoke to my fiancé while I was at the hospital looking after Jude. She asked if Annie Marie could stay with us while the police searched your home.”

“What are they looking for?”

Carolyn stood to leave. She couldn’t lie to a direct question without stepping out of bounds. “I’m sure the police will release you, Donny. I hear you hired Beth Levy. She’s a former DA, so you’re in good hands. I doubt if you’ll need an attorney. How could anyone believe you had anything to do with these dreadful crimes? The police are just doing their job. You know, trying to eliminate every possibility.”

Carolyn had intentionally called him “Donny” to see how he reacted. If he was a pedophile, using a name he associated with his victims should trigger memories. He looked into her eyes, but he didn’t speak. There was something different about Snodgrass, something that hadn’t been there when she’d entered the room. Suddenly it came to her—resolve. He’d made some kind of decision, one he was determined to follow through on. Whether it was finding his daughter’s killer, destroying evidence, or leaving the country, she couldn’t say. Whatever it was, though, it was major.

Carolyn returned to the observation room where Hank and Mary were waiting. “As soon as Beth Levy gets here,” she said, “the game’s over. She’ll demand that you charge Snodgrass or release him. Did they find anything incriminating at his house?”

“Gary Conrad seized three computers,” Hank said, having just got off the phone. “One belonged to Haley, and the other to Anne Marie. We assume the father used the computer in the spare bedroom they’d converted into a home office. We can’t get into the damn thing. It’s got all kinds of passwords.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem for our guys,” Mary told him. “They live for this kind of stuff. I sent Ricky Walters out there. He can get into anything.”