Wanted with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Five) (17 page)

She wasn’t sure why, but his statement surprised her. Her expression must have showed it, because he grinned. “We all knew you couldn’t have done it,” he continued. “Wilcome played his part for the department, but he told us to find anything that could clear your name. He didn’t need to ask, though, because we were already looking.”

She searched his face, expecting to see that it was nothing more than a kind statement, but his sentiment was genuine. “Thank you,” she responded.

With one last grin, she turned and walked back toward the elevator. Though short, her walk had its desired effect. She now felt both calm and optimistic.

When she walked back into the homicide office minutes later, she was surprised not to find Ben on her desk where she had left him. She glanced quickly around the room, but he was nowhere to be found. She was just about to ask Matthews if he had seen where he went when she spotted him in the conference room with her parents.

“How long has he been in there?” she asked Matthews, though her eyes remained fixed on Ben. He had his back toward her, but she could see that he held both Amber and Douglas’ attention.

“He went in shortly after you left,” Matthews stated. “I have to say, I don’t think I would have been that brave.”

She pulled her eyes off of the window and looked at him curiously.

“It’s hard enough to meet your girlfriend’s father under normal circumstances,” Matthews said. “I was terrified when I met Katy’s and he owns a pet store. Your father
has been tracking a professional assassin for half of his life. That might actually be even more difficult that if your father had simply been on the force.”

“They met last night,” she stated, returning her gaze toward them. “And Ben seemed more angry than worried.”

Matthews let out a strange little groan that pulled her attention back in. “Ben was with you for support last night. That’s a far cry from having a one-on-one without you around,” he stated. There was something in his smirk that caught Rilynne’s eye, but she was too preoccupied to try to identify it. “Even if he had wanted to, your father wouldn’t have played the protective card with you standing right there. Especially not last night. Now that you aren’t around, though, he can say whatever he thinks he needs to.”

Rilynne hadn’t thought about that. “Should I go in there?” she asked.

Matthews quickly shook his head. “Ben will be fine,” he said confidently. “Besides, I’m sure he also has quite a few things he wants to say to your father without you around. I guarantee he wasn’t even close to as angry when he was with you last night as he was during the conversation we had yesterday.”

“He talked to you about it?” she asked.

“Of course he did,” Matthews said, amused by the shocked look on her face. “I’ve known Ben for a long time. I think you would actually be shocked at just how much he tells me.” She squinted at him suspiciously, causing him to laugh. “Nothing like that!” he declared. “Ben’s like family to me. I was actually one of the officers who arrested him when he was a teenager. Though he didn’t admit it at the time, I knew there was something he wasn’t telling us. I could see it in his eyes. After that, I took him under my wing. I even helped Justin get in with the department, as well as Ben when he was ready.”

Rilynne didn’t know what to say. She had known they were close, but she didn’t know they had so much history. As she turned back toward the window, she couldn’t help but wonder why Ben hadn’t told her.

“So he was really angry?” she asked, keeping her eyes on Ben’s back. His arm was pulled up in front of him, and although she couldn’t see it, she was positive he was dragging his knuckles across his chin. Her mom looked up and met her eye, but quickly turned back toward Ben.

“Furious,” he replied. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s glad your father’s back. Just don’t expect him to be as accepting of his reasons for leaving. You know Ben lost his parents, then his brother; he will never understand, no matter what the reasons were, how a man could willingly leave a family he loved.”

“I suddenly don’t know who I should be more concerned for,” Rilynne said. She chuckled and turned back toward Matthews. “You don’t actually think he would be angry enough to hit him, do you?”

Matthews just shrugged and laughed.

Rilynne watched them for another ten minutes. She tried to imagine what they could be talking about, but her head was still too clouded to even hazard a guess. Every few minutes, her parents’ eyes would shift toward hers then back, but they made no movement to include her in the conversation.

She was considering interrupting them when Wilcome beat her to it.

“We need to make the arrangements,” he said, sticking his head through the door.

Douglas nodded and followed him out. As they made their way toward Wilcome’s desk, Rilynne slipped into the conference room.

“Hey there,” she said, eyeing Ben and Amber curiously as she crossed the room and leaned against the table next to Ben. “It looks like the three of you had a nice chat.”

Ben nodded and kissed her on the cheek. “We sure did. How was your walk? Didn’t go outside, did you?”

She shot him a sideways glance. “No,” she stated. “I went up to the lab and had a nice little chat with Summers. I got back a while ago.”

“Summers is still here?” he asked, glancing down at his watch. “I sent everyone home. No one has really left for more than a few hours at a time since they issued that warrant. While I have nothing but admiration for them, my overtime budget for the next month has already been used.”

Rilynne laughed and rolled her eyes. Though she wanted to push them more about the conversation she had witnessed, she knew by his obvious evasion of the topic that it was not something she would be able to get out of him. At least, not just then.

She and Ben walked out of the conference room, leaving Amber staring out the window. She looked like she hadn’t slept at all since Rilynne talked to her the night
before. With as much information as she had been given, Rilynne had a feeling she could use a little time to herself.

“Here,” Matthews said, tossing a vest across the desk to her. Rilynne pulled in on and started fastening it into place. She watched Ben’s eyes as they followed her hands to each strap.

“Is it really wise for you to be there?” Ben asked. Rilynne could see the obvious concern on his face.

“Probably not, but it doesn’t really matter,” she said. “I won’t just sit here and wait. You know me well enough to know that I would probably go crazy before the whole thing was over. Besides, do you think I’m really going to pass up the chance to use the earpieces? You know how much I love them.”

Ben grinned and rolled his eyes. “Just promise me you’ll be careful,” he insisted. “This guy is a professional killer. You know as well as I do that he’ll probably be expecting a setup.”

“I know. That’s why we’re getting in place before the meeting is even arranged. That way if he decides to go stake the place out before the meeting, he won’t see anyone coming or going,” she explained.

She could see that he wasn’t the least bit happy, but he seemed to know it was pointless to argue with her.

“Just promise me something,” she said as she grabbed the gun from her drawer. “Keep my mom safe.”

He nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go, Evans,” Wilcome said as he and the rest of the team walked past her. She grabbed Ben’s hand as she followed after them, giving it one last squeeze before she stepped through the door.

Rilynne felt like she was packed into a case of sardines when they all piled into the elevator. With everyone wearing vests, there was hardly enough room to breathe. She felt like she was on the verge of becoming claustrophobic when the doors finally opened again.

Instead of going out the front door, the group went out the back and clambered into the waiting van. Rilynne glanced at the side before climbing in. Today, they were plumbers.

“All right, everyone knows the plan,” Wilcome said as the doors shut behind him.

Everyone nodded as the van lunged forward. Rilynne felt an excitement building within her. It was the same one she always felt when she was moving into a situation similar to this one. Even after her years on the force, though, she still hadn’t gotten used to it.

She reached up and slipped her ear bud into place and sat quietly back as the van carried them across town. No one seemed to have anything to say, because they rode in complete silence. Rilynne took advantage of it as she closed her eyes and let her head fall back. She sat there for close to five minutes before giving up and opening them again. When she did, she found her father staring at her from across the van. He had a yearning in his eyes. He wanted to know if she had seen anything. Rilynne shook her head, just enough for him to make out, then looked away.

When they stopped in front of the warehouse, everyone quickly climbed out and made their way in. A second van pulled up just behind them, filled with members of vice as well as several uniformed officers.

“Make sure the back exit is secured, then take cover in the next building. As soon as we confirm the suspect, I want the front entrance surrounded. Do not make a move until I give the word,” Wilcome instructed. “And get these vans out of here.”

As they drove away, everyone moved into place. They spread out in the building, positioning themselves on the second level where they could see everything going on below, while still remaining hidden. When they were all in place, Douglas dragged a chair into the middle of the room as he pulled out his phone.

“I’m assuming by the promptness of your answer that you were expecting someone else,” he said, his voice echoing through the building. “I hate to be the one to tell you that your little girlfriend was picked up by the police for filing a false statement. Your little idea to use her as a witness against my daughter was pretty clever. Too bad they found surveillance videos of her across town at the time.

“Now, here’s where I have a little proposition for you,” he continued. “You partner grabbed my daughter. I want her back. In exchange, I will give the evidence I have against your girlfriend to you instead of the cops.” Rilynne could see a clear grin form on his face as he nodded along with the voice on the other end of the line. “So here’s the deal. You meet with me in one hour at a location of my choosing. You will tell me where my daughter is being held, and when my associate has eyes on her, I’ll hand over everything I have. Then we go our separate ways and you never go near my family again.”

After a few moments, he gave a thumbs-up to the room. “The warehouse at the corner of Kramer and Eighth. If you aren’t there within the hour, I go straight to the police and you partner never sees the outside of a prison cell again.”

Douglas hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair, pulling his arms up behind his head. Rilynne was almost intimidated by his demeanor while on the call. She couldn’t help but wonder if he would have been nearly as brazen if he hadn’t already seen the partner showing up to the meeting.

“And now we wait,” Douglas announced.

They didn’t need to wait long. From where she stood, Rilynne had a clear view of the street outside. She watched the same black car pass the building three times before parking across the street ten minutes later.

“I think I’ve got eyes,” she stated, trying to get a better look. Sure enough, not five minutes after parking, a tall, dark haired man stepped out of the car and started toward the building. Something about him was familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. It wasn’t until he was only ten feet from the door that she realized exactly who he was.

“He’s a cop,” she stated. “He works in the evidence room in Bodker. His name is Scott Harris. Must be her husband.”

Before she could go any further, he pushed the large door open and walked into the room.

“Well aren’t you the eager little one,” Douglas said, rising from his chair.

“Where is it?” Harris demanded as he moved quickly toward Douglas. He stopped just five feet from him. “Show me what you’ve got and I will tell you exactly where that sweet little girl of yours is.”

Douglas made like he was going to open the file before stopping and looking back up to Harris. “How do I know you even have my daughter?” he asked. “For all I know, you could just be some nut who doesn’t even have anything to do with Tori Harris.”

“I’m her husband,” he declared. She could hear the frustration building in his voice. “And as for Rilynne, I know exactly where Tori has her. Trust me when I say, you won’t be seeing your daughter again unless you give me what I want. At least not alive, anyway.”

“I should have known she was connected to the Bodker PD,” Douglas said as he flipped through the large file in front of him. “It definitely explains why she kept going back.”

His comment seemed to completely surprise Harris, because he looked around the room abruptly before looking back at Douglas.

“What?” Douglas asked, shrugging carelessly. “You think after twenty-five years living off the grid that I don’t know a cop when I see one. Besides, Rilynne worked for Bodker PD. Do you really think I wasn’t going to be keeping a close eye on her and know everyone in her life? You didn’t even bother to bring a gun other than your department issued one, though. I’m guessing the little lady usually takes care of all the messy work.”