The Lies You Told

by Emerald O'Brien

“Don’t be a stranger,” he said followed by a beep.

  Grace met Madigan at the door. “I think we need to check out the gym Tina went to,” she blurted. “Did you get my text?”

  “Mad, you know I can’t.”

  “You won’t.”

  She doesn’t understand the power Sergeant Colette has, but Greer does, and if I ever needed a reminder that if I cross him, I’m finished in Amherst for good—orders or not—it’s now.

  “You can go on your own. You don’t need me—you’re proving that.”

  “But can you stay here?” Madigan asked, staring her down. “Can you really just stay here while Tina’s out there somewhere after what she did for us?”

  Grace licked her lips, biting back the urge to argue.

  She doesn’t understand that my future career depends on this. I can’t expect her to understand because she doesn’t see it my way. We don’t have the same point of view.

  “I’m not impulsive like you,” Grace huffed. “I’m also bound by a strict set of rules and standards. I have to respect superiors, even if they aren’t mine, and I believe in the system.”

  “The same system that would have kept us with Eli and Evette if Tina hadn’t stuck her nose where her superiors and Child Services said it didn’t belong?”

  Grace rested her hands on her hips and shook her head no.

  But yes.

  How can I be such a hypocrite and stand behind the people who turn away when it’s not their problem or responsibility to take care of someone like Sergeant Colette did when Leah’s life was at stake?

  Where would I be if Tina hadn’t done that?

  “You know what I’m doing is right!” Madigan ran her fingers through her hair at her scalp and tugged at it before she let it go. “Come on, Grace. Admit it.”

  “I wish I was out there chasing leads just like you!”

  “Then why don’t you? It’s not against the rules—those strict rules and standards you believe in.”

  “Because if I do it—it could ruin my career!” That’s it. So selfish when I say it out loud, but no—it’s not all for me. “There are so many people I want to help, and Amherst needs good detectives. I’m a good detective, and I’m going to prove it.”

  “You’re a great detective, and a woman who saved us needs our help. You don’t have to prove it to anyone to help.”

  Grace’s hands shook as Madigan’s expression softened.

  That’s what this is all for—to prove my worth to the people who think I have none so I can finally be in a position to help more people.

  But I could help someone now. Someone who means something to me.

  “You’re right,” Grace whispered. “I’ve made a mistake.”

  By not helping Tina when and where I’m able, I’m putting my own career advancement before the people I’m supposed to protect.

  That’s not why I do this.

  Why am I doing this?

  Madigan grabbed Grace’s cold hand and wrapped it in the warmth of hers, stopping the trembling. “You know what’s right.”

  Grace nodded and grabbed her jacket, leaving the stack of papers on her table, and locked the door behind them.

  Chapter Nine

  “So this guy, Tommy,” Madigan said as they walked through the parking lot to Gym and Go. “Convicted murderer released from prison with a personal grudge against Tina.”

  “It puts everything in a new perspective. I’m glad you put this gym membership connection together, though. If they both come here, they must see each other more than Matt has led on, even by coincidence.”

  They walked through the sliding doors to the front desk, and Grace tucked her hand in her pocket.

  Will she use her badge if she doesn’t have to?

  “Hello, I’m Detective Sheppard for Deerhorn County. I’d like a look at your security footage.”

  “Hi there,” a fit, older woman said, stepping in front of the young girl who greeted them. “The last detective I spoke to was from Amherst, and I let him know he’d need a warrant to request footage from our facilities. Do you have it?”

  “No, ma’am, I don’t,” Grace said. “I’m not part of that investigation.”

  “Well, you’ll need a warrant for yours too.”

  Grace nodded. “You have a good night.” She tapped the counter and strode away with Madigan barely keeping up.

  “You’re giving up, just like that?” Madigan asked.

  “It wouldn’t have helped to argue. She’s right about the warrant. They don’t need to show us anything.”

  As they walked to the car, a security camera above a store in the adjacent plaza caught Madigan’s eye. “Hey. There.”

  She pointed, and Grace followed her line of vision. “The shoe store?”

  “The shoe store.” Madigan picked up her pace, passing Grace as she walked toward it. “See the camera above the door?”

  Grace smacked her on the arm. “Nice one.”

  “Just like the diner and grocery store set up in South Bend. That’s what made me think of it. Let me do the talking this time.”

  “Mad, there’s a reason you brought me out tonight instead of carrying on your own investigation. You want to do this by the book eventually. With a license, you want to do things legitimately.”

  Madigan sighed. “Fine.”

  Grace held the door open for her and nodded to the man behind the counter as they entered. “Hello, sir. I’m Detective Sheppard, and I’m investigating a possible incident that occurred in the parking lot out there. If I could take a look at your tapes for the nights in question, it would be a great help.”

  The man grimaced as they approached the counter and leaned over to look out the big front window. “Out there? What happened?”

  “We can’t say, sir. That’s why I need to see your tapes.”

  “Which nights?”

  Grace wrote down dates of the three nights surrounding Tina’s disappearance on her small notepad and ripped the page off for him.

  The man nodded. “I’ve got those. I keep them around for a month exactly.”

  He waved for them to follow him to the back room and set up the small monitor and tapes for them. “I have to go back out to the front, but if you find anything, could you let me know? If there’s some thief out there, I have girls working here, closing on their own sometimes. I need to know if it’s safe for them.”

  Grace nodded before he left.

  “That was good.” Madigan pressed play on the first tape, marked two nights before Tina’s disappearance. “You didn’t even lie.”

  Grace pulled up the Gym and Go hours of operation on her phone and took the converter, forwarding the tape to the same time it opened. Grace stood close to the screen, and Madigan leaned against a table as they watched the front door.

  Grace leaned in to get a better look and pressed pause. “There. That’s her.”

  “So, she goes in alone that morning…”

  Grace pressed fast forward until she spotted her leaving and played it. “And same when she leaves. Parks over by the side of the building there.”

  “Okay, next one.” Grace switched the tapes. “One night before the disappearance.”

  Grace fast-forwarded through the tape, and they shifted around in their spots as daylight in the video turned to night, the lot illuminated by lamp posts throughout and the bright glow of the sign above the gym.

  “There,” Grace said, pointing to the screen.

  “No, that’s not her. That woman has bangs.”

  “Right, okay.”

  Grace fast-forwarded until they spotted Tina’s car driving toward the side where she parked, out of frame at seven-thirty PM. She strode around the corner and entered the building.

  “Dawn, the night PSW, said Tina wasn’t always at the gym at the same time, which is why she didn’t see her very often.”

  Grace fast-forwarded until Tina strode out the sliding door two hours later, alone.

  “Last tape.” Madigan exchanged
them. “The night of the disappearance.”

  Day turned to night again, and Grace pressed play right before seven-thirty. Tina walked around the corner and entered the gym. Just before Madigan pressed fast forward, Matt walked down the center aisle of the parking lot with a gym bag over his shoulder.

  “Just after seven-thirty,” Grace muttered. “Okay, so she arrives. He comes just after. Rhett said he came home, and she wasn’t there, what the neighbors told you. This all lines up. She stayed home after Shawna left, maybe had some dinner, and then went to the gym…”

  “And what are the chances her ex-husband comes right in after her? You think he followed her? Or could they have set up a meeting?”

  “Just watch,” Grace whispered, fast-forwarding until Tina and Matt walked out through the sliding doors together, side by side. “Wow.”

  “He was the last one to see her,” Madigan muttered as they stopped just beside the sliding door.

  They spoke for another few seconds before Matt bent down and kissed Tina softly but passionately until she stepped back.

  “That was not just friendly!” Madigan turned to Grace. “They have a side thing going on.”

  “Shh.”

  They exchanged a few more words, Tina nodded, and they parted ways as a few other women walked out the gym’s sliding door and another man crossed in front of them, walking in with a gym bag matching Matt’s. Matt walked out front, down the center aisle of the parking lot, eventually out of frame. Tina disappeared around the corner again.

  I wish we could hear what they were saying.

  “Can you read lips?”

  “From this distance?” Grace scoffed. “Not a chance. Matt Morelli has withheld information from Shawna, we know that for sure. But we don’t know if he’s told the police about this. They haven’t gotten the warrant yet, and I’m not sure why. I don’t think they know about Matt and Tina. I think they were just told by Rhett or Shawna that Gym and Go is part of her usual routine. There was no motivation to follow up on it.”

  Madigan watched the screen, staring at the exact spot Tina disappeared around the corner, and willed her to come back.

  That can’t be the last time anyone sees her.

  “We can’t tell Shawna.” Grace shrugged, setting the remote on the table and folding her arms over her chest. “But we need to make sure Shelling gets these tapes.”

  “I’m going to make copies. We can send them in anonymously if we have to.” Madigan got out new tapes and labeled them with dates and times.

  We could have the upper hand if no one knows about Tina and Matt…

  She turned to Grace. “I think we should confront him.”

  “Matt? What? No.”

  “He’ll be caught off guard, and then we can question him.”

  “Shelling is responsible for questioning suspects. He just needs proof, and we’ll give it to him.”

  “They still haven’t gotten the warrant for the gym. They are just now questioning some of the neighbours. It doesn’t make sense. Do you really trust them to question the ex-husband, even if they saw this tape? They seem to be going in the Tommy Leman direction now.”

  “They will question Matt Morelli once they see these.” Grace took the stack of copies from the table. “Hey, you already made the copies, what are you doing?”

  “Making ourselves an extra set. Just in case.”

  As they left with the tapes, Grace’s phone vibrated, and as she read it, she angled it away from Madigan.

  She’s hiding it. It must be Mac. Maybe she’s finally ready to have a life outside of work…

  “Hey, want to come to my place for a game of crib?” Madigan asked.

  Maybe I can get her to talk over a bottle of wine.

  “I can’t; I’ve got paperwork to finish—”

  “We could look up this Tommy Leman guy together after we drop off the tapes.”

  “Do you mind doing that?” Grace got into the car before letting Madigan finish.

  “Oh, yeah, sure.” Madigan got in beside her. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

  “No…why?”

  Madigan shrugged as they pulled out of their spot.

  If she hasn’t told me yet, she’s probably scared of what’s happening… Or maybe she’s enjoying herself and doesn’t want to jinx it. She’ll tell me when she’s ready.

  “Ah, is there something you want to talk about?” Grace asked.

  “No…”

  “Like maybe the engagement party?”

  “Ugh, I’d almost forgotten about that. Thanks for bringing it up.”

  “You’re for sure not going?”

  Madigan shook her head. “Not a good idea.”

  “Too many inappropriate feelings in a place where there shouldn’t be?”

  “Uh huh…and you wouldn’t know anything about inappropriate feelings, would you?”

  Grace turned to her with a grin and shook her head no.

  She’s happy. Whatever’s going on between them. That’s all that matters.

  They were quiet until they got back to Grace’s and Madigan hopped on her bike.

  “You sure you don’t mind taking those tapes to the police? I have to finish my report.”

  Is that what you’re doing, or will you be meeting with Mac?

  “It’s fine. Call me if you hear anything else. Have fun!”

  Grace cocked her head to the side and squinted. “Doing paperwork?”

  Madigan shrugged and revved her engine. Grace waved with a confused expression as Madigan rolled out of the driveway.

  I’ll get these tapes to the police, maybe pay a kid to bring them in, and then I’ll go back home and do some research of my own on Tommy Leman.

  Grace stepped inside, shut the door behind her, and leaned against it.

  Madigan’s on to me. Of course she is. Why do I even try to hide things from her?

  What would I even say about this?

  She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and re-read her texts with Mac.

  See me tonight, he said.

  She felt the urgency and desire behind the words.

  I can’t. I have to finish my report. I told you.

  She sighed, reading her own words.

  He thinks I’m no fun. Madigan, too. I don’t balance business and pleasure well because… I don’t deserve the latter if the former isn’t successful.

  She squinted down at his reply. I admire your work ethic, but an hour or two with me isn’t going to set you back too far, is it?

  “You have a point,” she huffed, crafting her reply.

  After I’m done with the report.

  She hit send and kicked off her heels.

  There. That’s how you take care of business. Prioritize.

  She set the kettle full of water on the stove and turned on the burner before taking her jacket off, and the light clicked on at the back door. The cat ran away as she approached, and the water bowl sat empty.

  “Thirsty little guy. Scares easy, too.”

  A message from Mac lit up her screen.

  I’m impatient. What’ll it take? Chocolates? Flowers? A date at the firing range?

  She grinned and typed her response. As much as I love flowers, I can buy my own…

  She deleted everything after the comma.

  Why do I have such attitude? Who am I trying to prove my independence to? Of course I can get my own flowers…

  As much as I love flowers, she continued to type, I have to get this work done. It’s just going to take a lot of tea and a lot of focus, and I lack the latter when you’re around here. I’ll text you when I’m done.

  As the kettle whistled, she poured the boiling water into her “S” mug with a bag of chamomile tea, the aroma hitting the air, immediately calming her. She brought the mug to the table and flipped to the page she left off on.

  “Okay, so that’s finished,” she muttered to herself. “I just need to double-check…”

  She opened her laptop, but instead of loggi
ng on to the police database, she opened her search engine and typed in Tommy Leman. An article from Amherst Today popped up first before several from The Tall Pines Gazette by Thane Wilson.

  Thomas Leman arrested in connection to brutal murder of Amherst college student. The picture accompanying the article was a split photo: one of a young woman with a sweet smile, the other a close up shot of a man in his early twenties, if that, in an orange jumpsuit with a shaved head and broad shoulders, giving a dirty look to the camera.

  Grace scanned the article, detailing the release sent by police. The young woman, Brianna, was murdered behind Salty Rocks, a bar in Amherst. Her body was left in the alley with blunt force trauma to her head, discovered in the early morning. Witnesses reported seeing Tommy Leman leaving with the victim. They arrested him in South Bend three weeks after the murder. He resisted arrest, and they added more charges against him of bodily harm to arresting officers Don Hammel and Tina Morelli.

  The next article in The Tall Pines Gazette gave details about the trial, including sketches of Leman, where more came out about the trauma inflicted on the victim, how she was initially knocked on the head, then strangulated while raped, eventually dying from asphyxiation.

  On the night Leman was apprehended and arrested, he shoved Officer Hammel, sending him down a staircase and ran. Tina went after him, and after wrestling with him in his backyard, he kicked her repeatedly. She regained control by using her taser, at which time other officers stepped in, cuffing him.

  Officer Hammel and Tina both testified against him in court, where he plead not guilty, and was charged with first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison.

  That’s why she went to his parole hearing. She didn’t want a monster like him back on the streets. I need the transcript from the hearing.

  A knock on the front door sent her to her feet. She closed the laptop and went to the door, peeping through the hole. Mac stood with his back to her as she opened the door.

  “Hi,” she said as he turned around.

  “I think I saw that cat run across the road there.” When he faced her, she saw the pretty travel cups from a café in a tray in one of his hands and purple tulips in the other. “Spring’s here, and I see these things everywhere, so I picked them up for you.”