Lost Tomorrows

by Coyle, Matt;

  “And no one from SBPD called him back for five years until Krista did two weeks ago?” The creases between his eyebrows dug deeper.

  “Yep. That’s what he said.”

  Leah nodded to confirm my statement.

  “Jesus.” Grimes ran a hand over his face. “What the hell is going on over at East Figueroa?”

  “Five years ago, the case would have been inactive for a while, right?” I asked.

  “The brass stuck it in the freezer after Byers and I worked it for three years. Said we couldn’t afford the manpower anymore. The only murder case I didn’t solve in fifteen years as a homicide detective. I continued to work it every free minute I had for the next two years until I retired.”

  “And then you investigated it for John Kerrigan when you became a PI.”

  “For two years. Even he gave up hope after a while.”

  “What are the chances of you getting a look at Colleen’s murder book?” I asked.

  “I already have it at home. I made a copy before I retired and took it with me.”

  “I mean the version since Krista started working a week before she died.”

  “Zero.”

  “Even if you don’t go through proper channels?”

  “There are only proper channels. This is a murder case. Nobody’s going to show me anything. Especially with the queen of transparency ruling from on high that MIU can’t share anything with me.”

  “Does that include your talk with Detective Mitchell at Paddy’s Pub last night?”

  “I never said I was going to talk to Mitchell.” Grimes stepping behind the thin blue line, leaving me on the other side.

  “Whoever you talked to or didn’t talk to, Colleen’s murder is the key to Krista’s death.”

  “You don’t know that, Cahill. All we know is that someone saw a couple guys possibly carrying something on East Beach one night fourteen years ago. I agree that someone should have followed up with Mr. Richert after he called, but this doesn’t prove anything. You can’t jump to conclusions on a homicide.”

  I swallowed what my reflexes wanted me to say. That he and SBPD had jumped to the conclusion that I was Colleen’s murderer and focused only on me. But I needed Grimes on my side. Or as close as I could get him to it. Besides, my own stupid actions or inactions had helped keep the department’s focus on me.

  “Let’s look at the facts, Grimes. Mike Richert is sure of the date because he kept track of all the sailing jobs he took. He saw two men, one a cop, dump something on the beach where Colleen was found the night she died. Plus, someone stole Colleen’s cold case file from Krista’s office. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb in believing that whoever killed Colleen killed Krista after she started investigating Colleen’s death. Who would have access to the file on Colleen? A cop.”

  “Oh, you’re way out there on a limb. All of this is sheer speculation, Cahill. We don’t even know if there were any files there to be stolen. And we don’t know if one of the men this Richert fellow thinks he saw on the morning your wife was murdered was a cop or just someone in dark clothes. This is all supposition fueled by some need to get even with SBPD for arresting you and keeping you as a person of interest. This isn’t about you, Cahill. You don’t get to come up here and get Miss Landingham caught up in your grand conspiracies.”

  “I’m a big girl, Jim. Rick’s not getting me caught up in anything.”

  “Somebody at SBPD killed my wife and fourteen years later he killed Krista.” I snapped the words off. “You were on the right trail looking for a cop, Grimes. Just the wrong one.”

  The last sentence was a mistake. I regretted it the moment I said it.

  Grimes cop-eyed me then looked at Leah. I wished he would have just continued to mean-mug me. “Did Rick tell you about his alibi on the night of his wife’s murder?”

  Grimes got up from the table and left the house without another word.

  “What did he mean by that?” Leah looked concerned and tired. I’d let Grimes get under my skin and had to one-up him, forgetting that Santa Barbara wasn’t about me. It was about Colleen, Krista, and Krista’s sister.

  “I don’t know,” I lied. Easily. Too easily. “He hated me before he thought I was a murderer and he still hates me even though he knows I’m not.”

  “What was your alibi, Rick?”

  I could lie to her about something Grimes said and other things, but not about the alibi the night Colleen was murdered. That would cheapen Colleen’s life. A throwaway lie thought up on the spot. Her memory deserved better.

  I didn’t say anything.

  “Oh my God.” Leah stood up and paced behind the table. “You were with Krista the night Colleen was murdered. Weren’t you?”

  I stayed silent.

  “That’s why Krista was so certain you couldn’t have killed your wife. Not because she knew you were incapable of it, but because she was with you when it happened. She was your alibi. And that’s why she felt guilty.”

  Silent.

  “Why didn’t you tell the police where you were? They never would have arrested you. Krista would have vouched for you. Were you trying to save her marriage?”

  “I was protecting my reputation. I didn’t want other cops to know that I broke the code and betrayed them. Or have Colleen’s family and my own know that I cheated on her the night she was murdered.”

  “You were willing to go to prison for the rest of your life to protect your reputation?”

  “I would have told the truth if the DA had decided to go to trial.”

  “Why didn’t Krista go to Grimes on her own?”

  “I talked her out of it. More for her marriage to the job than to Weaver. She’d be a pariah at SBPD just like I would have been if I told Grimes.”

  “Instead, 48 Hours did a show on Colleen’s death and half the country thought you killed your wife. Some probably still do. Was all of that worth it just to hide the fact that you slept with another cop’s wife?”

  “That’s the rub, isn’t it?”

  “I’m glad you see the humor in it.”

  My life was nothing but laughs.

  “I’ll update you via email if I learn anything new. Otherwise, I’ll leave the week’s report to Grimes. Goodnight, Leah.” I walked into the foyer and opened the door.

  “Do you think Tom knew about you two?” Leah walked over to me. “Krista’s marriage got even worse around the time Colleen died.”

  “Not unless Krista told him. Neither of us told anyone. You were not only her sister but her best friend. She would have told you if she told anyone. No way Tom could have known. He was out of town that night working a case.”

  “No he wasn’t.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “WHAT ARE YOU talking about?” I closed the door. “He was up in Fresno interviewing a witness on a drug bust. He drove up that day and stayed overnight.”

  “No, he was home that night. I saw his detective car in their driveway. My boyfriend at the time lived a few blocks from Krista and Tom, and I drove right by their house on the way to his.” Leah put a finger to her lips. “Now the cop car makes sense.”

  “What?”

  “The police cruiser I saw parked in front of Krista’s house. That must have been you. So, you were on duty when you and Krista …”

  “What time was this?” I asked.

  “I don’t know the exact time, but it was probably around ten p.m.”

  I’d stopped by Krista’s on my dinner break around nine thirty p.m. We’d gotten into the habit of meeting for coffee and bitching about our marriages. The last couple bitch sessions had been different. Krista was flirtatious. Subtle at first, but more overt at the last meet. I’d eaten it up. The woman I respected more than anyone, even Colleen at the end, was giving me the attention I wasn’t getting at home anymore. And I gave her the attention I wasn’t giving at home anymore. There’d always been a hint of attraction that I tamped down like a married man should. But I’d let my ego out that night. I
’d known Weaver was out of town when Krista invited me to swing by.

  And I knew what it could lead to. What down deep, where my id roamed wild, I hoped it would lead to.

  “How can you be sure this wasn’t some other night?” I needed to know what other collateral damage Krista and I had caused that night. “Sounds like you had a routine.”

  “I probably wouldn’t remember if I hadn’t found out the next day that Colleen had been murdered.” She frowned. “Something like that gives you acute focus about things surrounding it. Plus, there were two things that weren’t routine about Krista’s house that night. The police cruiser parked outside and Tom’s detective car in the driveway. Krista told me that morning that he was out of town, so it was odd to see his car there that night.”

  “How do you know it was Tom’s detective car? It could have been anyone’s.” But that would have meant some other detective was parked in Krista’s driveway that night. If so, what did they see?

  “Krista told me Tom always made sure he got the only black Crown Victoria. She thought it was kind of sad that he made such a big deal about it. All his cars had to be black. He’d never drive her car because it was white. All the cars she owned while they were married were white. I think she chose the color on purpose to piss Tom off.”

  The uneasiness of the night Krista and I were together came back to me. I’d felt a sense of dread mixed with sick excitement the whole time I was with Krista. I later came to associate the dread with Colleen’s disappearance and then death. A sense of foreboding that something was wrong and outside of my control. But what if it was the sense of being watched? What if Tom came home early to surprise his wife in hopes of putting some romance back in his marriage and he saw me in his bed with Krista instead?

  “You’re a hundred percent sure it was the night Colleen was murdered?” I asked.

  “One hundred percent.” She nodded

  “If that was Tom’s car in the driveway, he was there when I was with Krista. And he wasn’t there when we were done. He must have seen us. Where did he go when he left? He never came home later that night, and as far as Krista knew, he was still up in Fresno. No one at SBPD verified his whereabouts because no one considered him a suspect.”

  “Are you telling me you think Tom killed Colleen as some sort of sick revenge?” Leah’s eyes went round.

  “I don’t know, but he has to be considered a suspect.”

  I was in bed with Krista from around ten to eleven. The coroner put Colleen’s death between ten p.m. and midnight. I missed two calls from Colleen and a couple radio calls when I was in bed with Krista that left me unaccounted for during Colleen’s death window. Tom Weaver was unaccounted for a lot longer.

  “That’s a pretty large leap, Rick. Why not just kill you and Krista right then? Or at least confront you? Tom isn’t the kind of guy to just walk away.”

  “I don’t know why he didn’t confront me, but we both know his slick top was parked in the driveway while I was there and it was gone when I left around eleven p.m. When he was supposed to still be in Fresno.”

  “How would he even know where Colleen was that night? She wasn’t murdered at home. Her body was found on East Beach.”

  “Yes, but she was at the UC Santa Barbara library until it closed at ten p.m. She was there every weeknight. We had a routine. I’d pick her up in my squad car and take her home every night around ten p.m. I didn’t tell anybody at SBPD about it because I was breaking regs. The only person I ever told was Krista. What if she’d told Tom in passing and he remembered it the night he saw the two of us together?”

  “I don’t know.” Leah shook her head. “Tom is capable of a lot of things, but I don’t think murder is one of them. Maybe in a rage, but not premeditated”

  “People can surprise and disappoint you.” I’d already proven that to her today.

  “But remember that Mr. Richert said he saw two people on the beach and one of them was wearing a uniform. You think Tom pulled some cop friend off his beat to help him dispose of Colleen’s body after he murdered her? That’s way out there, Rick.”

  “I don’t know what to believe, but Tom has to be eliminated as a suspect first before we go any further.”

  “But if he murdered Colleen, then you’re saying he killed Krista, too?” Leah’s eyes blinked three or four times.

  “I’m ninety percent convinced the two are connected despite what Grimes thinks. And I think you are, too.”

  “I’m not as sure as you are and even less so about Tom. I don’t think he could kill Krista.”

  “Then let’s eliminate him.” I raised my hands, palms open. “Have you two remained close?”

  “We were never close, but we’re on friendly terms whenever we see each other.”

  “Okay. Call him tomorrow morning and ask him to come over.” I shook my head. “No. Better yet, ask him to meet you at Krista’s house. Say you need to show him something.”

  “What?”

  “Tell him it would be better if he saw it on his own first. Can you do that?”

  “I guess so.” She nodded. “Where will you be?”

  “With you. We’re going to ambush him. Get him off balance and see how he reacts.”

  “Okay. I’ll play along, but Tom can be pretty unpleasant when he’s upset.”

  “That’s fine. So can I.” I put my hand back on the doorknob. “I’ll be by tomorrow morning at eight to set everything up.”

  Leah put her hand on my arm. “You must be as hungry as I am. Let me feed you before you go.”

  We didn’t stop for dinner on the drive up from San Diego. That would have just added to our silent time together. Now Leah invited me to stay. Not just from good manners. She’d forgiven me. And that mattered.

  “That would be great.”

  “But only if you can stand lasagna again.”

  We finished with a second glass of wine after dinner on the couch.

  “Why do you always take the hard way out?” Leah was genuinely curious, not angry.

  “I’m not sure what you mean?” But I think I was.

  “I accused you of some awful things after you told me about you and Krista.” She set her wineglass down and inched closer to me. “Why did you let me believe the worst about you? That one night you spent with Krista ended up being the worst night of your life. Why didn’t you defend yourself?”

  “The facts don’t change with the date of the adultery.”

  “You did an immoral thing. You cheated on your wife, but people do bad things and are forgiven. They move on with their lives. You haven’t. You committed adultery a long time ago. You’re a better man now.”

  “Colleen died because I was with Krista when I should have been at the library picking her up. Those facts will never change no matter how much I loved Colleen. She’s dead because of me. She didn’t get the chance to see whatever supposed better man I’ve become.”

  Leah took my hand and leaned close to my face. Her searing blue eyes pierced mine. “You have to forgive yourself, Rick. You can’t change the past. You have to live your life. A new life.”

  Someone I loved told me the same thing once. That I was a better man and had to forgive myself. I never could. She married someone else and they’re raising a daughter together.

  “I should probably go.” I didn’t feel like defending my lack of defense. “Thanks for the lasagna. Still good on day two. And thanks for … well, just thanks.”

  Leah leaned forward and kissed me. I kissed her back, then stood up.

  “It’s been a long, hard day.” Leah stood and held my hands in hers. “But it’s still been the best day I’ve had since Krista died. I’m sorry I got upset about you and Krista. I overreacted. I apologize.”

  “No need.” I didn’t want an apology. That just made what I did worse. “I should have been more up front with you. I didn’t expect things to go … where they went.”

  “Neither did I, but they did, and I don’t want to change anything.” She squeez
ed my hands and stared at me through eyes the color of the ocean just after sunrise. “Stay here tonight. I need … I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

  “Okay.” You can’t unbreak a rule once it’s broken. But you didn’t have to break it again. Unless you were trying to start that new life.

  Leah led me to her bedroom. She took off her clothes with her back to me, then got into bed. I took off mine and slid under the covers. She rolled over and turned off the light on the nightstand. I found her in the dark and held her from behind. She cradled my arm and gently kissed it.

  “I just want to be held.” Her voice, a whisper in the dark. “Okay?”

  “Sure.” I pressed my body against hers and felt her soft warmth, letting it flow through my body. Allowed myself to melt into it. Leah’s breaths grew long and far apart. My own caught her rhythm and I fell asleep. And dreamed.

  Colleen and I were walking hand in hand along Stearns Wharf under the stars. She looked at me, her blue eyes sparkling with joy. Content. Loved. The look that always filled my soul. Suddenly, I was on East Beach. Colleen lying bruised and beaten in the sand. Red ligature marks around her neck. Dead. I bent down to pick her up, and her eyes snapped open.

  I woke with a hush, soaked in sweat, lying on my back. Still dark. Still night. Still in Leah’s bed. The dread and guilt from the night Colleen died dug an endless pit in my stomach. I looked over at Leah sleeping peacefully on her side. Sister of the woman I’d cheated with the night Colleen was murdered. She was Leah down in San Diego, in my home where Colleen had never been. But here in Santa Barbara, where I married Colleen, she’d always be Krista’s sister.

  I quietly got out of bed, picked up my clothes, left Leah’s bedroom, and slept on the couch in the living room. Or tried to. The couch was comfortable enough to sleep on, but my mind wasn’t.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  LEAH CAME OUT of her bedroom in a robe at eight a.m. I’d put on a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt I got from my suitcase in the trunk of my car. I hadn’t expected to stay at Leah’s home after we gave each other the silent treatment on the drive back to Santa Barbara from San Diego.