Undetermined Death : A Legal Thriller (Ashley Montgomery Book 2)

by Laura Snider

“What a prick,” Katie muttered.

  “What?” Josh said.

  The front steps to the old home creaked under Josh’s weight as he made his way to her side. He had tagged along to her meeting with Tom, despite Katie’s continued protests that it would tip Tom off, put him immediately on edge, but the captain of the Waukee police had a different opinion on the matter.

  “Nothing. Are you ready?”

  Josh fiddled with something near his chest pocket and nodded. “Body camera is on.”

  Katie stared at the device, wondering what it would be like to have her very own body camera. Something that would verify that she was one of the good ones. But Brine didn’t have the money and likely never would. Not after budget cuts. Katie would be lucky if she squeaked through without losing her job. Electronics were out of the question.

  “Like what you see?” Josh’s eyes traveled from Katie to his chest, then back to Katie.

  “Shut up.” Katie looked away. “I wasn’t checking you out. I was looking at your camera.”

  “Yes, yes,” Josh said with a chuckle. “Next time I’m behind you, I’ll be looking at the pants pockets. Just so you know.”

  “You’re impossible.” Katie kept her face severe, but she was smiling inwardly. He was a clever one.

  “Are you going to knock?” Josh asked.

  “Yes.” She rapped her knuckles against the door.

  One. Two. She went to hit the door a third time, but it was already swinging open.

  “I don’t see the point…” Tom’s voice trailed off when he saw Josh.

  “Hello.” Josh held up his hand and wiggled his fingertips.

  “Hi.” Tom looked from Katie to Josh. “Who are you?”

  “Josh Martin. Waukee PD.”

  He held out his hand and Tom took it. “Tom Archie. Nice to meet you.” He looked Josh up and down, then turned to Katie. “Ashley didn’t do anything stupid, did she?”

  “No. Ashley isn’t in trouble.”

  “Then what’s with the reinforcements?”

  “Can we come in?” Josh looked over his shoulder. “This is a sensitive matter. Don’t need the neighbors listening in.”

  Katie couldn’t see any neighbors, but that didn’t mean they weren’t out there looking through peepholes and hovering next to open windows. People were nosy, especially when law enforcement was involved.

  “Sure,” Tom said, opening the door wide and moving aside.

  Josh stepped across the threshold, head held high like he owned the place. His nose wrinkled as he looked around. A duke strutting into his subject’s grubby hovel. Katie hadn’t seen this side of Josh. The person he became when dealing with potential suspects. It wasn’t uncommon for an officer to be one way in private and another while working, but it didn’t impress Katie.

  Tom gave Katie a questioning look. She shrugged and followed Josh inside. Bringing Josh along with her was a mistake. Not that she had any say in the matter, thanks to the captain of the Waukee police. She guessed that the decision had also been out of Josh’s hands. The ultimate determination rested on a captain who probably didn’t like taking advice from a female officer from a Podunk town.

  “Have a seat.” Tom motioned toward a round table and chairs in the kitchen area.

  The makeshift apartment was long and narrow with a living area and kitchen at the front of the residence and a hallway that Katie guessed led back to a set of bedrooms and a shared bathroom. It was furnished, but the items were mismatched and outdated. A typical college home.

  “I prefer to stand,” Josh said, adjusting his belt.

  Katie pulled out a chair and sat down. Tom wasn’t merely a potential suspect. He was a friend. Yes, the evidence seemed to point at him, but deep down Katie didn’t believe he would hurt Ashley. At least not intentionally. Besides, it wasn’t her first time dealing with evidence that might have been planted. That was how Ashley had landed in a jail cell a year ago, despite her innocence. Back then, Tom had helped Katie solve the crime. She wasn’t going to develop occupational amnesia and forget that fact.

  “Katie,” Tom said, turning his back to Josh, “what is going on?”

  An array of potential answers floated through Katie’s mind, some more truthful than others, but she was interrupted before she had a chance to speak.

  A woman came whistling down the hallway, flipping a pair of keys around her finger. She was nothing short of a stunner. Long, wavy brown hair. Big, doe-like eyes. Legs for days. She wore a pair of ratty jeans and an oversized sweatshirt, but they looked couture on her thin frame.

  “You must be Harper,” Katie said, her tone darkening. This was the woman who had turned Ashley’s world upside down, both as a child and as an adult. To hear Ashley tell it, this woman was a real sociopath. “Or should I call you Lydia?”

  “Name’s Harper now,” she said, popping her gum. “Who’s askin’?”

  “Katie Mickey.” Katie pulled out her badge. “Brine County Police Department.”

  “Ohhh.” Harper widened her eyes and pressed her hands to her cheeks in an exaggerated gesture. “So, what? Do you want an award or somethin’?”

  “Actually, we’d like to speak with you both.” It was the first time Josh had said anything for a few minutes. All eyes swung toward him.

  “Oh, hello there, Officer Hottie,” Harper said, coming into the kitchen area. “I’ll answer all the questions you’ve got.” She reached past him and picked up an apple, then bit into it. Slowly, sensually. “You can even take me downtown. If you get my drift.” Here she winked.

  A hot burble of irritation flooded Katie’s veins. It could have been the flippant attitude or her background with Ashley. Or maybe it was the fact that this beautiful woman was living with Tom behind Ashley’s back. But certainly, at least in Katie’s mind, it had nothing to do with her flirting with Josh.

  “Let’s cut to the chase,” Katie said, slamming a flat palm on the table. “Someone has poisoned Ashley Montgomery and we need to know if either of you had something to do with it.”

  Josh gave her a what the fuck look, but Katie ignored him. No, she probably shouldn’t have come right out and stated the reason for the visit, but it wasn’t like they were fooling anyone. Tom’s hackles were up, and Harper couldn’t be bothered by anything. Not because she was laid back, but because she didn’t seem to give a shit about anyone or anything other than herself.

  “Poisoned?” Tom said, slowly lowering himself into a chair. “How?”

  “That’s what we want to know,” Josh cut in. “You were her boyfriend. At least up until shortly before her hospitalization. She said you got into a fight. Is that true?”

  “Umm, yeah.” Tom was completely thrown, his demeanor suddenly timid. “Is she all right? She didn’t…” He trailed off, unable to finish the thought.

  “No, Tom,” Katie said, her tone gentle. “Ashley didn’t die. She’s hospitalized right now, but she should make a full recovery.”

  “Oh, thank God.”

  “Yes,” Harper said, taking another bite of her apple. “Let’s do thank God for Ashley Montgomery. Everyone always has. She walks on water. Her shit doesn’t stink and all that.” Her tone was sarcastic, biting.

  “You wouldn’t have anything to do with Ashley’s poisoning, would you?” Katie said, staring daggers at Harper.

  “Me?” The tone was still sarcastic. “Why would I ever want to hurt little miss perfect?”

  “Because you two used to be foster sisters,” Katie said through gritted teeth. “And you pushed her down the basement stairs. She broke her arm.”

  “You did what to her?” Tom’s eyes grew wide.

  “I think Ashley remembers that little incident different than I do.”

  “How so?” Tom and Katie said in unison.

  Harper rolled her eyes. “She fell. I didn’t push her. That’s how Ashley and her sister got rid of me, but I didn’t do it. Ashley was a clumsy girl. She grew fast. All arms and gangly, lanky legs.” Harper paused to make mot
ions that mimicked a gorilla. “I was falsely accused.”

  “What about the other stuff?” Katie didn’t believe Harper, but she wanted to know what she would say about the other things that Ashley had told her about the horrible year Lydia had lived in her home.

  “What other stuff?”

  “Cutting holes in the crotch of all her pants.”

  “Guilty,” Harper said with a chuckle.

  “Putting fresh dog poop in Ashley’s bed.” Katie paused. “Under the covers.”

  Harper laughed harder. “I forgot about that. Yeah. I did that, too.”

  “Letting Ashley’s hamster out of its cage so the dogs would get it.”

  “Hamsters are mice without tails. They aren’t pets. They are a menace.”

  “Do you deny it?”

  “No.”

  “So why should I believe that you didn’t poison Ashley.”

  “For one, I was honest with you about all the other stuff.”

  Harper had a point, but those were small crimes. All done by a child. Not something that could result in a long stint in prison, like attempted murder.

  “Secondly, that was all kid stuff. Stupid little pranks.”

  “Okay.” Katie wasn’t even close to convinced.

  “Finally, I have no reason to dislike Ashley. Yes, I was kicked out because of her lies, but that ultimately resulted in my adoption. Ashley’s mom wasn’t ever going to adopt me. Not with Ashley and her sister filling her head with lies. The next home, they did. So, really, I should be thanking Ashley. Besides, it’s been like, how many years? I mean, nobody holds a grudge that long.”

  Harper sounded sincere, but that was the thing with psychopaths. They were good at lying. It was the whole lack of empathy thing. The tells most people had didn’t exist for them. They lacked a subconscious sense of guilt. Judging by Harper’s flippant reaction to the news of Ashley’s poisoning, Katie doubted that she had a conscience.

  “What about you,” Josh said, focusing his attention on Tom. “I suppose you have all kinds of reasons why you couldn’t have poisoned Ashley.”

  Tom shook his head slowly. “I would never. Katie.” His desperate gaze shifted toward her. “When can I go see Ashley?”

  “No way, pal,” Josh said. “No visitors. Especially not you. Even if you aren’t her attempted murderer, you are her ex-boyfriend. Considering your current living situation”—his eyes darted from Harper back to Tom—“I don’t blame her.”

  Apparently Josh was as unimpressed by Harper as Katie was. A slight smile crept into the corner of Katie’s lips, but she stifled it. It had nothing to do with any attraction she might have toward Josh. No way. It was his easy shut-down of Harper. A woman who probably rarely heard no from any man.

  “We are just roommates,” Tom said, directing his words to Katie. “You have to believe me. Please tell her.”

  Katie placed a gentle hand over Tom’s. “I know. I believe you.”

  “You do?”

  “But that’s not the problem.”

  “What? Ashley seemed pretty upset about it when she left.”

  “Yes, well, think about it. The reason people react negatively to cheating is because it is a betrayal. Propped up by a series of lies. That’s the true treachery, the lies. Otherwise, open relationships wouldn’t exist. And why do open relationships work? They work because the cheating is agreed upon, without untruths. You. What you’ve done here.” Katie gestured around her. “You didn’t tell Ashley about any of it. Essentially, you’ve lived a lie since you left Brine.” Katie shook her head. “I don’t think that’s something that will be easy to get past. Maybe Ashley can, but you’re going to have to give her time.”

  Tom’s head dropped into his hands, his elbows propped up on his knees. He looked devastated.

  “I don’t understand, Tom. If you care about her so much, then why were you ignoring her calls and texts? She was so upset about that. She even texted me, and you know that we don’t talk during big cases.”

  “I wasn’t. I didn’t. The messages didn’t come through. I don’t know what happened.”

  “Is her number blocked?”

  Tom grabbed his phone, unlocking it by pressing several obvious keys. 1-1-1-1. Men could be so predictable sometimes. The screen sprang to life and he pressed several additional buttons before looking up.

  “Yes. She was blocked. But I don’t know how…” His voice trailed off as he turned to Harper.

  She raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Don’t look at me, buddy. I didn’t touch your phone.”

  That, Katie felt sure, was bullshit. Harper had done it. To fuck with Ashley. But that didn’t make Harper an attempted killer, even though she was looking like a pretty good suspect to Katie.

  “Why didn’t you try calling Ashley, though? I mean, her number was blocked, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t have called her.”

  “I didn’t want to bother her during that big trial,” Tom said, shaking his head. “You know how she can get. So sucked in. I didn’t want to break her concentration.”

  “Hmmm,” Katie said. It made sense, but she wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily. He should have tried harder.

  “Well,” Josh said, heading toward the door. “I think that’s all the questions we have for today. We have some evidence to gather and send off for evaluation. We might be back to talk to you two later.”

  Katie stood as well. She cast Tom one last apologetic look over her shoulder before following Josh out the door. She and Josh had just waltzed into Tom’s home and dropped a couple of heavily destructive bombs on him.

  You know that woman who just broke your heart? The one you pined over for years before she’d give you the time of day? Well, that relationship is officially over. There will be no resurrecting it. It’s done. And, oh yeah, that woman, she’s in the hospital. You can’t see her, but trust us, she’s going to be fine. Also, if you thought that things couldn’t get worse, yeah, yeah, they can. Because you’re the primary suspect in that woman’s attempted murder. You know, because it’s always the ex who has the biggest axe to grind.

  It was a lot for anyone. Even, or maybe especially, Tom.

  25

  Katie

  After interviewing Tom and Harper, Katie and Josh returned to the Waukee police station to search Ashley’s vehicle. Ashley had given Katie the keys while at the hospital, but she held onto the key ring and wouldn’t let go until Katie promised she would not let Josh anywhere near her car.

  “So, where do we start?” Josh said, walking around Ashley’s Tahoe, pressing his face to the windows while shielding the sun with his hands. All the windows were heavily tinted except the windshield and the front two.

  “We don’t start anywhere. Remember? Ashley’s consent only extends to me. I’m going to search, and you are going to stand back and do the bagging and tagging.”

  “I thought we’d do it together,” Josh said, winking suggestively. “You know, I bag, you tag.”

  “You can bag and tag on your own. I’m sure you’re used to it.” Katie was growing irritated with his innuendo. He was attractive, yes, but arrogance was starting to overshadow his good looks.

  Katie snapped on a pair of gloves and opened the passenger door. The empty box of chocolates was right there on the seat. The container itself was unremarkable, white with a filmy finish and a lid that fit snugly on top. One of those found at The Container Store. There was a store right there in West Des Moines, smack dab between Waukee and Des Moines.

  She found a letter written on white paper that read, “Sorry,” on the seat next to it. Katie picked up the letter and flipped it over, looking for more writing. Other than Tom’s signature, that was it. When Tom worked at the jail, Katie had seen his signature virtually every day. She could recognize it anywhere. Tom had signed this letter. Katie photographed both items using her cell phone, then picked them up and brought them to Josh, who sealed them in separate evidence bags.

  “Well, that’
s it,” Katie said, removing her gloves and tucking them in her back pocket.

  “It is? You’re not going to look for anything else?”

  Katie placed her hands on her hips. “What, exactly, should I be looking for? Ashley gave us permission to take these items out of her car. That’s it. Her consent didn’t extend to the rest of the vehicle. She made that abundantly clear.”

  “Don’t you wonder why, though?”

  “No. I know why.”

  “Then what is it? What is she hiding?”

  “Nothing. But she’s a defense attorney, Josh. They take their constitutional rights seriously. Ashley would never consent to a search of her vehicle at a traffic stop even though she had nothing illegal in her car. She’d never consent to a preliminary breath test even if she hadn’t had a single sip of alcohol. The fact that she granted us this limited access to her vehicle is a miracle. It shows me that she has absolutely nothing to hide.”

  “Or maybe you’re too close to her to see clearly.”

  “What is that supposed to mean? What, exactly, do you think Ashley is hiding?”

  Josh shrugged. “Maybe she poisoned herself. Made it all up so she could punish Tom for ignoring her. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman scorned has decided to get even.”

  “Where did the note come from, then?” Katie said, pointing to the evidence bag still in Josh’s hands.

  “Maybe Tom did write it, but it was a long time ago and referring to something else. Ashley could have kept it for sentimental reasons, then decided to use it against him later.”

  “Wow,” Katie said, shocked. “You are quick to blame the victim, aren’t you? I mean, if true, that is one vindictive plan. Like super-villain level of malevolence.”

  “It’s just a possibility to keep in mind.”

  “Noted.” Katie was furious with Josh’s suggestion because she believed Ashley would never stoop so low. But she also had believed that Tom would never lie about something so simple as a roommate. Maybe she didn’t know her friends quite as well as she thought she did.

  “Can you drop the evidence off at the lab in Ankeny?” Katie said, changing the subject. Ankeny was a half hour drive from Waukee, but ninety minutes from Brine. “I need to get back and check in with my chief.”