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

by Laura Snider

  Isaac, on the other hand, was in hot water. This was what Katie loved about law enforcement. Getting to the truth. But that wasn’t how all police officers saw the job. Some, like George, only cared about the power and the paycheck. And then there was the bureaucratic tape. Everything was political. Those who had power over their budget and control over the trajectory of cases, city council and the county attorney respectively, were all elected officials.

  It gave her pause about potentially taking a job with Waukee. Not that it had been offered to her yet. But would she, should she, take it if the chief called her? Hours earlier, she’d been dying for an offer from Waukee, but now she was on the fence. She didn’t know how she fit in with law enforcement anymore. But, then again, she didn’t have any other options. To her, law enforcement wasn’t about the paycheck, but she needed a paycheck to survive. It was a catch-22.

  31

  Katie

  40 days before trial

  By the next day, Katie was once again sitting in her living room staring into empty space. Josh had the information from Ashley and Tom, but she had no control over what he did with it. She felt useless. No job, nowhere to go, and no way to help. Then her phone started buzzing. Katie jumped up and raced into the kitchen, snatching it off the Formica counter.

  “You’re not busy, are you?” Josh started talking before Katie could even form the first letters to the word hello.

  “Umm, no. Why?”

  “You need to come to Waukee.”

  “I don’t need to do anything.”

  “All right, fine,” Josh said with a heavy sigh. “I need you to come to Waukee.”

  “What for?”

  “Do you really have to be this difficult?”

  Katie did. Part of her liked challenging him. She wished she hadn’t been so quick to say yes to everything while at the Brine Police Department. Maybe they would have appreciated her more. Maybe she’d still be there. Maybe it would have been George out on his ass rather than her. The thought of her former friend made her blood boil. He’d betrayed her. It was the final nail in the coffin that once contained their friendship.

  “Hello? Katie?” Josh said.

  “Yes. I’m here.”

  “I’ve been staking out the Smithson residence, trying to find a window to talk to Lyndsay when Isaac isn’t around.”

  “And…”

  “And Lyndsay goes grocery shopping every Wednesday at ten o’clock in the morning. It is the only time she’s away from her husband.”

  Katie glanced at her watch. “It’s already 8:30. I’m not sure I’d get to Waukee in time.”

  “It’s only a forty-minute drive. Come on, Katie. I need your help. She’s a battered woman. She’s far more likely to talk to you than me.”

  Katie didn’t quite agree with Josh’s characterization of Lyndsay Smithson. It had certainly seemed that way during Katie and George’s original interview with Isaac and Lyndsay, but that could have been an act. For all Katie knew, Lyndsay was as guilty as Isaac when it came to the poisonings.

  “Will you come?” Josh asked, cutting through her thoughts.

  “Yeah,” Katie said, pulling on a pair of jeans. She was already in her room, selecting clothes. She had given Josh some resistance, but they both knew she’d ultimately agree to come. “I’ll be there in an hour.”

  Katie’s phone rang a few minutes after she’d started her drive to Waukee. She glanced at the caller ID, saw George’s name, and immediately silenced the call. But her phone immediately began ringing again, and she followed the same procedure. After the fifth call, Katie finally picked up.

  “What do you want?” she snarled.

  “I haven’t seen you in a while,” George said, his voice uncharacteristically sheepish. “I was just checking to see if you were all right.”

  “That’s not why you called. You’ve had plenty of time to check up on me and you haven’t. Cut to the chase or I’m hanging up.”

  “My wife left me.”

  Katie was silent for a long moment.

  “Katie?”

  “I’m here. But what the fuck do you want me to do with that information? I mean, that sucks. But we aren’t friends anymore. You don’t get to shit on me and then cry on my shoulder. That’s not how relationships work.”

  “No. I mean, that’s why I’ve been”—he paused, thinking—“off.”

  “Okay.”

  “She left nine months ago. She took the kids with her. They left the state and I’ve been unable to find her.”

  “Shit,” Katie hissed through her teeth. She didn’t want to feel any sympathy for George, but she couldn’t help it. “Are the kids okay?” George didn’t talk about his children much, but they were still young. There were two of them, one was eight or nine and the other was around five. Katie was never really good with children’s ages.

  “Yeah. Janine is kind enough to post pictures of them to social media, but she won’t tell me where they are or what they are doing.”

  “Are you going to file for custody?”

  “Yeah. But I have to find her to serve her.” He sighed heavily. “I’ve tried everything, but she’s avoided service.”

  “How can she do that?”

  “My lawyer says that technically we both have one hundred percent right to them all the time since we are married. There isn’t anything illegal about what Janine is doing.”

  “That sucks, man,” Katie said, coldness creeping back into her tone. While she was sympathetic for his plight, it still didn’t explain why he had thrown her under the bus.

  “I just wanted you to know. I need this job to pay the lawyer and to keep paying the private investigator. That’s why I…”

  “Screwed me over?”

  “Yeah. If that’s what you want to call it.”

  “Yes. That most certainly is what I want to call it.”

  “Okay, well that’s all I had. I hope you don’t hate me.”

  “I don’t hate you,” Katie said. And despite her recent bout of fury toward him, the words did ring true. “I just need time to get over this.”

  “Okay. I understand.”

  “And you’re going to have to stop acting like a total dick.”

  “Done.”

  “Okay, well, I’ve got to go,” Katie said.

  “You sound like you’re in the car. Where are you going?”

  “It’s none of your business, George,” Katie said. They had a tentative truce, but that didn’t give him the right to ask questions about her life. “I don’t work with you anymore. Remember?”

  “Oh. Right, right,” he said absentmindedly.

  “Okay. Well, I’m going to go before you piss me off again.”

  “Okay. Yeah,” George said awkwardly.

  “Bye,” Katie said, and hung up the phone.

  Katie spent the rest of her drive to Waukee in silence, pondering the meaning behind George’s call. Why had he even bothered? The last time they spoke was when she’d briefed him on her ongoing investigations into Rachel’s background and Ashley’s poisoning. His demeanor during that conversation had been aloof. Unemotional and uncaring. So, why the change? Why did he even care that she understood his behavior?

  And then there was the question of how he had been able to keep such a big secret in such a small town. His kids were both school-aged. Their removal from school should have caused all kinds of rumors. But that hadn’t happened. It made Katie wonder how many other people’s secrets he was keeping. If he was using them in the same way he’d managed to keep his job.

  Katie dispelled thoughts of George when she pulled into the parking lot in front of the gas station where she’d agreed to meet Josh. He was already there. Katie parked next to him, hopped out of her vehicle, and into the passenger side of his.

  “Hey there, gorgeous,” Josh said, flashing his characteristic smile.

  Despite her best attempts, she could feel her face flushing. “Enough flattery. It’s almost ten o’clock. We better get moving.”<
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  Josh drove the short distance to the grocery store, parking alongside the building so they could watch for Lyndsay from a distance.

  “So,” he said after a few beats of silence, “I heard Chief Canterbury offered you the job.”

  “He did.”

  The Waukee Police Chief had called at eight o’clock that morning. It was the call she couldn’t wait to get Monday evening, but by Tuesday she was already questioning her desire to work for such a large department.

  “But you haven’t accepted yet.”

  Katie didn’t respond. It wasn’t a question, and she saw no need to elaborate.

  “Why not?”

  “I’m thinking about it.”

  “What is there to think about?”

  “Lots.”

  “You’d get to look at this fine specimen of the male gender every day of the week. It’s a no-brainer. Nobody can pass up that kind of opportunity.” Josh flashed a winning smile and waggled his eyebrows.

  Katie fought the urge to laugh. “It seems like I get to see your face every day as it is.”

  “That’s just because I need your help.”

  “Men always need help from women.”

  Josh barked a laugh. “You would get along with my mama.”

  “Maybe,” Katie said, staring out the front windshield. She doubted there would ever be cause for her to meet Mama Martin. “Hey, is that Lyndsay?”

  A woman hurried toward the front door of the grocery store. She moved in jerky, shuffling steps. Her hood was up and her back remained stooped, like she was trying to make herself small.

  “Sure is,” Josh said, hopping out of the car.

  Katie watched as Josh jogged over to Lyndsay. His legs were long and spry, moving in strong, even strides toward Mrs. Smithson. He reached Lyndsay just before she entered the front door. Lyndsay stiffened and appeared almost frightened, but she relaxed after Josh smiled. Josh’s mouth moved rapidly, then he gestured to the police car. Lyndsay nodded and followed him as he led the way toward Katie.

  Josh opened the back door to the cruiser. “It’s a cold one today, isn’t it?” he said to Lyndsay.

  “Yes. Winter came early this year.”

  “Go ahead and get comfortable. Like I said before, you aren’t under arrest. We are just using the police car to get out of the cold. The doors are unlocked. You can hop out at any time and go on your way. I’m not going to stop you. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Josh shut the door and hopped into the front seat. “This here is Katie Mickey.” Josh nodded at Katie. “She used to work for the Brine Police Department. I’m in the process of trying to convince her to come work with me.”

  Lyndsay nodded. “Yes. I remember you.”

  “So, I’ve just got a few questions for you, Lyndsay. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “I want to know where in your house your husband keeps the rat poison.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Does Isaac keep rat poison at the house?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “If I tested a strand of your hair, Mrs. Smithson, would I find that you have been exposed to rat poison?”

  Lyndsay was silent.

  “Come on, Lyndsay,” Josh said, turning to meet Mrs. Smithson’s gaze. “I know what’s going on here.”

  “What is going on?”

  Josh quirked an eyebrow.

  The interview was going nowhere, so Katie decided to cut in. “Isaac doesn’t like Rachel’s attorney much, does he?”

  Lyndsay was taken aback by the change in topics. Shocked enough to actually answer. “No. He doesn’t. Women are different than men. We aren’t as smart. A woman’s place is in the home. Not in a courtroom. And certainly not representing our daughter.”

  “But Isaac isn’t Rachel’s father, is he?”

  Lyndsay chewed on her thumb nail for a moment, then answered. “Not biologically. But he is her father.”

  “A putative father who has disowned Rachel. He said so in his first interview at the Brine Police Department.”

  “He may have said that, but he very much wants Rachel to come home.”

  “Why?” Josh asked. “So he can continue raping her?”

  Lyndsay stiffened. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Come on, Mrs. Smithson,” Katie said irritably. Her patience was running thin. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to discover what’s been going on. Isaac is the only man who had an opportunity to impregnate Rachel.”

  Lyndsay brought her purse close to her chest, hugging it. “That’s not true. Kids get up to all sorts of things these days.”

  “We received the DNA test results, Lyndsay,” Josh said, his tone almost apologetic. “Isaac is the father.”

  Katie shot Josh a questioning look. Was he bluffing? George was the lead of Rachel’s investigation, and last she knew he had no intention of determining the baby’s paternity.

  “The good lawyer did the testing,” Josh said with a knowing smile. “She got a court order to get Isaac’s and the baby’s DNA.”

  Ashley, Katie thought with a smile. She should have known. Ashley would have done the test so she could use the evidence to create sympathy for Rachel at trial. It had been the whole reason Katie had started digging deeper into Rachel’s case.

  A tear trickled down Lyndsay’s cheek.

  “But that’s not why we need to talk to you,” Josh continued. “We need to talk about the chocolates that were full of rat poison. Your fingerprint was on the box that somehow made its way to Ashley Montgomery’s house in Brine. Do you know anything about that?”

  “I…” Lyndsay’s eyes widened with shock. Not the typical resignation that came with someone who had been caught, but genuine surprise. “I usually make homemade chocolates and Isaac takes them to church events. I recently made a batch for the church bazaar. But I didn’t put rat poison in them.”

  “Do you know for a fact that the homemade candies went to the church?”

  “No. I gave them to Isaac. He took them to the garage. I assume he put them in the car to drop them off at the church later that day.”

  “And where does Isaac keep the rat poison?”

  Lyndsay was silent for a long moment. She pursed her lips, then after what seemed like a lifetime, she said, “In the garage.”

  32

  Ashley

  39 days before trial

  Hearing Tom’s voice last Tuesday had shaken Ashley more than she thought it would. Not that she had much time to prepare herself. Katie sprung the call on both Ashley and Officer Arrogant at the same time. Two days had passed since that call and Tom was still on her mind. Before hearing the cadence of Tom’s melodic speech, she’d thought of him, but she had been successful at burying her emotions. Now, she was struggling. She was lonely without him.

  Ashley was in a slump, a sadness that was growing heavier with each passing day. She needed to snap out of it. The best way to do that was to keep busy, never allowing her mind to wander. So that’s why she picked up her phone and called Katie at the end of the workday.

  “Hello?”

  “You’re meeting me for drinks,” Ashley said.

  “I am?”

  “Yes. Meet me at the Corkscrew in ten minutes.”

  The Corkscrew was a new wine bar in town. Ashley loved wine, but Brine was more of a Bud heavy type of town. She gave it two months before the place shut its doors.

  “Fine. But I’m not getting ready.”

  Katie had been feeling sorry for herself lately, growing more and more depressed by the day. Ashley suspected that the other officers in town had something to do with Katie’s dark moods. They seemed to be everywhere now, visible in a way they had never been before. Probably with the intention of giving Forest Parker the middle finger without actually displaying any fingers.

  “I don’t care what you look like. Just meet me.”

  Ten minutes later, the two women were seated across from one another at a table made from a wine
barrel with an open bottle of dark red wine between them.

  “So,” Katie said, swirling her wine, “why did you want to meet?” She wore no makeup and had pulled her bright red hair up into a messy bun. The smattering of freckles across her cheekbones were on full display. Katie wasn’t a stunner like Rachel, but she was beautiful in her own way. Especially in such a natural state.

  Ashley was silent for a long moment, considering whether to tell the truth or make up some bullshit reason. She decided on the former. With Katie, honesty was always the best policy. “I didn’t want to be alone. I miss Tom.”

  Katie nodded solemnly. “I figured as much.” She took a large gulp of wine. “He’s been calling me nonstop. He wants to talk to you, but he’s afraid to call.”

  It was ironic that Tom spent weeks ignoring her while they were together, but now that their relationship was over, he was dying to get in touch. “I don’t think I’m ready yet.”

  “I get it. He lied to you. I’d feel the same way.” Katie pursed her lips, then took another drink. “Do you think you’ll give him another chance?”

  Ashley shrugged. “Maybe. But not now. I need time.”

  Katie tipped back her glass and drained it of wine. Ashley stared at her, dumbfounded. She had barely taken a sip of hers. She shrugged and picked up the bottle, pouring Katie another generous portion.

  Ashley eyed her friend suspiciously. “What’s going on with you?” Something was off about Katie these days. A missing edge that had always been there. “I’ve never seen you drink like this.”

  Katie shrugged. “I’m not a cop anymore. At least not at the moment.”

  “What does that mean? Did Chief Carmichael find the money to hire you back?”

  “No,” Katie said, shaking her head. “Chief Canterbury at the Waukee Police Department offered me a job. Same pay, but I’ll have to move there.”