by Laura Snider
Ashley’s heart dropped. Somewhere deep down she had known that Katie’s layoff could lead to her moving away, but she’d intentionally ignored it. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing both Tom and Katie.
“Did you take the job?” Ashley asked.
“Not yet. I told him I wanted to think about it.”
Ashley’s mind whirred. She didn’t want Katie to leave Brine for personal reasons, but there were also potential business-related incentives for Katie to stay. “When do you plan to give him an answer?”
Katie shrugged.
“Can you hold off for another few days?”
“Why?” Katie cocked her head to the side, confused.
“Just, please. I have an idea, but I need to talk to a couple people before I’m ready to discuss it.”
Namely, Ashley needed to talk to Carley at the Des Moines Register and Forest Parker down at city council. She didn’t dare mention Forest’s name, though. Katie would blow a gasket. She blamed Forest for the loss of her job, and her anger wasn’t entirely misplaced. Although Chief Carmichael had made the decision as to who would get the ax, it was Forest who had handed him the weapon and demanded that he cut someone, anyone.
“Fair enough.”
They fell into a companionable silence, each sipping their wine. The bottle was nearly empty already. Ashley was considering ordering a second when Katie spoke.
“How are things going with Rachel? Do you think she’ll sign a release to let Josh talk to her doctor about the miscarriage?”
Ashley sighed heavily. How were things going? Not well. Rachel wouldn’t even tell Ashley the name of the doctor who had treated her. There was no other way to track the doctor down either. Without Rachel’s permission, Ashley couldn’t even call around randomly, trying to find the OBGYN by chance.
“I know you are trying,” Katie said, “but Josh is getting anxious. He’s wanted to get something on Isaac Smithson for years. Now that it’s a real possibility, he’s champing at the bit.”
The poisoning that led to the miscarriage had occurred at the Smithson home, which was in Waukee. Officer Arrogant territory. Josh was annoying, but Ashley was starting to warm up to him now that she knew he wanted to help Rachel.
“The problem is that it is Rachel’s last card. It proves her innocence. If that information gets out and Isaac is never charged, she won’t be able to plead guilty anymore. The court won’t let her. Then she’ll return to society, where Isaac will be able to get to her. It’s the worst-case scenario in her mind.”
Katie shook her head. “That’s so weird. Who would choose prison just to get away from a guy?”
“It’s not that strange.”
After hearing some of Rachel’s horrific stories from her childhood, Ashley no longer questioned her decision. Prison was full of women who, for the most part, were nonviolent. Many of the prison guards were also women. If Ashley had a background like Rachel’s, she’d see a women’s prison as a pretty safe place too.
“What I don’t understand is why Isaac would want to poison me. Doesn’t he want Rachel to be acquitted so that he can go back to playing house with her?”
“Have you met Isaac?” Katie said incredulously. “He would never believe that a woman could achieve anything. He thinks we are all idiots. He wanted you out of the way so that a man could do the job ‘properly.’” She made air quotes around the word.
Katie had a point. Isaac was a real bastard. She hoped with all her heart that Officer Arrogant and his goon squad would find enough evidence to lock him up for the rest of his natural life. Because if anyone deserved freedom, it was Rachel.
33
Katie
Three days before Rachel’s plea hearing
“You are not going to believe what we found.” Josh’s eyes flashed with excitement, but his tone remained solemn.
Josh had called Katie last night, shortly after she and Ashley had finished their last drink and parted for the evening. He wanted her to drive to Waukee immediately, but she had been drinking, so driving any distance was out of the question. She wasn’t an active police officer at the moment, but that didn’t mean she was willing to break the law.
Instead, she had agreed to meet him in Waukee the following morning. That’s how she found herself seated in a small, rectangular office tucked into a back corner of the Waukee Police Department on a Friday morning, tired and irritable.
“I’d be more inclined to believe it if you told me what it was.” Katie leaned forward and rubbed her temples. She had a headache, and her eyes were extra sensitive to the florescent lighting.
“Right, yes.” He paused, tapping a finger against his lips. “You know, it may be easier if I show you.”
“Okay.”
Josh stood and motioned for her to follow him. She did, moving robotically, her head pounding with every step.
“Where are we going?”
“The evidence room.”
“You know,” Katie said as they weaved their way from one identical hallway to the next, “I’m really tired of following you around.”
“Impossible.” He glanced over his shoulder and waggled his eyebrows. “Women never tire of my backside.”
Katie snorted, but it was an exaggerated expression. She had to admit the view wasn’t all that bad. “I mean I’m tired of having to drive up here over and over again.”
“You rarely invite me to Brine. And when you do, you send me packing the moment business is concluded.”
“Yeah, well, it was a business meeting.”
They turned one last corner and Josh approached a window.
“It doesn’t matter for today’s purposes anyway. The evidence is all here in Waukee,” he said before knocking on the large glass window.
A man best described as bear-sized slid open the window and leaned out.
“Hey, Dakota,” Josh said.
“What’s up, little dude?”
Dakota and Josh exchanged a weird handshake that could only exist between two people who were friends from childhood. It involved some strange hand movements, fist and wrist bumping, followed by a goofy thumbs-up.
“Dakota here is the evidence custodian,” Josh said, nodding toward the giant man. Dakota had long, dark hair slicked back into a sleek ponytail. “This is Katie Mickey. She used to be a Brine police officer, but she’s going to be working here soon.”
Katie narrowed her eyes. He was placing her in an impossible position. She didn’t want to contradict or agree with him. You never knew who was watching at a police station. Cameras were everywhere. She decided the best tactic was to change the subject.
“Why are we here?”
“Right, yes,” Josh said, turning to Dakota. “We need to look at the evidence seized from the Smithson residence.”
“Sure, come on back.” Dakota pressed a button on the wall.
The door beeped and Josh pushed it open. Katie followed the two men through a maze of lockers. They curved around before finally stopping at a tall blue locker near the end of the last row. Dakota handed Josh a box of nylon gloves, and Josh gave a pair to Katie before snapping on his own. Dakota already had the locker open.
“Go ahead,” Dakota said, taking a few steps back. As evidence custodian he would remain on scene, ensuring that the contents of the locker remained unaltered.
Josh removed a large, clear plastic bag. Inside was a red, rectangular box that read, Ratsak, kills rats and mice. “We found this in the garage next to a small dropper.” He held up a second, much smaller plastic bag containing a dropper small enough to fit inside an iodine bottle. “We sent both off to the criminalistics lab in Ankeny. They confirmed my suspicion that the dropper was used to mix rat poison with water, then inserted into something chocolate. All three compounds were found on the tip of this dropper.”
“That fits the narrative.” Lyndsay had admitted that she made the chocolates but denied using rat poison as an ingredient. “What about fingerprints? Any found on the dropper or the box?�
��
“The dropper was too small to get a full print. The box, however, was a different story.”
“Isaac’s?”
“Yup.”
“What about Lyndsay?”
“None of the prints matched hers.”
“Good.”
They were finally getting somewhere. With Rachel’s testimony, the poison, the fingerprints, and Harper’s recorded confession that she’d given Tom’s letters to Isaac Smithson, they would likely get a conviction for Ashley’s poisoning.
“What about sexual assault? Did you find any evidence of that?” They had the DNA match between Isaac and the baby, but they would likely need more if Rachel decided not to testify. Since Rachel wasn’t cooperating now, Katie doubted she would in the future.
“That, my lovely lady, is right here.” Josh reached into the locker and removed a spiral notebook.
“What’s that?”
“Isaac’s confession.”
“What do you mean?”
The notebook was sealed inside the bag. They’d have to break the evidence label for Katie to read any of the pages, but she suspected that she didn’t want to know in Isaac’s words what he had done. She couldn’t stomach it.
“He talks about what he did to Rachel. The psycho wrote it all down in detail. Like it was normal or something. He claims that their family is polygamous, and Rachel was his second wife.”
“Are the journal entries dated?”
“Yup.”
“How far back?” Katie hated to ask, but she had to know.
“Six years.”
“Jesus Christ,” Katie said, rubbing a hand over her face. That meant Rachel was only twelve years old the first time Isaac assaulted her.
“Right. We have a solid statutory rape case with the baby’s DNA and this journal.” Josh held it up, but Katie didn’t want to look at it. The very thought of Isaac writing in it disgusted her.
Statutory rape was an understatement. The best-case scenario for Isaac. If Rachel agreed to testify, he would go down on actual forcible rape charges. Not that it mattered. With the six years of sexual assault, Isaac would be charged with enough counts that he’d spend the remainder of his natural life in a prison cell.
“That’s not all.”
“Seriously?” Katie wasn’t sure if she could take more.
“We seized two hairbrushes. One from the master bathroom, the second from Rachel’s bedroom.”
“Why?” Katie wasn’t sure where this was going.
Josh shrugged. “If Isaac was willing to poison Ashley, it’s possible he was also poisoning Rachel and Lyndsay.”
“Was he?”
“Rachel. Not Lyndsay. The criminalist analyzed three months of Rachel’s hair. We can’t tell for sure when the poisoning occurred in those three months, but it definitely happened.”
“What. The. Literal. Fuck.”
Katie supposed that she shouldn’t be shocked. After all, that’s how Rachel had said she lost the baby at the end of her pregnancy. But there was something about the cold hard numbers that came from a hair stat test that sent a chill up her spine.
“That’s what I thought,” Josh said as he placed the journal back into the evidence locker.
“Wow.” Katie paused, digesting all the information. “What’s next?”
Josh flashed his winning smile. “The judge has already issued an arrest warrant for Isaac Smithson listing thirty counts of sexual assault and one count for the attempted murder of Ashley Montgomery. All we need is Rachel’s doctor to provide proof of miscarriage prior to birth, and we can add the involuntary termination of a pregnancy to the list.”
Katie shook her head. “I just talked to Ashley about it last night. Rachel won’t sign any releases until Isaac is in custody.”
“But that means she could end up going down on a murder charge when she didn’t do it.”
“Ashley can’t stop her from pleading. It’s Rachel’s right. And there’s no convincing the county attorney to drop charges early.”
“What if we show him all this evidence?”
Katie shook her head. “Rachel’s case is too political. He won’t make any rash decisions. I doubt he will do anything until after Isaac is in custody and the public is screaming for Rachel’s release.”
“Right, well, there’s the problem,” Josh said, rubbing a hand over his face. “Nobody can find Isaac. There’s a couple of guys stationed outside his house, but he hasn’t come back since we executed the search warrant. He must have known that we’d find damning evidence and decided to skip town.”
“Shit,” Katie said.
She turned on her heel and began walking down the rows of lockers toward the evidence room door.
“Where are you going?” Josh had to jog to keep up with her.
“To find Ashley. We have to talk some sense into Rachel.”
34
Ashley
Two days before Rachel’s plea hearing
“I don’t know if this is going to work,” Ashley said as Kylie led her and Katie down the hallway toward Rachel’s cell.
After Katie left her meeting with Josh, she’d called Ashley and they scheduled a time to see Rachel. It wasn’t conventional, but Ashley wanted Kylie and Katie present for the discussion. Maybe one of them could talk some sense into the girl.
“It won’t work,” Kylie said darkly.
“You’re positive today,” Ashley said.
“I’m not negative, I’m realistic. You know the things that Rachel has been through. At least some of them. As bad as that is, I bet it isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. I don’t blame her for her decision one bit.”
“I get that,” Ashley said as they rounded a corner, “but I can’t just sit by and let an innocent person go to prison.”
“Me neither,” Katie chimed in.
“Why?” Kylie stopped suddenly and turned to face Ashley and Katie, her hands on her hips. “Why do you think you know what’s good for this girl? If she goes to prison, she’ll get medical treatment and mental health therapy. She can even get her GED and go on to college. Do you think Rachel has ever thought college was a possibility for her?”
Kylie eyed Ashley, giving her a long accusatory glare before jumping over to Katie and doing the same. Neither of them answered.
“Well, I know the answer to that. No. Rachel never thought she would live a life other than torture, abuse, and misery. An existence that neither of you could possibly imagine.”
“Can you?” Ashley asked, genuinely growing concerned about Kylie’s upbringing. She’d never thought to ask her.
“No. I can’t,” Kylie said, shaking her head and turning around, “but I’m not arrogant enough to believe that I know what’s best for someone like Rachel.”
Apparently, we aren’t getting any assistance from Kylie, Ashley thought. But she didn’t begrudge the jailer. Of the three of them, Kylie had spent the most time with Rachel. She had, no doubt, developed a bond with the girl. And she was protective. That trait warranted admiration, not condemnation.
Kylie led them down two more hallways, then they were outside Rachel’s cell. A momentary flash of déjà vu struck Ashley. The cell had once been her home. It was also the place where former officer John Jackie had almost strangled the life out of her.
Rachel was reading in the corner, seated on top of several ratty-looking blankets, leaning against the cement wall. She didn’t look up as they approached, which was a testament to her growth. When Ashley first met Rachel, she’d been like a skittish street cat. Eyes always open, darting back and forth in search of danger.
After several beats of silence, Rachel finished her page and placed a bookmark in her book. She stood, stretching, then came over to meet them. “Hello,” she said, smiling broadly. Her gaze settled on Katie and her expression grew wary. “I didn’t think I’d see you again until trial.”
“I don’t work for the Brine Police Department anymore. I’m just here as Ashley’s friend.”
; “Oh?” Rachel turned back to her attorney. “Moral support?”
“Something like that,” Ashley said. “Listen.” She ground the toe of her shoe against the cement floor. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“I’m not changing my mind about pleading. Not until he’s in jail.”
“That’s the thing,” Katie cut in. “The warrants are out. The Waukee police issued a bunch of them. There is no way he is getting out of the charges. Isaac Smithson will go to prison for the rest of his life.”
“That’s good news,” Rachel said, her smile widening. “When will he be in jail?”
“That’s the thing,” Ashley said. “It could be seconds, hours, or even days.”
Rachel furrowed her brow. “How long can a person be on the run with active warrants?”
Ashley didn’t want to answer, but she had to. She wasn’t going to be one of the long list of adults who had lied to Rachel. “Sometimes it can be years. But that’s usually only when the defendant has skipped town. Considering the amount of celebrity that came with your case, coupled with Isaac’s visibility throughout it, I think they’ll track him down pretty quickly.”
“Well, then,” Rachel said with a shrug, “there shouldn’t be any problem with us keeping the same plea date. Two days is plenty of time.”
Ashley groaned. “Come on, Rachel. Can you at least give me the name of your doctor? Please, I’m begging you.”
“I can’t take the risk.” Rachel’s gaze grew soft. “I know you are trying to help me, Ashley, but I’ve gotten this far by instinct. I’m not about to throw away my best weapon if it means that there is any chance, no matter how minute, that my abuser could touch me one more time. At least in here”—she gestured around her—“I know for certain that he won’t get to me.”
Ashley turned to Kylie, pleading with her eyes, but the jailer didn’t offer any assistance.
“I get it, Rachel,” Katie said, “but we can’t let you become a martyr.”