Devils Among Us (Devin Dushane Series Book 1)

by Chastity Harris

  Her smile could have lit the way on a starless night. “Now, there’s a shocker.”

  Shane groaned and buried his face in his hands—it was hard to tell through the mumbling, but it sounded like he said, “Why must you tell her these things?”

  “What am I right about this time?”

  “Delluca was easy to clear. He was in prison during two of the murders and was staying at a halfway house on a work release program for a third.” He finished writing out his notes and ripped the top sheet off the pad, sailing it across the table. “I confirmed with his P.O. Delluca never missed check-in or curfew at the halfway house.” Adam stood and stretched his lanky six--foot frame, his yellow plaid button down and chinos barely wrinkled despite the long day. The other men looked as if they had slept in their rumpled clothes. Stealing Devin’s marker, Adam crossed Delluca’s name off the list. “Let’s not forget that he had a pretty ironclad alibi that infamous night.”

  Devin glanced at the generic office clock hanging above the door. It was already three fifteen. “I need to leave now if I’m going to have time to talk to Beth alone before her husband gets home.” She quickly began stuffing the notes and folders she would need into her bag.

  Sheriff Bittner’s voice was a lazy drawl. “Take one of the boys with you.”

  She didn’t slow down, but the smirk was as evident in her voice as it was on her face. “You don’t trust me to control myself and not accuse her of murder?”

  He pushed back deeper into his chair thinking for a moment, then: “No, no, I don’t.”

  Devin laughed out loud at his honesty and kissed him on top of his balding head as she tossed her bag over her shoulder. “Fine, come on, Adam!”

  Shane took on the pitiful face of the last puppy being left alone at the pet store. “Hey! Why does he get to go?”

  Devin gave him a wicked grin. “Because he finished his assignment. You haven’t cleared anyone or added any names to the list. So get to work.”

  Chapter 22

  Adam swept the front door of the Sheriff’s Office open for Devin, bowing low as she passed, causing Marlene to giggle from her desk. They came to an abrupt stop on the steps outside, however, causing a collision that nearly sent them both sailing to the sidewalk below. Devin flailed for the railing, but finding none, grabbed onto Adam’s arm instead.

  “Sorry, my bad!” she said. “Going from fluorescent to sunlight is totally blinding, but I should have warned you before I stopped in my tracks.” She had already pulled a pair of sunglasses from her bag and was sliding them on as they continued their trek to her car. “That’s much better.”

  “No worries, you can fall into me anytime.” He didn’t say anything else, but was fixated on her glasses. When she unlocked her door she gave him a curious glare across the top of the car.

  “What?”

  “How many pairs of those do you own?”

  She snorted and slid across the seat to unlock his door, burning the back of her leg on the hot leather in the process.

  “About two dozen. I buy sunglasses like most women buy shoes or jewelry, but I only have six or seven pairs with me. I left the rest in Richmond.” She shook her head, bewildered. “How did you figure out my habit?”

  He grinned, laying one hand out the window into the warm breeze. “I am a detective.”

  “I’m around detectives all day, and none of them have ever noticed.”

  “I notice all the little details about you.”

  “Oh really? Like what?”

  “Like, I would not have taken you for a pink nail polish kind of girl.” He waved towards her feet.

  She sniffed delicately and lifted her chin. “There’s nothing wrong with pink, just everything in moderation.”

  Adam lifted his palms in an open gesture. “Hey, I don’t judge; I just observe. When you’re really deep in thought, you doodle on the side of the page and make some really beautiful drawings, and I’m pretty sure that little round scar on your neck is from a cigarette burn.” He paused for a moment to listen to the wind passing the windows. “Were you abused?”

  “Don’t you need to buy me some frozen yogurt to ask that?”

  “Technically I already did, but if we need to go get some more, I can take care of that.”

  She grinned as they pulled up in front of the Christianson home. “No, we’ll consider that time served. It doesn’t look like she’s home, but we should check anyway.”

  They knocked to no avail, and Devin walked around back following the glossy slate stone path through neatly trimmed flower beds and shrubs onto the back porch. After ducking beneath a lush green hanging fern, she peered through the kitchen window and found what she was looking for. Returning along the rock path through the pristine rows of flowers she delivered her news to Adam.

  “She’s not here, but supper’s cooking in a crock pot in the kitchen, so she’ll be home soon. Do you want to wait on the porch?”

  “Hmm…sit on the porch in a rocking chair in the middle of the afternoon while I’m on the job.” He selected a chair and quickly stretched out his long legs and leaned back with his eyes closed. “Like you even needed to ask.”

  Devin took the rocker next to him. “She probably has lemonade in the fridge. I could pick the lock and get us a couple glasses.”

  He didn’t stop rocking or open his eyes. “I’m pretty sure that’s the reason I’m here. To keep you from doing stuff like that.”

  “Well, you’re no fun.”

  “I’m loads of fun. In fact I think we were playing twenty questions, and it’s your turn to answer.”

  She scowled at his closed-eyed silhouette. “I don’t remember having the opportunity to ask any questions.” When she was met by silence she sighed. “No, I was never abused. Yes, it is from a cigarette.” More silence. “I got it when I was a teenager. It was like a gang test.”

  Adam’s eyes popped open. “You were in a gang?”

  She punched him in the arm, hard. “No, I was not in a gang, moron. I was trying to stay out of a gang. Back then girls weren’t so much in gangs as they were owned by gangs, passed around like property. You know what I mean?” She met Adam’s eye, and he nodded slowly once.

  “There was this one, The Eastside Ochos, that had taken an interest in Carter’s little sister Deeanne and a couple of her friends. They were babies, barely fourteen. I think one was even still thirteen. After school one day, about half dozen Ochos corner Dee and one of her friends and say they’re going to initiate them in. A little crowd gathers, and somebody runs to find me. Thank heavens Carter was in basketball practice, or it just would’ve been a fight right then, and someone would have gotten shot.”

  Devin closed her eyes and continued rocking in the sun, but Adam was staring wide eyed, his jaw slack. “So what did you do?”

  “Hmm?” You would have thought he had asked her about the ending of a particularly dull basketball game. “Oh, I pushed into the crowd and knocked the leader on his butt. Told him he couldn’t have these girls and to stay away from them.”

  “I’m sure that was well-received.”

  “Yeah, it went over like a ton of bricks. One of the little minions came at me, but I was already fighting professionally at that point, so I swatted him like a fly. The leader got up and said the only way we could walk away was by burning out.” Adam raised his eyebrows in question. “It’s a kind of dare. They hold a lit cigarette to your body for eight seconds. Eight was a big deal with them since they were the ‘Ochos.’ If you can make it for eight seconds without punking out or screaming like a little girl, you can walk away. If I couldn’t do it, they would own Dee, her friend and me. They liked their odds—only two people had ever succeeded, and one was a homeless man playing for a steak dinner, so he was highly motivated.”

  “Nice bunch of kids. I take it you made it?”

  Beth’s car turned the corner on the far end of the street.

  “Yep. As soon as he said it, I flipped my jacket off my shoulder and presente
d my neck so he could get a nice tender spot. I looked him straight in the eye the whole time and never flinched, never blinked or made a sound. His hand was shaking when he pulled that cigarette off, and he told his whole crew that no one was to ever touch any of us or our family members.” She stood and waved to Beth as she pulled into the driveway.

  “Did any other gangs try to recruit you?”

  “Not after that. They all thought I was crazy or possessed by demons.”

  “How did you take care of the wound?”

  “When we got about a block from the school we hailed a taxi to go to the nearest hospital.” They stepped off the porch and hurried to meet Beth at her car. “Let me tell you, when the door on that taxi shut I was cussing like a sailor and screaming like a banshee. The driver thought I was in labor.”

  Adam was trying to get his laughter under control while Devin and Beth hugged.

  “Devin, you should have called! I would have come home sooner if I had known you were here waiting.” She stood back to look Devin over from head to toe. “Don’t you look as pretty as a peach today.” She slid an arm around Devin’s waist and murmured in her ear, “Is that why a puppy dog followed you home for dinner?”

  Devin lightly swatted the older woman’s arm, her tone as dry as her throat now was without that lemonade. “Hardly. And I’d say he’s more of a hyena. We’re actually here on official business.”

  Beth’s eyes lit up. She squeezed Devin tighter to her side as she pressed her free hand over her heart. “You’ve found something? New evidence?”

  “Something like that. More of a new lead. Why don’t we help you carry in these groceries so nothing melts? Then we can talk.”

  They settled in the living room with fresh glasses of lemonade. Beth told Devin the spare key was hidden under the doormat if she ever wanted a glass when they weren’t home. Devin tossed a smug look at Adam.

  “You know, Beth, that’s not a very safe place to keep a spare key. It’s the first place an intruder is going to look.”

  Tinkling bells rang out as Beth laughed. “Oh, Devin, this is Fenton. Nothing like that happens here.”

  Devin sat up straighter on the pillow covered crème and mauve sofa. “I’m in Fenton investigating a murder—actually, a string of murders. That’s why we came to see you today.”

  Adam looked sharply at Devin, clearly un-sure where she was heading with this, but not voicing any concerns yet.

  “Some evidence was left on my porch a few days ago that suggests Laney’s murder was tied to several others.”

  Beth set her drink on the coffee table, still careful to use a coaster. “I don’t understand. I thought your house was vandalized. How is that evidence?”

  Adam’s tall frame looked surprisingly at home in the blue wing-back chair he’d chosen, although the throw pillow seemed to be crowding him a bit. He leaned forward on the chair arms to field Beth’s question.

  “We didn’t want to panic the public about the incident, so we thought it best to keep the details vague. It was actually a piece of evidence from another murder. It was staked—” he made a stabbing motion with his fist and Devin whipped her head around to glare at him and he dropped his hand. “Um…attached to her door with a picture of her out at the Summit.” Adam shut his lips tightly. It was in his best interest to stop talking before Devin staked him.

  Beth started to ask a question, but Devin saw the moment when all the pieces of what Adam had said clicked into place and the color and vitality drained from her face. Her voice was a rough whisper when she spoke. “When did you go to the Summit?”

  “After I had dinner here.”

  The color did not return to Beth’s face, but she certainly became animated, hugging one of the ruffled burgundy pillows from the couch to her chest. “By yourself? At night? Devin, how could you? Talk about being unsafe. And how did someone get a picture of you? Why don’t you just go lie down on Laney’s grave and join her?” She smacked Devin’s leg with the pillow. “Your father would go crazy if he knew you’d done that.”

  “First, thank you for your concern, but I can take care of myself.” She patted her cousin on the knee. “Second, you way overestimate my father’s concern for my well being. Lastly, this event was good news. It gave us a break in the case and new leads. So be happy!”

  “Be happy a psychopath was at your door?” She raised her eyes to the ceiling. “I’m so glad neither of my children are police officers.”

  Adam rolled his eyes at Devin. “Happy is not exactly the term I’d use.”

  Ignoring his side comment, Devin pressed on. “We really need to tighten up the timeline from the night Laney was killed so we can track her exact movements.” She pulled a notepad and pen from her bag. “I know it’s been a lot of years, but I need you to try to remember it as detailed as you can.”

  Beth began the story from the moment they got out of the car right up to when she saw Laney with Peter after her fight with Dean. Describing who they had danced with and talked to throughout the evening, even remembering some of the outfits.

  “How long was Laney with Peter?”

  “Oh, just a moment, I looked away, and by the time I looked back she was gone.”

  Devin tried to be gentle. “She was gone, or they were gone?”

  “Well…they were gone, but he was just asking her where I was, so that just took a second.”

  “Okay, and what did you do after that?”

  Beth shifted in her seat ever so slightly. “I had a soda and walked out to the parking lot and down to the dock to get some air it could get really stuffy when the pavilion was packed. Then I went back to the dance to take some more pictures, but that’s when Peter found me, so we found a corner to talk in. We were there for quite a long time before I went to find Laney.” Beth looked down at her hands, her voice shaking. “I’ve always wondered if I’d looked for her sooner if she could have lived. Maybe we would have found her just injured.”

  Devin took one of her hands. “It wouldn’t have made any difference. One of the first blows killed her. She died almost instantly.” She gave Beth a moment to compose herself, knowing that the hardest part was yet to come. “Beth, did you see anyone in the parking lot?”

  The answer was too straight, too quick. “No.”

  Devin gulped down her remaining lemonade and thrust the glass at her partner for the day. “Adam, I’m all finished with my lemonade, but I could really use some water. Would you mind getting it for me?”

  A startled Adam finally snapped out of his shock and lunged to his feet with glass in hand and retreated from the room.

  Devin lightly squeezed Beth’s hand and spoke softly but surely. “You didn’t go with Henry Maddox to his car? And get a splash of homebrew in your soda and then maybe linger there…?”

  Beth closed her eyes and shook her head, a silent tear sliding down her cheek. “I’ve never spoken to anyone about what happened. Even Henry and I never acknowledged it happened. I didn’t even confess it to Laney’s tombstone. I talk to her there, you know. How could you know about that night?”

  “I’m very good at what I do. I’m not trying to dig up skeletons, but this could help us time-wise. How long do you think it was from when you last saw Laney until you got into Henry’s car?”

  Beth couldn’t have looked worse if she had been sentenced to hang on the gallows. “About ten minutes. We didn’t mean to—we were talking, and then all of sudden we were kissing. A car pulled in, and Henry didn’t want anyone to see me with him, so he slid us into the backseat, thinking we’d break off the kiss in a minute. We didn’t, and things . . . escalated.”

  Devin felt like she was in an after-school-special—don’t get in the backseat with a boy. They never want to just talk!

  “Was it normal for a car to arrive that late in the evening?”

  “It wasn’t abnormal. Most everybody got out to the Summit by eight o’clock but there would be a straggler or two later in the evening.”

  “Did you recogn
ize the car or notice anything about it?” Devin was working to keep her tone and expression warm. If she didn’t keep things light, Beth could get spooked and become emotional, which would not be conducive to gathering information.

  Beth blushed furiously but was still able to answer. “I didn’t actually see the car, just the headlights.”

  “Okay, how long until you left Henry, and what did you do next?” She gave Beth’s hand another light squeeze.

  “Umm, it was about a half an hour, and then I walked down to the dock and took a picture of the lake and hurried back to the pavilion as fast as I could. Mandy Copp and Courtney Lawson were two of my friends from school, so I sat down with them at a picnic table for about ten minutes until Peter came and asked me to dance and that was right about nine-thirty. He and I talked until ten-thirty, which is when I started searching for Laney.”

  Beth used both hands to wipe away her tears, which were now falling freely, so Devin switched to rubbing her back instead. She raised her voice in the direction of the kitchen.

  “How are we coming with that water, Adam?”

  There was some scurrying in the kitchen, and then Adam appeared with a glass of ice water, which Devin handed over to Beth.

  “Why don’t you have a sip of this?” Beth obediently took the glass, clutching it like a lifeline. “We’re going to need to talk to Peter when he gets home, since he was the last person to see Laney, but I don’t see any reason to discuss this with him right now.”

  Devin shot a sideways glance at Adam, and he ducked his head once in agreement. Beth’s eyes flew wide in terror. She hadn’t even considered her husband might find out about her teenage indiscretion.

  She grabbed Devin’s hand, a fresh batch of tears falling as she spoke. “Peter’s going to be home in just a few minutes, and I’m a mess! You can’t tell him, Devin. You just can’t!”

  “Shh, it will be all right. I’m just going to ask him what he was doing that night. I won’t bring it up.” Devin stood up and helped her cousin to her feet. “You go get freshened up. Do you want us to wait for Peter on the porch?”