Deadly Target (Detective Sarah Spillman Mystery Series Book 6)

by Renee Pawlish

  He rifled through the rest of the files, saving the most concerning one for last. He opened the folder, and the name Lawrence Ridley jumped out at him. Ernie’s heart thumped. Ridley was a well-known accident lawyer, his commercials all over TV. If you’ve been in an accident, call us. We’re fair, and we get the job done right for you. Ernie shook his head. If only the public knew that behind that smart, elegant exterior lurked a depraved killer. Unfortunately, Sarah, Ernie, and Spats had only been able to put together circumstantial evidence against Ridley, and he’d walked. It had been a devastating loss for all of them. And just because he’d gotten off, that didn’t mean Ridley wouldn’t want to destroy Sarah. Ernie swore under his breath.

  Spats glanced up at him. “What?”

  “Lawrence Ridley.”

  “A vile man.”

  “I need to interview him, though. Who knows but that he’s carrying a vendetta against Sarah.”

  Spats agreed, muttering under his breath about Ridley.

  Ernie scanned through the file, then picked up Sarah’s desk phone. He dialed a number and waited.

  “Ridley & Associates,” a pleasant female voice said. “How may I direct your call?”

  “I need to speak with Lawrence Ridley,” Ernie said.

  Spats eyed Ernie, and Ernie shrugged.

  “I’m afraid he’s tied up at the moment.” The woman’s tone indicated Ridley was often tied up. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “I need to speak to him about a private matter.”

  “It would be best to make an appointment. What is this regarding?”

  Someone screening his calls, Ernie thought. It was likely impossible to get to Ridley directly. But again, Ernie wasn’t ready to tip his hand yet.

  “He is in town?” Ernie asked.

  “Yes, but if you want to speak to him, I need some more information.”

  “I’ll get back to you.” Ernie cradled the phone.

  “Let me guess,” Spats said. “Ridley’s unavailable.”

  “Yep.” Ernie stretched his back. “I’ll talk to him, one way or the other.”

  “You think he’d go after Sarah?”

  Ernie gave that some thought. “Right now, I won’t dismiss anything. Ridley was as wily as they come, and I wouldn’t put anything past him.”

  “Me, neither.”

  “What’s the rest of your morning look like?”

  “I need to get on the warrant to search Cody Sheen’s apartment, and for his electronics. Once I get his phone records, I’ll let you know. I’ve also got Cody’s mother and sister coming here. And then I’ll be off to find his roommate. I’ll see if any of them can shed light on what Cody was up to.”

  “I’ve got to leave soon to go to Sarah’s house,” Ernie said. “I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

  “Good.” Spats tipped his head at his computer. “Here we go.” He typed on the laptop, then said, “Hmm. Austin has a couple of drug charges on his juvie record.”

  “You sound disappointed.”

  Spats frowned. “I thought there might be something more there.”

  “The kid was too smart to get caught too often?”

  “I don’t know.” Spats typed some more.

  Ernie gave Sarah’s desk one final look, then stood up. “I need to get going.” He nodded at Spats, picked up Sarah’s laptop and went down to the second floor, where the techies, including Tara Dahl, worked. It wasn’t yet eight o’clock, but she was already there, hanging her coat on a rack in the corner. She looked over when he entered.

  “Oh, Ernie, I can’t believe what happened to Sarah.” Tara blinked back tears as she sat down at her desk. “Have you heard how she’s doing?”

  “She’s gonna be ok, they believe. She’s resting now,” he said.

  “I want to go over to the hospital at some point,” she said. “But right now, I heard there’s no visitors.”

  “Yeah, give it a little time.”

  “She’s the best. She’s always treated me really well, and … she cares. If that makes sense.” She gave a little shrug. “You know, sometimes it can get a little weird, with so many men around here.”

  Ernie shrugged. “Hey, I get it.”

  “Do you have any leads?”

  “Not yet.” He held up Sarah’s laptop.

  “That’s hers, from upstairs?” Tara asked.

  He nodded and set it on the desk. “When can you get to it?”

  “I’ll make time for it right away. You know the directive’s come down, that this one takes priority. One of our own, find out what happened to her, right?”

  “You better believe it.” Ernie’s voice was hard.

  She tapped the laptop. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  “I’m headed to her house now, and I’ll bring you her personal laptop.”

  Tara pointed to her desk. “Bring it as soon as you can, and I’ll get to it.”

  “Thanks.”

  Ernie headed out the door.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The morning air held a warm hint of spring as Ernie parked in front of Sarah’s ranch-style house on Grape Street. The house had a big yard, a long driveway, and a towering evergreen common in the older neighborhoods east of downtown. He stared at a news van parked across the street, but he was relieved that no reporter came to talk to him. He walked up to the front door and rang the bell. It opened a moment later.

  “Hey, Ernie, come on in.” Harry wore jeans and a blue shirt, his steel-gray hair still wet and slicked back. Dark circles were etched beneath his eyes. He glanced past Ernie. “Only one news truck right now, thank goodness. A reporter tried to talk to me when I drove in earlier, and I told them to get off the property, or I’d sue.” The irritation faded from his voice. “It was an idle threat, but it seemed to work.”

  “If you have any problems with the media, you let us know, and we’ll handle it.”

  “Thanks.” Harry smiled with more hope than the previous evening. “How are you?”

  “Not too bad,” Ernie said.

  Harry stepped aside and let Ernie into the foyer. The house had white walls, a dark green couch and loveseat in a living room to the left of the door, plush carpet. A TV was on, and Ernie heard Chief Follett talking.

  “… was Detective Sarah Spillman. She should make a full recovery. Obviously, we want to find out who shot her, and …”

  Harry went to a coffee table and grabbed the remote. “Sorry. The house seemed so … empty. The noise made it better.” He stared at the screen for a moment. “Follett’s not giving away any details.”

  “Good,” Ernie said.

  Harry hesitated. “Sarah was sleeping when I left the hospital. I’ll want to head back soon, but you can take as much time as you need. I can leave you here to lock up.”

  “I’ll make it quick,” Ernie said. “Can you show me her office?”

  Harry waved for Ernie to follow, and led him down a hallway to a room that had two simple oak desks against opposite walls. He pointed to the one on the left.

  “That’s my desk. Sarah’s is the other one.”

  Ernie went to Sarah’s desk. There was a laptop and monitor, a keyboard, and some sticky notes and pens on it.

  “Are you okay if we take her laptop, have forensics check it?” he asked.

  Harry leaned against the doorjamb. “Absolutely. You take whatever you need, if it’s going to help find out who shot her.”

  Ernie sat down at a faux-leather chair and searched Sarah’s desk just as he had at the station. When he finished, he hadn’t found anything interesting except for a note with Pete Olinger’s name on it. He glanced at Harry.

  “Okay if I take a look now?”

  “Yeah, no problem.”

  Ernie touched the computer mouse, and the laptop screen lit up with a picture of Sarah and Harry on it. Ernie smiled. It was a good one. Sarah was grinning widely, her coffee-brown eyes glowing, Harry with his arm around her. She looked so happy. Ernie moved the mo
use again and was prompted for a password. He glanced at Harry, who gave it to him.

  Once logged in, Ernie poked around and checked file folders. It felt invasive, but he had to do it. He was careful, and when he finished, he sat back.

  “I don’t see anything on this that helps me,” he said. “We’ll see what further analysis shows us. They can run scans, see if anyone’s tried to hack the computer. And they might find something that I’m missing.”

  “Sure. I know Sarah would be okay with that, and I am, too.”

  “Did she talk about her last investigation with you, especially now?”

  Harry nodded. “Yeah, she shares things that happen. I mostly listen. She says it helps.”

  “Did anything she said stick out to you?”

  Harry pursed his lips. “The guy’s in jail now, right?”

  “Yes, but it’s possible he could have easily arranged for somebody to come after Sarah.”

  “Yes, I guess so.” Harry ran a hand through his hair. “To answer your question, she didn’t say anything about the investigation that seems unusual. She didn’t seem worried, nothing like that.”

  “Was she concerned about anything else going on, with other cases, or … other personal issues?”

  Harry shook his head. “No. Actually, she’d been a little more relaxed than usual since she was between investigations. And to tell you the truth, it’s been nice. She hasn’t been nearly as distracted as she can be.”

  “Yeah, my wife says the same thing.”

  “The life of being with a detective.”

  Ernie stood up. “Do you have a security system?”

  “We have some cameras set up at the front and back, and a doorbell camera.” He moved over to his desk and sat down. “Let me pull up the video. The software archives the footage for two weeks.”

  “I want to get that from you, but for now, can you pull up yesterday afternoon, once she got home?”

  “Sure.” He worked at his laptop for a few minutes, then pointed at the screen. “Here you go.”

  He clicked a button, and Ernie watched the video of the front of the house, in fast-motion. Occasionally a car went by, and a woman passed by on the sidewalk, moving at an almost comical clip in the fast-forward speed. He didn’t see a dark SUV, or any other unusual activity.

  “What about the doorbell camera?”

  Harry queued up another video, and they watched it. They saw the same cars pass by, and the woman walking.

  “Let’s check the back-door camera,” Ernie said.

  Harry queued up another video, and they watched it. There was no activity in the backyard at all.

  Harry swiveled in the chair and looked up at Ernie. “Sorry, that was a bust.”

  Ernie pointed at the monitor. “Yeah, but maybe someone was around another time. If you can email me the files, we’ll look through it all.”

  Harry nodded. “I’ll get that as soon as you’re finished here. Anything else?”

  Ernie shook his head.

  “There were two other shootings last night?”

  “Yeah. We don’t have much to go on yet. We don’t know if they’re all connected or not.”

  “Man. I’m lucky Sarah’s alive, but I feel for the families of those other victims.”

  “Did Sarah seem concerned about anything, or scared of anybody?” Ernie finally said.

  “No, everything seemed okay.” He threw up his hands. “I could understand this more if she was in the middle of an investigation, something like that. But everything seemed fine.”

  “Ever heard of Cody Sheen, or Nick or Rachel Armistead?”

  Harry’s brow furrowed. “No, they don’t sound familiar. Should I?”

  Ernie shrugged. “Not necessarily. Do you and Sarah ever eat at Charlie’s Restaurant?”

  “That place on Sixth Avenue?” He shook his head. “I pass by it a lot, and I’ve even told Sarah we should try it, but we never have. You get your old stand-bys, you know, and you stick with those.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Ernie then casually asked, “And things good between you two?” Ernie thought he knew the answer, but had to check.

  Harry smiled. “Yeah, actually really good. Since we’re engaged, it’s just … different. I can’t describe it, because I’ve been with Sarah for so long, but it’s like things have elevated, the vibe is special.” The smile faded. “I know you have to look at the boyfriend or the husband, but you know I wouldn’t do anything to Sarah. I love her. She’s my everything.”

  Ernie felt a twinge of guilt. Like it or not, Harry was correct. He was considered a suspect, and they did have to look at him thoroughly, but Ernie didn’t for a minute think that he would harm Sarah.

  “And you haven’t seen anything unusual?”

  Harry shook his head. “Not when I came home last evening. Then when Rizzo called and told me what happened, I was at the hospital all night. I didn’t notice a thing around here.” He stood up. “Speaking of Sarah, hopefully she’ll be awake sometime today.”

  “Harry, you know that Sarah means … well …”

  Harry nodded. “Yeah, I know, Ernie. And she thinks the world of you and Spats.”

  Ernie couldn’t find his voice for a moment. He took Sarah’s laptop and they headed for the hall. “Does Sarah have a personal phone?”

  “No, just the work-issued one.”

  They walked to the front door, then Ernie turned around.

  “Mind if I check the back yard?”

  “Help yourself.”

  Ernie paused. “The department has counseling, if you need it.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Harry said. He let out a sigh. “I’m running on adrenaline now. I suspect this will all hit me later.”

  Harry cleared his throat. “If I have an update on Sarah, I’ll let you know.”

  “Thanks.”

  Ernie shook Harry’s hand and headed out the door. Then he walked around the side of the house, checking windows for any tampering. He went into the back yard. It was spacious, with flower beds and a patio. He walked the perimeter and looked into the alley, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. When he circled around to the front, Harry was backing down the driveway. He waved at Ernie as he pulled into the street and drove away.

  Ernie watched until the car disappeared, then headed down the block and around the corner, back to the crime scene. There was still blood on the sidewalk where Sarah had fallen. Ernie looked around, hoping he might see something that had been missed the previous evening. But that was a bust. He finally walked back to his car, got in, and pulled away from her house.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Spats was just about to start working on his warrants when a desk sergeant called him.

  “There’s a Leah Sheen here, along with her daughter.”

  Spats frowned and looked at the time. “They’re early.”

  “I can’t help that,” the sergeant said dryly.

  “Tell them I’ll be right down.”

  Spats hung up the phone pulled down his sleeves, and went to the front lobby. Leah sat in a chair against a wall near the entrance, a hand running up and down her pants. Caitlyn sat next to her, expressionless.

  “Oh, Detective.” Leah quickly got up when she saw him. “I know we’re early, but the pastor at our church is available at noon, so I thought we could talk to you earlier. Is now a bad time?”

  Leah was more composed than last night, but her eyes were red and puffy. Heavy makeup couldn’t hide a sleepless night. Caitlyn hung back, now frowning. She stared at Spats, and when he made eye contact, she quickly looked away.

  “Not at all,” Spats said. “Follow me and we’ll sit for a minute and talk.”

  He led them up the stairs, and into a small room. The room had a fruity smell; somebody had recently spritzed it with air freshener. Spats closed the door, and sounds from the surrounding detective rooms faded.

  They pulled out metal chairs and sat down at a rectangular table. Leah glanced around the room. It wasn’t m
uch to see, just a stereotypical interview room, with light gray walls, metal table and chairs, and a video camera up in the corner. Nothing to distract a person being interviewed. She pointed to the camera.

  “Are we being taped?”

  Spats shook his head. “No.” He waited for her to feel comfortable talking.

  “What else can I tell you about Cody?” she finally asked. She clutched a tissue she pulled from her purse. “You got some information from my husband last night, right? You talked to him at Charlie’s.” Caitlyn sat quietly, her arms crossed, her gaze on the floor.

  “Yes, I did,” Spats said. “However, he thought you might have more information about Cody.” Spats hesitated. “Your husband said that you might be closer to Cody than he was.”

  “Yes, it’s true.” Leah scowled. “Dave had difficulties with Cody. The two of them were always at odds. It was better lately, but Cody was definitely more comfortable talking to me.”

  Caitlyn shifted in her chair and tipped her head, seeming to signal agreement with her mother.

  Spats got her attention. “Would you agree?”

  Caitlyn nodded slowly. “Yeah, Cody definitely talked to my mom more than my dad.”

  He smiled at her. “Tell me about your brother. Did you two get along?”

  She nodded, and her face lit up. “Yeah, Cody was all right. I mean, it was hard when he was using so much. I didn’t like how he could get angry, but other than that, he was cool.”

  “Yeah, cool.” Spats nodded appreciatively, trying to build some rapport with her. “Did you hang out with him much?”

  She laughed. “When we were little, but then he got with his friends and I have mine. He was all right, though. He would protect me, you know? But lately, with him going to college and moving out, and me working and in school, we didn’t see each other as much. But we texted a lot.”