Deadly Target (Detective Sarah Spillman Mystery Series Book 6)

by Renee Pawlish

  “Yeah, I do,” Oakley said. “You’re not too far from me. How about meeting me for lunch? There’s a Jersey Mikes Subs on the corner of Sixth and Broadway.”

  Ernie muffled a yawn. “I could do for some lunch, and some caffeine. Let me see what Spats is doing.” He put the phone against his chest and asked Spats about lunch.

  Spats shook his head. “I’d like to join you, but I’m going to see if I can catch Caitlyn Sheen while she’s working the lunch hour.”

  “Good idea,” Ernie said to Spats, then told Oakley, “Spats can’t make it, but I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “See you soon.”

  Spats and Ernie walked to their cars, and Spats waved at Ernie as he drove away. Ernie headed out of the parking garage, and on his way to the restaurant, he got a call from Tara.

  “Hey, Ernie, thought you’d want to know that I’ve been running a scan on Sarah’s work laptop, personal laptop, and on her phone, and I’m not seeing anything useful. I’ll get you a report so you can look through it, but nothing sticks out to me.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “I’ll let you know if I see something odd.”

  “I doubt anything will come up. I just talked to Sarah, and she didn’t have any insights for us.” He gave her a quick rundown of the conversation.

  “How’s she doing?” Tara asked when he finished.

  “Good. Tired and not always completely lucid.”

  “That’s great news. I’ll head over after work.”

  “She’d like that.”

  “Ernie, you hang in there, too. You sound tired.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” he said with more cheer than he felt. He didn’t want to verbalize it, but he was worried they were spinning their wheels. There was a killer out there. Was that person finished killing, or would they strike again?

  “So I interviewed the wife, Rachel, again,” Oakley said as he sat down at a table. “She’s still really shaken up, understandably, really having a hard time.” He frowned. “I get that.” He paused for a moment. “Anyway, Rachel had a friend with her the whole time I talked to her, Julie Novack. I think I got more from the friend that I did from Rachel.”

  Ernie took a seat across from him, set his food down, and gulped some of his Coke. “Tell me about the interview.”

  Oakley unwrapped his roast beef and provolone sub. “Both Rachel and Julie said that Nick was a really good guy, that he wasn’t in any kind of trouble, and that they don’t understand who would shoot him.”

  Ernie took another drink and set the glass down. “Yeah, that’s what we usually hear. What does your gut tell you?” He took a bite of his Philly sub and chewed. The background noises of other conversations faded as he listened.

  Oakley pondered that. “I’m not sure what to think. There’s something strange there. Rachel seemed on edge, and I can chalk that up to her being upset.” He threw up his hands, “I mean, for crying out loud, her husband was shot right in front of her last night. But there was something with the friend, Julie. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it was as if she was more upset than she should be. Call it a hunch, but something about her reaction wasn’t quite right.” He thought about that before speaking more. “Look at it this way. She’s the neighbor, lives two doors down, and she and her husband hang out with Rachel and Nick, from what I could gather, maybe once every few weeks, depending on how busy things are.” Oakley sat back and wiped his hands on a napkin. “Let me ask you something. Are you friends with your neighbors?”

  Ernie nodded. “Actually, the couple across the street. Josh and Teresa. He’s in IT, a programmer or something.” He shrugged. “Something I don’t understand. And she works with an insurance company. They’re nice people, really down to earth. We get together once in a while for drinks, go to dinner here and there.”

  Oakley nodded. “Right. You hang out some, visit, that kind of thing. I’m single, but I’m friends with a couple of the people in my condo building. Same kind of thing as you – get together for drinks, maybe a barbecue. But let me ask you this. If something happened to Josh or Teresa, would you be upset, to the point of tears?”

  Ernie laughed. “No. I like Josh just fine, and I’d be upset, but I don’t think I’d be in tears.”

  Oakley arched an eyebrow. “What about your wife? What would be her response?”

  Ernie picked up his soda and twirled it slowly. “Liz? She’s more of a softy than me, that’s for sure.” He took another drink. “She’d be upset, sure. She might even get a little teary-eyed, but super upset?” He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  Oakley tapped the table. “Exactly. Julie held it in check pretty good, but I got the impression she was ready to burst into tears. More than just a little upset. That has me suspicious.”

  Ernie stuffed the last of his sub into his mouth as he thought about what Oakley had said. “I can see your point. What are you thinking?”

  Oakley tipped his head. “An affair?”

  “That’s what I would wonder,” Ernie said.

  “I’m looking at her social media accounts to see if I find anything interesting.”

  “What all did Rachel say?”

  “Well, if you listen to her, or her parents, she and Nick had a perfect marriage.” He finished off his sub and grabbed the napkin again. “I know. Who has a perfect marriage, right? But I couldn’t get anything more out of any of them. According to Rachel, she and Nick dated for about a year, and she knew he was the one. They’ve been married for eight years. She says they didn’t fight much, and Julie agreed with that. Oh, and so do Rachel’s parents.” He crumpled up the napkin in the sub wrapper. “I talked to both of them before I saw Rachel again. They seem like nice people, pretty shaken up by all of this. They said because they live out of state, they don’t see Rachel and Nick that often, maybe a couple of times a year, but when they do, they haven’t seen Rachel and Nick fight. They don’t hear Rachel mention fights with Nick, either. And they don’t know who would’ve wanted to kill Nick. According to them, he worked hard, he made good money, and they’re not aware of him being in any kind of trouble. And that matches what I’ve been able to find, too. He doesn’t have any kind of record, and from what I’ve been able to dig up, financially he looks clean. No liens on the house, no financial issues at all.”

  “What about his parents? Have you talked to them yet?”

  Oakley nodded. “Yeah, I met with them. The mom only stayed in the room briefly, she was too upset to talk more. But I talked to Ray, the father, for a while. He says that Nick was always a good kid, went to college in California, got an MBA, and got a good job. He was never in any kind of trouble. Ray did say that Nick has been working a lot lately, that he’s been traveling out of town.” He held up a finger. “But when Nick was in town, he and Rachel liked to go to the gym, and go out to eat, mostly at healthy types of restaurants.” Oakley smiled. “Ray made a point about the healthy places. That was important to Nick.”

  “Does Rachel go to the gym when Nick’s out of town?”

  “Yes. She rarely misses a workout.”

  “Nick was out of town a lot? That gives him an excuse, if he’s having an affair.”

  “If,” Oakley said with emphasis.

  Ernie smirked. “I know, don’t jump to conclusions. But I would want to follow up on that angle more.”

  “I will.”

  “Did any of them say anything about a dark SUV?”

  Oakley shook his head. “Nada. Rachel and Julie don’t recall seeing any suspicious cars in the neighborhood, and Rachel doesn’t remember much of anything from last night. She was too shook up.”

  “Have you talked to the employees at the gym, and any of the neighboring businesses? Anybody there see a dark SUV with anyone in it that looked suspicious?”

  “There are some cameras around the parking lot where Nick’s car was, but so far we haven’t spotted a dark SUV. As for businesses in the area, I’ve got some officers canvassing the area, but
it’s a big job. There’s one guy that owns a business near the gym that has surveillance cameras, but for some reason he was a little hesitant to let anybody see it. I’m going over there to talk to him, see what I can do. I’ll let you know what I find out. And I’m making sure the detectives who’re talking to Nick’s co-workers ask about the SUV, too. Maybe someone saw the car hanging around Nick’s office.”

  “Good.” Ernie chewed his lip. “The vehicle may be a dead end. How many ‘dark SUVs’ are there in Denver?”

  “I know.”

  “What have Nick’s co-workers said about him?”

  “I’ve got a detective interviewing them now. He said he’d let me know if he heard anything unusual, and so far, he hasn’t, so I wouldn’t expect much there. Probably the same stuff that Nick’s a good guy and they don’t know who would do this to him.”

  Some people at another table burst into laughter, and Ernie glanced at them. “Keep digging into his business dealings. We might dig up something there.”

  “Will do. I’ve been trying to get in touch with Nick’s best friend, a guy named Tyler Deffenbaugh.”

  Ernie narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why isn’t he calling? Is he avoiding us?”

  Oakley shook his head. “No, he’s been out of the country. He travels to India for work every few months, and he’s there now. That’s according to Rachel, and I don’t have any reason to disbelieve that.”

  “Does he know about Nick?”

  Oakley nodded. “When he found out about Nick’s death, he caught a flight back.”

  “That’s a long trip.”

  “Right.”

  “Did you get Nick’s electronics?”

  “Yep. The techs are looking into all that. We have his phone records, too. So far, no calls that can’t be explained.” He held up a finger. “And no calls from Nick to Julie, but some from Rachel to Julie.”

  Ernie thought about that. “If Nick and Julie were having an affair, how did they contact each other so they wouldn’t be discovered?”

  “Disposable cell phones?”

  “That would make sense. The spouses remain in the dark.”

  “Unless one of them found the disposable phone.”

  Ernie nodded. “What about the ballistics on the bullet recovered from Nick’s car?”

  Oakley shrugged. “They analyzed it. If we find a gun we think was used to shoot him, we’ll have the proof there. Until then, it’s just a bullet.”

  Ernie took a moment before replying. “There has to be some reason why Nick was shot, as well as Sarah and Cody Sheen.”

  Oakley ran a hand over his face. “I asked Rachel and Julie, and both sets of parents, if they knew Cody Sheen or Sarah. None of them had ever heard of either.”

  Ernie put his elbows on the table. “Do you believe them?”

  Oakley nodded. “They all seemed credible to me. I’ve got a couple of detectives tracking down all of Nick and Rachel’s social media accounts. So far, they can’t find any connection between Sarah, Cody, and Nick.” He threw up a hand. “So far, I can’t, either.”

  “I went through Sarah’s case files earlier, and I don’t see anything about Cody Sheen or Nick. I had Tara look at Sarah’s laptops and her phone, and she didn’t find anything. And when I talked to Sarah, she confirmed she doesn’t know anything about Cody or Nick. So far, it’s a bust. No connection between the three victims.” Ernie looked around the restaurant. “If there isn’t something in common between the three, and we have a random shooter, is he going to strike again?”

  Oakley grimaced. “God help us. Do you remember those two guys that shot a bunch people in Washington DC?”

  “Yeah, the Beltway snipers in 2002.” Ernie crinkled his brow. “That was a scary time. People didn’t want to go anywhere, didn’t know what might be coming next. When someone is randomly shooting people, what do you do?”

  “How were they caught?”

  “As I recall, they were sleeping at a rest stop, and someone spotted their car and tipped off the police.”

  Oakley let out a slow breath. “Maybe we’ll get some kind of break like that.”

  Ernie swore. “I hope so.”

  “What’re you doing next?”

  “I’m going to visit Lawrence Ridley to see what he has to say.” He told Oakley about calling Ridley’s offices earlier in the day. “I know he’s around, and,” he pulled out his phone, “I’ll call right now to see if he’s available.” He dialed a number, and when the receptionist answered, he asked for Ridley and was told he was at lunch. He pressed the receptionist and found that Ridley was expected back within a few minutes. Ernie declined to leave a message and pocketed his phone. “He’ll be back in the office soon.”

  Oakley smiled. “You should go there now, get him coming back into the building.”

  “I can try.” Ernie pushed back from his chair. “I won’t let Ridley dodge me forever. If I have to drag him down to the station, I will.”

  “If you do, let me know ahead of time. I want to see that!” Oakley was still laughing as they walked outside.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The lunch crowd was in full swing when Spats walked into the Five Guys hamburger joint. He took a second to survey the room, then saw Caitlin Sheen working behind the counter. Spats got in line. It was almost noon, and he was hungry, and of all the fast-food hamburger places around town, Five Guys was one of the better ones, in his opinion. The smell of burgers, fries, and conversation filled the air. The line moved quickly, but he was several people back, and it gave him a moment to collect his thoughts. Sarah hadn’t known anything about her shooter. He wasn’t surprised, but it didn’t help the investigation. The conversation with her left him wondering who they were dealing with. What was the connection between the three victims, and if there wasn’t one, why? Spats rolled his neck around to get rid of some of the tension. A nagging thought had been bothering him all along. If these shootings were random, when would there be a fourth victim?

  By now, he’d reached the counter, and he ordered a cheeseburger with everything except mushrooms, Cajun fries, and a large Coke. He half-paid attention to the young man at the register, and when he got an opportunity, Spats was able to make eye contact with Caitlin. Her jaw fell when she recognized him, and she almost dropped a tray of hamburgers. She quickly looked away, busied herself with condiments, then took the tray and walked to a table at the far end of the restaurant. Spats paid for his food, and the cashier gave him a small plastic number on a little metal stand. He moved away from the counter, and when Caitlin passed by, he smiled at her.

  “Caitlin,” he said.

  She turned to look at him. “What are you doing here?” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

  Spats edged closer and put his elbow on a nearby high table. “I sensed there was more that you had to say when you were at the station this morning with your mom.”

  She averted her eyes. “I … don’t know what you mean.”

  “I think you do.” He twirled the tiny stand that held his number as he talked. “If you have anything that would help find what happened to your brother, I need to know.”

  More hesitation. “I don’t want you to think the wrong thing about Cody, and I don’t want to get into trouble.”

  “What wrong thing about Cody?”

  “I can’t tell you.” She wavered. “That shouldn’t have happened to him.” She looked over at a man behind the counter who was staring at her.

  “What shouldn’t have happened to him?”

  “He shouldn’t have been killed.” Her chin shook. “I can’t talk to you right now.”

  “When?”

  “Would you go away?”

  “Caitlin, help me, please.”

  She held up a finger to her boss, who was now gesturing for her to return. “It’s really busy right now. Give me a few minutes.”

  Spats nodded, and she walked back behind the counter. He went to the soda fountain, got himself a Coke, then found a two-seate
r table in a corner near the bathrooms. He took off his coat and draped it over the other seat, sat down, sipped his Coke, and watched the restaurant crowd. The hum of conversation was loud, and Caitlin delivered a few other meals. Then she came over with his cheeseburger and fries. She set them on the table and took his number stand from the table.

  “I can talk to you in about fifteen minutes,” she said. “My boss said that would be all right. Okay?” she tacked on.

  Spats nodded and thanked her. She spun on her heel and walked away. Spats flipped his tie over his shoulder so nothing would drip on it, unbuttoned his cuffs, rolled up his sleeves and smoothed them down. He then laid out a napkin in his lap. Once the little ritual was completed, he unwrapped the hamburger and took a bite. It tasted delicious; he hadn’t realized how hungry he was. He took a few more bites, then ate some fries, and in short order, he was finished. He wiped his hands, sipped more Coke, and waited. More like a half-hour later, Caitlin walked over. She glanced at the seat across from him.

  “Please, sit down.” Spats half-stood politely.

  Caitlin wore jeans and a red shirt with a Five Guys logo on it. She swiped at something on the front of the shirt, then let out a big sigh.

  “That was really hard talking to you earlier today.” she said as she sat down.

  Spats leaned in, giving her his full attention. “I’m sure it was. I’ve had a lot of conversations like that, and it’s never easy. Let me say again, I’m really sorry about your brother.”

  “Yeah.” She glanced around. “You probably think it’s funny I wanted to come to work.”

  “Not at all.”

  “It’s weird at home. My parents mean well, but geez, they’re so worried about me. My mom is taking it really hard, and my dad is like me, he’s trying to stay busy. And they’re on their phones, or people are coming over.” She looked around. “Everybody here has been super nice, but I hadn’t counted on how they’d act. They don’t really know what to say to me.” Her lips curled into a small smile. “Although my boss was willing to let me talk to you.” She rolled her eyes. “Other times, he’s not so …” she didn’t finish.