Never Girl

by Ana Valen

  “What’s up?”

  “You remember how you put me in touch with Kovalenko?”

  “Of course.”

  “Well, Kovalenko put me in touch with an assassin.”

  “Holy shit.”

  “I know. I figured Kovalenko might do that, but this didn’t prepare me for the meeting with this person. He scared the crap out of me.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “Right. But this person isn’t the problem. It’s what he found out.” She walked to the long couch and sat.

  He stood there for a second. He then walked over and sat beside her. “What did he uncover?”

  “That Jessie’s death isn’t what it seemed.”

  “So it wasn’t a robbery?”

  “No. Like we feared, someone lured Jessie to that hiking trail and murdered him.”

  “Oh, fuck.”

  “I know. I couldn’t believe that either. But the guy—Harlan is his name—explained exactly what happened.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. And the level of detail was shocking.”

  “That actually seems helpful.”

  “You would think so. But Harlan concluded that Susan was behind this.”

  James stared. “Susan? That’s impossible.”

  “It’s not.”

  “Claire, Jessie and Susan were crazy for each other. They were destined for a massive home and tons of children.”

  “That’s what Susan wanted people to think. But thanks to Harlan, he found a bunch of messages between her and another guy. Susan was planning to run away with this person. Plus, Harlan also found out that this guy was the shooter.”

  James leaned back.

  “That’s sounds crazy,” she continued. “I know. But Harlan showed me the messages. It’s real.”

  “Some people seem to think otherwise.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “One of the detectives came to see me.”

  Claire sagged her shoulders. “Let me guess. Detective Raven?”

  “Yeah. You’re familiar with her?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. I don’t know what her problem is, but she’s convinced that I’m behind this.”

  He let a moment pass. “She has reason to believe that.”

  “Holy hell. You believe her too?”

  “Absolutely not. But at the same time, your history with Jessie is a relevant factor. So it doesn’t surprise me that the detective views you as a suspect.”

  “It doesn’t surprise me either. But what did you tell her?”

  “Not much. She knew about your injury, and I verified to seem cooperative. But I didn’t mention anything else.”

  “Thanks for that.”

  “Your welcome. But I have to be honest with you. The detective put forth a good argument.”

  “So you do think I shot Jessie.”

  He leaned forward. “No. But Goddamn, you had plenty of motivation to attack him. He ruined your life… permanently. Then Jessie ends up dead, in what seems like a targeted killing. How do you think that looks?”

  “It looks bad, until you see the evidence against Susan. And that’s not all. Harlan found out that I’m being targeted.”

  He tightened his face. “What?”

  “Susan and this person have pegged me as a liability, probably because I’m working with the police. Either way, they’ve exchanged messages about how to deal with me.”

  “Do the police know about this?”

  She shook her head.

  “You have to tell them.”

  “What happened to not cooperating with them?”

  “That was before people had marked you for death.”

  “I see your point. But I can’t go to the police. Detective Raven has it out for me. She won’t stop until she places me under arrest.”

  James looked away and worked around his jaw. “Maybe you’re right. When she came over, her determination was on full display.”

  “Trust me. I’ve seen it firsthand.”

  He looked back to her. “What will you do?”

  “For starters, I’m going to protect myself. That’s why I came over.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I need a gun, one that can’t be traced.”

  He stayed quiet.

  “What? You got a gun for Jessie. Why can’t you get one for me?”

  “Because I never thought Jessie would actually need it. Neither did Jessie for that matter. That gun was just a safety precaution. In your situation, you might actually have to use it. That’s not something I want.”

  “Suddenly, you care about me?”

  He sat up. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “When Detective Raven suggested that I was involved, you went along with this. Then when I said she was crazy, you argued against me.”

  He scooted closer. “No. You have it all wrong. I only said her argument was reasonable. I never said it was true. On the contrary, I’m saying it’s not true.” He cupped her knee. “I’m on your side. I’ll always be on your side. You know that.”

  She let him wallow for a moment. He responded by rubbing her knee.

  “You know that, right?” he continued. “You know that I’m on your side?”

  She cupped his hand. “I hope so. Because if there’s anything I want, it’s someone who will support me.”

  “I’m here. Whatever you need.”

  “Okay. I need a gun. One that can’t be traced.”

  He didn’t reply. In response, she brought back her hurtful expression.

  “Alright,” he finally answered. “I’ll get you a gun.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. But once you have it, do whatever it takes to not use it. This gun will be a last resort, okay?”

  “Okay. And how long before you get it?”

  “A couple of days.”

  “James, I need it sooner than that.”

  “How soon?”

  “Today.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, I’m serious. The threat is right now. I can’t wait a couple of days.”

  “Alright. I’ll take the morning off work. Then I’ll see about getting it.”

  She again squeezed his hand. “Thanks.”

  She rose, and he did the same. After walking to the door, she stepped outside and turned for another hug. Like before, they embraced for a long time. James did so with unabashed eagerness. That didn’t surprise her.

  She finally created some separation. He quickly grabbed her hand.

  “Do you want to stay with me?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “Do you want to stay with me? Just for the time being. That’s probably best given the situation.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I need to stay mobile.”

  He smirked. “I won’t keep you trapped. You can come and go as you please.”

  “I know. But I can move more easily from my condo.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. But once we get through this, we’ll talk about that. We’ll even talk about us.” She again squeezed his hand. “Okay?”

  He immediately brightened. “Okay. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

  “Sounds good. In the meanwhile, please help me when I need it.”

  “I absolutely will.”

  She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Thanks.” Smiling wide, she turned and started for her car.

  Chapter 30

  Raven sat at her desk holding a printout. The paper was one of many she pulled from the Internet, all to make more sense of Claire’s accident. What had happened to her? Raven needed to know because the accident was connected to Claire’s actions. However, Raven needed to research this with caution.

  If Adams found out that she was still pursuing Claire, he would flip out. To hide her tracks, she hid her printout underneath a police report. Then if he asked, she was merely going over their old documents. That would keep his suspicions at b
ay, especially since he was in his cubicle reviewing similar reports.

  “Detective Adams,” called a male voice.

  Adams spun in his chair. She did the same. A young officer stood there, one of the reception cops.

  “Yes?” Adams asked him. “How can I help you?”

  “There’s a woman at the front desk. She asked to see someone about the Jessie Jacobson case. Her name is Susan Wright.”

  Adams looked to Raven.

  Raven looked to him and shrugged. “I don’t know. I never asked her to come over.”

  Adams turned back to the officer. “Thanks. Please tell her that I’ll be right out.”

  The officer nodded, spun on his polished boots, and marched off. Adams stood, grabbed his suit jacket, and slipped it on while heading in the same direction.

  Raven remained seated there. Shit. Susan might have arrived to follow up on their meeting. That was fine, but not if she mentioned this to Adams. Unable to do anything about this, Raven turned back to her desk and kept looking over her printout.

  A minute later, footsteps approached.

  “What’s going on?” Adams asked.

  She spun towards him. “What do you mean?”

  “Susan specifically asked to see you. So what’s going on?”

  “How should I know? Like I told you, I never asked her to come over.”

  He eyed her.

  “For real,” she continued. “I have no idea why she’s here. But I’ll go find out.” She placed the documents on her desk, rose, and grabbed her own suit jacket.

  Adams kept looking at her.

  “What?” she asked while slipping on her top. “Should I not find out?”

  “Yes. Find out. But do so carefully.”

  “I know. She’s our number one suspect. We have to be careful so we don’t scare her off.”

  “Exactly. So don’t be your normal attack dog self.”

  “I’m sure she just wants an update.”

  “And if it’s something more?”

  “I’ll bring her inside, have someone babysit her, and come get you.”

  “Good.”

  She smiled. “I’m on top of it. This is me we’re talking about.”

  He rolled his eyes and sat back down.

  She started for reception. Once there, she came across the typical handful of citizens, all of whom spoke with various officers. She also spotted a petite woman in fashionable spring attire.

  “Susan,” she said while approaching.

  Susan looked over. “Good afternoon, Detective Raven. How are you doing?”

  “Fine, thanks. How about yourself?”

  “The day started pretty good, but things took an unexpected turn.”

  “Oh? What happened?”

  “That’s why I’m here—to fill you in. But can we do this away from others?”

  “Yeah. We can go to an interrogation room.”

  Susan hesitated. “An interrogation room?”

  “Just to talk. You’re not being interrogated.”

  “Actually, can we go outside?”

  “Yeah. That’s fine.” Raven gestured towards the exit.

  Susan started walking and Raven followed. They stepped into the sunny afternoon, where the temperature showed more signs of warming. To avoid the foot traffic, Raven led them down the sidewalk and stopped.

  “So,” Raven said, “what’s up?”

  Susan looked around despite their relative seclusion. She refocused. “Before I start, I want to ask you something. What did you do on my phone?”

  “I told you. I checked for something.”

  Susan gave her a look.

  “Alright. I checked for something specific, but I would rather not explain this. And trust me. You don’t want to know.”

  “Try me.”

  “Susan, I’m serious. You won’t like the answer.”

  “Would you just tell me?”

  “Why do you want to know so badly?”

  “Because suddenly, everyone is interested in my phone. I want to know why.”

  Raven waited a second. “Everyone? What does that mean?”

  Now Susan kept quiet.

  “Susan, what are you talking about? Who’s interested in your phone?”

  “Honesty goes both ways. If you tell me, I’ll tell you.”

  “Alright. Fine. I checked your text messages. Specifically, I checked your message thread with Jessie.”

  “What for?”

  “Nope. Your turn.”

  Susan huffed out frustration. “A man approached me and asked to see my phone.”

  “A man? What man?”

  “I have no idea. He was a complete stranger. I was at a restaurant, where I just sat down for breakfast, and he sat at my table.”

  “And he straight up asked for your phone?”

  “Not straight away. But he eventually did. And there was a reason for this. If you want to know the reason, tell me why you checked my messages.”

  Raven worked around her lips. “Okay. On the night of Jessie’s murder, you texted him to come meet you at the hiking trail.”

  “What? No, I didn’t.”

  “We got a warrant for his phone. We found the messages.”

  “That’s impossible. I never sent him anything. How can—” Susan looked away and parted her lips. She quickly looked back. “Oh, my God. Someone is setting me up.”

  “That’s why I didn’t want to say anything.”

  “Well you should have. You should’ve warned me.”

  “I didn’t want to scare the daylights out of you. That would’ve happened because your logical follow-up question would’ve been who did this? And I don’t know.”

  Susan considered this. “So you didn’t want to leave me with that uncertainty?”

  “Exactly. But now that it’s out in the open, let me ask you something. Have you recently lent your phone to someone?”

  “No.”

  “Have you recently lost your phone?”

  “No. It’s been with me this entire time.”

  “Shit. That means something else must have happened.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know. But I’ll look into this. Now tell me more about this guy.”

  Susan sniffed. “He’s doing the same thing you are—trying to figure out what happened with Jessie.”

  “Why?”

  “He didn’t say. But he doesn’t think I was involved.”

  “That makes two of us. Still, I wouldn’t trust him. And I sure as hell wouldn’t give him your phone.”

  “Actually…”

  “Goddamn, Susan. Please tell me you still have your phone.”

  “I have to go.” Susan turned to leave.

  Raven reached out and grabbed her arm. “Wait.”

  “Detective Raven, I have to go.”

  “Susan, does this guy have your phone? And don’t bullshit me. Actually, pull it out and let me see it.”

  “I said I have to go.”

  “Susan, this might be alright. If this guy has your phone, we can track him.”

  “Detective Raven, get your fucking hand off of me.”

  Raven let go. “Susan, I’m trying to help you. And I’m serious. If this guy has your phone, we can turn the tables on him.”

  “For the last time, I have to go.” Susan turned and started across the street.

  “Susan,” Raven called out. “Susan!”

  Susan kept walking. On the other side of the divide, she disappeared into the guest parking lot. Raven continued standing there. Shit. Things just went from bad to worse. And she guessed who was behind this.

  She pulled her own phone and dialed her partner.

  “Hey,” Adams said. “What’s up? You need me out there?”

  “No,” she responded, forcing some cheer into her voice. “Like I thought, Susan just wanted an update.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yeah. And I gave her the diplomatic response—we’re still looking into this. It worked.
She just left.”

  “Okay. Then why are you calling?”

  “I’m stepping out for lunch. You want anything?”

  “Nah. I’m good. I brought something from home.”

  “Alright. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  “Cool. See you then.”

  Raven disconnected, slipped the phone into her jacket, and started for her unmarked cruiser. Time to see Claire.

  Chapter 31

  Harlan sat inside his Maxima. He had parked his car at the LAPD’s West Side forensics lab, where he waited for his contact. Five minutes later, Officer Ricky Martinez exited the building.

  Martinez, dressed in his patrol uniform, cut across the parking lot. He carried a plastic evidence bag, one of the smaller varieties. He continued towards the Maxima without looking over. Good. The more discrete he was the better. Normally, discretion didn’t matter because they would meet in neutral locations. But right now, there wasn’t time for that.

  Martinez reached the car, opened the door, and climbed inside. “Here,” he said, handing over the bag.

  Harlan opened the bag and fished out Susan’s cellphone.

  “The text messages were erased,” Martinez continued. “Whoever sent them got rid of them. The lab guys couldn’t tell if it was Susan or someone else.”

  “And the locations? Where were the texts placed?”

  Martinez reached into his pocket and took out a piece of paper. He handed it over, and Harlan looked over the information.

  “The messages were placed in the same location,” Martinez continued. “Specifically, the hiking trial where your guy got popped. There were six in total, and clearly devised to get the target there.”

  “No,” Harlan responded, looking at the call map. “They weren’t placed in the same location.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They were in the same vicinity but not the same location.” Harlan showed Martinez the map. “You see the first two messages? They were placed to the right of the hiking trail. The subsequent messages were placed on the hiking trail.”

  “You’re right. I thought the call markers were separated to prevent clumping. But those two markers are over by the freeway. But why? Why would the assailant leave the hiking trail and head over there?”

  “Because the freeway is where they arrived from. They did this to avoid the parking lot cameras.”

  Martinez smirked. “You should be a detective.”