Terraformed Skies

by Anna Lewis

  “What do you do with the ones that have no family?”

  “We cremate them and bury them in the public cemetery.”

  “Feel free to do that. I won’t be claiming any remains. I’ve just started to recover from the financial ruin my brother put me in, I’m not about to go into debt burying the fool. You have a nice day, officer.”

  The line went dead in Lilly’s hand.

  “It’s Detective,” she said before slamming the receiver into the cradle.

  “Sounds like that went well,” Adam said from his desk.

  Lilly let out a sigh.

  “I just don’t understand how people can be so cold when their loved one is gone.”

  Adam shrugged.

  “I’ve seen it a lot. It makes me wonder what this world is coming to. You can’t really blame them, though. I’m sure he dragged them through hell. People can only take so much.”

  “I guess. She could have pretended to care for my sake.”

  “Now where’s the fun in that?”

  Before Lilly could respond, Adam’s phone rang. He snatched up the receiver, pulling his notepad and pen to him and scribbling furiously as he listened.

  “Thank you so much,” he said before dropping the phone into the cradle. “That was Baylor County. They found the property owner’s names. The owners have been deceased for a while.”

  “That would explain why the place was abandoned. The entire property was overgrown.”

  “There’s more, Lilly. And you’re not going to like it.”

  He motioned to the hallway, grabbing the notepad and heading for the interrogation viewing room. Confused, Lilly followed him, pulling the door shut behind herself.

  “Spill it, Adam. What’s so special about the property? What does it have to do with our case?”

  “It has everything to do with the case,” he said, sliding the notepad across the table for her to read.

  Lilly scooped it up, her mouth dropping open before she could stop herself.

  “It’s got to be a coincidence.”

  “I thought you didn’t believe in coincidences?”

  “I don’t. Well, not usually.”

  Lilly set the notepad down, walking out of the room and whipping out her cellphone. She dialed a number, waiting until the phone was answered before she said, “We need to talk. Stay put, I’ll come to you,” and hung up the phone. She didn’t give him a chance to argue. She was going to get to the bottom of this.

  She was walking out the door when she heard Adam calling her name, racing after her.

  She stopped, letting him catch up.

  “Lilly, wait.”

  “I need to deal with this.”

  “Okay, I get it, but something came up.”

  “Since when? Since we were just in the room?”

  “Yes. You always say yourself that when a case breaks it’s like a damn spilling into the valley below. Trent called. You’re going to want to see this with your own eyes.”

  ***

  Lilly and Adam sat in the Audio/Visual room, watching the cleaned up version of the security footage from outside the Railroader’s locker room and equipment building.

  “Play it again,” Lilly said, arms crossed, lips pursed tightly.

  Her cellphone buzzed in her pocket, but she ignored it. She knew who it was and she knew he was waiting for her, but she didn’t care. This was too much for her to believe that he didn’t know what was going on, and she needed to get her temper under control before she talked to anyone, least of all him.

  “Lilly, it’s not going to change,” Adam offered gently.

  “I want to see it again.”

  “Alright,” Trent said, running the video for the umpteenth time.

  “Stop it right there,” she said, staring at the screen when Trent stopped it.

  Her heart sank. He was looking directly at the camera and there was no doubt in her mind. The man covered in blood, leaving the building after following Leroy in almost an hour before was Jason Hathaway.

  “I need to take a walk,” Lilly said.

  She turned on her heel, walking out of the room quickly and through a side exit door. She needed some fresh air and time to think.

  She strode down the sidewalk, the chilly air clearing her mind and stinging her nostrils. She heard the door open and close behind her and knew that Adam had followed her out. He stood beside her, staring off into the same direction as she was, waiting for her to speak first.

  “I don’t get this weather. It’s never this cold this time of year.”

  “The weatherman said something about a cold front and a vortex or something like that. I’ve never really been into meteorology. Whatever it is, Texas will be back to normal in no time at all, and then we can go back to complaining about how much hotter it is than the rest of the country.”

  “I guess so. I just don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

  “We’re all wrong about someone one time in our life, Lilly. No one is going to blame you for missing this one. He played us both.”

  “I doubt he played you as thoroughly as he played me.”

  “Touché. But still, I’m the only one that knows, so it’s not like it’s going to get out. You made a mistake, but there’s no reason to dwell on it. We have enough evidence to bring him in and probably put him away for life.”

  “It’s all circumstantial.”

  “Yes, but we’re still waiting on DNA. I’m sure that will tie it all together. Until then, we absolutely have enough to charge him and hold him until court or until he posts bail.”

  “I’m sure he’ll post bail. But do me a favor?”

  “Of course.”

  “Let me bring him in. I want to cuff him and toss him into the back of the car myself.”

  “I like it when you talk dirty,” Adam teased.

  “Stop it,” she said, laughing in spite of her anger.

  Adam’s phone rang in his pocket. He answered it, listening intently to the person on the other end before hanging up.

  “Who was that?”

  “It’s Sarge. Looks like there’s someone looking for you.”

  “For me? Who?”

  “Jason.”

  Lilly sailed by Adam before he could react, yanking open the door and racing down the hall towards the bullpen. When she saw him it took everything she had not to shout at him from across the room. He looked up at her advancing on him, his face shocked at her obvious anger.

  “Come with me,” she ground out, motioning with her head and turning down the hall towards the interrogation room.

  Jason shot Adam a questioning look but Adam just shrugged. Jason followed them both into the interrogation room, sitting down at the table and waiting for Lilly to tell him what was going on.

  “You almost had me fooled,” Lilly spat out, eyes flashing in anger.

  “What do you mean?”

  Lilly threw a file across the table and crime scene photos spilled out of it.

  “Recognize that porch?” she asked as he pushed the pictures around, looking at the grisly scene of Tom’s murder.

  “It looks familiar, but there’s not much—” he stopped, his eyes growing wide. “Why is Tom’s body on my parent’s front porch?”

  “I was planning on asking you the same thing.”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t been there since they died and it’s been more than five years. I just pay the property taxes and that’s it. I can’t bear to go there.”

  “So that’s your story, that your teammate was murdered and dumped at your family home, but you haven’t been there, so it wasn’t you?”

  “It’s not a story, Lilly. It’s the truth. I haven’t stepped foot on that property since they died.”

  “Then how do you explain all this?”

  “I can’t explain it, but I promise you, I didn’t kill Tom and I didn’t kill Leroy.”

  “How am I supposed to believe you when everything points to you?”

  “Someone has to b
e setting me up.”

  “I would buy that, if it weren’t for the nail in the coffin,” Lilly said.

  She turned on the flat screen TV mounted to the wall above their heads. Using her tablet, she pulled up the video that Trent had just restored, putting it up on the screen above and playing it on a continuous loop. She watched his face as the man in the video followed Leroy into the building, far enough away that Leroy was completely unaware that he wasn’t alone.

  She fast-forwarded through the forty-five minutes of dead picture, noting when Tom snuck out of the back of the building shortly after Leroy and the second man went in. Tom moved slow despite the sped up film, weaving almost comically as he tried to walk the straight line to his car.

  He tried several times before he was finally able to get the key in the door and unlock it. Lilly groaned inwardly as Tom worked his way out of the parking lot, running over more than one curb before finally making it out to the road. It was a wonder that the man hadn’t died in an accident before this. Lilly couldn’t really blame Tom’s sister for being bitter.

  When the video was almost to the hour mark, Lilly pushed play, letting it continue in real time.

  “This is my favorite part. Let me know if you recognize our killer. He’ll be stepping out momentarily, covered in blood and giving us a good shot of his face as he leaves.”

  Jason sat quietly, lips pinched tightly together. Gone was the man that was more than willing to cooperate. His arms were crossed over his chest, hands clenched into fists so hard that his knuckles were white. If she didn’t know better, she would swear he was still innocent.

  Perhaps he should have been an actor instead of a football player, she thought.

  He was definitely a phenomenal actor; he sure had Lilly fooled.

  “There he is,” Lilly said, pointing out the man walking boldly out of the building in broad daylight. “Feel free to speak up when you recognize our suspect.”

  Jason said nothing, watching closely as the man moved closer and closer to the camera. His jeans and white shirt were obviously covered in blood, even on the black and white feed. When the man’s face was finally clear, Lilly heard Jason suck in his breath quickly.

  “No,” he said, his voice shaking and frightened. “I don’t know where you got this from, but no.”

  “Don’t try to talk your way out of this one, Jason. It’s probably time that you call a lawyer. You have some explaining to do, and you’re not leaving this room until you do.”

  “Are you arresting me?”

  “Are you kidding me? Of course we are.”

  “Lilly, you have to believe me—”

  “Shut up, Jason,” Adam said, his face set and fierce. “You have the right remain silent, why don’t you go ahead and utilize that right.”

  “Lilly please.”

  “I have nothing to say to you,” Lilly said. “An officer will be in shortly to bring you a phone to call your lawyer from. Once they get here, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

  Lilly strode out of the room, Adam hot on her heels. She could hear Jason calling her name as she left, but she ignored him. When the door fell shut, the silence was blissful.

  “Are you okay?” Adam asked.

  She looked him in the eye, her eyes brimming with tears that threatened to spill.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again. Call me when his lawyer gets here and it’s time to question him. I need some time to think.”

  Adam nodded and Lilly did her best to walk calmly from the building to her car. She’d let the tears flow when she was in the privacy of her own home.

  Until then, she had to hold it together.

  Book 3:The Ghost on the Gridiron

  “Lilly please,” Jason said, his voice trembling with genuine fear. “I know what that looks like, but I swear to you, it’s not me.”

  “I have nothing to say to you,” Lilly said. “An officer will be in shortly to bring you a phone to call your lawyer from. Once they get here, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

  Lilly strode out of the room, Adam hot on her heels. Jason called out to her as she left the room, but she ignored him. When the door fell shut, the silence was deafening.

  Jason dropped his head in his hands, trying to fight back the emotions that were flooding over him.

  “What the hell is going on?” he asked the empty room, slamming his fist on the desk and trying to make sense of it all.

  He saw it. They had all seen it. He was on the video, but that wasn’t him. He wasn’t there that day, and he certainly didn’t kill anyone. But how did he even get on the video?

  Maybe it was a glitch. Maybe a different day had somehow ended up with the wrong date and time stamp. But that still left the fact that he didn’t remember walking out of there in that condition.

  Jason groaned out loud when a thought occurred to him. If he had no memory of that day, and that was him on the surveillance, what if he’d been drugged? People had done some crazy things when others drugged them, what if that had happened to him?

  He laid his head down on the table and closed his eyes. Jason thought back to the days preceding the murder, but he couldn’t remember exactly what he’d been doing. He spent so much time playing football and pursuing his other hobbies that his days just seemed to run together. He couldn’t be certain what he’d done that day or the days before.

  He was screwed.

  There wasn’t much evidence, but the video was damning.

  There was a soft knock on the door and Jason sat up.

  “Come in,” he called out, confused.

  A young cop came in, holding a phone.

  “Do you need to make a phone call?”

  “No. I have no one to call.”

  “You don’t have to call now,” the young man said. “You can call later if you think of someone. I’m also supposed to ask you if you would like a lawyer.”

  “No, yes. I don’t know. I need some time to think.”

  Jason was curt with the officer but he didn’t care. An hour ago, he’d been on top of the world. He was in love, and it was looking like she loved him back. And now this. His life had done an abrupt one-eighty and he didn’t know what to do.

  “No one is ready to question you yet and they’ve advised me that I can take you down to holding until you post bail.”

  “That’s fine. I need to get out of this room. How much is bail?”

  “It’s been set at two million.”

  “That was fast. I thought I had to go before a judge to get bail set.”

  “Not all the time. This isn’t television.”

  “Good to know,” Jason said gruffly.

  “I have to book you even if you can post bail, but it won’t take more than an hour.”

  “I don’t have two million dollars.”

  “You only have to pay ten percent.”

  “I don’t have two hundred thousand just sitting around. Most of my money is tied up in investments and real estate. It will take me more than an hour to move all my assets. I don’t know if I can get that much even in a day or two.”

  “Oh,” the officer said. “I thought you were a football player and I thought—”

  “We’re not a big club. I don’t make nearly what the players on the National level make. I have money, but not nearly that much without selling some things. And I can’t sell those things from behind bars so—”

  “I see,” the officer said, and was uncomfortably silent after that, only speaking to give Jason instructions during the booking process.

  When it was finished, Jason was led down a flight of stairs and a long hall lit by dim yellow lights that cast a thick, sickly glow on the scene in front of him.

  It was cold and loud, but somehow stuffy and hollow sounding at the same time. The officer opened a door and gestured to Jason that he should go inside.

  There was a single bed and an exposed toilet in the corner. This cell was one of many in the long hallway.

  “Is there anyone dow
n here? What if I need something?”

  “There are a few people at the end of the row, but they’re coming down from being high or sleeping off being drunk. They won’t be good company.”

  Was the cop joking? Jason didn’t care about visitors. This wasn’t a social visit; this was hell.

  “What do I do if I need something?”

  “Someone will come by with a meal at dinner time. Until then, there’s a fountain and a toilet and a bed. If you need anything else, you probably should have considered that before you got arrested.”

  There was an ominous click as the officer turned the key in the lock and turned. The click of his heeled shoes echoed as the officer strode away, ignoring the cries for help from the cells at the end of the row.

  Jason sat down hard on the bed, running his fingers through his hair and cursing this day. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure that someone must have drugged him. There had to be some explanation for what he had seen with his own eyes. He was on that video, but he wasn’t a killer. Period.

  Jason stretched out on the cot, closing his eyes against the blinding lights and trying to think. He went over his assets in his mind, trying to figure out exactly how he was going to come up with the money. Every idea he had, came up short. And even if he could come up with exactly two hundred grand to post bail, how would he pay for the lawyer too?

  He was screwed ten ways from Sunday and he was furious.

  This wasn’t fair. He’d spent his whole life doing right by his parents and treating people with respect and fairness and here he was, sitting in jail for something he didn’t do.

  His mind reeled, and soon the holding cells around him faded away. Before he knew it, he’d drifted off into an angry, fitful sleep, his subconscious trying and failing to come up with a solution to his problem.

  “Hathaway!”

  He heard his name shouted as if it was through the thickest fog. Sitting up slowly and blinking the world into focus, he was shocked that the skylights that lined the top of the outer wall were now dim with late afternoon light, and the blinding light that had bothered him so much before was nearly gone.

  “What?” Jason said, still fighting the fog.

  “You’ve made bail, you’re free to go.”