Reunited by Danger

by Carol J. Post

  So that left only Amber and Raymond with airtight alibis. He pulled two statements from underneath the stack and laid them on top of Wilkins’s. Theodore and Donna Ellis. He had no reason to doubt Raymond’s parents’ words, but typed their names into the search field anyway. They were both clean.

  He rubbed his chin with a thumb and forefinger. What were the four of them hiding? What would Raymond have spilled if Vincent’s subtle warning hadn’t shut him up?

  He entered Raymond’s name. Besides the Georgia drug charge he’d done time for, he had a couple of DUIs and a Trespassing. That was all.

  Was there someone Raymond may have talked to, someone outside their group? A close friend? A family member?

  He had an older brother who’d been two years ahead of them in school. What was his name? Ronald. He’d gone by Ron. On a whim, Caleb typed in Ronald Ellis’s name, then scrolled through the lengthy record. His charges began shortly after he’d turned eighteen—two that year, three the following year... Caleb’s gaze snapped back to one of the dates. June 3. Landon Cleary’s date of death. It couldn’t have been related. There’d been no arrests made in connection with Cleary’s death.

  Caleb clicked to pull up the record. Possession. He’d been stopped at 1:46 a.m. due to a nonfunctioning tag light. After finding crack cocaine in the console, the officer had arrested Ronald and had him booked into Levy County Detention. A passenger had been released.

  A passenger by the name of Raymond Ellis.

  Caleb looked at the time of arrest again, then picked up Theodore Ellis’s statement. Ronald had been stopped at 1:46 a.m. Raymond had been with him.

  But Raymond’s parents had stated he was home before one.

  Raymond’s parents had lied.

  FOUR

  Amber moved down the hall at a good clip, purse slung over her shoulder. She was leaving the station late. She’d finished a report about a lost tablet five minutes after the official end of her shift then stopped by Chief Sandlin’s office to tell him about the dangers she was facing. Hunter had already beaten her to it. She’d scold her meddling big brother later. At least she still had a job.

  Actually her chief had been more concerned about the threats on her life than any inability to handle her duties. He’d agreed with Hunter that she shouldn’t report alone to any out-of-the-ordinary calls. The other ninety-nine percent of her job, she could easily and safely do. Hunter was right about one thing. When it came to Florida cities, Cedar Key was one of the safest.

  She swung open the glass door and stepped into the department’s gravel parking area. A dark blue pickup sat next to her SUV, its engine running. Caleb was inside. He’d texted her earlier, asking if he could meet with her. He hadn’t said what was so important that it warranted an in-person visit instead of a phone call.

  He turned off the engine and lowered the window. “Howdy, stranger.”

  “Hey, yourself. Sorry you had to wait on me.”

  He gave her an easy smile. “No problem.”

  No problem for him, maybe, but it was putting stress on her already tight schedule. She would let Caleb talk to her while they shared leftover lasagna. At six thirty, she’d boot him out the door and head for her seven o’clock appointment.

  She pressed the key fob and motioned with her other hand. “Follow me.”

  Seven minutes later she pulled into her driveway, Caleb behind her. Three cats were pressed together on one windowsill, Tippy on the other.

  “You have four cats.”

  “Five.”

  “The proverbial cat lady.” His tone was teasing.

  “Almost.” She inserted her key into the lock and turned it. “Actually, I only have one cat. The other four are foster cats.”

  “Foster cats?”

  She swung open the door. “I’m a volunteer for Sheltering Hands, a cat rescue over in Williston. I take care of them until they get placed in forever homes.”

  As she gathered empty bowls and put them in the sink to soak, cats wove in and out of her legs, emitting a chorus of meows.

  Caleb smiled. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as someone who’d be taking care of a bunch of homeless cats. But I wouldn’t have pegged you as someone who’d have become a cop, either.”

  Yeah, it’d probably be a while before Caleb could look at her and not see the troubled rebel of ten years ago. Maybe that impression would never die.

  She cleaned the dishes and lined the five of them up on the counter. When she popped the top on a large can, the protests grew louder.

  “Trust me, you’re not going to starve before I get this dished up.”

  Caleb laughed. “You won’t convince them. I’ve got a cat and a dog that haven’t missed a meal since they’ve been with me. But they’re sure I’ll let them go hungry sooner or later.”

  When she’d split the can between the five bowls, she picked up two of them and Caleb followed with the other three. Moments later, all five cats were lined up against the wall, smacking happily.

  Amber pulled a casserole dish from the refrigerator and filled two plates. “Everything’s going to be fast and easy tonight.” She was even skipping the salad, a rare occurrence. She usually tried to eat fairly healthy. Too many depended on her, both people and animals.

  Caleb carried one plate to the microwave. “I’m not hard to please. Anything’s fine if I don’t have to cook it.”

  Soon the mouthwatering aromas of Italian cooking filled her kitchen. She was feeding him leftovers, but they were good ones. She’d made the lasagna fresh last night.

  The microwave beeped for the second time, and she set both steaming plates on the table next to the tea glasses she’d already placed there. After claiming an empty chair, she picked up her fork and cut into the steaming lasagna.

  “So tell me what’s so important—” Her gaze fell on Caleb’s bowed head. “Sorry.”

  She knew better. She’d been raised the same way Caleb had. With him it had stuck. With her it hadn’t. It wasn’t that she no longer believed in God. She just wasn’t going to pretend to be something she wasn’t.

  He lifted his head and opened his eyes. “What’s so important that I wanted to talk to you in person?”

  “Yeah.”

  He gave her a smile. When Caleb smiled, the gesture projected more than simple friendliness. It held respect, even acceptance. For a brief moment she could almost believe she stood on equal ground with him.

  “Last night, I was reviewing the reports from Landon’s murder investigation. I decided to do some checking on the witnesses, particularly those who provided alibis for each of you during the time Landon was killed.”

  As Caleb talked, her chest clenched. The people who’d placed her home by midnight were her parents. They’d been through enough. They didn’t need to be dragged back into a murder investigation, their integrity doubted. “You checked out my mom and dad?”

  “I didn’t feel the need. From everything I knew about them, the likelihood of them giving a false statement, even to protect you, was slim. So I started with Steve Wilkins.”

  She nodded, the tension dispelling only slightly. She didn’t like where the conversation was headed. Caleb must have learned something incriminating or he wouldn’t be sitting at her kitchen table eating leftover lasagna.

  “Alex and Vincent supposedly met him at Strickland Park well before one, and they all hung out there for a couple of hours before going home.” He cut off a bite-size piece and brought it to his mouth. After a short pause he continued. “Steve’s been in and out of jail several times over the past ten years. Not the most upstanding citizen to provide a believable alibi.”

  Relief trickled over her. So he wasn’t the most honorable guy around. It didn’t mean he’d lied about meeting the others.

  “After that, I checked out Raymond’s paren
ts.”

  There was more. She should have known.

  “They were both clean. Then I looked up the criminal history on Raymond’s brother Ronald.”

  She drew her brows together. What did Ronald have to do with it? “Ronald was older than all of us. Other than him sometimes giving Raymond a ride, we never saw much of him.”

  Caleb shrugged. “I didn’t think I’d find anything, either. It was a long shot. Turns out he’s had several arrests, one of which was on the night Landon was killed.”

  She frowned. “What was he arrested for?” If Ronald had been detained in connection with Landon’s death, she’d have heard something, if not from the police, from Raymond and the others.

  “He was stopped for a nonfunctioning tag light. It was the crack cocaine sitting in the console that sent him to jail.”

  She shook her head. “I still don’t see what that has to do with Landon’s murder.”

  “He had a passenger with him.”

  The pieces fell into place and she released a pent-up breath. “Raymond.”

  He nodded. “They were stopped at 1:46 a.m. Raymond’s parents said he was home well before one.”

  “They lied.” A blanket of dread wrapped around her and the few bites she’d eaten congealed into a doughy lump. Had Raymond’s parents lied for him to keep him from taking the rap for something he hadn’t done? Or to help him cover up something he had done? Had her friends gone through with the vengeance they’d threatened?

  Amber dipped her gaze to where two-thirds of her meal sat untouched. She poked at a small piece she’d cut off, then pushed it across her plate. Her appetite had vanished.

  Caleb picked up his tea and swirled the ice around in the glass. “I’ve had a gut feeling there’s more to this than what was told to police.” His gaze held hers. “I’m sure Raymond’s parents aren’t the only ones who lied about that night.”

  His implied accusations, coupled with her own guilt, twisted her insides into a knot. “I did not lie.” She enunciated each word, her tone cold. “My only involvement was sending Landon the texts. If my friends hurt him, I don’t know anything about it. I wasn’t there. And they haven’t told me anything.”

  He continued to eat but his eyes remained locked on hers. As he stared her down, she fought the urge to squirm.

  Finally he laid down his fork and entwined his fingers, elbows resting on the table. “Amber, I need you to tell me everything, even if it seems unrelated.”

  Yeah, she had information that was unrelated. At least she’d thought it was. But knowing her friends had lied to the police changed everything.

  She drew in a deep breath. Liv had begged her not to tell anyone. And Amber had given in to her request. She’d been wrong. Regardless of the promises she’d made ten years earlier, it was time to break her silence.

  “Landon raped Liv.” As she said the words, another shot of guilt stabbed her. Had her silence kept justice from being done? Worse yet, had it led to Mona’s and Alex’s deaths?

  “When?”

  “A couple of weeks before he was killed.”

  Caleb nodded. “How did you find out?”

  “Liv told me. She told all of us.”

  “Tell me how this conversation came about.”

  “It was the night Landon was killed. We were at our hangout in the woods. I told everybody Landon and I were going to start dating and I’d invited him to party with us. Liv got really agitated. She jumped up, then whirled on me and asked how I could do that to her. I asked her why she didn’t want me dating Landon. That’s when she told us.”

  “That he raped her?”

  She nodded. “They’d gone out to dinner. Afterward he pulled over on a deserted stretch of 19. They were making out. I guess things were progressing farther or faster than she wanted. When she tried to stop him he forced himself on her.” Amber suppressed an involuntary shudder. That could have been her.

  “What did you do then?”

  “We were upset. We told her she needed to report it to the police.”

  “Did she?”

  “No. She didn’t want anybody to know. We told her that Landon needed to pay for what he’d done.”

  Caleb gave a knowing nod and she lifted a hand.

  “That’s not what I meant. We wanted him to pay with jail time, not his life. But we couldn’t talk her into making a report. Landon’s dad was a criminal defense lawyer. He had money and a lot of connections. Liv was sure her name would be dragged through the mud and Landon would go free.”

  “What happened then?”

  “One of the guys said they should take it out of his hide. The others joined in, talking about how they were going to teach him a lesson, that when they got through with him, he wouldn’t even look at another girl.”

  “What were they talking about doing to him?”

  “Beating him up.”

  “Did you think they were really going to do it?”

  She shook her head. “By then we’d all had a lot to drink. You know how guys get when they’re drunk. They talk tough, but it’s a lot of hot air.”

  “What else was said?”

  “That was it. The rest of the night was our usual stuff. Then I got sick and Liv took me home.”

  “When did you hear from any of them again?”

  “The next day. Liv called to tell me Landon had been killed. They’d found his body in the woods. I asked her if the guys had done it. I knew they wouldn’t have killed him intentionally, but I thought maybe they got carried away. Liv said it wasn’t them, that they’d left shortly after we did, before Landon showed up. I talked to Mona and each of the guys after that, and they told me the same thing.”

  “You believed them?”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t have any reason not to. These people were my friends. We trusted each other.”

  Or the rest of them had trusted each other. Apparently they hadn’t trusted her. The realization left her with an odd mix of emotions—hurt over being excluded and relief that she’d been spared the decision of whether or not to betray her friends.

  “That’s everything I know, including the things I didn’t think were relevant.” She stabbed the bite of lasagna she’d been pushing around the plate and put it in her mouth. Ever since learning of Mona’s murder, the secret she’d carried had grown increasingly heavy, even more so since Ray’s near slip at the Gathering Table.

  She gave Caleb a half smile. “You wanted to meet with me in person instead of over the phone, hoping you’d be able to tell if I was hiding something.”

  “Busted.” He flashed her a crooked grin and her stomach made a funny little flip.

  “So did I pass the test?”

  “I believe you, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Good.” That was important, for more reasons than his position as a law enforcement officer. What he thought of her mattered on a personal level, too.

  Caleb picked up his fork and resumed eating. “Why didn’t you tell the police about Landon raping Liv?”

  His tone was matter-of-fact but accusation had crept back into his eyes.

  “We’d all promised Liv we wouldn’t tell anyone. Besides, I didn’t think it was related.”

  “Your friends talked about teaching Landon a lesson and a few hours later he’s found dead near your hangout in the woods. You didn’t think that might be an important thing to mention?”

  “Look, I was seventeen. I made a mistake. I’m sure you’ve never made a bad decision in your life because you’re perfect.” Always had been. During junior high and high school, she’d gotten wind of a couple of fights he’d been in, intervening when a school bully was picking on a smaller kid. Even his “wrongs” were admirable.

  She rose from the table and strode toward the sink. Half of her dinner
still sat on her plate, but it had become as appealing as a bowl of earthworms.

  When she reached the sink, she squirted some dish soap into the empty casserole dish. The soft scrape of Caleb’s chair against the tile warned her he’d risen from the table, but when he laid a hand on her shoulder, she started.

  “Hey, it was just a question.”

  Yeah, it was a question—with judgment behind it.

  She’d asked him if she’d passed the test. He hadn’t answered directly. He’d simply told her he believed her.

  That was because she didn’t pass the test. With Caleb, she never would.

  No matter what she did or who she helped, the stain left by her past would never fade.

  * * *

  Caleb laid his tackle box and pole in the bed of the Ford, ready to head for one of his favorite fishing spots—the pier at Cedar Key. He’d already made his early-morning trip to the gym. But before hitting the pier, he had an apology to make.

  He climbed into the cab and pulled up the call log on his cell phone. Lord, please help me make this right.

  When he’d left Amber’s last night, an uneasy tension had hung between them. The last thing he’d wanted was to make her feel inferior. And he certainly hadn’t wanted to heap more guilt on top of what she already experienced. Lord knew, he was well-acquainted with the emotion. He’d carried his own burden for the past four years.

  He’d just been surprised, caught off guard. How could she think that information was irrelevant?

  As a seventeen-year-old girl, maybe. Even not dredging it up in the intervening years made some sense. But she should’ve said something the night Alex died. Or at least the day they’d all convened at the Gathering Table.

  In a sense, he understood. The longer one kept a secret, the harder it was to come clean. But Amber knew better. She was a cop.