Wrongly Accused

by Laura Scott

  “All right, then what happened?” Erickson asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know the details. You’ll have to ask Noelle Whitman once she’s recovered from being shot, but Brickner had someone kidnap Noelle and my daughter, Kaitlin. We were following Brickner and it was pure luck that we saw Noelle and Kaitlin being taken inside the garage where we’d found Brickner. We never did find out what was on the other side of the building. From that point on we were focused on getting Noelle and Kaitlin out of there alive.”

  “So you saw Brickner holding them hostage?” Erickson asked.

  “Yes. He held his gun at my daughter’s head, forcing me to give myself up.” The memory was enough to make him break out into a cold sweat. “He spoke to Royce on the phone and then the two of them took us at gunpoint over to my house. Brickner told me the plan was to make my death along with Noelle’s and Kaitlin’s deaths look like a murder/suicide.”

  Erickson’s mouth tightened with anger. “Did he confess to killing your wife, too?”

  “No, sir. He admitted that he killed Kenneth James, because the guy was trying to skip town with the money he was paid to be an eyewitness against me. Brickner also admitted that he arranged for Jack’s murder, so that he could pin everything on me.” Caleb let out a heavy sigh. “But as he lay dying on my driveway, he told me to make Royce pay for killing Heather.”

  At this point, Erickson tossed his pen down and sat back in his chair. “That doesn’t mesh with Royce’s side of the story.”

  A chill snaked down Caleb’s spine. He leaned forward, knowing he needed to make Erickson believe him. “Listen, Lieutenant, Brickner was a sociopath and deserved to die. But I believe he really loved Heather. He told me they were planning to get married after our divorce was finalized. I can’t think of one good reason he’d kill Heather.”

  Erickson crossed his beefy arms over his rotund abdomen. “You said it yourself. He was a sociopath. He probably killed her and then tried to put the blame on Royce.”

  Caleb couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They were going to let Royce walk! They were feeling bad for the guy, no doubt believing whatever sob-story Royce fed them.

  “But why would Brickner admit to the other murders but not to killing Heather?” he pressed. “I think he would have taken the credit if he had in fact done the crime.”

  “Could be that he was just trying to get back at you, make you feel bad about his affair with your wife,” Erickson pointed out.

  “Listen to me. The man was dying. He told me to make sure Royce paid for murdering Heather. Why would Marc make up a story when he was about to die?”

  “Did anyone else hear him say that?” Erickson asked.

  Caleb thought back, trying to remember. “Deck was there less than a minute later. He may have heard it.”

  Erickson glanced down at his notes. “Nope, he didn’t. Okay, that’s all for now, O’Malley. I’ll get in touch if I have any other questions.”

  Caleb stared at the lieutenant for several heartbeats, wrestling with his temper. He bit his tongue and forced himself to leave the room without losing control.

  He slowly walked back to Noelle’s room, grappling with the fact that Royce was actually going to get away with murder.

  And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

  SEVENTEEN

  Noelle woke up several times throughout the day, and each time there was no sign of Caleb or his daughter. Jennifer, her nurse, claimed they left about an hour before lunch. Noelle told herself that it was better this way, but that didn’t ease the ache in her heart.

  By late afternoon the nurses and therapists made her get up out of bed to walk the halls. The pain radiating from her shoulder was still bad, but somehow the physical pain didn’t mean much in the wake of her emotional turmoil.

  She shouldn’t be surprised that Caleb had left with his daughter, after all she was the one who told him goodbye. So what if Caleb had kissed her? It wasn’t like a mere kiss meant anything these days. They’d been running for their lives while trying to figure out who’d killed Caleb’s wife and set him up for her murder. They were forced to spend time together, and that closeness had heightened their emotions. She knew very well that under normal circumstances a man like Caleb wouldn’t look at her twice. After all, he hadn’t recognized her as one of the preschool teachers who cared for his daughter.

  Frank had been a firefighter, physically fit, the macho type of guy who secretly used his fists on his wife and a cane on his foster child. She felt a little ashamed at how she’d thought Caleb might be like Frank. Caleb had never said much when he came to pick up Kaitlin, and he’d always looked gruff and impatient as if he had far better things to do.

  Not that he’d ever been short with Kaitlin. In fact, his daughter had always raced over to throw herself into her father’s arms.

  But that was before he’d gone to jail for a crime he didn’t commit.

  She learned more about who Caleb really was during their brief time together. She knew she could trust Caleb not to hurt her physically. She’d never once seen him lose his temper or lash out at anyone. Frank used to hit the wall or the table when he was mad, and from there it wasn’t long until he’d started hitting people.

  No, in that respect Caleb would never hurt her or his daughter. But could she trust a man like Caleb with her heart? Through the time they’d spent together, she’d grown to care for him. Maybe, even had fallen in love with him. But what did she know about real love? She’d never had a serious relationship, always shying away from men. The very thought of opening herself up to rejection made her break out into a cold sweat.

  She couldn’t help thinking about Caleb though as she worked on the simple exercises the therapist left for her to do on her own. She suffered through a brief interrogation by Lieutenant Erickson, who wanted to know all the details about what had happened since Caleb had showed up on her doorstep that fateful Friday afternoon. She assumed that he’d spoken to Caleb, too, which explained his absence.

  But she’d thought for sure Caleb would return to visit with Kaitlin after dinner, but the hours crept by slowly with no sign of them.

  By eight o’clock in the evening, when there was an overhead announcement about the end of visiting hours, she knew they weren’t coming. Disappointment slashed deep. It had obviously been the right choice to keep her feelings to herself. Caleb was already moving on with his life and honestly, she couldn’t blame him. He’d already spent fourteen long months behind bars.

  He deserved every moment of freedom. And she’d known all along that once this was over he wouldn’t need her anymore.

  She squeezed her eyes tight to keep from crying but a few tears leaked out and slid down her cheeks. So she did the only thing she could, she prayed.

  Help me to move on with my life, too, Lord. Please guide me along Your path. Amen.

  * * *

  Caleb spent the afternoon with Kaitlin, Declan and Isaac at his house, once the crime scene from the driveway had been cleared. He played with his daughter, but then put in a Disney movie for her so that he could strategize with his former teammates.

  “There has to be some proof we can find to nail Royce for Heather’s murder,” Caleb said in a low tone.

  “Not easy since it seems like the only one who knew the truth is dead,” Deck muttered with a scowl.

  “I think Cramer is going to offer you your old job back,” Isaac said. “He’s already down two men and I think he wants to try and salvage his image.”

  “His image is beyond repair,” Deck scoffed. “But giving Caleb his job back is the least Cramer could do. Caleb could easily sue the department for defamation of character and false imprisonment.”

  Caleb sighed. “Come on, you two, focus. While it would be great to get my job back, if we can’t figure out a way to link R
oyce to Heather’s murder he’ll be a free man in less than ten years. All they have against him right now is being a party to the crime. And considering he’s claiming Brickner threatened his life if he didn’t cooperate, they’ll likely go easy on him.”

  “You have to admit, Brickner could have been lying,” Isaac pointed out.

  “He wasn’t.” Caleb was positive Marc was telling the truth. “Why would he bother? And besides, there had to be something big that Brickner was hanging over Royce’s head in order to make him cooperate. Why not Heather’s murder? Maybe Brickner walked in on him shortly after Royce killed her and the two of them trumped up this scheme to set me up in order to keep Heather’s involvement in the escort service a secret.”

  “You’re right, but we’d have to prove Royce was having an affair with your wife,” Deck said thoughtfully. Then he grimaced. “Sorry, Caleb.”

  Caleb flashed a wry grin. “I’ve already seen her photograph on that sleazy website. There’s nothing more that would shock me.”

  “Daddy, Shrek 1 is over. It’s time for Shrek 2!” Kaitlin shouted from the other room. She ran into the kitchen and climbed up onto Caleb’s lap. “When can we see Noa?” she asked.

  He forced a smile. “She’s still groggy from her surgery, remember? We’ll go tomorrow, when she’s feeling better, okay?”

  “Okay. I’m hungry. Can I have a snack?”

  At times like this he wished Noelle was here to guide him. Was Kaitlin supposed to have snacks in the late afternoon? Wouldn’t that ruin her dinner? But then again, she slept in this morning after being up half the night, and she was recovering from the flu, so maybe a snack was a good idea?

  Why didn’t kids come with an instruction manual?

  “Ah, sure, Katydid. What would you like?” he asked.

  “Fish crackers and juice,” she announced.

  That sounded like something Noelle would give her so he set Kaitlin down and pulled out the crackers and filled a glass with juice. He let her take her snack into the living room, even though he knew Noelle would not approve. But he didn’t want to talk about murder within earshot of his daughter.

  “Try not to spill, okay?” he said.

  “Okay.”

  When he walked back into the kitchen, Deck and Isaac were deep in a low conversation. A conversation that halted abruptly the moment he entered the room.

  “What’s up?” he asked when the two of them stared at him.

  Deck and Isaac exchanged a long look before Deck cleared his throat. “Caleb, don’t get mad, okay? But we think you should have a paternity test done on Kaitlin.”

  Anger flashed hard and swift. “Get out,” he bit off between clenched teeth.

  “Caleb, we’re only trying to help,” Declan began but he cut him off quickly.

  “No. Get out,” he repeated. “I’m not kidding. I’m not going to listen to your garbage for another minute.”

  His two teammates exchanged a tense look before they slowly rose to their feet and made their way to the door.

  “Caleb, she’ll always be your daughter. No one can take her away from you. But if there’s a chance that her DNA matches Royce’s...”

  Caleb slammed the door, cutting Declan off midsentence. He paced the short length of the kitchen, wishing he could hit the gym to let off some steam.

  “Daddy, I spilled,” Kaitlin cried out from the living room.

  He grabbed a dish towel and hurried into the other room, knowing that he only had himself to blame for the cherry stain on his carpet.

  The mess was the least of his worries. He did his best to ignore Declan and Isaac’s suggestion, but he found himself searching Kaitlin’s features for any resemblance to him.

  Kaitlin had her mother’s glossy blond hair and her big blue eyes. Surely Kaitlin had his nose, and his chin. No, wait, she had a cleft chin and he didn’t. Although neither did Heather.

  But Royce did.

  No, he wasn’t going to do it. Cleft chins likely skipped a generation, that’s all. He’d never met Heather’s parents, but he’d bet her father had a cleft chin.

  He wanted to smack Declan and Isaac for planting the seeds of doubt in his mind. He tried to concentrate on the movie, but after about twenty minutes he went to find the old family photo albums. He scoured the faces of Heather’s parents and his own.

  And the sick feeling in his gut told him the guys could be right. That there was a possibility he was not Kaitlin’s biological father.

  He closed his eyes and prayed for strength to do what was right. Guide me, Lord. Should I really do this? I just don’t know. Please help me do the right thing, Lord. Amen.

  * * *

  Noelle was woken up at the ridiculous time of five-thirty in the morning to have her labs drawn and her vitals taken. Thankfully she fell asleep for another hour and a half, before she woke up to the grumbling of her stomach.

  “You have bowel sounds,” Jennifer said in an approving tone, as if this was some great trick. “Good job! That means you can order full liquids for breakfast.”

  “Yippee,” Noelle said weakly. How pathetic was she, that the thought of drinking her breakfast actually sounded good?

  “I’ll call for your tray. It should be here in less than an hour. And the doctor wants to switch you to oral pain medication today. So I brought two Percocets for you.”

  Accustomed to the routine, she gave her pain score as a seven, and waited for them to be scanned before she swallowed the meds. She knew they’d make her walk around and do her exercises so skipping the pain pills wasn’t an option.

  The trauma surgeon came in about an hour later with his team of residents. She stoically braced herself as they took down the dressing and peered intently at her incision.

  “No signs of infection,” Dr. Lauder said with satisfaction. “We’ll keep you here on IV antibiotics for another thirty-six hours and by then you’ll be ready to go home.”

  “Great,” she said with a strained smile. “Can’t wait.”

  “Do you have someone at home that can help you?” Dr. Lauder asked as one of his underlings redressed her wound.

  Her smile faded. “No, but I’ll manage.” She refused to even consider calling Caleb.

  “Hmm, we’ll have the social worker come in to set up some home health visits, then,” Dr. Lauder informed her. “Any other questions?”

  “No questions,” she confirmed, wondering if she could somehow ask the nurse to tell the social worker she wasn’t interested. The social worker assigned to her case as a child in the foster system hadn’t been the least bit helpful and in fact, had refused to believe the stories of Frank’s abuse.

  She wasn’t interested in talking to another one. She’d rather struggle along on her own.

  The physical therapists kept her busy for a few hours and by the time they were finished, her shoulder felt like it weighed ten tons. She’d just returned to bed when there was a knock at her door. For a moment she was tempted to feign sleep, but then realized she wasn’t a kid anymore. She could tell the social worker to leave if she wanted to.

  “Come in,” she called, steeling herself to be polite but firm.

  “Noa!” Kaitlin cried, running into the room. “I’ve missed you!”

  “Oh, Kaitlin, I’m so glad to see you, too!” She couldn’t hide the surge of joy that engulfed her. Maybe Caleb had only come back for his daughter’s sake, but right now, she didn’t care. Kaitlin tried to climb onto the bed, but Caleb stopped her.

  “Noelle still has a big owwie on her shoulder,” he said. “You can’t hurt her, okay?”

  “Okay, I’m sorry, Noa.”

  “It’s all right, Kaitlin. Here, let me give you a little hug, okay?”

  She managed to hug Kaitlin with her right arm and to gently kiss the top of the little girl’s head. S
he noticed that today Caleb had dressed his daughter in neon-pink, one of her favorite colors.

  “How are you feeling, Noelle?” he asked, his gaze full of concern.

  “Much better,” she said. “I’m sore now, but that’s because I just finished therapy.”

  “You look better,” he said as he pulled up a chair next to her bed.

  “Daddy, I’m going to color Noa a picture, okay?”

  Noelle noticed that Caleb had come prepared with a coloring book and box of crayons to help keep Kaitlin busy. He was obviously doing a great job of being a single dad.

  She was happy for him, and tried not to feel sad for herself.

  “Noelle, I need your advice on something,” Caleb said quietly. His voice was so soft, she sensed he didn’t want his daughter to overhear.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong,” he assured her. “I don’t know if you heard that Marc Brickner claimed that Royce killed Heather before he died.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I gave my statement to Lieutenant Erickson and he asked if I’d overheard Marc saying anything that night.”

  “Did you?” His gaze was full of hope.

  “I’m sorry Caleb but I didn’t hear him. I was on the other side of the vehicle. I remember trying to protect Kaitlin and then getting hit by the bullet, nothing more.”

  “I know.” Caleb stared at his hands for a minute. “I already knew that Heather had an affair with Brickner, but according to Marc, Royce had also been with her and he flew into a jealous rage and killed her.”

  “I’m sorry, Caleb,” she said, reaching out to take his hand. “I’m sorry you had to go through all this.”

  A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “We’ve both had difficult situations to get through, haven’t we? As tough as it’s been, I’m still very thankful for everything I have.”

  Her heart swelled with love and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from blurting out her feelings.

  “Noelle, Deck and Isaac suggested I get a paternity test done on Kaitlin. To see if there’s any chance that Royce might be her blood father.”