“Boy, I ain’t your father. I’m not going to tell you what time you should come back and go to bed.”
I laughed. It was stupid of me to ask permission to stay out late, but I wanted to be respectful of my host. I didn’t want to wake him by coming in late. My problem was that I didn’t have a key to get in.
“I didn’t mean to…I mean, I don’t have a key to get in and I don’t want to wake you.”
“Oooohhh! Oh, oh, oh.” Frank went to a wall in the kitchen where eight thousand keys hung from a sign that read “Keys.” He pulled one off the rack and handed it to me. “Here you go.”
“Thanks. Sorry to impose.”
“Stop with the apologizing already. And for the love of God, stop thanking me.”
I nodded. “Thanks. Uh, I mean…” I shrugged.
Frank shook his head and shooed me off, so I left.
Based on the address Frank gave me, I guessed Solar lived in a modest home in Coral Beach. I had to be extra careful because I was certain there was a shoot-to-kill order on me there. The hour-long drive gave me time to think about what I would say when I saw him. I ran the risk of him calling the cops on me, but it was a risk I was willing to take.
* * *
Finding Solar’s house was a breeze thanks to the GPS in the Tahoe. I scanned the area for anyone tailing me or watching Solar’s house. Not seeing anyone, I parked several houses away, put my glasses on, pulled on my hoodie, and then exited my vehicle.
I stared at the ground while I walked, in case any homeowners had surveillance on their houses. I had seen what Frank’s equipment could do, so I was more cognizant of the fact that random cameras could provide facial recognition should the feds be called in to investigate the case.
Knocking on the door, I took a deep breath and prayed Solar didn’t give me up when he saw me. He opened the door moments later.
“Dude! Bryce! Man, how the heck are you?” He was one of those guys who started his hand high up behind his head to go in for the handshake.
I met his hand in a firm grip. “I’m good, how about yourself?”
“Oh man, I’m good. Come in, come in.”
Entering his house, I scanned the living room. There were pictures of his parents on the fireplace mantel. If he killed them, would he have pictures of them up in his house?
“Dude, what brings you out here tonight?”
“I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.”
“Sure man, shoot.”
“I guess you heard I’m a wanted man.”
“Yeah man, that sucks. I was wondering how you were holding up.”
“I’m hanging in there. I was wondering if you saw anyone strange that night at Savoy’s—especially women.”
“Ya know, the cops were here asking that same question.”
“About a woman?”
“Nah man, about anyone strange.”
“And?”
“Well, I didn’t really think of it at the time, but there was this one chick. I thought she was checking you out. Staring at us all night. But I realized she was really staring at Archie. I don’t know if that qualifies as strange.”
“It could. What did she look like?”
“Dude, I just remember thinking that she was young to be checking out old Archie, but ya know, that dude had a way around women. They flocked to him. So I thought maybe she was just interested in him or something.”
“Do you remember anything else about her?”
“Not much, man. Brown hair, normal looking, nondescript. I mean, nothing stood out. Normal build, normal height. Maybe just that she was a lot younger than Archie.”
Archie’s teenage daughter came to mind. “Too young where she shouldn’t have been at a bar?”
“I don’t know. I’m so bad at guessing ages, man.”
“Just try. Teenager? Twenties? Thirties?”
“Maybe between eighteen and twenty-five. I know, I’m not helping. So dude, why do they want you? What are you doing? Hiding out from them?”
“They think I did it.”
“So they didn’t find the real killer yet? Dude, that sucks.”
I nodded.
“That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard, man.”
The “dudes” and “mans” were starting to try my nerves, especially because Solar was too old to be using them in every sentence. He struck me as someone who smoked a little too much back in his day—and I don’t mean cigarettes. But since he said it was stupid that the cops wanted me, Solar started to grow on me. “Why would you say that? You believe I didn’t do it?”
“I know you didn’t, man.”
“Why? How?”
“Well, it’s like this, man. You’re like a cop, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it was all too sloppy for a cop.”
“Uh huh.”
“See man, a cop would’ve known how to clean up the crime scene. Or have it so the body was never found. A cop wouldn’t actually incriminate himself by being right there when the body was found, ya know?”
“True.”
“So, maybe one of them is setting you up.”
I hadn’t thought about a fellow cop setting me up. So far our lead was on a woman. The only woman cop who hated Archie, Tina, had an iron-clad alibi. “Would you know of anyone out to get Archie?”
“Maybe you should ask yourself if you knew anyone out to get you.”
Not having any enemies, except maybe a criminal or two I had locked up in the past, I didn’t think that Archie’s murderer could be someone out to get me. I assumed all along that the perp was someone with a vendetta against Archie. All those stab wounds. The murder was much too personal, it was absolutely about Archie and not about me.
“Nice theory, but the evidence is pointing toward someone who knew Archie personally and had anger issues toward him. Know anyone like that?”
“Naw, man. But I really think you should explore the cop thing. I think it was one of their own, ya know? Like I said, too sloppy.”
“I wish the investigators saw it the way you did.”
“Maybe they are protecting the real killer. Maybe it’s their friend. Just doesn’t make sense that they think a cop did it.”
That theory made sense. Maybe the cops did know who really killed Archie and maybe they were protecting someone. But who? I thought back to the video of the woman. Was she young enough to be Archie’s teenage daughter? It would make perfect sense why someone would protect her. Some of those cops knew Archie and his family well. I was sure some were close enough to have watched Brittany grow up. She was brunette. But why would she kill her own father? Were there family secrets I didn’t know about? Did I need to know them? Not really, I didn’t need the why, I needed the who. What I desperately needed was enough reasonable doubt so a jury wouldn’t convict me.
I thanked Solar for his help, shook his hand, and walked back to the Tahoe.
After the hour back to Hamilton Township, I felt like crashing. It was late, I was no closer to finding a killer, and the stress was getting to me. I did one final check for tails. Not seeing any, I parked down the street from Frank and Geri’s.
Tiptoeing inside, I locked the door behind me. I crept down the hallway to my bedroom and passed out on the bed.
Chapter 19
Chelsey
Fists banging on my front door woke me. Normally, Snickers would’ve been there to alert would-be intruders of my makeshift security system—a German Shepherd with big teeth. But I hadn’t picked up Snickers from my parents’ house yet.
I tossed the covers, slipped on my flip-flops, and covered myself with a robe. I shuffled down the hall to the door and looked out the peephole. Several men in blue were there to provide me with a wakeup call.
I combed my fingers through my hair, tightened the tie on my robe, took a deep breath, and cracked the door open. “Yes?”
“Chelsey Alton?” The man before me was a county sheriff’s officer.
“Yes.”
>
He handed me an envelope. “This is a warrant to search the premises.”
“Search the premises for what?”
“We have reason to believe Bryson Kelly is hiding here.”
I stood back from the door, allowing them entry. I read through the warrant. Standard template language. At least they didn’t know where Bryce was yet.
The men tore apart my house while I remained near the front door. I chuckled at some of the hiding places they searched. Under the couch, in the oven, and under the bathroom sink. I wondered if a five-foot-eleven guy could actually fit in any of those spots.
When they were through, one of the officers attempted to interrogate me. I knew my rights, and I knew I didn’t have to answer. I was afraid I’d slip up under pressure, but I kept my cool.
“Do you know the whereabouts of Mr. Kelly?”
“No.”
“Have you been in contact with Mr. Kelly?”
“No.” I wondered if they had access to my cell phone records. I wished I had called Bryce yesterday from the prepaid phone. I guessed if they were able to see my calls, they wouldn’t know the number I dialed was Bryce’s prepaid cell. Unless they called it and he answered. No, Bryce wouldn’t have answered a number he didn’t recognize. If they asked me about it, I would’ve said I was calling various witnesses for a case I was working on as a private investigator. I wasn’t on trial. I wasn’t under arrest. It wasn’t necessary for me to tell the truth. And it wasn’t a complete lie—I was working on a case.
“Do you realize that if you know the whereabouts of Mr. Kelly and you don’t inform us, we can arrest you for hindering an investigation? You were seen with him two days ago.”
I doubted they could prove I knew anything. “I did see him two days ago. I also tried to convince him to turn himself in. What else did you want me to do? It’s not like I could’ve hauled him in myself. Do you know for sure that he’s a murderer anyway? What proof do you have?”
“Ms. Alton, allow me to inform you that Bryson Kelly is a dangerous man. He is not the man you may think he is. He had motive and opportunity to kill Chief Wallace. Please exercise caution if you find yourself in his presence. Here is my card. If you see or hear from Mr. Kelly, we’d appreciate a call.”
“Sure thing, officer, but what motive did he have?”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss the case with you.”
“Understood.”
The officers left, and I closed the door behind them. I wondered what the officer meant when he said Bryce wasn’t the man I thought he was.
My cell phone rang. I rushed to grab it from my purse. I had forgotten to charge it last night, so it was on its last leg.
“Mommy! I wuv you!”
“Oh, Mandy! I love you too!”
“Where are you?”
“We are in New Jersey.”
“Really? You’re back in New Jersey? You’re not in New York anymore?”
“No. We left.”
“How was New York?”
“It was fun. It was great. It was really, really fun. I got a penguin. Mommy, I want to go to the zoo next year, when I’m younger.”
“When you’re older, you mean.”
“No, when I’m younger. When I’m four. I want to go to the zoo and to New Ork.”
“Oh, okay, sweetie.” Talking to a three year old wasn’t always easy.
“Here’s Daddy.”
Hearing the word “daddy” made me cringe. Randy was anything but a “daddy.” My blood boiled thinking about how he abandoned his daughter, only to return three years later and seem like a hero in her eyes. I wanted to puke.
Randy got on the phone. “Hey, beautiful.”
I shuddered. “Don’t think you can just waltz back into our lives and everything is hunky dory.”
“There’s no reason at all why we can’t try to get along for Mandy’s sake.”
I didn’t want to get along with Randy, but he was right. I needed to act like an adult. I didn’t want to act like an adult. What I really wanted, more than anything, was to pull a Lorena Bobbitt on him.
“Why did you leave New York? I thought you were going to be there until Sunday.”
“My parents had plans. I can still keep her ’til Sunday, right? I wanted to take her out to Dutch Wonderland or somewhere fun.”
“I hope you’re taking care of her.”
“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I be taking care of her?”
“Gee, I don’t know, Randy. Maybe because you didn’t take care of her the first three years of her life.”
“C’mon now. How many times do I have to say I’m sorry?”
“Probably a million more times—I’m not sure I can forgive you.”
“Now, Chelsey. I told you, I’m trying. I’ll do whatever it takes to make up for it.”
“Are you bathing her? Are you washing her clothes? Her hair? Are you making her brush her teeth?”
“Alright, mama bear. I get it. You hadn’t been away from her until now. But I won’t let you down.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“I’ll call again tomorrow.”
“Yup.”
We hung up. I felt like crushing the phone, but if I played Humpty Dumpty with it, I’d be without my phone again. No reason to take out my frustrations on the phone. On the other hand, I was happy my phone lasted long enough for me to talk to my baby. I sighed. I missed her more than anything.
After plugging the phone into the charger, I retreated to the shower to get myself ready for the day. I had a long day ahead of me trying to collect DNA samples. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be fun or easy.
As the warm water flowed over my body, I thought about the men in my life. One was missing in action. One was a murder suspect. And the third, Mandy’s father, was the least trustworthy person I’d ever met.
If nothing else, I learned that I’ve grown strong over the past few years. I was a secure, independent woman. Quite frankly, none of those men were in a position to make a good significant other for me. I was better off being single. I wanted to set a good example for my daughter. Show her I could stand on my own two feet. Show her that women don’t need men for a house, a car, or to be happy. And I certainly didn’t need a guy who wasn’t ready or able to be there for Mandy and me.
* * *
Showered, dressed, and armed with plastic storage bags, I was ready for my journey to collect DNA evidence. Even though Freddy told me not to bother with the men because he was sure a woman was to blame for Archie’s murder, I couldn’t let go of this thing with Drew. So Garfield, New Jersey was my first stop.
I grabbed my car keys and retrieved my phone from its charger. I saw there was a missed call from Bryce. I decided to call him back another time. I knew he’d offer to help me collect evidence, but this was something I needed to do on my own.
Hopping into the car, I drove the hour to Garfield. I pulled into the parking lot for the Garfield City municipal building and marched inside to the clerk’s office window. I asked the curly-haired woman at the window to see Drew and was told I could have a seat in his office to wait.
I took the opportunity to look in his trash can. I was in luck. There was a used Starbucks cup in the trash. I whipped out a plastic bag from my oversized purse and stuck my hand in, turning the bag inside out so that I could grab the cup without touching it. I probably should’ve brought gloves.
Having just zippered the bag and placed it into my purse, Drew walked in.
“Chelsey? What are you doing?”
“Who me? Um…nothing.”
Drew wrinkled his forehead. He was trying to figure me out. “What are you doing behind my desk? Most guests would’ve taken a seat in the chair designed for guests on the opposite side of my desk.”
“Oh. Sorry. I was just checking out your digs.” I quickly changed the subject. “I actually came here to apologize.” I moved out from behind Drew’s desk.
“Shocking, coming from you, and long overdue
.”
“You could say ‘thanks for the apology’ instead of being so snotty.”
“Do you blame me? You’re the strangest bird I’ve ever met! And I didn’t even hear an apology yet!”
“Well, here it goes. I’m sorry I thought you could’ve had something to do with Archie’s murder. My boss is convinced a woman is to blame.”
“Oh, I see. You didn’t come to the conclusion yourself that I was innocent. Some apology.”
“Maybe if you were more forthcoming with me, then I wouldn’t have thought what I thought.”
“Forthcoming? About what?”
“Where you were the night Archie got murdered.”
Drew rubbed both of his hands over his face. “Chelsey. You’re a wacko. You know where I was that night. I was at Archie’s retirement party and at the after-party.”
“I mean after the after-party.”
Drew rolled his eyes. “I already told you I had a baseball game to watch.”
“Drew, there were no baseball games in the area that night. I know you’re lying, but what I don’t know is why.”
“I don’t owe you any explanation, but you’re dead wrong.”
“Then explain it to me.”
“I’ll explain it to you if you promise that you’ll never come here again, never call me, never speak to me, and never bother my sister, anyone in my family, or any of my friends ever again.”
“Fine. You have my word.”
“My nephew was playing in the Little League World Series.”
It was my turn to wrinkle my forehead. “But that was in California. It’s not like you caught a plane to Cali in time for the game.”
“No, Chelsey. I didn’t hop on a plane. I drove to my parents’ house where we watched the game on television together.”
“But it was so late at night.”
“You’re forgetting there is a time difference between here and California.”
“Oh.” I hung my head. Drew was telling the truth. I could easily verify it. I already knew his sister was in California.
“Yeah, oh.”
“I’m truly sorry.”
“Now it’s time for you to keep your promise.”
Major Crimes Page 14