I held my arms out. “Nope, I’m here, to talk to Officer Johnson.”
He nodded and tapped his fingers on the table. “What’s in the box?”
I shoved it to the middle of the table. “It’s the bulb from Catalina’s outside light. I had my wits about me when we got home from the hospital and was able to screw it back in, which meant whoever had loosened the bulb had time to plan their attack on us. I’m hoping there will be fingerprints on it you can use to track the person down.”
He motioned at the box again. “How many sets of fingerprints are we really going to find, Lorenzo?” he asked. His tone of voice was clear; he didn’t believe me.
“What do you mean, Noah? And why are you acting like I’m the one who committed a crime? They knocked me out last night and hurt Cat.”
“Answer the question, please,” he said and I sighed.
“Mine, the person who installed it, which was Frances someone who was killed last year by a forklift, and hopefully whoever our attacker was.”
“Where were you last night, Lorenzo?” he asked in his detective tone and I threw up my arms.
“You already know this, Noah. I visited the gallery last night and then, when we found Cat’s van with a flat tire, I drove her home. We were attacked before we got in the house, and they took Cat to the hospital. They released us about three hours later and I took her home.”
“What time did you arrive back at Miss Chávez’s from the hospital?” he asked, taking out a notebook and making notes.
“Around eleven, I think. She showered and fell asleep. I stayed to follow the concussion protocol and wake her up every two hours.”
“Did you also get a concussion?” he asked, and I shook my head stiffly.
“No, the doctors said I passed the test. Whoever the attacker was, he hit my neck and not my head.” I turned and lifted my hair so he could see the knot and bruising on my neck. When I turned back he had a grimace on his face.
“Damn, that must hurt,” he said, leaning on the table.
“Like a SOB and I want to go home and get some ice for it.”
“Only a few more questions, Lorenzo,” he said, back in detective mode. “Did you stay with Miss Chávez all night then?”
I ran my hand over my neck again, trying to loosen the knotted, angry muscles. “Yes, except for when I drove to the convenience store down the road to get ice.”
He glanced up quickly from his notebook. “What time did you leave her house?”
Suddenly, I saw this as a witch hunt, but I told him the truth. “I woke her up about two for the first check, and then when she fell back asleep I left for the store. It was exactly 2:53 a.m. I remember because the dashboard clock was bright against the horrible headache I had.”
“What time did you arrive back at Miss Chávez’s house then?”
“I wasn’t gone more than fifteen minutes. She was afraid to be alone and I didn’t want her to wake up and find me gone, even though I left her a note on her phone.”
He scratched his chin and glanced between me and the notebook. “I find it odd Miss Chávez told Officer Johnson you were with her the whole night, but you say you left. Which is it?”
I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, noting it hurt when I did, so I stopped. “I’m sure she did tell the officer I was there the whole time, because she slept through me being gone. Why would you ask someone with a head injury time specific questions anyway? I woke her again at four and then we both fell asleep for a few hours. Why does any of this matter anyway?” I asked, a little unsettled knowing they had already questioned Cat when I wasn’t there.
He folded his hands and set them on the table. “Well, you see, Lorenzo, last night Xavier Carellton died from two blows to the temple from a hammer, with your name etched in the handle.”
Chapter Fifteen
My head spun at his words and I grasped the table, shaking my head. “No, no, no, no,” I said, my voice soft and scared. “You gotta believe me, Noah, I didn’t kill anyone last night.”
He sat there with his arms crossed as my insides turned upside down and I wanted to vomit. I had no idea what was going on and the lack of sleep and pain made me feel like I was inside a bubble. “I don’t know. I don’t know how this happened. How did this happen, Noah?” I asked, my hands grasping my hair as I leaned over the table.
“Lorenzo? Are you okay or do you need to lay down?” he asked and I snapped my head up.
“My toolbox,” I said, the truth dawning on me.
“What about your toolbox?” he asked, picking up his pen.
“Saturday night, I picked Cat up for our date in the BMW. I don’t carry a full toolbox in my car, just a hammer, a couple screwdrivers and some nails. When I got to Cat’s, I accidently pulled a board off her ramp which was sticking up. I grabbed the toolbox from the car and fixed it, then set it in the corner of the ramp while we were at dinner.”
“And when you got home it was missing?” he asked, his hand posed to take notes.
“I didn’t notice it was missing until Sunday. I ran over to her house to discuss replacing the ramp with her and by the time I got there the box was already gone. She didn’t know I left it there.”
“Why didn’t you report it stolen?” he asked condemningly.
I slammed my hand down on the table harder than I wanted. “Cat wanted me to, but really? The whole thing wasn’t worth ten bucks. I figured a kid took it.”
“You’re saying your toolbox was lifted from Miss Chávez’s house and used to murder the one guy you can’t stand in all of Little Ivywood.”
I held my hands out to my sides. “I had no problem with Xavier, Noah. You knew him. You knew what a pompous ass he was. He was the one who threatened to kill me on Saturday in front of my kids when he lost the game.”
“And you decided to kill him first?” he asked and I jumped up, pounding my fist on the table.
“No! I did not kill Xavier,” I shouted.
“Can you prove it?” he asked calmly. “It appears your alibi is now null and void.”
I wracked my brain to come up with a way to prove I was innocent. “What time was he killed and where?” I asked. “Or am I not privy to that information.”
“It’s public knowledge. He was killed on the sidewalk in front of Armenston Tower Apartments early this morning, at…” he paused and flipped pages in his book, “2:45 a.m. His roommate heard yelling and by the time he got out to the sidewalk the attacker was gone, and Xavier was brain dead. The roommate called the cops at 2:47 a.m. and we had officers and a rig on the scene at 2:53 a.m. The victim was deceased by the time we arrived.”
“If you had the murder weapon why haven’t I heard from the cops yet? It’s nearly two p.m.”
“We didn’t find the hammer with the body. The killer threw it into the brush, but one of my dogs found it. We were just putting a warrant together to question you.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t kill him. There’s no way I could have killed him and driven back to Martindale by 2:55, it’s not possible, even if I drove like a maniac at 90 mph.”
“Unless you were already in Little Ivywood to start with,” he responded and I threw up my hands.
“I just told you I arrived at the convenience store at 2:55!”
“You also told me Cat has a head injury and can’t be trusted to know the time last night. A good prosecutor will destroy her on the stand if you try to use her as an alibi.”
I paused in my pacing. “Wait, I do have a solid alibi. I called the emergency room at 2:35 a.m. to report her condition to them. I settled her back to sleep and turned her security alarm off at 2:47 a.m. then back on, just to make sure it was active. I checked the perimeter to be certain no one was waiting for me to leave. I got in the truck at 2:53 a.m. to head to the store. I think the alarm company can give you proof of it, too, they should have all the time stamps of when it was set and disarmed. It took me two minutes to get to the gas station where I was for about ten minutes. I arrived at the stor
e at 2:55 a.m. and should be on their surveillance from 2:55 until round about 3:05 a.m. I bought two bags of ice, orange juice, and a package of cinnamon rolls. I drove back to the house and disarmed the alarm at 3:08. Feel free to call the alarm company, the hospital, and the store!” I shouted, collapsing into the chair. I fisted my hair in my hands. “I did not kill Xavier Carellton.”
His clothing rustled as he stood up, but I didn’t lift my head. He lowered his hand to my shoulder as he spoke. “I believe you, Lorenzo, but you know I have to check. I can’t let you leave until I have the information.”
I nodded as an answer and he patted my shoulder once and left the small room. I lowered my forehead to the table and rested it there trying to process what he accused me of doing. My exhausted body and my brain on overdrive fought against each other, but the exhaustion won out, and the pain throbbed in my head. I don’t know how long I had been sitting there, but there was a tap on my shoulder and I jumped, my heart pounding.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you, Lorenzo,” the uniformed officer said.
I checked his nametag quickly then answered him. “No problem, Officer Fields. I must have dozed off. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Detective Jonas asked me to drop these off for you,” he said motioning at the table.
I looked down and there was an icepack, two Advil, and a bottle of water. “Bless him,” I said picking up the icepack. “Tell him thanks for me.”
He nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. I downed the Advil and held the icepack to my sore neck, grateful when the cold seeped in and numbed some of the pain. My phone rang in the quiet room and I jumped, almost falling backward in the chair. I righted myself then grabbed the phone from the table.
“Hello,” I answered out of breath.
“Ren?” Cat asked on the other end.
“Cat, hi, it’s me, yes,” I answered, scrunching my eyes closed.
“Ren, they said you killed Xavier, but I know you didn’t. You were here with me. Don’t go to the police station!”
She started crying and then her voice became distant. “Lorenzo? It’s Foster, are you all right?”
I sighed heavily. “I’m okay, but I’m at the police station. I stopped down to drop the bulb off and didn’t know about Xavier before I did.”
“Tell me what they’re doing and I’ll get ahold of your dad and have him send a lawyer. Are they booking you?”
“No, they’re checking my alibi right now. I’m just in the interrogation room while Noah does his thing. I might be here for a few hours.”
“No problem, we’ll stay with Cat. Call your dad if they decide to book you and he’ll send the lawyer he used for Tabitha.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me?” I asked, setting the icepack on the table. “Aren’t you going to ask if I killed him?”
He laughed, the sound disbelieving. “No, Lorenzo, I don’t need to ask if you killed him. I know even when you’re angry you would never hurt anyone.”
“You sound so sure,” I said, hating the position I found myself in when I’d done nothing wrong.
“I am sure, because I’m staring at the reason why. She’s told me all the things you used to do to help her. You’re a caregiver, not a killer. You said he’s checking your alibi?”
“Yeah,” I sighed, leaning back in the chair. “I told him to check with the alarm company and gave him times I armed and disarmed the alarm. I also told him to contact the gas station where I bought the ice. They should have me on camera there. I pray to God I’m on camera there. If I can’t prove where I was, then I’m going to be on the hook for this.”
“No, Lorenzo. At the very least, the clerk will remember you. Be patient and this will be over before you know it. Once they release you, come straight back to Cat’s. She’s not dealing with all of this well.”
I sat up straight in the chair. “Is she okay? Do you want me to talk to her?”
There was silence as I waited for him to come back on the line. “Cinn almost has her asleep. She’s massaging her back to help her relax. Hopefully she’ll fall asleep and you’ll be here before she wakes up. The cops showed up and scared her, but in her defense, she didn’t remember you had gone to the store until we reminded her about the cinnamon rolls after they left.”
“It’s not a problem, Foster. She’s mentally compromised and they know it. I can’t believe this is happening. Do you know what I found when I got to the gallery for her van?”
“She had a flat? Were they able to fix it?”
I laughed sardonically. “It sure was flat, because someone slashed the hell out of the tire. I don’t know what’s going on here, but when Noah clears me, I’m going to show him the tire. I think someone may be after Cat, and if it’s not Xavier, then I don’t know who it is.”
“It could still have been Xavier since all of this happened before he died.”
“I suppose, but either way, I’m going to report it. I should have reported the toolbox like Cat wanted me to.”
Silence stretched between us while he stepped outside onto the ramp. “Wait, Lorenzo. If someone stole the toolbox and then killed Xavier with it, whoever this is has been planning it. You coming into the picture probably helped because they took your toolbox, giving them an easy way to pin the crime on you.”
“Exactly what I’m thinking, too. The question is, who? Who, besides Xavier, wants Cat? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I agree, but we can let the police worry about it while you worry about Cat. I don’t think she should be alone until this is sorted out.”
“Hell no, and she won’t be. I just need to decide what to do with her when I’m working at the animal shelter. I need to get the project finished before the carnival.”
“When you get back here, we’ll work it out. One step at a time,” he reminded me.
We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone, laying it on the table. I didn’t know what was going on or why, but I found myself involved by association. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt Cat, though. If it meant I was her bodyguard until this was solved, then so be it. Her business and her ankle complicate matters, but I can’t do anything about it from here. I pictured her face in my mind, scared, worried, and wondering why I wasn’t there with her when the police came knocking. I wondered what expression was on her face when they told her Xavier died. Maybe shock? Maybe relief? But then there must have been terror when they told her I was their main suspect. She had to have been freaked out, scared, and unable to process half of it from her head injury. Assuming she cares about me the way I care about her, anyway.
I’ve always been able to read other people’s feelings. When I was little, it scared me when I had strong reactions about people I loved. Then I learned there’s a name for it. They call me an empath. It took me a long time to embrace the name and the gift, but I’ve learned to integrate it into my life. Now, when someone I love is hurting, I feel what they feel and it doesn’t always feel good. Once I’m connected with someone, like for instance my deep connection with Cinn, I can’t ignore the emotions the way I usually can. Last night when the light didn’t come on, and she was scared, or when she woke up on the ramp and was terrified of the intense pain, it broke my heart. I could feel her heart pounding and the confusing jumbled thoughts racing through her head.
I pounded the table with my fist and stood, pacing the length of the room a few times. If they couldn’t find proof of my innocence there would be little even a lawyer could do to help me. Tabitha got off easy, but she killed a dog, not a human. I bent over and took several deep breaths. All I could see in my mind was Xavier on the ground, his skull caved in from the force of the hammer. What a horrible, horrible way to die. I didn’t like the guy, but I would never wish such a horrible death on anyone. He was a jerk, but he didn’t deserve to be bludgeoned to death with a hammer.
I paced some more. I should have listened to Cat when she told me to report the toolbox stolen. How would I have any idea someone
intended to do such carnage with it? My gut churned with anxiety over the events of the last week. This past week has gone by in the blink of an eye, but seeing her in pain last night lasted longer than a lifetime. When I found her lying upside down on the ramp it broke something in me. In a split second, I lost the rest of my heart to her. These are the instances where my gift is both a blessing and a curse. I didn’t know everything about her, but I did know her emotions, because those were the things she couldn’t hide from me. Everything else I could, and would, learn.
First, it would be important to learn everything I could about what caused her illness, how I could make things easier, and how it would affect us as a couple. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind we would be a couple once I held her in my arms again. I planned to tell her too, just as soon as I got the hell out of this room.
I strode to the door to open it when Noah pushed it in from the outside. I stepped back and he joined me, motioning for me to take a seat. I wanted to yell for him to let me go, but I didn’t. I sat across from him and his trusty notebook. His face held somber confusion. It made me wonder if my alibi didn’t check out.
“Your alibi checks out down to the minute, Lorenzo,” he said and I sank down in my chair.
“Thank God,” I whispered, closing my eyes for a private prayer of thankfulness no one else could hear.
“I’ve never had anyone who could give me exact minutes to check before,” he said chuckling a little. “The clerk also remembered you and how you were buying the ice for a friend who had been injured. “
“So I’m cleared? I can go?” I asked, antsy to get out of this room and back to Cat.
“You can, but I was hoping you might help me brainstorm first. Do you have a few minutes?” he asked.
I took the icepack and held it to the back of my neck again. “If it means we figure out who did this before they hurt Cat again, I’ll help you any way I can.”
He nodded once and slid his notebook over by him. “What did Xavier say to you at the game this past weekend?”
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