Callaway nodded. He had heard about that.
“I think it was then that Jimmy began to search out my dad. He tried to approach him a few times, but he wasn’t sure how my dad would react. He always thought he had time to build a relationship with my dad until he found out about the accident. He was really torn up about it. I had to console him, even though it was my dad that was gone. After that, we kept in touch on a daily basis. Jimmy even sold his condo and boat when he found out we needed money.”
“How much money was it?” Callaway asked, curious.
“Around eighty thousand dollars.”
Callaway’s mouth nearly hit the floor. That was his entire life savings.
Sara Miller said, “I thought the money came from a fundraiser, until Becky told me the truth just now.”
Becky said, “Jimmy told me that if I ever needed help, I should come to you.”
Callaway was flattered, but he said, “I’m not sure how I can help you.”
Becky turned to her mother, who gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, baby. You tell him the truth.”
“Mr. Callaway,” Becky said, tearing up. “Jimmy didn’t kill Dillon Scott… I did.”
EIGHTY-THREE
Callaway almost fell off his chair. “What?!”
Becky didn’t reply.
Callaway stood up and began pacing the room. He turned to Becky. “How could you have killed Scott when Jimmy just confessed to the crime?”
“He confessed to it to protect me,” she replied.
Callaway stared at her.
A light bulb went off in his head. “You’re the girl in the taxi with Dillon Scott.”
She looked away.
It’s now making sense, Callaway thought. When Fisher had gone to see the taxi driver to retrieve the footage, the driver told her another detective had taken it. That other detective was Jimmy. He must have shown the driver his replica Miami PD badge. He took the footage so that nothing led back to his granddaughter.
Callaway walked back to the chair and sat down. “Tell me what happened the night Dillon Scott died.”
Becky’s hands shook. Her mom placed her hand over hers and gave her daughter another reassuring smile. “Tell him,” she said.
Becky took a deep breath. “I work as an assistant at a veterinary clinic. It’s only part-time, but whenever we have an emergency at the clinic, I stay later than usual. Anyway, I was leaving the clinic that night when I saw Dillon Scott coming my way…”
“The clinic is on Yonge Avenue?” Callaway asked.
“It’s not on Yonge Avenue, but on the street next to it.”
“Okay.”
“Jimmy had told me about a case he was working on.”
“Gail Roberts?”
“Yes. He would call me up and we would talk for hours. What he really wanted was to know more about my dad, but deep down it hurt him that he had missed all the major events in his life, so instead we would talk about the case. From Jimmy, I knew Dillon was in Milton shooting a movie.”
“You call him Dillon?” Callaway asked.
“That’s what he told me to call him when we met.”
“Go on.”
“When I saw Dillon, I don’t know what I was thinking. Maybe I saw an opportunity to help Jimmy. I approached Dillon and told him I was one of his biggest fans. It was a lie. I’ve never seen any of his movies, but I knew of his work. I asked if I could take a photo with him. He was in a hurry to catch a taxi. He asked if I needed a ride. I told him yes. He offered to drop me off at my house.” She shook her head. “I should have never gotten in the taxi with him, but I did. We started talking, and I asked him a lot of questions about being a famous movie star. I think he liked the attention because a minute before, when I’d seen him walking up the street, he looked stressed.”
He was, Callaway thought. He’d just stormed away from a reporter at a bar. “How did you end up at his house?” Callaway asked.
She sighed. “He said he wanted to show me something, but it was at his house.”
“What?”
“One of his acting awards.”
“And you agreed?”
She nodded. “I figured I could get him to tell me something about Gail Roberts. I was so stupid and naïve.”
“Then what happened?”
“We got to the house, and I was surprised when he sent the taxi away. I thought he’d show me the award and then I would go straight home. He said he would call another taxi. He seemed so nice, and I was never worried because he’s Dillon Scott, you know? I’ve seen posters of him outside movie theaters. I was kind of flattered a famous movie star was giving me all this attention. He asked about my family. I told him about my dad, and he looked genuinely sad. But now that I think about it, maybe he was only acting, and he really didn’t care about what I’d been through. We went inside the house, and he offered me a drink. I told him I was sixteen, but he smiled and said there’s always a first time for everything, and that years later, I would tell my friends that I had my first drink with Dillon Scott. I think he had wine, because it was red, and I don’t know what he brought me, but it was brown.”
It was bourbon, Callaway thought.
“I took a sip and hated the taste. It burned the back of my throat. Dillon saw the look on my face, and he laughed. He encouraged me to drink some more. He said I’d get used to it very fast.”
Callaway’s jaw tightened. He was trying to get you drunk.
Becky said, “After a couple more sips, the burning got so intense that I threw up on the carpet.”
That explains why the carpet was cleaned up later.
“He gave me water, but then suddenly he tried to kiss me. I told him I had a boyfriend. I was lying, but I didn’t like what he was doing. He said he would teach me some things I could show my boyfriend later. He tried to get on top of me. I couldn’t believe what was happening. He was old enough to be my father.”
Callaway could feel anger rise up in him. He balled his fists.
“He kept saying I should feel lucky someone like him was interested in me. He was a big movie star, and if I let him do what he wanted, he could try to get me a part in one of his movies. I told him I didn’t want to be an actress. He just laughed. I was on the sofa, and he was on top of me. I knew what was going to happen next. We were shown videos of situations like that in school. He had the wine glass in his hand, and when he turned to put it on the coffee table, I pushed him back with my knees. I then jumped up on the sofa, reached over and grabbed a bookend that was on a bookshelf. The wine glass fell from his hand and spilled on the carpet. He cursed and turned back to me.” Becky took a deep breath. “I hit him on the head with the bookend. I don’t think he had time to react, and then he dropped to the floor.” Becky shook. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I never meant to hurt him. I only wanted him off me so I could run out of the house.”
Her mom put her arms around her and hugged her tight. Becky sobbed into her chest.
Callaway looked up at the ceiling in deep thought. More questions were answered. Fisher believed Scott’s attacker was over six feet, which is what Jimmy was. But Becky, who was five-three at best, was on the sofa when she hit Scott from above, thus giving the impression that Scott’s attacker was taller than him.
Callaway asked, “Afterwards, you called Jimmy, is that right?”
Becky nodded. “He drove straight over and asked me exactly what had happened. He told me not to worry about anything, and that he would take care of it.”
Callaway knew what Jimmy did next. He had laid it out in his confession. He cleaned Becky’s vomit off the carpet, took the wine glasses with her and Scott’s fingerprints, and he also took the bookend with her prints on it.
Callaway realized Jimmy had taken the fall for Becky. He was not a murderer.
Jimmy is innocent!
“Mr. Callaway.”
Becky’s words broke his reverie.
“Jimmy is locked up because of me. He lied to protect me. What
should I do?”
Callaway had no idea. His head was reeling.
EIGHTY-FOUR
Callaway told Becky to go home. He would call her later if he needed more information. At the moment, he needed to see Jimmy.
After speaking to Fisher, he was allowed back in the interview room. He found Jimmy seated behind the metal table. He had a smile on his face. “Hey, kid,” he said. “I knew you couldn’t stay angry at me for long.”
“I met your granddaughter,” Callaway said. “Becky Miller.”
The smile evaporated from Jimmy’s face. “Oh god, no. She didn’t…?”
“She told me everything,” Callaway said, taking a seat across from him.
Jimmy put his hands over his face and shook his head. “Don’t listen to her. She’s just a child.”
“She’s old enough to know what’s right and what’s wrong.”
“How’d she find you?” Jimmy asked, looking up.
“Apparently, you told her to seek me out if she needed help.”
“I meant if she got in trouble, not to involve you in this.”
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” Callaway asked.
“About Becky?”
Callaway leaned closer. “About Becky, about what happened at Scott’s house, everything.”
Jimmy sighed. “What was I gonna say?”
“You could have started off by telling me you had a grandkid.”
“How would that look, huh?” Jimmy replied. “I spent my whole life telling you and everyone else that family means nothing and that they only bring you down. But you know what? It’s all bullshit. You need people in your life. You need someone to remember you when you’re gone.”
“I would have remembered you,” Callaway said.
Jimmy smiled. “I know you would have, kid, but you know what I mean.”
Callaway said nothing.
Jimmy said, “After a while, you begin to realize you need something more in your life. I’ve always looked out for number one, but what I should have been looking out for was other people. That’s what makes life worth it. It can’t be all about you. You can’t go from one thing to another, always looking for excitement and adventure.”
“Are you dying, Jimmy?” Callaway asked.
Jimmy blinked. “What?”
“You sound like a man who has seen the end and wants to make amends for his sins.”
“No, I’m not dying, and yes, I do want to make amends for what I’ve done.” Jimmy reached over and placed his hand over his. The gesture surprised Callaway. “Lee, you got a precious little girl. Don’t waste your life like I did. Go and make sure you’re part of her life. Before you know it, she’ll be all grown up. Right now she needs you, whether you see it or not.
Callaway’s head began to spin. He pulled his hand away. “You fed me the I-should-be-a-lone-wolf crap, that I should be free to experience life and squeeze every drop out of it. What was that all about, Jimmy?”
“When I met you, I really believed that stuff. But now I don’t.”
“Was it the heart attack?”
“It was the catalyst, but it was so much more. When I had the heart attack, I was at home, drinking a beer and watching TV. That was my routine each night. And I loved that I didn’t have to change it for anyone. But when I collapsed on the floor, clutching my chest, I kept thinking about Walter. I didn’t want to die alone. Luckily, I had my cell phone in my front pocket. I was able to dial 9-1-1.” He stared into Callaway’s eyes. “When I was asking about Nina and Patti, there was a reason. I was hoping to steer your mind back to them.”
Callaway looked away. “I was a terrible husband and a lousy father,” he said.
“I can’t give you any marriage advice because I never got married, but I can tell you, don’t push Nina away like I pushed my son away.”
“I don’t know how to be a father,” Callaway confessed.
“Then be her friend. Or better yet, just be there for her.”
Callaway crossed his arms over his chest. He could not believe the man who had once told him having a family was akin to getting an incurable disease was now telling him the opposite. Maybe it wasn’t Jimmy who was the fool all these years, maybe it was Callaway. He listened to Jimmy’s words like they were gospel. Jimmy was nothing more than a male fantasy of booze, women, and danger. In reality, he was a sad old man.
Jimmy shook his head. “My son, James, he was not like me in many ways, but in other ways, he was. He didn’t gamble, he didn’t drink all that much, he loved his wife, Sara, and he adored his little girl, Becky. But like me, he was reckless…”
Callaway’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
EIGHTY-FIVE
“After I heard about the accident at the construction site, I started looking into it,” Jimmy replied. “I’m a private investigator, after all. I wanted justice for Sara and Becky. What I found out was that James was addicted to prescription medication. He’d hurt his back and was popping two dozen painkillers a day. On the morning of the accident, he had downed a handful right before he picked up the sledgehammer. The wall he was digging next to was safe. An engineer had evaluated it only a day before. James dug too close to the wall, and it caved in on him.”
“How did you find this out?” Callaway asked.
“I tracked down one of his buddies from work. He was torn up about what happened. Apparently, he was helping James get the painkillers. No doctor would prescribe someone that many pills a day, but with his buddy’s help, James got all the meds he wanted. The buddy had warned James to get help, but James was a sweet talker, like me. He convinced his buddy that it was only for a short period, until his back healed up. James’s back had healed up months earlier. I saw the doctor’s reports. He was just not strong enough to stop using painkillers.”
“The Occupational Safety and Health Administration made no mention of the painkillers in their findings,” Callaway said, aware of some of the details, thanks to Becky. “They did, however, mention the marijuana.”
“Right after the accident, the buddy realized the investigators would start digging into the prescription medication and how James was able to get so many pills. The buddy was afraid he’d get in trouble for supplying him the drugs. He was able to remove the bottle of pills from his lunch pail. Also, James was not getting the painkillers under his name but under the buddy’s, so it didn’t raise any red flags. And as for the pot, like I said before, James was reckless. Some of the guys used to smoke it before their shift, including his buddy, and James would join them. When the government investigators questioned the buddy about it, he fessed up to the pot because it’s a misdemeanor, but he never told them about the painkillers, which would have been a federal offense.”
Callaway was silent.
Jimmy continued. “Becky and Sara have no idea. They think James was squeaky clean, and I don’t have the heart to tell them otherwise. And why would I? I was never there to guide my son in the right direction. Heck, I might have made him worse, like I did with you.”
“I wasn’t good to begin with,” Callaway said.
“You weren’t bad, either. You were lost when you came to me, and I could have molded you right, but instead I gave you all my bad traits, and for that I’m really sorry, Lee.”
Callaway just stared at him. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. I wasn’t some fresh-faced kid. I was married, and I had a kid of my own. I knew what I was doing when I knocked on your door.”
“All I have to say is that our actions have consequences,” Jimmy said.
“But that’s not what happened with Becky,” Callaway said. “She killed Dillon Scott, but you‘re not letting her actions have consequences.”
Jimmy’s face turned dark. “You can’t tell anyone what she told you.”
“It was self-defense,” Callaway said. “They’ll show her leniency once they know the details about what happened.”
“She killed someone…”
“But it was—”
&n
bsp; “She can’t go to jail!” Jimmy roared. “She’s still young. You know what happens to people with a murder conviction, don’t you? It stays on their record for a long time. If they’re lucky, maybe it can be expunged, but until then, you’re known as a person who killed another human being. Becky can’t be that person. She just can’t. No employer will hire her. No one will want to work with her. No one will give her a loan or want to do business with her. Murder can’t be ignored. Its stench follows you forever.”
“She never meant to hurt Scott,” Callaway insisted.
“Even then, I don’t want her going through a trial, the scrutiny, all of it. Let me take the fall. I’m old. I’ve lived my life. She still has a future. Let me make it up for all the mistakes I’ve made in my life.”
Callaway felt like someone was hammering nails in his head. He winced as pain shot through his brain.
“I’m begging you, kid,” Jimmy pleaded. “If you care even a little bit about me, then forget what she told you. Prison is nothing for the damage I’ve caused. I ignored my only son. I let him grow up without a father. I deserve a fate far worse than this. He’s not here to protect his daughter, so I will. Walk away and forget about me. I…”
Callaway’s ears began to ring. He could no longer hear what Jimmy was saying. So many emotions were raging through him, he felt like his head was about to explode.
He wanted to scream and make the pain go away, but he couldn’t.
He got up and left.
EIGHTY-SIX
Fisher sat on a bench that faced Milton Harbor. There were two other benches, and they were both occupied. It was midafternoon, and people were eating their lunches while enjoying the stillness of the water. A hot dog stand was not far from her, and the smell made her mouth water. But Fisher was not here to get a bite to eat or soak in the view.
At the Milton PD, she had received a call. The caller did not give her name, but she urged Fisher to meet at this location. She said she had information on Dillon Scott, and she wanted to share it with Fisher.
The Falling Girl (A Private Investigator Mystery Series of Crime and Suspense, Lee Callaway #3) Page 19