by Dani Pettrey
“I guess, if you want to get technical, yes. We were friends.”
“Friends that were sexually involved?”
“Yes.”
“So your friend, sleeping with another guy while she’s bedding you, didn’t bother you?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“So it did bother you?”
“I wasn’t happy about it.”
“I imagine not. Did you tell her you weren’t happy about it? Was that what caused the breakup?”
“I told you. We didn’t break up.”
“Okay, is that why you hadn’t hung out for a while?”
“Yes.”
“When she texted you tonight, did you think she wanted to start hanging out again?”
“Maybe.” Reef scuffed the toe of his boot against the tile floor.
“But Karli wasn’t serious about it, at least not serious enough to end her liaison with Rick Masterson. That’s what you fought over—right?”
Reef remained silent.
Landon stood, striding as he spoke. “You probably said some things you regretted, you went back to talk with her, it didn’t go well, you argued, one thing led to another, and . . .”
Reef slammed his palms on the table. “I didn’t kill her!”
4
Landon left the interrogation room and moved into the viewing stall where Slidell and the rest of the deputies on duty had been watching.
Slidell cocked a brow.
Landon sighed. “The evidence points overwhelmingly to Reef, but . . .” A few things nagged at him.
“But nothing,” Slidell said. “The evidence points to him. All of it. Two eyewitnesses put him there with the murder weapon in hand. He admitted he and Karli fought earlier. He had means, motive, and opportunity. Reef’s our guy.”
“But that’s just it. He admitted they fought. If he were guilty, why would he incriminate himself like that?” It didn’t make sense.
“Guilty conscience.”
“Then why not admit to the crime?”
“Penalty would be too steep.”
“Perhaps, but . . .”
“Enough buts. It’s as clear as day. Karli said something that pushed Reef over the edge, and he killed her. Heat of the moment. It happens.”
“It couldn’t have been heat of the moment.”
“Why not?”
“He had the knife. That shows premeditation.”
“So he got mad, went for the knife, came back and killed her. It’s happened a thousand times before. Come on, Grainger; get your head in the game. If this is going to be a conflict of interest, I need to know now.”
“It won’t be.” He was simply being thorough. Examining every aspect of what they currently knew—weighing it against the evidence.
“All right, then—let’s get this wrapped up.”
“I don’t think we can expect to have anything wrapped up so soon.” There was still a lot of work to be done.
“We’ve got the killer, and the evidence to prove it. Let’s move forward. After last summer’s rash of murders, townsfolk need to see swift action, and I intend to give it to them.”
He studied his boss. “This rush wouldn’t have anything to do with your upcoming election?” An open-and-shut case would certainly boost his chances.
“This rush, as you call it,” Slidell said, his face threateningly close to Landon’s, “is to see a murdered woman’s killer behind bars. To let the people of Yancey know they’re safe. So book him.”
“Without looking at any other suspects?”
“There aren’t any other suspects. He did it. Witnesses saw him.”
“They didn’t actually see him kill her.”
“No they didn’t see him slit her throat, but we know he did. Based on the overwhelming evidence, it would be irresponsible to hold off on charging him. We can’t put a killer back on the streets.”
“Of course not.”
“Glad you finally see it my way.” Slidell stalked from the room.
“Where are you going?”
“To book Reef McKenna for the murder of Karli Davis.”
“But there’s still work to be done, trace evidence to analyze, people to interview. . . .”
“You go right along working it, but I guarantee all you’re going to find are more nails to seal that boy’s coffin.”
Landon stood in the doorway as Slidell informed Reef he was being charged with Karli’s murder.
Reef’s eyes filled with tears and disbelief as he struggled to his feet. He gaped at Landon. “I didn’t do this. You know I’m not capable of something like this.”
“Then the evidence will show it, Reef.”
Deputy David Thoreau grasped Reef by the arm at Slidell’s bidding. “Let’s go, McKenna.”
“You know me.” Reef hollered at Landon as Thoreau hauled him from the room and down the hall toward the cells. “I didn’t do this! I didn’t do it!”
Landon stood there, his heart hammering in his throat. How would he tell Cole—and worse yet, Piper?
He entered the station lobby and found the McKenna siblings waiting with expectant eyes, a mixture of hope and fear clouding their vision.
Piper was first to her feet. She took one look at Landon and sucked in a sharp intake of breath.
“I’m sorry.” He swallowed—the reflex feeling like shards of glass scraping along his raw throat. “Reef has been charged with the murder of Karli Davis.”
“He couldn’t have done this. I mean, he’s the kid who bawled his eyes out when Old Man Cleary’s dog got run over. He couldn’t hurt someone like that. He doesn’t have it in him.”
“The evidence against him is strong.”
She stepped toward him, so close her fingertips brushed his. “Evidence can be wrong.”
This was going to break her heart, and it pained him to have any part in it. This was Piper. The woman he loved. The woman he wanted to protect above all others. But if Reef was guilty—if he’d murdered Karli Davis—helping Piper see the truth was protecting her. “Evidence is impartial.”
Her brow creased, and she stared up at him. “You actually believe he’s capable of murder?”
“As I said, the evidence against him . . . it’s overwhelming.” He involuntarily reached for her, aching to comfort her, to somehow fix this, but there was nothing he could do. Emotion had no role in an investigation. It couldn’t. He had to work solely by the evidence and not by what he wanted to be true. “I know this is difficult.” Boy, how he knew.
“Difficult?” Disbelief filled her beautiful eyes.
It was clear—she expected him to take Reef at his word, but he couldn’t. The evidence would prove Reef’s guilt or innocence, and right now it unfortunately pointed strikingly to his guilt, as much as Landon wished otherwise.
“What happens now?” Kayden asked.
“Since Reef’s been formally charged, there will be an arraignment. Possibly tomorrow, more likely the day after. Give people time to get here.” Being situated along the southern tip of the Kodiak archipelago, Tariuk Island and its only town, Yancey, took time to reach. The D.A. or one of his assistants would need to fly down from Anchorage to Kodiak Island and then grab the ferry to Yancey.
“Arraignment,” Cole said, raking a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
His fiancée, Bailey, wrapped her arm around his waist, and he clutched her to him.
“That’s it?” Piper asked. “No looking for other suspects? The investigation is over?”
“I’ll continue to pursue the case, of course. There’s still work to be done.” Just as he’d explained to Slidell, though he feared his boss was right—that all he’d find were more reasons to put Reef away.
“If there’s still work to be done, then why did you arrest him?” Kayden asked.
“The evidence was strong enough to warrant the arrest, and Slidell—”
“Of course,” Piper said on an exhale. “Slidell’s bid for reelection is ri
ght around the corner, He wants an open-and-shut case.”
Landon sighed. Her discernment was impeccable. “I’m not Slidell. I’ll work the case to completion.”
“Good.” She linked her arms across her chest. “Then you’ll find Reef’s innocent.”
“I hope so.” He truly did, but it sure didn’t look good.
Landon exited the station shortly after the McKennas left. Or as it turned out, all had left but Cole.
He stood leaning against the grille of Landon’s truck, his breath a white vapor in the streetlight-lit night air. He straightened at Landon’s approach.
“I thought you were heading home?”
“I wanted to speak with you, alone.”
Landon’s step hitched. “All right.”
“I know you said there’s still work to be done, but . . .” Cole swiped a shaky hand over his head. “You spoke with Reef.” He looked Landon dead in the eye. “You think he did it, don’t you?”
“I never said that.”
Cole slumped against the truck bed. “You didn’t have to.”
“What I think doesn’t matter. The evidence does, and you have my word that I’ll work this case to completion.” He wouldn’t presume and rest on initial evidence like Slidell. He’d dig deeper. But in the end, he feared the result would be the same. If Reef killed Karli, what he found would only confirm the preliminary evidence.
Cole shook his head. “Things haven’t always been good between me and Reef. Actually, things have never been good, but I never thought . . . never imagined . . .” He put a hand to his forehead. “I’m a terrible brother for even entertaining the idea, however remotely, that Reef could be guilty. For not jumping to his adamant defense, like Piper.”
“You’re a great brother. You’re just being realistic and protective.”
“Am I?”
“Yes. As head of the family it’s your job to protect them.”
“So I should be protecting Reef, not doubting him.”
“What if you are protecting the rest of your siblings from Reef?”
5
Landon climbed from his truck and headed for the Trailside Lodge entrance, the brisk December wind biting his cheeks. The lodge was wrapped in an eerie silence, and other than the deputy posted at the front entrance, there was nothing to suggest a murder had occurred. Clear twinkling lights adorned the handful of trees lining the front of the property. Against a still-dark sky that held the promise of snow, they glistened like tiny stars.
Taking a steadying breath, he stepped past Deputy Earl Hansen into the lodge and headed directly for the stairwell and up to the murder scene.
Deputy Jim Vaughn sat on a folding chair posted outside the changing-room door.
“Anyone been in here since Booth removed the body?” he asked.
“No, sir. Everyone followed your orders.”
“Thanks, Jim.”
“Let me know if you need any assistance.”
He liked Jim. Always willing to help. Exactly the kind of man he liked to have serving beside him. “Will do.”
Slipping his booties on, Landon stepped through the door. He pulled on his gloves and carefully surveyed the room. Four toilet stalls, three showers. A handful of sinks and a row of lockers with a long wooden bench stretched in front. Tile covered the area from the showers to the sinks with thick rubber matting covering the rest. Tape outlined the exact position of Karli’s body on the tile—smack in the center of the showers and sinks, just beyond the lockers.
Landon stared back at the door, the only door in and out, replaying Reef’s version of events in his mind. If Reef was telling the truth, there was no way the person who killed her could have exited without him seeing.
Even with the shock of finding Karli’s body, even if trying to tend to her distracted him, surely he would have seen movement, heard someone exiting the room. The only way Reef’s story could be true was if the killer had hidden until Reef and the witnesses left the room.
Landon walked the periphery, studying the possible options—the maintenance closet was small, but there was room enough for a person to hide. The showers, toilet stalls, and even a few of the larger ceiling-to-floor lockers were all possibilities, so to be thorough, Landon would see that full fingerprint and trace evidence analysis were run on each and every one of them, despite Slidell’s opposition. “Waste of taxpayers’ money.” He could practically hear the rant now. But none of that mattered. Finding the truth did.
Since they were dealing with a public facility, only evidence of a male’s presence would raise any suspicion, and even then explanations existed. Crazy things were known to happen in a room mere steps from a rooftop Jacuzzi. The chances of finding anything of use or significance was a long shot, but the victim and the McKennas deserved no less. In the search for truth, even the improbable deserved attention.
Precision, adherence to rule, and lack of emotional entanglement were the keys to an effective investigation. He couldn’t allow his feelings for the McKennas to interfere with the investigation. Otherwise he’d be doing Karli Davis a horrid disservice, not to mention Reef’s own family. He hated the pain Reef’s actions, if guilty, would cause the McKennas, but it was far better for them to know the truth than to continue believing a lie. And if Reef was a killer, he truly belonged behind bars.
Landon sank down on his haunches beside the tape outline. Karli had been found in her swimsuit, a terry towel bunched on the ground a few feet away.
Had she been in the process of changing when the killer surprised her? During interrogation, Reef had specifically said he tried to wipe up the blood. Had he used the towel to do so? What had his plan been? How had he thought he’d get away with it?
Landon tried to envision a potential sequence of events.
Reef and Karli fought. Reef left in anger. Perhaps rather than returning to his room as he’d claimed, he’d gone in search of a weapon, something to scare Karli with, something with which to finally exert some control over her. Knife in hand, he’d caught her off guard in the changing room. They fought some more, things turned from bad to worse, and he’d killed her.
Landon shook his head with an exhale. Reef had had past run-ins with the law, but so did a lot of angry teens. Did a reckless youth equate with a criminal adult?
Sadly, it often did—but murder? Despite Reef’s disrespectful treatment of his family at times, and his irresponsible lifestyle in general, Landon would never have pegged him for a potential killer. But he’d been deceived before. By his own father. That trial taught him a hard-and-fast rule—people lie; evidence doesn’t. And that was precisely how he had to work the case—by the evidence.
He stood, mentally working back through the timeline.
Reef had left Cole and Bailey’s engagement party shortly after 10:00.
Reef’s cell showed receipt of a text from Karli at 10:26.
Reef replied at 10:28 that he’d be right up.
Ashley Clark and Tug Williams told Thoreau that they’d been in the hot tub with Reef and Karli from approximately 10:45 to shortly after 11:00.
Reef claimed to have left after he and Karli “disagreed” but that he returned approximately fifteen minutes later, immediately heard Karli’s shout, and rushing in, found her dead in the locker room.
Ashley and Tug then discovered Reef with Karli’s body shortly after midnight.
Ashley’s call to 9-1-1 at 12:05 corresponded perfectly with the timeline. As did the medical examiner’s initial estimated time of death being placed between 11:00 and midnight.
Reef was found with the victim, covered in her blood, and as of yet, there was nothing to suggest anyone else had been present. For somebody else to have killed Karli, they would’ve had to have done it during the fifteen or so minutes Reef was gone. Then the killer would have had to escape before Reef arrived—but that was unlikely since Reef claimed to have heard Karli’s scream and sounds of movement—or while Reef, who’d been less than fifteen feet from the only door in and out,
was in the changing room.
If Reef hadn’t killed Karli, he’d played right into the killer’s hands, because Landon had never seen such overwhelming evidence in a murder case, other than when someone was caught in the act of the actual murder.
Deputy Vaughn cleared his throat from the doorway. “We’ve got a situation.”
Landon arched his brows.
“Seems someone broke into Reef’s room.”
“What?”
Landon followed Vaughn down a flight and along the corridor to where he found Piper wedged between Deputy Thoreau and the door to Reef’s room.
“Caught her red-handed,” Thoreau said.
“Yeah, you got me. Came for my brother’s things. Cuff me now.” She held out her hands.
“That won’t be necessary.” Landon stepped forward and signaled Thoreau to ease off.
“I tried explaining nothing could leave the room, but she won’t listen.”
Amazing how vexing a five-foot-four woman could be.
“Thanks, David. I’ll take it from here.”
Thoreau held up his hands. “She’s all yours.”
Piper planted her hands on her hips as Thoreau stalked down the hall. “And I suppose you’re going to tell me the same thing?”
Landon looked up and down the hall to be sure all the other doors were shut tight, that they hadn’t gained an audience. He pulled her inside Reef’s room and shut the door behind them. “What are you doing here?”
“I came for Reef’s stuff.”
“That’s thoughtful of you, but he can’t wear street clothes in jail.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re going to make him wear one of those awful orange jumpsuits?”
“I’m not making him—those are the rules.”
“Okay. Fine. Then I’ll take his things and keep them at the house for when he comes home.”
He lightly grabbed her arm as she started to walk over to Reef’s belongings.
She froze at his touch and looked up at him. How was it possible for her to look so amazingly strong yet so vulnerable at the same time? He ached for nothing more than to tug her into his arms, to comfort and protect her in his embrace. She looked exhausted. “Why aren’t you home in bed?” The day ahead would prove one of the most difficult she’d faced.