by Christa Wick
Steele nodded in my direction. "Miss Miller."
"Detective Steele." I nodded back. I smiled a little too hard, slightly intimidated by the detective so loved in a neighborhood that had all but kicked me out at the beginning of the week.
Delta drove forward and Craig followed behind her until we reached the Epps' home. Within ten seconds of the cars' stopping in front of the house, Claire was out on her front porch. She saw Delta first and raised a hand in greeting.
Then Claire's gaze fell on me and the woman's face hardened to stone.
Delta was already walking across the lawn, one hand open loosely at her side and the other extending towards Claire. Eyes still glued on me, Claire let Delta shake her hand for a second before pulling back. Words, too low for me to hear, were exchanged between the two women and then Claire nodded slightly and Delta motioned to Craig that it was okay to approach.
I looked beyond Claire for a moment to see Vivian through the front door's screen. I studied the girl's face for a second, wondering if she had any direct knowledge surrounding her father's death.
"What does she want?" Claire asked.
"Do you have your husband's phone?" My gaze returned to Vivian as I answered.
"What, Dante want his property back?"
The edge to Claire's voice could have cut flesh and I raised a hand to my cheek for an instant in memory of Monday's slap.
"No, Mrs. Epps. It's just that it hasn't been found yet. Is it possible Ray forgot it at home that day?"
"No -- I called him on the site around four."
"And there's no way he came home before..." I trailed off as the anger in Claire Epps' gaze flared.
"Dante wants to know where the phone is, maybe he should ask Alex. Seems to me, if anyone had it after Ray, it would have been his killer."
I looked briefly at Craig. Taking the cue, he quietly cut in. "Was Alex here after work on Friday or on the weekend?"
Claire offered him a withering look that translated as a definite "hell, no." Good. I wanted to establish that Alex couldn't have possibly brought the phone back to the neighborhood.
Delta took the thread and strung it out a little further. "It's just that the phone has been used since Friday -- from somewhere in the neighborhood."
Delta's head came up, her gaze traveling a circuit around the neighboring homes. I looked where she was glancing and noticed the flutter of curtains and shades from the houses around us.
Delta nodded at the Epps' front door. "Could we discuss this inside?"
Claire Epps folded her arms across her chest. "You think one of us has his phone?"
Her angry stare skipped from Delta, to Craig and then to me, where it stayed.
I suppressed the urge to look at Vivian again. I couldn't read the girl's face behind the screen, anyway. "I think someone who knew Ray has the phone."
"I think you're right. Like I said, ask Alex!"
"Momma," Vivian cracked the screen door but stayed in the shadows of the house's interior. "Let them come in."
Claire's lips thinned and then she spun on her heels, marching into the house without a word. Vivian held the door open for us. We stepped inside to find Claire with a cordless house phone in her hand. Finished dialing, she hit the speaker button and then showed them the phone's display. She had dialed Ray's cell phone number.
"What do you hear?"
"It's not that simple--"
"Then educate me, Miss Miller. I haven't spent my life chumming up with killers."
Before I could say anything, there was a knock on the screen to the front door. I stepped aside so that Claire could see who it was.
Claire made a shooing motion at the door. "Now's not a good time, Sammy."
"I...uh...think I left my uncle Joe's keys here, Mrs. Epps."
I turned to look at the speaker. Early twenties, he was about five-foot-ten and lean, with medium ash brown hair long enough to brush his shoulders. Above his frayed jeans, he was wearing a shirt and denim jacket, both with their sleeves cut off. Gold rimmed sunglasses hid his eyes.
More than that, I noticed he was white -- just like the killer.
"We can wait while he looks for his keys," I said, cutting a glance in Delta's direction.
"My daddy would have tanned my hide if I lost his keys." Playing along, Delta smiled at the kid. "What kind of car does your uncle have?"
"A beater," Vivian said dismissively as she opened the screen door to let Sammy in.
Stepping inside, Sammy slowed as he saw Craig and mistakenly made him for more than just a retired cop. He half turned back to the door and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. Craig took one side step towards the couch.
"Think you lost them here?" He said and lifted a cushion.
"I...uh..." The kid shook his head and then shrugged. "Maybe."
He looked to Vivian for a second and then flushed red.
I could see his hands twisting in his pockets. He was fiddling with something. Whatever it was, it looked too small to be a gun. I hoped it wasn't a knife, but the soft click-click as he continued handling it didn't comfort me. I needed him preoccupied. "When did you lose them?"
"Last night." He took another step closer to the door.
Craig took a step towards him but I raised my hand. I gestured at the room and the kitchen beyond. "It helps to retrace your steps. Where were you?"
"He just helped me carry groceries from the car to the kitchen," Vivian answered. "Wasn't here long enough to lose any keys."
I realized that the girl hadn't looked at Sammy since he entered. "So, just in and right back out?"
The conversation was stretching Claire's patience beyond its limits. "What's it matter? It's just a damn set of keys. Come back later, Sammy."
Diamond looked ready to pounce on the kid before he could reach the door. "I think--"
I spoke over Craig. "Mrs. Epps is right."
I followed Sammy towards the door, my hand dipping into my pocket as I strained my memory for the number Davies had given me that morning.
1-6-1-2-4-8-1-7-9...
I paused, waiting until Sammy was out on the lawn and Craig was at the front door ready to chase him down.
6.
A muffled ringtone sounded and Sammy's hand jumped out of his pocket. He crammed it back in a second later.
"Go." I breathed the word into Craig's ear and he was out the door in a flash. For all her big girl size, Delta was close on his heels.
Sammy started to run. At the edge of the lawn, Craig caught him by the neck of his jacket. Sammy twisted, freeing an arm before Delta took out his legs and knocked him onto his back. He tried to roll, his other arm coming free from the jacket. Tossing the jacket on the ground, Craig threw his arm around Sammy's neck and got the boy in a head lock.
Claire pushed past me and started yelling at Craig to let Sammy go. "What the hell are you doing!"
Delta raised a hand signaling Claire to hold back. Leaving Craig sitting on Sammy, she scooped the jacket up and fished two cell phones from the pockets. One was a cheap throw-away. The other was a Nextel Direct Connect.
"Mrs. Epps, do you recognize either of these phones?"
When Claire didn't say anything, Delta flipped the phones. On the back of the Direct Connect was a small Daffy Duck sticker.
Claire's face started to crack.
"That's daddy's!" Vivian came out of the house.
Sammy stilled. Craig loosened his grip around the boy's head. Sammy took a long, shuddering breath. "It was in the house. I found it Sunday when I came by."
Claire took an unsteady step towards Sammy. Her voice was low, filled with an ambiguous disbelief, as if she was starting to doubt her memory of Friday's events. "Ray had the phone with him, Sammy. It couldn't have been in the house. I called him at the site."
Sammy looked to Vivian, who was standing a few feet behind her mother. "Maybe Alex brought it back."
Understanding flashed across Claire's face and she spun around to face her daughter. "Did t
hat boy bring your father's phone into this house?"
Vivian shook her head slowly. "I haven't seen Alex since Thursday, momma."
"She snuck out." Sammy spit out the accusation. "Maybe he gave it to her then."
Vivian stared stone faced at Sammy, refusing to look at her mother. Claire crossed the short distance and grabbed Vivian by the shoulders. "You tell me the truth, did you sneak out to see that boy?"
The fight with Alex and Ray's death had become twisted into an unbreakable chain of cause and effect in Claire's mind. She was willing to believe her daughter was lying to her and that Sammy was telling the truth because she could no longer imagine anyone other than Alex killing her husband. She repeated the question, starting to shake Vivian.
"Ma'am, you can't put hands on her like that." Delta stepped in and separated mother from daughter. Pocketing both of the cell phones she'd taken from Sammy, she pulled out her own. "We're going to have to take this down to the station."
Chapter Fifteen
It was a fight getting to the station house and all hell broke loose at our arrival. Not wanting to arrest him outright and risk him invoking his right to counsel, Delta had to cajole Sammy into riding with her. Claire hit the roof when Vivian, hurt and furious at her mother's accusation, got in Craig's car. Somewhere on the drive to the station, Claire called Hicks, who was waiting in the squad room with the head of the homicide squad when Delta walked in with Sammy.
"This is total bullshit!" Hicks jabbed a finger in my direction. "Serrano's using his money to railroad this kid!"
Delta attempted to calmly explain how she'd been in the neighborhood doing community outreach.
"Fucking bullshit!" Hicks got up in Delta's face, his spit flecking her pale skin. "You were there working my case!"
"Someone has to!" Delta sniped.
Leaving them to argue, I pulled out my cell phone, activated the recorder and walked over to where Davies was riding the storm out at his desk. I leaned over the desk, my back to everyone else. Addressing Davies, I kept my voice low.
"You're a good cop, you want to do the right thing, but you're stuck with an asshole partner." I paused, watching Davies' face flush a bright red. I knew I was in dangerous territory. Most of the cops I had met were closer than family to their partners. They might hate one another, think the other was lazy or even slightly crooked, but they were always ready to kick anyone's ass for so much as looking cross-eyed at their partner. Because, when the bullets started flying out on the streets, their partner would be the only one who had their back.
I lifted a brow at Davies. "You remember that car outside the shelter when you picked up the jacket, the one with the damaged fender you and Hicks stopped to look at? It was mine."
Seeing Davies pale a little, I pushed ahead. "The two of you were talking about his mother-in-law, where she used to live..."
I pressed the playback button on my phone and "...where she used to live," repeated. I hit the stop button and tilted my head at him. "Then you started talking about...what...dinner? Dark meat, I think."
Another shade paler, Davies looked beyond my shoulder. Hicks was still ranting about Sammy being railroaded and Claire Epps was starting to look like the senior detective was reading the gospel instead of trying to cover his ass. Davies stood, shot me a dirty look and then sidled up next to his boss. He leaned in, whispering in the man's ear.
I had no idea what Davies was saying to the Chief of Detectives, but since the man didn't turn and try to stare me down, I assumed Davies was merely being the voice of reason -- however reluctant.
The Chief nodded, his voice brusque as he pointed to Sammy and Vivian. "Mister Pikes in Room A, Miss Epps in B." Then he turned to Delta. "Steele, get the fuck out of here. You have your own cases to work!"
I let out the breath I had been holding in. Both Sammy and Vivian would be interrogated. It was a start.
Davies motioned to Vivian to follow him while Hicks clapped Sammy on the shoulder.
"C'mon, son. We're just gonna talk for a bit."
Leaving, Delta tossed a smirk in Hicks' direction as she passed me. "One guess who's playing good cop in that interrogation."
I shot a quick smile at her, hoping Delta wouldn't earn too much grief for having helped us out today.
When he returned from settling Sammy Pikes in the interview room, Hicks wanted everyone who didn't still work for the Masonville P.D. out of the squad room except for Claire.
"No." Claire stood with her arms crossed. She nodded in my direction and then at Craig. "They need to know Sammy isn't the one who killed my Ray!" She stopped holding herself long enough to shake a fist in the air. "They'll just keep after that boy, drag his name through the mud at Alex's trial...they have to see this."
Hicks looked ready to argue but Davies ushered Claire, Craig and me into a corner cubicle and turned an ancient and small black and white TV on. The screen showed Vivian sitting stiff backed and staring straight up at the camera in interview room B. Davies turned a knob on the TV to show Sammy leaning over the interview table in room A with his head in his hands.
Hicks relented. "Fine, let's do the girl first."
Davies dug into his pocket and pulled out a quarter.
"Oh, come on..." He looked ready to remind Davies who was senior on the team, even if he had to do it in front of a bunch of civilians.
When Davies tossed the coin, Hicks' face purpled but he blurted out "Tails" at the last second.
Davies smiled. "Heads."
Shooting a hard look at his partner, Hicks pulled a chair in front of the TV for Claire to sit in and then he and Davies headed into room A. I stood next to Craig, both of us leaning on a window sill as a few of the squad's other detectives trickled into the cubicle.
Leaning across Claire, the only female cop in the small space turned the volume up. Hicks was talking to Sammy, telling him to just run through how he had found the phone and why he took it.
"This is just petty theft, kid," Hicks assured him. "No pressure, just tell your story."
I pulled a pad of paper out of my bag. If the kid didn't crack, I would need to tell Malkin every detail I could remember for when he questioned Sammy at Alex's trial. Sammy would trip up somewhere between what he said today and what he would say at trial -- at least he would if he was the killer.
"Start with where you found it," Davies prodded.
Sammy kept his head in his hands, looking down at the table. "In the house, like I said."
Davies knocked on the table then motioned for Sammy to make eye contact when the kid finally looked up. "Where in the house?"
Sammy started to shrug. Hicks interrupted him. "Someplace you weren't supposed to be in the house?"
Silence, and then he nodded. "Viv's room."
Claire stiffened at the response. I scrawled a question on my pad. Does Vivian let Sammy into her room? Given Vivian's attitude towards the boy, I doubted he'd been allowed into her inner sanctum in recent memory.
Davies confirmed my suspicion a second later. "Was Miss Epps in the room with you?"
Sammy shook his head.
"That a no?" Davies asked.
"No. I went down the hall to use the toilet and her door was open."
"Okay," Hicks smiled and patted Sammy's arm. "When was this?"
Someone knocked on the interview door. Davies got up and cracked the door open. When he sat back down, he had about a dozen pages of paper in his hand. I assumed the papers were filled with Sammy's arrest record.
Reading the rap sheet, Davies repeated his partner's question. "Come on, when was it?"
Hicks helped the kid out. "Before Alex got arrested Sunday night, right?"
"Yeah, Sunday." Sammy absently scratched at his arms.
I made a note and showed it to Craig.
If he found Ray's phone Sunday, why did he buy the pre-paid Saturday?
Davies pulled out his cell phone, poked at the screen and a few seconds later my phone buzzed with a text message.
Truc
k pic
I dug through my bag and pulled out a copy of the photo from the liquor store. As I started to hand it off to one of the detectives standing in the viewing cubicle, Claire snatched it away.
I took another screenshot out from the liquor store, the one with the best view of the car and showed it to Claire. "Is this his uncle's car?"
Hands shaking as she handed the first photo over to the cop, Claire shrugged and turned back to the screen. I shot a look at Craig, who gave me a faint nod. He could feel it, too. The tide was slowly starting to turn. Davies was doing his job and doubt had crept into Claire's posture.
In the interrogation room, Davies got up and answered the door again, this time tossing the photo onto the table.
Sammy glanced at the picture and then stared at the wall.
Davies sat back down, leaving the photo on the table. "So, tell me again, where you found the phone?"
Sammy's scratching intensified. "In Viv's room."
Davies circled something on the sheet of papers. "When you found the phone Saturday, were you using?"
Sammy shook his head.
Hicks shifted in his seat and then rapped his knuckles on the table. "Sunday, kid. Were you using anything when you found the phone on Sunday?"
"Right...Sunday. No." Sammy glanced back down at the picture, one hand reaching for it before he suddenly crammed both hands in his lap.
"Using Friday?" Davies asked. When Sammy shook his head again, Davies tossed the stack of papers onto the table. He pointed at several spots on the top sheet. "Pot, paraphernalia, residue...you really expect me to believe you went three days without using?"
Sammy buried his face in his hands.
Davies got up, walked around the table and leaned over the kid. He inhaled deeply and spit the air out in a rough cough. He lifted one of Sammy's hands and rubbed at the finger tips. "Fuck, are you going to lie and say you haven't been on the pipe today?"
Hicks rubbed at his face and picked up the photo and rap sheet. "This is starting to look bad, kid. Why'd you take the phone?"
Sammy clutched his stomach. "I wanted some pics off it."