“Unfortunately, we can’t find out anything about the police investigation online and they’re not about to tell us if we go asking.” He hated to ask her but he knew he had to. “Do you think your friend Finn would be able to help?”
Kat shook her head vehemently. “No. No way.”
He didn’t understand what was going on between the two of them but this was more important. “Kat, we need his help. If he asks for the files, they’ll let him see them. We need to see what investigations were carried out at the time.”
“Two problems with that. One, how do you know he’ll even help and two, even if he can get the files, why would he let us see them?”
“We don’t know he’ll help but we’ll never know if we don’t ask. This is important, Kat, so whatever the issue is between you two, you need to put it to one side for now.” He watched her face as she listened to him and he could see that she was torn. Finally, she nodded.
“Okay, I’ll contact him. But I can’t make any promises, Kyle.”
Forty-Seven
Finn sat back in his chair in shock. He didn’t know what he’d expected but it hadn’t been this. He’d been sure that it would take weeks of looking, if he even found him at all, but the information displayed on his computer screen proved him wrong.
He’d started with the easiest search, simply putting in the surname of the adoptive family and the last known address into the police database to see if it held any information. Immediately, it had thrown up an arrest record for a Wayne Driscoll, age fifty-nine, at an address that matched the one scribbled on his piece of paper. It had to be his son’s adoptive father. It had been a domestic violence arrest, one of many going back years. Scrolling through the records, Finn was shocked to see a pattern of abuse emerge that dated right back to a couple of years after they’d adopted Drake.
There was no mention of Drake in any of the reports, which was a relief but it made him incredibly angry that he’d had to grow up in that kind of environment. The question was, now that he had the information, what was he going to do with it?
He didn’t have time to ponder the question long as his cell picked that moment to start buzzing in his pocket. Pulling it out, one glance at the screen told him it was Kat. He was still angry with her but he felt guilty, too, about what he was doing and he debated whether to ignore her call but, with everything that had been going on with her brother, he couldn’t. He was the chief of police, after all, and it could be important.
“Hi, Kat,” he answered, spinning his chair round to face the window so he didn’t have to look at the computer screen.
“Hi, Finn. I heard you were away for a few days. Are you back now?”
“Yep, got back just a couple of hours ago, actually.”
“Listen, I need to talk to you. Do you think we could meet for coffee?” There was a pause. “It’s important.”
“More important than the fact that you’ve been hiding your prison escapee brother and had a friend go undercover into the prison he escaped from, you mean?” He hadn’t meant to let his anger get the better of him, and he could tell from the silence at the other end of the phone that he’d caught her off guard.
“You know, then? Of course you do, silly question.” He heard her sigh. “I was going to talk to you about that as well. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what was going on but I had a good reason, I promise you. So, can we meet?”
He wanted to say no, tell her that he was pissed that she’d lied to him. And he was, but it was hard to be too judgemental about it when he was keeping something as important as the whereabouts of her son from her. “Okay. I’ve got some paperwork to catch up on here so how about we meet at my place this afternoon. About three p.m. work?”
After arranging the time, Finn turned back to his computer and the information displayed there.
His son had clearly grown up with adoptive parents who had a toxic relationship. Who knew what kind of effect that had had on him? He could be happy and settled with a family of his own or it could have damaged him, damaged his life. The only way to find out was to see what kind of a man his son was for himself.
He briefly considered telling Kat what he was doing when they met up later but quickly dismissed the idea. She had a lot on her plate right now and she’d never given him any indication that she had any desire to find him. Unlike him, she’d had years to come to terms with it; he’d only had a matter of months. Maybe she’d decided that she didn’t want to know and if he told her what he was doing it would re-open all her old wounds. No, for now this was one thing that should remain a secret.
Forty-Eight
Kat put the phone down thoughtfully. She’d gone into her father’s old study at the back of the house to make the call, wanting the privacy it afforded. She sat there now, looking around the room. It had changed considerably since she’d been in it as a child, Jake and Jamie’s father having put his own stamp on it. She’d discussed remodeling it with Jamie and she’d agreed, but it was just something they hadn’t got around to doing yet. Now, though, she felt enveloped by the elegant and peaceful surroundings and wondered if, actually, they should leave it as it was.
She should have known that Finn would already have heard about everything, but she’d hoped that he was still away and that she’d be able to tell him herself. She didn’t blame him for being pissed, but hopefully when she explained her reasons, he would understand.
She should go and find Kyle and tell him about the conversation with Finn, but she wasn’t ready to give up the peace just yet. It felt like the first time in days that she had stopped and had any time to herself just to think. She knew that Callahan was angry at her. He’d made his feelings perfectly clear and she understood them. What she didn’t understand, though, was why that didn’t bother her more. She’d had the opportunity since yesterday to call him, to try and put things right, but she hadn’t. And yet the fact that Finn was mad at her bothered her intensely. She could feel it like a lead weight in her stomach, the need to speak to him, to make him understand, to make him forgive her.
She couldn’t go on like this. She needed to be honest with Finn once and for all. Tell him how she felt and hope for the best. If he didn’t feel the same way, at least she would know and she could try and close the door. Right now, there was still a sliver of hope that something might happen between them again and while that was still there, she couldn’t move on however much she wanted to.
She’d given him time, plenty of it, even watched him get involved with another woman. But they’d never actually talked about their feelings for each other, not since she’d told him about his son, and it was about time they did. It was just a question of finding the right time.
***
She wasn’t sure what kind of reception she was going to get as she pressed the doorbell on Finn’s front door. He’d made it clear he was angry with her, with very good reason, but she was hoping that he’d still agree to help them once she told him what they wanted to do.
“You on your own, no sidekick?” Finn asked as he opened the door.
Kat ignored the dig about Kyle and smiled apologetically. “I thought it would be best if I came on my own.”
“Go on into the kitchen,” he said, holding the door open.
“So, how was your trip?” Kat asked as he followed her into the room, trying to break the tension in the air.
“It was great. We’re not here to talk about my trip, though, are we, Kat?” Finn leaned against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at her through narrowed lids.
He wasn’t going to make this easy. “No. I’m sorry, Finn. I owe you an explanation.” She sighed. “Look, can we go and sit outside?”
He nodded and led the way, not saying a word.
“I know I lied to you, and I’m truly sorry, but I had no choice,” she said as she sat down. “You’re a police officer. If I had come to you and told you, you would have had no choice. You would have had to send Jake back to that place and I
couldn’t take that chance. They would have killed him.”
“You don’t think that if you would have told me what was going on I would have helped?” He sat forward in his chair, his elbows on his knees, looking her in the eyes.
Kat nodded. “I know you would. That’s another reason I couldn’t tell you. You would have been in a terrible position. You wouldn’t have been able to do what we’ve been able to do. Your hands would have been tied.”
She could see he was thinking this over. “Okay, I can understand your reasons,” he acknowledged. “but you’re an ex-cop, Kat. What on earth made you think running around like a bunch of cowboys was the right way to go? Have you any idea the kind of trouble you’re likely to be in?”
“I’ve a fairly good idea, yes.” And she was scared to death about what it would mean for her plans to adopt Daniel. “I guess it just seemed like the best alternative at the time. We weren’t planning for all this to happen. Our plan was simply to go in, get something on tape and come out and hand it over to the proper authorities. It just didn’t work out quite like that.”
Finn sighed. “To be honest, I’m surprised you haven’t been arrested, the pair of you. Thank your lucky stars they’ve got their hands full right now.”
“Actually, that sort of brings me to the reason I’m here.”
Finn shook his head emphatically. “No. If it’s anything to do with this case, no. I’ve already spoken to Callahan this morning and I know you’ve been told to stay away.” He took a deep breath. “I won’t help you get into any more trouble, Kat.”
“It’s nothing with this case. Well, not directly.” Finn was still shaking his head. “Let me explain, Finn, please?”
He looked at her and she met his gaze. It felt like they stayed like that for minutes, but it was just a few seconds before Finn nodded. “Okay, but I’m not promising anything.”
He sat quietly and listened without interrupting for the next few minutes as she told him everything they knew.
“Do you think he’s innocent, Kat?” Finn asked when she’d finished talking.
“I don’t honestly know what I think except this: I trust Kyle completely and I trust his judgment. If he says he’s innocent, I believe him.”
“Okay, I’ll get you the file, on one condition and it’s non-negotiable. I can’t stop you looking into this, especially as Kyle is a licensed P.I. and it sounds like you might be onto something but you have to promise me that if you find anything, you come to me.”
“I promise,” Kat readily agreed.
Finn checked his watch. “If I go now, I might be able to get you the file by early evening. I’m guessing you want it sooner rather than later?”
Kat smiled. “Yes, please, that would be great.”
“I thought so.” He stood up. “I’ll drop it over to the house later. And don’t forget, Kat, you come to me the minute you find anything.”
Forty-Nine
“Kat, do you remember that last case we worked together before I left?”
Something was wrong. Kat could tell by the way he was just sitting, staring at the contents of the file that Finn had given them. “Yes, of course I do. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.” She shook her head, trying to get the picture out of her mind. “No one was ever caught for that one.”
She knew because after Kyle had walked out of the job and she’d left homicide, she’d checked in occasionally to see if it had ever been solved. She was already an experienced officer by the time they’d attended that one but even she had been shocked by the level of violence the offender had shown. The victim, a girl of just seventeen, had been found by her older sister in the apartment they shared. She had been cut from her neck to her groin and her insides had been pulled out of her body, hanging out of the gaping wound.
The investigation had been thorough but they’d never found anything. No forensics, no witnesses. Nothing. The only thing that they’d found that may have been connected, though they’d never been able to prove it, was a solitary pearl they’d found in the hollow of her throat, just above where the incision had started. It had seemed odd sitting there, the beauty of it surrounded by the horror, but they’d been the only ones who’d questioned it. The victim made homemade jewelry to sell on eBay and everyone had agreed that it was just coincidence that it ended up there.
Their captain at the time had told them to move on once it was clear it wasn’t going to be solved quickly, and it was only a matter of weeks after that that they’d gone their separate ways.
Kat looked at him questioningly as he passed the file to her without a word. Flicking open the front cover, the first thing she saw was the crime scene photos showing Alex’s wife and her reaction to them was immediate. “My God, it’s the same. It’s exactly the same.” She picked the photos up and flicked through them one by one, growing more sure as she examined each picture closely. “It can’t be.” She looked at Kyle, hoping he’d tell her she was wrong. “It’s got to be a coincidence.”
“This isn’t your average murder, Kat. How often does this kind of scene come along?”
“I know, but our victim was in L.A. and that’s a good few hours away from this scene.” She knew it sounded lame as she said it. These days, geographical distance meant little with all the different ways people could travel.
“And who’s to say he stayed in L.A.? From then until this one, he could have traveled all over the U.S. Come on, Kat, you know I always thought this one was a serial.”
It was true. He had. She’d laughed about it at the time, telling him that he wanted it to be a serial killer because he wanted the glory that usually went with catching one, but she’d never really believed it herself.
“But there’s nothing in here about a pearl.” She flipped through the contents of the file. “Nothing like that was recovered at the scene, Kyle, and if it was the same guy he would have left one. Serials don’t change their signatures.”
“What if it just wasn’t found? Look,” he said, pointing to the summary sheet at the front of the file. “This was dealt with by a deputy on the local P.D. No homicide squad, no trained investigators like we had. It could easily have been missed, Kat.”
She had to admit he was right. She’d seen more than one investigation messed up because the people dealing with it just weren’t skilled enough for the task.
“Even if that were true, it doesn’t help us. It was a long time ago now.”
Kyle grinned. “Yes, but the house still belongs to Alex. I doubt much has changed. It’s got to be worth a look, Kat.”
Kat nodded. “Agreed. I’ll go and talk to Rose and see if we can set something up.”
Fifty
The house was exactly as Alex had described it to her, a two-story brick house with a wraparound porch out front. It was surrounded by lawn on all sides and, Kat noticed, the nearest neighbor was several hundred yards away. They’d left Brecon Point first thing that morning and had driven two hours to get there. Alex still owned the house, though he’d never returned there after the day he’d found his dead wife. He’d given his mother power of attorney over his affairs and she’d rented it out ever since, the income paying the mortgage and leaving a bit extra to be put aside for his daughter’s college fund.
Alex’s mom, who was still staying with them in Brecon Point until they could be sure that any threat had passed, had been happy to do anything she could to help and had phoned the current tenants first thing that morning. They’d been happy to allow Kat and Kyle to have a look around so they’d made an appointment for eleven a.m.
It was just before that now as Kat looked at her watch. “You all set?” she asked Kyle, who was sitting in the driver’s seat.
“Yep, let’s go,” he replied, pushing open his door.
Kat saw a curtain twitch as they walked up to the front door, so she wasn’t surprised when it opened before they’d even reached the porch steps. A middle-aged woman whose girth filled the door stood there, wiping her hands on her apron and smiling at
them in greeting.
“Hello,” Kat offered, walking up the porch steps. “I’m …”
“Oh, I know who you are,” the woman interrupted before she could finish. “Rose told me all about you and she described you to a T.” She turned to Kyle. “But she never told me you were such a handsome devil.”
Kat tried not to smirk as Kyle’s cheeks turned pink at the unexpected compliment.
“Come in, come in,” the woman said, waving them inside before they had chance to respond. “My son’s at work but Rose told me what you want.” She closed the door behind them and ushered them through to the kitchen. “Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee? Lemonade?” she fussed, standing in the doorway.
“No, thank you. We won’t be long and we’ll be out of your hair.” Kat smiled at her, waiting for her to leave. “We’ll come and get you once we’re done. We really appreciate you letting us into your home to do this.”
“Oh. Okay, then. You kids just shout if you need anything. I’ll be in the front room.” She reluctantly turned and left.
Gently closing the door, Kat turned to where Kyle was already on his hands and knees, looking under cupboards. “Where do we start?”
Kyle looked up at her. “Well, there was nothing on the crime scene photos and nothing in the notes so, if I’m right whatever we’re looking for must still be here.”
“If it’s connected. It could still be just a coincidence,” Kat reminded him.
“It could. But I don’t think so.” Kyle turned his attention back to what he was doing.
Alex’s mom had told them that everything was the same as when he’d lived there, which was a break for them if Kyle’s hunch was right. Dropping down to her knees, Kat started on the other side of the kitchen.
Mental Note – deep clean the kitchen when you get chance, Kat thought as she looked under one of the cabinets. It was obvious that no one had cleaned under there for years from the amount of dirt, dust and other stuff under there. She could see at least two pieces of what looked like Lego, what may have started life as a lollipop and God only knew what some of the lumps were, or had been. Apart from that, though, she could see nothing that linked to their crime.
The McKays Box Set - To Kill For, Blood Sport, Hard Time & Gang Land Page 36