George’s eyebrows rose. “Are you serious?”
David nodded. “Deadly serious.”
“I can’t believe it,” George said.
George looked genuinely shocked, but there was always a chance that he was putting on an act. It had certainly happened before.
David remained skeptical as well. “You’re not the only one who is having a hard time believing things. This whole dumbfounded act isn’t ringing true to me.”
“It’s not an act. I try to stay away from the news these days. It always seems to be bad,” George said.
I couldn’t disagree with George. While good news was often in short supply, there never seemed to be a shortage of bad news making the rounds. That said, in a small town like Treasure Cove, it was nearly impossible not to catch wind of a story as big as a jailbreak.
“So Kyle hasn’t been here, then?” David said.
George opened his mouth to reply.
David stopped George before he was able to get any words out.
“I’d think long and hard before you answer,” David said.
“I don’t need to. Kyle hasn’t been here,” George said.
David held his pointer finger out. “You’d better not be lying.”
George threw his arms out. “What makes you think I’d do something like that?”
“To protect your son,” David said.
“I wouldn’t do that.”
David folded his arms. “Do I need to remind you what the consequences of lying to a police detective are?”
“No,” George replied. “Like I said, my son hasn’t been here.”
David wasn’t convinced. He stared George down.
I, meanwhile, continued the interview with a question of my own. “Has your son called you?”
George shook his head.
“You know that I can get a warrant for your phone records, right?” David said.
“Go ahead. It won’t do you any good.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t have anything to hide.”
“You understand how farfetched your answers seem, don’t you?” David said. “Why wouldn’t Kyle have at least contacted you?”
“He knows better than that.”
David scratched his chin. A few seconds later, his eyes widened. “I get it. Kyle doesn’t want to leave a digital trail that can be traced back to him in any way.”
“No. It’s not that,” George said.
“Then what is it? Because these answers you’re giving us aren’t adding up.”
“You only say that because you don’t know the whole story.”
“I’m all ears.”
George took a deep breath. “The fact is, I haven’t spoken to my son in years.”
“Is that so?”
George scrunched his nose. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
“You can understand why I’d have a hard time buying that story—”
“As hard as it is for you to believe, it was much more difficult of a decision for me to make,” George said.
“How long has it been since you spoke with Kyle?” I asked.
George became pensive. “Six or seven years.”
“Say you are telling the truth,” David replied. “Why did you decide to stop speaking with your son?”
“I couldn’t look him in the eyes anymore. It was just too painful…seeing what became of him. Watching him turn into this monster…” George trailed off. He then exhaled, calmed himself down, and continued. “You know, I really thought his time in prison would make him regret what he’d done. Instead, he just seemed to get angrier as the years went on.”
By the time George was finished speaking, he looked like he was on the verge of tears. He narrowly managed to keep his eyes dry. If this was an act, it was the most convincing one I’d ever seen.
On the flipside, if George was telling the truth, it gave me more cause for concern than ever. By all accounts, Kyle Lipinski had spent the last seventeen years seething behind bars, clamoring for the moment when he could exact his revenge. That made getting as much information as possible all the more important. Even the smallest of leads could provide an important break in the case.
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” I said.
“So am I,” George said. “Not just about my relationship with my son, but what he did to your sister. All these years later, I still can’t believe that he…well, you know.”
George didn’t need to finish his sentence. I knew exactly what he was going to say. It had been over a quarter of a century since Kyle murdered my sister, but I still got choked up every time I thought about her death.
David saw how emotional I was getting. He tried to change the subject as quickly as possible. He focused on George. “If you’re really telling us the truth then you shouldn’t mind if we search your house,” David said.
“Feel free,” George said.
***
David and I made our way through George’s place. After a thorough search, we didn’t find any sign that Kyle had been there.
Before we left, David had a few more questions for George.
“Is there anyone else your son might have gone to for help?” David said. “Family members?”
George shook his head. “I’m the only family he has.” He corrected himself. “I mean, had.”
“How about friends?”
“When I was still on speaking terms with Kyle, he mentioned that most of his old friends had all turned their backs on him.”
“Most? Or all?” David said.
“You might want to pay Charley McKee a visit,” George said.
“Why him?” David asked.
“Charley is Kyle’s oldest friend. They grew up together. Played baseball together. Now I don’t know if they’ve stayed in contact over the years, but I think he’s worth talking to,” George said.
Chapter Seventeen
David looked Charley’s address up in the police database. He lived on the north side of town. We headed over to his ranch-style house and knocked on his front door.
A few moments later, Charley McKee answered. He was forty-six-years-old with short brown hair, hazel eyes, a square face, and an athletic body.
David flashed his police badge and explained to Charley that Kyle had escaped from prison.
Charley reacted to David’s statement with complete confusion. “I don’t understand why you’re here.”
Talk about an odd response. There was no shock in Charley’s voice whatsoever. Instead, he just seemed to be utterly perplexed by David’s presence on his doorstep.
“Mr. McKee, you’re Kyle’s best friend,” David said.
Charley shook his head. “Correction. I was his best friend. Those days are long gone.”
“Is that so?” David asked.
Charley nodded. “You’d better believe it. I haven’t even thought about him in years.”
“That long, huh?”
“Uh-huh,” Charley said.
“Are you saying you didn’t know that Kyle had escaped prison?” David asked.
“Okay. So I did hear a brief story on the news earlier today about his jailbreak.”
“Your story isn’t adding up right. If you heard that Kyle was on the loose, then why did you ask me why we were here?”
“Because Kyle busting out of prison has nothing to do with me. Like I told you, we haven’t been friends for a long time.”
“When was the last time you talked to him?” David asked.
“He wrote me a few letters the first year that he was in jail, but I never responded to any of them,” Charley said.
“Then what happened?” David said.
“He stopped writing to me,” Charley said. “I guess he got the message that I didn’t want anything to do with him.”
“So he hasn’t stopped by your place since he broke out of jail?” David asked.
Charley threw his arms out. “Have you even been listening to me? I just told you, I haven’t hear
d from him in years. And frankly, I hope I never see him again.”
“If that’s the case then you shouldn’t have any problems with us looking around,” David said.
Charley clearly disagreed with David’s logic. Instead of letting us into his house, Charley didn’t move an inch.
Charley raised his voice as he replied, “I told you. Kyle hasn’t been here.”
“You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t take your word for that,” David said.
“You’re not excused. And you’re not welcome in my house.”
David narrowed his eyes. “Are you hiding something from us?”
Charley’s face filled with outrage. “No. Why would you even say that?”
“Because people who have nothing to hide don’t usually act so combative.”
“You know, there is such a thing as privacy.”
“I understand that,” David said. “There’s also something called a search warrant. Given the nature of this case, I doubt that any judge would hesitate to issue one to me.”
Charley exhaled. “I’m going to say this one more time. Kyle isn’t here. Nor has he been here. Now, will you just leave me alone?”
“I’d love to. But before I do that, I need to know for sure that Kyle hasn’t been here. The only way I can be certain is by searching your house.”
Charley became exasperated. “It’s been sixteen years since I’ve heard from him. After all this time, why would you think he would come here?”
“The man just broke out of jail. Do you think he ever wants to go back?”
Charley didn’t seem to realize that was a rhetorical question. He opened his mouth to answer, but David continued talking.
“I guarantee you he’s going to do everything in his power to evade being captured. He doesn’t have a lot of resources at his disposal, though. Chances are, he’ll get desperate. During times of crisis, desperate men often turn to people from their past for help.”
“You could be right—” Charley started to say.
David interrupted him. “I’m sure I am right.”
“But like I said before, Kyle hasn’t been here,” Charley replied.
David stared him down. “Prove it.”
“I’m going to explain this to you one more time. I have a wife and a daughter who I love dearly. I wouldn’t risk the safety of my family to help out a known fugitive.”
“It’s actually called aiding and abetting—and it carries a serious jail term,” David said.
Charley opened his mouth to reply again, but David continued with his point.
“Now I’m going to say this one more time. I’ll go and get a search warrant for your house if I have to. Or, if you truly have nothing to hide, you could just let us take a look around right now. It’s your call. So what’s it going to be?” David asked.
***
After a few moments of contemplating, Charley reluctantly let us in his house. We searched his place from top to bottom. Unfortunately, Kyle wasn’t there, nor was there any sign that he had ever been there.
As David and I made our way back to the front door of the house, Charley snapped at David. “Are you satisfied now?”
David shook his head. “I won’t be satisfied until Kyle is back behind bars.”
Charley folded his arms. “That isn’t what I was talking about. I told you Kyle hadn’t been here. Next time, why don’t you just take my word for it?”
“I’d prefer if there wasn’t a next time,” David said.
“You know what I mean.”
David nodded. “I do. But there’s a lot that you don’t seem to realize. Do you have any idea how often I am lied to on a daily basis? It’s a sad fact, but most people I talk to seem to be allergic to telling the truth.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“So am I.”
“I don’t envy your job—”
“I don’t want your envy. I want your help.” David pulled out a business card. “If Kyle does stop by, give me a call as soon as possible. Got it?”
Charley scoffed. “You’re asking for my help? You guys must really be desperate.”
“A convicted killer is on the loose. Of course we’re desperate,” David said.
I spoke up. “Do you know anyone else Kyle might turn to for help?”
“His father,” Charley said.
“We talked to George already,” I said. “Does anyone else come to mind?”
Chapter Eighteen
Charley gave us a few names. One was Kyle’s former girlfriend. The rest were his old buddies from his baseball-playing days. Charley wasn’t confident that any of them would be able to help us.
David and I ended up striking out with all of them. Discouragingly enough, none of them had heard from Kyle since the jailbreak.
At that point, it was difficult not to keep frustration from seeping in. During an investigation, there were always a fair amount of dead ends, but typically, there weren’t this many.
Instead of getting down on myself, I tried to do some brainstorming. David and I had covered all the obvious bases, but perhaps in order to find the answer we were looking for, we needed to start asking some different questions.
For example, what if Kyle had decided to turn to an unlikely source for help? One name in particular immediately popped into my mind—Tyler Stillwater.
Tyler was an ex-convict. He had done a ten-year stint behind bars for drug dealing. In addition, during most of his prison sentence, he had been in the same cell block as Kyle Lipinski. But Kyle and Tyler weren’t friends. As a matter of fact, they hated each other. That wasn’t surprising, given the fact that Tyler had testified against Kyle in court during Lipinski’s murder trial.
Tyler was now out on parole and living in a low-rent apartment on the east side of town. The place was a dump. But it was better than being in jail. And it was all he could afford given his minimum-wage job as a dishwasher at a local restaurant.
Tyler had tattoos up and down his muscular arms. The bearded, long-haired forty-nine-year-old was puffing on a cigarette in front of his apartment when David and I arrived. There was a pained look in his blue eyes, which seemed to match the weary, defeated look on his face. This was more than just age taking a toll on him. The wrinkles on his face made him look a good ten years older than his actual age.
If Tyler wasn’t in a bad enough mood already, his facial expression soured further when he spotted David and me.
Tyler dropped his cigarette on the ground, stubbed it out with the bottom of his shoe, and headed back toward his apartment.
David pulled out his police badge and called out to him. “Tyler, where do you think you’re going? We need to have a few words with you.”
“I’m busy,” Tyler said.
“Really? You don’t look busy,” David said.
“Looks can be deceiving.”
“Whether you’re busy or not, you’re going to need to make time for us.”
Tyler groaned and turned back to David. “What do you want from me?”
David explained the situation, but that didn’t loosen Tyler up one bit. If anything, he remained as tense as ever.
“Look, man. I’m sorry about the situation you’re in, but I can’t help you,” Tyler said.
“Can’t? Or won’t?” David asked.
“Can’t,” Tyler said. “I have no clue where Kyle is right now.”
“He hasn’t been by here then?” David said.
Tyler laughed. “Are you crazy?”
“No. Although, this conversation is driving me a little nuts,” David said.
I spoke up. “You were in prison the same time as Kyle—”
Tyler didn’t let me finish. “I’ve cleaned up my life since I got out of jail.”
“I hope that’s the truth,” David said.
Tyler nodded. “It is. I never want to go back there.”
“I don’t have to remind you that it’s a crime to aid and abet a known fugitive then, do I?” David asked.
Tyler scoffed. “You really think he’d come here?”
“We’re not ruling anything out,” David said.
Tyler opened up the door to his apartment. “Like I said, I’ve cleaned up my life. But if you don’t want to take my word for it, see for yourself. I have nothing to hide.”
David looked inside the apartment. Tyler may have cleaned up his life in the figurative sense, but in the literal sense, his apartment was a mess. Actually, that was putting things lightly. The place was an absolute pigsty.
Hygienic considerations aside, there was no sign of Kyle anywhere.
“Are we done now?” Tyler asked.
“Not quite,” David said.
Tyler exhaled. “What more do you want from me?”
“We need to talk about the time you spent with Kyle in jail,” David said.
“You have it all wrong. When we were both in jail, we tried to spend as much time apart as possible,” Tyler said. “The fact is, we hated each other.”
“I know that,” David said.
Tyler shrugged. “So why are you wasting my time asking me a bunch of dumb questions?”
“Sometimes enemies know things that friends don’t,” I said.
Tyler stared me down. “I get it. You guys are stuck. Kyle’s friends gave you nothing to work with, so you’re hoping that I have some kind of lead that will help you find him.”
I could tell that Tyler’s abrasive personality was rubbing David the wrong way, but David managed to keep an even keel as he replied.
“We just want to put Kyle back behind bars,” David said. “So if there’s anything you can tell us about Kyle that we may not already know, I’m all ears.”
“I told you before, the dude hates me. As a matter of fact, there are only two people in the world that he hates more than me.” Tyler pointed at David, then at me.
David gritted his teeth. “Is that all you’ve got?”
Tyler threw his arms out. “What did you expect? I don’t have any breaking news for you about where he is. That dude can be anywhere.”
“You haven’t heard any chatter from any of your ex-con friends then?” David said.
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