“That’s a good idea,” Craig agreed, picking a cookie from the plate. “Let’s not make accusations no one can prove. Everything is fine, Detective Carpenter. This tells me though that you’re grasping at straws. This truck is hardly a unique model.”
“I have another question,” Jordan said. “Why was Ms. D’Amour uninvited from the launch party? Did you just find out about Linwood paying Sandra from one of the Health & Life accounts? Is that why you went to see him?”
The siblings exchanged another look.
“Craig, Aleja told me she trusted you. You were the first she came out to, and I believe that just like your father, you were always decent to her. Why would you want her to be convicted of a crime she didn’t commit?”
Craig looked uncertain for a moment. “There’s not enough evidence against her either. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then who is it you are protecting?”
“My father’s legacy,” Linwood Ashcroft said as he joined them. “The image of my father from when he was still sane. You’re surprised, Detective? I told you I have friends in high places. I’ve done a lot of favors over the years, that’s how it works—it was rather easy to collect. There’s not going to be a trial. Now, you should leave. We have things to talk about.”
“Did you drive the truck the night Sandra Paulson died?”
Jordan saw Abby twisting a strand of hair between her thumb and forefinger nervously, and she remembered the two of them sitting in Linwood’s office.
“Linwood is right. You should leave.”
This would probably be her last chance. “All right. You had an opportunity to tell the truth. I’ll have to get back now and see Ms. Ryan.” They were on edge, all of them, but this little bluff would hopefully keep them from doing something stupid. “I believe she’ll have some interesting things to tell us when she wakes up. Have a good day.” Jordan got up and walked to the front door, a shiver of foreboding tingling down her spine before Linwood said, “Don’t move. Put your hands up.”
Jordan obliged, slowly turning around. So much for the effect of that bluff.
“That’s a bad idea,” she said. “I have a unit waiting for me outside. They’re going to figure out something’s not right pretty soon. Abby, Craig, whatever you knew before, you don’t want to be involved in this.”
“Shut up,” Linwood said. “Sit. You’re going to call them off right now. You want a story? I’ll give you one.”
“Linwood,” Craig warned. “Now’s not the time.”
“That’s right,” Abigail said, getting to her feet. “Hard as it is to imagine, I have a business to run. Thanks, Dad, but no thanks.”
“You want to go now?” Linwood spoke, but both men looked at their sister in disbelief. “Don’t you think we have something more important to take care of?”
She gave a bored shrug. “You created this mess. Fix it.”
“I can’t believe this.” Craig shook his head.
The pieces came together rapidly—it all fit. Still, Jordan was stunned as to what the conclusion appeared to be. Linwood was without a doubt guilty, but he wasn’t the only one. Plus, whatever arrangement they had made together, it obviously stood on shaky ground.
“Just one thing—did you all hate your father so much, or was it all about getting back at Mrs. Santos? Sandra Paulson, I assume, was just collateral damage. You really thought this was going to work out even though you were already stabbing each other in the back five minutes later? No offense, Abby.”
Linwood’s finger tightened on the trigger of the gun he was holding. “Make that call now.”
“All right, relax. I’m calling, okay?”
“No tricks.”
“I got you. Hey, Casey. I’m about to wrap things up in here. Why don’t you go back and tell Derek he can get started with Ms. Ryan.”
“I thought you hadn’t found her yet.” Casey sounded surprised, which was a good start. “Did you hear that Mr. Ashcroft got out? Esposito is livid. Maybe you should come back here yourself…”
“I will soon. Make sure Derek asks her about—”
“That’s enough.” Linwood took the phone out of her hand and turned it off.
“That’s not going to help.”
“I agree with her,” Craig said sarcastically. “Great job, Linwood, you think that’s going to make them go away? You’re just like Abby, thinking it’s a great idea to stab yourself. I’m surrounded by morons.”
“Shut up,” Abby seethed at him. “If it weren’t for your money problems, no one would have even suspected any of us.”
Jordan saw that Linwood’s attention was on his siblings, and she slowly moved her hand towards her gun. Then the doorbell rang, and for a moment, everyone seemed frozen.
“I’ll go,” Abby said. “I don’t think they’ll trust either of you at this point. Talk about morons.”
Linwood was back waving the revolver in her face. “Be quiet, or I swear you’ll regret it.”
Chapter Eighteen
Both Kate and Casey had a bad feeling even before the call was dropped. Ryan hadn’t been found yet, and someone had interrupted Jordan. Kate, too, noticed the truck in its parking spot and the wide tires as they walked up the steps to Abigail Ashcroft’s house. Casey rang the doorbell, and a few moments later, the owner appeared.
“Ms. Ashcroft, it is important that we talk to Detective Carpenter.”
“I’ll tell her,” Abigail said, sounding eerily cheerfully. “Don’t worry, she’s fine, but for some reason the cell phone reception can be horrible in here. Considering what I pay for it, I really should change the provider.”
“Ms. Ashcroft…”
“I’ll send her right out. Thank you, officers.”
The door was closed nearly in their faces.
“I’d like to run the license plate on that truck while we wait,” Kate said. “I have a feeling the owner could be inside.”
“Let’s call it in,” Casey agreed.
* * * *
“This isn’t going to work. They’ll be back.”
“Well, meanwhile you will have left for a place unknown. I was never here, and Craig and Abby, they have no idea. That can totally work because for the most part, it’s true.”
“So charming,” Abby remarked. “It’s no wonder Sandra was going to bail on you. If you weren’t giving them money or tying them up, no one would ever want to be around you. What are we going to do with her now?”
“She’s right, they’ll be back, and this time, they’ll come in if they think something’s wrong. I say we don’t wait too long,” Craig said.
“Ugh. Don’t get blood on these new carpets.” Abby went to the window, peering outside from behind the curtains. “What are they still doing here? Oh, I guess they’re leaving now, good. I want this to be over before Savannah comes back.”
Jordan wondered how she could be so disassociated from the situation that she had no trouble talking about her daughter, and blood on the carpet, in one breath. She couldn’t believe these grown people bickering like twelve-year-olds while casually discussing the murder of two people. She was alarmed, but not scared. Kate and Casey would have gotten the message, and the place would be swarming with cops soon.
“Abby, if you don’t put a stop to this, there’s a good chance you’ll never see your daughter again.”
“Don’t believe her,” Craig said. “They have nothing on you.”
“Abby. You sacrificed a lot already. Craig has money invested in your firm. Linwood was in bed with your competition. You think they care?”
Abby came closer, studying Jordan curiously. “You still don’t get it, do you? When your colleagues come looking for you, I’ll tell them the same thing I told you earlier. I saw Mrs. Santos. Maybe she went after you too because she knew she was going to prison. What happened at the party, I did that. And it worked. I am off the hook, Linwood and Craig have alibis, but Mrs. Santos only has the word of the hired staff in the kitchen. I have a knif
e here, with her prints on it. Convenient, isn’t it?”
“So you all have each other’s back, is that right? Craig, it doesn’t bother you at all that your brother raises money for people who associate with the ‘gays are an abomination’ crowd?”
If only to make the situation more absurd, both men looked at each other and laughed. Abigail looked amused.
“All right, clean up this mess now, will you? I’ll talk to you later.”
She left through the back door, and moments later, Jordan heard the sound of an engine running. Good. They might be cocky, but they weren’t very clever. The police would pick up Abigail, which left Linwood and Craig. The latter shook his head.
“Detective, you wouldn’t understand. When you get to where we are, these little differences don’t matter. I certainly don’t care about getting married. Looking at my siblings’ marriages, that’s not exactly something to strive for. Small minds are easy to manipulate. If you tell them the right lines, they give you money—they same goes for my sister-in-law’s family.”
Appealing to his conscience was clearly not the right angle. “You might not care about ‘family’ all that much, that’s all right. With the murder of a cop, not even your small-minded friends will be able to bail you out.”
“I guess we’ll have to take that chance,” Craig said. “Why don’t we take this party downstairs? Let’s not ruin Abby’s precious carpets.”
It occurred to Jordan that he might have been the one to drive the truck that night, and maybe taking out Sandra Paulson hadn’t been Linwood’s idea after all.
Casey, Kate, any minute now would be fine.
* * * *
They had confirmation that the truck parked in the front was registered to Craig Ashcroft. A moment later, the garage door opened to reveal Abigail Ashcroft, speeding away in her car.
“This is weird,” Casey remarked. “I can stay here. You go after her, and I’ll call for backup.”
Kate didn’t waste any time getting back into the car. Trying his cell phone, she got hold of Derek right away.
“Hey. We’re still at Abigail Ashcroft’s house. She just left, but Jordan is inside.”
“What do you mean?”
“Her call was interrupted. Abigail came to the door, said it was the cell phone reception, but there’s a truck sitting in the parking spot that belongs to Craig Ashcroft. Casey is now waiting there for backup. Where are you?”
“I just left Linwood’s office. I’m still in the financial district.”
“Perfect. Abigail is going South on Lincoln. She’s driving a silver BMW. We need to talk to her.”
“I agree. Stay behind her. I’m not far. If you stop her first, be careful.”
Kate thought that assessment was fairly optimistic, but she confirmed anyway. “Will do. On the corner of Lincoln and Pine now.”
“I’ll be right there.”
She listened to him request another unit, and heard Ellie answer. Meanwhile, Abigail was driving to the harbor where lots of office buildings were located.
What was happening inside the house?
* * * *
After getting back into her car, Ellie had caught the last sentences from dispatch: Abigail Ashcroft was wanted for questioning in the cases of her father and Sandra Paulson. Ellie couldn’t help feeling like she’d missed something important, but she was close to the location where Abigail’s vehicle was last seen, so she answered the call. She heard another siren not far away, but got a visual moments later when she rounded the block that led down to the harbor. Ashcroft made no move to slow down, obviously hoping her flashy little sports car could outrun Ellie’s vehicle. Ellie had no intention of letting her do that.
At the precinct, techs were still going through Ryan’s computer, though as far as she knew, they hadn’t found anything as to her whereabouts yet.
Ashcroft’s car came to a screeching halt near an old warehouse, blocked by another car that had appeared out of nowhere. Ellie got out and saw Derek leave the other vehicle, hand on his gun. Kate arrived a minute later.
“Ms. Ashcroft, step out of the car right now, with your hands where I can see them!”
Ellie approached cautiously from the back. After a few tense moments, the door opened, and Abigail emerged from the vehicle, hands in the air.
“Don’t shoot me, I didn’t do anything! It’s my brother Craig. He’s nuts. Your colleague is in there with him right now. I barely made it out. I thought he was going to kill all of us.”
She broke down crying in the middle of the street, and Derek put the cuffs on her.
Ellie stood, frozen in shock at the implications of what she’d just heard.
“We have to go.”
Henderson didn’t argue. “We’ll take her to the house with us, and she’s going to tell us exactly what is going on in there.”
“I’ll take her,” Kate said. “Are you okay to drive?” she asked Ellie.
“Yes, of course. Let’s go.” Both of them went to their respective squad car, and followed Derek back to Abigail’s house.
* * * *
When Derek Henderson called his partner, he didn’t expect her to pick up so quickly after Kate and Lyons’ report.
“Where are you?”
“I’m on my way. Wait for me?”
That wasn’t true. He knew Jordan’s car still sat in its spot in front of Ashcroft’s house. He was looking at it right now.
“We’re coming in.”
“No, it’s all right. I’ll be with you in—”
“Jordan?”
“I’m holding a gun to your partner’s head right now, and I might be a bit nervous. If you try to come in, I can’t guarantee anything.”
“No one needs to get hurt,” Derek said, wishing Ellie wasn’t close, listening intently. “Let’s talk. Tell me what you want.”
“You could show some good will and get out of here right now. You have five minutes. I see any cops out there, this will go badly,” Linwood said.
“The place is surrounded. Turn yourself in. Abby already did. It’s the only way for you to—”
“No! No, it’s not the only way. You want her alive, don’t you?”
“Yes, Linwood, of course.”
“Then make sure those cops go away, and I might let her go once I’m safe.”
“Might is not good enough.”
“Pity, that all you’ll get.” He disconnected the call.
“She’s doing okay,” he said, if only for his and Ellie’s comfort. “Him, not so much.”
“Craig Ashcroft might still be in there. The truck is his. We have to move soon.”
“If you come in through the front door, he’ll see you coming,” Abby supplied. “He killed that poor girl Sandra. He won’t hesitate.”
“Then we won’t come through the front,” Derek said grimly.
* * * *
“You stupid idiot, what have you done?” Craig yelled. “Now what? They’re going to storm the freaking house in a few minutes!”
“That’s all right. We won’t be here. We’ll get down to the garage and go on a little ride with the detective. They won’t do anything as long as she’s with us.”
“You think so? They’ll have sharpshooters waiting for us outside.”
“Then we need to be careful not to give them a clear shot,” Linwood dismissed his concerns. “This was bound to happen at some point. We’re prepared.”
Jordan didn’t think they were prepared at all, acting all over the place which could be to her advantage. She doubted either of them had ever dealt with a situation like this.
“Look, Craig is right. If you turn yourself in now, no one’s going to get shot.”
Neither man listened to her. “Get the car ready,” Linwood said. “We’ll be right there.”
Craig stalked out of the room in angry strides.
“You’re really prepared to go out there? Let me take care of this. If I talk to them…”
“Walk!”
He pu
shed her forward along the hallway. Bracing herself, Jordan winced at the pull on the stitches. She couldn’t focus on that now. Linwood was obviously not to be reasoned with, but at the moment, they were alone in the hallway, and he lowered the gun for a moment to open the door. She kicked the gun out of his hand, and it skittered across the floor. Linwood cursed, diving for it, but she was faster.
“Not this direction,” she said, catching her breath. “We’re going right out front, and you’ll open that garage door.”
There were rapid footsteps on the stairs, and a moment later, Derek appeared on the other side of the hallway.
“Get down, Mr. Ashcroft.” She picked up her cuffs and fastened them around his wrists, for a split-second distracted by the stain of red on the bandage.
“Hey,” she said to Derek, “It’s about time. It’s a good moment though. I’m glad you’re here to witness it. Mr. Ashcroft, you’re under arrest for the murder of Gerald Ashcroft and Sandra Paulson.”
“It wasn’t me! Craig and Abby did everything!”
“Save it for the judge.”
At this point, Jordan was not only disgusted, but she felt slightly dizzy.
“What about the other two?” she asked.
“We got Craig the moment he came out of the garage, trying to make his getaway. Ellie picked up Abigail, who swears it was all her brothers.”
“Nice bunch,” she said. “Let’s get out of here. You got anything on Ryan?”
“Not yet. I assume Mr. Ashcroft will tell us right now.”
“I don’t know where she is. I was at the fundraiser that night, remember?”
Ellie came rushing in. “Are you okay?” Regardless of the audience, she gave Jordan a quick hug.
“Peachy. Careful,” she said with regard to the blood staining the bandage.
Linwood Ashcroft regarded the scene with revulsion.
“You are going to hell,” he predicted.
Even though it was hard to ignore the pain now, Jordan had to laugh at the absurdity.
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