by Aiden Bates
Steven was seated at the table in the interrogation room. His head hung low on his shoulders, and the orange jumpsuit looked terrible against his sallow skin. The lawyer sat beside him, a troubled expression on his face. He almost looked green. Nick wondered if he should offer to get him a bucket or something. Maybe that was something he could delegate to Ryan and get him out of the way while Nick went at the killer.
Ryan cleared his throat and put the evidence box down on a chair. Neither of them was worried about Steven going after the box; he was shackled to the table. "Before we get started," Ryan said, hands still hidden by the walls of the cardboard box, "I want to show you something, okay? You don't have to say anything. Not just yet. Hell, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. You have that right, Steven. It's an important part of being an American, having that right to remain silent." Ryan paused for a second, hands still in the box. "Your brother enlisted to protect that right, didn't he? He's very concerned with making sure that all your rights are protected."
The lawyer glared. "Detective Tran, that's not relevant. Will O'Neal isn't present in this interrogation room."
Ryan gave a little laugh. "Well, that's part of the problem, now, isn't it? He's got an outstanding arrest warrant for assaulting his ex-wife, with an aluminum baseball bat."
Steven shook his head. "They always had problems," he murmured.
The lawyer turned to Steven. "My advice is that you exercise your right to remain silent on that matter."
Ryan pulled two items out of the box. One was the black pipe with the etching. The other was the baseball bat that had been recovered from the grave site. He set them down on the table and stood up, hands by his side.
Steven stared at the items. All of the color, even the jaundice, disappeared from his face. The lawyer looked over at Ryan and Nick. "What the hell is this? It's a baseball bat and a pipe. Neither of them is exactly a unique item. Are you seriously telling me that you drove all the way down to South Boston and disrupted the neighborhood, traumatized my poor client, because of two things that just about everyone has?" He stood up. "Come on, Steven, I'm giving you a ride home."
Nick blocked the lawyer's egress. "Actually you're not. Those two items were found interred with the body of Maureen O'Neal, but they weren't the weapons used to kill her." He directed a savage grin at Steven, who was still staring at the bagged murder weapons. "But Steven already knew that, didn't he?"
"This is absurd!" The lawyer tried to force his way around Nick. "I'm filing every complaint that I can think of. My client is innocent, and he's grieving his sister. Is this some kind of sick joke to you creeps? He and his brother have believed that Maureen was happy and healthy, living her life in some city far away."
"I want to confess." Steven's voice was barely audible.
"What?" His lawyer rounded on him, face red. "Are you kidding me? Stevie, they have nothing on you! You're totally going to walk."
"We have a witness who knows about your brother's involvement. We have those two murder weapons." Nick pointed at the pipe. "Those markings, Counselor, are unique to the O’Neal & Sons business. Apparently metal theft was rampant, and the local businessmen wanted to be sure that they could recover their inventory if it was stolen."
Ryan sighed and sat down. He laced his fingers together and bowed his head, trying to force Steven to meet his eyes. "You've lived with this for forty years. You buried these things with your sister. And the flowers."
"Don't answer that," the lawyer snapped. His face was running with sweat.
"The flowers were my idea." Steven kept his eyes on the table. "I couldn't—I couldn't stop Will, and I'm not sure if I even wanted to at the time. I thought a lot of wrong things back then, you know? I went along with a lot of wrong things. But I knew what was going to happen, and I didn't want her to just be left in a heap like that guy, her boyfriend. I wanted her to at least get buried like she was someone, even if no one was going to know about it." He buried his face on his arms and sobbed.
The lawyer turned to them in disgust. "You can't seriously accept his confession. The guy's an addict."
"Records show that he's been clean for the past five years. Nothing but occasional booze and cigarettes." Nick shrugged. "They did a tox screen when they brought him in, so we'll find out for sure, but I'm okay with it so far."
Ryan put a hand on Steven's arm. "It must have been hard to live with," he murmured, ignoring Nick and the lawyer. Part of Nick was irritated by that, but another part was fascinated. Okay, it was infuriating to have his omega comforting a guy who had killed his own kin, but it was incredible to see him gaining the guy's trust like this.
Steven picked his head up. "Maureen wasn't like the rest of us. I think she was stronger. She wasn't going to let anyone grind her down, no matter who they were. Dad tried, but he didn't have time to be around much, and Mom was zonked out most of the time. Will—well. He meant well. But you know, he had a very firm hand, and Maureen just wouldn't listen."
Steven sniffed. "When I was a kid, I mean I loved her. I adored her. She was this beautiful, brilliant creature, but I couldn't understand why she wouldn't just knuckle under and do what she was told. She kept saying that the way things were wasn't fair, or wasn't right, but she just didn't get it. It was the way things were. Fighting back didn't change it.
"Anyway, then we got pulled out of school and she and I wound up in Catholic school. It didn't get any better. It was always tense around the house. They were always fighting, and sometimes it was really bloody. Looking back, I want to say that I could have done more for her, but let's be real. I was a scrawny kid and all that would have happened was that two of us would have wound up bloody instead of just her." He sighed and rubbed at his temples.
Ryan nodded, face sympathetic. "I've seen that happen a million times. And you're right. You couldn't have fought for her."
Steven gave Ryan a look of such profound gratitude that it turned Nick's stomach. The kid had been a coward, damn it. He probably couldn't have done much to help with the beatings, but he'd done plenty to beat two people to death? Nick wasn't buying it.
"Thanks, man. I started to buy into a lot of it, you know? I mean Dad and Will, they were the law back then. I didn't have a reason to push back. Then Mo started running around with that kid, and it was like a war zone. Will wanted her to date some other guy, one of his buddies, but she just didn't like him. Will didn't care, and they got into it about that. Then he found out about her and the black guy.
"So they dated, and it was bad. And then we caught him with his hand up her shirt."
Nick closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was the hardest part for him, every time. Alphas were meant to protect people who were smaller and more vulnerable than they were. Hearing some guy who'd decided they were going to end a vulnerable life was just more than he could handle.
"And then?" Ryan prompted. His voice hadn't lost an ounce of sympathy, the little bastard.
"And then Will laid him out with one punch. Knocked him out cold. Mo tried to fight him, but I was right there." Steven took a long, shuddering breath. "I held her, tied her up with this ridiculous scarf thing that she had. Will told me to do it, and I did it. Gagged her, too, because she was screaming so loud that she probably woke the priest four blocks away.
"We dragged 'em down to the basement. My dad was home, and he saw, but he didn't do anything. When Will came back upstairs and got the bats, he didn't say anything either. The pipe was down there…"
Nick found his voice. "And then?"
"Tied her to one of the posts down there. We waited for him to wake up. I didn't want to do it, but Will talked me into it. He pointed out that this—I won't use the word—had touched our sister and it was our job to take him out." He closed his eyes. "I took the first swing," he sobbed.
Nick turned away. He couldn't stand there and look at that disgusting sympathy on Ryan's face.
"You took the first swing." Ryan nodded. "With the pipe?"
&
nbsp; "No. The bat." He went on to describe how he and Will had beaten James Townsend until he was nearly unrecognizable. Then he described how Will had turned to his sister, and how Steven had known what he was going to do. "'She let him touch her, Steven.' That's all he said, and I knew. He didn't say that Dad said that it was okay, but he didn't have to.
"She struggled, but I think she was still trying to get to her guy, you know? I didn't help him with her. He wanted me to, but I didn't." He rubbed at his own face. "I didn't help her, either."
"So once you watched your brother bash your sister's brains in, what happened then?" Nick turned back to the suspect. "You went out for beers?"
Ryan glared at him, but Steven shrugged. "Hate me all you want, man. You can't hate me any more than I hate myself, okay? We dumped the guy's body. Maureen wasn't quite dead yet so we left her in the basement and went to get the burial site ready."
"That makes it sound like someone had a site in mind." Ryan sat back and covered his mouth for a moment.
"I… I guess so." Steven sat up straighter. "I don't know. Maybe? He didn't tell me. But… when you put it like that, I mean, the trench had been open for a few days. And he knew exactly where to bring the body. That shelf was clear and everything." His eyes widened and he turned to his lawyer. "That bastard was always going to kill her, wasn't he? The son of a bitch was always going to kill her, and probably him too. He just dragged me in."
"He did. So what?" Nick slapped his hands down on the table and leaned into Steven's space. "You still made those choices. You chose to go along with everything your brother did. You still took the first swing. That's a choice that you made, all by yourself. And you can sit there and sniff and snivel all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that you beat a man to death. It doesn't change the fact that you stood there and watched while someone beat your sister to death, and you didn't lift a finger to stop it!"
Ryan put a hand on Nick's arm. "Nick," he said in a low voice. That was all, just his name. If Nick were in any less than a high alpha fury, it might have worked to soothe him. Instead, it just fanned the flame, coming from his soiled omega, and he shook the hand off.
"You're right." Tears streamed freely from Steven's eyes. "You're right. I didn't do anything to stop it. I've been carrying this for forty years. I'm terrified of what's next, you know, but in a way I'm glad it's over. I'm not a hero. I'm not a good man. I've tried to look out for Will's kids. I tried to keep them as safe as I could, especially after the divorce when he had visitation.
"I didn't learn to think different for a long time, but I got there eventually. I started to donate to the NAACP. It's not an absolution. It can't be. Someone like me, who did what I did, can't be absolved. I just wanted to, I don't know. I wanted to try, I guess. I gave to Rosie's Place, too. I just wanted to… I don't know. I don't know what I thought I could do. It's not like I could tell Maureen I was sorry."
Ryan squeezed the bastard's hand. "It's not the same, Steven, but I know something about guilt. And I know that you're on the first steps to making it right now."
Steven gave him a polite little smile. "I'll sign whatever you want. I'm not looking to cut any deals. I just want to get it over with."
Ryan stood up and collected the evidence. "I'll get those forms sent in."
"Thanks, Detective Tran. For everything." Steven shook Ryan's hand again before he, Nick, and the lawyer left.
Once they were far enough away from the interrogation room, the trio turned to each other. "Please tell me that's not admissible," the lawyer said, as Ryan sent word to have the confession drawn up.
"It's as legitimate as any other confession, assuming the tox screen comes back clean." Nick made a face when he caught Ryan's glare.
Ryan said nothing to him, but turned his attention to the lawyer. "It was… it was hard to hear. I can't imagine living with that on my chest for forty years. God, no wonder he never married." He shook his head.
"I want him on a suicide watch," the lawyer said, shaking a finger at both Nick and Ryan. "I really didn't like the way he was talking."
"I agree. He's been through a lot today. It's worth keeping an eye on him." Ryan glanced over at Nick.
Nick scoffed and stuffed his hands into his pocket, so Ryan couldn't grab one. "Come off it. He's not some young kid who saw something traumatic. He's a killer, who's been getting away with murder for four decades. He's playing you for a fool, Ryan, and you're letting him. It's going to bite you in the ass. He doesn't need any more watching than any other suspect."
"Nick, what the hell?" Ryan turned an outraged face at him, but Nick looked away.
"If you want to make excuses for that kind of scum that's your business, but this is a cold case and I'm the cold case detective. He doesn't get any special treatment, end of story." Nick stormed away down the hall.
Chapter Thirteen
Ryan escorted the lawyer out to his car. "I'm really sorry that Nick was so…"
"Hostile?" The lawyer huffed out a little laugh. "I'm kind of used to it, to be honest. Especially from guys used to murder cases. I was a little bit more surprised to get sympathy from you. Steven hasn't had a lot of that in his life. He's always played second fiddle to Will, and now I guess we know why." He looked away and sighed. "I'm worried about him."
"I'll look in on him before I leave tonight. I can't make them put him on a suicide watch—"
"Why is that again?" The lawyer waved a hand. "Off the record, just as a friend here."
Ryan snorted. Lawyers, especially defense lawyers, and cops were not friends. Not ever. Still, the guy deserved to know. "They wanted two heads on this case, and everyone else in Cold Case was busy. They pulled me in from Abused Persons, because when they find a teenager beaten to death they usually figure our expertise will come in handy at some point."
"Well, it did." The man shook his head. "I'll tell you the truth. I don't know where Will is. If I hear from him, I'll advise him to turn himself in, but Detective, I don't think that I can defend him. I mean, I know he's guilty now."
Ryan tilted his head to the side and considered. "I can see the dilemma. Of course, he won't be able to pay your bill anyway. Leanne's going to sue him for lost wages."
"Smart woman. Please keep me posted. I don't think Steven's okay."
Ryan headed back inside. He hoped that Nick had gone off to pout in Cold Case or in his car, or wherever he went when his emotions got to be too much for him to handle. Ryan could wrap his head around all of the protective alpha crap, he guessed, but he couldn't fathom the sudden hostility. It had all started when Ryan had reached out to Steven…
Was that really what was driving this? Ryan couldn't make himself believe that Nick was jealous of Steven. That didn't make any sense at all. He'd made it clear, though, that he had no sympathy for the guy. Could it be that Nick expected Ryan to fall in line behind that point of view? Was that it?
In all fairness, Ryan knew that he should seek his mate out and talk this through. They were having a baby together. If they were going to be serious about the whole "starting a family" thing, they needed to air their problems like adults and sort them out, not let them fester like boils. He couldn't make himself do that right now, though. He just couldn't. His own temper was running too hot for him to chance a confrontation right now.
And of course, since Ryan was in no way prepared to handle a confrontation with grace or serenity, Nick was waiting for him at his desk when he got back to it. He grabbed Ryan by the wrist. "Conference room," he growled. "Now."
Ryan broke Nick's hold. "Excuse the ever loving hell out of you?" he snapped. That part of him that wanted to submit, to follow along where his alpha led, was very small right now. He could barely hear it over his own righteous indignation.
"Ryan, don't be an infant." Nick reached out for him again.
Ryan avoided his grasp. "No. Uh-uh. We are not doing this at work. If you want to discuss that disaster of an interrogation, how about if we both go and get our supervisors and yo
u can explain exactly why we could have had Will O'Neal's location but we don't right now."
Nick's face flushed red, and his eyes got wild. "You know, I don't actually need you to finish this case. All of the rest of the investigative work is done."
"Awesome. Run along then. Good luck finding the brother." Ryan waved his hand in a shooing motion.
"You're just sulking because I called you out on the fact that you have no objectivity. You probably made a perfectly good patrolman but a detective needs objectivity. They need to be able to distance themselves from a situation and not sitting there making common ground with every goddamn scumbag they meet."
"Weren't you leaving?" Ryan couldn't get enough air into his lungs to meet his body's needs, but he couldn't let it show. He had to stay strong, keep his head up, no matter what a disaster this was.
"You don't get to kick me out." Nick's lip curled.