She felt herself sway then and spotting it, Elliot quickly grabbed a chair and helped her onto it.
“Are you serious?” her voice came out as no more than a whisper.
Elliot nodded. “It looks that way.”
Michael. No, it was all wrong. Although she’d accused him of the exact same thing, she’d never really believed it, not Michael. She’d dated him, knew him intimately, would have known if he was capable of something like this. And the last few days proved to her how much he loved her sister. No. She was sure he didn’t do this.
“You’ve got it wrong, there’s no way Michael has anything to do with this.” Her voice had recovered and was strong this time. “You’ve made a mistake.”
Lexi looked at her patiently. “I know this is hard to take in, but we’ve got some evidence that points to his involvement.”
“What evidence?”
“I’m afraid we can’t tell you that at this point in time.”
“Has he admitted it?”
Lexi shook her head. “No, he’s claiming his innocence but we haven’t had the chance to interview him yet. We were just about to when you arrived.”
The phone on the desk shrilled, interrupting the conversation. There were no other detectives around so Elliot leaned over and picked it up.
Sarah sat stunned as he spoke to someone on the phone. There had to be some other explanation.
“I’m sorry, something’s come up that we need to deal with.” Elliot put the phone down and looked at Lexi pointedly.
“Sarah, we’ll call you as soon as we’ve got any more news,” Lexi said moving toward the door.
Sarah’s legs were steady as she stood. “You’re wrong,” she said simply before turning and walking out of the office.
***
“Who was on the phone?” Lexi asked curiously as soon as Sarah was out of earshot.
“It was one of the officer’s carrying out the search at Mrs Trent’s house.”
“They found the watch?”
“No.” he was frowning. “They found something under the floorboards in her bedroom. A shoebox.”
“And?”
“Hang on a minute and you’ll see for yourself.” He answered, taking his phone out of his pocket and staring at it.
“I’m confused, what are you waiting for?”
His phone picked that moment to ping, indicating the arrival of an email. Elliot opened the attachment, holding the phone close to his face so that he could see the attached image in detail.
“Will you tell me what it is already?” Lexi snapped impatiently.
Without a word Elliot turned the phone so she could see what he was looking at for herself.
“Oh my God.” she looked up at him, shocked. “Do you think they know?”
Elliot shook his head. “I’m certain they don’t. So, who do we break the news to first?”
Thirty-Two
They decided to tell them both together. They called Mike’s father who, once they explained the urgency, agreed to immediately travel down to meet with them. Once he arrived they ushered him and Michael into an unused office where they wouldn’t be disturbed.
“So what’s this all about, Detectives?”
Elliot had downloaded the image that he’d received on his phone and had made two copies, one for each of them. Now he silently handed them one each.
“You both need to see this.”
Elliot watched as both men’s expressions changed from curiosity to shock.
“I had two sons?” Patrick was the first to break the stunned silence. “Twins?”
Elliot nodded. “So it seems.”
“I have a twin brother?” All the blood had drained from Michael’s face. He turned to Patrick. “You didn’t know?”
He shook his head, unable to drag his eyes off the picture of the birth certificate he held in his hands. “No, I had no idea.”
“This was in the box with the certificate.” Elliot held out a letter. “We had to open it, I’m afraid.”
Patrick reached for the letter and started reading, turning the page slightly so that Michael could read it at the same time. When they were finished they both looked up and Michael spoke. “So she gave the watch to my brother as some kind of apology for giving him up for adoption?” he sounded angry. “As if that would somehow make up for it?”
“I’m sorry, this must have come as a terrible shock. I have no explanation for why she did what she did, but from the viewpoint of our investigation, this obviously has implications.”
“Do you know where he is?” Patrick looked utterly devastated.
“We’re looking into that now,” Lexi replied gently. “We’ll find him.”
“So does that mean I’m free to go?” Michael questioned.
“Yes, now we know that you were never in possession of the watch you’re no longer a suspect.” Elliot gave him a small smile. “I hope you understand that we were just doing our jobs.”
Michael held out his hand. “Of course, and I’m just glad that my wife has you looking out for her, Detective. No hard feelings.”
Thirty-Three
Judge Carver looked at the red dial of his watch. It was almost time to hear his next case.
Standing in front of the mirror he checked his robes before pausing and looking at his own face. The face that stared out at him was exactly the same as Michael’s. Michael. The brother that his mother had wanted. The one that hadn’t been sent away.
He’d thought his parents were dead, why else would he have been in a children’s home? It wasn’t until he turned 18 and had to leave that he’d found out the truth. The people at the home had given him some money to get set up somewhere and a package addressed to him. They’d had it for years, they told him, but weren’t to tell him about it until then, as they’d been instructed by the accompanying letter.
As he left the children’s home for the last time, he sat on the front steps and carefully untied the string that wrapped it, peeling away the paper delicately almost fearful of what he might find inside.
There had been a letter and a box. He opened the box first, slowly lifting the lid to reveal the watch he wore on his wrist that he hadn’t taken off since that day. He’d then turned his attention to the letter.
In it his mother described how she had been unable to care for two children on her own and that she’d made the painful choice to put him up for adoption, knowing in her heart that he would find a good home, with a loving family.
How wrong she had been.
He’d been adopted quickly, babies usually were, by what appeared to be the loving family described in the letter. He didn’t remember when he’d learned that they weren’t, he was too young. He soon realized when he started school that things were different for him. The other children didn’t go to school dirty and hungry with bruises over their bodies. The other children didn’t have to steal from their classmate’s lunchboxes just to stave off the hunger pangs. It didn’t take long for his teachers to start raising concerns and then he was simply taken out of school. His life got much worse then. His days were spent locked in a closet, often forgotten about for days at a time. There were no school friends to steal food from and he struggled to survive. The beatings got worse, too. He tried to be good, but he had no idea how to please them.
When he was eight the sexual abuse started and carried on until he was 11 when a lucky break saved his life. A neighbour called round to deliver a package that had been left at her house by mistake. Somehow she spotted him through the open front door and shocked by what she saw, she immediately called the police. He was quickly removed and his parents were convicted on multiple counts of child cruelty and he was sent to the children’s home. Though they attempted to place him with foster families over the years, it never stuck, so he remained there until his 18th birthday.
In all honestly, he thought wryly as he adjusted his collar, he should thank his mother. It was because of his upbringing and the realization that she’d discarded him so casually th
at had given him the determination he needed to put himself through law school. It was the same determination that had seen him being named one of the youngest judges on the circuit.
And it was that determination that drove him to set up the Kings Club. His childhood had damaged him in some way, he knew that. But he also knew he couldn’t fight who he was. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t have a good life, too, as long as the darker side of him was controlled, allowed to take over when it needed to, so that it only surfaced when he let it.
He smiled at he looked in the mirror. Thanks, Mom.
Thirty-Four
It didn’t take them long to track down what had happened to Michael’s twin and soon they had a name. Daniel Carver. Judge Daniel Carver to be specific.
“A judge? Damn, are we sure that this is our guy?”
They’d gone to see Jenkins as soon as they had a name. “We can’t be sure, obviously, but based on what we know? Yeah, I think it’s our guy.”
“There are too many coincidences, Boss,” Lexi picked up as Elliot paused. “The watch, Michael’s brother, the motive,” she ticked them off her fingers.
Jenkins sighed. “Okay. Well, go get him. Let’s hope we’re right this time because if we’re not we’re in deep shit.”
Elliot smiled. “We’re not wrong boss, I feel it.” He turned and strode out of the office.
“I’ve checked with his clerk and he’s in court all day today,” Lexi told him as she walked beside him. “How do you want to handle it?”
He stopped and looked at her. “The same way we handle everyone else. We go and arrest him.”
“In court?” she raised her eyebrows.
“If we need to, yes.” He started walking again.
***
Daniel was at his office window in the courthouse when he saw them coming. He recognized them immediately from all the surveillance photos he had of them coming and going from Michael’s house.
He’d known the time would come and he’d planned for such an eventuality. Immediately removing his robe, he took a set of keys from his pocket and opened a locked drawer in his desk. Removing several large bundle of hundred dollar bills he put them in his briefcase. Going once more to the drawer he removed a passport. It had cost him several thousand dollars and would stand up to the most intense scrutiny. Putting it in his briefcase along with the money he snapped it shut. He had to be quick, it wouldn’t take them long to clear security and make their way up here. Flicking on his computer, he went online to the Bank of America website. Typing quickly, he transferred all his funds to a numbered bank account in the Bahamas. He waited a few tense seconds until the transaction was confirmed before running a programme that he’d had installed. It wiped everything from his computer leaving nothing behind.
Grabbing his briefcase he stepped out of his office and headed down the hall to the stairwell. The door was just closing behind him as he heard the elevator ping. Taking the stairs two at a time, he made his way to the parking garage and got his car. Checking his rear view mirror he smiled. Better luck next time.
***
“He’s not here.” Elliot said to the clerk who had shown them to Daniel’s office.
“Are you sure?” The clerk leaned round him to look. “We’re on a short recess so he should be. Maybe he’s in the bathroom?” he offered.
“I’ll check.” Lexi turned and jogged down the hall.
“Miss, you can’t go in there!” The clerk called after her as she disappeared round the corner.
“Don’t worry about her, there’s nothing there she hasn’t seen before.” Elliot told him.
A moment later she reappeared. “He’s not there.” She told them when she got close.
“He can’t know we’re on to him, so where is he?”
“Detective?”
Elliot turned to see the clerk holding up a pile of black cloth. “These are his robes.”
“He’s rabbited,” Elliot hissed through gritted teeth. “How the hell did he know we were coming?”
“Does he have a car?” Lexi shouted at the confused clerk.
“Yes, down in the parking garage. A black Porsche.”
They didn’t wait to thank him as they took off towards the stairs. Elliot pulled ahead as they ran and was first through the door to the underground garage, just in time to see the back end of the Porsche as it pulled out onto the street.
“Dammit!” He smashed his fist into the door just as Lexi caught up. “We missed him.”
She bent over, catching her breath. “Don’t worry,” she huffed. “We’ll get him.”
***
He was furious. He couldn’t believe Judge Carver managed to give them the slip so easily, like they were a pair of rank amateurs.
“At least we know it’s him now.” Lexi tried to be positive. “We’re closing in.”
Elliot appreciated the effort but it didn’t help. Who knew how long those women had now that he knew they were on to him?
“Think Lexi, think. Where else can he be?”
As soon as they’d got back to the office after their unsuccessful visit to the court, Jenkins called a meeting. They now had a killer on the loose and, potentially, the lives of several women at stake. It was time to step up the investigation.
He hauled several uniforms off their normal duties and right now they were canvassing the staff at the courthouse, trying to find any hint of where he may have gone or where he may be keeping the women. At the same time, CSU units were going over his office and home address with a fine tooth comb looking for anything that would give them a location.
So far both avenues had come up empty. He’d been meticulous. If he had a home computer, they’d been unable to find one and the one at the courthouse had been completely wiped clean. They had their specialist forensic IT department going over it but that would take time. Time they didn’t have.
“I’m going to talk to Patrick and Michael again.” Elliot let out a frustrated sigh and stood up from his desk. When they’d found out that Daniel had given them the slip they’d insisted on coming to the precinct despite being told there was nothing they could do. Jenkins had agreed to let them stay and they’d been put in an empty interview room out of the way.
“Have you found him?” Michael asked hopefully as soon as he pushed open the door.
“Sorry.” Elliot shook his head. “Are you sure there’s nothing, not even the slightest little thing you know that could help us? You may not even realize its importance. Anything.” He was clutching at straws and he knew it.
“How could we know anything?” Michael snapped in frustration. “We didn’t know he existed until a few hours ago.”
“What about his family?” Frederick asked.
“We checked. He was raised in a children’s home.” Patrick winced and Elliot could see that the knowledge hurt him.
“In all those years he never got adopted? Poor kid.”
Elliot could understand the sentiment but they weren’t talking about a kid anymore, they were talking about a fully grown killer.
“He was adopted for a while but it seems they ... well, they weren’t great parents.” He didn’t want to reveal the full horror of what they’d found when they accessed his records from the home. “They died in prison a few years ago.” He added as an afterthought.
“Well what about them?” Michael piped up.
“What do you mean? They’re dead.”
“Yes,” Michael spoke patiently. “But presumably if he was legally adopted anything that was theirs would go to him. Did they have any property?”
Idiot! He couldn’t believe that no one had thought about it before. Once they’d found out he’d spent the last few years in a children’s home after his abuse they’d stopped digging.
“You’re a genius.” He could have hugged him right then but settled for grinning at him before flinging open the interview room door and jogging back to the squad room.
“Lexi,” he called as soon as he spotted her. “I
think we might have something.”
“Really? They remembered something?”
He shook his head. “No, but Michael pointed out something we missed. The people who adopted him as a baby.”
She looked as confused as he had done a minute earlier. “But they’re dead.”
Elliot explained as fast as he could while logging on to the police computer. “He stopped using his adoptive surname as soon as he went back to the home and we never bothered to check it.” He could feel himself holding his breath as he tapped the information into the search box.
“Bingo!” he shouted punching the air. “Grab your coat.”
“What?”
“His adoptive parents owned an old farmhouse about an hour and a half’s drive from here. According to the property records, it went to their son when they died. Daniel.” He hit the print button and jumped up, grabbing his coat off the back of the chair.
“Whoa, wait a minute.”
“What? We need to go, now,” he frowned.
“Yes, but we can’t go just the two of us. Think about it. It’s a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, probably. We can’t just go strolling up to the front door and knock.”
He hated to admit it but she was right. They needed to get a team together. “Okay, I’ll go and talk to Jenkins. You go and update Michael and his father. After all, it’s thanks to them that we’ve got this.”
Thirty-Five
“What are we waiting for?”
Elliot turned and glared at Michael who was sat alongside his father in the backseat of the car. “You’re here because you threatened to get in a car and follow us if we didn’t let you come but I’ve told you, you need to keep quiet and stay out of the way.” He was already wishing that Jenkins had made them ride with someone else.
“I just don’t understand why no one is doing anything,” Michael continued, ignoring what he’d just been told.
“Look,” Lexi turned in the passenger seat and faced them. “The SWAT team know what they’re doing and we don’t move until they say so. Okay?”
Elliot was glad she’d explained it to them, he was losing patience. Probably because he was itching to get inside the building himself. Jenkins had insisted on calling in a SWAT team and, as they didn’t have their own, they’d had to wait a few hours for one to arrive from another city. That, followed by the long drive out here meant that Daniel had had hours on the loose doing God knew what. Now though they were finally in position and SWAT were about to go in.
True Deceit (Blindsided Book 1) Page 13