There was movement behind Ashlyn and Tain turned just as Tracy Reimer rushed up to Matt. “Where is she? Where’s my daughter? Where’s Shannon?”
She grabbed Matt’s jacket, pulling at it frantically, and screamed the words over and over, even as Tain pried her off Matt and another officer grabbed her from behind.
“Control your client or I’ll have her arrested,” Ashlyn snapped at Byron Smythe, who’d appeared out of the shadows.
“She’s clearly distraught—”
Ashlyn put up her hand. “Save it, Smythe. Here’s your client’s money.”
He took the bag from her. “Do you want us at the station?”
“It would be a good idea. We may have information we need to confirm with the family if we’re going to find Shannon.”
“I only brought Mrs. Reimer.”
Tain and Ashlyn exchanged a glance. “Where’s Christopher?”
“With his dad. They were going to the house to pick up some things.”
Tain exchanged a glance with Ashlyn before taking Matt to a cruiser to be transported to the station.
* * *
Ashlyn turned to Smythe. “Okay, you take Mrs. Reimer to the station and stay there. First call Richard’s cell and find out where he is.”
Smythe set the bag down and pulled out his phone with his one good hand. He was no longer on crutches, she noticed, but hobbling along independently. Tain had mentioned earlier that the knee injury wasn’t as serious as initially thought, and she felt a mix of relief and regret about that.
After a moment he shook his head. “No answer.”
Ashlyn held out her hand. “Give me the phone.”
“I will not.”
“You will, or so help me I’ll charge you with assault for what you did to me the other night.” Her voice was low, but she let her loathing for Smythe come through. Then she snapped her fingers at the officer holding Tracy Reimer. “Check her for a phone.”
He did, then shook his head. “She’s clean.”
“Okay. Take these two to the station, put them in an interview room together and don’t let them speak to anyone.”
“You better have a damn good reason for this,” Smythe said as he glared at her.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you your face would freeze that way?”
Ashlyn turned to Liam as the officer took Smythe and Mrs. Reimer to his cruiser.
“What do you need from me?” he asked.
“I need to question Matt, but I also need to know who’s in that house.”
Liam nodded. “Consider it done.”
She turned to follow Tain, but Liam stopped her and squeezed her arm. “Hey…keep in touch, okay?”
Ashlyn nodded.
He offered a small grin, and she allowed herself a fleeting smile and a quick nod before she turned and walked away.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
On the drive to the station Tain and Ashlyn had sat with Matt Lewis between them and hadn’t said a word. With two officers in the front, as well as them sitting with Matt in the back, words weren’t necessary. Ashlyn could see the sheen of sweat on the boy’s face. At first, he’d appeared confused and uncertain, but when they pulled into the station his eyes widened with fear. By the time he was seated in an interview room he looked like he was about to cry.
“How do you want to play this?” Tain asked Ashlyn as they watched Matt through the glass.
“No games. Go at him hard.”
Tain nodded. “He looks scared spitless.”
“He should be. These are serious crimes.” She glanced at her watch. “Before we do this…”
“You want to follow up at the Reimer house.”
“Don’t we have someone watching it still?”
Tain shook his head. “Pulled off for this tonight. Zidani had it handed over to Port Moody police.”
“Shit shit shit.”
“Come on.” Tain ordered an officer to stay and watch Matt Lewis. “Let’s go make sure everything’s okay.”
They didn’t talk on the drive over. Ashlyn knew it was unusual for them to walk away from a suspect, especially under the circumstances, but ever since Smythe had told her he’d only brought Mrs. Reimer with him she’d felt as though a trapdoor in her stomach had opened up and everything had fallen through.
Their headlights revealed the status of the surveillance on the Reimer house, as Parker and his partner blinked and rubbed their eyes.
“Ash,” Tain warned as he stopped their car.
She walked right up to driver’s side window. “Are Richard and Christopher Reimer still inside?”
Parker yawned and swore beneath his breath. Bennett rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, they’re still here.”
“Unless they left while you were sleeping,” she snapped.
Ashlyn marched past the Land Rover parked in the driveway and pounded on the door. The lights were on inside, but there was no sound of movement or sign of shadows. She rang the doorbell and then after a moment pounded again.
Tain pulled out his gun and nodded at Ashlyn. She reached for her gun first, then the door. It was unlocked.
“Mr. Reimer? It’s Constable Hart and Constable Tain from the RCMP. We need to speak with you.” She entered the house cautiously, doing a quick check to the left, into the living room.
“Oh God.” Ashlyn froze.
A pillow with a gaping hole lay on the floor, the feathers scattered in the blood. Tain walked around, approaching from the other side where there wasn’t as much seepage, and knelt by the body. He checked for a pulse and shook his head. “He’s still warm,” he said, then pulled his cell phone out and called it in. They checked the rest of the house. It was empty, and so was the garage and driveway.
“I guess we have access to the whole house now,” Tain said.
“Small consolation.” Ashlyn walked over to the gun. “We’ll have to check and see if it belonged to the family.”
It only took a few moments for more officers to arrive. Ashlyn snapped a photo on her cell phone and they handed the scene over to one of the secondary officers who’d worked the ransom drop with them.
“Make sure you have every room dusted,” Ashlyn said. “This is tied to another murder, so we want every print identified. I know it’s a lot…”
The officer nodded. “We’ll get it done.”
Ashlyn walked outside. For a moment she stood silent, staring at the PoMo police car. Then she started to march down the driveway.
“We have to get back to the station,” Tain said in a low voice.
“Not before I kick his ass.”
Parker was out of the cruiser, leaning against it, grinning as he chatted with his partner and someone else.
“You no good son of a bitch.” Ashlyn stopped right in front of him. “You can’t even babysit a fucking house properly.”
That cocky smile was gone in a heartbeat. “You’re such a sanctimonious little bitch.”
“I’m impressed, Parker. You used a word with more than three syllables. And when you write up your report we’ll all get to find out if you know how to spell it.”
He straightened up then and glared down at her. “I’d back off if I were you.”
“Why? Big tough guy might take a swing at me?” She poked his chest. “Probably all you’re good for, since we know how you rate at doing your job.”
Parker shoved her back, and she felt Tain catch her and fluidly step in between. Parker was still moving forward, fists clenched, but he stopped cold as Tain looked him in the eye.
“That’s the second time you’ve shown us you know how to push a woman around.”
“She wants to play with the boys she has to take it. Equal rights means no special treatment.”
“And I don’t expect any,” Ashlyn said as she got between him and Tain, clocked Parker on the jaw and kneed him in the stomach as he went down.
Tain grabbed her and pulled her back as Bennett went to help his partner.
“I’m not done with him.”
She struggled against Tain’s grip. The surge of anger inside her was matched by the heat in her face.
Tain pulled her back, grabbed her forearms, and looked her in the eyes. “You are for now. We have to talk to Matt.”
They drove back to the station in silence, except for Ashlyn’s quick call to Zidani to fill him in, made once she’d calmed down enough to keep her voice level.
When they got to the interview room where Matt was waiting Ashlyn paused and looked up at Tain. “I could have throttled him.”
“Ash, as a result of his incompetence a man is dead and a second child is missing. He’s not going to walk away from that. Zidani seemed to take it well.”
“It’s when Zidani isn’t yelling that I start to worry,” Ashlyn said.
“Who’s going to tell Smythe?”
She shook her head. “I assume we are. But first, we’re going to see what Matt can tell us.”
They entered the room and both remained standing. Tain moved closer to Matt, towering over him. “What have you got to say for yourself?”
“I—” Matt’s voice squeaked like a prepubescent boy’s would. “I don’t know anything about a kidnapping!”
“Fine,” Ashlyn said as she walked up to the table, put her hands down on it and leaned toward the boy. “Then let’s talk about murder.”
“Murder? Who— What— I-I don’t know nothin’ about a murder.”
“Come on, Matt,” Ashlyn said. “You knew Shannon was running away. We know the calls to Shannon’s parents, demanding money, came from a house in New Westminster owned by Nurani Patel’s family. And you showed up at the park right after the drop. You’re in serious trouble here.”
“But I-I-I didn’t kill anyone! They just asked me to go to the park and pick up a bag. They said where it would be and when to go. That’s it. I swear.” He closed his eyes. “I thought…I thought…”
“You thought what?” Ashlyn asked.
He opened his eyes and looked right at her. “I thought it was clothes and stuff. I didn’t know what was in the bag until you showed me.”
“Who wanted you to go get it?” Tain asked.
Matt was shaking. He looked up at Tain. “Nurani.”
“Where’s Shannon?” Ashlyn demanded.
Matt moved his head from side to side, slowly at first, then at an almost frenzied pace. “I swear I don’t know. You have to believe me.”
“If you want me to believe you, Matt, you better tell me everything,” Ashlyn said.
“I have! Nurani asked me to go to the park and pick up a black knapsack. She said to wait until about quarter, twenty after one.”
Ashlyn frowned. “How did Nurani ask you?”
“Wh-what do you mean how?”
“Did she talk to you, phone you?”
“She called me.”
“From her house or her cell?”
“Uh, her cell. Why?”
“What were you supposed to do with the bag?” Tain asked.
“Take it to some house.”
“What’s the address?” Ashlyn asked.
“It’s on the paper in my coat pocket.”
Tain checked the coat and removed the slip. “It’s the house in New Westminster. The one Nurani’s family owns.”
“Well, that all fits, doesn’t it?” Ashlyn said. “That makes our friend Matt an accomplice to extortion.”
Tain nodded. “And murder.”
“I didn’t have nothin’ to do with Jeffrey’s murder! You’ve gotta believe me!”
“Oh, we’re not talking about Jeffrey.” Ashlyn pulled out her cell phone and found the picture she’d taken. “We’re talking about this murder.”
She turned the phone around so that Matt could see the photo. He’d seemed pale before, but his face went a pasty white and then he heaved and retched all over the table. Ashlyn had just enough time to pull herself back and avoid the spray.
Once his stomach was empty Matt sat there, sweat trickling down his face along with the tears. His voice was low and calm when he finally spoke.
“I didn’t know. But I guess now Nurani knew more than I did. If anyone knows where Shannon is, it’s her, but I swear I haven’t talked to her since she disappeared.”
“We’ll get someone in here to clean this up, and get you some fresh clothes and something to drink,” Tain said. “And we want to run a test.”
“What kind of test?”
“One that will prove you didn’t shoot Richard Reimer.”
“Okay, sure, fine.”
Ashlyn was already at the door and turned to open it.
“Where are you going?” Matt asked.
“To talk to Nurani.”
“Sh-sh-sh-she’ll kn-know I told you.”
Ashlyn glanced at Tain. “Matt, I think that’s the least of your worries.”
“But what if she killed Shannon’s dad?”
“Then she’ll go to prison,” Tain said.
It only took a minute to give an officer instructions about Matt. As they walked down the hall the sound of shouting grew, and when they turned a corner Byron Smythe was getting in an officer’s face, demanding answers.
Smythe looked up as Tain and Ashlyn approached.
“You! You’ve kept us waiting here for hours. This is ridiculous. I’m taking my client home.”
Ashlyn folded her arms across her chest. “So you can get her killed too?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Why didn’t you bring Richard and Christopher with you tonight? You’ve kept the family together for everything else. Tracy and Christopher didn’t need to be at your office for days as we waited for a phone call from the alleged kidnappers—”
“Alleged? You’ve got the guy in an interview room!”
“Shannon’s boyfriend. He hasn’t seen her since she disappeared. And if you’d cooperated with us from the beginning, Smythe, it’s likely we’d already have Shannon, so don’t you whine to me about having to wait here for a few hours.” Ashlyn started to walk past him.
Smythe grabbed her left arm with his left hand and pushed her up against the wall. “I’m sick of your attitude.”
“Get your hands off me.”
She heard Zidani before she saw him. “Let go of her right now.” Smythe was pressing hard, and she could feel the pressure of his weight pushing into her body. Then he let go and backed away as he turned to Zidani.
“I want to take my client home right now!”
He shook his head. “You two aren’t going anywhere.”
“This is outrageous! This”—he pointed at Ashlyn—“officer confiscated my cell phone and will not allow me to contact Mrs. Reimer’s family.”
“You can’t call them.” Ashlyn practically spat the words out. “Thanks to you, Richard’s dead and Christopher’s missing.”
“Ashlyn,” Zidani warned.
Smythe froze and turned pale. “What are you talking about?”
She stepped up to him. “Every second of this investigation you haven’t let a single member of this family out of your sight, but tonight you leave Richard Reimer and his son alone. Now we’ve got two missing kids and two murder victims. This’ll do wonders for your reputation. I’m sure everyone will want to hire a lawyer who lets his clients get killed.”
“Don’t do anything stupid.” Zidani stepped between her and the lawyer, who’d raised a fist, his face burning and eyes flashing with anger.
“Come on, Ash,” Tain said. “He’s not worth it.”
She felt her partner’s fingers on her arm, took a step back as Zidani stepped forward and handed her some papers.
“Search warrants. You’ve got full access to the Patel house and a team waiting.” He paused and looked at Smythe. “And full access to the residence of Byron Smythe, where the Reimer family was staying since Jeffrey’s murder. Mr. Smythe and Mrs. Reimer won’t be going anywhere. New West PD are holding for another half an hour, then they’re going in.”
Ashlyn reached into her pocke
t and pulled out Smythe’s cell phone. She gave it to Zidani without a word and walked away.
When they got in the car Tain turned to Ashlyn before he started the engine.
“Don’t start.” Her words sounded flat and hollow. Somewhere between the confrontation in the hallway and their arrival in the parking lot all her anger had seeped out. “I feel like I’ve spent the last few days trying to control my temper, or bawling like a baby, and I’m frustrated.”
“You can’t beat yourself up, Ash. It won’t help anyone.”
She smiled wryly. “If you say it’s hormones—”
“You’re passionate about justice, about your job. Parker and Smythe both screwed up. You know the only reason I’m annoyed is because when you lose your temper I can’t.”
“That’s how it works, is it? One of us always has to stay rational?”
“It keeps us from ever doing anything really stupid.”
She was silent for a moment, then said, “I’m not so sure about that.”
It didn’t take long to reach the Patel house and get the team organized. Once everyone was in position Ashlyn pounded on the front door, identifying them as police with a search warrant.
Tain watched as first one light went on upstairs, then another, and then light spilled down to the main floor. They could hear footsteps and voices, but the murmurs were too low for him to make out the words. Ashlyn knocked again.
“Mr. and Mrs. Patel, this is the RCMP. We have a search warrant. If you don’t open the door we’re going to use force.”
There was a moment of silence, followed by the sound of the dead bolt sliding back as the door was unlocked. When the man opened the door Ashlyn asked, “Are you Mr. Patel?”
He nodded. Mr. Patel was a thin man, not particularly tall, with dark hair, dark eyes, a lean face. He had a calm look about him. Ashlyn handed him the warrant and advised him of his rights, nudging him aside as officers entered the house.
The Frailty of Flesh Page 27