Tainted Mind

by Schultz, Tamsen

  “Can I ask where you were four weeks ago when Rebecca Cole went missing?” he asked Brian, not backing down.

  Brian's eyes skittered away, and Ian's heart sank. “I, uh, I can't do that?”

  “And might I ask why?” Ian crossed his arms over his chest.

  Brian gave him a self-deprecating smile. “Okay, this is going to sound very cliché, but it is the truth. I can't actually tell you where I was because it's a national security issue.”

  The only reason Ian gave the statement any credence was the goofy grin Brian was unsuccessfully trying to fight. He looked like a kid who couldn't believe what he was saying. He didn't look like someone trying to hide something.

  “Is there anyone who can confirm you were on the job without providing more details?” Ian pressed. Brian and Naomi shared a look.

  “Here,” Brian said, writing down a number with no name. “Call and ask for Justice.”

  “Justice?” Ian repeated.

  “I know, terrible name, isn't it? I thought it was made up when we first met, but it isn't,” Naomi said.

  Ian's eyes bounced from twin to twin. Reaching for the paper, he looked at the number. He couldn't place the country code but it was definitely foreign. “Do I need to account for any time difference?”

  Both the twins smiled and answered simultaneously, “No.”

  He took a deep breath. “Okay, what about three years ago then?” He rattled off the dates between when Jessica Akers went missing and when the road was repaved.

  “May I?” Brian asked, lifting his ever-present laptop. Ian nodded and Brian popped open his computer and began keying something in. Within a minute, he sat back.

  “I was in Okinawa and Hawaii during that time. We were testing some communications systems.”

  “That proof?” Ian said with a nod toward the computer.

  “Yes, for what it's worth. Our invoice to the government with credit card charges noted. You can check with them too, if you want to be certain I'm not making this up. I also have the trip report but I would have to redact it before I showed it to you so it's probably not worth it,” Brian said.

  Ian's gaze slid over the invoice and he scrolled down to see the accompanying charges. If it could be believed, Brian was nowhere near the eastern seaboard when Jessica Akers was kidnapped and killed.

  “I had to look into it,” Ian said, raising his eyes to meet Brian's. The perennial cheerful twin grinned.

  “No worries, mate. I don't like the idea of you thinking I might be capable of doing what was done to those women, but I appreciate that you have to do your job and, to be honest,” Brian added, confirming what Ian had suspected, “it's not like it wasn't expected. Naomi was just testing you, seeing if she could get you to back down. We're both glad you didn't, especially considering all the women look like Vivi and were even born at the same time.”

  “Brian!” Naomi admonished. “You don't need to worry him.”

  Brian raised an eyebrow at his sister. “You don't think he hasn't noticed? No one else on the force would know Vivi well enough to know when she was born, but you do, don't you, Ian? You know Vivi fits the profile to a T, don't you?”

  For a fleeting moment, Ian thought about denying it. But what good would that do. It would be a lie and a blatant one at that. He let out a long breath and ran his good hand through his hair.

  “Yeah, I do know. We know. Which is why I need to check on everyone in this file.” He tapped the manila folder sitting on his desk.

  “And why you sent her down to the hospital before she could talk with us,” Naomi mused out loud. After a moment, she asked, “So, is Brian cleared now? Because if he is, we would like to help Carly do some background work on everyone else the computer found.”

  “You haven't done that already?” Ian asked, doubting they'd been so circumspect.

  “We wanted to, but the computer just finished running the program. We figured we'd run these pictures over to you, then go back and do our own work. But you got here at the same time we did, so we haven't had a chance,” Brian answered.

  Ian took a good, long look at the siblings, weighing whether or not he could believe what they'd told him, about the pictures but also about Brian's whereabouts. Instinct told him they were good, but he didn't want Vivienne's safety at risk because of his gut.

  Without a word, he sat down and dialed the number Brian gave him. The line picked up and he asked for Justice. Two minutes later, his mind cleared of any doubt, he followed Vivienne's cousins up the stairs.

  * * *

  “You hustled me down to the hospital, and I didn't even get to ask what Naomi and Brian found,” Vivi said into her cell as she and Nick walked into the hospital.

  “Sorry about that. There were nine people who showed up in all three locations. Three men we're going to run through the database,” Ian answered.

  “What about the others?”

  “Four are your family members and the other two are women. We may run them too, but for now we're focusing on the three men.”

  The elevator doors glided open, and Vivi stepped out into the ICU. “What about the folks we met today?”

  “I'm going to check all of them out, too. We'll see if any of the guys show up in the system and Naomi and Brian are going to do some internet magic to see if they can find anything,” Ian answered.

  “Are you including Joe's father, Schuyler?” she asked, holding Nick back. She wanted to finish this conversation before they checked in on Meghan.

  “Yeah, I am.”

  “I think that's a good call. It doesn't sound like he's in the area, but he definitely has access,” she said.

  “And Joe thought someone was at the house,” Ian added.

  “Speaking of which, any updates on Lilly Adams's cousins?”

  She could hear Ian let out a frustrated breath. “No, no answer at any of the phone numbers we have for them. If I don't hear from them by tomorrow morning, I may call someone local and ask them to check up on them.”

  Vivi smiled. “I think that's a good plan.”

  Ian chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go check on Meghan and let me know how she is. I need to talk to Nick, but Marcus will bring you back when you're done.”

  “Where are you sending Nick?”

  He paused for a moment before answering. “You mentioned feeling like you weren't alone the other night, when you were at my place and I was in the hospital. I want Nick to go up and check out the property. I haven't had a chance to get out there, but I think it's worth at least having a look to see if anything is out of place or disturbed.”

  That thought made her heart skip a beat—and not in a good way. She opened her mouth to tell him she'd probably been imagining things, that it would be a waste of Nick's time. But then reality set in.

  She let out a huff. “As much as I hate to admit it, because the thought makes me sick, that's probably a good idea—and one I should have thought of earlier. If he was there and he did leave any traces, they'll be harder to find now.”

  “Don't be so hard on yourself. You told me Nick is good. If something is there, he'll find it. You've been busy taking care of other things.”

  She had, they all had. They ended the call, agreeing to talk again before she left the hospital. She hadn't taken four steps toward the nurses’ station, when her cell rang again. Glancing at the number, she answered.

  “Daniel, where are you?” she asked.

  “I'm at the lab with Sam.” His voice was tight.

  “Are you sure that's a good idea?”

  “Meaning?”

  Vivi sighed and made a mental note to herself to incorporate more of the real world into her work with her students in the future. “How are you holding up?” she asked instead.

  Daniel ignored her question. “We have the blankets and materials used during transport, surgery, and cleanup. The hospital did a good job of labeling everything with where it was collected from and during what stage—surgery, cleanup, etc. We started with the wi
pes used to clean her face. It was,” his voice broke for a moment then he cleared his throat. “Her face took the brunt of the assault so we're going to look to see if maybe some of the perpetrator's blood got mixed in with some of hers. We're running blood typing and DNA on each swab.”

  That was a monumental task, but a good one. If Meghan was beaten by a fist, chances were her face was their best bet for any trace biological material of the attacker. “Can you have someone in the lab send all the photos of her to Ian's computer? I probably won't make it up to Albany tonight, but I would like to have a closer look at the pictures of her injuries.”

  Daniel agreed, and after making plans to talk later, they hung up. Within minutes, Dr. Martinez showed up to give Vivi and Nick an update, which was brief. Meghan was still in a coma and her condition was still serious. Vivi hadn't expected anything else at this point, but at least Meghan was considered stable.

  “Her mother is here if you would like to talk to her.” Dr. Martinez offered.

  Nick shrugged and spoke, “I need to go do a few things. I assume Marcus is standing guard?” he asked Dr. Martinez, who nodded. Turning back to Vivi, he added, “I know Ian called in some help from the Riverside police, and they'll be providing someone to relieve Marcus in about an hour. Why don't you go see Ms. Conners and then head back with Marcus. I'll leave as soon as you're in the room.”

  If Dr. Martinez thought it strange that Nick was lurking and basically playing hot potato with her by handing her off to Marcus, she didn't show it. She turned her gaze back to Vivi, who inclined her head in agreement.

  Before entering the room, Vivi looked in to see Meghan's mother, right where she'd left her earlier. Looking small, frail, and utterly lost, she sat beside her daughter.

  Vivi gave a soft knock before sliding the door open and stepping inside; once it snicked back shut, the only sound in the room was the beeping of the heart monitor. Vivi looked at Meghan again, her face swollen and bandaged. She had an oxygen tube under her nose, but at least she was breathing on her own.

  “She's a much better person than I ever was,” Ms. Conners said, her voice muted with fatigue and sorrow. “She's stronger, smarter, more loving. You should see the way she loves Davey.”

  Vivi walked to Meghan's side and rested a hand on her arm, waiting for Ms. Conners to continue, knowing she needed to talk, to keep her daughter well and happy, if only in her own mind.

  “And, good lord, is she a worker. Works harder in a week than I did most of my life. I don't know where she got that from. Not me and definitely not her father.” She paused and Vivi watched as a single tear fell from her eye. “Or maybe she did get it from us. From knowing what she didn't want to be.”

  “You know she was taking classes right?” Ms. Conners asked, finally raising her eyes. Vivi nodded. “She ran that shop and was almost done with her associate's degree. She was going to get her bachelor's degree next. She is going to get her bachelor's degree next,” she corrected herself.

  “And what does she want to do?” Vivi asked.

  A ghost of a smile touched the older woman's lips. “Ice cream. She's good at it. Have you ever had it?”

  Again, Vivi nodded and agreed.

  “She wants to get a degree in business and grow her ice cream business. Maybe not quite the next Ben and Jerry's but something like that.”

  “She was on her way to New York City, what class was she taking down there?” Vivi asked.

  Again, a faint smile crossed Ms. Conner's lips. “That was a design class, interior design. It counts toward her degree, but isn't part of the business degree. She took it because she plans to open more stores sometime down the road, and she wanted to know about design so she could do it herself and not hire others. ‘Mom,’ she used to say, ‘No one knows better than me what I want my customers to experience when they come into my shop.’ So she took the class.” Meghan's mother's voice cracked and faded.

  Vivi looked down to give her a measure of privacy. Tracing a line down Meghan's arm, Vivi paused at the marks left by the bindings. They looked a little different than what they'd found on Rebecca, but then again, Rebecca's body had decomposed enough that a comparison wasn't really viable. Vivi gave a mental sigh. The good news was Meghan had survived; the bad news was that with a live body they couldn't get as aggressive about evidence as they could with a dead body. She had swabbed the cuts earlier, but doubted that, without more invasive techniques, they'd get enough to confirm a material match in the kind of bindings used on the victims. But Vivi didn't mind giving that up as long as Meghan lived. She knew no one did.

  “Ms. Conners?”

  The woman looked up.

  “I'm going to head back to the station now. Please, if there is anything I can do to help you or your family, will you let me know?” Vivi reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card.

  Meghan's mother stared at the card for a moment, then reached for it. “You're with the FBI?” she asked, reading the title. “I didn't know Ian had called in the FBI.”

  “I consult with them, and I was on this case as a favor to Ian before Meghan was involved,” Vivi answered.

  “You think whoever killed that poor woman in the well did this to my daughter?”

  Vivi had assumed someone had spoken to her about this, but judging by the look on the woman's face, this was all news to her.

  “We think it's a possibility, yes. There are a number of similarities that lead us to believe we are looking for one person.”

  Ms. Conners's eyes went back to Meghan for a moment then flitted back to Vivi. “She wasn't supposed to live, was she?”

  Like Meghan's mother, Vivi's eyes traveled to Meghan's battered and bandaged face. Her mind flashed back to that morning, to finding Meghan's bruised and brutalized body lying naked in the gully. The blood pressure machine whirred to life, beeped, and revealed a steady number. Meghan might have been left for dead but she was fighting.

  CHAPTER 24

  THE STATION WAS BUZZING with activity when Vivi and Marcus arrived. Sharon had gone home for the day, but they could hear feet shuffling on the floor above, chairs being moved around and scraping against the hardwood, and voices. Hoping Ian and his team had found something, she and Marcus trudged upstairs. The toll of the day was definitely wearing on her.

  “Vivienne,” Ian said, as she stepped onto the landing. “Meghan?”

  At his question, everyone paused and looked at Vivi. “Same, serious but stable. She's a fighter though. I bet we'll know more tomorrow.”

  “God, I hope so,” Carly muttered.

  “Amen to that,” Brian added.

  The room wasn't all that small but was packed with people. In addition to Carly, Ian, and Wyatt, Naomi and Brian were there. With her and Marcus joining the crew, and Nick coming in right behind them, it made for tight quarters. Even so, the murder board was tidy and next to it stood a new one, covered with pictures of men. Seven of them to be exact. Three were the men she'd met with Nick and Ian earlier in the day. The other four were identified as Schuyler Adams—Joe's father—Mike Ross, Kirk Hancock, and Lee Grant.

  “I take it these other three are men from the videos?” Vivi asked, stepping closer to have a good look. Ian came up beside her and confirmed her assumption. He stayed silent as she examined each picture, trying to recall if she knew them, if she'd met them anywhere before.

  “Ross and Hancock look a little familiar, but it might be because I met them at the fundraiser,” she said. “Grant isn't ringing any bells, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Where are you with the background searches?”

  “A few showed up in the system and we can talk about that in a minute,” Ian said. “We were just wrapping up for the night here, but I want to go over everything with you when we get home. Marcus?” The officer turned, as Ian called his name. “Have Carly catch you up and then you guys can head home for the night. Wyatt, you're done, so go home and get some sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow, folks. Daniel and Sam should have
some physical evidence by ten or eleven, or so they've promised, and I think we all need to try to get as much rest as we can before then.”

  He paused and made a point of looking at each one of them, to make sure they not only heard what he was saying but were actually listening too. Apparently satisfied, Ian continued. “Tomorrow morning we'll reconvene here and review all the evidence against what we dug up today on each of these men. Based on that, we'll decide if we have a viable suspect and enough to take to a judge for a warrant.”

  To Vivi's surprise, even Naomi and Brian started putting away their computers. Then again, she didn't doubt that they would head straight back to The Tavern and pick up where they'd left off. Which reminded her, “Have you guys seen Travis?” she asked.

  Both her cousins shook their heads. “No,” Naomi said, sliding her computer into a bag. “But he said he was going down to New York today. I think he found some places up here for one of the films he's scouting for and wanted to meet with the director. Why?”

  Vivi shrugged and handed Brian the folder he was reaching for. “No reason. I just haven't seen him much and was wondering what he was up to. I feel kind of bad that he was sent all the way out here to check on me and, other than breakfast, I haven't even been able to give him the time of day.”

  “You didn't ask us to come here, the parents sent us,” Brian interjected. “And besides, last time I saw him, he was happy as a clam. He's come up here a few times with his parents, but he was saying this is the first time he's really been able to take the back roads, if you know what I mean.”

  Vivi knew exactly what Brian meant and gave a small laugh. Aunt Mary, Travis's mom, was not a ‘chill’ kind of person and Vivi was pretty sure the word ‘relax’ was not even in her vocabulary. She kind of envied Travis at this moment and wondered what it would be like to be driving around looking for pretty places rather than studying a murder board. Like she'd been trying to do after the debacle in Seattle.

  “Anyway,” she said, grabbing a stack of files from Ian, “If you see him tomorrow morning before you come in, ask if maybe we can try to catch lunch or something.”