“Who?” He leaned forward.
“Tanya Craft. A teacher at Well’s High.” Mrs. Chavez looked perplexed.
“Yes, Tanya Craft.”
“I do hope you’ll agree to come. Our programs are set to encourage students to overcome the hurdles that might lead them to dropping out of school.”
Brit held up his hand to interrupt. He didn’t need the sales pitch on the program—he needed information. “Mrs. Chavez, I’ll be more than happy to speak with your group.” If you still want me after I try to bust a couple of your future dropouts. “But I’m not here about that.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed. What can I do for you?”
~
“Did you see Brit this morning?” Mr. Paxton asked Cali again.
“Let’s stay on track here,” Adams said as if the question had disturbed him as well.
While relieved to be off that hook, the accusation that Cali may have been aware of the robberies still needed to be addressed. She met the woman’s glare head on.
Ms. Paxton squared her shoulders and Cali imitated her posture. “I didn’t know Stan was robbing jewelry stores, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“I’m simply covering all our bases, Miss McKay. The questions I ask are nothing compared to those Humphrey’s lawyer will ask when you’re on the stand.” The woman tapped her pencil against the table. “So your boyfriend shot at you?”
“Someone shot through my apartment door,” Cali replied.
“Someone?” Red leaned closer. Cali swore the woman breathed in as if attempting to catch Brit’s scent on her. Somehow she knew. Of course she knew, just like Cali knew. The woman rapped her red fingernails against the file. “According to this report, you said it was your boyfriend.”
Cali leaned in, actually hoping the woman got a big whiff of Brit’s musk and sandalwood. “Yes, I did say that, but when I came in to file a restraining order against him, I think I mentioned to the other officer that Stan claimed he wasn’t the one who shot the gun. I may not have made a big deal about it, because at the time I didn’t believe it.”
“But you believe him now,” the DA said, and the tapping of her nails on the table grew intense. Tap, tap, tap. “Forgive me for being frank, Miss McKay, but for the sake of the case I’d like to know.” She paused. “Do you, or do you not think Stan Humphrey is guilty?”
Adams shifted in his seat. “Does it matter what she thinks? She’s a fact witness. Can’t we stick to the facts?”
The woman twisted to look at the sergeant. “You do your job and let me do mine.”
Adams’ brows pinched and Red’s acute focus shifted back to Cali. It was the kind of direct eye contact that made lumps appear in the target’s throat. And Cali’s lump started to crowd her tonsils.
Brit’s sergeant looked up, and Quarles leaned back in his chair, studying Cali with the same intensity. Three pairs of eyes drilled holes in her. Lying would be so much easier than telling the truth. She knew what they all wanted to hear. They wanted her to say that she believed Stan did it—that he killed the band members, that he shot that cop, but that wasn’t what she believed.
Reaching up, she brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. The pause seemed to swell with tension. For just a second, she considered taking the easy way out. It would make them happy. It would make Brit happy. Then she remembered her dream and her mom’s words. Just remember that a little conflict won’t kill you. Sometimes, it even makes you stronger.
~
Brit looked at the woman directly. “So there’s no mistake here? It was definitely Keith Bolts and Mike Anderson who spoke.”
“Well, yes. As a matter of fact, Tanya called me this morning asking the very same question. Is there something going on that I should know about?”
Brit squared his shoulders. “Yes, Mrs. Chavez, I think something very serious is going on. Have you kept up with the news about the two officers who were shot?”
“I gave up watching the news. It upsets me.”
It upset Brit, too. It was meant to upset people, to inform and hopefully encourage them to get involved. He gritted his teeth to keep from voicing his opinion. “The two officers who spoke at your meeting are the two who were shot and killed.”
She leaned back in her chair and her olive color washed white. “You think someone with At-Risk is involved with this?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I think.” He splayed his hands out on her desk. “And this is what I’ll be needing—a list of every student in the program. Any background information you have on them, such as involvement in drugs or gangs, and especially of those who attended the last meeting.”
“That’s a lot of kids, Detective.”
He didn’t blink. “And I know you’re already considering how quickly you can get those to me. And by quick, I don’t mean tomorrow. So I’ll just wait here while you pull that info together.”
She stood and fidgeted with some papers on her desk. “Dios Mio, I seriously hope you’re wrong about this.”
Brit didn’t say it, but he seriously hoped he was right. Finding Keith and Anderson’s killer meant more than anything to him. An image of Cali, wrapped in a sheet, waddling to the bathroom, trying not to expose her backside, filled his mind. Okay, finding the killer meant more than almost anything. It didn’t even matter that she talked to her dead mother in her dreams. But, hell, considering where this lead came from, he loved her dead mother, too.
Then it hit him, right between the eyes, but mostly in his heart. He loved Cali. The thought came with a certainty that he couldn’t deny. What’s more, he didn’t want to.
~
An hour later, Brit danced out of his car to the precinct with a list of fifty teens. He figured by the time they narrowed it down to those who fit the descriptions Rina gave, he’d only have fifteen or twenty. But damn. They could have Keith’s murderer locked away by this time next week. Even sooner.
As Brit made it up the stairs, he saw Quarles storming out. The man didn’t look happy, but Brit figured he’d change that with his news. The whole precinct would celebrate.
Brit hurried his pace.
“Guess what I got,” he said.
“What?” Quarles asked.
“Keith’s and Anderson’s case. Big tip. And it panned out.”
Quarles’ eyes did light up. “What did you get?”
“Both Keith and Anderson spoke last September at an At-Risk program for possible dropouts. And at least 50 percent of these kids are gang-related.”
Quarles’ eyes widened. “How did we miss this? I personally went through all their public appearances.”
“The woman in charge said that at the last minute the cop who was supposed to appear with Anderson had something come up. Keith was added at the last minute. I figure they never felt compelled to change it on the paperwork. ”
“Yeah,” Quarles said and Brit could see the man’s mind turning. “We’ll need a list of the kids involved.”
Brit thumped the file he held in his hand. “Got it. I’m on my way to run the records and see which ones have priors.”
They headed for the door, a new bounce to Quarles’ step. “Where did you get this tip?”
Brit decided on a partial truth. “Cali.”
Quarles stopped and his brow furrowed. “Cali?”
“She volunteered at that meeting. Last week, she told me she was trying to piece together why Anderson seemed so familiar. He was there at her place, remember? Then she saw a picture of Keith and recognized him too. Last night, she figured it out.”
“Fine. But I’d advise you that when you’re repeating this to Adams, leave Cali’s name out of it.”
“Why?” Brit got a bad feeling. “Did the questioning go badly?”
“That would be putting it mildly.”
“What happened? Is Cali okay?”
Quarles folded his arms over his chest. “First the DA came on like a bitch on wheels. She–”
“She? Shit! Please don’t
tell me it was Shane Paxton.”
Quarles gave him a cutting look. “Yeah. Adams told me you two were an item. Anyway, it was as if she had this sixth sense that you and Cali were getting it on between the sheets.”
“That woman is a trained Doberman. She could chew Cali up and spit her out. Is Cali okay?”
“Cali? You’re worried about Cali? You should worry about your ass and mine. By the time the meeting was over, that Doberman had pretty much convinced Adams that we’d done a half-ass job on the case. She frowned upon the little issue of us not having a murder weapon. Then she laid out some serious implications that you may have overstepped boundaries with the witness. But the crap really hit the fan when Cali, your sweet little lady friend, made it pretty clear which side of the fence she was on.”
“What do you mean?” Brit rolled the papers in his hand into a tight tube.
“She basically corroborated everything Humphrey has been saying since we brought him in. You’d think Cali and Humphrey had compared notes and had their stories straight.”
“What?” Every bit of happiness that had filled his chest now squeezed out of his lungs.
“Humphrey claimed he didn’t shoot Cali’s door that night. And Cali just seemed to remember that Humphrey told her he wasn’t the one to shoot. Then Paxton came right out and asked if she thought Humphrey was guilty of murder. The girl didn’t blink. She said, ‘No, I don’t think he’d kill anyone.’ She went on to say the man was kind to the elderly, and she didn’t see him killing his friends. Right now, she’s down there trying to see Humphrey. She’s obviously still got the hots for him. Sorry, I know you don’t want to hear that.”
Brit struggled to breathe. “She’s trying to see him?”
“Yeah,” Quarles said.
The last piece of info fell on Brit like sharp rocks. He shot up the rest of the steps and stormed into the building. For every step he took forward, he took one back to his past. How had he let himself be fooled again? Hadn’t he seen it in the beginning? Hadn’t he known it? Cali McKay was his mother’s clone. They always went back to the guy who mistreated them.
He stormed downstairs to the holding tanks. He found Cali in the waiting room, sitting in a metal chair, twirling her purse strap around her fingers. He didn’t speak to her when she raised her gaze. Instead, he took her by the elbow and led her into one of the small visiting rooms.
He flung the door closed, slamming his palm on the wall so hard that pain shot up his arm. “What the fuck are you doing?” He saw her flinch, but was too angry to care.
“What?” She looked up at him with those huge innocent orbs of blue.
“Do you still love him?” Hadn’t he asked his mother the same question?
Cali blinked those eyes at him. Oh yeah, he’d bought his mother’s “poor me” looks for years. How many times had he stepped between her and his father—even taken the blows for her? For what? She always let the old man move back in.
“Answer me, damn it!” He took a step closer. She took a step back. He moved in, a man with a mission, a man with a broken heart. “You love him.”
She shook her head. “No. I need to talk to him. I need to make sure that I’m right. If I have to testify then—”
“For him or against him?” When she didn’t seem to understand what he was asking her, he explained. “Are you going to be testifying for him or against him, Cali?”
“I’m going to tell the truth.” She had tears in her eyes.
He refused to acknowledge them, refused to let them affect him. He’d played this game with his mother, he wasn’t about to play it with her. “What the hell is wrong with you? Wait, you don’t have to tell me. I had it right in the beginning. You’re just like my mom.”
“I can’t fix you,” she said.
“Good. Because I don’t want to attempt to fix you either!’
Her hot blue eyes tightened to thin slits, but pain rivaled with anger for top emotion. “I’m leaving.”
She said the words with such certainty, that it hit his gut like a bullet, but that’s what he wanted. Wasn’t it? As he watched her walk out, the pain he’d seen in her eyes echoed tenfold in his chest.
~
Cali left. She didn’t have the strength to confront Stan now. Oh later, she intended to do it. She needed to be sure she was right about his inability to commit murder. She didn’t care what Brit thought.
She didn’t care.
She didn’t.
So why did it feel as if she was dying inside?
She drove to her mother’s house, shaking so badly her hands hardly stayed on the wheel.
~
Once inside, she shut and locked the door. She went to her mother’s room, threw herself down on the hospital bed where her mother had died less than two weeks ago. Wrapping her hands around a pillow that still smelled like her mother, Cali sobbed.
Mom was right. She couldn’t fix Brit. And remembering the things he’d said, Cali hurt so badly, she wasn’t sure she even cared if he fixed himself.
Chapter Forty-One
Two days later, Brit stood over Rina Newman’s shoulder and waited with bated breath for her answer. He’d worked nonstop for the past forty-eight hours, chasing down leads, compiling photo lineups, and doing whatever it took to catch Keith and Anderson’s killer.
“That’s him,” Rina said, pointing to one of the photographs. “He was the one waiting in the car.”
Quarles slapped a hand on Brit’s back. His partner hadn’t backed down either. For every hour Brit worked, Quarles had stood beside him. Both of them were running on empty. Only fast food and bad coffee kept them on their feet. Sleep had been something he’d left behind. Brit picked up the photograph and looked at the back to see where the kid lived and went to school. It was ten A.M. The school would be the first place to hit. Wells High.
Brit gritted his teeth. With the whole damn district, why did the teen have to go there? The idea of running into Cali sent acid burning through another layer of his stomach.
But the only thing that would hurt more than seeing Cali right now would be not catching Keith’s killer. “Come on,” he said to Quarles, who was already on the phone calling for backup.
They didn’t meet resistance. Mrs. Jasmine called the boy to the office, and they escorted him out. Of course, the paperwork they’d slapped on her desk didn’t leave her any option.
On the way out, Brit stopped by the main office to tell someone to call the boy’s parents and let them know where they were taking him. When he turned to leave, he saw Tanya, standing on the other side of the hall. She started toward him, her attitude adding a bounce to her steps.
He considered ducking out. He’d already been privy to her smart mouth, and he didn’t care to hear it again, but some sort of masochist emotion kept his feet planted to the hall floor.
Her eyes shot daggers at him when she came to a halt. “The only thing that keeps me from ripping your heart out and feeding it to the roaches in the science lab is knowing that, sooner or later, you’re going to realize that you were wrong—and stupid. One of these days, you’ll know what you lost. Thank God, even people as sweet as Cali have limits and you crossed hers. And that, Mr. Little Dickhead, brings me a hell of a lot of pleasure.” She walked off, so damn sure of herself.
Brit turned and left with the same certainty to his gait. He was doing the right thing.
~
An hour later, Brit sat at his desk, waiting to hear if the kid’s lawyer and the DA hashed out a deal. Images of Cali kept flashing in his head. His chest hadn’t stopped hurting. He wasn’t sure it would.
Brit rolled a pencil on his desk, if he wasn’t hoping they might get some info on Keith’s killer, he’d go out and get dog drunk—drunk like his old man used to get. So drunk that he fell flat on his face and could sleep.
“You look miserable,” a feminine voice asked.
Brit looked up to see Shane Paxton pressing against the doorjamb. He should really learn to shut his door to k
eep the trash from blowing in. Biting back the harsh comments he’d like to toss at her, he answered. “Did we get anything from the kid?”
“I didn’t catch that case.” She moved in, seductively. “I’m here because I got news on the Humphrey case.”
Brit looked down at the pencil caught between his fingers and snapped it in two. “What do you have?”
She stopped at the edge of his desk and propped her hip on top. “You really are banging the witness, aren’t you?”
Brit pointed to the door with half a pencil. “Is that your news? You just came here to start shit? Take that up with Adams. Or Internal Affairs if you want, I don’t give a damn.”
She let out a deep breath. “I didn’t come here to throw stones. I came to tell you the news. I’ll admit I’m shocked, but your little teacher was right about everything.”
Brit leaned forward. “What?”
“Nolan Bright’s brother got snagged in Arkansas for drugs. He asked to cut a deal for giving them something on another murder and a Texas cop shooting. He pretty much gave the same story Humphrey told us. Humphrey’s only crime is robbery and being a sleazeball.”
All the ugly things he’d thrown at Cali started echoing in his head. Brit let out a bitter-tasting gulp of air, but he didn’t speak. Hell, what could he say? Cali had been right.
Was she telling the truth about her feelings for Stan, too?
Right then, he recalled Cali’s friend Tanya’s words. Sooner or later you’re going to realize that you were wrong—and stupid. One of these days, you’ll know what you lost.
Shane continued, “I suppose I was a little hard on her. I’m a tad upset that we didn’t make it.”
“Make it? We were about sex, Shane. That’s what you said you wanted. That’s what I wanted.”
“But it was good sex.”
Not that good. But he kept himself from saying it. What he’d had with Cali had been good. But he’d lost it. No, he hadn’t lost it. He’d thrown it away because…because he was as fucked up as his parents. “You should probably leave.”
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