Cut and Run

by Lori Ryan

  “Did Victoria share things like passwords for computers with him?” Now Jarrod was sure Cal was thinking along the same lines as he was.

  Staunton rubbed his forehead in a move reminiscent of his uncle. “Yeah, she probably did. I don’t know for sure, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Why are you asking this?”

  “I’m afraid we’ll have to get back to you on that.” Cal and Jarrod stood at the same time and headed toward the door.

  “Detectives, do you expect us to just wait here?” The lawyer looked incredulous.

  “Yeah. We do.” Cal followed Jarrod out the door.

  They needed to find out if the techs fingerprinted that keyboard before they went looking through Warrick Staunton’s laptop.

  Chapter 19

  “Carissa?” Carrie turned in her chair at the voice and pasted a smile on her face. She spent the morning fielding questions from reporters. Well, not quite fielding, so much as avoiding. She and Reggie had finally decided they would call a press conference for this afternoon. She now had two hours to decide what to tell them.

  She honestly didn’t know how to spin the story. She was considering contacting a PR company to see if they could help her keep the clinic open through the scandal.

  William Tyvek stood in her doorway and gestured to the door. “May I?”

  It wasn't often she got a visit from Mr. Tyvek. In fact, she wasn’t sure he’d been in her office at any point in the last year. If anything, he would send an underling to deal with any clinic or shelter business, only showing up himself for publicity events such as the gala.

  She noticed he didn’t look quite as put together as he normally did. Scratch that. His suit was wrinkled, as though he might have worn it the previous day. Hair that was normally combed almost too neatly, looked slightly unwashed and out of place. She wondered about his stress level and thought perhaps there was more going on here than simply the scandal with the clinic. Tyvek always seemed to be the man in control in the room, the man who knew exactly how to push a deal through or make people do his bidding.

  Carrie had a feeling his daughter’s death had hit him a lot harder than people realized. That no one really understood how deeply that would cut this man.

  “Of course.” She stood as he shut the door, then gestured for him to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk. Rather than go behind the desk, she sat in the other chair opposite him. If she lost the funding of Tyvek Technologies and Victoria Staunton Tyvek Foundation, she could say goodbye to her clinic. She had to find some way to convince him that this was all going to blow over quickly.

  “I’m sure you’ve heard the news by now,” she said. “I know it must’ve come as a surprise.”

  He raised his brows. “Surprised? I’d call it more like shock. How did this happen?”

  “I’m afraid I can’t tell you very much.” That was one of the problems she was having with trying to figure what to tell the press as well. She didn’t feel like she could reveal much about what was going on. It wasn’t like Jarrod had told her expressly not to talk about the case, but she had no idea how much she could say.

  Mr. Tyvek sat a little taller in his chair, as though steel had just run down his spine. “I think I’ve earned a little insider knowledge, wouldn’t you say?” The way he stressed the word earned told her exactly what he was referring to. The millions of dollars he’d contributed to the clinic and shelter over the past few years.

  Carrie nodded. “I understand, it’s just that I haven’t asked the police how much we’re allowed to tell anyone. I do want to assure you we’re working with them to resolve this as quickly as possible. Reggie and I will be holding a press conference this afternoon to assure the public we’re doing everything possible to—” He cut her off and she couldn’t really blame him. Her assurances sounded weak and empty. The fact of the matter was, someone had been using her clinic to use homeless people as guineas pigs. If it horrified the public only half as much as it horrified her, they’d be crucified for their involvement.

  “What’s happening with the investigation?” He asked, but his tone said he expected answers, not more excuses.

  “As I’m sure you read in the news, they’re questioning Warrick and Jonathan.” It suddenly occurred to Carrie that Tyvek might be here out of concern for Warrick more than concern over the scandal or the future of the clinic. He might be here out of concern for his former son-in-law. Carrie knew the two men hadn’t been close, but the fact remained, at one point they’d been family.

  “I’m so sorry, you must be worried about Warrick. I think you should know, the police are fairly certain he’s being set up. I don’t think he’s going to end up being connected to this, and neither do they.”

  Where Carrie had expected to see relief, or at the very least a small measure of reassurance, she saw only a blank stare in the face of the man in front of her. He was quiet for a minute and then he began to nod, but not to her. Almost to himself as though he had made some kind of decision.

  “Are you all right Mr. Tyvek?” Carrie leaned forward, reaching for the man. “Do you need some water?”

  At first, the gun that came up between them was so out of place, Carrie’s brain couldn’t process what she was seeing. She didn’t process that William Tyvek was holding it or that he was pointing it at her. She simply stared at the weapon.

  “I’m fine, thank you, Carrie. I’ll just need to revert to a backup plan. Honest to God, I never would have expected the police to be this dense.”

  “What are you doing?” Somewhere in the back of Carrie’s mind, someone was screaming at her. Telling her she wasn’t reacting the way she should to a gun in her face. But she just couldn’t fathom that William Tyvek would be holding a gun on her. Nothing about the situation made any sense.

  “The lab.” Tyvek seemed to be talking to himself now as he stood and pulled her up roughly by one arm. “When they find a body in the lab, they will not be able to ignore it. They’ll have to trace it back to him.”

  Carrie’s brain clicked into gear and she sprang into movement, wrenching her arm free. She took a wide-eyed step back. She was trapped. He was between her and the door and he had a gun.

  “We’re going to leave here calmly and quietly together.” He smiled at her, as though they were going to lunch together. The man was insane.

  “I’m not leaving with you.” Carrie remembered being told once that you should never let an attacker move you to a new location. That once you did, you were dead. Not that he was an attacker. Her brain fumbled through strange thoughts. He wasn’t attacking her. He was calmly and coolly…what? Kidnapping her? This couldn’t be happening.

  “Yes, you will.” Tyvek gestured toward the closed door behind them. “I’m sure there are several children sitting in the clinic right now, maybe some you know, maybe some you don’t. Either way, if you don’t walk out of here with me, they’re going to die today. I’ll walk out there shooting and I won’t stop until somebody stops me.”

  “Why are you doing this?”

  He waved the gun a little, wiggling it back and forth in his hand as if it were nothing for him to be holding it pointed at her. “We don’t have time to talk about that right now. I’ll tell you the whole thing when we get on the road.”

  He grabbed her arm again and this time she didn’t fight it. She couldn’t. He was right about the children in the clinic. Even if there were no children there, there would be people. Patients, the doctors, her staff. She couldn’t take a chance on him going in there with the gun. Because he was right, they wouldn’t be able to stop him before he did a lot of damage. Before he killed an awful lot of people. And there was no way Carrie could live with that. She already had enough blood on her hands.

  That didn’t stop panic from setting in and she felt herself begin to tremble.

  Tyvek jerked on her arm before they reached the end of the hall, sending pain shooting through the joint at her shoulder. “You need to get it together before we step out there. Make this an Osc
ar-worthy performance, Ms. Hastings, or the gun comes out.”

  He dropped her arm and stepped forward so abruptly, she forgot to step with him. One cold look over his shoulder had her moving in place beside him. She would get him out of the building, then figure out some way to get away from him. She had to. Because she could tell, there would be no mercy coming from this man.

  Chapter 20

  Jarrod and Cal’s first stop was in Stephanie Kass’ office. “Steph, was the laptop you took from Warrick Staunton printed before you started poking around in it?”

  “No, but I can have it printed now. I don’t use the actual device when I poke.” She made a face at him. “I removed the hard drive and put it into another laptop. His computer was only ever handled with gloved hands and no one had reason to touch the keyboard. I can have forensics see if there are any prints, although I have to warn you, they’re often a smudgy mess. Oh, and it will destroy the device. The department’s going to have to pay for that.”

  Jarrod and Cal both cursed. Maybe they could convince Warrick it was worth it to let them destroy his property if it meant clearing his name.

  “Why don’t you tell me what you’re trying to show, and I’ll see if there are other ways I can help you.”

  “We don’t think Warrick Staunton opened those emails.” The two detectives spoke almost simultaneously, and Stephanie laughed at them.

  “Well, I can tell you when each of the emails was opened and what system it was opened on. Then you can see if he can provide an alibi to show he wasn’t anywhere near his computer at the time. Would that help?”

  “Possibly,” Jarrod said.

  “It’s a laptop, so he could theoretically have it with him at any time, right?” Cal asked. “Makes it hard to prove he wasn’t on it.”

  Stephanie was busy banging away on her keyboard, but she chimed in without looking up. “Best I can do is give you the dates and times. You’re in charge of the rest.”

  Jarrod looked over her shoulder, then backed away when she glared his way. “Sorry,” he said, hands raised and a smile on his face. “Can you see if any of the email replies were sent after Dr. Coleman died?”

  Stephanie nodded and began to click with her mouse.

  “What are you thinking, Jar?” Cal asked.

  “Just want to see if any of the emails were replied to after Coleman died. If this was really Staunton, he’d have no reason to email Coleman after the man’s death. Carrie said they sent the donors an email letting them know about Dr. Coleman’s murder the following day so they’d know what was going on if the media contacted them about it. But she talked to Warrick Staunton that evening. She told him what was going on. If it was somebody trying to make it look like Staunton was sending these emails, they might not know he had earlier notice.”

  “Right here,” Stephanie said, pointing at her screen. Sure enough, there was a reply sent the morning after Dr. Coleman’s death, before the other donors would have known about the murder.

  Jarrod pointed to another email just below that one. “When was this one sent?”

  Stephanie rattled off the date and time and Jarrod turned to Cal.

  “I know for a fact that Warrick Staunton didn’t send that email.”

  “How’s that?” Cal asked.

  “Because that was during the gala. I made a point of noting when the major donors left. The only one to leave before me, was William Tyvek.”

  “Think we can get a warrant with that?” Cal looked skeptical.

  “I think with these two email timestamps, the fact that Tyvek had access to Staunton’s home, and what Jonathan Simms told us, we can convince a judge.”

  Chapter 21

  The warrant judge was quick to agree. Warrant in hand, Jarrod and Cal went to Tyvek Technologies, while another team of officers served the warrant at Tyvek’s home.

  Jarrod crossed his arms as he watched uniformed officers remove computers and files. “I don’t like the fact he’s not here, and no one can tell us where he might be. I have to tell you, this guy didn’t seem like the type to just drop off his assistant’s radar in the middle of a business day.”

  “Yeah, I don’t like that either,” Cal said, looking around the office at the staff gawking as the officers executed the warrant. There’d been a bit of an argument put up at first, but when the warrant was presented to in-house counsel, he hadn’t been able to stop them. Jarrod would guess he was on the phone with every connection they had in town, trying to find a judge who’d issue an injunction. It was why he’d immediately sent a uniform back to the precinct with Tyvek’s computer for Stephanie to start on. If an injunction did come through, he wanted Stephanie elbow deep in that hard drive already.

  They’d heard from the officers at Tyvek’s home. He wasn’t there either.

  “Is it possible he figured out we were on to him and took off?” Jarrod asked, unease setting up camp in his stomach.

  “I can’t see how he could have. As far as the media is concerned, we’re still looking at Simms for this. We came straight here from the courthouse. I can’t see how he could have found out about these warrants in the fifteen minutes it took us to execute them. Even if there was a reporter or someone slinking around the courthouse.”

  Jarrod looked for the assistant again, spotting him across the room, glaring as officers boxed files for removal. Cal was right behind Jarrod as he crossed to speak to the man.

  “Mr. Anderson, can you think of anywhere Mr. Tyvek might have gone? Or who might have some idea where he is?” Jarrod wasn’t surprised by the eye roll he got in response.

  “No. I told you before and I’ll tell you again, I don’t—”

  Anderson didn’t have time to finish the denial as a younger woman stepped toward the group. She glanced nervously at Tyvek’s assistant, but spoke anyway. “I saw Mr. Tyvek heading out earlier. He said he had to run over to the shelter to see someone, but he’d be right back.”

  Jarrod nodded, forcing himself to walk calmly toward the elevator as he pulled out his phone. He wouldn’t go racing out, lights blazing and siren screaming simply because Tyvek might be over at the shelter. He took a deep breath and punched the elevator button while he pulled his cell phone out with the other hand.

  Cal stepped up beside him as he fired off a text to Carrie. She was fine. He kept repeating the thought again and again. Carrie is fine. Carrie is fine. Carrie is fine.

  The two men were silent as they stepped into the elevator, but he could feel his partner’s eyes on him. Carrie is fine. Carrie is fine.

  No reply to his text. Jarrod dialed the shelter number as soon as he and Cal stepped from the elevator.

  “I need to speak with Carrie Hastings,” he said when the phone was answered.

  “I’m sorry,” came the reply. “She isn’t in right now. May I take a message?”

  “This is Detective Jarrod Harmon. Do you know where she is or when you expect her back?” Carrie is fine. Carrie is fine. Carrie is fine. The chant continued as he and Cal got to their car, Cal automatically going to the driver’s side and starting the car as Jarrod continued to talk on the phone.

  He could hear the voice of the unnamed receptionist falter at his use of his title. “I—I’m sorry, officer. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to give out that kind of information.” Jarrod got it. Really he did. Many of the people who answered the phone at the clinic were volunteers, young inexperienced ones at that. The only problem was, he was quickly losing feeling as his body went numb and a buzzing sensation tried to swamp him. He needed answers.

  “Connect me to Reggie McKinney. Now!” He barked, when the hesitation coming through the line took on a damned-near palpable quality.

  “Oh, okay.” He could hear the relief in the young woman’s voice as if he’d given her the solution to her dilemma and she was grateful.

  Moments later, he knew where Tyvek was as Cal steered them through traffic and onto the road that would take them the additional one point three miles to the shelter. It would
be one point three miles of hell. Pure hell.

  Reggie told Jarrod that Carrie had left with William Tyvek an hour before. She’d scheduled a press conference to start at one o’clock and Reggie hadn’t been able to reach her, and hadn’t heard from her at all.

  Chapter 22

  Carrie’s half-baked plan to jump out of the car at the first red light they came to was no longer an option. As soon as they got out to the car, Tyvek had ordered her to get in the back seat. He’d then reached in and chained her ankle to the seat frame underneath one of the front seats with a padlock. When he got into the front of the car, he’d held the gun low as he supervised her, directing her to lie on the floor as he chained one wrist to the underside of the other seat.

  He'd said she was the backup plan, but he’d had the foresight to have the chains ready on the underside of the car seats. There wasn’t as much spontaneity to his grabbing her as she’d thought. Her mind both raced and moved at a snail’s pace at the same time. Tyvek seemed to be driving around without a destination. At least, as far as she could tell from her position on the floor. Her body began to ache from her inability to shift and stretch.

  He’ll let me go. He won’t really kill me in cold blood. Carrie’s parents had never been overly friendly with William Tyvek, but they knew him well enough that Carrie had seen him at events and things growing up. She’d known him since she was a child. He’d seen her playing with his daughter. Flashes of the man he was ran through her mind. There was the cutthroat businessman everyone knew and either respected or feared. Most feared.

  But she knew another side of him. He had loved his daughter. Victoria had been his world. She needed to remind him of her connection to Victoria. Maybe make him see her through that lens so he’d let her go.