MY FATHER'S KILLER: Kayla's Story

by Cassandra V. Wyatt

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m positive.”

  “Okay, but call me if you need anything and I mean anything.”

  “I will, now go on.”

  With one more hug and kiss and one last glance at her mother to make sure she hadn’t changed her mind about her staying, Kayla head out the door to work. Mama Ann looked at the clock; it was only 6:45 a.m. She decided to have another cup of coffee while she waited. Food was out of the question; she was way too nervous to eat. After her coffee, she cleaned up the dishes, put them away then head to the bathroom to fix her face. When she was satisfied that the remnants of her emotional breakdown were gone, she went back to the kitchen and waited for Detective Woods to arrive.

  The doorbell rang at 9:00 sharp. She grabbed her bag and made her way to the door. Checking to make sure that it was Detective Woods, she opened the door and let him in. Looking around the living room before turning to face Mama Ann, Detective Woods asked her where Kayla was.

  “She left for work already.”

  Nodding his head, he glanced around the living room one last time. Then he asked her if she had the envelope and the journal. When she said no he explained that he was going to have to take everything in as evidence. He also explained that if she had any problems with him taking any of the items now, he would be forced to get a search warrant.

  “All of those items including what’s in the safe deposit box are evidence. If you give me permission, I can take it all today without any hassle. The sooner those things are in police possession, the sooner we can examine them and maybe get the clue or clues we need to find your husband’s killer.”

  Mama Ann lowered her head and nodded. She went back to the kitchen, retrieved the items he asked for and handed them over.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  They arrived at the North Federal Reserve Bank 10 minutes later. After presenting her identification, Mama Ann and Detective Woods were escorted to the safe deposit boxes. Once the bank manager left, Mama Ann opened the box and stood off to the side. $100 dollar bills were situated in nice neat piles. Detective Woods ran his hand across his face. Without a word, he began placing the money in a duffel bag he had brought specifically for this purpose. When he was finished, he closed up the box, looked at Mama Ann and said “Well, that’s all of it.”

  The drive back to Mama Ann’s was silent and uneventful. Detective Woods’ mind was on other things. He wasn’t at all sure how any of this was going to play out. He shifted his eyes to the right and briefly looked at Mama Ann who was looking out the window sitting just as quietly as he was. He tried to read her expression but couldn’t. It’s not that her face was blank; it was just that from the angle that he was sitting, he just couldn’t get a read on her. He was curious as to what she was thinking so he asked, “Are you worried about anything?”

  After several seconds, she turned to face him. “Should I be?”

  Her question caught him off guard. It wasn’t exactly what he was expecting.

  “No, of course not. It’s just that we still don’t know exactly where this money came from. It’s possible that this case is a bit more complex than we originally thought.”

  Mama Ann smiled wryly, “Isn’t everything?” Then she turned to look back out of the window. They spent the rest of the drive in silence.

  After arriving back at Mama Ann’s, Detective Woods asked, “Are you sure you didn’t tell anyone else besides your daughter and her friend?”

  “I’m sure.”

  He told her that it would probably be best to keep it that way and not tell anyone else. She promised him that she wouldn’t tell a soul. He got out, opened the door for her then quickly got back into the driver’s seat. Once Mama Ann reached her door, he waved and drove off.

  Chapter 9

  “What’s wrong boss?”

  “New developments.”

  “What’s up?”

  “The money’s been found.”

  “How? When?”

  “It turns out the money was right under our noses the whole time.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “When have you ever known me to kid?”

  “Yeah, right. So where was it?”

  “It was in a safe deposit box in the North Federal Reserve Bank.”

  “Great. So now you got your money back.”

  “Not exactly.”

  “I don’t get it boss.”

  “Our good friend Gary hid the keys in a desk. His wife found them, a journal and some other miscellaneous papers which led her to the bank. It also seems that he had taken out two mortgages on the house and store and was substantially behind in paying his taxes.”

  “I still don’t get it.”

  “When the Mrs. found out the extent of his economic incompetence, she used my money to pay off his debts to the tune of about $450,000.”

  A low whistle sounded through the room.

  “Well doesn’t that mean his debt automatically transfers to her?”

  “Yeah it does. There was also a journal with some coded information that could potentially lead the police directly to me. Right now, I don’t really know how much she knows, if anything.”

  “So what do you want me to do?”

  “Gary Richards was easy, he was just one person. If we take out the whole family, it might get messy and draw too much attention. You know how much I hate mess. Just keep an eye on them. I’m going to have to come up with a new plan.”

  “You got it boss.”

  At the Precinct

  Detective Woods was dutifully filling out paperwork at his desk when the phone rang. He reached over to pick up the phone. “Detective Woods here.”

  “Once again, good work detective.” Woods recognized the voice immediately. It was low, raspy and slightly menacing.

  “Thanks, but I didn’t really do anything.”

  “Sure you did. Had another detective been assigned to this case, it probably would have been solved years ago. In fact, you are so good at hiding

  evidence and other unsavory things which I won’t mention right now, that I could very well have ended up behind bars.”

  “That’s my job.”

  “And I also wanted to thank you for being so quick to respond to the call from the old lady. But you do realize that this recent turn of events presents me with somewhat of a dilemma?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My money’s still short. If she had found it and never touched it, all would be well. But she did touch it and a lot of it.”

  Unfortunately, Detective Woods understood what he meant and where this was going.

  “She’s just an old lady, she didn’t know. Her husband left her with a lot of debt and two mortgages she didn’t even know about.”

  “How do you know she didn’t know?”

  “Look, I’ve been dealing with this woman for three years. She’s just not that type. Can’t you just let it go?”

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk Detective Woods. You’ve been a part of this game long enough to know how it works. If money comes up short, someone has to pay.” There was a brief pause. “That is unless you’re volunteering to take on the debt and pay what she owes?”

  “No, no I’m not.” The temperature in the room went up a couple of degrees.

  “Are you sure? I mean you have been paid well for your services and since you’re so concerned with the outcome of this situation…you haven’t gotten personally attached have you?”

  “No. All I meant was that she’s just an old woman who doesn’t seem to have had any idea what was going on.”

  “Didn’t you say that she found the money not long after her husband’s body was found?”

  “Uh, yeah.

  “So why didn’t she turn the money in then? I know you’re not trying to tell me that she really thought the money was her husband’s?”

  “No, I think she just freaked out when she realized that the house and store weren’t paid off like she thought.”

  �
�Well, if she had actually taken some time to think, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. If she had taken some time to think, she would not now owe me $450,000.”

  “I know she doesn’t have that kind of money.”

  “Well then her options are very limited now aren’t they? She can either get me my money or she can suffer the same fate her husband did.”

  Detective Woods leaned back in his chair not at all happy with the way this was going.

  “There’s also the issue of the journal. Did you have a chance to look it over?”

  “I did.”

  “And did my name appear anywhere in the journal?”

  “No it didn’t. In fact, I didn’t recognize any of the names.”

  “Good. I’ll be in touch when I’ve decided exactly how we’re going to proceed. Detective Woods, just one more thing.”

  “Yes.”

  “Don’t go soft on me. You may be good at what you do but you are not indispensable. You’re not the only cop I have in my pocket.”

  Woods opened his mouth to say something but the line went dead.

  Usually he could be as cold as they come, but something about this woman and her daughter struck a nerve with him. It was one thing to lead them on for the last few years every time they turned up asking questions, it was another thing entirely to know that both of their lives were in jeopardy and do nothing. They didn’t know it but the potential for them to suffer the exact same fate as the husband and father had just increased exponentially. And just like his death, it wouldn’t be quick and it wouldn’t be painless. Maybe he was getting soft. Whatever it was, he suddenly knew he no longer had the stomach for this anymore. He also knew that he had to figure out a way to save them before it was too late.

  Detective Woods got up from his chair and stretched as he tried to work the kinks out of his shoulders and neck. He casually walked over to the water cooler, grabbed a cup and got some water. As he drank, he watched some of the officers that were busy working on other cases, typing out reports or making phone calls. The words “You’re not the only cop I have in my pocket,” reverberated in his ears. He got some more water and pretended to drink as he observed each of the cops in the squad room. He wondered who else had exchanged their responsibilities to the law to honor the whims of a criminal. He tossed his cup into the garbage and went back to his office.

  Detective Woods was 25 years old when he graduated from the police academy. He immediately went into the field training program which was tough but not tough enough to discourage him from pursuing a career with the department. As a rookie and throughout most of his career, he was a stand-up do everything by the books type of cop. With a strong moral compass instilled in him by his father who just happened to be a retired military Sergeant who in turn had gotten his moral compass from a father who had served as a Police Chief for more than thirty years, he was a stickler for rules and regulations.

  Detective Woods loved what he did and he was good at it. He treated everyone with respect and believed strongly in being fair. His job was to get the bad guys and law breakers not play judge, jury and executioner. When asked about his Boy Scout ways he would simply tell people, “It’s in my blood. I’m a cop and I believe everyone should uphold the law and if not they should be held accountable.” But that was in the early days. Over time he became increasingly disillusioned. He watched too many guys who should have been locked up walk on technicalities and spent too many long hours on cases that didn’t always produce results.

  Eventually, the realization that in spite of his best intentions, he didn’t have the ability to protect everyone began to weigh on him. He couldn’t be everywhere at all times; he couldn’t save the wife whose final beating from her husband ended in her death or the college student raped on her way to class. The faces of murder victims who never got justice and their families devastated by loss, haunted his dreams by night while corrupt administrators and officers made his life sheer torture by day.

  After taking a brief vacation, he started to do his research. When he came back, he put in for a transfer to the Lambert County Police Department. Out of all the jurisdictions, Lambert County had a remarkably low crime rate. Two weeks later, the transfer was approved. Even though he came into the new department at the lower rank of Deputy Sheriff, he preferred that to being a Sergeant at the Richfield Police Department where police corruption was standard and it almost seemed to be a prerequisite for the job. Eventually he took the Detective’s Exam and passed with flying colors. He couldn’t have been happier.

  Detective Woods leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head. “All of that seemed like a lifetime ago,” he thought. He looked at the squad room though his office window. The walls were beige and brown and covered with bulletin boards. The carpet was a dark chocolate brown. Tables and file cabinets lined the walls. There were twelve desks in groups of two scattered throughout the space. Officers were preoccupied with paperwork while others walked back and forth between file cabinets and back offices.

  Detective Woods did not miss the irony of his situation. He had left one police department partly to escape the day to day corruption he had found there only to come to another one that seemed to be the direct opposite. Then it turns out they are almost exactly the same. Even worse, instead of taking a stand for what was right and just, he became the exact type of cop he despised.

  Detective Woods made a decision. He grabbed his jacket and head out the door.

  Meanwhile, the medical center was busier than usual and Kayla and Anita had their hands full trying to keep up with the never-ending stream of calamities and the subsequent paperwork. Several workers, a few doctors and a couple of the nurses had called in sick with the flu. Because of this, Kayla had to find replacements and readjust schedules and she had to do it quickly. On top of being short-staffed, some of the budget numbers were off which required revisions and on top of that, an x-ray, MRI and CAT scan machine had gone on the fritz. Even worse, a wheel fell off one of the wheelchairs…with the patient in it!

  “Happy Monday to me,” Kayla whispered under her breath as she struggled to stay on top of each situation.

  Anita stuck her head in her office. “The computers just went down.”

  “What do you mean, ‘went down’?”

  “Went down, as in simultaneously crashed.”

  “You have got to be kidding me.”

  “I already called tech support. They’re on their way. They said they’ll be here in thirty minutes tops.”

  “What else can possibly go wrong?” Kayla asked rhetorically.

  Anita smirked. “Give it some time. The way this day has been going, I’m almost sure the best of the worst hasn’t even happened yet.”

  “Thanks.” Kayla said, not at all pleased.

  As Kayla busied herself with dealing with all the disasters that had occurred that morning, she wondered how things had gone with her mother and the detective. She hadn’t even had a chance to call to check on her. She made a mental note to do so once things quieted down. Just then Anita stuck her head back in her office.

  “You better have some good news.”

  “I do, the building’s still standing, but I just got a call that one of the ambulances broke down on the highway.”

  “Please tell me they weren’t transporting a patient.”

  “As a matter of fact they weren’t. They went to pick up a potential patient who thought he was having a heart attack but the EMT’s were quick to determine that it was just gas. They were on their way back here and the vehicle was empty. I made the call to have the ambulance towed to the nearest service center. But we’re still temporarily one ambulance short.”

  “Then let’s just pray that it’s something they can fix fast.”

  Kayla flopped down in her chair and leaned on the desk with her head in her hands.

  “Either the universe just arbitrarily spun a wheel and the arrow landed on “Get Kayla today” or it decided that it hates me and conspired with
every unnamed, unseen force to destroy me.”

  But as off-kilter and powerless as she felt, Kayla was no quitter. She didn’t have the luxury of giving into the feeling of being victimized. She had too many people depending on her to keep it together and too many responsibilities. There was a reason she had been chosen as the Administrative Director of this facility; she wasn’t about to let her staff down and she sure wasn’t about to let herself down. She left her office on a mission to do some damage control.

  Rightway Medical was as close to a full service medical center that you could get minus a surgical team. They even had a complete women’s health division and laboratory. Many people in the community liked to go there because they felt they could get good quality hospital-style care without actually having to go to a hospital. As Kayla walked around the facility and saw the unhappy faces in the clinic waiting area, she wondered if they would feel the same after today.

  She joined her staff in reassuring the patients that they were working as quickly as possible to get things back on track. Kayla always tried to be as hands on as possible. She had found that when patients saw Administrators in the thick of things, it helped to boost their confidence in the facility and those responsible for their care. Once she had made her rounds, she head back to her office to get updates from Anita.

  “The tech guys are working on the computers and the service guys are here taking care of the medical equipment. They said it doesn’t look like we’re going to need any full scale replacements.”

  “Thank God,” Kayla replied. “Well, now that it seems that things are starting to settle down, I’m going to give my mom a quick call.”

  Anita assured her she would keep her abreast of any and all developments as she hurried off to check on the status of the equipment repairs.

  Once in her office, Kayla called her mother.

  “Hey mom, how did it go?”

  “Oh hi Kayla. Everything went fine. I turned everything over to Detective Woods and he said that he would be in touch after they were able to go over the journal and other papers. He thought there might be something in there that would help them crack the case.”