MY FATHER'S KILLER: Kayla's Story

by Cassandra V. Wyatt

  Kayla noticed that for the first time in a long time her mother sounded genuinely hopeful. After hanging up the phone, she sincerely hoped that the police department now had enough to finally track down her father’s killer.

  Chapter 10

  Detective Woods arrived at Rightway Medical twenty minutes later. He pulled into the first parking spot he found and hurried inside. For a moment he was taken aback by the controlled chaos that he was witnessing. He felt like he had just walked into the emergency room at Bayfield General instead of what he had heard was a smaller, quieter version. He went to the window and asked for Kayla Richards. The woman at the window looked him over and wanted to know who was asking. He pulled out his badge and said, “Detective Woods.” With no further hesitation, she called Kayla’s office. A few minutes later, Anita arrived to escort the detective back to the office. Detective Woods seemed surprised to see her there. As they head back to the offices, Anita explained that she was not only Kayla’s friend but her assistant. He nodded and smiled. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Anita’s relationship with Kayla and her mother would also make her a target.

  When Anita informed Kayla that Detective Woods was there, surprise was written all over her face and then she frowned as he walked into her office.

  “Hello, Miss Richards.”

  “Detective Woods, I don’t know if this is a pleasant surprise or not. Is anything wrong?” she said as she extended her hand.

  His expression turned so grim that she involuntarily took a step back.

  “I really need to talk to you. It’s urgent but judging from the way things are looking around here, this may not be a good time.”

  “It really isn’t but if it’s that important...” Kayla motioned for him to sit down.

  “Listen, some of what I have to tell you, you’re not going to like and you’re probably not going to like me either but it has to be told. You and your mother are in danger, possibly Anita too.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I can’t go into all the details here. I just need you to be very careful at all times until this whole mess is straightened out. We’re going to have to meet at another time in a different location. Then I can explain everything to you.”

  “Detective, you’re scaring me.”

  “I don’t mean to. If things were a little less hectic here today, I would tell you the whole story but I can’t. I’m going to need to meet with you somewhere discreet.”

  “Is this about my father’s killer?”

  “Yes. I promise to tell you everything when we meet. I’ll call you with a location and a time. Just try to make sure no one’s following you when you come.”

  “Following me?”

  “Yes, following you.”

  Kayla’s mind immediately went back to that night in the parking garage when the feeling of being watched was so strong.

  “Okay.”

  “I’m going back to the precinct. I’ll call you within the hour.”

  Kayla called Anita into her office and told her what he said. Anita’s brow furrowed with concern.

  “Do you think this has something to do with the money Mama Ann found?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I spoke to mom and she didn’t mention him being troubled about anything. In fact, she sounded the most optimistic that I’ve heard her in a long time. She seemed sure that the police now had enough evidence to finally solve my father’s murder case.”

  Anita thought for a moment. “Maybe he discovered something in those papers or the journal after he got back to the precinct.”

  Kayla walked over to the window and crossed her arms. Her eyes carefully scanned the street.

  “I don’t know what’s going on Anita but whatever it is, it’s not good.”

  Detective Woods arrived back at the precinct. He knew that this whole situation could go really, really wrong, really, really fast. He also knew that his career in law enforcement was probably going to be over and he might very well end up facing some serious charges.

  He laughed dryly to himself. He was a good boy gone bad; a blight on what he had once thought was a squeaky clean police department. He had gone from Boy Scout to bad boy and his day of reckoning was just around the corner. He had already made up his mind to speak to the Chief, but first he wanted to speak to Kayla. He glanced at the map on the wall. Tilting his head to the side, he suddenly knew the best place for them to meet. He picked up the phone and called Kayla.

  Back at the medical center, the computers were back up and the medical equipment was once again operational. Kayla was just waiting for word on the out of service ambulance when her phone rang.

  “Kayla Richards.”

  “Kayla, it’s Detective Woods.”

  “Hello Detective.”

  “I want to apologize for earlier. I really didn’t mean to scare you. I intended to talk to you to make you aware of the severity of the situation but I had no idea that the medical center was in the middle of a crisis. That’s my fault; I should have called you first.”

  “No it’s fine.”

  “Can you meet me at St. Regis Park at 7:00 tonight?”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay. See you then.”

  “Detective? Are things really that bad?”

  “I’m afraid so. I’ll see you later.”

  Kayla decided to work until 6:30 instead of going home before meeting Detective Woods. She figured the work would keep her busy and she wouldn’t have so much time to speculate about whatever it was that he had to tell her. The other reason she didn’t want to go home is because she knew her mother would know something was wrong. She just wasn’t ready to tell her about Detective Woods showing up at her job or that they could all be in some sort of danger. She needed to get more information before she faced her mother. Instead, she decided to call her mother to tell her she would be working late, a lie her mother readily accepted. Because she was never comfortable lying to her mother; she got off the phone as fast as she could feeling a little stab of guilt twisting in her gut.

  “It was for a good reason,” she told herself. Then she went back to work. As much as she tried not to watch the clock, she couldn’t seem to help it. As a result, time seemed to move at a snail’s pace; with the hands on the clock not appearing to move at all each time she looked.

  Eventually Anita came into her office, closed the door and sat down. She looked Kayla squarely in the eyes as she asked, “Are you prepared for tonight.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Remember when I told you that I thought that Papa Gary’s murder was no random event?”

  “Sure.”

  “Well, Mama Ann dropped a lot of information on you about your father this weekend. You know, the affair, his after-hours visitors and the unexplained trips to the store.”

  “And?”

  “Detective Woods has been on this case from the beginning. What if something about the journal and the money caused him to put two and two together about something that he wasn’t able to before? Are you ready for whatever he has to say tonight?” Anita asked.

  “I guess I don’t have a choice. I mean, everything mom told me was a lot to take in, a little too much really. But if I can deal with that, then I don’t see why I wouldn’t be able to handle what Detective Woods has to say. I know that I didn’t want to believe it before but obviously my father was involved in something that was definitely underhanded and it got him killed. There’s no denying that anymore. I just hope that whatever it was is not so far-reaching that we have to do something crazy like go into witness protection or something.”

  “Hopefully not, but there is one thing that has been bugging me.”

  “What?”

  “For the life of me, I just don’t understand why your mother would spend any of that money. She already suspected that your father was into something shady. Then she finds a safe deposit box full of money that she knew did not come from store sales and instead of telling you or the police,
she decides to use a whole lot of it to pay off a tax bill and a couple of mortgages. Now that doesn’t make sense.”

  “She was scared Anita. She wasn’t thinking straight, that’s all.”

  Anita looked at Kayla long and hard.

  “At first I thought maybe that’s all it was too. But…”

  “But what Anita? What are you trying to say? That my mother made up that whole story and she was actually somehow involved along with my dad?”

  Anita shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right; maybe I’m just being paranoid. All I know is that the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. What I do know is that there’s a whole lot of something that just isn’t right going on. By the way, it’s 6:00. You better get going.”

  Anita was somewhat relieved that the conversation ended. Her gut told her that while what Mama Ann did made no sense, she definitely was not involved with whatever Papa Gary had been doing. She made a mental note to apologize to Kayla for even implying something like that.

  Kayla grabbed her jacket and raced out the door.

  Anita wasn’t the only one that was paranoid. Just like the night in the garage when she thought she was being watched, Kayla took the long way to the park. She checked her rearview mirror constantly to make sure she wasn’t being followed. Kayla finally arrived at St. Regis Park at 6:25. She looked around for Detective Wood’s car and when she didn’t see it, decided to call. He picked up on the first ring.

  “Kayla.”

  “I just got to the park. I’m at the front entrance. I’m still in my car.”

  “I’m about two minutes away. Nobody followed you did they?”

  “I don’t think so. I tried to be as careful as I could.

  “Okay, I’m right up the block. See you in a minute.”

  Detective Woods pulled in right behind Kayla. He got out of the car and walked to the driver side door. For a moment, panic started to set in before Kayla recognized him. She laughed at herself, grabbed her bag and stepped out of the car.

  Detective Woods led her deep into the park to one of the more secluded areas. There were picnic tables and benches where they could sit down. Strategically facing the entrance of the park, Detective Woods sat across from Kayla. What she couldn’t see from her vantage point was Detective Woods’ gun in his lap, his finger poised to pull the trigger.

  “Okay detective, what’s going on?”

  And so he began.

  By the time he was finished, Kayla’s emotions were all over the place. She was angry, she was horrified and for just a moment she was scared. How could she be sure that he hadn’t just lured her to this deserted area of the park with the intention of doing away with her? She looked around at her surroundings. If he did intend her any harm, there was no help to be found and nowhere to run. Kayla put on her bravest face and asked, “So why are you telling me this? Why do you all of a sudden want to do the right thing? More importantly, why should I trust you?” Kayla looked around nervously once more.

  Detective Woods watched her facial expressions and read her body language.

  “This isn’t a set-up. I came alone and I’m not here to hurt you. But to answer your questions, you need to know and I just can’t live this life anymore. For your third question, you really have absolutely no reason to trust me.”

  “Well if that’s the case, then why don’t I just go talk to your Chief?”

  “Kayla, after everything I’ve just told you, you don’t have a reason to trust me but I’m not so sure who you can fully trust at the precinct either. If the Chief isn’t there and you speak to the wrong person, all the warnings in the world won’t save any of us.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I was told that I wasn’t indispensable. I was told that I wasn’t the only cop on their payroll. These guys play really close to the vest; I have no idea who else at that precinct may know about this situation. I may not be the most trustworthy but at least with me you know what you’re getting.”

  Chapter 11

  Kayla looked warily at the detective. Without question, everything she thought about this man sitting across from her had completely changed.

  There seemed to be a lot of that going on. First she finds out that her father was a cheat and involved in something that more than likely was illegal and now she finds out that the very Detective they had trusted to get justice for her father was in bed with some common criminals.

  All this time, they thought that he was trying to help them and all along he was lying and sweeping things under the rug. To be honest, in their grief they were pretty easy. All he had to do was run the usual line of bull which they bought every time, then he sent them on their way.

  What was crystal clear in that very second was that he was never really trying to solve her father’s murder. How could he? Her father’s killers had him on their payroll and on top of that, if the murder was ever solved, wouldn’t his involvement be brought to the light?

  Kayla’s head started to spin from all the information that Detective Woods had given her.

  Even though she now thought of him as a filthy, rotten, conniving low-life, a small part of her had to give him credit for coming clean to her. Even though his conscience didn’t kick in soon enough to save her father, at least it did finally kick in. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late.

  In spite of how she felt about him, Kayla knew that there was an element of truth in what he was saying. If he was serious about wanting to help them and it did seem that he was, at least with him she had some understanding of the playing field.

  “Alright what now?”

  “I need you and your mother to be extra careful. I’m going to talk to the Chief and tell him everything I know. Maybe once he knows what I’ve done, he’ll let me help with the actual takedown before I get kicked off the force. I don’t know but I will keep you posted.”

  “Good enough.” Kayla got up. “Is there anything else you need to tell me?”

  “No. I’ll call you.”

  Kayla turned and walked out of the park. Detective Woods watched her walk away. He let a couple of minutes go by then he holstered his gun and head for the park entrance.

  Kayla was still sitting in her car when she looked up to see the detective casually stroll out after her. He nodded slightly, but she didn’t nod back. She made a quick call to Anita then drove home.

  Anita was pulling up in front of the house just as Kayla got there. They both parked and got out of their vehicles. Anita wasn’t fully out of her car before she started asking what happened. She walked up to Kayla trying to read her expression in the dark.

  “You are not going to believe what he told me. Let’s go inside, mom has to hear this too and this really isn’t a story I want to tell twice.”

  Kayla called for her mother as they entered the house. Mama Ann came into the living room drying her hands on a towel. She took one look at Kayla’s expression and knew something was wrong.

  “What is it?”

  “Detective Woods came to the job and said he had something really important to tell me. I didn’t actually work late; I went to meet with him to find out what was going on. I think you better sit down,” she looked at Anita, “both of you.”

  Entering the kitchen, Kayla leaned against the counter then began to pace back and forth while Mama Ann and Anita sat at the table waiting for her to tell them what was going on. Her demeanor was anything but serene and she appeared quite hostile and irritated. Her pacing back and forth reminded Anita of a caged animal.

  “Alright, I’m just going to come out with it. Detective Woods isn’t what he appears to be. For the last three years we have been relying on him for information about daddy’s murder investigation and after what he told me tonight, investigating wasn’t exactly what he was doing.”

  Mama Ann and Anita looked at each other before looking back at Kayla. Their faces reflected their confusion.

  “What?” They asked almost simultaneously.

  “Det
ective Woods has known all along who killed daddy. He wasn’t trying to find them; he was trying to protect them.”

  “Oh Kayla you must have misunderstood. That makes absolutely no sense at all,” her mother told her.

  “But it does mom and no there is no misunderstanding. I heard it myself; from his mouth to my ears.”

  The silence that filled the room was almost like a living force. Kayla stared at them both. After first hearing what the detective had to say, Kayla had to admit that the first thing she felt was fear. After having time to absorb what she heard, that fear had begun to turn into a powerful, burning anger.

  “Mom, this is going to be hard for you but dad was laundering money for a drug cartel.”

  Mama Ann couldn’t help herself, she burst out laughing.

  “Your father, laundering money for a drug cartel? Come on Kayla, that’s ridiculous. In Lambert?” She couldn’t stop laughing.

  She looked back and forth between Kayla and Anita. Anita wasn’t laughing, neither was Kayla.

  Mama Ann’s laughter began to subside. “Kayla? This is a joke right? A really bad joke right?”

  Her question was met with stony silence as Kayla waited for her mother to understand that she was not joking.”

  It finally sank in. “You’re serious.”

  “Mom, there are elements in and around Lambert that we never really knew anything about. They operate in the shadows, behind closed doors, in the dead of night when no one is watching. Lambert is so quiet and unassuming; it’s the perfect cover for unsavory types to hide their activities. No one except those involved would ever believe that anything unpleasant or downright criminal could happen here.”

  Anita spoke up. “Mama Ann, aren’t you the one who told me that you sometimes saw Papa Gary meeting with people in the middle of the night when he thought you were asleep? Didn’t you say that you had seen him out front and they would come in a black car?”