“Emma. Hey. You’re aware that none of this is your fault, right? Yes, you should have told me right away, but it doesn’t matter now. The home invasions still would have happened. If Deirdre is involved in any of this, we’ll find out, and she’ll be held accountable. I know,” she added when Emma didn’t say anything. “It’s not fair. That’s why we’ll get you out of this as soon as possible and get on with our lives.”
“No. I can’t.” Emma shook her head. “Can’t you see that it’s always going to be this way? I saw the way he looked at me, and if you weren’t here with me, he wouldn’t have believed a word I said. I’m not sure he did anyway.”
“What are you saying?”
It was early. They hadn’t slept all night. It wasn’t a good time to have this conversation.
“People are going to ask questions, and not all of them will be as nice as Tanya. It’s going to impact your career. I don’t want that.” Emma shuddered, from cold or emotion, Jayce didn’t know. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“My career is just fine. You don’t need to worry about that.”
“I don’t think we can do this any longer. I was fooling myself into thinking that after all this, things could be…normal for me. I’m sorry.”
“Emma, stop. We’ll talk about this later.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Emma insisted. “I…I’m really grateful you’re helping me with this, but when it’s over, I won’t see you anymore. It’s better that way. I should call Kitty. It doesn’t look like I’m going to make my shift.”
“Emma…”
“Detective Finney, would you join us in my office for a moment?”
When she saw the lieutenant’s serious gaze, Jackson standing next to her, Jayce knew her problems had multiplied.
“Can I go home?” Emma asked.
The sympathetic look the lieutenant gave her made Jayce wince.
“We have a few more questions, Ms. Curtis.”
Emma nodded, as if she had already expected this turn of events, and resigned to it. Jayce got to her feet so rapidly she almost knocked over her chair, and followed Chomsky and Jackson into the lieutenant’s office, slamming the door for good measure.
“What the hell is going on? She had nothing to do with any of this.” If she was honest, her frustration and worry had a lot less to do with her colleagues than with Emma’s suggestion. What would it take to make her see she got this all wrong?
“Deirdre Brown wasn’t at her apartment,” Jackson said. “Clothes, everything personal gone. She ran.”
“So? Place got a little too hot for her. She knew you were investigating the burglaries. That’s why she came to Emma in the first place, I assume.”
“Possibly—thinking she could trust her. Why would she risk that amount of money with someone if she didn’t expect them to keep their mouth shut?”
Jayce threw her hands in the air in an irritated gesture.
“Emma was scared, because Deirdre Brown threatened her. I know she wasn’t specific, but…Lieutenant, you know the story. Em…Ms. Curtis moved out of the halfway house a few months ago. When Brown said she could pin something on her, get the police involved, she believed her. It’s not that odd. She didn’t want Brown to ruin everything she worked so hard for, and that’s why she told me. We came here right away. Now let’s find Brown.”
“That’s the plan,” Jackson said. “I was hoping Ms. Curtis could help us with that.”
* * * *
“Did you call Kitty?” Jayce asked when she could finally drive Emma home.
Emma shrugged. “It was okay. She said Samantha wanted to come in after all. No idea what’s up with her.”
“Okay. You remember everything we said?”
“I do, and I really think it would be better if you weren’t involved in any of this. I can handle it. The next time Deirdre calls, I ask her to come. Someone’s going to watch the building in case she shows up unannounced again. It will be okay.”
How can you say that when you just broke up with me?
“Let’s get you home then. Maybe we’re lucky and Deirdre resurfaces sooner than later.”
Part of her was hoping that when they had a moment alone, Jayce would be able to convince Emma that her idea was a bad one. Sure, this was an unexpected detour, but it wasn’t enough to give up. The plan was solid, and it didn’t require more from Emma than telling Deirdre that she had followed all her orders, have her come back to pick up the box. The empty apartment worried Jayce, though she didn’t think Deirdre would leave this much money behind. She was looking forward to a time when they would leave Emma alone, Deirdre, Maxine, all of them.
It was no surprise that Emma wasn’t thinking too clearly at this point.
“Kitty was right,” Emma said ruefully. “If I’d told you right away, at least they wouldn’t have doubted my story. Or maybe they would have anyway.”
“Wait. You told Kitty about the box?”
“No, of course not. Deirdre called at work once, so I told Kitty who she was, and that she’d contacted me. Don’t be mad with her. I said I’d tell you—which I did. It’s not her fault that it took me a while.”
“Why?”
Emma cast her a quick worried glance. “Why what?”
“What did you think would happen if you told me? Why didn’t you trust me?” Okay, now was not the moment to dump her own issues on Emma, the lingering guilt that she had to lie to her in the halfway house, or that it had been other cops that had messed up Emma’s case in the first place, all those years ago. “I’m sorry. I think I know the answer. I need to run a quick errand, but I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
“Sure.” Emma got out of the car, standing on the sidewalk for a moment, looking so lost that Jayce was tempted to delay the “errand”. She didn’t give in to the lure. They couldn’t have a fresh start until all the questions were answered—and Kitty had a lot to answer for.
Emma’s hesitation and trust issues, Jayce could understand, even if it was painful to learn she, their relationship, wasn’t completely excluded from them. Kitty, however, should have known better.
Kitty and Daniel were both home. Jayce remembered that another employee, Samantha, was minding the store for the moment.
She wasn’t going to spend a lot of time.
“What the hell were you thinking?” she asked. Kitty’s defiant look told her she knew exactly what Jayce was talking about.
“I guess this is about something Emma told me in confidence,” she said.
“About family of her ex threatening her. You didn’t think I should know? Kitty, what’s wrong with you?” The lack of sleep and the stress of the past few hours were creeping up on her.
“Oh no, Jayce,” Daniel intervened. “You don’t come into my house on a Saturday morning and talk to my wife like that.”
“It’s fine. Give us a moment?” He glared at Jayce, but turned around and left the spacious kitchen.
Kitty sighed. “Okay, from the beginning. Emma got a few calls at home, and one at work, so we talked about it. This woman seemed annoying, but not dangerous. I told her to talk to you, so you could put a stop to it. I assume you found out.”
Jayce felt a lot less righteous than she had minutes ago. She wiped a hand across her forehead, unsure about what to say.
“Frankly, you don’t look so good,” Kitty offered. “Would you like a coffee?”
“She yells at you, and you offer her coffee?” Daniel, who hadn’t gone that far away after all, asked in disbelief.
“I’m sorry about that. That woman didn’t just call, she asked Emma to keep a box for her, and not look inside. Well, we did. There were over five grand and jewelry that came from the burglaries on Park Street. It’s going to be okay, but Jackson and his guys had a lot of questions. You can imagine this morning wasn’t so easy for Emma, and much of it could have been avoided if we had known right away.”
Kitty exchanged a stunned look with Daniel, before she picked up he
r own cup.
“Wow. I’m so sorry. I had no idea it could be anything like that.”
“Nobody did. Daniel…could you leave us alone for real? Just a few minutes, I have to get back anyway. I promise I’m done yelling.”
“I hope so. Fine. I’ll be outside,” he said to Kitty, not entirely placated. Jayce couldn’t blame him.
“I’m so sorry. This was uncalled for.”
“You’re both under a lot of pressure. I understand that.”
“Emma broke up with me.” Jayce hadn’t even meant to say it, but the words came tumbling out anyway, in all their gravity.
Kitty looked shocked at the revelation. “Why?”
“She thinks being with her is harming my career, now, in the future. I didn’t have a lot of time to convince her otherwise.”
“You will.” Kitty pulled herself a chair and sat next to Jayce. “Give yourself some time until all of this is sorted out. Emma has been through a lot—the jealous, criminal girlfriend, prison, everything that happened in the halfway house. Give her a break.”
“What about me? When do I get to have a break?”
Her guard wasn’t just down, it was in pieces. In some ways, she needed a fresh start, a do over, just as badly as Emma. She had hoped, at first, then lost all doubt that Emma could be sharing this new life with her, the second chance after her accident, but that glorious future hinged on too many uncertain factors now.
“In time,” Kitty said softly. “Remember you have a different set of options here. Emma’s scared and confused right now. I would be if my violent ex’s family showed up on my doorstep, and you know what I’m talking about. You can work this out. In fact, I’d be disappointed if you didn’t, because I still want you to come for dinner tomorrow. Go talk to her.”
“Yeah, I guess I can’t avoid that. We are still waiting for Deirdre to contact her.”
“Keep her safe, will you? I don’t want to lose my best employee,” Kitty said with a wink. “She sells those cards faster than I can restock them.”
The joke did little to alleviate Jayce’s fears, but she managed a small smile for Kitty’s sake. “Thanks for the coffee—and pep talk. I appreciate it.”
I don’t want to lose her either, she thought.
The pain traveling down her back when she sat in the car wasn’t entirely psychological. She’d have to stop at the pharmacy on her way back to Emma’s.
There was something disturbing about Kitty’s narrative that had stuck in the back of her mind, my violent ex. Jayce knew what Kitty had been talking about. She was troubled by the thought that there could be a parallel in Emma’s story. During her undercover assignment, Jayce had pulled Maxine Brown’s file in order to get a feel for the case, and to determine if Emma was telling her the truth. Brown had shot the owner of a small grocery store point blank, apparently because she didn’t want to pay for a six pack of beer and a bag of chips. No priors, but unfortunately abusers didn’t always show up in police reports.
She was only a block away from Emma’s apartment building when she got the call from Jackson.
A couple of uniformed officers had picked up Deirdre near a bus station. This part of Emma’s nightmare was finally over.
* * * *
Jayce hadn’t returned yet, and even if she had, Emma wasn’t sure what else she could tell her. Few people were willing to give someone in Emma’s situation the benefit of the doubt. The scarlet letter left a stain on anyone who got too close, and she didn’t want that to happen to Jayce, whose life and career had been on the line before. Clinging to her would be…selfish. Emma wanted to, hold tight, but she knew it was only a matter of time before another situation like this would arise, putting a spotlight on the woman who had served time for being an accomplice in a murder case, and, by association, Jayce.
Unless she went through with that lawsuit supposed to clear her name and let the world hear the truth. Emma was tired, too tired to cry even. She would lie down for a bit, escape the world and its cruel realities. If Deirdre called, she would do as she’d been told.
Sleep pulled her in almost immediately, leading her into dark and oppressive dreams. The sound of the gavel, the prison cell lock, “I need to ask you a favor,” and then there was Alison in the halfway house, holding a gun on her. Waking up in a place she didn’t want to be, with Maxine, within walls that were closing in on her, days, then months, years…
Emma woke, gasping for breath, disoriented for a few moments. The sound that had jolted her out of the dreams came again, a firm knock on the door. She got up from the bed, hit with a wave of dizziness.
Hopefully, this would be Deirdre, and once the cops got her, she’d never have to see her again.
“Coming!” Emma straightened her clothes and went to answer.
Maybe it was Jayce, and she could tell her that she had changed her mind, and if it was selfish, she didn’t care, they’d find a way…
The man pushed his way into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind him. Emma shrank back, painfully aware that there was nothing in reach she could use as a weapon.
“I believe you have something that belongs to me,” he said.
* * * *
Deirdre Brown glared at her with self-righteous indignation. “I moved,” she said. “It’s not illegal. I don’t know anything about a box. I called her because Maxine wanted to know how she was doing. You gonna arrest me for that?”
“No, but try breaking and entering. There were enough prints in the house, and on the box. We can also have the owner of the last house come in and identify you,” Jackson suggested. “Or you could simply tell us the truth.”
“Emma is a liar. I don’t know what Maxine ever saw in her. Sweet-faced bitch almost convinced the jury that she never knew Maxine brought that gun into the store.”
Jayce wanted to slap her. Obviously, Jackson could sense that she barely held back the impulse, because he shot her a warning glance. This wasn’t her case. She hadn’t even planned to be here on this day, but enjoy a lazy afternoon with Emma instead.
Sometimes, it was better not to make plans—at all.
Jackson sat across from Deirdre.
“This isn’t about Emma and Maxine though. We know you weren’t by yourself in those houses, and what you took from them was far more than what we found in this little box. You took that, a little cut for yourself? I could imagine someone’s really pissed by this.”
For the first time since Jayce had met her, Deirdre looked uncertain.
“The owner would have died if he hadn’t managed to trigger the alarm. Once those fingerprint results come in, it’ll be you we can place at the scene, and you will be the only one to take the fall. Are your buddies really worth it? They’ll come visit you in prison?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Deirdre spat, but the tense set of her shoulders spoke volumes. She was afraid, Jayce realized.
“I think you do,” she said, “You better start talking, Deirdre. You’re helping us, we’re helping you, that’s how it works. In fact, it’s your only option. Speaking of prison visits, it would be a long time before you see your sister again.”
Deirdre looked at her hands on the table, shaking her head.
“You can’t protect me. I don’t trust you.”
“Who do you trust? Believe me, they screwed you over, and they’re getting away with the bigger part, laughing about you,” Jackson said.
“My sister doesn’t belong in prison. She shot somebody, yes, but she gets these weird spells—she needs help. Can you do that?”
“Oh no, you got that wrong. You’re not making any demands here.” In light of Kitty’s revelations, Jayce couldn’t care less about Maxine’s fate at this moment. Deirdre sounded oddly sincere whenever talking about her sister, but she also hated Emma.
“Detective Finney, why don’t we hear Ms. Brown out and then see if we can do something for her sister?” Another pointed look from Jackson.
Jayce shook her head, but she
remained silent.
“Of course, in that case we need something from you first. Names. Who was with you in that house?”
“He’s going to kill me.” Deirdre sighed heavily. “I told Maxine that bitch is trouble, too high maintenance…”
“Ms. Brown,” Jackson warned.
“I broke up with him, okay? Ted’s been messing around with other women, and I had enough. You won’t find my prints in any of the houses, because I was never with them. I thought since the bastard’s been cheating on me from day one, I deserved something in return, but he went ballistic when he realized some of the goods were missing. He thought his cousin had taken it. That’s when I realized I had to get away. I can give you the next two addresses they staked out, his cousin’s name, whatever, if we can talk about Maxine. I want her transferred.”
“We can suggest an evaluation, and go from there. Do you know where Ted is now?”
“Well, since I’m gone and five thousand dollars, I assume he’ll go looking for both.”
And Emma, Jayce thought with sudden alarm. He might have even followed Deirdre to Emma’s apartment the first time.
“Ted’s full name and address, now.” To Jackson, she said, “I’m going to call Emma. We need to send a unit.”
She knew that Jackson had called off the surveillance the moment they’d found Deirdre.
Jayce’s call went to voicemail.
* * * *
“I told you, Deirdre already picked up the box. I don’t know what was in it, or what she did with it. Please, believe me. If you leave right now, I won’t tell anyone. I never saw you.”
Emma could barely breathe, but apparently, fear hadn’t made her loose her speech. This couldn’t happen, not now, after everything she’d survived. She wouldn’t have the chance to tell Jayce that she’d been wrong.
“Tempting.” The man laughed. “No, I’d rather have my money, and you’re going to give it to me.”
“I don’t have that kind of money!”
Emma knew she’d made a mistake before he slapped her hard enough for her to stumble.
“You never opened the box, but you know what kind of money was inside? Stop bullshitting me!” He grabbed her arm and pulled hard, dragging her behind him into the bedroom. For a split second, Emma thought she might pass out.
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