Friend or Foe

by Liz Turner

  “Take a seat, Milo,” Ryan began. They all sat down. “Look man, we know it was you. The game is up, so just confess.”

  Milo snorted. “Confess to what?”

  Ryan gave Lily a side look, indicating it was time for her to take over.

  She took a deep breath and summoned every cop persona she’d ever seen on television. “Milo, the gun used to rob Douglasdale Bank and kill Candy is a Glock registered to a Max Jacobs, who we know is your father.”

  “We tossed that gun years ago,” Milo countered.

  Lily resigned to the fact that Milo wasn’t going down without a fight. “Your father filed a police report last week claiming his gun was stolen out of his house. So, Milo, all we have to do is run a small ballistics test on you, where we’ll find gun residue and prove that you were the one who fired the weapon.”

  “I ain’t allowing no ballistics test on me!” Milo growled indignantly.

  Ryan sighed. “You don’t have certain rights anymore, Milo. We have too much evidence against you.”

  “You ain’t got nothing on me!”

  “A search of your house produced close on twenty-five thousand dollars—” Lily said before getting cut off.

  “That’s my money, and you got no right putting your dirty fingers on it!”

  “We do have that right when every single one of those bills has a number imbedded in it specific to the bank,” Lily retorted. She leaned forward threateningly in her chair. “And if you interrupt me one more time, Milo Jacobs, you’re going to be facing more charges than just theft and murder.”

  Milo stared at her defiantly, but toned down his attitude for the remainder of the interview.

  “We even found your clothes in the trash outside your house—clothes that match the robber at the scene of the crime, including the Darth Vader helmet. It’s over, Milo. Confess.”

  He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine, it was me,” he said before shutting down and refusing to answer any more questions.

  “Good job, Lily. We’ve got our guy, and he’s going to go away for a long time. Why don’t you let Banks run the ballistics test while you go home and get some rest?”

  “Okay.” Lily smiled weakly. “That wasn’t fun though. I thought getting someone to confess would be more satisfying.”

  “Ryan, why don’t you see Lily to a cab?” Garcia ordered, more than suggested.

  Ryan and Lily walked in silence through the station.

  Lily knew she needed to say something, but wasn’t sure how to start. By the time she saw the entrance doors up ahead, she knew their walk was over.

  “Hey, Lily!” Officer Brian grinned as he jumped up to open the doors for her. “Are you perhaps free for that drink tonight?”

  “Sorry, Brain. We’ve got case-work to go over tonight, so Lily’s with me,” Ryan said casually, rescuing Lily from Officer Brian’s clutches.

  A sunken Brian closed the door behind them, staring out sadly at Lily talking to Ryan.

  “Sorry about that,” Lily mumbled, embarrassed.

  “You can’t blame the guy for trying.” Ryan laughed. “So, I don’t want to be a liar here. We don’t have a case to discuss, but I would like to take you out for a drink and maybe celebrate a rough case being over?”

  Lily smiled. “Sounds good. I’m going to take a long nap, but I’ll text you when I wake up. Shall we say six?”

  “Great.” Ryan gave her a rare smile, and Lily couldn’t help but return it.

  ***

  Lily sat sleepily in the back of the cab, thinking over everything that had happened. She closed her eyes and instantly relived the bank robbery, as she did every time she closed her eyes. She was staring at her own reflection in the Darth Vader helmet as the killer threatened to shoot her. Then she watched as the killer turned his gun on Candy and killed her instead.

  Lily sat bolt upright.

  She’d stared the killer virtually in the eyes, but when she had faced Milo in the interrogation room, she was way shorter than him…

  She ran her hands through her hair, replaying the scene over to make sure emotional trauma wasn’t distorting the facts. Settling back down in the car seat, she reflected on the evidence, knowing it was stacked up against Milo. They’d even found the money…

  Then she jolted again, realizing they’d only found half the money. Mr. Morgan had said fifty thousand had been stolen, but the cops only recovered twenty-five thousand….

  Lily slumped into her seat. This case was driving her insane. Milo probably had to pay Mickie to get rid of the truck.

  She pulled out her phone and dialed Ryan. “Hey, it’s me. Sorry, I just have a few things bugging me about the case. Is there any security cam footage outside the bank? Did we ever check it?” Lily paused, listening to his response. “What if Milo didn’t act alone? What if there was someone waiting in the truck the whole time? The best way to find out is to check that footage.”

  Lily proceeded to explain the height difference and the missing twenty-five thousand, and Ryan promised to check into it. Her then ordered her to go straight home and get some rest, which she had every intention of doing until it dawned on her that the one person who might be able to help them figure out who Milo had been working with would be his latest girlfriend, Sandra.

  Lily’s phone buzzed again.

  “Hey, Ryan, what’s up?” she answered.

  “You were right. There was camera footage from that day, and Milo wasn’t alone in the car. Someone else was driving.”

  “Thanks. I’m following a hunch, but I’ll text you with what I find out.”

  “Lily, don’t do anything stupid. Just give me five minutes and I’ll come with you.”

  “I’ll call you, I promise.”

  Chapter 10

  The Handshake

  Lily followed the address Candy’s mom had given her for Sandra. She knocked nervously on the door.

  Sandra answered and stared Lily in the eye. “What do you want?” she sneered.

  “Hey, Sandra… It’s me, Lily. Not sure if you remember me from the other day?” Lily extended her hand politely.

  Sandra eyed her suspiciously, but followed social norms and shook Lily’s hand. “Yeah, I remember you. What do you want?” she repeated aggressively.

  “I heard that Milo got taken to the station, and I was worried about you. I could see how much you guys really loved each other. Your heart must be breaking,” Lily sympathised as sincerely as she could.

  Sandra softened slightly, her eyes drooping sadly. “Yeah. It hasn’t been easy.”

  “Could I maybe get a glass of water to drink?” Lily asked. “I walked here and I’m dying of thirst.”

  Sandra hesitated slightly, but swung the door open so that Lily could enter.

  “Thanks.” Lily brushed past Sandra as she entered. “Are you going somewhere?” she asked, noticing the half-packed bags all over the sitting room.

  “I was planning on moving in with Milo, but your stupid cop friends arrested him,” Sandra said, walking to the kitchen to fetch Lily some water.

  Lily took advantage and quickly removed the wad of cotton wool from inside her hand, which she’d slyly used to swab Sandra’s hand during the handshake. She shoved it in a bag and quickly hid it in her purse. She would investigate it back at the lab with Banks. He’d been explaining to her the process of firing a weapon and how it always led to gun residue settling into the tiny crevices of a person’s skin; with a simple swab, these tiny metal particles could be lifted off and tested later in a lab.

  Sandra returned and handed Lily the glass of water. There was a flash of gold as Sandra’s wrist moved, her sleeve lifting slightly.

  “Ooh,” Lily squealed. “I love your bracelet. Can I see it?”

  Sandra sighed, but pulled up her sleeve so that Lily could examine the gold charm bracelet more closely. “My grandmother gave it to me. We bought a charm every year on my birthday.” She smiled at the memory.

  “I love this one here,” Lily said, drawing
one out. “Looks like it’s been broken off though…”

  “Yeah. That one was a dolphin. One of my first charms, actually.” Sandra withdrew her wrist, suddenly seeming uncomfortable.

  “Well,” Lily placed her glass down on the table, “I’m going to head out.”

  Sandra took the empty glasses back to the kitchen, and Lily quickly pulled her phone out and texted Ryan: I’m at Sandra’s. She is the kill-

  Yet, before Lily could finish the text, a blinding pain exploded in the back of her head. She dropped to the floor, unconscious, her phone slipping out of her hand and under the sofa.

  Sandra had crept back into the room outside of Lily’s awareness, her paranoia and suspicion piqued. She had finally recognized Lily from the bank robbery. She hadn’t been sure at first due to the way her adrenaline had been pumping on the day of the robbery, blinding her to the details surrounding her. But after being in such proximity, she’d been able to recall and identify Lily. Hence, she knew she had to take matters into her own hands.

  Meanwhile, Lily lied on the floor, the numbing sensation in the back of her head becoming a violent throb. She tried to raise her hand to feel the damage with her fingertips, but found that her hands had been restrained behind her. “What the…?” Lily groggily opened her eyes and felt the light instantly intensify her headache. Slowly, she remembered that she was in Sandra’s apartment, and realized she was tied to a chair.

  “Oh, you’re finally awake,” Sandra said. “You know, I can’t believe I was stupid enough not to recognize you at first! You’re the annoying brat from the bank that I was tempted to shoot first! And if I remember correctly,” she paused and laughed, “you even lunged at my feet in an attempt to stop me shooting Candy!”

  Lily could tell Sandra was hyped up on emotion and had possibly used some substance or other to cope, consequently intensifying her irrationality and dangerousness. “Just calm down, Sandra. I only came to talk to you,” Lily said coolly.

  Sandra leaned into Lily’s face, her breath hot against Lily’s cheeks. “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down! I know why you’re really here.”

  “Fine,” Lily said, trying a different angle. “Tell me why you did it then.”

  “Did what?”

  “Why you killed Candy. You had your money, and your escape was easy. Why did you have to get rid of Candy?”

  “Because I hated her and my life would be better without her in it! She got whatever she wanted, but she was never happy!” Sandra exploded. “She was in the coolest gang in town and a personal assistant to Mickie Romano, of all people, but she wanted out!” Sandra gestured wildly. “She refused to help Milo and I join the gang, and we really needed the money. But no—Candy was too selfish, too proud, to let us join in on the fun.”

  “Mickie Romano runs a dangerous gang that trapped Candy for years. Why couldn’t you just help her?”

  “Oh, please.” Sandra sneered. “Like she would ever take help from me. Candy was too busy keeping secrets from me to ask for help. She didn’t even tell me about her stupid cop friend. I had to find out on my own!”

  “She was protecting you and herself. If Mickie ever found out she was working with the cops, she would’ve been dead!”

  “I know. And that’s how I began devising my little plan.” She laughed smugly, sounding genuinely proud of herself. “The best part is that I told Candy if she didn’t help us with the bank robbery, I’d tell Mickie she was a snitch. She knew she’d be dead then.”

  Lily frowned. “You’re proud of blackmailing your best friend, forcing her back into a life of crime she’d already done time for, and then killing her anyway?”

  Sandra’s smile faded, and her face contorted with anger. Without warning, she flung the back of her hand across Lily’s face. “Candy had everything I wanted, but she didn’t deserve it!” Tears sprang into her eyes.

  Lily swallowed, ignoring the stinging of her face. She cleared her throat, forcing her voice steady. “So you stole it from her, including Milo. How did you manage to convince him to betray the girl he loved?”

  Sandra laughed again—an ugly mocking laugh that Lily feared she’d hear ringing in her ears for a long time to come. “He didn’t love her. He always loved me. But we thought Candy would get us in with Mickie. When Candy put up a fight over the bank robbery, that’s when Milo finally decided to leave her.”

  “And that’s when you were ready to take up her sloppy seconds. Don’t you see how pathetic you are? You could be so much better than this, Sandra!” Lily said, unable to stop herself despite knowing she was going too far.

  Sandra stopped mid-sentence, her deadly gaze stabbing Lily. “If you’ve already committed murder once, how hard could the second time be?”

  Epilogue

  The Rescue Mission

  The front door burst inwards as a foot crashed through. Lily cried in relief at the sight of Ryan swooping into the room, gun-first, followed by Garcia, Gary, and several other officers.

  Sandra took one look at them and tried to make her escape through the kitchen window and onto the fire escape, but Gary was too quick for her. Redeeming himself, he chased Sandra down and cuffed her.

  Ryan immediately hurried to Lily’s side, untying her hands and wiping her lip where she’d been bleeding. “Are you okay?” he asked, his face inches from hers, examining her for injuries as his fingers gently stroked her face.

  “I’m fine, I promise. Just a bit worn out.” She smiled faintly.

  “Lily, what were you thinking? You can’t keep throwing yourself into danger like this!”

  “To be fair,” Lily attempted to defend herself, “I didn’t really know she was the killer. But just in case she offered a confession, I had a recorder going.”

  “You what?” Sandra screamed.

  “Get her out of here,” Garcia ordered.

  “There’s twenty-five grand in hundred-dollar bills over here, boss,” one of the officers informed Garcia.

  “I also took a cotton swab of her hand to test for ballistics. Sandra was the one who shot Candy. Out of jealousy. She confessed everything. It’s all here.” Lily pulled a small recording device from her pocket.

  Ryan shook his head.

  “I’m going to oversee the search here and Gary will take Sandra to be booked in, so why don’t you get Lily home, Ryan,” Garcia suggested, his usual twinkle in his eye.

  Ryan nodded. “That’s the only way we’ll know she actually gets home safely.”

  Lily laughed in spite of herself, and Garcia chuckled in agreement.

  “Would you still be up for our drink?” Ryan asked, studying Lily closely.

  She nodded. “I could definitely use a drink.”

  ***

  “You know it’s not worth it, right?” Ryan asked as he sipped his beer, staring at Lily over the brim of his glass.

  “What’s not worth it?”

  “The price you’re willing to pay to take down a criminal.”

  Lily tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

  “Twice, I’ve thought I’d lost you in this last case. I can’t do it anymore, Lily. I can’t live with myself if something happens to you on our watch. On my watch…”

  Lily had never heard Ryan speak so candidly before. It was like he was showing a part of himself that very few ever witnessed—his vulnerability. “But we put all the bad guys behind bars,” she reasoned. “That’s a good thing.”

  “I agree,” Ryan said earnestly, “but not if it’s at the cost of your life.”

  Lily nodded. “I see. And you’re right—I shouldn’t have gone to Sandra on my own.”

  “You’re not a cop, Lily. And you don’t have our training to protect and defend yourself. I can’t always be there to figure out your cryptic messages and swoop in to save you.”

  “I’m sorry, Ryan,” she said, lowering her gaze. She then looked back up at him and smirked. “Why don’t you do a few self-defense classes with me or something?”

  Ryan smiled at
last, and Lily knew that he would forgive her. “I would if I didn’t think it would somehow encourage you to seek out danger rather than protect you from it…”

  “Okay, I’ll promise to be more careful when I work with you and Garcia,” Lily conceded.

  “And no more undercover work with Gary, ever.”

  “Agreed.” Lily laughed. “But I do have a question for you…”

  “Sure.” Ryan sipped his beer again. “Go for it.”

  “Why do you care so much?” Lily asked, and then quickly hid her face behind her own beer glass. She noted how Ryan seemed to struggle with her question. “Like, if it’s an older brother thing, then I totally get it…” she added.

  “It’s not an older brother thing…” he said slowly.

  “Okay, then what?”

  He laughed and nervously ran his hand over his face. “Why is this so hard?” he muttered to himself.

  Lily watched patiently as he appeared to have a full conversation with himself before finally turning his attention back to her. “It’s because I really admire you,” he began awkwardly. “I like the way your brain works. I like the way you really care about people. I like how you put your whole life on halt at college to see this through. I guess what I’m trying to say is—I like you, Lily Wilkens, just as you are… And I would really love it,” Ryan paused as he reached over the table and took her hands in his, “if you would keep living so that you can learn to like me back someday…”

  *** The End ***

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