Poker Face

by Noelle Winters

  Liv stared, temporarily thrown for a loop. “What?”

  Ryan exhaled. “I don’t think we can go back to how things were right away. But –” She paused. “Liv, I like you. Like you like you.”

  Liv stared some more. The ice was starting to thaw around her mind, and almost around her heart. Her skin felt like she had been zapped by electricity, and her mind was going a mile a minute. “But…”

  “The past happened, we can’t deny that.” Ryan met her eyes. “But the future is still open.”

  Liv threw a sofa pillow at her. “You’re so cheesy.”

  “And you like it.” Ryan winked.

  Then she waited.

  Liv hesitated, but when she realized she was smiling without meaning to she nodded. “Okay.”

  “Don’t be so enthusiastic,” Ryan teased. Still, she had known Liv was a bit quiet, a bit withdrawn. So when she pulled Liv into a kiss, Liv didn’t feel any hesitation or any upset in that kiss. Just affection, longing.

  Everything Liv had missed.

  Thursday 20th October; 6am

  The shrill ringing of Ryan’s phone woke her up, and she rolled neatly off the couch with a thud. “What the…” Hair mussed and eyes bleary, she grabbed the phone and answered it. “Ryan here.”

  “We found a body.” The patrol officer’s voice was grim. “It’s one of the missing girls you were investigating. Ashley Palmer?”

  Ryan’s eyes widened, and she was suddenly very awake. “Where?” She was already changing out of the pajamas that Liv had lent her, grabbing her purse and heading upstairs to see if Liv was awake. Liv had the afternoon shift at her coffee shop, so she had planned to sleep in.

  Liv had slept upstairs, and Ryan had taken the couch. She hadn’t wanted to disturb Liv when she sat up late at night reading her case notes over and over.

  Liv was still curled in bed when Ryan got up there. She looked down at her, feeling her heart race and bleed with the affection she felt for her. “I’ve got to go to work,” Ryan said softly, leaning down and kissing her cheek. “I’ll come by later.” Liv made a quiet noise, although whether it was acknowledgment or she was still mostly asleep, Ryan didn’t know.

  She headed back downstairs, her mind whirling.

  “I’ll let her know you left, dear.” Liv’s Gram caught Ryan off guard, making her jump. The elderly woman was sitting at the kitchen table, Mocha by her feet.

  “Thank you, uh…” Ryan wasn’t sure what her name was.

  “You can call me Gram.” She smiled.

  “Thanks, Gram.” Ryan let herself smile back, then she headed straight out the door and to her car.

  The drive was longer than she had expected, especially when she saw the address. Ashley’s body had been dumped in a field outside of town, easily five miles from where she had been abducted. Was that purposeful? Not that they were even 100% sure of the location where she had been taken. It could have been at school or it could have been the house. Even her parents weren’t sure.

  Ryan let out a deep breath. Could she let go of Cairo’s case? She wasn’t sure she could, and she was even less certain she wanted to try. But the Chief had made it more than clear that she was off the case. She gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter as she turned into the grassy lot where the other cars were parked. Now it was time to focus on her missing person cases.

  Crime scene tape blocked off a large portion of the grassy field, and she could see patrol cars dotting the sides of the barriers. A patrol officer was standing at the central point, a logbook in his hand.

  “Detective Olsen.” She held up her badge, but it was just a formality as he let her through. She signed the logbook, took a pair of latex gloves from her pocket, and slipped them on as to not contaminate anything.

  “What do we have here?” She looked at the patrol officer standing near the little forensic markers they put up to protect evidence.

  “Nude body of an approximately nineteen-year-old female was found by a farmer who owns the nearby fields,” he started. Wiggins, his name tag read.

  “How was the body identified?” Ryan asked. They had called her and known it was relating to the missing persons case, so they had put the pieces together somehow.

  Wiggins cleared his throat. “Ashley’s cousin is a patrol officer.”

  Ryan winced internally. That was a horrible way to find out. “Is she still here?” Or he, she added mentally.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He nodded towards a small brown-haired lady who was still dressed in her police uniform. Ryan would go talk to her once she had taken a look at the scene.

  “Was an ambulance called?” Ryan was surveying the crime scene as a whole. Grassy field, isolated. There was an untouched by police patch of grass that had been flattened, most likely by the suspect’s vehicle.

  “She was cold when we arrived,” Wiggins said reluctantly. Ryan nodded. She headed further towards the body, which she guessed was where the majority of the patrol officers stood.

  Dane strode in, pulling on a larger pair of gloves. Ryan looked at him, but she wasn’t hostile. He was just doing what was best for him and his family. “Hey,” she said with a nod.

  He nodded back, a half-smile on his face.

  She turned back to the crime scene. The victim, Ashley, was nude, sprawled out like a spider and very clearly posed. Ryan frowned. There was something weird about the posturing, and not just in a sexual way. It looked derogatory, not just sexual.

  The slim body had dried blood running down it, seeming to come from a variety of stab wounds. Some were large, the length of Ryan’s palm, and some were small, as if the tip of the knife had gone in and the killer had hesitated.

  There was also a syringe in her arm. The needle had slid in, the plunger depressed, but it just laid there, as if it had never been pulled out. “It’s like two different people tried to stage the same crime,” Ryan murmured, her mind spinning. One who preferred death by drugs, the other by knife. And it was very clear that at least one of them had done their job eventually - a few of the stab wounds showed very little bleeding, characteristic of the heart no longer beating.

  She bit her lip. Where was the other teenager she was looking for? Had she ended up just like Ashley?

  “Found her clothes!” A patrol officer shouted from approximately fifty feet away. Leaving the forensic techs to their job, Ryan jogged over to where the patrol officer was standing next to a set of clothes.

  She let the photographer get a couple crime scene photos first, before she slowly worked through the discarded clothes with her gloved fingers. Pockets had been pulled out, everything ripped inside out. “He’s looking for something.”

  “He?” Dane questioned.

  “Could be a she, but I doubt it.” Ryan considered the severity of the crime scene. “Maybe it’s both.” Drugs were more often a weapon of choice for women, whereas men were much more physical. A knife screamed aggression, and the multiple stab wounds screamed overkill.

  It was personal, but how? As far as Ryan could tell, the victim had no known enemies and no boyfriends or exes. There were few people that she was linked to that would have had this level of anger. Maybe Jasmine did, and she was part of the group going after Ashley.

  “Not going to be a fun autopsy.” Dane came up next to her, his face a grimace.

  “Or a fun case to solve.” Ryan let out a sigh. A murder of passion usually meant it was a specific, one-time thing, but the viciousness of the crime led her to believe he had probably killed before, and would likely kill again.

  When was Amaranth going to go back to the nice, doddering old town it had once been?

  “There may be a second body.” Ryan projected her voice loud enough that all could hear. “Let’s set up a search grid and comb the nearby area.”

  It took nearly an hour and they started combing the nearby area on foot. There was nothing, not in Ryan’s path or anyone else’s. That created more questions than answers. Where was the second girl? Were their cases entirely unrelated?


  That seemed a lot less likely than any other option. The odds of two unrelated crimes happening to connected people was extremely rare.

  “We found something.” It was her radio, connecting her back to the main crime scene.

  “Be there in a sec,” she radioed back. Then she and Dane hoofed it back to the main scene, thankful they weren’t wearing heavy police uniforms in the stifling forest.

  “This was underneath her body.” A patrol officer held out an evidence bag.

  Ryan recognized it almost immediately, and she frowned. It was a business card for the Sports bar that Ross was a bartender at, and that Veronica owned. A male/female pair? Or just a coincidence? Ross seemed genial enough. With enough evidence, she could see Veronica as a potential killer.

  But neither of them had motive. The girl leaving without warning didn’t really fit a crime of this type of passion.

  “I’ll go.” Ryan left the crime scene in Dane’s charge, going straight to her car and heading to the bar. The media were soon to catch onto the crime and the last thing she wanted to deal with was them, especially after the recent news conferences that had left her boiling.

  If she got anywhere near a microphone like she wanted to, she wouldn’t have to wait for the Chief to fire her, she’d probably quit on the spot.

  The bar was a fifteen minute drive away, with the dirt roads making for quite the bumpy ride until she made it out back onto the main roads.

  The bar looked bright in the daylight, and that was another thing that made Ryan pause. How long had the body been there? Had someone dropped it off in the middle of the day? That was a risky move — unless the person had dropped the body off last night and it had just been discovered this morning.

  She had her case notes in her car, and a copy of a photo of the victim was attached. She detached it from the paper clip and headed into the bar, hoping that someone was there.

  And there Ross was, cleaning the counter and apparently preparing the bar to open later that night. “You’re here early,” Ryan said, catching his attention without spooking him.

  “Gotta keep the bar maintained,” he said with a grin. “We’re out of a few supplies, so.”

  “Is Veronica around?” Ryan kept her voice detached, but if Veronica was, she most certainly wanted to talk to her.

  “I’m afraid not,” Ross said, a hint of Southerner slipping into his drawl. “She’s away on business. Something to do in the big city, or something.”

  “I just wanted to know what you knew about this girl.” Ryan placed the photo on the bar and passed it over.

  Curious, Ross looked at the photo. “She was here a few days ago,” he said.

  “Didn’t she use to work here?” Ryan asked, flashing back to their earlier conversation.

  Ross nodded. “The other girl never came back, but she did. She left with someone.” His face clouded as he thought, then it dawned on him. “Charles. She was with Charles, the day before he was arrested.”

  “Thanks.” Ryan nodded, tucking the photo back into the file. “Anything else you can remember?”

  Ross shook his head. “No, but I’ll let you know if there is.”

  Ryan left the bar more confused than she had been when she had gotten there. Had Charles killed both the girls? That was doubtful. He was in police custody at the moment.

  That is, unless he had an accomplice who had dumped the body for him. The sign of two killers bothered her more than anything else. She felt like she had some pieces of the puzzle, but was missing a corner piece or two, something very big and very obvious.

  Calling Dane, Ryan brought him up to speed and set up a time to meet Charles in the interrogation room. At the very least, they wanted to confirm Ross’s story and ensure that Charles was either the last person with her or was the last known person with her before she had disappeared.

  “The Chief isn’t going to be happy about this,” Dane said, his voice soft.

  Ryan just looked at him. “He’s a person of interest in my case, too,” she pointed out.

  Dane snorted. “As if that’s going to stop him.”

  It was true, and Ryan wouldn’t lie and say she was somewhat worried. But there was something that needed to be done about these cases. If something happened to another resident - and especially to Liv - she was going to be furious.

  Especially if it was Liv.

  They entered the room, taking seats on the investigators’ side of the table. Charles sat there, his head droopy. His hair was starting to form a rat’s nest, and he hadn’t shaved, so a five o’clock shadow coated his lower face.

  “We’re here to talk to you,” Ryan said, taking the lead. Dane nodded.

  “I have nothing to say,” Charles said dully. “I didn’t kill her. That shit was planted. I was framed.”

  Ryan nodded. “This isn’t about Cairo.”

  That caught his attention. Charles’ eyes swiveled around to meet Ryan’s. “What?”

  “Have you ever met this girl?” Ryan slid the photo of Ashley across the table.

  He stared at it with his dull eyes, but she was certain she saw a glimmer of recognition there. “Should I?”

  “A witness placed you and this young woman leaving the Sports bar the night before you were arrested,” Ryan said. Then she took a gamble. “And we also have your fingerprints in her car.”

  That alarmed him, she could see it in the rigid way his shoulders were set back. Maybe he did have an accomplice. Maybe he had killed her and dumped her and her body had been moved. There were too many possible solutions, but the most promising one was a partner.

  “Excuse me, why are you talking to my client?” A tall, graying man swept into the room, all officious-looking. Ryan didn’t even have to check to see if he was a lawyer. They could tell, just from his posture.

  “We’re talking to him about the disappearance of Ashley Palmer,” Ryan said smoothly.

  “I have a documented alibi for my client regarding the murder of Cairo Levitt.” The lawyer placed something down on the table. Something that rocked their world. “I also have both the woman in the photo and the gas station owner willing to testify as to the photo being the original and not manipulated.”

  It was a dated and time stamped photo of Charles hugging someone at a gas station. It was dated the night of Cairo’s death, the same time stamp. There was no way he could have killed her.

  “The woman in the photo is Charles’ sister,” the attorney continued. “They met for a rendezvous the night Cairo was murdered.”

  The wind was only partially knocked out of Ryan’s sails, since she hadn’t been certain he was guilty in the first place. But Dane looked shocked.

  “I believe my client deserves to be released,” the lawyer said smoothly. “If you would like to question him on other charges, contact me and we’ll set up a time to meet. As a group.”

  Charles was quiet, but there was the faintest hint of a smile on his face. Was he a cheating, murdering scumbag? Or just a scumbag? Ryan didn’t know.

  What she did know was that their case was in serious trouble. And the Chief wasn’t going to be happy.

  19

  Thursday 20th October; 9am

  It was hard not to think about the moment that had changed her life forever. The moment that had led to her being stuck in a dank basement, her ankle chained to the wall. At least he had removed the handcuffs. It was the small mercies.

  She looked over at the dull, prison-cafeteria tray he had thrown down there that morning. That was all she got to eat, once a day. Bread and little else. It kept her from starving.

  Why had she gone to that damn party? Why had she agreed to see him, fallen in love with him? He was the worst man possible for her, but she’d gotten seduced by whispers and false promises.

  She swallowed despite her parched mouth, wishing she had some more water, but that was as scarce as the food, unless it rained. Then some of the rain water started filtering in, but it wasn’t water anyone wanted to drink.
r />   “Are you ready yet?” The thick, harsh voice sent shivers crawling down her spine. It was her captor. The one who had taken her, had held her. Now her friend was gone, and it was just her.

  “No,” she said, her voice softer than she wanted it to be. “No,” she said louder.

  There was a derisive sigh from his perch. “You’ll give in eventually,” he said. “You all do.” Then she could hear the sound of him leaving, returning to wherever he came from.

  She was going to die. She knew it. She had seen how Ashley had died, how horrible it was. But she wanted to die on her own terms. She didn’t want to die begging for her life.

  She closed her eyes. Maybe someone would save her.

  Please. Save me.

  20

  Friday 21st October; 7:30pm

  Liv knocked on the door in front of her, then twisted her hands. She wasn’t even certain that Ryan was home, but since her car was there it was likely.

  The door opened, revealing a confused-looking Ryan. “Liv?”

  “I saw the news.” Liv hesitated, wanting to head inside but choosing to wait for an invitation. Were they there yet? She didn’t know. “You were on it.”

  “What?” Ryan raised her eyebrows, then a realization flashed over her face. “I’m lead on the missing persons case.” She exhaled slowly. Then she paused, looking at Liv with a concerned expression. “How’s your Gram?”

  Liv smiled a tired smile. “She’s good. More lucid today.” Her lips tightened at the thought, the acknowledgement that Gram had good and bad days. “I put in a camera on the front and back doors to let me know if she tries to leave.” It was either that or think too much about what was going on, and the last thing she wanted to do was think.

  Which was exactly why she had showed up at Ryan’s, like a love-struck teenager.

  Whatever. Logic was overrated.

  “Come in.” Ryan smiled. Liv hadn’t planned it, but a date night would be a nice relief from the stress of the past couple weeks. Especially now that they were officially dating.