As he typed, she studied the picture with the seagulls. The water below them looked calm, and she tried to concentrate on that feeling.
“And the mask was exactly how you remember it?”
Avery hesitated and folded her hands on the desk. “I think so. The picture was only on the screen for a bit, but…I think so.”
He looked down at her hands and smiled. “Okay, I’ve got all they’ll need for now. If they require anything further from you, they will have your contact information. Do I have the best number to reach you at?”
“The one we spoke on, yes, I only have a cell phone.”
“A work number?”
She gave him the number for the school, and he repeated it back to her as he typed.
“Okay.” He pushed his chair back. “Thank you for your statement Ms. Hart.”
“That’s it?” Avery grabbed her purse, and felt her shoulders drop.
“I’ll pull your file from Jacoby’s records to include with this interview. That’s all they’ll need.”
“Okay.” They both stood, and he led her to the door. “Inspector Cotter, could you let me know, one way or the other?”
He stopped before they reached the door and looked back at her.
“I don’t…”
“It’s just, if what I’ve given doesn’t help in any way, I’d rather know. I’ve waited ten years, wondering where the person who attacked me was.”
He looked past her to the door, and pressed his lips together. She knew he was thinking, and he looked even more studious with his glasses.
“Sure.”
Avery smiled and held out her hand.
“Thank you Inspector Cotter.” He slipped his hand into hers; she shook it once, and left his office.
She felt lighter as she walked down the hall toward the exit and smiled at an officer who passed her by. She could still smell Inspector Cotter’s cologne when she breathed in, and she tried to figure out where she knew it from, and why it drew her to him.
Chapter 4
Noah watched Avery Hart walk down the hall, and couldn’t help but take in the view from behind. Her hips swayed as she strode off and hypnotized him for a moment. He shook his head at himself before he slipped back into his office, and closed the door behind him.
When he sat down at his desk, he picked up the phone and dialed Jacoby’s cell.
“Cotter! Calling from the office huh? Got an issue? Grab a tissue,” Jacoby rattled off the old line he used many times before when Cotter had started in his position and had a question about an ongoing investigation. Cotter heard a few hearty chuckles in the background. “I’m on the course. This had better be important.”
“Shouldn’t have your cell on in the first place old man.” Noah smiled as he spoke. “You losing it already?”
He could tell Jacoby was smiling as he barked at him. “I’m surprised you remember the rules. You haven’t been out in a while.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll set up a date soon, but this isn’t a personal call. A young woman named Avery Hart called this morning asking for you.”
“Hart? Oh wow,” He could hear the smile fade from his face. “What did she want?”
Noah raised his brows. “You’ve heard about the girl who escaped her attacker in Birch Falls Park last week? The one who provided us the sketch of the mask.”
“Sure.”
“Well, Ms. Hart believes…”
“Listen here, that girl doesn’t even know what she believes. She thought a monster attacked her. A monster, Cotter. I get kids and their overactive imaginations, but for this girl, it was more than that. She was wacko. Don’t know if she was like that before the incident, but after, they damn near committed her.”
“Who did?”
“Alright, I’m exaggerating, but she was in therapy, probably still is, all over some prank.”
“It was all a prank?”
“Sure, probably. Listen, coulda been anyone. Point is, chasing someone isn’t a crime Cotter. All the injuries she sustained, she did that to herself. Ran right off a damn cliff.”
“Well, she thinks the mask is the same one this killer uses. She saw it on the news, and …”
“Listen Cotter, this is a waste of your time, and definitely a waste of mine. I gotta get back to the game.”
“Alright, thanks Bart. Good luck. If your swing’s anything like the last time we were out, you’ll need it.”
Jacoby chuckled. “Later kid.”
That should have settled it, but Noah wasn’t convinced. The difference between their stories was too great. Still, as soon as he made a copy of the files, he could hand it over to Ethan, and let him make the call.
He grabbed his mug, and when he got to the archival room with a new cup of coffee, he found the case file. He skimmed over each page as he began to make copies.
His mind drifted to Avery, and how bothered she seemed by it all, even after so many years. Jacoby brushed it off as a prank on a kid with an overactive imagination, but Avery Hart wasn’t a kid any more. Far from it, he smiled, as he remembered their visit. She was a young woman who knew what she wanted. He wouldn’t have agreed to contact her with an update if it wasn’t the only way he would see her again.
Her big bright eyes looked so innocent and lit up the room at the same time.
When she cried, she seemed so vulnerable, and he wished he knew the right thing to say to her in the moment.
He shook it off and focused on the last page of her file, and noticed a name he recognized.
Officer Owen Minicozzi.
Chapter 5
Avery got home from work just as it started to rain, and she flipped the light on to check the clock in her kitchen as she stepped in the door. It was later than she thought; the natural light cast a gray tone through her apartment, and her stomach growled.
She slipped her portfolio case in the closet and stared at it.
She used her own photos as examples to show her class what she wanted for their black and white assignment. Although she had gotten an A on each of them when she took the class, she always wondered if her students judged her photos, or if they judged her in general. She was younger than half her class and she hoped they wouldn’t resent someone they might view as less experienced teaching them.
She wondered if her students around her age felt the same way when they spoke to her as she did with Inspector Cotter.
Intimidated.
She closed the closet door, and ran her fingers over the locks on the front door before she sauntered to the kitchen.
One, three, four, and five.
She wondered if Inspector Cotter meant it when he said he’d be in touch. He seemed to listen to her story, but it wasn’t her first rodeo, and she knew if she told him everything, she’d sound crazy.
That’s what they all thought she was, including her own parents, until she started telling the story the way they told it to her. Some kid was playing a prank on her. Chasing her. Just fooling around. She should have watched where she was going, but she got carried away with her imagination, and got herself hurt. Almost killed.
It was her fault.
Once she admitted all that, her parents stopped taking her to therapy, and once she graduated high school, they stopped worrying so much about her. After she moved out of their house, into her apartment, she even went months without hearing from them at all.
She said those lies they all fed her so many times, she’d started to believe them, except for the nights when she would let her mind wander.
Avery changed out of her dress clothes and into jeans and her favourite blue tank top. She hurried back to the kitchen and grabbed a pan from under the cupboard. She set it on the stove as her stomach growled, took cheese out of the fridge, and as she began to grate it, the baby next-door started to cry. She tried to ignore it, but the cries turned into wails, and she stormed into the living room and turned on the music channel.
She returned to the stove, and before she laid out the tortillas,
she grabbed her cell phone from the counter and checked again.
No calls.
The loud music made her heart beat faster, and she went back into the living room, and turned the TV off altogether. The moment she did, she heard a tap on the glass door of the balcony. She turned her head toward the noise and listened.
The curtains were open, but it was too dark to see anything—even the rain she heard patter on the glass. She felt exposed, and turned off the lights in the living room. She looked out onto the empty balcony, and finally took a breath.
The baby stopped crying, and she turned on the balcony lights.
Nothing.
A thump came from the wall by the front door and she turned away from the balcony toward it.
She stood still and waited for another noise.
Maybe someone bumped into the wall.
She checked on the balcony once more and returned to the kitchen. Just as she got the quesadillas onto the frying pan, a knock on the door made her jump. She stepped softly over to the door to look out the peep hole.
Nothing.
If someone was playing a trick, they didn’t realize this was the worst night to try it. Just as Avery turned from the door, there was another knock, louder than the last. She turned back to the peep hole and saw Josh looking at his feet.
She unlocked four of the six locks and opened the door.
“Hey Avery, how’s it goin’?” Josh had a dark lab puppy in his arms and a big smile on his face. “Look who came to dinner.”
“How long were you in the hall for?”
“Huh?” He slid by her, and kicked off his hiking boots. “We just got here.”
“You didn’t knock on the wall?”
He laughed, “No, why? Is everything okay?”
“If you’re trying to trick me, this is not the…”
“What’s burning?” Josh sniffed the air and made a face.
Avery ran for the stove.
“They’re ruined.” She called, as she flipped the quesadilla, burnt side up.
“Let me order pizza.”
“I had take-out last night. Chinese.”
“You have to eat something, and it shouldn’t be this.” Josh poked at the quesadilla.
Avery huffed, and pushed him to the side to get a better view of the puppy.
“And who is this?”
“This is Louie. We’ve been calling him Lou though.” He smiled and held the puppy out to her. “I wanted to surprise you with our newest addition.”
“Sorry Josh, but another sweetheart at the shelter doesn’t exactly brighten my day.” She took Louie in her arms and kissed the top of his head.
“The surprise is that he already has a foster home.” Josh shrugged off his brown jacket and hung it over a stool on the other side of the counter.
“Oh.” Avery held Louie up and cooed at him. “How old is he?”
Josh rubbed at his scruffy beard. “Little over three months old.”
“What a sweetheart. Was he the runt?”
“Not sure. Someone dropped him off anonymously.”
“How can people do that?” She looked into Louie’s eyes, “who could give a cute thing like this up? Cold, that’s what it is. People are cold.”
“Bad day?” Josh asked, and walked over to the couch.
She nodded, and when he patted the cushion beside him, she took a seat and cradled Louie in her arms.
“I don’t know how to tell you this.” She mumbled and he turned to face her. She saw his mood shift by the look on his face. “It’s not about the shelter.”
“Okay.” He leaned back. “Spit it out.”
“Did you see the news last night?”
“No.”
“Okay, well, I saw something that I think might be related to what happened to me in the forest that day.”
Josh stared at her. “In the news?”
“Yeah, a girl from Birch Falls was attacked by some guy wearing a mask. They showed the sketch on TV, and it looked exactly like the person who chased me.”
“Avery, are you sure?”
“Well, they said if you might have information to call it in, so I did.”
“You called the police about it?”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t right away, but the more I thought about it…”
“What did they say?”
“They’re looking into it. Listen, I don’t have high expectations on this, I’m just happy they heard me out.”
“That’s good. You seem to be mellowing out.”
“I think it’s this little guy, calming me down.” Avery pet Louie’s head as he yawned. “He’s so soft.”
“You alright?”
Avery nodded. “Let’s just order pizza. I’ll call okay?
“As long as you let me pay.”
“Josh, you gotta stop doing that. I know you’re a good guy, and you like to take care of me, but it’s me that owes you.”
“Stop.” Josh took Louie from her lap, and set him on his chest. “You don’t owe me anything.”
Avery thought about the first time she saw him, running toward her along the edge of the Crown River, Jack barking behind him. If he hadn’t pulled her from the water, she didn’t know what would have happened, and she didn’t often let herself wonder about it either.
“You want a drink?”
“Sure. Got any beer?”
“When do I ever have beer?” She grinned.
“Thought you might pick some up some time, you know, cause you know I love it.”
Avery rolled her eyes. “Cola?”
“Sure,” Josh scratched behind Louie’s ears. “Listen, if you keep thinking about it, you’ll make yourself sick. It’s probably just a coincidence.”
As she went to grab their drinks, she knew he was probably right, and she felt disappointed.
“Want to watch a movie or just TV?”
“Whatever.”
“Is Asher coming over too? How are you guys doing?”
“Good.” He grinned and his cheeks flushed, “It’s going well. He’s staying home with Jack. I came straight from the shelter. Veronica wondered if you could come in this weekend for an extra shift.”
“Yeah, sure. Too bad I won’t get to see Louie though.”
Josh cocked his head to the side.
“You know what I mean. You know I hope I’ll never see him again.”
Josh looked at the tiny puppy on his chest. “Me too.”
Chapter 6
“Inspector Ascott?” Noah knocked on his open door.
“Ethan.” He nodded. “You’re Cotter, right?”
He stood and met Noah halfway. They shook hands and Noah looked down at the man.
“I had a young woman come in today with something pertaining to your case. At least she thinks it might.”
“Huh, why did she come to you?”
“She didn’t mean to. It was one of Jacoby’s old cases. She was trying to reach him.”
“Did you want to sit down?”
Noah looked at the chair and back to Ethan. “No, that’s fine, I don’t want to waste your time.”
“Oh, I’ll be here all night. Bastard’s gunna do it again. I know he will.”
“Mind if I ask you something?” Ethan shook his head. “How did you link the first murder in Crown River with the attack at Birch Falls Park?
“Tamara Sweeten, our first vic, had been shot and carved up like a God damned turkey. Surprised we even found the entryway for the bullet. It matched with the one that hit Fiona’s leg. Found it on the path where she was shot. Fiona—that’s our girl who got away. We’re not one hundred percent, but we’re working with it. It’s all we’ve got to link them so far.”
“I heard the bullet went right through Fiona?”
“It did. You’ve got me curious here Noah. What’ve you got for me?” He stared down at the folder in Noah’s hand and rested his hands on his hips.
“She thinks she recognized the mask from the sketch on the news last night
.”
“Oh,” Ethan frowned and reached out for the file.
Noah watched him flip through the pages. “I don’t mean to bother you though. Everything you’d need is in there.”
“You’re not bothering me.” He didn’t look up from the file, but the frown left his face.
“I wouldn’t have brought it to you if I didn’t think it was worth looking into.”
Ethan looked up at Noah, shut the file, and tossed it on his desk. His expression was hard to read, but he wasn’t sure he took the file any more seriously than Jacoby.
“Appreciate it.” He went back behind his desk and sat down.
“Alright,” Noah began to back away, “Take care.”
“Thanks.”
Before he left, he turned to see Ethan looking at his computer screen, already checked out of their conversation.
*
The file on the table was all wrong. The victim was found drowned in the Crown River by a jogger the same morning he died. Another Inspector had begun the case, but in his absence, it was given to Noah.
As he flipped through the case notes, he knew he should have been grateful for his first fresh case, but he eyed his brief case on the floor beside him.
The drowning case came in just before he was about to head home and right after he handed Ethan Avery Hart’s statement, along with the copies he made of her case file.
In his new file, the victim, Grant Hornby, was a high school teacher, and had been reported missing hours before he was found. When Noah received the case, he couldn’t help but think of Avery, and her fall into the Crown River. A fisherman had watched her fall and rescued her. The victim from his new case hadn’t been so lucky.
After a few hours of sleep, Noah knew he should focus on his new case, but he glanced at his brief case once more before he pushed his new case files aside, and grabbed it.
He hadn’t intended on making two copies originally, but when he saw Owen Minicozzi’s name in her file, he knew there was one more thing he had to do before he could let the case go in good faith, so he gave one copy to Ethan, and kept the other.
Owen was the officer who accompanied Jacoby when he questioned Avery ten years ago. He was also a friend of Noah’s.
Lies Come True Page 2