“Why would he risk doing that?”
“No idea. But see, this is an example of where I think Roman might’ve been around to help Gavin out. He could’ve been the man who stayed behind to watch Emmadine and make sure she didn’t run. Otherwise, it makes no sense to leave Emmadine unattended in his cruiser while he goes off to dispose of the Uber driver and the car.”
“You’re not buying Roman’s story, are you?”
“Nope. I’ve been at this too long to trust anything a killer professes as the truth. I think Gavin certainly began on his own, maybe he talked about it to Roman. But when the fantasy turned real, Roman joined him in the kidnappings, helping him bait the teenagers. Those girls never stood a chance against two cunning grown men.”
Reggie shook his head. “How sad it all is. Oh, and by the way, Harry put together a folder on Pascoe. He emailed it to you.”
“Any way you could summarize what it says for me. I’m too tired to read right now. I might miss something important.”
“Well, you might’ve been right about Gavin spreading all the rumors back in high school. An immature boy who’s socially awkward surrounded by an environment where he’s completely out of his depth.”
“Please tell me you aren’t making excuses for him.”
“No way, not that. I’m just conveying the atmosphere that fostered his perverted behavior. Anyway, Harry talked to Ms. Pascoe’s sister, Pamela, who swears Brenda would never have crossed the line with a student. Until Jaynes came into her sister’s classroom, Brenda had never even had so much as a blot on her record. But the accusations and allegations began to stack up. The rumors came from one source. Gavin Jaynes. When Brenda first went missing before they discovered her body, Pamela was convinced that Gavin had something to do with it. Then after they found the body, Pamela never stopped believing Jaynes had killed her sister. But no one ever followed up. The sister claims no one ever even interviewed her or investigated the guy that should’ve been the number one suspect. From there, the case ended up going cold and forgotten, shoved into a file cabinet. Pamela believes that Gavin becoming a cop had something to do with Brenda’s murder remaining unsolved. And when you think about it, maybe Gavin saw to it that it was shelved over and over again through the years.”
Skye shook her head. “Gavin remained low on the totem pole his entire career. He could bully from his patrol car and continue picking up girls. He never wanted out of that car. So, I doubt he could’ve influenced seasoned homicide detectives like that. But what he could’ve done as a cop is get access to where the evidence was kept.”
Reggie’s eyes widened. “And destroy anything that might lead back to his early carelessness without getting caught.”
“There you go. Remind me to contact the detective working on Brenda’s case and find out just what evidence they have. With any luck, we could get DNA to test and get a resolution for Brenda’s sister.”
“I’ll see who’s listed as the lead investigator. I could contact him if you want. I don’t mind.”
“Go for it. One less thing off my plate.”
“I’ll also ask if anything was collected and tested at the time.”
“Thanks, Reg. I need to change clothes, maybe call and talk to Sierra, make sure she’s okay, and then I’m heading to the hospital to see Emmadine.”
****
On the fourth floor of the medical center, right off the elevator, Skye saw Leo pacing the corridor outside Emmadine’s room. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing much, just the usual family stuff. I’m taking heat from my relatives for bringing her to Idaho.”
“Tell them to talk to me.”
He shook his head. “That won’t work with this bunch. I’m older, which basically means I should be looking out for her.”
“I’m sorry, Leo. We all thought we were doing that.”
“I know. She wants to see you. Emmadine. She wants to explain why she didn’t make a very good nanny.”
“I’m not here for that. I just wanted to see how she was doing.”
“No, really. She wants to explain.”
“Why are you out here loitering in the hallway?”
He gave her a wide smile. “Because they brought her back from the MRI glassy-eyed and I don’t like hospitals. I’m going nuts in that room waiting for her to sit up and be her old self again.”
Skye patted his arm. “Go get something to eat and some fresh air. I’ll sit with her a while.”
“You sure?”
“Go. You also need sleep. Just sayin’.”
When the elevator dinged, Leo hopped in and pushed the button for Down. Before the doors closed, he called out, “So do you. Need sleep. Emmadine isn’t the only one who’s glassy-eyed.”
Skye waved him off and pushed open the door to Emmadine’s room. She saw Emmadine lying in bed, surrounded by white sheets and a pink blanket. Judy stood next to her bedside, fiddling with a plastic cup and straw, helping her sip water.
“What’s the diagnosis?”
Harry had nodded off, sitting upright in a chair and jerked awake at the sound of Skye’s voice. “What? Oh. She’ll be fine.”
Judy squeezed Emmadine’s hand. “Give it a week, and she’ll be playing tug of war with the dogs again.”
Before Skye could open her mouth to apologize for bringing her to Idaho, Emmadine began to talk. “I’m sorry I took off like I did. I’m sorry things didn’t work out.”
“I’m sorry you didn’t make it to the airport and had to go through this nightmare. I’m sorry it happened.”
“I’m not mad. I mostly had fun this summer.”
Skye chuckled. “You could’ve fooled me. I thought you were miserable.”
“Maybe I’m not cut out to be a nanny. I wasn’t very good at it. I got bored. A lot. Often. I didn’t want to be in Idaho. And I got distracted. I wanted to go off and do other things. Sitting around all day looking after a toddler…”
“Your young, Em. You have your whole life ahead of you to decide what you want to do with it. Go out there and do something you want to do. Not something you feel you have to do.”
“I don’t want to testify. Will I have to see that man again?”
“I guarantee you won’t ever see him again. He’s dead. But I wanted to talk to you about your ordeal. Leo says you ID’d Gavin Jaynes as the man who kidnapped you.”
Emmadine pressed her eyes closed to shut out the memory. Her breathing became ragged. “He put a bag over my head, a cloth bag. I saw his face then. And again, when he duct-taped my eyes shut. He didn’t have to hit me over the head. I would’ve done anything he told me to do. He didn’t have to leave me in that smelly bunker. How long was I there?”
“Almost forty-eight hours. I know it must’ve felt like a week to you. Once we discovered that you didn’t make the plane and you weren’t back in Seattle, we zeroed in on Jaynes for real. We thought he’d stuffed you in a shed. That was our mistake. We were surprised when we didn’t find you inside. Were you ever there at all?”
“I don’t think so. But when he hit me on the head, I blacked out. I don’t remember for how long. Could’ve been for a whole day. I woke up alone with a headache, and I couldn’t see anything with the tape on my eyes. I somehow knew that I was in a dark place because of the smell. I heard water running and felt something slither over my leg once or twice. I remember that much. I was terrified.”
“And you never saw another face, a second man?”
“No.” Emmadine stared over at Skye. “I just woke up alone. But there’s something you need to know. The guy who grabbed me was fixated on you. All he talked about during the ride before he knocked me out was you. And how no woman would ever beat him. He was too smart. Women were inferior.”
“I see. And he never touched you sexually, or assaulted you in any way?”
“No. I don’t think so. When I woke up, I felt like I still had my clothes on. I felt the same, not different. I didn’t feel like…you know…weird…like that. I do
know I was afraid he’d come back and rape me. I’m so sleepy, tired.”
“Okay, that’s enough for now. You rest. Get better. Get out of this place and back home. Leo’s gone to get something to eat.”
“Do me a favor,” Emmadine began. “Don’t go back to Seattle without me. Okay? Take me with you when you go.”
“It didn’t even cross my mind to leave you here,” Skye assured her, glancing over at Harry.
“I’m sticking close until they let her out of this place,” Harry confirmed.
“See? We’re not about to let you out of our sight again. She looked over at Judy. “You go grab a shower. I’ll stay here with Harry for a bit.”
“You don’t mind?”
“I’m here. Take advantage of the offer.”
Skye watched Emmadine’s eyes flutter closed. She waved Judy out the door. “She’ll sleep for at least an hour, so I’ll be here until Leo comes back.”
“Thanks. Not just for finding Emmadine either. Thanks for believing me back in Seattle…about seeing Sara Grayhawk. Thanks for talking whoever it was into going after Gavin Jaynes.”
“We’re a team. When one member has a vision, we should know enough by now to act on it and follow it through.” Skye glanced back at Harry. “Right?”
“Oh, yeah. Visions versus evidence. But don’t mind me. I’m just an old cop who follows what’s real.”
“I love my job,” Judy continued. “I wouldn’t do anything else.”
“I know you do. I love that you love your job,” Skye said with a smile. “I’m grateful we’ve both found our niche.”
Twenty-Four
After leaving Emmadine in the capable hands of Harry and Leo, Skye headed to the parking garage to get her car. But a frantic phone call from Josh stopped her in her tracks.
“Quade Grayhawk has hit a wall with Roman. The guy has clammed up and wants to talk to you.”
“Me? Why me? I’ve never even set eyes on the guy. In fact, until he walked up that driveway and gave himself up, I didn’t even know what he looked like.”
“Quade’s desperate. He wants Roman to keep talking. Getting you in here might be the only way to get him to give up the full story.”
“And he thinks I’ll be able to do that? Sure, I’ll give it a go. Why not? Have you contacted Sharon, the sister? Because she could be an invaluable source. I need to know what makes this guy tick. And Sharon might hold a few key answers we don’t know about yet.”
“I’ll do that. How long will it take you to get here?”
“I’m across town, so maybe half an hour.”
But walking into the County jail, Skye kept wishing she knew a lot more about Roman Jaynes. The dirt was in the details. And she was still at a major disadvantage.
She texted Reggie. Anything on Roman yet?
She was still waiting for a reply when Josh met her in the hallway outside the interview room.
“Believe it or not, when I called Sharon, she admitted that she’s the one who suggested Roman talk to you.”
“Why? I still don’t get it.”
Josh leaned in next to her ear. “I think deep down Sharon believes he’s part of it. She’s afraid he’ll get out.”
“Ah. And you told her that wasn’t gonna happen, right?”
“I explained that. It didn’t seem to matter to her that Roman is locked up or that he put a bullet through Gavin’s head. She doesn’t want him anywhere near her.”
“How was she allowed access to Roman?”
“Simple. He asked Quade for a phone call, and that call was to Sharon. Lasted about twenty minutes. After talking to his sister, he started asking for you. During my conversation with Sharon, she told me she wants you to somehow get him to talk.”
“How do I do that without knowing his hot buttons? Wait. Emmadine did mention that Gavin bragged he’d never get bested by a woman.”
“Exploit that. Plus, you already know Roman denies any involvement. Use that like Quade couldn’t.”
Skye touched Josh’s cheek. “I love how you aren’t worried about me going in there.”
“Baby, I’ve watched this guy through the glass. There’s not a single doubt in my mind that you can handle yourself with him. He’s cunning, but he’s arrogant and full of himself. You’ve dealt with guys like that before.”
Quade walked up with a file folder. “Thanks for doing this.”
“No problem. Anything to help.” She stared at the cop. There was something hard in his eyes, something even harder than before. He no longer wore his hair in a ponytail. Instead, he’d cropped it to a much shorter, shoulder-length style that hung just below his ears. “You whacked off your hair.”
“Yeah. After looking at that torture chamber and knowing what Sara went through, I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror. I needed a change. And when Roman gave himself up, I had an hour to break the news to my mother before the interview started. When she decided to cut off her hair as a show of great loss and sadness, we did it together.”
“So, what do you want me to do?”
“We’re at a stalemate. He thinks he’s a hero for taking out Gavin. I keep asking for more information, and he keeps stonewalling me. What we need is a breakthrough. If you’re the person who gets it done, I’d be grateful.”
“I’ll give it my best shot.”
Just before she opened the door to the interview room, Reggie came through with a goldmine of data. She swiped through her phone to read it all.
Roman is twenty-eight. Unmarried. No kids. No steady girlfriend. His business is profitable but not a cash cow. Bought the adjoining land seven years ago from his brother. He tried to enlist in the Marines, got rejected because of…it says here…mental instability. He tried joining the police force, got kicked out of the Academy after two weeks. Never made it past the initial fitness requirements. I’m forwarding his transcripts from high school. Less than stellar grades.
Skye pocketed her cell phone, opened the door to the interview room, and walked in. Roman was already seated at a metal table. Even in his orange scrubs, she could tell he was stockier than his older brother. A little on the heavy side, he filled out the jail uniform. He wore his hair cropped in a buzz cut, tight and high. When Skye entered the room, the man’s blue eyes flared into narrow slits.
She could see the rage behind them, the soulless orbs that seemed not to make an emotional connection. Since crossing paths with Whitfield at the age of twelve, she could recognize that look, home in on the characteristics, and use it to her advantage.
“Sharon says you’re a smart woman,” Roman said, laughing at his own joke. “Be a first for me.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I never met a smart female. That’s why. They’re all too busy bitching about something or haranguing a guy about stupid shit to learn anything. They think they know it all already. Get me? But hey, I don’t know you. Maybe you’re different. Maybe you can convince these cretins around here that I didn’t murder any girls.”
“I’ll try. Convince me first. How’s that?”
Josh was right. Roman liked to hear himself talk. And talk is what he did, mostly devoting his time to limiting his role in Gavin’s murderous sideline.
“How long have you know about your brother’s dark side?”
“For me, hell, it goes back to when he killed Brenda Pascoe.”
“The history teacher he had a crush on?”
“You know about that? Maybe you are smarter than the others. He killed her because he couldn’t stand rejection. And she pushed him away. Big time. Wouldn’t give him the time of day. At least that’s what he told me when he made me help him get rid of the body.”
Skye lifted a brow. “Really? You couldn’t have been more than thirteen back then. Is that when it started?”
“For him? Yeah. Not me. I always tried to walk the straight and narrow.”
“But it was Gavin who got to be the police officer. The serial killer who became a cop.”
“Yea
h. Well, my mother got him in, pulled strings with some politician she knew at the state level.”
“Speaking of your mother, why is it she left him everything? Cut you and Sharon out altogether? Is it because he was smarter, made better grades in school, and could handle the potato farm business better than you?”
“Gavin didn’t give two shits about the farm. He didn’t give two shits about anything or anyone.”
“Then why leave it all to him?”
“Because she was devoted to her little boy Gavin. That’s why. It was always Gavin this, Gavin that. He could never do anything wrong. Ask Sharon. She’ll tell you. Mom had this thing for her own son. If you ask me, it was unhealthy.”
“How old were you when he raped Sharon?”
“Eleven. Sick bastard. Mom sent Sharon away and kept Gavin around. That should tell you everything you need to know about their relationship right there.”
“When did you start resenting your brother? I mean, it makes sense to me. Mommy doted on him and ignored her other two kids, including the fact her son raped her daughter. You saw all this happening at home and thought, what? This is all normal stuff?”
“Sharon and I knew it wasn’t normal. We used to hide in the barn to keep Gavin from beating the hell out of us. He was always a bully.”
“A bully who got everything handed to him.”
“You are smart. Sharon’s right about you.”
“I’m just trying to understand your mindset over the years. I think I’m beginning to get it, beginning to believe you. After all, Gavin sold you a piece of land that held his own personal graveyard on it, trying to incriminate you.”
“I know. Right? What kind of brother does that?”
“The sick kind. But he probably figured you were just plain stupid.” Skye saw the anger flicker in Roman’s eyes. She realized she’d hit a nerve.
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