by Merit Clark
Chapter 33
Park County Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher O’Dwyer pulled his cruiser up to the old-fashioned gas pumps in front of a former service station on the outskirts of Fairplay. The pumps, which still displayed a price of 36.9 cents a gallon, hadn’t worked in decades and paint peeled off of the old building. A hand-lettered sign read “Chicks Auto Repair,” but you could still make out the remains of a green dinosaur, the old Sinclair logo, on the side of the small building.
A man was at work in one of the two service bays and Chris walked toward him, calling “Shaun.” When the man didn’t respond he pounded on the hood of the car. Shaun O’Dwyer, Chris’s older brother, wheeled himself out from under the faded blue Grand Cherokee. His torn, grease-stained jeans rode low on his narrow hips. In a concession to the cold, Shaun wore a flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off. Tattoos covered his arms and, as Chris knew, Shaun’s entire lean torso, the most prominent being a large skull in the middle of his sunken, hairless chest.
Shaun squinted up into the slanting afternoon sunlight, taking in the uniform and his brother’s serious face. “This an official visit, carnal?”
Did he think using that Mexican slang made him tough? “I got a call to do a wellness check on someone at the old Markham place,” Chris said. “A woman. Know anything about that?”
“A whatness check?”
Shaun got up, wiped his hands on a rag, and shrugged into a leather jacket. Chris watched his brother leisurely light a cigarette, which he held between his grease-stained thumb and forefinger. What a douche. “You been up there in the last day or two or what?”
“Road sucks.”
“You seen Markham?”
“See him regular, bro. He brings lots of work my way. Says no one fixes cars like your big brother.”
By fix he probably meant chop. “When was the last ‘regular’ time you saw him?”
“Can’t say for certain.” Shaun rubbed at a pimple on his chin, leaving a black smear.
Chris shifted his weight. “He’s a person of interest in a homicide. I got a call from a detective down in Denver. You know what that means?”
“Don’t know nothin’ about that.”
“What are you involved in now? Cars are one thing, Shaun, but if you know anything about a homicide you better tell me.”
“Or what, little guy? You gonna take me into custody?” Shaun jumped into a fighting stance pumping his fists, his cigarette hanging from his mouth. Chris took a step back and Shaun laughed. “You gonna call for backup? You gonna shoot me?”
“You’re an idiot.”
“She’s fine. I saw the bitch myself. She’s hot, though.” He grinned at his brother, the gap in his front teeth showing. “Maybe I should do that fitness check myself.”
“It’s wellness check, you moron. And I don’t want you anywhere near her.”
“Who put the stick up your ass?”
“I mean it, Shaun. This is my job we’re talkin’ about here.”
“Big important man with a gun. Well guess what? I got guns too, Chris. How much they payin’ deputies these days? Forty grand? I make more than that in a bad quarter.”
“Yeah, and between all the smoke you blow up your nose and out your ass, all you got to show for it is this shithole.”
“Why’re you all high and mighty all of a sudden? You been known to party.”
“Fuck you.” Chris turned on his heel and headed back toward his car.
Shaun followed him. “Wouldn’t try makin’ it to the Markham place in that thing. Road’s shit. You won’t make it halfway.” He nodded toward the cruiser.
“We got SUVs.”
“See here’s the thing.” Shaun dropped the cigarette butt and ground it with the toe of his work boot. “Evan was very specific about the lady not being disturbed. Paid extra. A lot extra. Enough to share.”
“Are you bribing a police officer?”
“You on some kinda power trip, Chris?”
“I should’ve known better than to expect you to cooperate. I don’t have time for this shit.” Chris opened the cruiser door.
“I seen her.”
Chris paused. “I don’t believe you.”
“No?” Shaun tried to light another cigarette. With the wind it took several attempts. “I can give you a complete report. Even tell you what she was wearing.”
“Was wearing?”
Shaun grinned. “Well maybe she’s wearing nothing by now, you know what I mean? Big tits, you shoulda seen her. They were goin’ up for a romantic weekend. Evan don’t want his wife finding out about it, that’s all.”
“Then why would a detective be calling? I have to report back,” Chris said.
“I don’t know anything ‘bout that but our families have known each other forever. I think we know the Markhams better than almost anyone.”
That was true. Their families had known each other for years. “Yeah, and we always do their dirty work.”
“And they always treat us well. Think about it. When have the Markhams ever not done right by us?” Shaun paused to take another drag and examine a filthy thumbnail. “I got the information you need. I saw her. She’s fine, bro, perfectly healthy, not a mark on her. You can report back, do your job, and save yourself trashing your manifold or high centering your cop ride on that piece of shit road. Unless the county’s springin’ for Hummers now.”
“A homicide, Shaun. I have to investigate.”
Shaun shrugged. “Up to you. Told you what I know.” He tossed his cigarette into the weeds, turned, and walked back inside.
Chris was torn. Shaun’s bad behavior was limited to smoking dope and processing the occasional stolen car. He’d never hurt anyone. And they had known the Markhams their entire lives. Hell, the Markham and O’Dwyer kids grew up together. It seemed that did warrant at least giving Evan the benefit of the doubt, even if the idea had originated from his dumbass brother. Besides, it was already after three. By the time Chris rounded up an SUV, filled out the paperwork, swung by the service center for gas, and started up it would be getting dark. It wasn’t like the department would spring for overtime and Shaun was right about the road. From what he remembered, it was terrible and Chris hadn’t been up to the Markham place in years. How goddamn embarrassing would it be if he got a department vehicle stuck going to do a wellness check? Or worse, if he got lost? He could always drive up in the morning if he had to.
Chris followed his brother inside. “Wait. When exactly did you see her?”
Chapter 34
Jack led Corie into a small interview room. Just him, not Serena. He seemed serious but she didn’t pay much attention; she was preoccupied with Evan’s prepared dismissal and all of her confused feelings.
He pulled up a chair and sat next to her instead of across the table, then handed Corie a piece of paper.
“Everyone’s gotta fucking stop handing me pieces of paper.” Corie stared at the sheet in his outstretched hand for a few seconds before she took it.
Jack raised his eyebrows but he didn’t ask what she meant. He waited while she read.
“So?” Corie shrugged and tried to hand the paper back.
“You’re the beneficiary on the Swiss bank account. What can you tell me about that?”
“There’s nothing the fuck to tell.” Wow, her language had really deteriorated over the last two days.
Jack acted like he was picking his words carefully, and while he didn’t avoid her gaze, he didn’t really look at her. “It seems odd that you’re the beneficiary, and yet you said you knew nothing about this bank account. Maybe the other night you were confused. You were shaken up and scared. You had fallen down the stairs.”
“It was last night and I hadn’t fallen, I was pushed. Which you seemed concerned about at the time.”
Jack leaned forward with his arms on his knees. “Corie, three million dollars is a lot of money. Help me understand how you could not know about this account.”
This was like déjà vu. Hadn�
�t she just been telling him how it was a lot of money and must mean something?
“Evan does a lot of shit without telling me. And I’m sick of everyone treating me like I’m some kind of—I don’t know—fucking ornament or something. Like I’m dispensable and can be bought off.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
Was he mocking her? And what was with the big concerned act last night? Bringing her dinner and holding her and helping with the ice pack?
“Here. While we’re on the subject of payoffs, I have something for you to read.” Corie pulled the offer from Stu out of her purse and handed it to Jack. She would have thrown it but that seemed childish.
“I want to hear more about the Swiss bank account.”
“Then you’re going to have to talk to the person who opened it.” Corie pointed instead at the settlement. “In the meantime, since you’re so interested in our finances, read that. It’s all there. Evan’s buying me out. Like our marriage is a corporation. He had that all ready to go, even before Brice was killed. He was done with me.”
That shut Jack up.
“My compensation.” Corie practically snarled. “For being abused, raped, and having him fuck other women practically on my doorstep. I sign on the dotted line and I’m free. It pays well, apparently.”
Jack’s head jerked up. “Raped? What do you mean?”
“Oh no. Don’t even. I’m the stupid rich bitch who’s got it made, remember? I know you hadn’t seen me for twenty years and then when you did, I was standing over a dead body. I know you’ve got to do your job. Before I leave, I just need to know one more thing.”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“Was Hennessy good?”
“Aw Jesus, Corie. Now? You have to bring that up now?” He stood and waved the pieces of paper at her. “Don’t you have enough to worry about in the present without bringing up ancient history?”
She stood too. She was seething. “I guess I’m a glutton for punishment.”
There was a knock on the door and Serena walked in.
Jack recovered first. He sat back down and indicated the other chair with his hand. “Corie, please sit down. We have a couple more questions for you. It won’t take long. I promise.”
“That’s encouraging, you promising something.” But she sat.
“Everything okay in here?” Serena asked.
Corie felt a twinge of embarrassment, although she still glared at Jack. “What’re your other questions?”
“We were looking at your computer,” Serena said, “and we saw the pictures of the project you worked on with Brice. We were wondering where the model house was because we’d like to take a look at it.”
The twinge of embarrassment turned into a wave of heat. Corie turned her face away from their eyes. The one thing she had to remember Brice by and she couldn’t keep it safe. “I don’t know where the model is. I lost it.”
“Lost it?” Jack’s voice was a mixture of disbelief, anger, outrage.
Corie looked at Serena. “I asked my mother if she would keep it for me in her basement. Which was a big mistake because my mother never gave a fuck about anything I cared about.”
“What do you mean?” Serena asked.
Jack made an impatient motion with his hand. “Corie, you’re not making any sense.”
She turned on him. “Oh, Jack, shut up. You don’t know every fucking thing. I know you’re a cop and you’re probably a good cop, but you think you know everything there is to know about human behavior and you don’t. I don’t know where the model is because my mother gave it to Evan without telling me. It’s something I cared about and she gave it away.”
“When did she do that?” Jack asked.
“The morning after the murder.” Had she really just told a detective to shut up? It was kind of exhilarating.
Jack and Serena spoke almost in unison. He said, “Why didn’t you tell me?” and Serena said, “When did you find out?”
Corie felt a fresh flash of anger at Jack. He was acting as if she was doling out information on purpose when she was the most in the dark of anyone. But before she could answer, he made it even worse.
“You expect me to believe you’re so clueless you didn’t miss three million dollars? And then you lose the model? The very thing that might have gotten Brice killed?”
“I told you. I made a mistake. I told you everything, which is apparently another mistake.”
“Not everything,” Jack said.
“You want the blow by blow? My mother drove me home from the hospital. I told her I was going to ask Brice’s family if they wanted the model. Too late! Evan had already gotten it from her. She then made some crack about how Evan and I sure think alike, which I hope to God isn’t true.”
“Do you think he still has it?” Serena’s voice was the only calm one.
Corie looked at her and deflated. “My fear is it’s splinters by now.”
“We’ll have to re-interview the charming Mrs. Bellenger.” Jack made yet another note.
Corie stood as calmly as possible despite warring feelings of rage, confusion, and grief. “If there’s nothing else, I’m going to go now. I know you can’t hold me. I’m not that stupid.”
“I never said you were stupid,” Jack said.
“No, you said ‘clueless.’ Big difference. You know, I’m not some dumb seventeen-year-old anymore.”
Jack ignored the dig. “Where are you going? I’ll get an officer to drive you. You shouldn’t—”
Corie held up a hand, palm out, cutting him off. “Don’t try to sound concerned. I’m not buying it anymore. I’m going to go spend my three million dollars and I’d rather do that alone,” she spat it at him. And then she was gone.
Serena trailed behind Jack as he stalked back to his office and slammed his notebook down on the desk. “Where do you think she’ll go?”
“No fucking clue.”
Mike Delgado walked up, said “Ballistics,” and then stopped dead when he saw Jack’s face. He looked questioningly at Serena who shook her head slightly. Don’t ask.
“Ballistics, what?” Jack asked.
“Confirms the gun we retrieved from Vangie’s minivan is the murder weapon.”
“Great.” Jack slumped in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
“We just talked to Corie Markham,” Serena said. “She had no idea she was the beneficiary on the Swiss bank account.”
“And there’s this.” Jack handed Mike the settlement agreement between Corie and Evan.
“How much money do these people have?” Mike’s tone was ironic.
Jack snorted. “Right?”
“Remember when we were at Jessie’s?” Serena asked. “Evan’s project in the garage?”
Jack looked at her and nodded, disgust still palpable in his voice. “Yeah. Maybe he was working”—Jack made quote marks with his hands— “on the model. Why would he bring it to Jessie’s house? Who the hell knows. Nothing about this case makes any fucking sense, so why not? Let’s get some uniforms going through the trash in Jessie’s neighborhood. And we’ll need a search warrant for her garage.”
“We’ll get it right,” Mike said. “You have a tendency to overreact but then you always figure it out.”
Jack cut him off. “Overreact? Really? I’ve got a person of interest in a fifteen-year-old cold case in here spouting New Age aphorisms about opportunities for atonement; I’ve got a murder victim who may have gotten himself shot over a toy house; I’ve got another suspect with a murder weapon in her unlocked van who’s too stupid to come in out of the rain; I’ve got an arrogant son of a bitch who threatens women with knives and pushes his own wife down the stairs, but he fundraises with the chief so he must be okay; and I’ve got Corie, who sleeps through gun shots and finds and loses evidence so fast, it makes my fucking head spin.
“Not to mention the fact that she didn’t notice three million dollars was missing? Or that her husband had a mistress?
Or that he disappeared for long stretches at a time? She goes and rides her horse and sticks her head in the sand and pretends everything’s fine.”
“Good to see you’re not personally engaged with her or anything.” Mike looked like he was fighting a smile.
“Fuck you.”
“You kind of chewed her head off, Jack,” Serena said.
“I thought my summation was pretty goddamned good. Did I miss anything?” Jack wound down and slumped back in his chair again.
“We gonna go interview Vi Bellenger?” Serena asked.
“Mike, you do it.”
Serena started to say something and Jack cut her off. “Before you ask, Vi Bellenger remembers me as the eighteen-year-old punk who screwed her daughter over. She’s got the mayor on speed dial. I don’t need any more aggravation than the raft I’ve already got.”
“I wasn’t going to ask. I was going to tell you that I got a call from a sheriff’s deputy in Park County. He checked on Vangie like you asked and apparently she’s fine.”
“Maybe she does know enough to come in out of the rain after all,” Jack said. “Although I don’t have high hopes.”
Chapter 35
Vangie shouted out the name as if it would be her salvation, the name of the person who borrowed her gun. Evan stood next to the bed frozen. And then she wouldn’t stop. She kept shouting the name over and over until Evan thought he would go insane.
“Shut up!”
In the silence that followed, he could hear her sobs and her choking gasps for air. He hesitated so long her head turned slowly from side to side, as if trying to see what was happening. Perhaps she felt hope. Evan watched her and his mind raced; he hadn’t seen it coming. But then, betrayal never comes from where you expect.
It was no longer fun. No longer optional. Evan forced himself to move. He worked on her breasts first, making quick, jagged tears. In the opening of the hood, her mouth worked and snot from her nose made shiny streaks on the leather. The screaming annoyed him even more than usual.