Grain of Truth (Innocence Unit Book 1)

by V. J. Chambers

  Elke felt bad for the guy, because he was obviously freaked out, but he could only describe why he felt that way as a general idea that the guy was bad. His gut told him.

  Earlier, she’d dismissed the officers’ gut who had gone after Saanvi and Kevin, but she was utterly convinced by Amos’s description that this Dick person was bad news. She wasn’t sure what distinguished one from the other. But she supposed that when it came to putting a person away for the rest of his natural life, you should have more than a gut feeling. A lot more. That was the only thing that was fair.

  “I’d suggest not leaving the office alone again,” said the officer to the two of them. “And if you see him again, call us. We can intervene and get him out of your hair.”

  “But you can’t arrest him?” said Elke.

  “Not on this,” said the officer. “You’re a lawyer, right? So far, he hasn’t broken any laws.”

  “He was threatening toward Amos. And he may be the person who broke into my house.”

  “He may be, but we can’t know that,” said the officer.

  Elke sighed. She put her arm around Amos. “We’ll make sure someone walks you out at night. And I think it would be a good idea if you didn’t come in alone in the morning either.”

  Amos nodded. “Okay.”

  “I’m sorry about this,” she said, leading him out of the police station. “You shouldn’t have to go through this simply because of the case we’re looking into. It’s not fair. If you want out, I’d understand. You didn’t sign on for a dangerous job.”

  “No, it’s okay,” said Amos. “I can handle it. I mean, it’s like they were saying in there. He hasn’t really done anything to me.”

  “Doesn’t mean what he’s doing is okay,” said Elke.

  “No, I know that,” said Amos.

  The emerged into the cold air outside. Elke hunched her shoulders under her coat. Amos tugged on a pair of gloves.

  “You okay to go home?” said Elke. “You could come back to my place if you want. I mean, I’m just moving in, and I don’t have the other bed set up or anything, and everything’s bare bones, and I know you don’t know me—”

  “It’s cool.” Amos grinned. “I’m all right. He’s never come to my house. Maybe he doesn’t know where I live.”

  “But he knew where I lived,” said Elke. “Maybe he’s following us around?” She looked over her shoulder, suddenly feeling a prickle at the back of her neck. He could be watching them now.

  Amos shivered. “I hope not.”

  “Me too,” said Elke.

  They parted ways and both went back to their respective apartments. When Elke got home, she barricaded the door with boxes of stuff. Three boxes deep. “Get past that,” she muttered.

  * * *

  “Hi there, Harley,” Iain said into the phone. Why did I pick up? he wondered. He should get off the phone as quickly as possible. This woman ruined his life, and he let her. He needed to get away from her. He knew this, had always known it, somewhere in the center of himself. Something drew him to her, but it was the destructive side of himself. He sometimes thought the destructive side of himself was so strong because the ordered side of himself was so strong. He needed the balance to function. “Look, it’s not a good time.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “None of your business,” he said.

  “Oh, Iain, are you still mad at me about Otis, because I thought we were past that.”

  “Right, because you made me feel guilty for being distant, and so I forgot all about the fact that you’re a liar.”

  “What?”

  “You said you didn’t know that it would upset me, but you hid from me the fact that he lived there when I brought you home from the drunk tank. So, you knew I’d be upset.”

  “Sure,” she said. “But I thought you’d be more upset because you’d think he wasn’t good for me or something. Not because you’d be jealous.”

  “Please, Harley,” he said. “I need to get off the phone.”

  “I know it’s shitty of me, but I kind of liked that you were jealous,” she said. “I mean, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I seem to be attracted to that in men.”

  “Harley, I’m getting off the phone.”

  “Don’t,” she said. “Come over.”

  “No,” he said. “I’m not. I have to work in the morning, and I’ve been half-asleep at work too many times due to your shenanigans. I need my rest tonight. Forget it.”

  “I only want some help. I’m changing the locks so that Otis can’t get back into the house, and I thought you could—”

  “Come over and do manual labor for you? No, thanks. I’m through doing you these favors.”

  She was quiet.

  “If that’s all, I’m hanging up now.”

  “I thought we were friends,” she said.

  “Your idea of a friend is someone who drops everything when you snap your fingers. Sorry, sweetheart, but the sex is good, but it’s not that good.” He hung up. He took a deep breath. Good. That had felt very nice.

  His phone was ringing again.

  It was Harley.

  He silenced the ringer.

  He went into the kitchen and got out a bag of microwave popcorn. He took the wrapper off.

  His phone rang again.

  Harley.

  He silenced it again. He contemplated the popcorn. Did he really want a snack, or did he just want something to distract himself from the conversation with Harley?

  A text came through. That was out of line. You shouldn’t say stuff like that to me.

  He read the text and then shoved his phone into his pocket.

  Another text.

  He told himself to ignore it, but he couldn’t. He pulled out his phone.

  As he was reading, another text came in. They came in a fury.

  You’re the only person on earth that really gets me.

  I thought that meant something.

  You mean something to me. You mean a lot to me.

  He grimaced.

  Another text. Besides, I’m the best you’ve ever had and you know it.

  The phone rang again.

  Wearily, he answered it. “Stop it, Harley.”

  She was crying. “Fuck you. Fuck you, Iain Hudson. You’re just like all the other fucking men in my life. You want me in some box, and you don’t want me to come out of it. You’ve got it in your head that all we do is have sex, and it’s never really been about sex between us, Iain. Hell, you know all my fucking secrets and you’re the only person that I trust, and you treat me like trash.”

  He winced. “Stop crying.”

  “Everyone treats me like trash. I thought Otis would be different, but he’s just a tamed-down version of Dale. And I’m beginning to think you are too. You’re all just versions of him. Why do I only want controlling, possessive men?”

  “Hey, take that back. I’m nothing like him.” He threw the popcorn on his counter.

  “You are. You’ve got that weird obsessive thing going on.”

  “I’m not obsessed with you.” But even as the words came out of his mouth, he wondered if it were true. “And I’m not controlling. Or possessive.”

  “No?”

  “Okay, well, maybe a little possessive, but it’s not possessive to not want to share your girlfriend.”

  “I didn’t think I was your girlfriend.”

  “You’re not.”

  “See? Controlling. You control what our relationship is. You set these boundaries, and I’m never allowed to cross them, and—”

  “Screw this, Harley. I’m not doing this. I’m not coming to your place, and you can throw as many tantrums as you want—”

  “I’m not throwing a tantrum.”

  “Don’t involve me again if there’s another man, okay? You do want you want, but I don’t need to know about it.”

  “Seriously? That’s your solution?”

  “I’m done. I’m going to hang up again.”

  “
You’re ashamed of me, aren’t you? You think I’m white trash, and you’d never let me be your real and proper girlfriend. You’d never take me out to dinner or introduce me to the people you work with. I’m your dirty little secret.”

  He clenched his jaw.

  “You know what? Forget it,” she said. “I don’t know why I bother talking to you. I don’t know why I bother with anything.” And then she hung up.

  Iain let out a sigh, and he wasn’t sure if it was in relief or in worry. If she really did stop bothering with him…

  It would be a good thing. Definitely good. He wanted rid of her, for sure. Of course he did.

  * * *

  Iain was in the office when Frankie came in the next morning early with Thad in tow. She went into her office and got something and then ushered Thad out quickly again.

  She came back a bit later, by herself, and she was looking around for Elke, who still wasn’t there. Neither was Amos, for that matter.

  Iain stood in the hallway, wondering if he should keep his thoughts to himself. He was never sure if his ideas were welcome or not, and he felt he misunderstood social cues so badly that he muddled regular conversation a lot. He’d liked Frankie’s kid a good bit, though. The little guy was pretty awesome. Iain tended to like kids, though. They were fairly straightforward, and they didn’t seem to understand all the social cues either.

  Of course, when he’d been a kid, he hadn’t had an easy time getting along with other kids.

  He cleared his throat. “I don’t know why Lawrence is so weird about you having him up here.”

  “Probably because he wrote on the wall,” said Frankie. But she smiled at him. “Thanks. I appreciate you saying that.”

  Iain felt good. Maybe it was okay what he’d said. “Sometimes people are afraid of kids,” he said. “Maybe Lawrence is.”

  “No, I think it’s about me,” said Frankie. “She’s never liked me.”

  “You knew her before working here?”

  “We’ve worked opposite sides of cases before,” said Frankie.

  “Right,” said Iain. “Well, still, she should be more understanding if you have to bring him in sometimes.”

  Frankie shrugged. “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t know what to do with that kid. We can’t find an after-school program for him to go to, and my husband and I are at our wit’s end. He’s got to take the afternoon off work because Thad’s got nowhere else to go.”

  “Where was he going before yesterday?”

  “He had an after-school program, but he hates it, and he sabotaged it on purpose,” she said. “It was horrible what he did. He’s being punished, but if he doesn’t have to go back there, he thinks he wins. And I can’t send him back, because they don’t want him back.”

  Iain chewed on his lip. “You know, I went to a place once to do a presentation for kids. They had different programs. Preschools, day care, an after-school thing. It was, uh, for kids with autism?”

  Frankie raised her eyebrows.

  “He is, um, on the spectrum, right?” said Iain.

  “Well, he’s very high functioning, and we’re not sure if segregating him with kids who might not be as well adjusted as he is would be a good thing.”

  Iain nodded. “Right.” He scratched the back of his head and started to turn away. But then he stopped and looked back at her. “I don’t know if you can tell, but I am too. I mean, when I was a kid, I didn’t really get diagnosed, but in college, I sort of figured it out, and… I’m not saying I know what it’s like to be your kid, but I do think that it’s easier to be around people who understand you sometimes? I went to speak at that place because they bring in adults with autism to talk to the kids there about how they can grow up and do anything they want. So, it’s not like a place where they try to limit kids or anything.” He let out a breath. “Sorry, I guess it’s none of my business.” He turned away again.

  “Hudson?” said Frankie. “Iain?”

  He turned back around.

  She smiled. “Thanks for that. It’s good to hear your perspective. Can you give me the name of the place you’re talking about?”

  “Sure,” he said, and he smiled too.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Elke and Amos came in a little late. She’d met him in the parking lot and walked him in. He seemed grateful for the company.

  “Everything go okay at your place last night?” she asked him as they entered the office.

  “Sure,” said Amos. “Well, I kind of messed up my door a little bit. I bought some deadbolts to put on, and I thought I could just put them on myself, but it’s kind of hard to use a saw when you don’t know how.”

  “A saw?”

  “A hole saw. My dad gave it to me,” said Amos. “I should have called him and asked for help, but I felt like an idiot. It looks really simple and all, but I swear, it’s complicated.”

  “So, how badly is your door messed up?”

  Amos cringed. “It’s, uh…”

  “Does it still lock?”

  “Sure, it locks. You can kind of reach your hand through and unlock it, but—”

  “Amos!” She shook her head at him. “You can’t stay there until you get that fixed.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

  “Of course I’m right.” They had reached his desk now.

  He went behind it and set his coffee down.

  “Listen, if you can’t find anywhere else to stay, you call me, all right?” she said to him. “We might not know each other well, but we work together, and this is all happening because of work, so call me.”

  “What’s happening?” said Frankie, who was coming back to the door in her coat, her purse slung over her shoulder.

  Elke turned to her. “Where are you going?” It was probably something with her kid again. Geez. What a nightmare. On the one hand, Elke didn’t want to be a bitch about her son, and she knew kids needed attention, but this was becoming an everyday thing now.

  “I’m going out to look into a lead on Gutierrez’s boyfriend,” said Frankie.

  “Oh,” said Elke, feeling abashed. “Well, that’s great. Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” said Frankie. “But what’s going on with Amos?”

  “Oh, right. That weird Dick guy was waiting for him outside the office last night. He was incredibly creepy.”

  “No,” said Frankie. “You’ve got to report that jerk.”

  “We did,” said Amos. “But I don’t know if it did any good.”

  Frankie turned back to Elke. “You haven’t had any more problems at your place, have you?”

  Elke shook her head. “Seems to be done with me for now.”

  “You think it’s related to the case?” said Frankie.

  “He said something about the Mukherjee case,” said Amos.

  “Did he threaten you? Tell you to back off of it?” Frankie asked.

  “He was really vague,” said Amos. “Almost as if he was trying really hard not to say anything incriminating, but still trying to really mess with my head.”

  “Ugh,” said Frankie. “This is so scary. Why is he targeting you guys?”

  Amos shook his head.

  Elke shrugged. Then she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I hope he wouldn’t go after you. You have a family.”

  Frankie looked unsettled.

  Elke sighed. “We need to unravel this case. You get out there and find out what you can about Gutierrez. I’m going to see if Hudson’s up for going to see Wheeler and Chapman today.”

  “On it,” said Frankie, and she was out the door.

  Elke said goodbye to Amos and went back to her office to get settled in. Once she’d checked her email and finished her coffee, she wandered over to Iain’s office.

  He was looking down at the crime scene photos of the bruises, biting down hard on his bottom lip.

  She knocked on the door.

  He didn’t look up. “Yes?”

  “Good morning, Hudson.”

&
nbsp; Still didn’t look up. “Morning.”

  Okay, fine. What should she expect from the guy? “I was thinking that we could go to talk to Wheeler and Chapman today.”

  “Why?” He shuffled the photos. Still didn’t look at her. “That’s not going to get us anywhere. They’ve both already told us that they didn’t do it, and they say they have an alibi, so what do we think we’ll get from them?”

  “DNA samples?”

  “They said no to that too,” he said.

  “Well, we could put pressure on them,” she said.

  “How?”

  She wasn’t sure. “I don’t know. I… What are you doing?”

  “Trying to figure out these bruises.” He looked up at her then. “I think these are the key to the entire case.”

  “Maybe I’ll go see Wheeler and Chapman on my own.”

  He looked back at the photos. “No, don’t do that. If they actually are the killers, you could be in danger. Better to go with someone else.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “Sure.” He looked up, and she could see that he wasn’t debating the point. “But I have a gun.”

  “So, come with me.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Not yet. I don’t think we should approach them unless we have some other kind of evidence. If we know it’s them, we can rattle them.”

  She folded her arms over her chest. “Who’s the head of this unit? Me or you?”

  “What’s Frankie got on Gutierrez?”

  “She went out to chase down a lead. And you didn’t answer my question.”

  “Are you ordering me to come along? Is that it?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, forget it. Hudson, you’re exasperating.”

  “People tell me that.” He went back to the photos.

  * * *

  When Frankie had tried the number for the third Seth Long again that morning, his wife hadn’t been nearly as friendly. She’d said that Seth had said he didn’t know any Gutierrez, and that Frankie shouldn’t call back.

  But Frankie didn’t like the woman’s tone. Possibly the wife suspected Seth of lying and wasn’t comfortable with that. Possibly, it was something else. But it was enough that Frankie decided to set out for Del Taco that morning. She’d specifically asked if Seth Long was at home, and his wife had said he was at work. Frankie hoped to find him.