by Bobbi Holmes
“If I’m not under arrest, does that mean I can go now?”
“I said Stoddard doesn’t want to press charges. Not that you can leave quite yet.”
Danielle glanced over to the two-way mirror. “So tell me, who’s listening in on us? Brian, the chief? The whole gang?”
“You’ve quite an attitude for someone who’s just been caught breaking and entering.”
“And you don’t think it is a bit odd that I’d break into someone’s house? It’s not like I need the money. Last I heard I’m quite rich.”
“I’m not sure what you’re up to.”
“I told you. Lily is in that house. If you would have taken just a minute to get a good look at her face, you would know I’m telling the truth.”
“I told you, it was Isabella. I recognized the tattoo.”
“Right. The tattoo. Like two people can’t have the same tattoo.”
“I don’t remember Lily having one.”
“She doesn’t. Or she didn’t. They obviously tattooed her so people like you would believe she’s Isabella.”
“Do you hear how you sound, Danielle?”
“Well tell me this, what condition was the tattoo in? Did it look like it had been there a long time?”
“It was hard to tell, the skin was peeling.”
“Ah ha! A fresh tattoo! They always do that after a couple days.”
“No. Stoddard explained she got sunburned in the desert.”
“Now do you hear yourself?” Danielle snapped.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Of course Stoddard is going to come up with some plausible excuse for the tattoo peeling. Did you happen to look at her other arm? It was scratched up, but it wasn’t peeling.”
“Danielle, I think it would be a good idea if we put you under observation for a few days.”
“What? Are you crazy? No wait—you don’t have to answer that. You think I’m crazy.”
“I just think you’ve been under a lot of stress lately. And breaking into Stoddard’s house like that, insisting he has kidnapped Lily, the fact that you don’t see how that makes you look convinces me you need help.”
Danielle closed her eyes for a moment and told herself to count to ten and calm down. When she opened her eyes again she looked into Joe’s. “I have guests staying at Marlow House. You can’t just lock me up while they are all alone over there, wondering where their host has disappeared to. Plus I’m babysitting Sadie.”
“I suppose you should have considered that before you broke into Stoddard’s home.”
Danielle studied Joe’s expression for a moment. The brown eyes she once found warm and friendly now seemed judgmental. “You never can give me any slack, can you?”
“I think the fact you’re not sitting in a cell right now disproves that.”
“I’d like to make my phone call,” Danielle said abruptly.
Joe studied her for a moment. “Fine, I’ll let you make one call.”
“I’d like to make it on my cellphone.”
“Okay.” Joe stood up and pulled Danielle’s cellphone from his pocket. He set it on the desk. “One call. I’ll be back in ten minutes.” He picked up the manila file and headed to the door.
Hesitantly Danielle picked up her cellphone and stared at it. Looking up, she watched Joe leave the room, closing the door behind her. She glanced over to the two-way mirror and wondered who was watching her.
“I don’t want you holding her for observation,” the chief told Joe a moment later when he entered the office next to the interrogation room. Brian stood with the chief by the window watching Danielle. They’d turned the sound off. “I think you should cut her loose.”
“But we caught her red handed!” Brian said.
“And Stoddard refuses to press charges. He had me on the phone the minute you left his house. He doesn’t want this in the press. And I can’t blame him. He’s dealing with enough right now, with Isabella’s attack and the coma. He just wants us to make sure Danielle doesn’t bother her again,” the chief explained.
“Then shouldn’t we hold her for observation?” Joe asked.
“You forget, Danielle Boatman is a very wealthy woman and she can make our lives miserable if she puts her mind to it. She’s probably calling some high priced lawyer right now,” the chief explained.
“I don’t know, she’s just staring at that phone,” Brian noted as he watched Danielle. “She looks as if she’s about to cry.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” the chief said. “Shake her up a bit. She did get caught breaking into a house. Just because Stoddard doesn’t want to press charges now, doesn’t mean he won’t…let’s say, tomorrow.”
“I thought you said he was emphatic about not pressing charges?” Joe asked.
“Well we don’t have to let Danielle know that! Maybe the way to keep her in line—and away from the Stoddard’s estate is to let her believe possible arrest is just around the corner.”
“How is that helping her?” Joe asked. “If she’s put under observation she might get the help she needs.”
“She’s not your responsibility,” Brian said.
“Brian’s right, Joe. The girl has some emotional issues, but it really isn’t your problem. Stoddard refuses to press charges. I’m not going to hold her. I want Brian to wrap this up. You’re too emotionally involved.”
“What do you want me to do, Chief?” Brian asked.
“Wait until she makes the call. Give her a little time to stew. Then go back in there, lead her to believe Stoddard may press charges. When she leaves here, I want her feeling grateful she’s not in jail. And hopefully, she’ll realize it’s in her best interest not to bother Isabella’s family again.”
“Since we’re going to let her go anyway, can I turn the sound back and listen to who she calls?” Brian asked.
“No,” the chief said. “We’ll turn the sound back on after she makes her call.”
“This is not going to help Danielle,” Joe said.
“That isn’t our problem,” the chief countered.
* * *
“They are cutting you loose!” Lily said when she popped into the interrogation room a few moments later. Danielle looked up in surprise and then glanced at the two-way mirror.
“They are watching you,” Lily explained, “but they have the sound turned off. The chief said to leave it off until you make your call.”
Threading her fingers together, Danielle lowered her head and rested the bridge of her nose against her hands, obstructing her mouth from view of the men watching in the next room.
“Are you sure?” Danielle asked.
“Stoddard refuses to press charges. He was adamant. If he had caught you breaking in, I don’t think he would have called the police. The only reason the cops were there was because you set off the silent alarm.”
“I thought you said it wasn’t armed.”
“It wasn’t. Someone must have turned it back on.”
“They’re going to let me go, after I make the call? Why even have me make a call if they’re planning to cut me loose?”
“Joe wants you put under observation.”
“Yes, he told me that. I am crazy, you know.”
“But the chief is afraid of your money.”
“My money?”
“Sure. You can afford the best lawyers to go after them if they don’t dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s. Isabella’s uncle refuses to press charges, so there is nothing to hold you on.”
“That still doesn’t explain why they’re allowing me to make a call instead of just letting me go.”
“He’s trying to play some mind game with you so you’ll stay away from Isabella.”
“If Isabella was really in that house, there wouldn’t be a problem.” Danielle peeked up at the window.
“After you make the call the chief is having Brian come in and play bad cop with you. He’s afraid Joe is too emotionally involved.”
“I guess I
better make that call. You say they won’t be listening?”
“They said they wouldn’t. But I’ll go over there, and if they turn on the sound, I’ll let you know.” Lily disappeared.
Danielle dropped her hands and sat up straight. She picked up the cellphone and began to dial. When the party answered the phone she said, “Hello, this is Danielle Boatman.”
“Danielle? This is a surprise.”
“I wondered if you would like to make a quick hundred bucks.”
“Why, sure. What do you need?”
“Could you pick me up in about five or ten minutes at the police station, and then drive me over to where my car’s parked, on the south side of town, about a half a block from the Gusarov Estate.”
“The police station? Are you okay?”
“They have me in that lovely room with the two-way mirror; what do you think?”
“I’ll be right there.”
Danielle turned off her phone and set it on the desk, waiting for Brian.
“Miss Boatman,” Brian said when he entered the room.
“Officer Henderson,” Danielle said primly, folding her hands on the desktop.
“You got yourself into quite a mess this time, didn’t you?” He sat down across the table from her.
“If Joe would have actually looked at the woman’s face, he would have seen it was Lily and not Isabella.”
“So Lily has a tattoo just like Isabella? Tell me, did they use the same tattoo artist?”
“Lily never had a tattoo—until someone gave her one to help her pass as Isabella. Of course, you would know that had Joe just taken a moment to look at her face—like he promised!”
“The thing is, Miss Boatman, you can’t just go around giving into whatever delusion you might be under. There are consequences for your actions. If Stoddard Gusarov decides he wants us to arrest you, I don’t think any of your high price attorneys will be able to get you off. You will be serving some time. It might only be six months—but do you think you’d really be up to that? Six months can be rough for someone like you.”
“Oh I don’t know,” Danielle said calmly. “My defense would be that he was holding Lily—I don’t think he’d want that sort of publicity. You seem to forget, I’ve a marketing background, and you’d be surprised what sort of publicity my money can buy.”
“Even if Stoddard doesn’t press charges, we could hold you over for observation,” Brian threatened. “Only mentally unstable people see ghosts.”
“Ghosts?”
“Your friend is dead, Ms. Boatman. If you think you saw her at the Gusarov Estate, then you’ve seen a ghost.”
Chapter Eighteen
“I think we can let Ms. Boatman go home now,” the chief said when he barged in the interrogation room the next moment. Startled, Brian stood.
Danielle glanced from Brian to the chief. Smiling, she picked up her cellphone and said, “Thanks Chief. I’ll need my keys, please. Joe took them when he took my phone.”
“Certainly,” the chief said. “If you wait here a moment, I’ll have him bring them to you, and he can drive you to pick up your car.”
“No, that’s not necessary. I just want my keys.”
“No problem Ms. Boatman, Officer Morelli will take you to your car.” The chief looked at Brian and said, “Brian, would you come with me?”
“What was that all about?” Brian asked when he and the chief were alone in the hallway.
“You weren’t accomplishing anything in there. She obviously knows Stoddard doesn’t want the media attention.”
“Does that mean we let her harass Stoddard just because she’s got money?”
“No, we arrest her if she breaks the law again.”
* * *
Danielle anxiously paced the interrogation room, waiting for Joe.
“Did you bring my keys?” she asked the moment he walked through the doorway.
“Yes. I’ll take you to your car.”
“Please give me my keys.”
“I said I’d give them to you. Let’s go. I’ll take you to your car first.”
“Why won’t you give them to me now?” Danielle said angrily.
“I don’t know why you’re getting upset.” His tone of voice reminded Danielle of a parent trying to calm an irrational child—which only heightened her irritation.
Tucking her phone in her jean’s back pocket, she put out her hand. “Just give me my keys, please. The chief said you would.”
“And I will, when we get to your car.”
“How do I know that? You also said you’d look at the woman in the hospital bed to see if it was Lily. But you didn’t even look at her face!”
“Please, let’s not go into that again.”
“Give me my keys!”
Reluctantly, Joe dug the key ring from his pocket and handed it to Danielle. She snatched it from his hand and pushed her way past Joe to the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Joe asked, trailing behind Danielle.
“That’s really none of your business Sargent Morelli,” Danielle said as she walked down the hall toward the front area of the police department. She pushed her way through the doorway leading to the public waiting area.
“You’re being ridiculous. Let me drive you to your car,” Joe said, following her to the door.
Danielle stopped in her tracks and spun around, facing him. “Just how am I being ridiculous?”
“For one thing you’re acting like a stubborn child, insisting on walking to your car, when I’m willing to take you.”
“That is so typical of you, Joe Morelli, jumping to conclusions.” Danielle took hold of the door leading to the street.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Joe asked.
“You assume I’m refusing a ride from you because I’m being stubborn and childlike. Not once do you consider maybe I don’t need a ride.”
“I know you’re capable of walking. Not sure what you’re trying to prove, but it’s a long walk from here.”
“Once again—jumping to conclusions. I don’t need your ride because I already have one.” With that said, Danielle stepped outside to the sidewalk.
Joe followed Danielle outside and watched as she walked down the sidewalk, not looking back. To his surprise, a car pulled up and stopped. Danielle got into the car.
“Adam Nichols? That’s who she called? Not her attorney?” Joe mumbled to himself.
“Thanks for doing this,” Danielle said as she got into the car.
“I have to admit, I’m surprised you called me,” Adam said from the driver’s seat.
Danielle buckled her seatbelt and looked back at the police station, where Joe stood, still staring at her. She glanced from Joe—to Adam. It seemed just yesterday she thought Joe might be the one, the one to replace the void after Lucas. He was handsome, honest, caring—while Adam was the epitome of the stereotypical used car salesman—slick, smooth, not quite honest—and yet it was Adam she had turned to.
“Yeah, maybe I need to broaden my acquaintances in Frederickport,” Danielle said dryly, leaning back in the seat.
“That might be a good idea.” Adam laughed as he sped off.
“I can either give you a check, or we can stop at the ATM after I pick up my purse,” Danielle suggested.
“I don’t want your hundred bucks.”
“You don’t?”
“Nah, I’d rather know what kind of trouble you got yourself into this time.”
Danielle considered his request for a moment, then realized the story of her escapade was probably already circulating through the station and by tomorrow would be buzzing through the local coffee shops.
“I broke into the Gusarov Estate.”
“Whoa, the Gusarov Estate? Why would you do something like that?”
“I’ll tell you...but you’ll think I’m crazy.”
“I don’t think you can say anything to make me think you’re crazier than I already do.”
Danielle laughed. “I�
��m not sure how to take that.”
Adam shrugged, waiting for her explanation.
“They have Lily.”
Adam frowned. “What do you mean?”
“They didn’t find Isabella at that rest stop—they found Lily. She’s the one in the coma, not Isabella.”
“How would that even happen?”
“I’m not sure, but I have a theory. Lily was on her way home, she pulled into that rest stop. Someone attacked her, stole her car, left her for dead in the desert.”
“But they identified her body before Stoddard saw her.”
“No, I don’t think so. Not a positive ID. They found Isabella’s car abandoned at the rest stop with her purse inside. They assumed the unconscious woman was Isabella, and when they showed her picture to Stoddard, he verified the identification.”
“Do you know that for sure?”
“No, it’s just a theory. But the woman in the coma, that’s Lily. I saw her myself. I was going to take her picture so I could show the police, but they caught me before I could.”
“How did they catch you?”
“I must have set off the silent alarm. I had just opened the blinds, so I’d have enough light to take the picture when the two nurses walked in. They jumped on me and dragged me downstairs.”
“Did you try to explain?”
“What, that Lily was the woman in the coma, and not Isabella?”
“Yes.”
“Kinda hard to do, they didn’t speak English.”
“Russian?” Adam asked.
“Why do you say Russian?”
“Because Stoddard speaks Russian.”
“Russian was my guess. By the time they got me downstairs, Joe and Brian were there, with Isabella’s aunt and uncle. Joe wouldn’t listen to me, but he finally agreed to look in on her.”
“And then?”
“Apparently Isabella had a tattoo on her arm.”
“Yes, a dragon tattoo. She got it when we were going together.”
“They’ve tattooed Lily’s arm. When Joe went into the room, he saw that first and never really looked at her face. He thinks it’s Isabella. He’s wrong.”
“I have one question.”
“What?”