by Debra Webb
The boy had sneaked through the fence that separated the Grayson property from his own yard and then he’d climbed up the trellis and into his room. The officer on surveillance duty out front never spotted him. Devon had stealth down to a science.
“He told you that the angel put him under the dead mommy’s house?” Jess kept her voice down for fear of spooking him. “And that he kept pulling and tugging until he got the tape loose on his hands and that’s how he freed himself?”
Leslie nodded. “He said he’d been trying to get loose since the angel took him.” She shrugged. “Maybe it took all this time to get the tape loose enough.”
Possible. “But he couldn’t tell you where he’d been before the angel moved him to the Graysons’ home?”
“Under the screaming mommy’s house was all he could tell me.”
Jess mulled over the answer. “You think he’ll talk to me now?”
“Maybe I can ask him stuff and you can listen,” Leslie suggested.
That would work. “I’ll make you a list.”
While Devon finished his cereal, Jess quickly scribbled a list of questions for the boy.
Leslie placed a small can of potted meat and crackers next to her brother’s empty bowl. “I thought you might like this, too.”
“Yummy!” He snapped the lid off the can of meat and, using the crackers like dipping chips, had a bite.
Leslie made a face at Jess. “He loves the stuff.”
Jess sat down at the other end of the table. Devon paused in his eating, but he didn’t look at her. Leslie picked up the list Jess had made and sat down close to her brother.
“Devon, when you were under the screaming mommy’s house, did you hear any other people? Like a daddy or kids?”
Devon licked a cracker and nodded. “A mean daddy. Two crying kids.”
Leslie stole a glance at Jess. “Did the angel give you any food or water while you were there?”
He nodded again. “Sometimes.”
“Did you see the angel?”
“The light was shining in my eyes. I couldn’t see nothing.”
Shit! Jess needed to add a question. She couldn’t exactly write it down and pass it to Leslie without risking Devon shutting down. It was a miracle he’d spoken at all in front of her.
Leslie’s cell phone lay on the table. Maybe there was a way. Jess retrieved her phone and sent Leslie a text with the next question.
The girl’s phone signaled she had received the text and Leslie checked the screen. She set the phone aside and asked the questions. “What kind of kids were crying, Dev? Boys or girls?”
He shrugged.
Leslie waited a second then asked, “Big kids or little kids?”
He ate the last cracker and turned to his sister. “Baby kids.”
Adrenaline had Jess’s heart thundering in her ears. Sounded like the Riley family to her. Their neighbor had said they screamed at each other all the time and that the kids cried frequently.
“What kind of light shined in your face, Dev?”
He frowned. “A flashlight, silly. Like I keep in my secret hiding place. Angels have flashlights, too.”
Leslie had told Jess that his secret hiding place was under the house. He’d been trying to get away from the angel so he’d hidden under his house. That, Jess presumed, had given this so-called angel, who she suspected was either Sarah or Jack Riley, the idea for hiding him under the floor of their own home. It was the perfect solution until one or both decided what to do with him. Killing a child likely wasn’t as palatable as having murdered a grown woman. Case in point, they’d left the Grayson baby sleeping in his crib the night they murdered and mutilated his mother.
“This angel wasn’t too smart.”
Jess’s attention snapped back to Devon.
“What do you mean, Devon?” Leslie asked.
“The angel put me under the wrong house.” He made a face. “This is my house.”
Jess had a bad feeling the angel had hoped Devon would die under the Graysons’ house. The Rileys weren’t fools. They knew Jess was on to them. Clearly they’d moved Devon to prevent his being found under their own home. With Gabrielle’s murder still too fresh, Lieutenant Grayson would be in no hurry to move back into his home. There was no telling when anyone would have gone under the floor over there for any reason. If Devon hadn’t worked his way loose while he still had the strength, he would have fallen victim to their evil plan.
Leslie glanced at the list Jess had made once more. “How did you know this was an angel? Did you see wings?”
Devon shook his head. “No silly! I smelled the flowers. Angels smell like flowers.”
“Who told you that, Devon?” Leslie asked, going down the list.
“My teacher told me. When our mommy went to heaven. He said people gave flowers to her because heaven smells like flowers and that way the angels knew where to find her.”
Leslie looked to Jess again. She didn’t know what else to say or do. She’d asked all the questions.
Jess could see how he’d made the leap. If heaven smelled like flowers, then the angels who lived there were bound to smell like flowers, too. Harper’s comment about the shampoo in the Graysons’ shower… Gardenias… elbowed its way into her thoughts. Even though they hadn’t gotten any clear prints off the bottle, they knew the killer had washed off in the shower since some of Gabrielle’s blood had been found in the drain. If the killer used the shampoo that might be why Devon smelled flowers while he was hiding in the closet in the baby’s room.
“I don’t want that angel to come to get me again.”
Fear made his voice sound smaller. The happy-go-lucky little boy was gone now. Devon was scared. He had a right to be scared; he’d been traumatized.
“Why would the angel come back again?” Jess heard herself ask.
Devon blinked. Stared at her. She held her breath. Prayed he wouldn’t go into his shell.
He held up his arm. “I got the angel scratch. I think that’s bad.”
Going for broke, Jess dug around in her bag and retrieved her shield. She slid it down the table toward Devon. “You keep this with you at all times, Devon, and the angel won’t bother you.”
Hesitant at first, he reached out and picked up the shield. He studied it closely, then he looked at Jess. “You sure that’ll work?”
“Absolutely,” Jess promised. “You can clip it on your shirt”—she tugged at the collar of her blouse—“right there.”
Leslie helped her brother clip the shield on the neck of his T-shirt.
“Now. The angel will know you’re untouchable.”
Devon frowned, then he held up his arm. “What about this?”
Jess beamed a smile at him. “If you and your sister will come with me, I can take you to see a doctor who knows all about angel scratches.”
Cooper Green, 2:58 a.m.
Dan thought he had seen it all.
Obviously he had been wrong.
Jess and Sylvia were smiling and fussing over the kid as if they had been doing that sort of thing their whole lives. Two women who swore they didn’t have time for children.
He watched Jess smile as Devon drew pictures of what he saw that night. Sylvia had attended to his scratches and checked him over thoroughly. The kid was safe and that was what mattered. He hadn’t given them much to go on. The angel smelled like flowers. Jess had connected the idea to the shampoo she’d had logged into evidence.
Jess glanced at Dan and he straightened away from the door frame. As she and Sylvia started his way, leaving Leslie to entertain Devon, Dan stepped out into the corridor.
Sylvia closed the door to the exam room.
“Leslie’s going to help Devon change into clean clothes,” Jess explained.
“I’ll test samples of the dirt and other trace elements on his clothes,” Sylvia picked up where Jess left off. “If he was held in the Rileys’ crawlspace you might be able to use those test results for confirmation.”
“I s
ent a text to Cook,” Jess went from there. “He’s arranging for an evidence tech to accompany him to the Grayson home, where they’ll attempt to find the tape Devon removed when he freed himself.”
The so-called angel had felt confident taking the kid there, since the crime scene had been released. Bastard.
Leslie opened the door. “We’re ready in here.”
Sylvia looked from Dan to Jess. “I’m going to get on those tests.”
“Thank you, Dr. Baron,” Jess said.
Sylvia nodded and disappeared into the exam room.
Those two had made friends, Dan decided. “Where’s Harper?”
“I’ve got him watching the Rileys.” She glanced at Devon and his sister. “We need these two tucked away in a safe place until this is over.”
“Agreed.” Dan dug for his phone. “I’ll make the arrangements. We’ll drop them off and then I’m taking you home.”
Jess sagged against the wall. “You won’t get any argument from me.”
Conroy Road, 7:30 a.m.
Two hours of sleep had hardly been worth the trouble. Jess lugged her bag onto her shoulder and descended the stairs. Two cups of dark roast had not done the trick. She still felt hungover. She glanced at her landlord’s house as she shuffled to her car. He hadn’t complained about her random comings and goings so far. She hoped he continued to be a good sport about it.
She held up her keys and started to punch the fob to unlock the Audi. The driver’s side door—her door—was ajar. Moving with caution, Jess eased closer. The door had definitely been opened.
“Well, damn.”
She backed up a few steps just in case and put in a call to Lori for a ride. Then she called Burnett to have whoever was working the investigation into the Taurus tampering to come pick up her Audi.
This shit was getting old.
BPD, 9:05 a.m.
“I appreciate you coming in this morning, Mrs. Riley,” Jess said. “I hope you didn’t have any trouble finding a sitter for your children.”
“They’re with my mother and father. They love going to visit their grandparents.”
Thank God. “Let’s get started then. You stated that the last time you saw Gabrielle alive was on Sunday when you and your husband had lunch with her and her husband, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
Sarah Riley was as calm as a cucumber and her husband was furious she was being questioned again. Burnett had sequestered Sergeant Riley and his superior, Deputy Chief Waters, to the conference room. Harper had sent Jess a text since she’d entered the interview room to let her know that Lieutenant Grayson had arrived to show his support for the Rileys.
“You may find some of these questions repetitive,” Jess warned, “but it’s important that we’re thorough.”
Sarah Riley nodded her understanding.
“Did Gabrielle appear to be worried about anything or anxious in any way?”
“Not at all.”
Sarah really was a petite woman. Maybe five two and ninety or so pounds. Far too small to physically control a woman Gabrielle’s size unless the OxyContin had already kicked in, and even then handling her dead weight wouldn’t be easy for someone Sarah’s size.
This morning she was calm and poised. Where was the cowering, beaten-down housewife who feared her husband? Today she wasn’t even nervous.
Abuse victims often covered for their abusers. Fear that no one else would love them or that there would be even more severe repercussions was often the motive. But sometimes the victim enjoyed the cycle of fighting and making up. Could Sarah Riley be one of those? Was she protecting that bond?
Maybe.
“And when you spoke later that evening? No indication that anything was wrong?”
“Our conversations were short but she sounded just fine.”
“You and Gabrielle were very close,” Jess went on. “You knew each other well. You stated that you even took vacations together.”
“Yes.” Sarah carefully resisted adding any other details. She answered only the question Jess asked.
Her husband had coached her well.
“You met on the job when you were both nurses at the New Life Rehabilitation Center.”
“Yes.”
Jess flipped through her notes. “You harassed patients for their drug connections and even went so far as to steal some drugs, isn’t that right?”
Sarah blinked and her expression closed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Really.” Jess made a surprised sound and pretended to reread some of her notes. “I have statements from several of your coworkers that suggests otherwise.”
That deer trapped in the headlights look abruptly vanished and determination took its place. “They were jealous of my relationship with Gabrielle. You can’t believe what they say. If those accusations were true Gabrielle would have written me up and I would have been fired and charged with a crime.”
“So Gabrielle didn’t tell you that you had to resign?”
“I resigned after my first daughter was born because I really wanted to be home with her.”
“I see.” Jess jotted a few words on her notepad. “So the notations Gabrielle made in your personnel file about suspected drug abuse were untrue.”
Fury lit in Sarah’s eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Gabrielle was my friend. She would never have made up lies like that.”
“Maybe I misread the notes. I’ve read so much about you and your husband that it’s just all running together.” Jess shook her head. “Does your husband still have a problem with OxyContin? I noted where the drug was found in several of the required drug tests here at BPD.”
“What’re you talking about? My husband doesn’t have a problem with drugs or anything else. Why are you saying these things?”
Jess decided to take a chance. She leaned across the table. “I know what you did, Sarah. We found your prints. Your neighbor told us about you leaving the kids at home alone on Sunday and the timing just happens to coincide with the timing of Gabrielle’s murder. You were there, Sarah. I know you were. Gabrielle didn’t call Jack at eleven that night, you did. Using her phone. Did you tell him there was a problem? What did he do, Sarah? Something you’re afraid to tell me? I’m prepared to give you until four o’clock today to get your story straight but after that, the deal is off the table. You’ll be picked up and charged with first-degree murder.”
Confusion and fear claimed her features. “What deal? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Gabrielle never called my husband! I was at Gabrielle’s house all the time. Of course you found my fingerprints there. And yes, I left the house Sunday night. Jack and I had a big fight on the phone so I went to see him. Ask anyone on shift with him that night, they saw him come out to my car but we never left the street. We just sat there in the dark and talked. Anyone on duty could have looked out the window and seen the car.”
There was a new revelation. No matter, Jess shook her head. “Save yourself, Sarah, so you can be there for your children. Otherwise you’ll go down with him.”
“I think I want a lawyer now.” Fury twisted the woman’s face.
Jess closed her notepad and set her pencil aside. “I understand. You’re afraid.” Jess pushed to her feet. “But keep in mind that we have a witness, Sarah. He saw everything.”
With that Jess headed for the door.
“Wait.”
Victory roared through Jess’s veins. She turned back to the woman who could help them nail Gabrielle’s killer.
“You’re wrong,” she said, to Jess’s surprise. “Jack would never hurt anyone that way. He loves me and he loves our children too much. He worships Larry and thought the world of Gabrielle. You’re wrong, Chief Harris.” Sarah picked up her purse. “You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to ruin an innocent man’s life. A cop’s life and career.”
Stunned at the about-face, Jess opened the door and let her go. “Just remember,” she said as Sarah walke
d past her, “you have until four o’clock today before I take my witness and the evidence we have to the DA. After that I can’t help you.”
Sarah walked out.
Damn it. Harper was right. The woman acted like some weird Stepford wife.
Burnett joined her in the hall. He’d watched the interview from the viewing room. “I’ve sent a cruiser to keep an eye on the grandparents and the children.”
“I was just about to set that up myself.”
“Chief Harris.”
Jess turned to find Lieutenant Grayson striding her way. Judging by the outrage on his face and in his posture she was in for a battle. “Lieutenant.”
Grayson acknowledged Dan. “Chief Burnett.”
Burnett shook his head. “Lieutenant, it would be in your best interest if you stayed clear of this mess.”
Jess spoke before Grayson could. “Let him have his say. There are a few things I need to clear up with him.”
“All right.” Burnett turned to Grayson. “Don’t make me regret that decision.”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re thinking, but Jack and Sarah Riley are friends of my family. I wouldn’t have gotten through the past few days without their support. How dare you make them feel like suspects!”
“They are suspects, Lieutenant.” Jess wasn’t going to sugarcoat this for the man. Not anymore. She’d given him some time to grieve, but right now he needed a wake-up call. “Your wife discovered Sarah was stealing OxyContin on the job two years ago. She swept it under the rug to protect Sarah for the same reason you’re standing by them now. That was her first mistake. Continuing to trust a woman who would steal drugs to support her husband’s habit was her second.”
Jess took a second to calm the outrage now rushing through her. “Those two so-called friends of the family know what happened to your wife, Lieutenant. I would suggest you be more careful who you trust. Particularly who you trust with your baby son’s life.”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”