Her idea? She asked you to take her home early because she was sick and then she asked you to have sex with her in your car? I find that a little hard to believe. Especially since her folks swear they never heard her come in. Her bed wasn’t slept in last night. How do you account for that?
I can’t.
Truth is, you didn’t take her home, did you, Jack?
I swear I did! I walked her to the door and I waited until she was inside the house before I drove off.
You know what I think? I think you were all hopped up on adrenaline after the football game last night. You guys won, right? You scored the winning touchdown. You must have been in the mood to celebrate. Yeah, you were raring to go and things got a little rough, maybe. Things got out of hand and Anna ended up dead.
That’s a lie! I would never hurt Anna!
Or maybe she wouldn’t give you what you wanted and so you decided to take it. Hotshot like you always gets what he wants. You’re a real popular guy, aren’t you, Jack? Not used to hearing no, I bet. When Anna fought back, you bashed her in the head with a rock.
No! That’s not what happened. You have to believe me—
Then you tore off her clothes and had your way with her.
Please—
Made you feel pretty powerful, didn’t it?
Please, I’m going to be sick—
I’m sick, too, Jack. Sick all the way down to my soul at what you did to that poor girl.
I didn’t do anything. I swear—
Go ahead and cry if you have to, but those tears won’t help when we match your DNA to the sample we took from Anna’s body.
Please stop. Please. I can’t take this anymore—
You didn’t stop when Anna begged you to, did you? Afterward you panicked. You had to finish her off and so you strangled her. You threw her body off the old Pine Lake Bridge and then you went home, crawled into your comfortable bed and went to sleep. Did I get it right, Jack? Tell me where I’m going wrong.
You’re wrong about everything! I didn’t do this. Mom. Dad. Tell him. Please. I could never do something like this—
Your mom and dad can’t help you, son. But I can. Tell me what really happened last night. Tell me the truth and I swear to God I’ll do everything in my power to help you through this.
Jack’s parents had lived in Pine Lake for most of their lives. Sheriff Brannigan was a friend. They were of the mind that if Jack cooperated, if he simply told the truth, everything would be all right. Five hours into the intense grilling, Jack’s father had finally excused himself to go call a lawyer.
When they were allowed to leave the police station, word had already spread about Anna’s murder. A crowd had gathered in the parking lot. Friends, neighbors, classmates. The open suspicion and outright name calling had been hard enough to take, but nothing had gotten to Jack quite like his mother’s silent weeping. She’d taken to her bed as soon as they got home while his father had gone about the grim business of figuring out how to pay for the attorney. Throughout the whole ordeal, they’d stood by him, never for a second letting on that they doubted his innocence. But after that morning, it seemed to Jack they’d never quite looked at him in the same way again.
* * *
“JACK? YOU READY, BUDDY?”
Tommy’s drawl pierced through the barrage of memories and Jack turned from the window with a scowl. “What?”
“The interview. You ready?”
“Yeah, let’s get it over with.”
Tommy stretched. “Sorry again for the interruption. The mayor tends to get a little long-winded when he’s on a tear. I don’t answer to him, but I try to lend a sympathetic ear now and then. Anyway, before he called, you were telling me about a black pickup truck that nearly ran Olive over this morning.”
“Yeah, it came pretty damn close.”
“Black trucks are a dime a dozen around here. Could be hard to track down even with a partial plate. Do you remember any identifying marks? Bumper stickers? A dented fender or a cracked windshield, maybe?”
Jack folded his arms and leaned a shoulder against the window frame. “The paint job was flat black. Custom.”
“That’ll help.” Tommy jotted down a few more notes, tore the sheet from the pad and went out to the squad room where he handed the paper to an officer. He returned a moment later carrying two mugs of black coffee. “You look like you could use a caffeine jolt. I know I can.”
Jack had forgone coffee earlier after the incident with Olive. Now, though, he accepted the cup gratefully and took a tentative sip. “Damn.”
Tommy chuckled. “Around here, we like it strong enough to put hair on your chest.”
“Mission accomplished.” Jack went over to the desk and placed his cup on the corner as his gaze traveled across the rows of framed photographs and citations on the walls. “Are all those commendations yours?”
Tommy looked pleased that he had noticed. “I’ve had a good run.”
“It would appear that you have.”
He motioned Jack to a seat and then went around the desk and sat down heavily in his creaking chair. “About that black truck.” He took a quick sip of his coffee. “Clearly a case of reckless driving, but you’re not thinking the driver deliberately tried to run Olive down, are you?”
“She said it was the second time she’s almost been hit in less than a week. She thinks she’s being tested because of her new job.”
“Sounds about right. Kids around here drive like bats out of hell. You and I were no different back in the day. And just between us, Olive Belmont isn’t the most observant pedestrian. She walks around town with her head in the clouds half the time. Not just her. I’ve seen people on their cell phones step into the street without ever looking up. Then add in the texting drivers and you start to get a real grim picture.”
“Olive wasn’t on her phone.”
“No, but she was talking to you, right? She was distracted. I’m not saying I won’t look into it. I will. But even if I manage to track down the truck, all I can do is give the driver a good talking to. Sometimes that’s enough.”
“I appreciate your efforts,” Jack said. “I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“Nor would I. But right now I’ve got bigger fish to fry with this murder investigation.” Tommy settled back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head. His casual demeanor didn’t fool Jack. Sheriff Brannigan had seemed amiable, too, at first, but he’d quickly revealed himself to be ruthless and obsessed. A simple and single-minded investigator who couldn’t be bothered to look for other suspects because Jack had fit his profile. Only months later when he’d failed to come up with anything more than circumstantial evidence had an ex-con in the area pinged his radar. Jack had wondered more than once about the coincidence and convenience of that traffic stop. Wayne Foukes’s arrest had taken the pressure off a beleaguered county sheriff. From that day forward, Brannigan had run uncontested every four years until his retirement.
“I need to hear about last night,” Tommy was saying. “Start at the beginning and walk me through everything that happened up until the time my deputies and I arrived on the scene.”
Jack told him about spotting the flashlight beam on the bridge, hearing a splash and then moments later, the sound of a car driving away.
“So you decided to take the boat out and investigate,” Tommy said.
“Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same.”
“Probably,” he admitted. “How long did it take you to locate the body?”
“Not long with the spotlight. Five or ten minutes.”
“What did you do once you found her?”
“I called it in. Then I tied off the boat and waited on the bank so that I could flag you down when you arrived.”
“And that’s when Olive came along?”
“Yeah, a few minutes later.”
“You didn’t think it strange to see her wandering around in the dark in her pajamas?”
“I’ve seen stranger things.”
“Still, the behavior seems peculiar even for Olive.”
“You heard what she said. She thought someone might be dumping trash in the lake. I guess she wanted to catch them red-handed.”
Tommy gave him a pensive scowl. “Did you know she used to be a sleepwalker?”
Jack shrugged. “She seemed wide awake when I spoke to her.”
“That’s the thing, though. You can’t always tell.”
“Have you seen her sleepwalk?” Jack asked.
“Not in years. But when she and her mother were first staying with the Bolts, Nathan and I once found her outside in the middle of the night, sitting cross-legged in the front yard staring out at the street. When I waved my hand in front of her face, she didn’t even blink. It was eerie as hell. Another time Nathan said she was out all night before anyone noticed her missing. Next day, she didn’t remember a thing. It was like it never happened.”
“Okay, so she used to sleepwalk,” Jack said. “Like I said, she seemed awake and lucid when I talked to her last night.”
Tommy picked up a pencil and examined the eraser. “You didn’t get a look at the vehicle that drove off?”
“It was long gone before I arrived at the bridge. And there’s no way Olive could have seen it from the road.”
“That’s pretty much what she said.”
Jack shrugged. “Then I guess we’re done here.”
“Not quite.”
Jack had started to rise, but he sat back down as Tommy leaned forward, his gaze narrowed and suddenly hostile.
Jack’s guard came up. “What else can I do for you, sheriff?”
“You can tell me what you’re doing in Pine Lake.”
“I’m here to put my uncle’s affairs in order.”
Tommy didn’t appear convinced. “Let me put it another way. Why have you come back now? Leon passed away months ago. Are you sure there’s not another reason for your sudden trip down memory lane? I told you the other night, I’ve kept up with your career. I know what you do at the Blackthorn Agency. The thought has crossed my mind that someone might have hired you to investigate this office.”
“Is there a reason someone would want this office investigated?” Jack countered, taking a perverse satisfaction in Tommy’s apparent discomfort.
“Someone’s always got a beef. Comes with the territory. But you and me—” Tension crackled as he leveled his gaze across the desk at Jack. “We’ll have a real problem if I find out you’re working for Nathan Bolt.”
“I’m not working for anybody. I’m here of my own accord.” Now it was Jack who leaned forward. “But you’re right. There is another reason for my trip. Did you really expect I would do nothing about the bombshell you dropped the other night?”
“I was hoping you were smart enough to leave that alone, buddy.”
“Then why tell me about it at all if you didn’t want me to come to Pine Lake?”
“I wanted to warn you about Nathan. I needed to make you realize how untrustworthy he is.”
“See, that’s the part I still don’t get,” Jack said. “What made you think Nathan would contact me in the first place?”
Tommy glanced toward the squad room. The door was closed but he lowered his voice anyway. “One of my informants told me that Nathan’s been asking a lot of questions about this office. I was told flat out that he’s looking to hire an outside investigator to take me down. And since he and your uncle were so tight, it stood to reason he’d try to get you on his side.”
“His side?”
“There’s a war going on in this town, Jack. Things have changed since you lived here. Used to be all we had to worry about was a few penny-ante pushers operating out of the old Shady Grove Apartments. The kind of product we’re seeing nowadays makes Pine Lake seem like a border town. I’ve suspected for a long time there’s a local kingpin, someone with enough smarts and clout to cover his tracks. Someone who instills the kind of fear or loyalty that keeps his people from cutting deals when they get arrested.”
“Are you saying that person is Nathan Bolt?”
Tommy shot another glance toward the squad room. “I’m not prepared to go there yet, but he’s involved at some level. We make a bust, nine times out of ten the first person the perp calls is Nathan.”
“He’s a good attorney from what I hear.”
“Yeah, but he’s not the only lawyer in the county or even in Pine Lake. And he’s sure as hell not the cheapest. You have to wonder who’s paying him and why.”
“Just because he caters to a certain clientele doesn’t make him a criminal.” Jack played devil’s advocate even though he’d had the same thought about Nathan last night. “He comes from money. Why would he risk his reputation, let alone his freedom, by getting involved in something so potentially dangerous?”
“He has money by Pine Lake standards, but not the kind it takes to finance a political campaign. He’s always been ambitious. You know that even better than I do. Remember back in school? His competitiveness bordered on obsessive. He was always looking for an advantage, always looking to come out on top. He’s had his eye on Austin for years.”
“Even more reason to keep his nose clean,” Jack said.
“Not if he’s thought this through and Nathan is nothing if not shrewd. You were smarter but he was the more conniving. Think about it. He hires himself out to the drug trade just long enough to salt away the money he needs to launch a respectable state senate campaign. Now he’s ready to walk away, but questions are being asked. Dots are being connected. And maybe some of his people aren’t quite as loyal as he thought.”
“People like Jamie Butaud?”
Tommy’s eyes flashed. “What do you know about Jamie?”
“You said last night she worked for Nathan. Wouldn’t be the first time a police informant met with a violent end.”
“I’m not going to speculate about suspects and motives with you,” he said with a pompous edge. “What I will say is that I put very little past Nathan Bolt. If he thought this office was closing in on him, he’d do everything in his power to taint the process. Plant some rumors, plant some evidence and then bring in an outside investigator to put it all together. Masterminding the takedown of a corrupt county sheriff’s office would be a pretty effective way to launch a political career.”
“Is this office corrupt?” Jack asked bluntly.
“My men and I aren’t perfect, but there’s not a dirty cop among us.”
Jack glanced up at the framed citations. He didn’t take the awards or Tommy’s declaration at face value. Even as a teenager, Tommy Driscoll had been given to excesses and shortcuts. Now, in his early thirties, the slight paunch and sagging jawline spoke to a lack of discipline. Jack could well believe the man dirty. But had he ever been capable of murder?
“Where were you the night Anna was killed?” he asked suddenly.
Tommy sat in stunned silence before he erupted. “What the hell, Jack?”
“It’s a simple question. Logical after what you told me on the phone. Why not answer if you’ve nothing to hide?”
The chair squealed ominously as Tommy shot forward. “Because I don’t answer to you. And I sure as hell don’t appreciate the implication.”
“There’s no implication,” Jack said with a shrug. “Just a question. You’ve admitted that you lied about Nathan’s whereabouts. So why not tell me where you were?”
“Exactly where I said I was.”
“At Nathan’s house. All night long.”
“Damn straight.”
“But now that you’ve taken Nathan out of the picture, it’s just yo
ur word.”
Tommy was silent for a long moment. “Where are you going with this?”
“Maybe I just want to know why my two best friends lied about their whereabouts on the night my girlfriend was murdered.”
“It won’t change anything.”
Bitterness crept into Jack’s voice. “Maybe not, but I think the very least you owe me is the truth.”
Tommy’s mouth thinned. “What is it you want to know?”
“Where did Nathan claim he went that night?”
“He said he was out looking for Olive. He said she was sleepwalking again. He noticed that her bed was empty and he went out to find her.”
“And you believed him?”
“I had no reason not to at the time. I didn’t know then what a liar he was and I’d seen Olive sleepwalk for myself.”
“Why didn’t you tell any of this to the cops?”
“It didn’t seem like a big deal. Who knew the police would come down so hard on you? I wanted to help out a friend, that’s all. And as for Olive, she’d already been through hell with her dad dying and having to relocate to a new town. It seemed best for everyone to just keep quiet.”
“Or did you keep quiet because placing Nathan at home all night gave you an alibi?”
“Why would I need an alibi? I didn’t kill Anna.”
“Neither did I, but that didn’t keep me from being a suspect.”
Tommy hesitated, as if having to hold his temper in check. “You’re looking for closure and I get that. But you’re never going to find all the answers. Anna left the house after you dropped her off. Maybe she went out to meet someone or maybe she went for a walk. We’ll never know. It was nothing more than very bad luck that Wayne Foukes happened to be in the area that night.” He paused once more. “You want everything tied up with a nice, neat bow, but that’s just not going to happen, buddy.”
“Maybe not,” Jack said. “But we do know one thing for certain. Wayne Foukes didn’t kill Jamie Butaud.”
Chapter Five
Olive stood at her second-story office window staring down at the campus. The benches and courtyards were empty but soon enough the common spaces would teem with activity. The classrooms would fill up and the parking lot would overflow onto the empty field across the street. There would be fisticuffs to break up, punishments to dole out and irate parents to soothe. One crisis after another.
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