“Better, now. Hungry?” The pain had increased to barely tolerable, but he needed food before he could take the cocktail of pills the doctor had given him.
“Yes. Let me put this down and I’ll get the food out the car. I stopped and got a rotisserie chicken and some fixings, figured you’d be hungry.” She placed a kiss on his cheek and headed outside. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
“I missed you.” Tugging on her arm, he drew her in for a longer kiss. Swallowing her moan, he eased her down to the arm of the chair and embraced her with one arm. She tasted like vanilla and strawberries. “Ummm,” he said against her lips. “You had a shake on the way home, did you bring me one?”
Her forehead rested against his as she caught her breath. “Yeah, it’s melting in the car.”
He leaned back and chuckled. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
After two quick pecks on his lips that didn’t qualify as kisses, she rose and headed out the door. He watched the sway of her hips until she vanished from sight. Moving his hardening cock to the side, he tapped his finger against the arm rest to take his mind off the growing pain. Tamara’s kindness and patience touched him. She never complained about the guys coming and going, or them being interrupted by phone calls, she listened to what he wanted to share, and didn’t push when he couldn’t go further in his explanations. There were some things he didn’t want her to know. His team didn’t always stay on the right side of the law when gathering information.
For the first time in twenty years, he met a woman who might understand him or at least be willing to try. Over the years, he’d seen few military marriages or relationships last beneath the pressure of deployments and the challenges of re-entering life upon return. Seeing the depth of human cruelty, the lack of concern for human life, unbelievable poverty and living conditions changed a person on the inside.
He’d changed.
“Give me a second, I’ll warm this up and bring you a plate. You need something to drink to take your pills?” She passed him with two bags and headed into the kitchen.
“Yes, thank you.” Max leaned against the back of the chair and closed his eyes. All of this, Carin’s lies, the ambush, the breaking and entering charges, Adele’s betrayal… for Helen? There was no other explanation. And who was this guy Vincent? And why would he help Helen keep Kevin? He had to know the boy wasn’t hers.
“Are you okay?” Tamara placed a plate and glass on the tray table next to him.
“Um hmm, yeah, just thinking. A lot of stuff not adding up, but we’re making progress. Where’d you go today?” he asked over his shoulder when she headed back into the kitchen.
“I picked up Charlene and we went to talk to Sasha Loils,” she said, sitting in the chair across from him and sipping her drink.
“What?” Max’s hand froze mid-air, he hadn’t heard her correctly.
“I had a talk with Sasha Loils today.” She met his gaze and then took a bite of chicken.
“What? Why? Was anybody there?” He couldn’t believe she’d done that without telling him. Not that he would’ve agreed, but she should’ve run it by him first. As Chief, everything needed to be run by him.
Tamara met his stare, took another drink, and then patted her mouth with her napkin. “I wanted to know who she was on the inside.” She tapped her chest. “I wasn’t sure she’d been victimized, and wanted to prove this was another scam.”
Max heart slammed in his chest at her sound of defeat. “And did you?”
She shook her head but held his gaze. “No. Someone beat that woman, she’s had a rough time.” Tamara told him about the conversation, repeated many points, and answered his questions. When she finished, he understood the undertone of defeat.
“So you think she was genuine?”
“Yeah, she had the details down pat, even your tattoo.”
“My tattoo? She saw my tattoo?” Max’s shirt had been ripped but he couldn’t remember if his chest had been visible.
Tamara nodded.
“What did she say?”
“Heart shaped, military symbols, she named them but I don’t remember, why?”
Max looked at his cleaned plate, then took all of his meds except the pain killer. He needed a clear head. “Look at my tattoo.”
Tamara walked over and pulled up his shirt. “Okay, heart shaped, military symbols…” Her eyes widened. “She didn’t see Kevin’s name? How could she miss that, it’s huge and makes the heart look warped.”
Max nodded with a smile. He’d added Kevin’s name after the kidnapping. Few people knew about it. Certainly not Helen or Sasha Loils, it seemed. Finally the break they needed. “Can you pass me my phone?” He called Nick and kissed Tamara. Hard-headed, stubborn and independent, she’d broken the case.
“Nick? I think we found a way to break Sasha Loils' testimony.”
Chapter Seventeen
The next morning, Max, Tamara, Nick, and Janis Green, the Assistant DA, sat in a small conference room in the county building.
“Are you suggesting someone coached Ms. Loils and that the information she gave is not true?” Green asked Nick.
“What I’m saying is she got her facts confused, and based on her history with military types, I believe she’s obsessed with making one of them pay for the abuse she received while married to a serviceman,” Nick said.
“Ms. Loils has agreed to return for questioning, I’m going to ask her to describe the man she saw, if it is the same as she said before, I’ll ask for more details. I am not going to push her, this woman has been through enough.”
“I agree. My client has also been through hell behind this, all we want is the truth and justice,” Nick said.
Green nodded and looked at her phone. “She’s here, I’m going to lead the three of you to an observation room. Remain there until I return to talk to you.”
“Okay,” Nick said, rising.
Tamara stood behind Max’s borrowed wheelchair and pushed. A few moments later, they entered a small darkened room with a table and a few chairs. She parked the chair in a position close to the glass so he could see everything in the room.
Sasha Loils sat at a table with a younger woman talking. She looked relaxed, secure.
“I’ll be back,” Green said, looking over her shoulder. “I hope you’re not wasting my time, Nick.”
“Janis, I’ll buy you dinner anywhere you choose, if I am. But I’m not. Ask the questions, she’ll get them wrong.” He sounded confident, which pleased Max. They’d discussed a number of ways to get Loils to break her testimony, and decided on this strategy before contacting the DA’s office. Tamara stood near the wall watching. Max sat on the other side, leaving the middle for him.
Ms. Green walked into the other room with her hand outstretched. “Hello, Ms. Loils, thanks for coming. We’re hoping to get this case to trial as soon as possible. I know you want the guilty person punished.”
Loils nodded. “That man, the SEAL guy, Max Delgado, he’s the one who did this.” She touched her face, which still showed signs of bruises.
“His defense is going to ask how are you sure it was Officer Delgado, it was dark outside and in the house. He claims he stumbled around the living room and left. The technicians found his prints in the living room and the entry door, not in the back where you say he beat you.”
Loils waved her hands. “It doesn’t matter what his big, fancy, expensive lawyer says. I saw him, a piece of his shirt was left in my house. He broke in and beat me… I don’t know why, maybe he’s got some kind of PTSD.”
“Could you describe what you saw that night, please?”
“Again? I’ve already told you.”
“I understand Ms. Loils. But I need all the help I can get to take this case to trial. His lawyer says you did not see Officer Delgado that night, he says you saw someone else.”
Loils leaned forward. “I saw him. He’s tall, with dark kinda wavy hair, has a scar on his chin, right here.” She placed her finger on her chin. “Gray
eyes, long thick lashes…” She paused and closed her eyes.
“Ms. Loils? Ms. Loils?” Atty. Green called after a prolonged silence.
“One second, I’m trying to see him again… his shirt was torn, ripped, half on and off, he has a tattoo, right here,” she pointed to her chest, “it’s a heart, with a SEAL team number, SEAL logo, Navy logo and another one inside. I saw it when he came close to me, his chest was in my face.”
“How close would you say he was when he struck you?” Green asked.
Loils placed her hand in front of her face, not quite a foot away.
“Was the light on in the room?”
“Yes, the light was on in the room where I was tied to a chair.”
“Did you say he tied you to the chair?”
“No. I don’t know who tied me to the chair. I was knocked out. When I came to, that man walked up to me and started hitting me. That’s when I saw his face and everything.”
Green pushed back from the table. “Excuse me for one moment. Ms. Loils, can my assistant get you anything to drink?”
“Yes, some water please.”
The young woman nodded and left the room.
“I want to thank you for your help. I just need to take care of one thing and I’ll be right back.” The door opened and her assistant walked in with a bottle of water.
“Thank you,” Loils said, taking the offered bottle.
“Be right back,” Green said over her shoulder as she left the room. Seconds later she entered the room with Max and the others.
“Okay, since you showed me your tattoo I know she’s lying. I don’t know why, but there’s no way she could’ve been that close and not noticed your son’s name. And the level of detail, she knew those symbols, which means you may be on to something about her dislike of military men. None of which helps me solve this case.”
“True, but I’m filing for dismissal of charges against my client. We believe this woman is involved, or at the very least, knows the woman who kidnapped my client’s son. I’d like to question her,” Nick said.
“What kind of questions?”
Max was surprised she didn’t say no right away.
“I want to know who showed her a picture of Max’s tattoo. Not many people have seen it, since it has his unit number. He keeps that private. Someone he trusted gave her that information. I have an idea, but I’d like to know who. Chances are, they administered the beating to this woman as well, blindfolded her so she wouldn’t know them. For the most part, I think she’s telling the truth as far as she knows, someone else colored blocks of information so that the villain looked like my client.”
Atty. Green glanced at Max and then nodded. “I’ll ask those questions when I inform her we’re dropping the charges against your client. No one is to approach her, maybe she’s gotten her information mixed up or something. Those marks didn’t just appear on her face. Someone beat the hell out of her. Understood?”
Nick nodded and held his hands out in front of him. “We’d just like to know who told her that information so my client can find his son. Like I said before, he’s a victim as well.”
Max appreciated Nick’s help in finding Kevin and hoped Loils would say something he could use.
Green left the room and entered the interrogation room where Loils still sat. She pulled her jacket together and looked down at the woman. “I had to drop the charges against Officer Delgado.”
The color drained from Loils' face. Her lips trembled and then she shot up from her seat. “What do you mean? He… he hit me,” she screamed. “He should pay…!”
Green moved her hands in a calm-down motion. “Someone hit you, there’s no question of that, we intend to continue the investigation, but by your own words, it wasn’t Officer Delgado. You missed critical information that if it were him, you wouldn’t have missed.”
Loils eyes widened and then her face reddened as she pointed at Green. “You… you’re just like the rest of them. Pretending to care, to listen and then… poof, you do nothing. You let him get away with anything.”
“Who’re you talking about? Your ex-husband? When he beat you? No one did anything when you reported him?”
Loils jerked back, her hand flew to her mouth as her eyes darted around the room. “What are you talking about?”
Green’s voice softened. “I want to help you, but you didn’t describe Officer Delgado.”
“What do you mean? I did…” She frowned and moved her lips. “I described him just as I saw him.”
“Where’d you see his picture?”
“It was…wait, what?” She narrowed her eyes at Green. “Who said I saw his picture?”
“You did. When you described his tattoo.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“It’s the only way you could’ve seen that much detail. I’ve seen his tattoo, and at a closer distance without ducking from blows to my head and face, and I couldn’t see all of that, not in the time frame you claim. So the only way for you to have seen it is if someone showed you a picture.”
“I… I….”
“It’s okay, Sasha, I want to put the man or men who beat you behind bars, but you have to help me. Who showed you the picture?”
Sasha’s face shuttered tight. Max saw it and knew they wouldn’t get anything else from her.
“No one showed me anything. I saw that man, I picked him out of a line-up and a group of pictures. I know what I saw. But if a man has money and friends, he can do anything he wants to avoid justice. I thought this small town would be different, but I see it’s the same as living in Raleigh or some large city. No justice for the little person.”
“I believe in justice for all, but not those who protect their abusers. When you want justice, and you’re ready to tell the whole story, this office is ready and willing to prosecute the guilty. But only the guilty.” Green backed away from the table while holding Loils' gaze.
“So that’s it, he’s free because you think he’s innocent?” Sasha asked.
“No. What I think about Officer Delgado is irrelevant. It’s your recounting of events that made it clear he was not the person who attacked you. Based on what you said, I cannot prosecute him.”
“What are you talking about? I told you everything, gave a good description of him. What did I get wrong?”
Green shook her head and grabbed her bag. “Thank you for coming in, Ms. Loils. If you think of anything else that can help in the investigation of this case, please let my office know.”
“You can’t let him go, he’ll kill her,” Loils screamed.
The Assistant DA froze and looked at the woman shaking so hard it seemed like she’d fall. “He’s a murderer, a killer, a woman beater and deadbeat father who travels around the world killing for money. That’s… that’s the kind of man you’re protecting. A man who beat the mother of his child until she couldn’t walk or talk to anyone… too ashamed to leave and too afraid to stay. His apologies are lies. You set this man free and he’ll do it again, except the next woman he hits won’t be able to talk or defend herself. And it’ll be your fault… your fault.” She pointed a shaking finger at Green while scrubbing the tears from her cheek.
Tamara wiped the tear from her eye as she watched Sasha Loils fall apart. Someone had taken advantage of this woman’s pain and capitalized on her fear. As she listened to the heartbreaking stories of physical and mental abuse Loils suffered, she wished things had been different. That the justice system hadn’t failed, and Sasha had been spared.
“I agree with you Sasha, the men who did this should be punished. Tell me who assaulted you. If you have proof it was Officer Delgado, I’ll arrest him. But right now it’s his word against yours, and your facts are wrong.”
“They always win!” Sasha screamed and turned her back to the glass, her shoulders shook while she held her face.
Green looked toward the glass and then back at Loils. “Help me, help me to win for you. Tell me who showed you the picture.”
“
She’s old. She can’t fight for herself.”
Tamara blinked back tears.
“Finally,” Nick whispered.
Tamara glanced at Max. He sat forward in his chair with his fingertips steepled beneath his chin. If his eyes hadn’t been so dark, she’d have thought this whole ordeal had no affect on him. She would’ve been wrong.
“It doesn’t matter how old she is, if someone hurt her, we can help,” Green said, replacing her bag in the chair.
Sasha threw her head back and looked up at the ceiling. “You don’t understand. He beat her when she threatened to turn him in for punishing that sweet little boy. He threatened to kill her if she told anyone.”
Tamara’s heart fell. Max had been right, this whole lie had been connected to Helen. What kind of woman went through all of this to keep another person’s child?” She moved closer to Max and held his hand. He squeezed hers but didn’t speak.
“Did she show you pictures? Is that how she proved he was abusive?” Green stood behind the chair while waiting for an answer.
After a few moments, Loils nodded. “Yeah. Pictures of his ex-girlfriend, who is now dead.” She turned slowly to face Green. “Pictures of her face after he used her as a punching bag.” Her red face twisted, she slammed her open palm onto the table, toppling the empty water bottle. “Oh yeah, she showed me pictures of that monster, abuser of innocents. Leaving, always leaving, and returning so full of hate and anger that it explodes on everyone they claim to love. But they don’t know what love is… it never hurts… and leaves scars… or kills.”
Loils gulped air and closed her eyes. “You say he’s innocent because I missed a clue, but he’s not innocent. None of them are, they all have blood on their hands. Not all foreign blood either. He’s no different than the rest who come home torn up inside. When he kills her, you’ll remember I warned you. Just remember I warned you about him.”
Tamara couldn’t process the emotions racing through her at Loils' confession. “Is she saying you hit Helen and she saw pictures? And that you threatened the woman if she told people you… what? Hit Kevin? Or is this about someone else? Or a generalization? That doesn’t make sense.”
Lies in the Morgue Page 9