Deadly Connections

by Renee Pawlish

  “Well,” he laughed. “We could get a little out of hand, letting off steam. But nothing that got him in trouble with the law.”

  Burke obviously had a soft spot for Gary, I thought drily.

  “I hope Gary isn’t in any kind of trouble,” he said, curious now.

  “Nothing like that.” I thanked him for his time and hung up before he could start asking me questions.

  I sat back. So Logan’s left arm had been broken at the same time that Audra and Gary had gotten in a fight. Had it been an accident, as Burke had said? I stared across the room, mulling that over. There was more to Gary than met the eye. He’d lied to me, in more ways than one. And what about Audra? It seemed she had possibly lied to me too. Or she was guilty at least of not sharing everything, such as the fight she’d had with Gary, and Logan’s being hurt. But why? I wanted to know more about that fight, and I wanted to know what had really happened to Logan. Audra might tell me that. I needed to follow up with her on a few things too.

  I downed the last of my Coke and wiped my hands on the napkin. Just then, my cell phone rang.

  “Harry,” I said, a tad too impatiently. “I don’t have–”

  “Just let me speak, hon, okay?”

  He didn’t call me “hon” very often. “Okay.” I was hesitant, waiting for what was next.

  “You know that this benefit is important to me.” I started to protest, but he quickly stopped me. “No, let me finish. Please.” I bit my lip and stayed silent. “Like I said, you know I really want to go to this dinner. And you caught me off-guard because I thought you were between cases, that things were slower, and you’d be free. But,” he sucked in a breath. “Look, this is a little kid. It’s way more important to find out what happened to him than to go to this dinner. What I’m saying is I get it, okay? I may not always have the right thing to say right in the moment, but if you give me time, I can come around.”

  I stared at the wall across from me. I felt my heart ache, as much with love for Harry as for how much he put up with. He was a guy, and he wanted my attention, and a lot of times he didn’t get it. What he did get was a fiercely independent woman who had her own issues, and her own reasons for keeping walls up sometimes. And he put up with all of it. I sighed and put my head down.

  “Sarah?”

  “Thanks for understanding.” It was all I could manage at that moment.

  He heard something in my tone, though. My resolve fading. “You hang in there.”

  “I will.”

  “I love you, Sarah.”

  “I love you too.”

  “If I don’t hear from you, I’ll just go by myself. There’s lots of friends at our table. If you can make it, let me know. If not, I’ll see you at home.”

  “Thanks for understanding,” I repeated.

  He told me again that he loved me and ended the call. I let out a big sigh. Harry is a wonderful man, and at times I feel he deserves better than me. I know he’d love to be married. He’d proposed a few times over the years, but I kept putting him off. I’d considered it, and I didn’t like what I’d concluded about myself. What if I couldn’t make a marriage work? What if I failed? How would that look, especially to Diane, the perfect sister? I let out a bitter laugh.

  It took a long time before I lifted my head, and I was glad Spats and Ernie weren’t around. I wiped my eyes, then pocketed my phone and left.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Audra was surprised to see me. “Detective, what can I do for you?” Her eyes drooped with weariness.

  “A few things have come up that I’d like to discuss with you,” I said. “Do you have a little time?”

  She blinked, then stepped back and let me into the house. Instead of going into the living room, she gestured toward the back of the house. “I was just fixing another cup of coffee. I’m so tired, and yet on edge, if that makes sense. Would you like anything?” Weariness dragged through her voice.

  “I’ll take a cup of coffee,” I said as I followed her into the kitchen.

  It was as I expected for the type of home: rich cherry cabinets, granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances. Lots of pictures of Logan were stuck to the refrigerator; he aged before my eyes, from a tiny baby to a growing boy. Such a cute kid, such a tragedy. She took a coffee mug from the cupboard, filled it with coffee, and glanced at me. “Sugar, cream?”

  “Just black, thank you.”

  She handed the cup to me. A small wave of the hand was the indication for me to sit at a barstool at the kitchen island, and she stood leaning against the counter and gulped her coffee. “That detective brought my laptop back. Thanks. I doubt you found anything useful on it.”

  I dodged that question with one of my own. “How are you holding up?”

  She stared with puffy eyes into her cup. “As well as can be expected, I guess. Some of the time, I don’t feel anything at all. Other times, I can barely move.” She looked up at me. “What have you found out?”

  I took a sip of coffee and listened to a lawnmower engine that drifted in through an open window. I gauged my words carefully. “I’ve been looking into Gary a bit more, and I have a few questions.”

  She tried to hold her mug steady, but her hands shook slightly. “Oh?”

  “You don’t like to talk about him.”

  She set the mug down with a clink. “Yeah, Gary and I don’t get along. I’m sure you’ve been asking questions about us, and you’ve heard that.”

  “That’s correct. We have to look at everyone, including Gary.” And you, I left unsaid. “At first I thought that he had a pretty clean past, but I had an interesting conversation with a former friend of his, from their Marines days.”

  She glanced away. “I know what you’re going to say.” I waited. “You found out about the fight we had, back in San Diego.” I raised my cup, sipped, and waited. “I guess I should’ve told you about it, but I was ashamed. I can’t believe that Gary and I fought like we did, and I can’t believe what happened to Logan.”

  “What exactly happened to Logan?”

  She buried her face in her hands, let out a little sob, then seemed to get control of herself. “Gary had come home from work, and he was in a foul mood. He was in a foul mood a lot then. Going over to Iraq changed him. He wasn’t the same guy.” Then she waved that away. “Well, he was, at least from the standpoint of his violent tendencies. I’d seen him explode like that from the time when we dated, and then just as quickly his anger would pass. I hate to admit it, but I ignored it. He was so fun, so exciting, when I first met him. Unlike the guys that I usually dated, and my first husband, for that matter. I’d always gone for the guys that were smart, steady, and quite frankly, boring. Gary is younger than I am, and he lived on the wild side. He liked to race motorcycles, he drove fast, he lived on the edge. The Marines kept him in order, at least to a certain degree. Then he did a tour in Iraq, and when he came back, he was different. He didn’t seem quite as loyal to the Marines, he didn’t think everything that our country was doing was right, and he’d rant and rave about that. Especially when he was drinking. He was ready for his service to end, and he wanted to get into the real world. That was different as well. When I first met him, he was buckling down and maybe trying to rise in the ranks. After Iraq, he gave up on that, but he would never share why. But something happened overseas that affected him, and he wouldn’t talk about it. Anyway,” she gave me a wan look, “you want to know about the night we fought.”

  “Yes.”

  “Gary came home, and he’d been drinking. As I recall, I made some crack about politics, and he blew up. He said I didn’t know what I was talking about, that I needed to really look at things, and that his eyes had been opened. I didn’t know what he meant, and told him that. One thing led to another, and the next thing I know, we’re screaming and yelling at each other. He backed me against the wall, and he slapped me. I fell to the floor, and that’s when I heard Logan yell at him. Gary whirled around, and he grabbed Logan so hard, it snapped hi
s arm.” She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Then she took another drink and set the mug down. “Logan was so little. He screamed in pain, and Gary let him go. I swooped in and grabbed Logan, and by then Gary had backed off. I called Gary’s friend Roy Burke, and he came over. Elroy smoothed things over, and I took Logan to the hospital. I told them Logan had fallen off his chair. I was furious with Gary, but he was so apologetic, so kind, and he promised never to do anything like that again.” She glanced away. “Things were okay for a while. Gary finished his service, he got out of the Marines, and we moved to Denver. He had some connections here, and he got a job in insurance. He’s smart, and he’s done well for himself. But his explosive temper never went away, and I finally got tired of it. So I divorced him.”

  “Logan had broken fingers too.”

  “Yeah, that was in a bike accident. He crashed. I felt so bad about that.”

  With her tone, and the look in her eyes, I believed that. “What kinds of things would set Gary off?”

  “The government. Politics. He got more and more interested in conspiracy theories, and he hated it if I tried to point out where the theories were wrong.” She rolled her eyes. “Have you read any of that stuff? Some of it’s downright nutty. Gary bought into a lot of it, though. He was getting pretty anti-government.”

  “And you didn’t tell me this before …” I let my voice trail off.

  “It’s embarrassing, to say that you were with someone like that.”

  “It happens to the best of us.”

  She stared out the back window. The lawnmower had stopped, replaced with an accusing silence. “I should’ve seen that Gary wasn’t right for me, long before I married him.”

  “Which leads me to wondering, would Gary attempt to kidnap Logan?”

  She shook her head slowly. “I don’t know about that.”

  “Others have said that Gary thought you were not a good mother.”

  “Yeah, I heard that.” Anger in her tone. “During the custody battle, he said I made up stuff about his drinking because he didn’t want me to win the custody battle. He would often tell me he could do a better job of raising Logan on his own.” She sniffed disgustedly. “I guess that could be a subtle threat–that he’d take Logan from me, but it never occurred to me that he’d actually do it. Until just now. Do you think he’d really do that?”

  I locked eyes with her. “Do you?”

  She mulled that over. “I don’t want to believe he’d go this far, but…” She began to pace. “How would he do it?” Then she frowned. “I can’t see Gary … killing Logan.” She barely got the last couple of words out.

  I shrugged. “Maybe that part was an accident. Something went wrong, and …”

  “Gary came to pick Logan up. He could’ve just left with Logan and never returned.”

  “But then you’d know he was the kidnapper.”

  “I suppose. But why come here to pick up Logan if he knew Logan was already gone?”

  “He looks innocent that way.”

  “Then who would have taken Logan?”

  “An accomplice.”

  “Who?” she repeated.

  “A friend, a relative?”

  “I don’t know anyone who would help Gary.”

  “Did you know Gary called Logan Saturday afternoon?”

  She shook her head. “Why?”

  “To tell Logan he was coming over soon.”

  “Maybe Gary mentioned it, I don’t remember.” She bit her lip. “I don’t believe this,” she muttered. “Logan was the only good thing that came out of my marriage to Gary, and now he’s gone.”

  “Does Gary own a lot of guns?”

  “He had a few around, always locked up. He was careful about that.”

  “Would he go to a gun range?”

  “No, not that I know of.”

  Interesting, I thought. “He never mentioned Gold Creek Gun Range?”

  She shook her head. “Not that I remember.”

  “Have you heard the name John Merrick?”

  Her brow furrowed. “That name doesn’t sound familiar. Is that a friend of Gary’s?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  She reached for her mug, then thought better of it. “Too much coffee.” She put her hands on the counter. “I just can’t believe Gary would do something like this.” She looked at me expectantly.

  “Gary mentioned that he called you before he came to pick up Logan, and you didn’t answer. He left a message.”

  “Did I not tell you that? I probably put it out of my mind because he was angry. Like he always is.”

  Was that just an innocent oversight? I thought. “What’d he say?”

  “The usual, why wasn’t I answering, would Logan be ready, I better not delay him because he couldn’t wait around. It’s like that every time he picks up Logan.”

  Her phone rang. She picked it up and glanced at the screen. “It’s my mother.”

  I got up. “I won’t take any more of your time now. Thanks for the coffee.”

  “If you need anything, just call me.” She led me to the front door, and as she did, she answered the phone.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I sat in my car for a moment, staring out the windshield. Gary had a lot to explain. If he had something to do with his son’s kidnapping and murder, I was going to find out.

  I put the car in gear and peeled away from the curb, the screech of tires echoing my mood. In no time, I was back on Gary’s front porch, hoping to catch him by surprise. I jammed my hand on the doorbell and waited.

  Nothing.

  I pressed the doorbell again, this time holding it. I heard chimes from within, but no one answered. I knocked purposefully on the door, hard enough to hurt my knuckles. Still no answer. Now I didn’t have a choice but to call him. I dialed his number and after one ring it went to voicemail. “Gary, it’s Detective Spillman. I need to talk to you. Please call me back.”

  Right to the point. I wondered whether he was screening calls, knowing the number might be the police. Well, I thought as I walked back to my car. He won’t be able to avoid me forever.

  I sat behind the wheel for a minute, the heat of the day warming up the car. I felt weary myself, and I yawned and stretched. Then my phone rang. I quickly looked at the screen, ready to take on Gary, but it was Ernie.

  “What do you have for me?” I asked.

  “A couple of things. First, I talked to Tara, and she’s got someone else working on Ivan Eklund’s laptop. He found some pictures of the boy with his mom. Thought you might want to see them.”

  “Yeah, I do.” I gave Gary Pickett’s house one final look, then started the car. “I’ll head back now.” I glanced up. White wispy clouds were overhead, not enough to help deter the heat. It was an unusually warm day for May. “Okay, thanks.”

  “The other thing is, the techs have been looking at Eklund’s cameras. There are a lot of photos to go through, including some from last Saturday, when Logan was kidnapped.”

  “I definitely want to see that. I’m on my way.”

  “You’re gonna love this,” Ernie said as I walked up to my desk. He pointed his unlit cigar at his monitor, then popped the cigar back into the corner of his mouth and talked around it. “They gave me a whole bunch of stuff, a dump of all that was on Eklund’s cameras. I’ve put it all on a flash drive for you.” He reached to the side of his laptop and pulled out a USB drive, then handed it to me. “Take a look at Saturday’s.”

  I took the drive from him, sat down at my desk. I fired up my own laptop as I jerked my head toward Spats’s desk. “What’s he doing?”

  “He went to get something to eat, and he’s following up on Eklund’s phone records, and on that guy, John Merrick.”

  I nodded and quickly filled him in on my conversation with Audra Pickett as I put the drive into the port, then took my mouse and clicked on the USB drive to open it up.

  Ernie glanced at me. “You got Saturday’s pictures up?”

  I g
ave him an impatient stare. “Hold on.”

  It took me a second to scroll through the photos, and then I found pictures dated last Saturday. I started through them. “Some nature photos,” I said. There were some that showed stunning red-rock formations tilted at a sixty-degree angle. “I recognize those rocks. Looks like Roxborough Park.”

  “Yeah, he’s got talent, doesn’t he?” This was quite the compliment from Ernie, who rarely gave them out.

  “Harry and I like to hike there. I say ‘like to,’ but I can’t remember the last time we actually went down there.”

  “I hear that. The job, you know?”

  I nodded, thinking about the benefit that I wasn’t going to make tonight. I should call Harry and tell him that, but a tiny part of me held out hope that I could pull away from work and meet him there, even if it was for just a bit.

  “Look for photos later in the afternoon.”

  I clicked through photos, then checked the dates on them in Explorer. “There aren’t any. Just the rock formation pictures from the morning, then nothing until Monday.”

  “Yeah.” Ernie shifted and his chair creaked. “What do you think? Did Bev get it wrong? Maybe Ivan wasn’t taking pictures of the neighborhood kids Saturday evening.”

  “I don’t know about that. She seemed pretty sure of herself, but maybe…”

  “I know what you’re thinking, maybe she’s not reliable, maybe not too clear some days? Can we count on what she said to be accurate? Did she get it wrong?”

  “Or was Ivan just using the zoom lens to focus better on the kids? Or did he delete the photos he took during that timeframe?” I kept scrolling through pictures. “He’s got some photos of the moon on Monday night. And nothing Tuesday.”

  “Go back a few days.”

  I checked the dates of the photos and then clicked on one from three days before to Logan Pickett’s kidnapping. “More nature photography.”

  Ernie gave a scrolling motion with his hand, for me to keep looking.

  I did as I was told, and then saw what he must’ve seen. “There’s Logan.”