Second Time's the Charm

by Knight, Vanessa

  He could spend it on whatever he wanted, or as Dale suspected, he could stockpile it in a bank where it would sit and collect dust. That was more Adam’s speed. Instead of enjoying life; he liked to prepare for unknown, improbable events. Dale never could understand his brother and his need for monotony.

  Even though he couldn’t understand him, he was banking on Adam’s need for financial security. That need was his ace in the hole, or at least that was what Dale hoped. He couldn’t think of any other way to get Adam to meet with Ben.

  He rounded the corner, and walked by Adam’s office just as a low murmur wafted from the open doorway. He stepped into the room and found Adam staring at the lamp on the desk. Shit. Staring generally meant Adam was upset.

  Great! That was the opposite of what Dale needed right now. He needed Adam to be amenable to meeting with Ben. If Adam’s hackles were up, he’d never even agree to take the meeting, let alone hear the man out.

  Dale took a deep breath and pasted a smile on his face. “Everything okay, bro?”

  Adam turned his way. The dark rings under his eyes plus his frown indicated something bad. Definitely not what Dale needed right now.

  “W-what’s the matter?” Dale stammered.

  “We need to talk,” Adam said, motioning at the man sitting across from his desk. “Have you met Detective Perretti? He’s looking into Dad’s death.”

  “Yes. We met. We have an appointment in a few minutes.”

  Not that he understood why they were meeting. Who called the police on a simple heart attack? His brother, of course. It was bad enough the cops were sniffing around after the condo break-in. This was one more inconvenience he did not need.

  “Mr. Byrnes.” Perretti stood, moving his jacket to give Dale a better look at his police star. “You sure are a difficult man to pin down. We’ve been trying to get an appointment for the past two weeks.”

  “I’m sorry about that. I never thought it would take this much work to run a company. I’ve been averaging ten hour days.” Dale sat on the couch. Ten-hour days? Nice excuse. It was somewhat true. He really was putting in long hours at the office. However, he was avoiding the officers like the plague. He didn’t trust himself with them. Secrets tended to get revealed when people talked to cops. His indiscretions would only make him look guilty.

  “Sounds challenging.” Perretti raised a bottle of water to his lips.

  Dale looked at his brother, who stood at the window, swirling the drink in his hand. He tried to read his expression, but Adam’s eyes seemed to stare through the glass. Dale’s heart rate rose. What could Perretti have told his brother that would have caused that look on Adam’s face? Disappointment and irritation were normal reactions from Adam—nothing Dale ever did met the exact specifications defined by the irreproachable Adam Byrnes.

  However, Adam had never looked so destroyed. What had Joe told him? There were so many revelations that could put that scowl on his brother’s face, but which one in particular? Nadia. The Russians. Dad. The gambling. Ben. Crap! Why did he always put himself in these situations? He had no idea how to approach this… how to fix it.

  “So, detective, what did you need to talk about today?” “My partner will be here shortly and then we can begin.”

  “Great,” Dale said, trying to keep all the sarcasm from his voice. Apparently he didn't succeed, because he looked over to see anger flash across Adam’s face before his brother’s gaze returned to the window. Apparently Dale’s caustic tone wasn’t lost on him. Sometimes Adam’s perceptive nature was annoying. Yeah, right—sometimes.

  An uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Dale looked from Joe to Adam, trying to read their body language, thoughts, anything. He was met with blank stares. Motionless silence. Suspense nipped at his soul. He placed his ankle on his knee, loosely crossing his legs. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. His foot moved nervously. Automatically. He forced the quaking limb to stop mid tremble. This was not helping prove his innocence.

  Where was the partner? He checked the watch on his wrist. The hand dragged from one second to the next, each tick on the face of the timepiece slowing down the hand, disturbing the progression of time, stopping this meeting from just being over. She was late. He shifted in his chair. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. His foot betrayed him. He glared at the empty doorway. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Panic wrapped around his throat. This was ridiculous. Where was she? A knock came from the previously barren doorway.

  Thank God! His foot dropped to the floor, and he rose to welcome the tardy detective.

  “Hi, Lieutenant Byrnes,” Shay Washington said as she entered Adam’s office.

  She walked over to Adam and offered her hand for him to shake. “Detective,” Adam replied as he shook.

  “And Mr. Byrnes. It’s nice to finally sit down and talk with you.” She moved toward the sofa.

  Dale stood up and shook her hand. “Please, call me Dale.”

  “You can use this office for your meeting, if you’d like. I have work I can do in another office.” Adam grabbed the laptop off of his desk. Dale’s breath caught in his throat. He didn’t want to face the detectives alone. No matter how much he fought with his brother, he knew his brother always had his back.

  “Adam, can you stay,” Dale pleaded, and cringed as shock and then confusion washed across his brother’s face. But he knew his brother. He knew he wouldn’t abandon him.

  “Sure.” Adam placed the laptop back on the desk and walked toward the couch. Detective Washington sat in the chair when Joe stood and leaned against the wall.

  Dale gulped, terrified of what might be discovered in the impending inquisition.

  * * *

  Detective Shay Washington ran her hand over her short bob, careful to avoid her side-swept bangs. Sometimes a simple hand through her bangs led to a troll- inspired hairstyle. Although the look was amusing, it stripped her of the intimidation she relied on to perform her job.

  She pulled out her notepad. There were certain parts of her job that she disliked. Giving people bad news ranked high up on that list.

  “I’m actually glad you’re both here. I’m afraid I don’t have very good news. We received the autopsy results from your father’s death. Adam, you mentioned your father had a heart arrhythmia and he was on beta-blockers. Do either of you know if he was on any other medication?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. My mother had a hell of a time getting him to even take those.” Adam went from concerned son to cop in the blink of an eye. His face hardened and his spine stiffened.

  Shay knew the feeling. When family was involved, you either got emotional or you turned off your emotions. Cops flipped that switch all the time, otherwise they’d go absolutely insane with all the tragedy they witnessed on a daily basis.

  “What was in the toxicology report?”

  “I have a few questions first. Did he also suffer from depression? Was he seeing a doctor for any other health conditions?” Shay pressed.

  “I don’t think so,” Dale said as Adam nodded in agreement, confusion passing through both of their eyes.

  “Are either of you on any type of medication?”

  “No. What does this have to do with our father?” Dale asked.

  “We found traces of another drug, an antipsychotic, in your father’s blood. If it wasn’t prescribed, he may not have been aware of any contraindications. Or—” Shay paused for one second. “Or perhaps he took them on purpose.”

  “Are you asking if he killed himself? My father was not depressed, and would not have killed himself,” Adam argued.

  “We need to cover all the bases. We just want to make sure he didn’t have an old prescription, maybe something his current doctor was unaware of. Some of these drug interactions are like a bomb waiting to happen. It could have been an accident. Do you know if your mother is on any medication?”

  “No, she’s not.” Adam took the water bottle sitting next to the empty brandy glass on his desk. Probably a good idea to switch to water. This wasn’t goi
ng to be an easy conversation for him.

  Sometimes Shay hated her job.

  “Dale, how about you or your wife? You did marry a Nadia Eltsina last year while in Russia. Correct?”

  Shay watched the color drain from Dale’s face at the same time fury flashed across his brother’s expression.

  “You’re married?” Adam snarled.

  “It was a last minute thing.” Dale looked at his brother. The tension hanging in the room was palpable. Adam huffed, dropped the water bottle to the table, and got to his feet. He walked to the sidebar. “Anyone thirsty?” The other participants shook their heads.

  “Are you sure you want another drink?” Joe asked him.

  “Normally, I wouldn’t.” Adam filled another glass with cognac. “However, today I have decided to start drinking. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll go back to normal, but after all this, who the hell knows.”

  “Actually, Adam, I need to ask you a few questions. So, would you mind dumping that out?” Shay looked over at Joe and exchanged a knowing glance. Being a cop was hard, but being a cop when your father had been murdered was impossible. She knew how Adam felt, and if he didn’t stop drinking now, he might never stop. She’d seen that path to destruction firsthand and didn’t wish it on anyone.

  Adam stared at the glass and shook his head. “Sorry. It’s been a long day. Hell, it’s been a long few weeks.” He dumped the contents of the glass, yanked the bottle of water off the table and sat back down. He raised the bottle to his mouth. “What did you need to know?”

  “First off, where were you the night of your father’s death?”

  “I was working a double. We had a triple homicide that night.” Adam ran a hand through his hair. “I got the call about Dad while I was filling out the paperwork. Any number of officers can verify my whereabouts.”

  “Dale, where were you on the night of your father’s death?”

  “I was sleeping. Nadia went to help my mom with the animals, so I decided to take a nap. I took some cold medicine with a vodka chaser. I wasn’t feeling well, between coughing and sneezing.”

  “Is there anyone who saw you there all night?”

  “Nadia checked on me a few times. I’m assuming it was Nadia. I remember seeing the light from the hallway.”

  “I thought you were asleep?” Shay looked up from her notes and stared at Dale. Stories that didn’t add up were always a red flag in her book.

  “I was, but the squeak of the hinge woke me up. I was so out of it.” “Do you or Nadia take any prescription medication?”

  “Nadia does, but we kept them in her bathroom. I doubt my father would have gone in and taken them,” Dale muttered. “Besides, there’s a big difference between antidepressants and antipsychotics.” His eyebrows furrowed.

  “Could she have accidentally given him a pill or two?” Shay asked. “What? No.” Dale sat up straight. “And they’re antidepressants. Mild stuff.” “Would she have access to your father’s food or drink?”

  “At home, yes, but not at work. Either way—she’s my wife. Are you saying she gave him this medication on purpose? Where would she—what exactly are you implying?”

  Shay wrote in her notebook. Defensive? Yes. But she did just accuse his wife of murder.

  “Look, Dale, we know about the money and your debt to the Russian mob,” Joe interjected from across the room.

  “What?” Although Dale tried for a look of confusion, Shay could see the terror rippling through his features. His knuckles whitened as he gripped the leather armrests. His shoulders stiffened and his eyes narrowed.

  “We know you asked your father for money and he turned you down. That could be seen as a motive.”

  Dale sat in silence. He didn’t move.

  She could see the wheels turning in his head. Given his outrage from moments before, she tried to read his expression and body language. Unfortunately, it was like his body just shut down. He just gave her four more words.

  “I want my lawyer.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Adam escorted the detectives to the door while Dale sat in the chair. How had the meeting gotten so out of hand? They’d decided that a formal meeting at the station might be best, including the family lawyer.

  What the hell could Dale have to hide? Adam shook his head. After all, in his experience, people who were hiding things asked for lawyers, not innocent men. He stared after the detectives, keeping a stoic look on his face. The fire burned beneath the surface, but the authorities didn’t need to see that. Dale was still his brother, and they needed to form a united front until he could get to the bottom of this. When they were safely out of earshot, Adam leaned into Dale.

  “So, anything you’d like to tell me?” Adam said between clenched teeth. He didn’t believe Dale murdered their father, but if he indirectly contributed, Adam would…would…shit. He didn’t know what he’d do. What could he do?

  “You don’t really believe I had anything to do with what happened to Dad? Do you?” Dale asked, and the pain in his younger brother’s eyes cut through Adam’s heart. The innocent, pleading look and doleful body language always got to him.

  “Honestly? I don’t know what to believe. I don’t think you would hurt Dad or that you would willingly let anyone hurt him, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Thanks for believing in me.” Dale breathed a sigh of relief.

  Adam didn’t necessarily believe in him, but the relief written across his brother’s face forced him to keep his mouth shut. On that subject, at least. “So, you’re married.”

  “Yeah, I met Nadia when I was in Russia. You know, Jacques, Kyle, and I left after college graduation to travel the world. Remember them from high school?”

  Adam nodded but kept his thoughts to himself. Part of the reason Dale found trouble was Jacques and Kyle. The three tended to find trouble at every turn. Hell, they didn’t just find trouble, they sought it out. Not that he blamed Jacques and Kyle for his brother’s problems, it was just that the three of them were toxic together.

  “We were all pretty messed up. We slept all day and then spent our nights with liquor, drugs, and various women. One morning, in Moscow, I woke up next to some woman and I was sicker than a dog.” Dale rose from the chair and walked to the sideboard. He whipped open the mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He opened the bottle and took a hard pull of the liquid.

  “It scared the shit out of me. I realized then that I’d hit bottom. I went to get some money out of my account, so I could fly home. The account was empty. I had the hotel covered for the rest of the month, but I stopped the booze and drugs. That wasn’t a popular idea with my so-called friends. After all, I was the one paying for most of the parties. After a few days, they left. I don’t know where they went. I was alone in a strange country with no money, no options.” Dale’s eyes welled with tears.

  “I didn’t know what to do. I finally decided to call Dad so he could send some money and I’d head back home. That morning, though, I met Nadia. She was beautiful and kind. The best part is that she didn’t care about my money, or lack of it. I stayed with her for a while. We talked about marriage, but she was a working girl.”

  Adam felt himself cringe. “Please tell me that working girl is code for working in a hospital or an office somewhere,” Adam growled, knowing the answer, but grasping at straws anyway. His hope was quashed when Dale rolled his eyes and continued.

  “Give me a break. Her boss, Maksim” —Dale used his hands to place boss in air quotes. Apparently, he didn’t want to use the word pimp— “didn’t like our relationship. He forbade her from seeing me. So, we left. She had some money set aside, and I sold everything I had. We headed for Singapore and hid out there for a few months.

  “Then Maksim found us, and demanded a hundred thousand dollars for stealing his employee. We ran, and came home to ask Dad for the money. He said he wasn’t that solvent, but that he’d look into it for us. But for now, we needed to figure it out on our own.”

  �
��Does Maksim know you’re here? Could he have hurt Dad?” Adam could feel the hair on his neck standing on end. This whole story was making Dale look more and more involved, even if it was on the outskirts.

  “Yes. He knows we’re here, but why would he hurt Dad? As far as he knows, that is where we were getting the money. If anything, I could see them holding him hostage or something, but that’s all.”

  Adam’s eyes bulged at the nonchalant mentioning of kidnapping. What was wrong with his brother that kidnapping didn’t faze him? Especially when talking about his own father.

  “Anyway, we paid him a good piece of what we owed him.” “How much?”

  “Fifty thousand dollars.”

  “That’s a large chunk of change. Where did you get that?” Adam choked. How does someone with an empty bank account find fifty grand?

  “I sold some things.” Dale’s eyes shifted. “I was trying to take care of it on my own, and I was working on getting Dad to sell the company...or sell stock in the company. Anything would have worked. It’s not like a hundred grand is that much to someone like him. His company is worth millions. I was going over the books, trying to find a way to spin the sale into something positive. I mean, c’mon, he didn’t need the business anymore. He was halfway out the door and days away from retiring on a beach somewhere.”

  “Did you ever get a chance to talk to Dad about that?” “No.”

  “Did you tell him you only needed another fifty thousand?”

  “Yes. He kept saying that he was looking into some things, but that I needed to take responsibility and find a way to make the money. I was trying to do just that, but I was running out of options.”

  “You know he never would have sold. What would you have done then?” Adam hated this whole conversation. If he were the detective on this case, all signs would point to Dale. He couldn’t see his brother as a murderer, but what the heck did he really know about him?