by J. Valentine
She parked on the street outside the station. Fed the meter, even though she knew how unlikely it was that anyone would come by and check, and even if she were to receive a ticket, the $10 fine wouldn’t compare to parking rates down south. She walked up the steps and saw the old brick building, with shiny reflective glass windows in all the glory. The big bay doors facing the street, so the cops had plenty of room to park their toys. Police cars, police bikes, police mountain bikes, police ATVs, police snowmobiles, police boats, etcetera. The well funded department liked to have their fun, it seemed.
“Hello, how are you today?” The elderly, close to retirement, reception lady asked her.
“Good how are you?” Olivia replied.
“You’re Olivia Guilbault!” She said excitedly, holding up one of her memoirs, about a particularly gruesome affair surrounding a wood chipper.
“I am!” Olivia smiled at her.
“The boys here always give me a hard time when they see me reading your books, but frankly I don’t give a damn. I read what I want,” she told her.
“I’d be happy to sign it for you if you’d like.”
“That would be wonderful,” she slid the book underneath the glass barrier separating the two.
Olivia signed the front inside cover, from one detective novel lover, to another, Olivia Guilbault, Thanks for all the work you do, and slid it back under the glass.
“Thank you so much,” the receptionist smiled. “So what brings you in today? Not that horrible Barry Dillon guy?”
Olivia laughed, “yes unfortunately, that would be him.”
The receptionship had her sign in, and gave Olivia her visitors badge, calling the lead detective on the case to the front. Olivia’s cheeks reddened slightly when she realized that Brad would be coming to greet her, and bring her in the back of the station.
After a moment of waiting Brad appeared, buzzing through the thick metal door of the station. Olivia gave him a quick look up and down, checking him out, and appreciating his firm muscles bulging through his white buttoned shirt. She fantasized about ripping it off him, button by button, and letting him take her right in the lobby.
“Girl!” The receptionist said, after witnessing the look, and quickly deducing what was going on.
Brad laughed at the embarrassed Olivia, and greeted her. “Olivia.”
“Brad,” she smiled.
“He’s in handcuffs in the interrogation room, waiting for you.”
***
Brad walked her to the interrogation room. She did her best to avoid eye contact from the other detectives and beat cops. They got to the room, and Olivia could peer through the bulletproof checkered glass window of the door. He sat facing away from them. He was hunched over, in the uncomfortable chair they gave him, looking down, wrists shackled to the table. Oh how far he’s fallen, Olivia thought. Quickly her mind changed, realizing this was likely a mostly innocent man, whom she hoped to be able to get out of this horrible predicament.
“How are you even able to hold him when he has an alibi?” Olivia asked Brad.
“We scared the truth out of her. That hostess from the diner? She recanted. An anonymous tip came in telling us that her alibi was false. We called her in, and she spilled. She has no idea where Barry was the night of the murder,” Brad explained, intensely.
“Wow,” Olivia said, beginning to realize how likely it was that Barry did do the crime. It all was beginning to make sense to her. They just needed to figure out how, or get a confession out of him.
“If you can get a confession out of him, that would make our lives a lot easier, Olivia,” another detective laughed.
She thought it unprofessional of him to laugh in this environment, still she told them, “I’ll do my best,” laughing along with him.
Olivia stepped through the doorway into the interrogation room. She walked slowly, studying Barry, and trying to take in as much information as she could. As she got around the table, about halfway, Barry looked up at her.
“Olivia! Thank God you’re here. I’m so sorry about earlier, I just panicked,” he told her.
“It’s okay Barry. It’s time for you to tell us the truth,” Olivia told him.
“The truth? No, you don’t think I did it too do you?” He cried out in fear.
“I don’t know Barry. It seems pretty bad for you right now,” she continued, “why would you steal the bitcoin.”
“I swear it was a coincidence. I knew that Layla and Anna were going to the cabin from Layla’s instagram post. I went to the lake house because I knew it would be empty when Maryam was at the office. She showed me the harddrive months ago when Layla and I were still dating. I went there to steal it. I never knew Maryam would die after that. And I never knew that she’d leave me millions in her will,” Barry looked down, feeling sorry for himself, devastated at the predicament.
“You could have given it back after.”
“I was going to. I just had to find a way to get back in the house and hide it for them to find. I figured they’d think it was just misplaced. But how could I get in the house when they thought I was a murderer. I had to wait until you solved the case before I could put it back.”
“Barry…”
“I know it’s horrible, and I should’ve been honest. I didn’t want to end up in jail though, or lose the inheritance somehow,” he explained.
“You could have talked to a lawyer and figured out a better plan than that that would keep you safe,” Olivia suggested.
“I’m sick, I know!” He shouted.
“So why did the girl recant her alibi?”
“I wasn’t with her, I was buying coke that night. I didn’t want to fu*k over the dealer. She was doing it with me after that, so I figured she’d be a good alibi to make up,” he explained further.
“Why are you telling me all this, and not them?” She asked him.
“There’s no way they’d believe me. I knew you’d be the only one who could help me,” he pleaded.
“That’s why you hired me?” She asked.
“Exactly.”
It was all starting to make sense to her, the pieces of his story of that night falling together. But what now? She still had to solve the case, and wasn’t anywhere closer. She needed more from him. She needed to help clear his name, and find the real murderer.
“If you didn’t do it, who do you think did? What do you think happened that night.”
“I know these idiot cops,” he motioned towards the two way mirror of the interrogation room, “must’ve missed something when they were investigating Anna and Layla. They probably did it. That family is f*cked up, trust me!”
Another cop barged into the room. Not Brad, but given his suited outfit and grey slicked back hair, likely a superior officer. He walked in with purpose, looking dirtily at Olivia and then at Barry. Clearly very upset by the unfortunate situation they had all been in. He couldn’t let Barry bismerch the office much longer, and frankly it seemed as if he thought Olivia speaking with him to be a ridiculous idea by Brad. Olivia was worried that her lover would be getting quite the ear full after she left.
“Okay that’s enough, thanks Olivia, but I don’t think we’ll need you here much longer. You can go now,” the man said sternly.
“You gotta get me out of here Olivia,” Barry said, as she was being escorted from the interrogation room.
Chapter 22
“That was bullshit, he could’ve given me more,” Olivia texted Brad from the street parking outside the station.
“Give me a minute, I’m coming out. Let’s go get some lunch.”
A few minutes after she saw Brad jogging from the station, and down the stairs leading up to it, out to the street where she was parked. His jacket blew in the breeze as he went down the stairs, and Olivia caught herself thinking about how sexy he looked. He made his way around to the passenger side of the car, and let himself in.
“Sorry about Captain Matthews,” he began.
“It’s okay, nothi
ng you could do,” Olivia agreed.
Brad shook his head, “where do we even go from here?” He asked her.
“Lunch,” she said, laughing and putting the car into gear.
She started driving to Mark’s Diner with no discussion as to where Brad wanted to eat. The station was close by and they were there in a few minutes. She parked the car on a bit of a crooked angle, like everyone else in the lot doing their best to park in the snow covered lot, and crawled out of the passenger side, after Brad.
“I don’t know if we should be here,” Brad said.
“Why?” Olivia asked with a smirk on her face.
“The girl might be a little shaken up still after we talked to her last night,” he explained.
“Well maybe she should have thought about that before lying to the police, and doing cocaine with losers,” Olivia shrugged her shoulders.
They went inside the restaurant. The hostess Rachel, was standing at the front podium, talking to another co worker. She hadn’t even looked in their direction yet. They approached. The two girls talking took a pause in their conversation.
“Welcome to…” She paused after seeing who had just entered. “Mark's Diner. Table or booth?” She did her best to get through the sentence stuttering as she went.
Olivia had a smug look on her face, upset with the girl. Brad was more understanding, looking maybe even sorry for the way she had been treated by the officers who discovered her lie.
“Booth please,” Olivia told her.
They were sat at the booth, and Rachel did her best to scurry away, telling someone she was going for a break, and stepping out back. Likely to hack down a quickly smoked cigarette.
“That was funny,” Olivia smiled to Brad.
He chuckled in return and looked at the menu. Olivia began to think about how short their time would be together. This could likely be their last meal together. Who knows? And possibly their first time being intimate with each other could be their last. She began to sadden at the horrible thought. Brad had been one of the best she’d ever had. Living up to her ex fiance, and maybe even out performing him. Their chemistry was immense, their bodies fitting together perfectly and beautifully.
The diner wasn’t particularly busy that day, and they were quickly greeted by a server. A pretty girl, who walked over in her non slip work shoes, her blue and white uniform bringing out the blue of her eyes, her brown hair draped down to her shoulders. Middle aged, but still breathtaking in a way. Olivia saw Brad admiring her, but wasn’t upset, as she couldn’t help herself either. One of the best looking waitresses in the diner clearly, perhaps only overtaken by Stephanie, Max’s bartender girlfriend. That’s only if you’re counting bartenders though.
“What’ll it be?” She asked, kindly.
“I’ll have a chilli cheese dog with fries, and a coke please,” she decided to treat herself.
“And for you sir?”
“The bacon cheeseburger with fries please,” Brad replied.
“Ooh, your poor arteries,” Olivia joked.
“Oh I think he can handle it dear,” the waitress said, touching his arm.
Brad’s face reddened, and Olivia giggled.
It was nice to sit and laugh at the silliness of the situation, and have fun relaxing in the famous small town diner. But, work had to be discussed. There was still potentially a murderer out there even if the police department thought they had the right man. Brad had listened to everything Barry had told Olivia, and he was beginning to have his doubts as well.
“So you’re convinced Barry didn’t do it?” Brad asked her, after a moment's pause.
“I don’t think he did,” Olivia told him. “Seems like Barry is a lot of things, but I don’t think he’s a murderer. Wrong place wrong time, and a lot of poor choices along the way. If he gets out of this, I hope he gets some help honestly.”
“Yeah I couldn’t agree with you more. If the chief decides to go through with the charges today, I think he’ll probably walk on the murder charge, unless they can get a confession. If he did do it, he did an amazing job leaving no evidence behind. It still doesn’t make sense. We just have to find how the body was transported and who was driving. Then we’d know everything.”
“Barry seems to think maybe you guys missed something. He still thinks Layla and Anna did it,” Olivia told him, as if he wasn’t watching the interrogation through the two way mirror.
Brad nodded in agreement. “Whoever did it was smart. Really smart.”
“I’m thinking about going up to the cabin,” Olivia told Brad, against her better judgment. She knew telling a police officer that she was thinking of breaking into someone’s private residence wasn’t smart, but she trusted him. She knew that he knew how important it was to find whatever evidence she could.
“That’s not smart Olivia. You can’t do that without permission from them.”
“That ship has sailed.”
The waitress brought over the food. Olivia’s eyes lit up at the sight of the chilli cheese dog and fries. She ate a fry right away. Starved after skipping breakfast that morning, and burning calories in the stressful environment of a police interrogation room. Really takes a lot out of you, and works up an appetite.
“Thanks so much,” Olivia told the waitress, who smiled in return, catching another glance at Brad. Clearly likes a uniformed man, Olivia thought, giggling to herself.
She took a bite of the chilli cheese dog, and ignored the burning sensation of her mouth, focusing on the delicious flavors of the melted cheese and tomato bean concoction.
“You look like you’re enjoying that,” Brad laughed.
“I skipped breakfast,” Olivia said, after rushing to chew and swallow the food.
“They don’t serve food like that in prison if you end up getting caught breaking into that cabin,” he winked at her.
***
She drove Brad back to the station. They sat outside on the street. He was about to step out of the honda, but paused, and looked back at Olivia. Like he was trying to take a mental picture of her. He leaned in and gave her a long passionate kiss. He tasted amazing, even after the burger, Olivia felt slightly self conscious about the onions that were spilling out of the cheese dog, nervous about what she tasted like. He didn’t seem to mind at all. Pulling her in closer, wrapping his hand around the back of her head, before pulling away, planting one more on her as a signature and breaking contact.
“I think I might love you,” Olivia said to him, nervous about what his response may be.
“I think I love you too,” he replied. “Don’t break into the cabin. I don’t want to lose you.”
Olivia didn’t say anything else. Just watching as the man she loved walked away from her car, and up the stairs. Back into the building holding her client in shackles. She truly wanted to help him as much as she could, and that meant taking risky long shots at solving the impossible case.
Did you guys miss me? She began writing in her blog. The police have arrested their prime suspect, but I don’t think he did it. I’m thinking of breaking the rules… again. The rules about falling in love while on a case, and the rules about… other things best left unsaid on a public blog. My investigation isn’t complete until the real killer is found. They don’t have any hard evidence on the man in custody. Just circumstantial. And the man in custody is my client. Definitely a first for Olivia Guilbault.
Chapter 23
Olivia made the trip back to her house, knowing what had to be done, and thinking deeply about the potential consequences of her actions along the way. Breaking into the cabin. It was a long shot, but maybe she could find something that Anna and Layla were hiding. She wanted to talk with Max first, make sure that someone knew where she was headed. She knew her brother would support her in whatever she thought best. She was relieved to see that his subaru was there upon entering the long driveway.
She stepped inside and was greeted by a jumping dog. “Alvi!” She shouted, excited to see the pup as well.
<
br /> She let him outside, and met Max in the kitchen. He was sitting down, writing on his laptop, working away on some coding project Olivia didn’t understand.
“Hey Olivia,” he said, not looking up from his keyboard.
“Hey Max,” she replied. Nervously she stood by the kitchen outside door, watching the dog, thinking about what she’d say to her brother. After a moment the dog was ready to come back inside, and walked over to lay down by Max’s feet. A little ritual the two had when Max was working.
“Hey mind if we talk for a second?” Olivia asked him.
“Sure, let me just finish this line,” he typed away for a moment before closing the laptop, and giving his sister his full attention. “What’s up?” He asked, taking a sip from the coffee he’d prepared to drink while working.
“I’m thinking about heading up to the Carwright’s cabin to investigate.”
He squinted his eyes at her, studying her face. “That’s great. They’re letting you in there?”
“Not exactly.”
“I see.”
“Barry seems to think that they had something to do with Maryam’s death, and I’ve run out of other ideas. It’s the last place I have to look. I need answers. It’s a long shot, but I have to see,” Olivia explained, pleading for her brother’s acceptance.
“Well you have to do what you have to do. How are you even going to get up there now. I hunt up there, and I promise you the snow hasn’t been removed yet from the blizzard. The roads are going to be hell, and the whole camp will probably be buried in.”