Burning Proof (29 page)

“WELCOME TO THE COLD CASE SQUAD.
”

Glad for the welcome, Luke was distracted; something that had been happening to him all too frequently lately, he thought. But could he help it if events in his life seemed to collide and explode, showering contingencies in all directions?

He and Woody took a seat in a conference room in the federal building on Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach. A few other members of the new cold case task force were also there.

FBI Agent Todd Orson went over the squad’s mission statement. It was to review cold cases and close them, preferably with prosecution, but if prosecution was not possible, closure for families was the next-most-desirable outcome. A secondary objective was to help smaller jurisdictions with limited resources clear cold case backlogs.

Orson had said that there would be a change in the makeup of the squad. Just before he played a brief video welcome from Senator Harriet Shore, the woman behind the formation of the cold case task force, the door to the room opened and in walked Abby. Orson nodded to her as she took a seat, and then started
the video. Luke was the only one besides Orson who knew why she was there.

On-screen, the petite redheaded senator began by saying,
“I want to thank you all for stepping up to join this endeavor. I know firsthand how difficult it is to lose a loved one to violent crime. About the only thing worse than bearing up under that loss is knowing that the perpetrator of the crime still walks this world free.”

Luke agreed wholeheartedly and turned to see Abby nodding. He tuned out the rest of the introduction as Shore outlined the process by which money was appropriated for the squad.

When the video ended, Orson passed out some literature about information and records sources.

“Okay, people, right now we have the money and the mission. The best way to keep the money coming is to solve cases and put bad guys in jail.” He pointed to the whiteboard behind him, where he’d written,
Success opens the money stream.

“You’ll find in the packet I gave you a little more information about how cases are chosen for investigation. Take a minute and look everything over.”

Luke noted Abby got the same packet and suppressed a smile as he skimmed over the paperwork. Law enforcement agencies were asked to submit digital summaries of cases to an office in DC, where a team of retired FBI agents would review them and send the ones deemed workable to Orson, who would in turn parcel them out to the appropriate investigative team.

“What’s the new dimension to this gig?” Luke asked, pretending ignorance and looking at Abby, who grinned. He felt an earthquake in his soul and chastised himself. He was dating Faye, and his relationship with Abby needed to stay where it was: professional.

“Figured you’d ask that, Bullet.” Orson smiled and jabbed a thumb in Abby’s direction. “The new dimension is this: the cold case squad is now a joint task force. This means we are forming each cold case task force with an agent, which would be me, and a sworn law enforcement officer. Detective Abby Hart will be working with the cold case task force. She’s been loaned to us from LBPD for a year. You guys know Abby,” he said to Luke and Woody. He then introduced her to rest of the team.

“Think you mugs can take orders from such an accomplished detective?”

“You bet,” Luke said, keeping his expression neutral. He knew that this job, with the reopening of the Triple Seven case, would allow Abby more freedom to peel away the layers protecting Alyssa Rollins. And Luke was the optimist, confident that they would ferret out something new and substantial.

But a question haunted him. If they did find everything they were looking for, and Alyssa was finally behind bars, would Abby walk out of his life forever?

“PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE COURT.
”

Abby Hart had to admit to feeling a bit sorry for the woman sitting before the judge today. Less than a year ago, Kelsey Cox had retired as a deputy chief after a thirty-year trailblazing law enforcement career. And here she was in a prison jumpsuit, no makeup, bad hairstyle, and looking so painfully thin, Abby winced.

Cox cleared her throat. “Kelsey June Cox.” She stared at the microphone she spoke into, seemingly oblivious to anyone else in the judge’s private chamber. This had been one of Kelsey’s demands
 
—along with the plea to speed up the process and have her hearing as soon as possible
 
—that she be able to give her statement in private, with only a few people present. All in exchange for a mere fifteen-year sentence.

Yeah, I’m getting a confession,
Abby thought,
but why do I feel as though in our effort to close this, we’ve dealt away justice, real justice?

Abby was glad police reporter Walter Gunther had crashed the party and was here with her, but she really wished it were Luke Murphy. He had more skin in the game and would be a tower of support.

“Please proceed with your statement, Ms. Cox, about what occurred on the night of June 16, 1988.”

After a sip of water, Cox began. “On that night, I left work late, after 10 p.m., and returned to my home on Granada, in
Long Beach, to hear arguing.” Her voice was thin and reedy, not the same one Abby remembered barking orders when Kelsey Cox was a supervisor in patrol.

“At the time I shared the home with Gavin Kent. He was a fellow officer and my fiancé. I recognized his voice, but it was only when I stepped out onto the patio that I saw who the other person was. It was Buck Morgan.” She paused to take a drink of water. Her gaze flickered briefly to Abby, then back down on the mic.

“Was Buck Morgan an acquaintance?” the judge asked.

“Buck Morgan was known to me as one of the owners of a restaurant that had burned down, the Triple Seven. The fire had occurred two nights previous and it was assumed by everyone that Morgan had died in it.”

“When you stepped out onto the patio, did the two men see you?”

“No, uh . . . I mean, I think Gavin saw me, but I was behind Buck.”

“Could you hear what the argument was about?”

“Bits of it
 
—it really didn’t make sense, and like I said, I thought Buck was dead, and that concerned me. What if he had faked his death? It occurred to me that he might be a killer; he might have killed his wife and set the fire . . .”

Abby was almost up out of her seat. Beside her, DA Drew gripped her hand, and Gunther shook his head. Face hot, heart pumping, Abby slowly settled back into her chair. For the first time Cox steadily looked her way, expression blank.

The judge cast a frown Abby’s direction and then nodded for Cox to continue.

“I didn’t really know what to think, or what was happening, but I could see that Buck was trying to get Gavin to go
somewhere with him. Fearing for Gavin, I moved in behind Morgan.”

“Did you have a weapon?”

“I’d left my duty weapon in the house, and I didn’t want to waste time by going back to get it. I grabbed a shovel
 
—we were having work done in our backyard and there was one handy. I moved in behind Morgan as he was getting more agitated. I was afraid for Gavin; he’d hurt himself and was not 100 percent.”

“How had he hurt himself?”

“Helping with the yard remodel.”

Abby could not hold back a snort. Gavin Kent had killed her mother, that much she knew, and been wounded by a shotgun, fired by her father, before Kent ran out of ammo and had to flee for his life. Another angry glance from the judge, and she forced herself to nod an apology.

“What happened then?”

“I just reacted. I saw Morgan move toward Gavin, and I swung the shovel and hit him in the head as hard as I could.”

Abby left the courthouse angry and frustrated. She remembered a time when she was a kid in foster care, filled with anger. She used to pound big rocks into smaller rocks and pretend she was pounding the people who had murdered her parents. It had been a long time since so much anger boiled inside
 
—rage, really. Rage that made her want to pound something
 
—or someone.

“Hey, Abby, hold up.”

She stopped and turned. She’d tried to ignore Gunther but wasn’t angry enough to make the old guy chase after her. Besides, he wasn’t the one who infuriated her.

“Trying to give me a heart attack?” He caught up to her, breathing hard, bending over, and putting his hands on his thighs to catch his breath. “You stormed out of there and made the judge mad. Hope you don’t have to try any cases in front of him right away,” he said after he straightened up.

“I don’t know what I expected in there. I didn’t want a trial any more than Drew did
 
—too risky with the shaky evidence we have
 
—but somehow what Kelsey had to say just didn’t sit right with me. She wanted my dad to be the bad guy, threatening Gavin Kent. And Kent is the man who killed my mother!”

Gunther raised both hands. “Calm down. I’m on your side here.”

Abby took a deep breath, glancing around the street in front of the courthouse at the people coming and going. This was the place where people came for justice, she thought bitterly. On one level she knew she had no right to be so angry. She had more answers now about the murders of her parents than she’d had a year ago. After Gavin Kent killed her mother, her father tried to take Kent to the police, but Cox killed Buck Morgan. Then she buried him under tons of concrete in her backyard, where he’d lain hidden for all these years.

Now, at least there would be one person in jail, sentenced for part of the crime. The only person not already dead or in custody was the one person responsible for ordering all of the carnage, and Abby’s angst was in no small part aroused because of this fact.

A part of Abby had hoped Kelsey would finally point the finger at that person: California’s first lady, Alyssa Rollins. But after hearing Cox’s self-serving confession, it stung like a thousand
beestings to Abby’s heart that Alyssa seemed to slip through every crack and stay free.

She looked at Gunther. “I know you are. This is just aggravating.”

“Well, step into my office.” He pointed to a street hot dog vendor. “Let me buy you lunch and we’ll talk about it.”

In spite of everything Abby laughed. “Yeah, that used to be Asa’s favorite place to take me for lunch too.” Her old partner Asa Foster had been the one to introduce her to the crusty reporter Gunther. “But he did it because he was cheap.”

“I resemble that remark,” Gunther said with mock offense.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ve got some training to get back to for the cold case squad. Rain check?”

“Sure.” He stepped close. “I’d still like to pick your brain about the Triple Seven someday. It’s not settled in my mind, and I don’t think it’s settled in yours either.”

Abby cocked her head and shrugged, then continued toward the parking structure.

It’s not settled,
she thought,
and I doubt that it will ever be. At least not to my satisfaction.

A FORMER LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA,
police officer of twenty-two years, Janice Cantore worked a variety of assignments, including patrol, administration, juvenile investigations, and training. She’s always enjoyed writing and published two short articles on faith at work for
Cop and Christ
and
Today’s Christian Woman
before tackling novels. She now lives in a small town in southern Oregon, where she enjoys exploring the forests, rivers, and lakes with her two Labrador retrievers
 
—Maggie and Abbie.

Janice writes suspense novels designed to keep readers engrossed and leave them inspired.
Burning Proof
, the second title in her new Cold Case Justice series, is the sequel to
Drawing Fire
. Janice also authored
Critical Pursuit
,
Visible Threat
, and the Pacific Coast Justice series, which includes
Accused
,
Abducted
, and
Avenged
.

Visit Janice’s website at
www.janicecantore.com
and connect with her on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/JaniceCantore
.

1. At the beginning of
   Burning Proof
   , Detective Abby Hart walks into a horrible life-and-death scenario. Does she make the right choice, or is there another option? As she and others rehash the situation, are her actions sufficiently justified? How does this fictional account change how you might view similar events in real life?
   
2. Abby and her fiancé, Ethan, face some tough choices about their relationship. How important is it for spouses’ career and ministry goals to be compatible? What advice would you give them?
   
3. Luke Murphy is trying to put the mistakes from his marriage behind him and consider a future with a new woman. Do you think he will be successful? Should he put aside his feelings for Abby too and pursue someone else? What do you think the author has in mind for the final book in this series?
   
4. In some ways Kelsey Cox is a victim of her own past choices. How do you feel about her character? What options does she have now? What do you think she will
   do? Is there a situation in your life where you feel stuck because of choices you’ve made in the past? How might you begin to change your course?
   
5. Why does Woody insist on keeping Abby in the dark after he and Luke uncover a clue that could give her some answers about her parents’ deaths? Should Luke have pressed the issue and told Abby earlier? Why or why not?
   
6. During a time when she doesn’t feel like she can pray, Abby is touched to know that her aunt Dede is praying for her. Think of a time in your life when the prayers of others ministered to you in this way. How is it different from being able to pray on your own behalf? Is there someone in your circle of influence who’s facing a situation that you might pray for?
   
7. Dede suggests that Abby’s foundation was weak
    
   —that she got into police work for the wrong reasons. How does Abby’s calling become clearer to her? In what ways have you discovered your calling in life
    
   —or if you’re still searching for it, what are some possible ways God might be directing you?
   
8. Althea Joiner asks to meet with Abby after the shooting death of her husband. She tells Abby, “I needed to look you in the eye and say that I forgive you. It’s only by saying it that maybe, one day, I’ll feel it.” Has there ever been a situation in your life when you found it difficult, if not impossible, to forgive someone who had hurt you
    
   —whether or not the hurt was intentional? Do you agree that by saying we forgive someone, it can become easier to feel it? What are some other ways to move
   toward forgiveness in a difficult situation? Why is it important to take steps in that direction?
   
9. Molly Cavanaugh is understandably haunted by her kidnapping and rape as a young teen. What did you think of Abby’s confrontational style, telling the girl to let go of the past? Are Molly’s parents right to shelter her and try to protect her from further pain? How can we help those we love to live healthy lives while still protecting them in appropriate ways?
   
10. Gil Barone seems like an incorrigibly evil person. Do you believe some people are like that, totally beyond redemption? Why or why not? What do Molly’s actions toward him at the end of the story show?
    
11. What does Abby learn about her family in talking with her uncle Simon? Were you surprised at the depiction of Buck Morgan that was painted in the letters he and his brother exchanged?
    
12. Where do Abby and Luke land on Lowell Rollins’s culpability in the Triple Seven fire and murders? Do you agree with their conclusion? Why or why not? How would you rate Lowell’s chances of winning the senate race?