On the Line (37 page)

“I’ve had a look at the evidence and, as much as I hate to say it, it doesn’t look
good for the boys,” he began.

Kelsey gasped and Nancy slowly lowered herself into the chair.

“What I’ve seen is very damning to them. Mason, Mitch, our partners, and I have all
discussed it. Given the evidence being presented, not only does Patrick look guilty,
but it looks like he and Nathan may have been planning this for some time,” George
continued. His gaze landed on Janelle. “They’re both looking at prison time if they’re
convicted, but what’s worse is that even if we can get the charges dropped, Nathan’s
career is now in jeopardy, simply because he was arrested.”

Janelle’s exhale was shaky as she dropped her head to the table. She felt a comforting
hand on each of her shoulders, each rubbing in small circles.

“So, they planned for Richard to kidnap Zach and shoot me simply so they’d have an
excuse to kill him?” Kelsey said. “Who is stupid enough to believe that?”

“Maybe not that exact scenario, Kelsey,” George said softly. “But it has been suggested
that they were trying to come up with something and the opportunity happened to present
itself.”

“That’s bullshit,” Kelsey snapped.

“Kelsey.” George’s voice held the reprimanding tone that Janelle associated with
his glare. She imagined the petulant look on her sister’s face and couldn’t help
but smile a little.

Janelle lifted her head and looked at him. “Can you tell us what the evidence is?”

“You know I’m not supposed to,” he replied. “But given that I’m not technically on
the case, I will. Maybe you ladies can come up with something to help them that we
haven’t thought of already.”

“It couldn’t hurt to try,” Nancy said as she wrung the paper towel in her hands.
Janelle reached across and took her hand. She gave it a light squeeze and held onto
it as she looked back at her father.

“There’s a photo of Patrick and Nathan at a shooting range, and they appear to be
taking practice shots with the murder weapon.” George picked up his cup of coffee
and looked around the table.

“That’s impossible,” Janelle stated.

“How so?” George asked.

“Dad, you know that the gun Richard had, the one that killed him, was at his house.”
Janelle looked at Kelsey whose eyes widened as her head bobbed. “I told the detectives
that when they had me in for questioning.”

George nodded. “That’s true, you did say that.”

“Plus, the only time they’ve been to a shooting range together was after Richard
died, and then the gun was in the evidence room at the station,” Kelsey added.

“You know this for sure?” George’s manner took Janelle back to high school, when
he’d make up cases and encourage all of his children to ask questions until they
could come to the conclusions he had come up with, or make a good case for a different
one. She could almost feel nostalgic if it weren’t such a serious, and real, case
they were discussing.

“Yes,” Kelsey said. “Isn’t there a time stamp or something on the picture?”

“Not that I noticed,” George answered.

“That should be easy enough to find. I’m surprised Mitch didn’t tell you that already,”
Elizabeth said calmly, and every eye turned to her. “Patrick has had Mitch on retainer
for the last five years. He works with a lot of celebrities, and a lot of the cases
he deals with have to do with doctored photos that are used to slander his clients.
He has an entire team of people that should be able to help him examine the photo
and at least determine if it’s been altered.”

George nodded his head and took a sip of coffee. “Excellent.”

“What else?” Janelle asked as her father met her gaze.

“There’s an audio recording of a conversation between the two of them. Basically
the gist of the conversation is that they’re congratulating each other on the fact
that Richard is dead,” George answered, and several jaws dropped and disgusted sounds
were made. George held up his hand to silence the women. “It sounded choppy, so Mitch
is already looking into seeing if it has been manipulated in any way. I can’t believe
either of them would say the things I heard them say on the tape.”

Kelsey’s jaw clenched as she looked up at her father. “Is that all they have, Daddy?”

“I’m afraid not. There’s the issue of the coroner’s report.” He shook his
head and
set his cup on the table. He gripped the back of his chair again and looked at Kelsey.
“I’m afraid that the report shows that the trajectory of the bullet is indicative
of being fired at close range.”

“Of course,” Kelsey said with a shudder. “I saw it happen. They were fairly close
together. I thought Patrick had been shot from the way they both went still.” She
looked down at her lap and closed her eyes. Elizabeth slid her chair closer and placed
her hand on Kelsey’s shoulder.

Janelle glanced at her mother. She was surprised to see Mary watching Elizabeth comfort
Kelsey with a look of awe and surprise. Mary turned and met Janelle’s gaze then quickly
looked away. In that brief moment, Janelle saw something she’d never seen in her
mother before.

Vulnerability.

Her world tipped slightly and she focused on her mug until it leveled out again.

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple. The bullet entered Richard’s chest at an angle
that suggests he wasn’t the one with his finger on the trigger.” George took a step
toward Kelsey and laid his hand on her shoulder. “It’s possible that the gun was
actually in Patrick’s hand when it was fired.”

Kelsey shook her head and her bottom lip quivered. Her eyes wandered aimlessly around
the room, never really focusing on anything as her shaking slowly changed to a nod.
“So what,” she spat.

Janelle looked at Mary, expecting her to respond in some way. Her mother sat with
her hands in her lap and her eyes on the table, showing no indication that she’d
heard her daughter.

“What Patrick did in that cabin that night he did to save Zach. And if he hadn’t
been there, I would have bled to death on the floor as I watched it all happen.”
Kelsey’s lip trembled furiously but she continued. “Richard was determined to die
that night and if it wasn’t by his own hand, I’m glad someone did it.”

George bent over and placed a kiss to the top of Kelsey’s head then stood and moved
back to his chair. Elizabeth pulled Kelsey’s head onto her shoulder as tears rolled
down both sets of cheeks.

“I’m just sorry he’s in jail for it,” Kelsey muttered softly.

“I know, sweetie,” Elizabeth cooed. “We all are. But at least you and Zach are alive.”

Janelle looked at her mother again and frowned. Mary’s head was down, but her eyes
were glued to the scene across the table from her as she nonchalantly wiped the moisture
from her cheek.

“Kelsey, you are not alone in your sentiment, but I’m afraid that doesn’t help Patrick’s
case.” George met Janelle’s stare across the length of the table. “And that’s where
the case against Nathan comes in.”

Janelle filled her lungs as she lifted her shoulders. “How so?”

“Nathan failed to fingerprint Patrick and check for gun residue on his hands at the
cabin. And then he let him leave with your sister,” George answered.

Janelle lifted her shoulder. “So? There were other officers there, any one of them
could have done that and they didn’t.”

“Yes, but Nathan was first on the scene and led the others into the house. He was
also the first to examine the body, which lends itself to the idea that he may have
been checking that Patrick had finished the job.” George held his palms up as Janelle
opened her mouth to protest. “I’m not saying he was. I’m just saying that’s how the
evidence is being presented.”

“I think someone needs a better presentation,” Janelle grumbled and Nancy squeezed
her fingers. “If that’s all they have, I’m not sure why they’ve arrested him as an
accomplice. The picture and audio can be discredited, Patrick was justified if he
actually did pull the trigger, and everything else is circumstantial and rather assumptive.”

George nodded. “True, and I wish that were it. There’s a journal of Nathan’s that
shows his written desire to see Richard out of the picture so the two of you could
be together, and there are also pictures of the two of you together on your front
porch. Embracing, in the rain. Again, no time stamp, so we can’t be sure when it
was taken, but the argument is that it was before Richard’s death and proof that
the affair was still going on.”

“That picture was taken two weeks ago,” Janelle snapped then did the math in her
head. “Or three, I don’t remember. It was just before Zoe’s party.”

“Mitch will get to the bottom of that, dear,” Elizabeth stated, turning to look at
Janelle as she continued to comfort Kelsey. She looked back at George. “Is that everything?”

“That’s all we’ve been allowed to see,” he answered.

“Have you spoken with the boys about this evidence?” Nancy asked.

“We’re not allowed to,” George said. “You know they can’t see it until after the
arraignment.”

“When will that be?” Nancy questioned.

“Monday morning.” George picked up his coffee cup and tipped it back.

“Monday!” Kelsey shouted as she lifted her head. “They have to sit in jail all weekend?
Can we see them?”

“No.”

Janelle’s heart sank at her father’s one-word answer. Two more days until she could
see Nathan again. Two more days without being in his arms, without him in her bed.
She felt like a part of her was locked up with him and she wouldn’t be whole again
for two more days.

It may as well be an eternity. And, from the way it sounded, it just might be.

“There has to be something you can do, Dad,” Janelle said as she rose to her feet.
She slid her chair across the floor and stepped around it. “There has to be something
they’re missing.” She began to pace behind her chair.

“Janelle, I wish there was. I’ve seen everything myself, and if I didn’t know these
boys personally, I may have come to the same conclusions,” George stated. “Unless
someone comes forth with new evidence between now and Monday, then Patrick and Nathan
will go to trial for Richard’s murder and it won’t be pretty.”

“Who’s the detective assigned to the case?” Nancy asked.

“Reginald Bonner,” George answered and Nancy paled. “Is that a problem?” George came
around the table and stopped at her side.

“It’s hard to tell, really. John didn’t like working with him, he said he cut corners,”
Nancy answered. “Said that Reginald had a tendency of forming a conclusion and shaping
the evidence around it.”

“That’s not good,” George murmured, practically silently.

“Because Reginald and John didn’t get along, he’s never been fond of Nathan either.
I’m not saying that he has nitpicked the evidence, but there is the possibility,”
Nancy said in a small voice. “I should have asked Nathan who was on this case. But
I never could have imagined this outcome.”

“What about his partner?” Mary asked, her first words of the morning
and Janelle
stopped pacing to look at her. “The younger detective. He seemed like such a nice
boy.”

Janelle looked at Kelsey, who was staring at their mother with a curious look on
her face.

“How do you know what Detective Bonner’s partner was like?” Kelsey asked as her eyes
narrowed slightly.

“They did question me,” Mary answered.

“They questioned me too, but I vaguely remember the detectives.” Kelsey sat up in
her chair. “And I certainly don’t remember that one of them was ‘younger’ and a ‘nice
boy.’”

“I was interrogated too, but he doesn’t stand out for me either,” Janelle added.

“We were Richard’s family, girls. We were all questioned.” George moved to stand
behind his wife. “It doesn’t mean anything that your mother remembers the younger
detective.”

“Hayes,” Mary said with a grin. “That was his name.”

“Thomas Hayes?” Nancy asked.

“I guess,” Mary replied. “Maybe he has other evidence that Detective Bonner didn’t
include.”

“Detective Bonner is the senior officer. He would have included everything in his
report,” George said.

“But what if he didn’t?” Mary turned in her chair to look at George. “What if he
left something out?”

“Mother,” Janelle said slowly as she began to walk toward Mary. “What are you suggesting?”

“And better yet, why do you sound so confident suggesting it?” Kelsey added. She
laid her forearms on the table and leaned across them. “How many times did you talk
to the detectives?”

“I . . . I’m . . . I don’t remember,” Mary answered.

“More than once?” George asked as he took a step back from her chair.

Mary nodded. “Well, after the first interview, they told me if I could remember anything
else, to give them a call.”

George’s eyes widened and Mary shrank away from him.

“So I did,” she finished in a small voice.

“What did you tell them?” Kelsey jumped to her feet and flattened her
hands on the
table. “Did you suggest that Patrick was capable of killing Richard?”

Mary opened and closed her mouth repeatedly. “I . . . it may . . . I didn’t use those
words.”

Janelle saw red and turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. She heard footsteps
behind her and turned to find Nancy had followed her. Janelle’s jaw clenched and
unclenched as she looked over Nancy’s shoulder and into the dining room. Kelsey was
on her feet and had started around the table.

“Fix this!” she shouted at Mary, her shaky finger pointing at their mother.

“Kelsey!” Janelle stomped back into the dining room.

“I don’t know how,” Mary said softly.

“Figure it out, Mother, or so help me you will never set foot in this house again!”
Kelsey roared. “Get out.”

“Kelsey,” George said, approaching his daughter with his palms up. “I’m sure your
mother didn’t do any of this on purpose.”

“I’m sure she did,” Kelsey growled. “She’s hated Patrick ever since he came here
in December and Nathan since I called him and had Richard arrested. She knew exactly
what she was doing.”