Revenge of Innocents (6 page)

Carolyn followed Rebecca into the kitchen, watching as she strolled over to Marcus and stuck her hand out. He fumbled in the pocket of his robe and handed her a hundred-dollar bill. Rebecca stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Dad,” she said, waving at her mother before she darted out the back door.

“Why are you giving Rebecca money?” Carolyn asked. “Since I don’t have a mortgage payment anymore, I have more than enough to take care of her needs. Besides, don’t you think a hundred dollars is too much for a girl her age?”

“Gas is expensive,” Marcus explained, leaning back against the counter. “Since I’m the reason she’s living so far from school, I think it’s only fair that I pay for her gas. By the way, how exactly do you scramble eggs? Do you shake the pan or is there some kind of special device? I looked but I couldn’t find one.”

Carolyn laughed, a welcome relief from the tension. The countertop was covered with pots, pans, graders, slicers, and various utensils. Only a person who’d spent his life staring at a computer wouldn’t know how to do something as simple as scrambling an egg. “Cereal sounds great,” she said. “I saw some strawberries in the fridge yesterday. We can put some on our cornflakes.”

“Are you sure?” Marcus said, looking relieved.

“Why don’t you set out the bowls? I’ll get the cereal, milk, and strawberries.” Carolyn was settling into a semistate of normality when she jerked her head around. “See if you can catch Rebecca. We started talking about Jude…I don’t want her out of my sight until you get someone to protect her.”

“Bear is on her already,” Marcus said, referring to the six-five, three-hundred-pound Hispanic bodyguard who’d worked for him since he’d moved to Santa Rosa three years ago. Although Bear’s size intimidated most people, he was a gentle, sweet man. He kept a picture of his mother on the visor, and would cry if he saw a dead dog in the roadway. He was a crackerjack marksman, though, and wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone if they threatened the safety of his employer. “The agency is sending two other men,” Marcus told her. “They should be here before you leave for work.”

“But I didn’t tell Rebecca what we were doing,” Carolyn said, reaching for the portable phone on the counter. Things were getting away from her, and like Marcus had pointed out, the situation wouldn’t be resolved overnight. She was worrying about Drew, Veronica’s children, her job, her wedding, the threats, and at the same time, mourning the loss of her friend. When she tried to juggle too many balls, she dropped all of them.

“Bear’s the best,” Marcus said, walking over and placing his arm around her. “Trust me, Rebecca won’t spot him. If she does, I’ll fire him. They promised to get someone to look after John by the end of the day. Since nothing may come of it, there’s no reason to call and distract him. I doubt if I could pass some of the courses John’s taking, and he’s only a sophomore. MIT is a tough school.”

Carolyn returned to the table and robotically spooned the cereal into her mouth, blinking as she realized what was clouding her mind. Going to the police with Veronica’s suspicions about Tyler Bell was a moral dilemma she had already struggled with and resolved. Now everything had changed. She would have to track him down right away. If she thought there was even a remote possibility that he was involved in Veronica death, she would handcuff him and deposit him at the police station.

Had she really withheld information? It was Veronica who’d thought Bell could have been behind the deaths of Robert Abernathy and Lester McAllen, and as far as Carolyn knew, there had been no evidence to support such a premise.

She dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, kissed Marcus good-bye, and headed to the garage. He hadn’t attempted to engage her in conversation while she was eating. He knew she was thinking. When he worked at home, she showed him the same courtesy.

Carolyn would call Drew from the road. All she could do was attempt to move things forward. She had to train herself to investigate Veronica’s murder the way she would any case. Crimes weren’t solved the way they were on TV. Sometimes they took months, even years. If only one piece of the puzzle fell into place, it would be a good day.

Wednesday, October 13—11:00
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arolyn and Brad Preston were seated on a bench facing the fountain in the center courtyard of the government center. The sun was out and the temperature was in the mid-seventies. The smoke from wildfires of the day before was gone, moved out to sea by the ocean breezes.

Working in Veronica’s partitioned office all morning had been difficult. Every time Carolyn took her eyes away from the computer screen, she was surrounded by Veronica’s life. There were pictures of Drew and the kids, jokes, Post-it notes, cheap knickknacks the children had given her. She could even smell her cologne, Eternity Moment by Calvin Klein. Drew had given her a bottle for her birthday the previous month. Veronica thought the name was hysterical. She recalled how they’d laughed about it. “How can it be eternity if it’s only a moment?” Veronica had said. “Are people stupid or what?”

She was glad that Brad had suggested they speak outside. On days like this, it was easy to see why real estate prices in Southern California had continued to skyrocket. While most of the country braced for winter, it was spring all year long. “I downloaded everything on Veronica’s computer,” she told him. “I’ll upload it to the machine in my office as well as my notebook. That way, I can work on it at home.”

“Good,” Brad said, squinting in the midday sun. People were streaming in and out of the courthouse—attorneys carrying briefcases, defendants with downcasts faces, prospective jurors, as well as senior citizens who passed time sitting in on trials.

Tall and blond, Brad Preston lived life as an adventure. In all the years Carolyn had known him, she’d never seen him despondent. At forty, he still possessed boundless energy, even though lines were beginning to form in his handsome face. He could still stay out all night drinking with his race car buddies and show up at work the next day bright-eyed and as alert as a man half his age. He’d never married because he was addicted to the thrill of the chase. According to Brad, a person no longer wanted something after they got it. It was the fantasy that was exciting, not the reality.

“Veronica was having an affair, you know.”

“That’s not true,” Carolyn said, shocked he would imply such a thing. “I’m her best friend, Brad. Don’t you think I’d know if she was cheating on her husband? Veronica worshipped Drew.” The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. “The poor women only died yesterday, and people are already spreading malicious rumors. What else did you hear? That Veronica was robbing banks in her spare time?”

“I saw her,” Brad said, rubbing his neck. “Remember when we had that big storm last spring, the one that caused the power failures and mud slides? I was coming back from lunch when I walked past Veronica’s car in the parking lot. It was that white Ford Explorer she drove before we issued her a county clunker. I heard moaning sounds coming from inside, so I put my face to the window to see if something was wrong. There was old Veronica, bare-assed and humping away.”

Carolyn’s hand flew to her chest. “In broad daylight, in this parking lot, in a car for Christ’s sake? It had to be someone else, Brad. Veronica would never do something like that.”

“It was her all right,” Brad said, a mischievous grin on his face. “I’d recognize that ass anywhere. To be honest, she didn’t look half bad. I even gave thought to making a play for her. Most women aren’t spontaneous enough when it comes to sex. They have to go through all these rituals. Then there are dozens of restrictions, as if sex is some kind of sport that has to be played by their rules.”

Since Carolyn’s engagement to Marcus, Brad had made it a habit of constantly reminding her of their past relationship. It wasn’t because he was in love with her. She’d given up on that years ago. Everything was a form of competition to him. He counted it as a loss when a woman did something to forever close the door. As long as the woman was single, he knew he could always slip back in. “You’re talking about me again, aren’t you?” she said. “I had young children when we were seeing each other. I didn’t want them to walk in and see their mother having sex on the kitchen table.” She stopped and cleared her throat. “It’s not the right time for this kind of discussion, Brad Who was the man Veronica was with?”

“I don’t want to be distasteful. You said it wasn’t the right time to talk about sex.”

“Stop it, Brad,” Carolyn said, giving him a disgusted look. “I was referring to us, not Veronica.”

“She was on top and the windows were fogged up. My guess is it was another probation officer. It could have been a onetime thing, although Veronica didn’t look like she was riding this pony for this first time.”

“Maybe it was Drew,” Carolyn suggested. “He told me last night that they had trouble finding time to have sex because of the kids.”

“Anything’s possible. It just didn’t strike me as the kind of thing a couple who’d been married as long as they had would do. Of course, I’ve never been married.”

Carolyn fell silent as she thought. “I’ll have to confront Drew. This is too important to overlook. If Veronica was having an affair, her lover might have killer her. Maybe that was who she was meeting at the motel.”

“I don’t know Drew that well,” Brad told her, plucking a leaf off one of the shrubs. “He seems like an all-right guy. Before you ask him if he was banging his wife in the parking lot, check around first, see if anyone suspected Veronica was seeing someone on the side.”

Carolyn wondered what else she didn’t know about her friend. If Veronica had died of natural causes, she would have taken her secrets to the grave. Now her life would be scrutinized not only by the police, but by everyone who knew her. “You’re right. It would be cruel to mention this to Drew, especially so soon. What are we going to do about the workload in the unit?”

“I spoke to Cameron Wheeler this morning,” Brad told her, referring to the head of the agency. “He agreed to transfer in three officers from field services. Veronica’s death has shaken up a lot of people, Carolyn. Wheeler wants you to work in conjunction with the PD until this is resolved. He talked to the chief over there, and they’re putting together a task force. Hank Sawyer will run the show. You and he are big buddies, so I’m sure he’ll be glad to have you.” He stood and stretched his back. “You’re still going to have to pinch-hit for us. I’m trying to narrow down these transfers to officers with prior experience in investigations, but right now I’ll take anyone with a heartbeat.”

“That means training,” Carolyn said, feeling overwhelmed again.

“Oh, by the way,” he said. “On the day we had the blackout, I was curious so I counted heads to see who was missing once the lights came back on. Everyone was accounted for except Veronica and Stuart Greenly. She came in first. He came in about five minutes later.”

“But Stuart is married. I went to his wedding. His wife is a former model. They’ve only been married about a year. Not only that, he’s in his late twenties. Why would he be interested in a woman almost old enough to be his mother?”

“He’s a man,” Brad said. “Nothing says you have to be in love with a woman to have sex with her. If Veronica was offering it, not many guys would turn her down. Want to grab a bite in the cafeteria?”

“Not after that speech,” Carolyn said, narrowing her eyes at him. “I’m glad you reminded me of why we broke up. Whether you believe it or not, there are men out there who aren’t interested in having sex with anyone they can get.”

Brad stomped his foot, flashing his megawatt smile. “Damn, you’re cute when you’re mad.” He placed his arm around her neck, pulling her to him. “Don’t you feel better now?” he whispered in her ear. “Put that to work for you, and you’ll catch your killer. All this stuff about a person being innocent until proven guilty is for the courts, not the street. Everyone is a suspect, even me.”

Out of necessity, Carolyn abandoned her rule of not eating junk food and steered the Infiniti through the drive-through at In and Out Burgers. She inhaled her cheeseburger before she hit the next traffic light, then began picking at her fries.

She’d been trying to reach Drew all morning, but the line had been busy. He’d either taken the phone off the hook, or he was making calls to relatives. She decided to stop by the house on the way to the police station. She hoped he’d told the children by now. A second later, she changed her mind about seeing him.

Brad might be an insensitive oaf on occasion, but his advice was usually sound. She needed to fuel herself on outrage, not grief and sadness. Veronica would want her death to be avenged, and outside of her husband, no one would care as much as Carolyn. Walking into a houseful of weeping children could put her back where she was yesterday. She dialed Drew again. This time he answered.

“KADY has a broadcast van in front of my house,” he said, out of breath. “I caught one of their damn reporters with his nose against the boys’ bedroom window. What do these people want from me? Veronica wasn’t a celebrity.”

Murder sells, Carolyn thought. “Everything will blow over in a few days, Drew. You can stay with me if you want. Either that, or check into a hotel.”

“I’m on the phone,” he said to one of the children. “I promise I’ll come to your room in a minute.” He picked up where he left off with Carolyn. “I can’t stay in a hotel. I don’t even know how I’m going to pay for Veronica’s funeral.”

Carolyn wondered if they had life insurance. Even if they did, the company might not settle the claim until the coroner made an official ruling as to the cause of death. “Have you heard from Jude yet?”

“No,” he said. “Crystal is bringing her things over tonight. I’ll go out and try to track her down again. She wasn’t supposed to move in until next week.”

“Where is this woman going to stay?”

“In Stacy and Jude’s room,” he told her. “I’ll move Stacy’s twin bed into the master. As far as I’m concerned, Jude doesn’t live here anymore. Veronica and I had already decided to kick her out last week.”

“Do you really want to do that right now?” Carolyn asked him, shocked that he would be so heartless. “She just lost her mother. Where will she live? How will she support herself?”

“That’s her problem,” Drew said. “Jude is resourceful, Carolyn. She’ll probably move in with one of her friends, or shack up with one of the punks she hangs out with. I can’t have that kind of element around my house.”

“Did Jude go back to school?”

“Shit, no,” he said. “We were going to send her to college, but she blew that. Why? What did you hear?”

“Rebecca saw her at Ventura High. She was under the impression Jude was enrolled in classes, that she was trying to get the credits she needed to acquire her diploma.”

“I need to get off the phone,” Drew told her. “The kids need me and I have to pick up the house before Crystal gets here. Things are bad enough without her thinking she’s moving into a pigsty. If I hear from Jude, I’ll let you know.”

“Please,” Carolyn said. “Have the police talked to you yet, Drew?”

“They were over here this morning. I’m afraid I wasn’t much help to them. They don’t think I killed her, I hope. They wanted to know where I was yesterday morning. I took the day off to do some things around the house. Veronica was after me to put up some shelves in the boys’ room, so I went to Home Depot. I spent the rest of the day puttering around in the garage.”

“Did you buy anything at Home Depot?”

“No,” he said. “I just wanted to figure out how much it would cost.”

Carolyn said she’d speak to him later and disconnected. She got the number for Ventura High and waited while the cell operator connected her. A woman in the principal’s office confirmed that Jude was enrolled as a student. She started to call Drew back and tell him, then decided to think it over first. If Jude was going to school, why hadn’t she told her parents? Something didn’t fit, and when something didn’t fit, it could be important.

Carolyn thought she’d made a fairly good start on a crime of this magnitude. Drew couldn’t prove where he was at the time of the crime, and Jude was trying to put her life together without telling her parents, even though they’d threatened to throw her out on the street.

She turned onto Dee Drive where the police department was located, parked, and reached into the backseat to get her computer notebook. She remembered what Brad had told her as she walked toward the front of the building. Everyone is a suspect.

Carolyn couldn’t imagine anyone with that many children not carrying life insurance. How much did Drew have Veronica insured for? If she’d been having an affair, he could have found out and killed her.

Drew was now a suspect with two motives, and they were the oldest in existence—jealousy and money.