Silent Witness (22 page)

“Do you think I wanted this to happen? Any of it? But things just got out of control. One mistake led to another…and another…and…”

“‘Mistake’? You murdered two innocent people in cold blood, Tom.”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen!” he screamed. “Don’t you understand? It all started when I got in a fight with that drug dealer behind Smitty’s bar. We were fighting. I pushed him against the wall and he went for my gun. What was I supposed to do, let him kill me?” Tom couldn’t hide the hysteria building in his voice. “I covered it up. I thought I was in the clear. But someone else was in the alley that night. They decided to blackmail me. They sent me a picture on my computer at work that they got off the security camera of what I’d done.”

Tom stepped closer.

“It’s your fault, anyway. You had to have the newest technology—like Country Corners ever needed any of that junk. So, you hired Henderson to install all that computer garbage with screens and GPS in our cars. But that wasn’t enough. You wanted new software uploaded to our office computers, too. Henderson was working on my computer. I knew from the expression on his face and how fast he hightailed it out of the office that he’d stumbled upon the picture.”

He shrugged a shoulder.

“I didn’t go to the house to kill him. I just wanted to talk to him, find out what he knew or thought he knew. But he freaked out. I made a mistake. I wish I hadn’t killed him. The whole thing just keeps growing and growing and I just want it all to go away.”

“Murder’s not a mistake! Dear Lord, Tom, you killed a young boy’s parents!” Liz screamed at him and raised herself to a sitting position. Adam inched closer to her.

“Don’t move!” Sal stood up from his hiding place in the brush, his gun pointed directly at Tom. He was covered with dirt and sweat and his chest heaved as though he had just run a marathon.

Tom swung his weapon toward Sal, both now in a standoff.

“I wondered when you were going to show up. The great Detective Rizzo, Mr. Hero-To-The-Rescue. Sorry. Today’s not hero day.” He placed the gun against Liz’s head. “Lower your weapon or I’ll shoot.”

“Don’t lower your weapon, Sal. That’s an order,” Liz yelled.

Tom pressed the barrel harder against her forehead.

“I’m not counting to three, boy. I said do it now.”

Slowly Sal lowered his gun to the ground and took a step back.

Rerun rent the air with continuous, frantic, furious barks and strained against his leash despite the choker collar.

“Shut that mutt up!” Tom yelled.

Charlie’s voice shook as she commanded Rerun to sit multiple times. But the dog was out of control. He ripped the leash out of her hand and lunged toward Tom, who took a startled step back…

A gunshot sounded.

The dog yelped.

Silence.

Then everything happened at once. Both Jeremy and Charlie screamed and threw themselves on top of the fallen dog. Adam sprang up and lunged himself at Tom. Tom turned and pointed his gun at Adam’s chest.

Before he could squeeze the trigger, Liz pulled her weapon and fired—again—and again—and again.

SIXTEEN

L
iz marched into the emergency room, straight to the nurses’ station, and waited impatiently for someone to acknowledge her.

“Jeremy Henderson? Adam Morgan? Sal Rizzo?”

“They’re over here.” Charlie joined her at the desk. “I saw you come in and I can use your help. I don’t know which one of them is harder to keep down. I’m ready to insist on restraints.”

The nurse laughed. “She’s right. It’s been a difficult few hours. They want out of here. Which is what I’m doing right now—typing up their discharge instructions. They should be ready to leave in just a few more minutes.

“Thanks.”

Liz entered the room indicated and pulled back the curtains between the gurneys. Jeremy spotted her first.

“Lizzie. Jeremy needs Lizzie.”

Liz gathered Jeremy in a tight hug. “Lizzie needs Jeremy, too.” She ruffled the child’s hair.

“About time you got here,” Adam grumbled, and glowered like a bear with a thorn in his paw. “Nobody here would tell me anything. I didn’t know where you went or if you were okay.”

Liz laughed. The sound surprised her. She’d been laughing more and more the past few weeks. If she wasn’t careful, people might mistake her for the perpetually happy Charlie.

She perched her hip on the edge of his bed and clasped his hand in hers.

“I’m told doctors make the worst patients. Are you trying to live up to that reputation?” She ignored his under-the-breath muttering and tilted her head toward Jeremy. “What do you think, Jeremy? Dr. Adam has bandages over both of his eyes this time. Think he can wiggle them like eyebrows?”

Liz knew Jeremy wouldn’t understand that she was making a joke but couldn’t resist. She laughed out loud when he said, “No bandages. Jeremy likes eyebrows on Dr. Adam.”

“Me, too, sweetheart.”

She gathered Jeremy in her arms, sat back down on a metal stool with wheels and rolled both of them a few feet past Adam. She pulled back the curtain separating Sal from the rest of them. She was surprised to see Charlie already standing on the other side of his bed. She couldn’t be sure but she thought she’d caught a little hand holding going on before Charlie took a step back. At least, she’d hoped she had.

She’d thought she’d picked up a vibe between them at the barbecue and, now that she thought about it, Charlie had seemed to gravitate to Sal each shift or visit to the house.

Charlie and Sal.

Liz thought if she smiled any wider it wouldn’t fit her face. She would hate to lose Sal as her right-hand man. But the thought of her two best friends building a relationship together? How wonderful was that?

“You could have called or sent a message or something. You’ve been gone for hours.” Sal’s glowering expression warmed her heart.

“I’ve had to take care of a few things.”

“‘Things’?” Sal raised an eyebrow.

“More important things than us?” Adam crossed his arms and gave her his fiercest glare.

Liz and Charlie looked at each other, shrugged and laughed some more. Sometimes men were simply taller boys.

“Let’s get everyone home. We’ll have plenty of time to talk later.”

“Home. Jeremy wants to go home, Lizzie.”

Liz held the boy against her heart. She’d never known it was possible to love a child as much as she loved this child. She offered a silent prayer of thanksgiving to the One who had brought them all together and protected them through the storms.

* * *

A week later, the four adults were gathered in Adam’s backyard, lounging in chairs, nursing iced teas and enjoying the welcome stillness of the night. Crickets and frogs softly serenaded them. Candlelight flickered on the tabletops. The patio lights, the floodlight on the pond fountain, and the hanging lanterns along the brick pathways illuminated the darkness.

Jeremy was sound asleep upstairs with Rerun sprawled across him. The dog’s bullet wound had not hit any vital organs. A few sutures, a thick bandage, some pain pills and Rerun was good to go. People said that dogs didn’t have expressions, but Liz didn’t believe it. She’d never forget the pure joy on both their faces when boy and dog were reunited.

Charlie held up the remnants of Jeremy’s teddy bear. “Well, Rerun won this battle.” She plucked out the few pieces of stuffing still visible in the toy. “This bear has bit the dust. I’m throwing it away while Jeremy’s sleeping.”

“At least we understand now why the dog kept trying to destroy it.” Adam sipped his iced tea before continuing. “Who would have thought that Dave hid a flash drive inside the bear?”

Liz shrugged. “He probably thought it would be the last place Tom Miller would look for it and he was right.”

“Rerun connected Miller’s scent from the night of the attempted kidnapping to the bear. That’s why he kept trying to pull it away from Jeremy.” Charlie, who was sitting on the arm of the Adirondack chair Sal sat in, grinned. “I raise smart dogs, don’t I?”

Sal looked up at her and flashed those white teeth in a broad grin meant just for her before he looked over at Adam and Liz.

“The flash drive proved that Tom Miller killed the drug dealer. Henderson must have stumbled upon the picture the snitch was trying to blackmail Tom with when he was installing our new software, saved it to a drive and took it home until he could decide exactly what he was looking at and what he should do about it.”

“I still don’t understand why he didn’t come to me right away,” Liz said.

“Hey, the guy had a picture of one of our cops killing a man that had been splashed across the newspaper as an unsolved homicide. He probably was scared. Bet the poor guy didn’t know who to trust.”

“Thank God Henderson did take it home.” Adam looked directly at Liz. “That drive confirmed Sal’s innocence. He might have been sitting behind bars tonight instead of here with friends enjoying conversation and tea.”

“I’m so sorry, Sal.” Liz saw a flash of pain in his eyes but knew that’s all it was—just a flash. Sal had a keen intellect. He’d been able to take a look at the circumstantial evidence compiled against him and understood why Liz was going to arrest him.

“Hey, I get it. If the shoe was on the other foot, I would have had to do the same thing.”

Charlie casually put her arm along the top of Sal’s chair. “I haven’t figured out why you ran out of the station. You didn’t know Liz was going to arrest you.”

“No. But I knew something was up. She wasn’t acting like Liz.”

Liz interrupted. “At least you noticed how difficult it was for me. I could barely entertain the idea that you might be our killer. But I still had to do my job.”

Sal gave a mock salute with his glass. “Understand, boss. Really, I get it.”

“So?” Charlie asked again. “Why’d you run?”

“It was a coincidence—”

“God-incidence. There’s no such thing as a coincidence.” Charlie playfully poked his shoulder.

“Okay, God-incidence.”

Liz almost choked on her iced tea. Sal acknowledging the possibility that God might have had a hand in things? She’d prayed so hard over the years for Sal to come to the Lord. Listening to him now shocked her to her core. Her eyes filled with tears. God used people, places and things for His good. This time He’d paired Sal with a woman who would change his life…both this life and the next.

“I told you that I had a hunch I was following up on.” He looked over at Liz and she nodded. “Well, I’d just about finished my interview with Grimes. It went nowhere and I was pretty sure his crime was adultery, not murder. I was cutting him loose when I got a text message from one of my snitches. He was cutting his losses and skipping town. He agreed to meet me if I came before his bus left.”

“He’s the one who told you about Miller?” Adam’s voice made his words a question rather than a statement.

“Yeah. He had told me a week before that word on the street was that a cop killed the dealer but he didn’t have any hard-core evidence. I greased his palm with a little green and told him to find something solid. When I met him at the station, he gave me Miller’s name—and the name of the other guy in the alley that night who’d decided to try to blackmail Tom.”

“So, if this guy witnessed the murder and tried to blackmail Tom, then why did he come forward as Tom’s snitch and testify against you?” Adam crossed his ankle over his knee. “That was taking a pretty big chance for a junkie. I’m surprised he did it.”

“I’m not. The guy didn’t really have a choice. Tom promised him immunity and gave him enough money to disappear. What other choice did he have? He knew Tom would kill him if he didn’t do what he was told.”

“I can’t believe Tom did all of this.” Liz leaned forward and rested her arms on her thighs. “Drug addict? Murderer?” She shook her head. “I can’t wrap my mind around it all. My father and Tom had been the macho guys that ran this town with an iron hand. They had no tolerance or empathy for any kind of addiction.”

“I think it was a combination of things, boss. I know he never said anything to you but he was bent out of shape when you got elected sheriff. He always assumed when your father left office that he’d be next in line.”

“I understand. I tolerated his insubordination and attitude because of it.” Liz shook her head. “I’ve always known he resented my position for that reason and also because I was a woman. Men in his position, from his generation, aren’t used to women in the workforce, let alone having them be their boss.” She leaned back in her chair. “But drugs? When did that start?”

“After Ellie died.” Sal finished off his tea. “My snitch gave me the dates when he first started making buys. I guess nine months ago when he lost his wife, who we both know waited on him hand and foot, that house must have seemed pretty lonely.”

“But drugs?” Liz still struggled with the idea.

“I’m sure he didn’t expect to get addicted. None of my patients ever do.” Adam sighed. “He probably was out drinking one night. He was lonely…bored maybe…probably a bit curious and decided to give it a try and see what all the fuss was about. I don’t condone it but I see it all the time and understand how it could happen.”

Liz reached up and pulled the band off her ponytail. “I can even follow Tom’s crazy logic. The drug dealer murder sounds like it was self-defense. He shouldn’t have tried to cover it up, but he knew his addiction would be exposed. He might have gotten away with it if the blackmail hadn’t started. He just kept digging a bigger and bigger hole.”

She ran her fingers through her hair, let it fall freely down her back, and tried to ignore the feel of Adam’s eyes watching her every move.

“But everything that followed…the Henderson murders…shooting out the tires of my car…trying to kidnap Jeremy…framing you…the car bomb.” She held her head in her hands. “This was all such a nightmare.”

Sal stood up. “Yeah, but it’s over now. The bad guy’s gone. The good guys reign.” He laced his fingers with Charlie’s. “I think I’m going to call it a night. Charlie’s leaving for home tomorrow and we have some talking to do before she goes.”

“Talking about what, Sal?” Liz couldn’t keep the teasing note out of her voice.