Stolen Innocents (The Shadow Series Book 2) (20 page)

***

“So Trafford… Long time no see…” said Jenna with a lethal hilt to her stare. Trafford stared at Jenna with an angry glare.

“It’s not a normal day in Elkhart, when we don’t meet. I’m starting to feel like we’re really getting to know each other,” joked Jenna darkly.

“I don’t wanna get to know you.”

“Well whether you wanna or not, you’re gonna spill what you know to me.”

“I don’t know nothing.”

“Beautiful English, there…”

“Are you testing me on my grammar or my knowledge of the crime?”

Jenna snapped at Jesse, “Where were you between the hours of 5 and 7 A.M. this morning?! And don’t bullshit me, Trafford!” Jenna yelled, knowing full well that he would have some ridiculous story.

“You should know!”

“My records show that Officer Graeves released you at 5 A.M.”

“That’s bullshit!”

“Really? Then what time were you released? I don’t see a watch on your wrist.”

“The clock on the wall said 7:56 A.M.!” Trafford yelled.

“You mean the clock out there?” Jenna pointed through the glass window in the interrogation room towards a clock on the wall that still said 7:56 A.M. It had been stuck on that time for the past two years because Adam keeps forgetting to replace the battery.

“You all tricked me!” yelled Trafford dramatically.

Jenna raised her eyebrow.

“Seriously? We tricked you?” Jenna shook her head as she started scrawling notes in her notebook.

“Are you ready to answer seriously?” asked DiNolfo with a bite.

“I did. I thought it was 7:56 A.M.,” griped Jesse.

“Fine. Let’s pretend that’s the truth,” Jenna said as she continued to write down notes into her book. She continued, “What did you do after you got out?”

“I got breakfast.”

“Where?”

“Monte’s. Where else?”

“Wrong. Try again.”

“I’m telling you the truth.”

“You’re a bullshittin’ liar! Monte’s is closed because there is a dead girl outside his front door! Now tell me the goddamn truth!” Jenna screamed in an agitated voice.

Jesse stared at the police Sergeant with a look of defiance.

“You better speak…” warned DiNolfo, her anger starting to rage out of control.

“I went straight home,” said Jesse, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

“Wrong. Care to try again?!”

“Since you know so much, why don’t you tell me where I was?!” suggested Jesse as his temper boiled over.

“Fine. I will. Edna Harrow reported that she saw you walking down Mountain Road around 5:30 this morning and she reported that at the time, there was no body in the middle of the road.”

Newsy old bat,
Trafford thought
.

“So, you got me.”

“Is that a confession?”

“No!”

“Be clear, Trafford! I don’t have time for these games!”

“Yeah, I was on Mountain Road around five-thirty but I ain’t no murderer!”

DiNolfo raised an eyebrow in contempt.

“I have a source that tells me that you had bothered the victim a week prior at her house. You wouldn’t leave, and her boyfriend chased you away.”

“I didn’t want nothin’ to do with her!”

“Then, I heard you were bothering Tristan Morrow at the diner. What’s that all about?”

“I like Tristan. I couldn’t give two shits about Courtney O’Mara.”

DiNolfo scribbled furiously.

“You didn’t care about Courtney O’Mara? Enough that you would dump her body on the side of the road?”

“No! I told you I ain’t no murderer! I was actually stopping by to talk to her father because his car was at the shop, but Courtney took it the wrong way. Morrow is such a hot head he got the wrong idea!”

“But you
were
at the restaurant bothering his sister, weren’t you? And the other waitresses the month before.”

“Just Tristan and Natalie.”

“Why?”

“They are nice girls… Not like the rest of the trailer park girls ‘round here…”

“So why bother them?”

“Not tryin’ to bother them.”

“Well apparently you made them uncomfortable. So tell me… Why do you feel the need to lie to me? You know I’ll get the truth out of you,” DiNolfo said bluntly. She wasn’t bluffing. She could spot a liar a mile away.

“I don’t wanna get in no trouble.”

“I’d say you’ve gotten yourself in enough by running and lying to a police Sergeant. Don’t leave town.”

Jesse watched as DiNolfo’s chair skidded out from the table as she opened the interrogation room door.

“You’re free to go… for now.”

***

Hunter McCord trudged up the driveway to the Easy Goin’ Trailer Park with a venomous glare in his eye. He had just been released from his holding cell after Angie O’Mara had scrounged up enough money to post his bail. She doesn’t stay, though, not even long enough to say hello. She had entirely too much going on at home and she wanted to be there to comfort her mother. Hunter was grateful that she was able to come to his rescue. Hunter knew that something had happened in town due to the hustle and bustle in the police station, but he didn’t know the extent of what had occurred. He had no idea that Angie’s sister was found dead on Mountain Road.

Hunter trudged up the muddy path towards his double-wide trailer. He walked up the steps of his splintering wood deck with his legs feeling like dead weight underneath of him. He fished for his keys from his jean pocket but suddenly noticed that his pockets were empty. He didn’t need them, though. His front door was hanging wide open. Inside the trailer, Hunter’s Pit Bull Ox was waiting with a pained expression. The dog was starving and thirsty from being without nourishment for nearly twenty-four hours. Hunter would get to that once he determined that everything was in its proper place. You never could tell with the kind of neighbors he had; common thieves, drug addicts, prostitutes, and all the people who lived with them. The Easy Goin’ Trailer Park was comprised of the lowest of the low in Elkhart. It just didn’t get much worse off than that. Hunter knew he had locked the door behind him before he went to that party last night. He began to inspect the trailer to make sure nothing was missing. His fireproof cash safe was left untouched in his broken oven. The coin jar remained half full in plain view on the coffee table. Even his vintage leather jacket was still hanging on the back of the door. Hunter began to relax as he realized that if anyone had come into his trailer, they would have likely taken the things of value in plain sight first. He wandered into the bedroom and peeled his soaking wet shirt from his tired body. He tossed the shirt onto the floor at his feet. He grabbed a beer from his mini-fridge and cracked it open. It wasn’t until he took his first chug that a red flag was triggered in his mind. His gun cabinet was open, and two signature pieces of his gun collection were missing. His twin Glock 17’s were gone. Hunter’s anxiety skyrocketed because not only did he have a large number of people who wanted him dead, it also meant that it was someone that knew him well. He kept his gun cabinet locked at all times. He kept the key hidden, taped to the underside of the toilet tank lid. For that person to have gotten past Ox, it had to be someone Hunter knew well. The only people that had been in his trailer in the past week were his mother Shirley and his buddy Ethan Quiver. Someone definitely had some explaining to do. Hunter locked all the doors and windows of his trailer and pulled up the stairs that led to his deck. He was in no mood for visitors of any kind. He pulled out a TV dinner and popped it in the microwave. Salisbury steak would have to do for tonight’s dinner. Hunter was entirely too uneasy to go out. He’d definitely wind up back in the slammer for getting into an argument with some loser, or worse. Hunter flopped down into his old recliner and turned on the TV.  Part of him was relieved to be home, but another part of him felt safer in the jail cell. 

Suddenly, a news reporter came onto the screen with a late breaking news report:

“This is Rebecca Hargraves with the Danville Evening News. This just in. The woman who was found dead on Mountain Road in Elkhart, PA has been identified as 21 year-old Courtney O’Mara. Police have confirmed that she was killed at close range by a Glock 17 hand gun and subsequently dumped on Mountain Road. Anyone with more information is being asked to contact the Elkhart Police Department.”

“Son of a bitch!” yelled Hunter as he threw his beer bottle across the room.

Someone was trying to frame him. The question was, who?

***

“Officer Morrow speaking…” said Liam Morrow as he picked up the phone on his desk.

“Oh, really? That was fast. Yes, I’m ready.”

Liam started scribbling on the back of a receipt on his desk.

“Thanks again.”

Abruptly, Liam hung up the phone and ran from his desk to the parking lot where Sergeant DiNolfo was just pulling up.

“Just heard back from Harrisburg. That gun is registered to Hunter McCord.”

Jenna’s jaw tightened as she put the car in reverse. Liam watched as her patrol car pulled back out onto Mountain Road and screeched towards the Easy Goin’ Trailer Park.

Chapter              13

June 18, 2000

Easy Goin’ Trailer Park

17 Spotted Skunk Trail

Elkhart, PA

5 P.M.

DiNolfo felt the sensation that she was being watched as she pulled her police cruiser up the dirt road that ran through the center of the Easy Goin’ trailer park. Blinds parted as eyes peered out, dogs barked loudly, doors slammed shut, and mothers hurried their children inside as the Sergeant weaved through the trailer park.

Man. These people really know how to make a girl feel welcome…

DiNolfo parked her patrol car outside Hunter McCord’s double-wide trailer and walked towards his deck as gravel crunched under her feet. She banged on the trailer three times with her night stick. She knew she didn’t have to worry about McCord running. He was more the type that would shoot first and run later. DiNolfo kept one hand on her holster as she waited for Hunter to appear at the door. With a bang, the screen door swung open and Hunter emerged on the deck with a sneaky smile on his face.

“Afternoon, Sergeant,” said Hunter in a pleasant tone of voice.

Jenna raised her right eyebrow. She was used to McCord’s games. She’s known him for over twenty-five years. Not much could surprise her.

“What can I do for you on this
lovely
day?” asked Hunter warmly.

DiNolfo chuckled. Lovely is not a word she would use to describe today. While the rain had stopped for now, the sky was still a threatening shade of gray and the ground was wet under foot.

“Can I come in?” asked DiNolfo, getting straight to the point. She didn’t have time for games.

I am resistant to your charms, McCord. Cut the bullshit and let’s get this show on the road.

Hunter smiled and invited Jenna into his trailer, “Welcome to my humble abode.”

Jenna followed him through the door and was immediately greeted by the snarling growl of a Pit Bull. Ox bared his teeth at Jenna as he growled, but she didn’t flinch or back away. She grabbed a bone off of the floor and threw it to the back of the trailer. Ox chased it and began gnawing on it.