Tainted Mind (39 page)

Dr. Martinez smiled. “I'm happy to tell you that at least she is looking better. Not talking yet,” she said, raising a hand to stave off the next question. “But she's responding to stimuli much differently today than before, and in a good way. We're more optimistic about her than we have been since she was brought in.”

“At least that's some good news. Maybe she can enlighten us in a day or two,” Nick said.

Dr. Martinez wagged her head. “Maybe, but in the meantime, you all look like you need to get some rest and maybe clean up,” she added with a nod to Vivi who was covered in Joe Adams's blood from when she assisted the EMTs. “If you have any questions, you know you can call us anytime.”

Vivi watched the woman leave and silence descended on the room, the kind of silence that was heavy with fatigue and frustration. The three of them were still in their same positions when Jesse Baker walked in several minutes later. She paused at the door and swept the room with her eyes before landing her gaze on Ian.

“Collin Grey from the Riverside police sent a couple of officers over to keep an eye on Joe Adams. I assume that's something you requested?”

Ian nodded. “We don't have the manpower to keep someone on him, so I asked for help from the other local agencies. I hope that's not a problem?”

Jesse shook her head. “Of course not, and if you let us know who's coming, we can be sure to check IDs, etc. I'm not sure what we would be able to do if someone tried to impersonate a police officer, but having our staff check IDs does add another layer of protection. We all know what happened to Meghan and those other poor women, and if there is anything else we can do, please let us know.”

Vivi smiled. Community. Real community. And she felt a part of it, a part of something for the first time in a long time.

“Thanks, Jesse,” Ian said. “The state troopers are going to help out, as is the Sheriff's office. Wyatt is back at the office and will be coordinating the watch. I'll have him send you a list of the officers you can expect to see.”

Jesse nodded then turned her gaze to Vivi. “How are you?” Vivi knew she must look worse than she felt, with her shirt soaked in dried blood, and she said so. Jesse looked like she wasn't sure if she believed her, and in a moment of honesty, Vivi could kind of see her point. There was still too much up in the air to feel any sort of triumph for having caught Meghan's attacker. What was Schuyler's role, if any? What was Joe's tie to the other women? What was his tie to her?

“I'll be okay,” she added. And she would, maybe not now, but eventually. “Thank you for asking.”

Jesse's eyes went to Ian again before she nodded and left. Some-thing in the exchange must have caught Ian's attention, because he was suddenly beside Vivi, reaching for her hand.

“We should go. Riverside PD is here, we've briefed them, and they're good. There's nothing we can do right now. Marcus and Carly are taking the evidence up to Albany, Wyatt is running more background checks at the station with Naomi and Brian, and you're covered in Joe's blood. Let's go home, you can shower and change, we'll get something to eat, and then we can head back to the station if we need to.”

A smile crept across her face. They still had a lot to do, and as always, Ian had a plan.

But, several hours later, they didn't head back to the station. Instead, the station came to them. Not literally of course. But Vivi sat with her legs curled beneath her on the couch and a glass of wine in her hand, while Naomi and Brian spread a series of files out on the coffee table, and Marcus and Carly pored over the evidence analysis on a laptop. Three of the part-timers were on patrol and Wyatt was supposed to be heading home, but Vivi suspected he'd show up on the doorstep any minute. Ian and Nick were grilling dinner for everyone out back.

“We can already place Joe in the same areas as three of the murders,” Naomi said.

“And we're not counting the ones within driving distance of New York, like Windsor and Boston. We figure those could be done in a day so we may not be as likely to find things like credit card statements or airline tickets. We're looking at the ones in Seattle, New Orleans, Savannah, and such.”

“Where have you placed him already?” Vivi asked, taking a sip of her wine. Brian gave her the names of three women they'd had posted on their board.

“It's his blood on the handcuffs,” Marcus announced. “Sam sent an analysis, and, well, it's his type anyway. And Meghan's. They're running DNA but won't have it back until tomorrow. His prints were on the handcuffs, but we knew they would be.”

All the evidence was stacking up against Joe. Stacking up in a way Vivi couldn't dispute, but there were too many unanswered questions for her to feel any measure of comfort.

“I wish I knew what his tie was to me, or if it's really about me at all.”

At that statement everyone looked up at her. And then she remembered she hadn't actually mentioned Nick's theory about her being the killer's obsession to anyone other than Ian. So she did, relaying Nick's impressions and their thoughts on Ian's car accident not being an accident at all.

“His tire was shot?” Carly repeated.

Vivi nodded. “Nick collected the bullet from the tire. I was planning to have a look at it today in Albany before Joe appeared at the house.”

“Sam mentioned something about a ballistics test, but I didn't follow up since I didn't know what he was talking about. That'll teach me to let things slide,” Marcus added in a muttered voice.

“Hmm,” Naomi said, holding up one of the files.

“Did you find something?” Vivi asked.

“Maybe. Maybe something Uncle Mike can help with,” Naomi suggested as she handed the file over to Vivi. “Schuyler Adams was a criminal defense attorney in Boston for years before moving to New York. His bio says he lectured at the law school where Mike lectures. Let's give him a call and see if he ever heard anything about the Adams men or even if he ever met Schuyler.”

Vivi agreed and dialed the number. Putting the phone on speaker, she greeted her uncle when he answered, then filled him in on the day, and launched straight to the question.

“Do you know Schuyler Adams or anything about him?” she asked.

“I do. He was a big-time attorney for a while. The kind of guy that us cops hated but also admired. But then his wife died and something changed. It wasn't long after that, he and his son left and moved to New York. We used to guest lecture together sometimes,” her uncle answered.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning the criminal law professor liked to bring in the cop and the defense attorney for a little round of dialogue for his students. Schuyler and I did it together a couple of times. Come to think of it,” Mike paused. “Come to think of it, you met him once, Vivi. And his son.”

Vivi sat up. Ian and Nick walked into the kitchen at that moment and must have sensed something. Their banter died down, and they quietly placed the food on the counter and joined everyone in the living room.

“I did?” she asked.

“Yes, the spring before you started at the university yourself,” Mike's voice had taken on the tone of one recalling a long-forgotten memory. “You had admissions and wanted to check things out so you came with me to campus one day. You walked around a bit while I lectured, but then you joined me at the end. I introduced you to Schuyler and his son, Joe. If I recall, the kid was a couple of years older than you, and his father was quick to point out your achievements in not a very nice way. I thought he was a bit daft about it, but what do I know? I mean you're exceptional, Vivi, but his son seemed like a good kid—was headed off to college himself as far as I knew—so it didn't make sense to have his dad harping on him. You weren't a good comparison for most college-aged kids, I mean you being sixteen at the time and all.”

“Do you remember the meeting, Vivienne?” Ian asked.

She frowned. “Now that Mike mentions it, vaguely. But obviously not enough to remember the Adams men specifically.”

“It was two months later that the young girl we think was the first victim was killed,” Carly said, her eyes back on the laptop.

“Could you have brought to the surface some sort of latent rage toward his father?” Ian asked.

“And he took it out on women who looked like me as a way to annihilate what his father thought he should be? It's possible, but I need to think about it a little more.” She thanked her uncle who, as always, told her to stay safe and hung up. She sat back and took another sip of wine.

“Something isn't sitting well with you, is it, Vivienne?” Ian asked.

It wasn't, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. “I don't know, Ian. Maybe we should eat, and I'll try not to think about it so hard and see what comes into my head.”

“Maybe when we know more about him, about the evidence and how he lived, it will make more sense. If it ever makes sense.” Ian held out a hand and helped her off the couch. “In the meantime, I
think you're right. It's been an intense day for everyone. Let's eat, maybe blow off a little steam, and we can go from there.”

By the time they climbed into bed that night, they still didn't have anything from Joe's apartment, but between his whereabouts, his cloudy past, and the physical evidence, it wasn't looking good for him. They had even found the truck they believed was used to transport Meghan on the back part of the Adams property. It had been cleaned but was still being processed in Albany.

Pushing the details from her mind, Vivi didn't find it all that hard to shut down that part of her brain. Not with Ian beside her. When she curled up alongside him, he wrapped his good arm around her and pulled her close.

“That gun in my ankle holster is unregistered,” she said, smiling. His chest rumbled with a soft chuckle, as she traced her fingers along his skin. “A friend got it for me a while back when we were traveling in some less than hospitable places. Not sure why I kept it, but I did.”

Ian rolled toward her and ran a fingertip down her cheek. “You know I could arrest you for that.” She arched a brow at him. “But, like I said, I'm out of my uniform now, and I definitely have other things on my mind.”

She smiled and pulled his lips toward hers. “I was hoping you'd say that.”

C
HAPTER
28

FOR GOOD OR FOR BAD,
Ian let Vivi sleep in the next morning. He had gotten up early, showered, made coffee, and headed into the station, but she had taken it easy and was now sitting on the front porch, in a pair of his boxers and one of his t-shirts, enjoying a cup of the coffee he'd left brewing for her.

She was absorbing the quiet when she heard a car pull off the road onto the driveway. A few seconds later, Nick's rental appeared.

“There's coffee in the kitchen if you want some,” she offered with a gesture of her head when he joined her on the porch.

“Don't mind if I do.”

A few minutes later he was seated in another chair beside her, boots propped up and a steaming mug in hand. “This place suits you, Viv.”

She inclined her head. “I agree, it does.”

“So, are you going to stay?” he asked, picking up the conversation he'd tried to start the day before.

She couldn't say she hadn't given it much thought, because she had. In between everything else they were thinking about and dealing with, she had thought of little else.

“Don't complicate things, luv.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, you're thinking too hard. You're thinking about your job and your family and the fact that you've only known MacAllister a few weeks.”

“I shouldn't think of those things?”

“You know you're one of the smartest people I know, Viv. One of the smartest people
you
know. But you're also annoyingly intuitive,
luv. It's really not cosmically fair, come to think of it, that you're not some weird savant on either end of the spectrum—being either scary smart
or
eerily intuitive.”

“What are you getting at, Nick?”

“If you're smart enough to do the things you do, you're smart enough to figure out how to make your life and Ian's life into a life that works together. And, judging by the way you two look at each other, I think it will be disgustingly easy, actually, if you decide it's worth it. So, is it, Viv? Is it worth it?”

It was, but she didn't say so. She gave a small nod and heard Nick exhale as if he'd been holding his breath, waiting for her to make the wrong choice. And now that she had made the right one, he could finally relax. She smiled to herself; it was funny just how much a little breath could tell her about how much Nick cared about her. Despite everything, or maybe because of it, he wanted her happy.

They sat together in companionable silence, finishing their coffee. Just as she was rising to get ready to head into town, Nick's cell rang.

He glanced at the number, then mouthed “Sam” before answering. Vivi stood listening to Nick's half of the conversation, and it didn't take long to know there was a snag in the investigation. Whatever it was, it had to do with the handcuffs, and while Nick didn't look overly alarmed, his look of concern wasn't what she wanted to see.

“Well?” she asked, as soon as he hung up.

“There's a third partial print on the handcuffs. Sam doesn't have enough to get a full match, but what he does have could match with Schuyler Adams.”

“That's not all that surprising. Our best guess right now is that he discovered what his son was doing and was trying to stop him. Trying to kill him was a bit much, I think, but if he thought his son was responsible, and we know he had a temper, it's not out of the question. And it might have been the handcuffs he found that clued him in. If he picked them up, it wouldn't be unusual to find his prints on them.”

“And his DNA?” Nick added.

Her stomach sank. “What kind of DNA, and where did Sam find it?” If it was sweat DNA, her reasoning might still be valid.

“Epithelial DNA. In the locking mechanism.”

“Like what we'd find if someone not used to using handcuffs got their finger pinched when locking them around someone's wrist. Shit.” That bit of information definitely threw a monkey wrench into their theory. She needed more from Sam, but unless they could come up with a very good reason Schuyler's skin cells would be where they were, it was looking like it was the father, not the son, who went after Meghan. And maybe they had it all backward. Maybe Joe discovered his father's secret and was trying to tell her. And then his own father tried to kill him to stop him.