Wanted with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Five) (7 page)

“
W
ell, look who it is!” Tylers called out when they stepped into Travis Bar. Rilynne looked around and saw every member of the homicide department sitting around a large table in the back. Everyone except Detective Wilcome. “If it isn’t our very own vigilante. Have your sights on anyone else?”

“Oh, shut up,” she said. She pulled up chair and dropped down at the end of the table while Ben headed for the bar.

Tylers grinned and quickly downed the shot sitting in front of him. Judging by the slight slur in his voice, it was not his first. “Oh, I’m just giving you a hard time. Not a single person here even considered the possibility that you actually killed that guy. Well, all except for LaShad.”

“Hey,” LaShad called out defensively. “All I said was it was hard on everyone when someone guilty got away with murder. It’s not unheard of for people to occasionally snap and take action when the law won’t.” Rilynne raised her eyebrow at him. “I didn’t say I thought you did,” he added quickly. “You would never cross that line. We know you wouldn’t.”

“Well, thank you,” she said sincerely. “Now if only faith was enough to get this all cleared up. The only way to get that done is to find out who is setting me up,” she said, looking around the table. “I don’t suppose any of you could give me a status update on how that search is going?”

Everyone looked around, but no one seemed to want to speak first. After several long moments, Matthews finally said, “We are looking at everyone who could have anything against you,” he replied. “No one’s standing out at the moment. We aren’t going to give up, though. We’ll find who’s responsible and clear your name. No one will stop until we do.”

Rilynne felt a warmth of admiration building within her as Ben pulled up a chair and handed her a cold beer. “What’d I miss?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing,” she said sardonically. “Just LaShad believing I’m a murderer.”

Ben shot LaShad a curious glance as an echo of laughter swept across the table. Before he had a chance to react, though, his expression hardened. Rilynne tracked LaShad’s gaze over her shoulder, to the television against the wall. Just as she did, she saw her own face flash across the screen.

As if a switch was flipped, the entire room went silent. Rilynne had only seen it happen once before, and it had resulted in a bar fight. Her jaw dropped as the voice coming through the television filled the room.

“It has just been confirmed that Detective Rilynne Evans, a member of the Addison Valley Police Department, has been named a person of interest in the murder of Marshal Teich,” the news anchor stated.

“Marshal Teich is the man responsible for the murder of the tourist, Andrew Fields, earlier this week. His body, along with that of one other man, was discovered in his apartment by a neighbor two days ago.

“A source inside the police department has confirmed that the weapon used to kill both men was registered to Detective Evans. It is unknown at this time if the weapon was still in the possession of the detective when it was used in the murder, but as we said, Detective Evans has been named a person of interest.”

Almost simultaneously, all eyes in the bar shifted from the television to Rilynne. Unlike the looks she received from her fellow detectives, these did not hold understanding and support. They were accusing and judging. Her chest tightened as she felt a wave of panic overtaking her. “I should go,” she found herself saying, still looking around at the curious crowd.

“Screw them,” Steele said. “This is our bar. Don’t let them make you feel like you aren’t welcome. If they actually believe that nonsense, they can leave.”

Ben placed his hand gently on her shoulder, but it didn’t ease her desire to run as fast as she could out the door. “No,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I’ve got a lot of stuff I need to do tonight. We were just stopping in to see if you had made any progress.”

She avoided their eyes as she pushed her chair back. “Let me know if there’s anything you need my help with. You guys have a good night.”

Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked out of the bar, Ben following close behind her.

“Don’t let it get to you,” Ben said. He had to jog to catch up to her. “As soon as this is all cleared up, no one will even remember any of this. It will all blow over soon.”

“And what if it doesn’t?” she asked abruptly. She stopped in her tracked and turned to face him, causing him to almost collide with her. “What if we can’t find who’s responsible for this? Even if I’m removed from the suspect list, there will always be a cloud of suspicion hanging over me. People will always be wondering in the back of their minds if I actually killed a man and got away with it. And what if I’m not cleared? We’ve both seen people convicted with less evidence.”

He cupped her face in his hands and stared deeply into her eyes. “Listen to me,” he said firmly. “I don’t care if they dig up someone who swears up and down they witnessed you killing those men. We are going to get this figured out and clear your name. If anyone can, it’s you. You just can’t give up.”

Rilynne opened her mouth to argue, but knew there was no point. He was right. If she let herself give in to the anxiety bubbling inside of her, there would be no chance of her seeing anything useful. With the evidence piling up against her, it was likely to be the only hope she would have.

He slid his fingers down her arm and took her by the hand. She followed him to the car, and neither spoke another word before they pulled up in front of her house ten minutes later.

Rilynne climbed out of the passenger side and started to the front door. She only made if half way up the walkway when Ben again took her by the hand. “Come on,” he said, leading her around the side of the house. Rilynne didn’t question him as they walked through her back yard and out the gate. She followed him without thought as they stepped through the tree line.

Unlike the last time they had made that walk, this time the moon was providing ample light to see the trail ahead of them. After fifteen minutes, they stepped out into the clearing.

“You know, the more you bring me out here, the less this spot will be your own little getaway,” she said, walking toward the large boulder and climbing on top of it.

Ben grinned as he moved up after her. “I’m okay with that,” he said coolly. “Just don’t go telling anyone else about it. I don’t even care if I go missing and they want to know the places I like to go. I would hate to have to find myself a new spot.”

Rilynne laid back and turned her gaze up to the stars, Ben at her side.

“What are you doing?” she asked a few moments later when he pulled his phone out.

His thumbs moved quickly over keys before he tucked it back into his pocket. “I sent an email into work telling them I wouldn’t be in for a few days,” he replied. “I know there’s no way you’re going to just sit back and let the others try to figure out all the answers, and you’re going to need all the help you can get. I can’t accomplish anything at work now that I’ve been banned from everything related to the case. Besides, I’m very much looking forward to you showing them that, even without the backing of the department, you’re still the best detective they have.”

She didn’t know what to say. Even looking past the fact that Ben had never willingly taken time off, she had never felt so appreciated and supported by anyone. There didn’t seem to be a doubt in his mind that she was innocent. She let out a deep, satisfied sigh as she closed her eyes.

The darkness of the night was replaced by a near blinding light. Rilynne looked around, but didn’t understand what she was seeing.

She was standing in a cemetery. Around her were dozens of people, all wearing black. As she looked closer, she recognized every face. Every member of the homicide unit was there, along with a dozen other members of the department. Several members of the Bodker homicide department were also present.

Rilynne walked with the crowd toward a cluster of chairs set up in front of a black casket. When she glanced across the front row, her chest tightened and she let out a quick gasp. The two chairs in the middle were occupied by Ben and…her mom.

“No,” she said to herself. She rushed up to the casket, stopping when she came upon the large photo on display. She remembered the day it was taken. It was actually one of the few pictures of herself she liked.

“What’s going on?” she called out. No one gave any sign of hearing her. “Mom,” she said, kneeling down in front of her. “I’m right here. You can see me, can’t you?”

Like the others, Amber did not take notice of her. Rilynne studied her face. It was swollen and red. She had been crying. She turned toward Ben, hoping he was more responsive, but he seemed to be completely zoned out. Though he was holding Amber’s hand, he seemed to be in a different place entirely.

“I don’t understand,” she said, turning toward the casket. “How did this happen?”

She had never been overly cautious in life, despite the grief she was given. She never locked her front door when she was home, and she never hesitated before walking alone at night. Had her carefree thinking finally caught up with her?

A voice echoed out behind her, giving her an answer.

“Rilynne Evans was more than just a great detective,” Matthews stated. “She was an outstanding friend. I only wish I could have been there for her in her time of need. Even when she was accused of a crime she didn’t commit, Rilynne never lost faith in the system. I like to think she is still here with us. If she is, there is only one thing I want to tell her. We will find the person who is responsible for this. None of us will rest until we do.”

The scene spun around and quickly changed. She was now in a dimly lit room. The walls were completely covered in photos and scraps of paper, all connected together by a web of red string. Something about it scared her. There was
a thick feeling of obsession in the air that was almost overpowering.

As she walked around, she could make out newspaper clippings, photos of her house, and bits and pieces from what appeared to be at least three dozen other cases. In the center of it all was the Teich case file. From the look of the room,
whoever set it up was working under the assumption that her death was related to the murder she was being framed for.

She looked down at her hand and found a large marker. She moved toward the back wall. In the middle was a blank face with all strings leading to it.

“Gotcha!” she heard the deep, scratchy voice echo through the room as the marker raised up and pressed hard against the page.

When Rilynne’s eyes opened, she was overwhelmed by the feeling of frustration. She tried hard to look past the fact that there was a chance she could be facing a funeral in her near future and concentrated on everything she had seen in the room, but it was too
difficult. She had never run from a case before, but she now had to fight the urge not to. She was now on a race to solve it before she lost her life.

She didn’t realize a tear had roll down her face until Ben reached out and wiped it away. If he had any question about its cause, he kept it to himself. Instead, he just grabbed her hand and held it firmly. They laid there in silence for over an hour watching the stars shine above.

Rilynne felt herself starting to drift off when she heard Ben say, “We should probably start heading back. I’m starving, and I imagine you haven’t eaten anything all day.”

She thought about it as she sat up; she hadn’t eaten anything all day. She was surprised she hadn’t noticed. Ben slid off the rock before reaching up and helped Rilynne down. He again took her by the hand and they walked quietly through the woods.

It was just after nine when they walked in through her backdoor. Ben left her in the kitchen, saying he was just going to change his shirt. Rilynne had a feeling he was more concerned with searching her house, though. After several minutes, he seemed satisfied and returned to help her make something to eat.

“Why do you have a jar of peanut butter sitting on the side of your bathtub?” he asked, pulling last
night's leftovers out of the refrigerator.

Rilynne laughed.

“Because I forgot to put it back in the pantry,” she said, intentionally evading his question. Noticing his bewilderment, she smiled. “Peanut butter on a spoon makes the perfect bath time snack.”

He let out a sound somewhere between a groan and a chuckle. “You really are one of the strangest girls I’ve ever met.”

“Good,” she said with a proud grin. “I’ll take strange over boring any day.”

He popped the plate of patties in the microwave and turned to face her. “Anyone trying to accuse you of being boring should really have their head checked.”

“
Y
ou don’t have to stay,” she said as he locked every lock on the backdoor. “If this person really wanted me dead, they wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of setting me up.” As she said it, she thought back to the flashes she had seen of the person standing at the end of her bed, then to her funeral. The truth was, she wouldn’t put it past the killer at all to go after her while she was at home. If that happened, though, she didn’t want Ben to get caught in the middle of it. “Besides, I would feel really bad if one of your fish died because you were too worried about me to go home and feed them.”

“I’m not leaving you alone,” he said stubbornly. “And my fish can manage for one day. We can go over there tomorrow morning.” He didn’t look back toward her before walking to the front door. After ensuring it was secure, he made his way around the entire house, double checking every window. Rilynne followed him from room to room, but just stood back and watched him with an amused grin.

After he made sure a room was locked up, he shut the door before continuing into the next room. By the time he finished, Rilynne’s house felt completely locked down. “Are you satisfied?” she asked.

“For the time being,” he replied. When they reached her bedroom door, he was stopped by the ringing of his phone. “I’ve got to take this,” he stated. “I’ll be in soon.”

Rilynne nodded and proceeded through the door and into the restroom. After quickly getting ready for bed, she climbed under her thick comforter and sank into her pillows. She tried to keep her eyes open until Ben came in, but she couldn’t. The events of the prior days seemed to be taking their toll on her, leaving her both emotionally and physically drained. As she gave in and let her eyes slowly drift shut, she instantly fell into a deep sleep.

“Right this way, folks,” she heard from her right. “The next stop on our tour is the notorious Rilynne Evans.”

She looked forward and saw a group of people standing on the other side of a wall of gray prison bars. She asked herself for a moment why so many people would be in one cell, but reality set in. She was in the cell.

“Now I’m sure I don’t need to tell anyone why Ms. Evans is with us,” a tall man standing at the far edge of the cage said. “Rilynne Evans was a homicide detective working out of Addison Valley, Texas. After a man whom she believed was guilty of murder was released-”

“He was guilty!” she interrupted.

“Right,” he said, seemingly unconcerned with anything she had to say. “As I was saying, after the man was released from custody, he was hunted down and slain in his own apartment. Within days, Ms. Evans was named as the prime suspect.”

She looked out as he spoke at all of the eyes that were on her. Though many of them were filled with curiosity and intrigue, most held something more like revulsion.

“Wasn’t she found innocent?” a young girl called out. Rilynne turned toward her. She looked no more than fourteen years old.

“That’s right, young lady,” the tour guide stated. “Ms. Evans was able to successfully clear her name, as well as deliver the true killer. In so doing, she revealed herself to the world as what she truly is.”

Rilynne’s heart began pounding away in her chest. She wanted to ask what she was doing there, but she already knew. All she could do was sit there and hope she was wrong.

“We have been able to successfully tie thirty-three deaths to Ms. Evans, each occurring because of her ‘ability,’” he said, glaring at her. “The last of which was Ben Davis, her boyfriend at the time. After finding out what she could do, he ran out into a street to get away from her and was struck and killed by a car.”

“What?” she asked, rushing across the small cell. She grabbed the bars with both hands and leaned toward the guide. “What are you talking about? What happened to Ben?”

He seemed unmoved by her outburst. Instead of answering her, he just turned back to the group around him.

“For her crimes, Rilynne Evans has been sentenced to die as all undesirables do. You should feel lucky,” he said with a grin. “You are actually the last group to get to see her before her sentence is carried out, and she is burned at the stake.”

“What?” she yelled. “You can’t do that. I didn’t kill anyone. I haven’t done anything. This is some kind of mistake.”

“Now if you will follow me…” he trailed off, leading the group away.

Rilynne dropped down on her knees, the tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Somebody talk to me!” she yelled. She heard her words echo down the hallway. “Someone tell me what’s going on!”

“You have a visitor,” a cold voice said. She looked up to find another man, this one short and stocky. He did have one thing in common with the guide, though. He had the same look of malice in his eyes. “Why someone would want to visit you, I’m not sure.”

When he walked away, she saw Matthews was standing against the back wall.

“Matthews,” she said. “Tell me what’s going on. I don’t understand. Where’s Ben? They said…what happened to him?”

She saw something she had never seen before when she looked out at him. Hate.

“Matthews,” she said softly. “Todd. You know me. You know I would never hurt anyone, especially Ben. Please, just tell me what’s going on. They said they’re going to burn me. You can’t let that happen.”

He pushed off of the wall, his arms still folded in front of him, and walked toward her. “I thought I knew you,” he said coldly. “You lied to me, you lied to everyone. Look at how many people are dead because of what you can do. Ben, Mifflin… Katy.”

“Katy?” she asked as the air rushed from her lungs. “What happened to Katy?”

“She died!” he yelled. “You are responsible. You could have saved her. You should have saved her.”

She dropped down to the floor, fighting the urge to be sick. Her heart was pounding so hard, she felt like it was going to explode in her chest.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “Tell me what happened. Please. I just don’t understand.”

“You should have seen the complications she suffered during labor. If you had just seen them and told someone, she could have been saved,” he said. “The baby could have been saved. I fought like hell to have you charged with their deaths, and I’m going to sit in the front row and watch you burn.”

She couldn’t speak or even move. She just sat on the floor of the cell, tears rolling down her wet face, until the other man returned.

“It’s time,” he said. She looked up and found that Matthews was gone. “Get up.”

When she didn’t move, he slid the bars open and struck her with something hard. “I said get up!”

She pulled herself onto her feet and stepped out of the cell.

Suddenly, she was standing in the middle of a round room. She tried to move, but found her arms tied behind her, holding her against something hard. She looked over her shoulder as a small whimper escaped her. It was a stake. She pulled her eyes away from it and looked back around the room.

There was a large window circling the majority of it. Sitting behind the glass she saw nothing but familiar faces. Every member of both the Addison Valley and Bodker homicide departments were staring at her, each with a loathing glare. Directly in front of her was Sarah Bennett, her former sister-in-law.

“Please,” Rilynne said in an almost inaudible tone. She was too confused and tired to fight. Ben was dead. Katy was dead. Everyone she loved and cared about was there to watch her die. She didn’t see the point in struggling any longer.

“And what you’ve all been waiting for,” the guide said as he reappeared. He sounded almost like a circus announcer. His upbeat tone just didn’t seem right given what was about to happen. He turned and smiled at Rilynne before reaching out and pressing his hand against a large, red button.

Instantly, the floor around her erupted in flames. “No,” she moaned. “Make this stop. I didn’t mean to. Please make it stop.”

The flames reached up like hands and grabbed her ankles. Their long fingers burned worse than anything she had ever felt. She looked out into the crowd for anyone to come to her aid, but all she found was a sea of scowls.

“Make it stop!” she yelled.

The room was still dark when her eyes shot open. She twisted quickly and found Ben sound asleep next to her. She took low, deep breaths, trying to slow the heart that was pounding violently in her chest. It took several minutes for her body to relax, but unfortunately the thoughts racing through her mind were not as easy to subdue.

She gently slid off the edge of the bed, careful not to wake Ben, and slipped out of the room. She felt a tightness in her chest as she walked through the dark house that she hadn’t felt since she was a child. It wasn’t that the darkness itself was leaving her frightened, it was the prospects of what could be waiting for her in it. It took all of the strength she had to wait until she made it into the kitchen before turning a light on.

It was just after four.

As she poured herself a glass of water, she pondered whether she should try to force herself back to sleep, or just give up and get an early start on the day. Though she didn’t have to get up early for work, she still knew the events she currently found herself caught in the middle of would
not go away on their own. She was going to need to be well rested if she was to tackle the day ahead. With a resigned sigh, she finished the last of her water and walked back to her room.

Ben hadn’t moved a muscle since she left him. His gentle snoring echoed through the room as she carefully climbed back into bed. Before she lowered back down onto her pillows, she saw the moonlight creeping through the window reflect off of something sitting on the nightstand closest to Ben. She squinted as she tried to make out what it was, and smirked when it became clear. Before getting in bed, it appeared that Ben had made sure her backup gun was in reach.

She grinned down at him before gently kissing him on the forehead and sliding back under the covers. To her surprise, she now felt much more relaxed. It took only moments for her to drift back to sleep.

It seemed like only minutes later that she was awoken again. When she opened her eyes, though, she saw the morning light flooding into the room.

She reached out to grab the ringing phone that was sitting on her nightstand and held it up to check the number. It wasn’t one she knew.

“Who is it?” Ben asked, rubbing his hands over his face.

Rilynne shrugged before pulling the phone up to her ear. “Hello?”

“Evans.” She heard Matthews’ voice on the other end of the line. “I need you to listen to me very carefully.”

“You’re scaring me,” she interrupted. “What’s going on?”

“They just issued a warrant for your arrest,” he said abruptly. “You have about twenty minutes before they show up to take you in. Rilynne, you need to get out of there now. Don’t go to Ben’s or anywhere else they would think to look for you. Just go, go now.”