At the peak of the hill was the edge of a thick, new-growth forest. Nevins lunged into the forest, a pistol in his right hand.
Jackson and Nolan were sitting ducks once Nevins gained cover.
“Around to the right,” Brandon said to Josiah, directing him to the far boundary of the forest, in case the man headed that direction. Brandon veered to the right too.
Nolan had passed Jackson now and waded into the thick brush at the forest edge.
Another gunshot.
Had Nolan been hit?
Jackson reached the tree line but pulled back now, taking cover.
Brandon and Josiah were in the trees now, about fifty yards south of Jackson.
“Stay even with me,” Brandon said to Josiah. “No crossfire.”
Josiah nodded.
Josiah positioned himself south of Brandon and they moved in.
Brandon spoke into his radio. “Jackson, Nolan. Are you injured?”
They both responded negative.
“We are several yards south of you—to your right. Drive him toward us.”
“10-4.”
If they weren’t careful, Nevins would use them for target practice. The trees were thin conifers, newly planted in the last decade. But the brush was shoulder high in some places. The uneven terrain made it impossible to advance quietly in the crackling, thick underbrush.
Gunfire clapped against the hillside again, echoing through the forest. Brandon held his breath, listening. He scanned the area to the right, where he expected Nevins. He hoped the last shot was Jackson or Nolan edging Nevins toward Brandon and Josiah.
Another shot rang out. Then, a wild rustling of underbrush.
Brandon made eye contact with Josiah and motioned for him to stay put.
He waited as the commotion moved his direction.
Brandon crouched, scanning the sloping hillside.
Then, through the brush came the bright orange safety vest. The idiot hadn’t even thought to take it off.
Nevins trudged ahead, parallel with the tree line, no longer climbing upward. Waist high in undergrowth, he was even with Brandon now, but about forty feet further up the hill.
Brandon lifted his weapon. Nevins’ eyes caught on Josiah, several feet to Brandon’s right. Brandon glanced Josiah’s direction.
Josiah aimed his Glock at Nevins. Nevins ducked his head, lifting his hand above the brush, pistol ready to unload.
Josiah had lost sight of him.
“Drop it!” Brandon said.
Brandon had half a second to decide. Would Nevins choose to die, or give himself up?
Nevins froze. Gun pointed at Josiah, he turned his head to Brandon.
“Shit.”
“Last chance, Nevins,” Brandon said.
Nevins dropped the pistol, shoving his hands up in surrender.
“Up. All the way,” Brandon said.
Brandon took a step forward, weapon trained on Nevins.
“Cuff him, Josiah.”
Brandon notified Jackson and Nolan to stand down. They’d secured the suspect.
Chapter 21
Hours later, after getting an official statement from Derrick Green, towing in Nevins’ car for evidence, collecting Nevins’ gun, and transporting Nevins to the Forks Jail, they headed to the station.
Josiah was convinced they’d caught Lauren’s murderer. It didn’t look good for Nevins—running away from the police was a clear giveaway you’d done something wrong. But so far, the only evidence they had against him was Derrick Green’s statement that Nevins had fought to keep Lauren in the truck after she’d tried to escape.
In the meantime, he’d shot at two police officers. That was enough to hold and charge him.
Back in his office Brandon regrouped with Jackson and Nolan.
“So, what happened? From the start.”
He’d only gotten a summary of their interaction with Nevins.
“We approached the suspect. He had his back to us,” Jackson said.
“And he turned, saw us and threw his flagger sign at Jackson. He bolted through some parked trucks and up the hill.”
“Who fired first?”
“I did,” Nolan said, resting his hands on his belt. “Jackson had a clear shot but didn’t act.”
“My first goal was to apprehend the suspect. Not shoot him in the back,” she said. “I was five feet behind him. I could have caught him.”
“He had a weapon,” Nolan said.
“You didn’t know that until after you shot at him,” Jackson said.
“Wait,” Brandon said. “If Jackson was pursuing Nevins and you were trailing Jackson, you shot past Jackson at the suspect?”
“I had a clear shot.”
And with one misstep, could have killed Jackson.
“But you were behind her, and she was five feet from Nevins?”
Nolan tapped his holster. “I’m confident in my marksmanship.”
“You put a fellow officer at risk, Nolan.”
“That’s bull, Mattson. I could have saved her life.” Nolan leaned forward. “Even after Nevins pulled the pistol. Jackson had her chance.”
“I followed procedure, ordered him to put the gun down.”
There were times when talking didn’t make sense. But so far, Jackson’s approach seemed reasonable. If Nevins hadn’t pulled his gun yet…
“Except you froze. It’s no good telling a perp to stand down when you can’t get your gun out.”
Jackson’s eyes fell on Brandon. “I admit, I fumbled for my firearm. But not because I froze.”
“So, the guy fires a couple of shots,” Nolan said. “It’s a damn good thing he can’t shoot worth a shit. Or someone would have got killed. That’s when he got into the forest. As for me, I know I did the right thing. I didn’t piss my pants just because—”
“Shut the hell up,” Jackson said.
Nolan stood. “I’d better get working on my report.”
“Do that,” Brandon said. “And after that, take the rest of the week off.”
“What?”
“I’m giving you two days unpaid leave. Shooting past Jackson was stupid and reckless. And at that point, there wasn’t any indication of a weapon. You should have tried to apprehend him first, especially if Jackson was that close.”
Brandon knew it was the right thing to do, putting Nolan on leave. He’d pay for it when he heard back from the union, and there would be a pile of paperwork. But it would be worth it if Nolan learned from this. That was a big if.
“You’re making a mistake, Mattson—”
“Chief Mattson. Or sir, if you prefer,” Brandon said.
“This is crap. Eli would have done the same thing. He wasn’t afraid to use force—”
It wasn’t the first time Nolan had brought up Brandon’s brother, trying to get a reaction.
“My brother has nothing to do with this. He’s not here. I am.”
Nolan crossed his arms. “Is this because you’re pissed that I’m with Misty?”
“I’m not even going to respond to that. Now leave my office while you still have a job with this department.”
Nolan narrowed his eyes at Jackson and shook his head as if all of this were her fault.
Nolan moved to leave.
Brandon said, “Something else. That reporter was in here yesterday asking for you.”
“Ted? So what?”
“And today there’s a front-page story about the investigation.”
“And?”
“If I find out you’re the one leaking to the press, I will have your badge. Permanently.”
With Nolan gone, Brandon turned his attention to Jackson.
“What really happened?”
“You mean when I froze?”
“You just said you didn’t freeze.”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“This your first time in a shooting situation?”
“No,” she said quickly.
“You need time off? A break?”
“You going to tell me this is because I’m a mother now, that it was different when I didn’t have kids?”
“Nope.”
“Like that story about the guy and the bowl of cherries?”
“I can’t say what you’re thinking. But people make mistakes. If you froze, okay. But it can’t happen again.”
“You think I should have shot him as soon as he pulled on me?”
“Depends,” Brandon said. “You have to use your judgement.”
“Well, if you believe Nolan—”
“I don’t give a damn what Nolan thinks,” Brandon said.
She smiled. “Thanks.”
“Will this screw up my chances at getting on full time?” she asked.
“Not with me. But I can’t do anything about what your fellow officers think.”
He had sent Jackson and Nolan out together in hopes they would learn to work together. It was a simple enough assignment. But somehow it had all gone to hell, and not only did Nolan and Jackson despise each other, they had basically accused each other of being bad cops.
His first week on the job as Chief of Police and he was faced with a murder investigation. Should be no big deal, he’s been a homicide detective for over a decade, even supervised the department. But those were professional detectives, not beat officers with relatively little investigate experience trying to make a name for themselves.
The problem was, he couldn’t do it all himself. That meant he’d have to learn to trust his officers. But first, they’d have to learn to work together without killing each other.
Josiah knocked on the door jamb.
“Hey, good job today,” Brandon said.
“Thanks,” Josiah said. “Guess what?”
“Say it.”
“Doug Nevins is a registered sex offender. He’s wanted for failure to register.”
Not only was he a convicted sex offender, he was one of the last people to see Lauren alive, and—at least according to his buddy—had mentioned wanting to go back after the girl.
“Bring him to the interview room,” Brandon said.
Brandon and Josiah sat across from Nevins.
“Water? Coffee?” Brandon asked.
“Screw you.”
Brandon read Nevins his rights.
“You know why you’re here?”
“Because some dumb ass cop tried to shoot me.”
“Hadn’t they told you to stop?”
As much as Brandon disagreed with Nolan firing on Nevins at that point during the pursuit, he wasn’t about to express his frustration with Nolan in front of the suspect. Any error in judgement by an officer, no matter how unrelated to the offense in question, was the sort of thing a defense attorney would jump on.
“I don’t remember,” Nevins said.
Brandon locked eyes with Nevins, matching the man’s hard, cold gaze.
“You’re aware about the girl found dead on the beach?”
Nevins scoffed. “No.”
He was lying.
“You picked her up the night she died.”
“Not sure what you’re talking about.”
Brandon tapped his fingers on the table.
“We have video, Nevins.”
Nevins tugged on his handcuffs, as if to remind himself: yes, you really are screwed.
“The girl jumped out and we left her there.”
“Then what?”
“Derrick took me back to the motel.”
“What did you want to do?”
Nevins’ gaze rose to meet Brandon’s.
“You wanted to go back after her, didn’t you?”
“It don’t matter what I wanted to do. I went to my room and crashed. That’s all.”
“Did anyone see you after Derrick left?”
Nevins’ eye slid to the door, then Brandon. “You think I killed her.”
“All I want is the truth, Doug. What happened?”
“I already told you.”
“And if I say we have video of you returning to the highway alone, after Derrick left.”
There was no such video. But Nevins’ eyes widened, all the blood draining from his ruddy complexion.
“That…that doesn’t mean I found her. I was just getting some fresh air.”
Brandon fought to mask his surprise. It had worked.
“And when you found her?”
“I didn’t…I want an attorney.”
“You sure? Because we were doing so well, with you finally deciding to be honest—”
“I want an attorney.”
That was Brandon’s cue to stop interviewing Nevins. Any answers to Brandon’s questions from this point forward wouldn’t be admissible as evidence.
“Anyone in particular?” Brandon asked.
“Yeah, the kind that prevents me from having to answer stupid questions about crap I didn’t do.”
Brandon motioned to Josiah. “Take him back to his cell and have the jail staff contact a public defender.”
“I didn’t do nothing,” Derrick said as Josiah led him away.
An hour later, Josiah was back in Brandon’s office.
“He’s in CODIS,” Josiah said.
Convicted sex offenders’ DNA was collected and stored in the CODIS database, making it easier to evidence from unsolved crimes to criminals in the system. Having a DNA sample on file would make it easier to match Nevins to the evidence found with Lauren.
“Doesn’t that pretty much prove it?” Josiah asked.
“Prove what?”
“That he killed Lauren Sandoval,” Josiah said.
“He’s a sex offender, was last seen with her hours—or minutes—before she died. And he’d made statements about wanting to go after her even after she fled. It sounds good, but it’s not enough—yet.”
If there was a match between the semen found with Lauren, it would be an easy conviction. If not, they had a lot of circumstantial evidence. But nothing placing Nevins at the scene of Lauren’s death. And the person last with Lauren had likely drank some beers with her. Based on Lauren’s initial reaction to Nevins’ advances, he couldn’t imagine her sharing a drink with him.
They would have to wait for the DNA evidence to come back. If they found Nevins’ DNA on either Lauren or the beer cans, Brandon would be a lot more confident in taking the case to the prosecutor.
“You’re not going to charge him?” Josiah asked.
“With evading arrest and attempted murder of a police officer? Sure. Let’s see what forensics gets out of his truck.”
This wasn’t harassment or burglary. Not even armed robbery came close. The greater the charges, the more the defense would push back. Brandon had to be sure.
“But—”
“There are other suspects we need to clear.”
“Like the boyfriend?”
“And Ruby and anyone else who happened to be around Lauren that night. The defense will ask us who else we considered. We have to show due diligence.”
“Okay. So now what?”
“No one’s been able to find Ruby for the last couple of days.”
“Out to her place?”
“Let’s go.”
Chapter 22
Ruby lived south of town, in a wooded area about half a mile off the main highway. To get there, you traveled down a gravel road, passing a handful of mobile homes. Ruby’s lot was the fourth one down, but Brandon had Josiah park a ways back, so they could approach on foot.
The case against Ruby was weak. But she had motive. She’d been selling drugs. Lauren had threatened to turn her in. And Ruby had lied about the video cameras at the gas station, claiming they didn’t work.
Why had she hidden the fact that Lauren left with the Nevins and his friend? She might shed more light on Nevins and what he did—or didn’t do—the night Lauren was murdered.
“What if she’s not home again?” Josiah asked.
“Then we’ll take a look around.” Brandon motioned for Josiah to follow his example and walk in
the tall grass lining the gravel road to avoid announcing their arrival.
Brandon slowed as they approached Ruby’s plot. The trees were thinner here, and from the road they could see her car, an old Buick Park Ave with faded gray paint. The trunk was open.
The screen door swung open and Ruby flew out of the house with two large paper bags, one in each arm. She placed the bags in the Park Ave’s trunk and rushed back inside.
Brandon remembered what Brooke and the others had said about Ruby dealing.
“She’s leaving,” Josiah said.
“I want to know what’s in those bags,” Brandon said. “Come on.”
They crouched, moving forward carefully.
There was a clanking of dishes from inside the house. Brandon paused for a moment, then sprinted to the car.
The paper bags were open. Inside were clothes. Women’s socks and underwear.
Just then, Ruby emerged, carrying a large suitcase.
She was halfway to the car before she noticed them.
“Hi Ruby. Going somewhere?”
Panic crossed her face as her eyes moved from Brandon to the open trunk.
“A little vacation. That’s all.”
She tossed the suitcase in the trunk, on top of the paper bags.
“You’re not trying to hide anything are you?”
Ruby slammed the trunk shut.
“Why would you think a thing like that, chief?”
Josiah responded first. “Maybe because you withheld information in a murder—”
Brandon put a hand up to quiet him.
“I told you everything I know about the girl.”
“Except the part where you argued with her,” Brandon said.
She opened her mouth to deny the statement, then thought better of it.
“And that small detail about her leaving with two men.”
“We have the video from the store,” Josiah said.
She shrugged her shoulders. “So?”
“You said the cameras didn’t work.”
“I thought they didn’t. That cheapskate Mr. Kayani—”
“What were you and the girl arguing about?” Josiah asked.
She crossed her arms, leaned back against the trunk.
“Maybe Lauren was going to turn you in.” Brandon said.
Ruby scoffed. “For what?”
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