Dead by Sunrise

by Richard Ryker

  “Did you kill Lauren?” Brandon asked.

  “No.”

  “Justin?”

  “No way,” Adam said.

  “Do you know who did?”

  “If I did, I’d tell you…I mean, I don’t want to go to jail for what someone else did.”

  “Either does anyone else,” Brandon said, thinking of Ruby.

  What was Brooke’s plan? Was she innocent, desperate to find a way to prove she hadn’t killed Lauren and Justin? Or was she targeting Ruby—hoping to frame her for a crime Ruby hadn’t committed?

  There was a knock at his front door.

  “Thanks for the information, Adam. We’ll be in touch.”

  Brandon slid the door open a crack.

  “You got a minute?” Misty asked.

  He stepped back, letting her in. “Just a few. I’ve got to get down to the station—”

  “I wanted to apologize for the other night.”

  “You mean—”

  “The kiss,” she said, holding onto his hand. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  Branded pulled back.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  What was wrong was that she kept giving him reasons not to trust her.

  “The other day, I mentioned my doubts about Ruby’s innocence.”

  “You did?”

  He hated it when people played dumb.

  “You told Nolan.”

  She squinted at him. “I…I mean—”

  “Please don’t,” he said. “I know it’s true. What I don’t know is what else you’ve passed along. About me, about Emma—”

  “I wouldn’t do that.”

  “Really?”

  “Okay, I might have mentioned to Nolan what you said about Ruby Taylor. That you wondered if she were guilty. Other stuff…I don’t know.”

  All the time they’d spent together over the last several days. The time she’d spent with Emma…

  “Is that why you fired Nolan?” she asked. “Because he talked to the newspaper?”

  It was one of many reasons.

  “I’m not going to discuss Nolan, or anything to do with my department, with you.”

  She moved toward him, her hand on his chest. He moved it aside.

  “You’d better go.”

  “I’m sorry, Brandon. I didn’t know.”

  “And when you said you were taking a break from Nolan—but you were passing along information about me—”

  “It wasn’t like that.”

  There was something else.

  “And before you go dragging my daughter to a suspect’s home—”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You and Emma went to Brooke’s home to return her coat. Without telling me.”

  “I thought you’d be upset,” she said.

  “So, you hid the truth?”

  Now Brandon wondered—had Misty known Brooke was Olivia’s niece all this time?

  He decided it didn’t matter. He was done.

  “Brandon—”

  He waved her off. “I’ve heard it before. Remember, twenty years ago? You lied then too.”

  “That was different,” she said.

  He thought about telling her he was dating someone else—Lisa Shipley. But that wasn’t close to the truth. They hadn’t even been out once. And mentioning Lisa would only serve to hurt Misty. That’s not what he wanted. He wanted to move on.

  “Goodbye, Misty.”

  Misty blinked, wringed her hands together. She turned and left without another word. Brandon closed the door behind her.

  He cursed, punting an empty moving box across the living room.

  He’d been stupid—for trusting Misty, letting her back into his life. Not only because of her connection to Nolan, but her history with Brandon. What made him think she would change?

  It was moments like this when he wished Tori were here. Despite their differences, she was someone he could trust no matter what the circumstances. But it wasn’t like he could call her and complain about how his ex had duped him, again.

  He thought about calling Tori but thought better of it. Then, he considered texting Lisa to set up a new time to meet.

  The time wasn’t right. After he wrapped up the case. If she was still interested. Right now, he had a murder to solve, a town to run and a family to raise.

  Brandon grabbed his keys and headed back. He had an idea how Brooke might try to frame Ruby. His plan for catching her, if it were to work, would require help.

  Chapter 43

  Brandon found Will at the station filing his reports for the day.

  “Any plans after work?” Brandon asked.

  “A glass of Jameson and my recliner. I plan to fall asleep watching the Mariners lose.”

  “Sounds boring,” Brandon said.

  “That’s the point—”

  “I need your help solving a murder. Or two.”

  Will sighed. “Did I mention I’m too old for this?”

  “We’ll take my truck.”

  “Undercover work?”

  “Exactly.”

  They left Brandon’s truck down the long dirt road, several hundred feet past Ruby’s property. Brandon pulled into an open area in the forest. The small plot had been used by illegal dumpers to toss everything from mattresses to couches and washing machines.

  “Explain again why I’m missing my dinner?” Will asked as they walked back down the road to Ruby’s place.

  “Brooke told Adam that she could prove Ruby killed Justin and Lauren. Tonight.”

  “Tonight when?”

  “Don’t know. That’s why we’re getting here early.”

  Will shook his head. “Why do I think this will take a while?”

  “Because,” Brandon said. “You’re a seasoned veteran…”

  “Seasoned is right. I remember the first time I pulled you over for speeding.”

  “And I begged you for a warning, but you still gave me a ticket. My dad was so pissed at me.”

  “I was trying to teach you a lesson.”

  “Huh,” Brandon grunted.

  “It must have worked. You turned out alright.”

  Brandon often forgot how much he’d looked up to Will when he was a kid. It was his memories of the kindly yet hard-assed cop that had partially influenced his decision to enter the force.

  They reached Ruby’s property, her mobile home edged into a small nook in a stand of alder and fir.

  The porch lights were off, the inside dark too. It was twilight, and the moon had risen just above the treetops.

  Brandon pulled out the key he had taken from Ruby’s belongings at the jail.

  “You sure you’re not wasting my time on inadmissible evidence?” Will asked.

  “She gave me the okay to do this.”

  “How the hell did you convince her to do that?”

  “I told her if my plan worked, we would have the person who killed Lauren and Justin. Meaning she wouldn’t have to worry about a murder charge.”

  Ruby’s attorney had insisted Brandon release Ruby as part of the deal. But he’d already charged her with possession with intent. It was better for Ruby if she were locked up until the murder investigation was complete. For her own safety and to prevent any further accusations against her.

  “You sure are stuck on proving she didn’t do this, but I’ve seen the way she talks to you. You know if Ruby were in your shoes, she wouldn’t be trying this hard.”

  “I’m getting to the truth. That’s what matters. Not whether she likes me or not.”

  They stepped into the mobile home, the odor of smoke and Pine Sol slapping them across the face like a whiff of smelling salts.

  “Stinks like an old nursing home. Back when there weren’t any rules about smoking inside,” Will said.

  “Brooke will try to prove the bite marks are from Ruby—-from a pair of those fangs that Ruby has,” Brandon said.

  “But we never found fangs here during the search.”

 
“Right.”

  Will eyed Brandon. “Then what the hell are we doing standing here in the dark?”

  “I think Brooke stole them from Lauren—who’d already taken them from Ruby. The night Ruby gave her a ride. Ruby said they were missing from her car. They’d been in a container on the seat next to her—”

  Brandon stopped. He’d heard something. A moment later, lights swept across the living room wall.

  “Come on,” Brandon said. At the end of the hallway, there was one room to the left, another to the right. Both doors were closed.

  Brandon pointed right. “In there, make yourself invisible. Don’t do anything until you see what she’s up to.”

  Brandon slid into the room on the left. A mattress lay on the floor, but there were no sheets and, as Brandon recalled from the search, the closet was empty too. The window on the far side of the room faced the driveway.

  As the vehicle pulled onto Ruby’s property, its headlights went dark.

  A car door clicked shut. Whoever it was, they were trying to be quiet, and were taking their time, scoping out the scene.

  He crept to the window.

  The moon was near full. A feeble light seeped in through midnight blue curtains. He reached for the curtains but just then heard footsteps approaching the house.

  He slid back, waiting.

  A moment later there was a knock at the front door. Three quick taps.

  It could be someone legitimate, or one of Ruby’s customers looking to score some pills.

  Two more taps.

  Then, the front steps creaked.

  A shadow passed by the window.

  They weren’t leaving, they were headed for the back of the house.

  Was that a woman who’d passed by? It was impossible to tell through the dark window dressings.

  The other entrance was a back door off the kitchen.

  He could move to the kitchen, bust them for breaking and entering. But that wasn’t the point. They were here to catch Brooke planting evidence in an attempt to pin the murders on Ruby.

  He’d stay put, wait for her next move.

  Whoever it was, they were taking their time, probably trying the windows first.

  A sharp crack of glass broke the silence. There was a loud thump on the kitchen floor.

  They’d thrown a large rock through the kitchen door window.

  The back door scraped open, followed by the shuffling of feet, kicking glass across the linoleum.

  Brandon squeezed behind the door but left it open, shielding himself from view.

  Footsteps creaked down the hallway.

  The steps paused. Brandon held his breath, pressed himself against the wall.

  He glanced through the crack in the door.

  Was it Brooke?

  If she saw him now, she would bolt, and with that they’d lose any chance of finding out exactly what her plan was.

  The door to Ruby’s room scraped across the carpet.

  Hopefully, Will had hid himself. Brandon recalled that there was a small closet to the right as you entered the room. The bed was on the left.

  A drawer of some sort slid open. Papers shuffled.

  “Alright, don’t move,” Will’s voice commanded.

  Brandon bolted out from behind the door and rushed into the bedroom, pulling his pistol out.

  The figure rushed at Will.

  Will grunted in pain. The suspect turned to Brandon, then froze.

  Brandon’s pistol and flashlight were aimed on the scared, angry face of Olivia Baker.

  Olivia dropped the knife in her hand.

  “Show me your hands,” Brandon said.

  Olivia obeyed.

  “Face the bed and your hands behind your back.”

  Brandon cuffed her and set her on the bed.

  “You all right, Will?” Brandon said, eyeing the knife.

  “Just a nick,” Will said.

  Brandon flipped the light on.

  A long slice ran up Will’s left arm, blood seeping through his sleeve and down his bicep.

  “A couple of inches to the left and—” Brandon said.

  “Yeah. My wife’s gonna be pissed. At you.”

  Brandon called for a medic to take care of Will. Then, he contacted dispatch to get officers on-scene.

  “Tell me what happened,” Brandon said.

  “I was in the closet, heard the glass. I saw her walk over to the nightstand and drop a container in. That’s when I called out.”

  Brandon glanced into the still-open drawer where there was a pair of vampire fangs in a zip lock bag.

  As right as he’d been about the teeth—that they’d be returned to frame Ruby—he was just as wrong about who’d be the one to set her up.

  “Brooke had nothing to do with this,” Olivia said. “It was all my idea.”

  “So, you’re admitting to killing Lauren and Justin?”

  Olivia stared at his feet. “Yes.”

  Brandon didn’t believe her. There was no connection between Olivia and Lauren’s death. Justin’s murder—possibly.

  “Where is Brooke?” Brandon asked.

  She crossed her arms, refusing to make eye contact.

  “Olivia—”

  “I said I don’t know. Just…take me to prison or whatever you’re going to do with me.”

  He held on to Olivia’s arm and pulled her to her feet.

  “Let’s go.”

  They left through the front door and were halfway to Olivia’s car when the sound of sirens pierced the air. Medics responding to Brandon’s call.

  The passenger door flew open. A figure emerged in the dim light.

  Olivia darted free from Brandon, “Brooke! Run!”

  Brandon let go of Olivia and unholstered his pistol.

  Brooke lunged into the car but quickly reemerged holding a handgun.

  Brandon trained his weapon on her.

  “Drop the weapon and don’t take another step.”

  Brooke stopped, pistol still at her side.

  “Drop it, Brooke.”

  Brandon’s trigger finger twitched.

  “Now!”

  The gun fell from Brooke’s hand.

  Brandon took a deep breath. No one else would have to die.

  “On the ground, Brooke. Will, you got Olivia?”

  “I’ll call for transport, chief.”

  Chapter 44

  Brandon insisted Will get checked out at the hospital. He did, but not after a barrage of comments like, I don’t need a doctor—if you really cared you’d let me go home and eat my dinner and I’m no sissy—I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive.

  Brandon called Jackson in to help interview the two women.

  Olivia stuck to her story—she’d committed the murders of both Lauren and Justin. Her professed motive was revenge on the duo for cheating on her niece. Brandon was sure she was involved somehow in Justin’s death, or at least the cover-up. But was she capable of murder? Or just protecting Brooke from a lifetime in prison?

  They interviewed Brooke next. Gone was the young woman’s sad, lost-my-best-friend demeanor. Now, she wore an expression of defiance, even hatred.

  “You thought you could frame Ruby for the murders you committed,” Brandon said. “Is that right?”

  Brooke tapped her fingers on the table. Brandon wasn’t buying the weak attempt at appearing unconcerned.

  “We caught your aunt Olivia planting the fangs you used on Justin and Lauren.”

  “That doesn’t prove anything,” Brooke said. She glanced up at the camera in the corner of the room.

  “And when I get the DNA back from the beer cans you shared with Lauren? And your necklace—did that come off when you pushed Lauren, your best friend, to her death?”

  Brooke glanced at the door.

  She wasn’t going anywhere for a very long time.

  “And your prints from the rope. The shovel, too. You left evidence everywhere.”

  It was a guess, but one he’d bet money on.
The chaotic nature of the crime scene—the shovel, the hurried attempt to make Justin’s murder look like a suicide—it spoke of someone in a hurry. Someone who wouldn’t think to wear gloves.

  “Maybe we can tell you what we think,” Jackson said, her voice quiet and calming in contrast to Brandon’s.

  As a detective, Brandon wasn’t always the bad cop, but he’d found himself irritated by Brooke’s defiant attitude. It didn’t help that she’d invited Emma to a party where there was drinking and drugs. He was happy to let Jackson have a crack at her.

  “You learned Justin was cheating—”

  “Learned?” Brooke scoffed. “Like it was a new thing? Yeah, I knew he’d messed around on me before.”

  “But you thought he’d changed,” Jackson said.

  “He did. For a while.”

  “And then…”

  “Lauren was cheating on Adam.”

  “How did you find out?” Brandon asked.

  “Adam told me. It didn’t take long to figure out it was Lauren.”

  “She was your friend. That must have hurt,” Jackson said.

  “I trusted her. Every other slut in Port Angeles wanted a piece of Justin. But Lauren, she wasn’t supposed to be like that.”

  “How long had you known?” Brandon asked.

  “Right before the camping trip. I mean, I thought maybe it wasn’t true, that Adam was just messing with my head. But then that night, we were all partying and Lauren and Justin were flirting like I wasn’t even freaking there.”

  “But you went to your tent?”

  “Justin did too, acted like he was passed out, so I fell asleep. Until he got up. I heard him and Lauren talking, and they took off together. That’s when I knew Adam was right.”

  “And then what?” Brandon asked.

  “Justin came back later, and I knew what happened. I was going to tell that bitch what I thought of her, but she was gone.”

  “Did you confront Justin?”

  “No. He just went to sleep, and I waited for her. Later, she showed up with the beer, all happy like nothing had happened. She said let’s go out to the rock, so I did.”

  “You were hurt, mad at her because she’d betrayed you.”

  “Hell yes,” Brooke said, her voice more intense now. “Do you know what it’s like to have someone cheat on you? With your best friend?”