by Sam Cheever
I sucked air, slapping a hand over my mouth before realizing the two men couldn’t hear me.
Joshua’s back tightened. I didn’t need to see his face to know the question alarmed him. He shifted slightly in his chair, telescoping nervousness like a deer getting ready to flee a predator. “I’ve never seen that gun before.”
The way Arno stared at him, I got the feeling Josh had just stepped into some kind of trap. “That’s surprising. I’m guessing you’ve never seen this either?” He slid another picture toward my brother. Josh pulled it close and then shoved it away. He glanced toward the camera high in the corner before turning back to Arno. “That’s my spray paint. So what?”
Arno’s gaze slid to mine for just the briefest second and then dropped back to Josh. “Look, Mr. Magness. Here’s the deal.” He stabbed a finger on the picture of the gun. “This gun was used in an attack on Anthony Prince. We found it in your car.”
“That’s not possible!” Joshua surged to his feet so violently, his chair fell over backward with a crash.
I jumped at the sound, my pulse ratcheting up even higher than it already was.
Arno stood too. Placing his hands on the surface of the scarred, wooden table, he leaned in, his manner menacing. “You’re lying, Mr. Magness. You’ve lied about every single thing since we came into this room. When a man lies to me about anything, it makes it much harder for me to believe him about everything else. But when a man lies every time he opens his mouth…”
Arno let that hang between them. Joshua stood absolutely still for a long moment. His back was ramrod straight, and his hands were tightly fisted. Finally, he dipped his chin and sighed. Some of the tension left his back and shoulders, but his hands stayed fisted. When he spoke, his voice was tight. “I had nothing to do with Prince’s attack. I have never shot a gun in my life. If he’s a friend of my sister’s, I hope he’s going to be okay.” Josh spoke softly, the words seemingly dredged from deep inside his soul.
Arno motioned to the chair. “Please sit.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Joshua righted his downed chair and sat.
“It’s time to tell the truth,” Arno said. “You’re involved in all these attacks somehow. I need to know how.”
Josh stared at the table for a long moment. I took deep breaths and tried to calm the racing of my heart. Fear was a sour taste in my mouth. Fear that he was going to admit to killing Pam Wickham. Fear that he’d shot Prince.
Anxiety crawled through my stomach like a living organism. I pressed my hands against it, trying to breathe through the unsettling sensation.
“I didn’t kill anyone,” Josh suddenly said, his head snapping up. “I didn’t shoot that Prince guy. I’m only trying to get some justice for my sister. And for all the other women who’ve suffered under Martin Robb.”
I blinked in surprise. His admission was unexpected, despite the fact that Karinne had told me pretty much the same thing.
“Why were you at the scene when Prince was attacked?”
He shook his head. “He said something to Karinne. I was going to ask him about it.”
“What did he say?” Arno asked.
“He claimed Robb’s days of abusing women were coming to an end. He seemed really sure about it. I suspected he might have some evidence.”
“So you went inside his hotel room?”
“I never got the chance. When I got there that PI and…” He shook his head. “I left.”
“How did the gun get into your car?” Arno asked.
“I told you, I don’t know about any gun.”
Arno let that hang on the air for a beat and then said. “You were at the scene of Pam Wickham’s murder. Were you trying to hide your tracks?”
Josh made a sound like a frustrated growl. “How many times do I have to tell you I didn’t kill that woman?”
“Then why were you in her room?”
“I…” He pulled air into his lungs and slowly released it as if he were trying to calm himself. “I think she and the owner of Calliente Catering had something on Robb. I was trying to find it.”
Arno leaned closer. “What kind of something?”
“Evidence that Martin Robb raped several women. Women who worked for him. Women who couldn’t fight back. Women he could frighten or pay off to keep their mouths shut.”
My eyes went wide. Our theory about Calliente and Wickham blackmailing Robb was right after all. But how did Prince figure into it?
As if he’d read my mind, Arno asked, “Why would Anthony Prince have been attacked?”
Joshua leaned over the table as if preparing to tell a secret. “He and Pam Wickham were having an affair. I think he found something at Robb’s house. Something that would implicate Robb in the rapes. I think he shared that something with her.”
Arno’s gaze slid toward the mirror where I stood, the action so brief I was surprised Josh caught it. But he did. He turned in the chair, his familiar gaze finding me unerringly through the one-way glass, pinning me to the spot. “Who’s watching this?” he asked, his blue-gray eyes narrowing. “Is Robb in there?”
“Nobody’s watching,” Arno said, his tone dismissive.
Josh turned back to him. “Now who’s lying, cop?”
If the accusation made Arno uncomfortable, he gave no indication. “Did you spray paint the cameras at the Fawn Hotel?”
“I did.”
“Did you do it so you could kill Pam Wickham?”
Josh just sighed and shook his head.
“Unless you give me a better reason, that’s what I’m left with,” Arno said.
“I was going to search her room, and I didn’t want any video evidence that I’d been in there. I was waiting for her to leave her room so I could search it.” His gaze lifted to Arno’s. When he spoke again, his voice broke around the edges. “Your boss was there, so I left.”
“You went back the next day.”
“Yes. I needed to search the place before you clods had a chance to mess with my evidence.”
The statement was so outrageous, Arno laughed. “Your evidence? Are you aware that cops don’t just fall into their jobs by mistake. We have training. Lots of it. What kind of police training have you had, Mr. Magness?”
Josh stared at Arno. I really wished I could see his expression. Judging by Arno’s reaction, my brother wasn’t bothered in the least by the comparison of his skills to Arno’s.
“You’re very smug for someone who’s about to go to jail,” Arno said.
I flinched at that and then realized Arno had said jail, not prison. It was a careful misrepresentation meant to scare my brother. Josh would likely go into a cell for twenty-four hours while Arno tried to make a case against him. But I wasn’t sure he’d be convicted with purely circumstantial evidence. The gun in his car was definitely problematic, but it could have easily been planted.
I stopped myself, realizing I’d been trying to justify and make light of things to clear Joshua in my mind. Just because he was my brother by blood, that didn’t make him a good person by default. I didn’t know him at all, and it would do me good to remember that.
On the other side of the glass, Arno had changed tactics. “The car you’ve been driving around in belongs to your sister, Karinne, doesn’t it?”
Josh’s entire posture changed, tightened. “Leave her out of this.”
“Sorry, we can’t do that. It seems that she might have a better reason than you do to go after Mayor Robb. Maybe she left that gun in the car?”
Joshua was on his feet again, his posture aggressive. Hands fisted, he leaned toward Arno. “You leave her out of this, or I swear…”
“Sit down, Mr. Magness. You’re not in control right now. The sooner you figure that out, the better it will go for everyone.”
Joshua spun on his heel and took two long strides, his enraged face mere inches from the glass. He stabbed an angry finger at a spot just above my head. “Whoever you are, know this, I have rights. My sister has rights. First of all,
she has a right not to be manhandled by entitled jerks with more power than sense. Leave her out of this. She’s not the culprit of this mess. She’s just a victim.” By the time he got to the last sentence, his manner had gone from mutinous to sorrowful.
And I had tears in my eyes. Joshua Magness might never be a real brother to me. He might have killed someone and tried to kill others. But, when I was growing up, I’d have given almost anything for a brother who’d stand up for me like Josh was standing up for Karinne.
The door opened, and Deputy Miller strode in, a pair of handcuffs in his grip. He glanced into the mirror as he grabbed Josh’s arm and twisted it behind him, clamping the cuffs onto his wrists with the efficiency of a cop who’d done it a hundred times before. He grabbed Josh’s wrist and tugged him toward the door. “Let’s go, Mr. Magness. I have a nice suite for you in the back of the building. You’ll be only slightly uncomfortable there for a while.” As they headed through the door, I heard the young deputy say, “Room service sucks, but if you like burgers and fries, the food is decent.”
Arno held up a finger, telling me to stay where I was, and then followed Miller through the door.
19
I paced the small room until Arno came in. He set his phone onto the wide sill of the viewing window and spoke. “Okay, Amity, what do you think?”
“Honestly,” Hal said, his deep voice sounding slightly tinny through the phone. “I have no idea. There are a lot of things pointing at Josh Magness. There’s no doubt about that. But his reaction to hearing where you found the gun makes me wonder.”
“He could just be a good actor,” Arno said.
“I don’t think he was acting,” I said.
Arno held my gaze for a beat. “Do you think you can be objective?”
Like Hal, I didn’t know. “I’m trying to be.” I glared at him. “Thanks, by the way, for the heads up on his identity.”
Arno had the good sense to look guilty. “I’m sorry, Joey. But the last I heard, you weren’t sure he was your brother. After seeing him face to face, I can definitely see the resemblance.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. It was a mannerism I’d seen a hundred times, and it meant he was frustrated and maybe a little tired. “What do we think about Karinne Magness? She was molested by Robb. It was her car that was spotted at the scenes. And she was in the vicinity when you found Calliente’s body.”
I could see the case Arno was trying to make. There was just one problem. “I’d agree with you that she was a possibility if Robb was our victim. But he isn’t.”
“We always seem to come back to that,” Arno said.
And then there was my encounter in the dark the night before. “There’s something I haven’t told either of you yet,” I said, eyeing the phone. Hal was going to be mad that I hadn’t called him the night before. But he’d just have to get over it. I’d made the decision that was logical at the time. “I had a visitor last night when I had Caphy out for her final tour.”
“Visitor?” Arno asked. “Who was it?”
With my guilty thoughts, the silence coming from the phone felt angry. I shoved guilt away. “I don’t know who. He snuck up on me in the dark, down by the pond. I didn’t see him, but I can guarantee it wasn’t Karinne. It was definitely a man.” A realization hit me hard and fast, and I nearly smiled. It couldn’t have been Josh either. “It was a big man, strong and tall. It wasn’t Joshua.”
“You’re sure?” Arno asked.
“As sure as I can be without seeing a face.”
“What did he do?” Hal asked. The words emerged from him like nails from a nail gun. Oh yeah. He was mad.
“He didn’t hurt me. He just held me so I couldn’t turn around and see his face. And he threatened to hurt everybody I cared about if I didn’t get my nose out of this investigation.”
Arno stared at me as if perplexed. “Why?” he asked, clearly exasperated. “Why is it always you they go after?”
I’d pondered that myself and there was only one possible explanation. I didn’t like it. But I was pretty sure it was the truth. “They likely figure I’m the weak link. They think that if they can scare me enough, I’ll get Hal to back down too.”
Arno arched a brow. “Aren’t you forgetting somebody?”
“They can’t exactly stop the police from investigating, but at least they can limit the damage by getting rid of us.”
“In this case,” Hal interjected, “you have Mulhern working on shutting you down.”
Arno had to agree. “He’s getting to be a real pain in my a…”
“Welcome to our world,” I said, cutting him off. “The sheriff has been a pain in our posteriors for months.”
“Why’s he so determined to protect this guy?” Hal asked.
“They’ve been friends for decades. Mulhern once said something about Robb saving his life. I don’t think he meant it literally, but they’ve got a lot of history.”
“Who do you think it was last night?” Hal asked me.
I didn’t hesitate. “Mayor Robb.”
“I think we have to go with the assumption that the person who attacked you is our killer,” Hal said.
I didn’t like the emphasis he put on ‘attacked,’ but I let it slide. I’d hear from him about it later. I’d deal with it then. “I was thinking the same thing. So we need to find out who could have been there around that time.”
Arno inclined his head. “We already know Josh Magness could have been there, Joey.”
I chewed my lip and kept my opinion to myself.
“I’ll speak to Robb and check into the Magness parents,” Arno said, surprising me.
“The parents?”
“Fathers sometimes do bad things to protect their daughters,” Arno said.
He was right. I had trouble seeing Mr. Magness killing someone, but he had threatened to shoot my dog.
“I’ll check into Benson Dexter, and Cecily Addams,” Hal said.
“Cecily?” Surely he didn’t think Cecily had attacked me at my home?
“We have to exclude everyone who is even remotely suspect,” Arno told me.
I sighed. “Agreed.”
“Any luck with ballistics on that gun?” Hal asked Arno.
“No, I sent it to Indianapolis for a complete forensics workup, but even before we get the ballistics report, I can tell you it’s probably a community gun.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“It’s a gun that’s hidden somewhere several people, usually gang members, can get hold of it when they need a weapon for unlawful purposes. When they’re done with the weapon they put it back in its hiding spot until the next guy needs it. The firearm is usually illegally purchased and unidentifiable. We had one come through here last year. Unfortunately, we never caught the guy who used it to kill a pharmacy clerk in Bloomington. He passed through Deer Hollow, had a shootout on highway sixty-five with a rival gang member, and threw the gun out the window when he heard sirens heading his way. We’d have never found it except that the gun didn’t quite make it into the grass.”
“There’s no serial number?” Hal asked.
“Filed off,” Arno answered. “Still, the ballistics should give us a list of the places where the gun’s been used. It might help us pinpoint our killer.”
“I can run it up to Indy if you’d like,” Hal offered. “I need to stop into the office and get some paperwork on a new case for Amity Investigations.”
“Thanks. But Mulhern’s taking it. He should just about be there by now.”
“Okay. I’ll set up my interviews. Has Prince woken up yet?”
Arno sighed. “Not yet. If he does, I’ll let you know. Maybe you and Joey can talk to him since you’ve already approached him on an informal basis.”
“Sounds good. Talk to you soon.”
Hal disconnected without speaking to me again. Yep. He was ticked. Quick regret made my stomach twist, and then anger slid in to mute it. I wasn’t a child, and I had a right to make decisions for myself. If he cho
se to be overprotective, that was on him. Not me.
I headed out of the building, nurturing that anger as long as I could because I knew as soon as it faded, the guilt would return. I pushed out into the midday sunshine with a sigh. I’d end up apologizing to my PI for not calling him. Even though his protective nature sometimes grated. More often, it was a comfort. And I knew it was meant to be a show of love.
My stomach growled as I pulled out of the station. I realized with a start that I hadn’t had breakfast. Suddenly, I thought I was going to die if I didn’t eat soon. I considered what I had at home to eat and made a quick decision. I’d drive into Deer Hollow and have lunch at the diner.
Or I’d pile another bad decision onto the one from last night and just have pie for lunch. Yeah. I liked the sound of that. As bad ideas went, it was a pretty good one.
Two people stood on the sidewalk, just down from Sonny’s Diner. They had their heads together in what looked like a tense conversation.
Tiffany Brooks’ platinum blonde hair made her easy to identify. She looked unhappy.
I drove slowly past, eyeing her companion, who I quickly realized was Martin Robb. Parking my Jeep well down the road, I climbed out and stood watching the pair.
Their expressions filled with anger, the couple seemed to be having quite the disagreement. Reaching out, Robb grabbed Tiffany’s arm and gave her a little shake.
She yanked out of his grasp and said something I couldn’t understand. But her body language and the unhappy look on her perfect features told me she hadn’t liked whatever he’d said to her.
She took a step toward the diner, and he moved to cut her off. Using his larger form, He stepped into her, forcing her back and toward the alley between Sonny’s and the new flower shop next door.
It was time for me to step in. I hurried to the sidewalk and called out. “Mayor Robb?”
Robb bent close and said something to Tiffany, his body language aggressive and angry.
She glared up at him and then gave him a shove.
“Mayor Robb!” I called again, louder the second time.
