Prime Suspect: A Psychological Thriller With A Twist You Won’t See Coming

by Cole Baxter

  "You think it wasn't a suicide?" he asked.

  "I know it sounds crazy," I said. "But could you look into it?"

  "Yeah," he said. "Give me a second, let me see who I know around here. Do you want to come with me?"

  "No," I said. The caution tape was glaring at me, and I couldn't bring myself to cross it. "No, I'll stay here."

  "Sure," he said and then ducked under the tape. I realized that he probably left because he thought I was safe. Devon was gone. There was nothing that could hurt me now.

  "Laurie." I recognized Sam's partner, Anna, coming toward me. "Are you all right?"

  "Yes," I said. She was so kind, and I couldn't really understand why Blake disliked her so much. The police force partnership thing was not something that I understood. "Yes. I think so."

  "Horrible stuff, this," she said. "I'm sorry that it had to end like this."

  "I'm not sure I am," I replied. "I mean . . ."

  "I prefer to see assholes like this behind bars," she said.

  "Oh," I answered. "Yeah. For the rest of his life. But I feel relieved this way. If he really is gone, he can't just break out of jail or get out for good behavior, you know? He's gone. Actually gone."

  "Yes," Anna said. "I was here when they cut the body down."

  "So . . . you saw him?" I asked.

  "Yes," she confirmed. "You're safe now."

  "Yeah, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that," I said. "But thank you. It's good to know that someone saw him."

  "So, it's what I thought," Blake said when he came back. "We'll have to wait for the coroner's report in order to figure out anything for sure."

  "But is there any definite evidence?" I asked. "Like maybe they saw . . ."

  "Laurie, we just have to wait," he said.

  I knew there was nothing else we could do. I noticed that he was completely ignoring Anna. I knew there was something there, but I waited until we had moved away.

  "Hey," I said to him as soon as we were back in the car. "What is it with you and Anna?"

  "Nothing," he said with a shrug.

  I glared at him. "Blake, it's obviously something," I said.

  He sighed. "It is," he said. "But it's not about Anna."

  "If it's not about Anna, who is it about?" I asked. "Is it about Sam?"

  "No," he said. "I could have hated anyone he partnered with. I just hate that he partnered up so soon. Like it was nothing. Like it was nothing at all."

  "Because you didn't?" I asked. "But was he sleeping with his partner too?"

  "Uh, I don't think so," he said and smirked. "It was more of a bromance, but that isn't the point. The point is more that they just . . . you know, existed together so well, and then his partner was taken out of the game and Sam finds a new one."

  "Oh," I said. "So, you aren't supposed to?"

  "Well, you should maybe have some emotion about it first," he said. "And Sam didn't seem to have any."

  "Well, maybe he didn't share it with you," I said. "I mean, I don't know the situation. I don't know how close you two were. I just . . ."

  "I know," Blake said. "And he could have shared it with me at any point. But I guess he didn't, or he just wasn't sad."

  "Blake," I said carefully, "one of the things that they taught us in therapy was that you can't just decide other people's emotions for them. Like you can't decide that Sam wasn't sad, and you can't tell him that he wasn't hurt."

  He paused. I had a feeling that if I were anyone else, he would have freaked out. But because I was me, he seemed to be really thinking about it.

  "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I guess I didn't think about it. To be honest, I was just so angry that he wasn't . . . listening, I guess."

  "I know," I said. "And you were dealing with a lot. How long ago did your partner die?"

  "Six months," he said. "So, it was a real blow for the force."

  "Wow," I said. "Yeah. That's rough."

  "Exactly," he replied. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. It's just . . . rough."

  "It does matter," I said. "We can't heal ourselves until we acknowledge that we're in pain. Therapy has been really helpful for me."

  "Yeah," he said. "It's not something I ever considered, but I'm not opposed to it."

  "Yeah," I said. "Maybe one day."

  I was glad that we weren't fighting anymore. I didn't think I could take it if we were fighting, to be honest. I was fairly sure I would melt down without Blake by my side.

  "Do you want to come to my place?" he asked as we drove.

  I turned to him. We had never discussed that before, and I felt like we had crossed a threshold. Suddenly, I was curious about where Blake lived and what his life was like then he wasn't with me.

  "Yes," I said. "That'd be great. I'd love that."

  "Cool," he said and changed course from the hotel.

  When we got to his place, I was surprised to find that he lived in a pretty normal looking apartment building. When I mentioned it to him, he chuckled.

  "What did you think?" he asked. "That I lived in some sort of cult building?"

  "No," I said with a chuckle. "I just . . . I don't know, I expected you to have a house in the forest or something."

  "In the forest?" he asked as we got out of the car.

  "You just struck me as that type of guy."

  "Yeah?" he asked. "Just living alone in a forest?"

  I chuckled as we got in the door. After this morning, I didn't feel like I would ever laugh again. But now, I felt like it was possible that everything would be all right.

  It felt so odd to follow Blake into his apartment and know that Devon wasn't going to come after me. Surely, the police couldn't have made a mistake this time. They had cut down his body. He was gone.

  But then, I had lain in the emergency room and they had pronounced me dead. So, if they could do that, then could they have made a mistake with Devon?

  "Do you want a drink?" Blake asked me, shaking me back to reality.

  "Uh, no, that's okay," I said as I sat down on his couch. It was certainly a bachelor pad, but it was nice. He was actually a pretty neat person, for all of his chaos, and he had clearly dusted or something once in a while. "I'm just . . . content to be here."

  "Yeah," he said and came to sit down on the couch next to me. "We can do whatever you want. You can work or we can watch a movie or . . ."

  "Can we watch a movie?" I asked. "Sorry, I know that’s boring, but we have never just done anything normal."

  "Yeah," he said. "I know. That'd be fun."

  "Cool," I said as he went to turn on his TV. He had a fairly large TV, and I grabbed a blanket from behind me. He snuggled up to me and we started to flip though Netflix. My mind was still dancing everywhere, but I could feel my heartbeat start to calm down.

  At least, it started to calm down until nearly the end of the movie when his phone rang. Blake looked down and then picked it up right away. He put it on speakerphone and gave me a look.

  "This is Blake," he said.

  "Blake, this is Terry down at the coroner's office," said the man on the other end. "You were first on my list to call."

  "To call for Devon Whitman?" he asked.

  "Yes," the coroner said. "Listen . . . this isn't a suicide."

  I felt my stomach drop.

  "It's not?" Blake asked.

  "No," Terry said. "It looks like it, but he's been strangled and his neck is broken. It was probably the noose that finished him off, but it didn't start it."

  "Oh, my God," Blake said. "So . . . what . . . ?"

  "Someone killed him," Terry said. "And it would be someone who matched his height and weight, at the very least, and someone he trusted enough to let them close."

  "I see," Blake said as my stomach dropped even further. "You're going to tell the police this?"

  "Yes," Terry said. "As soon as I'm done."

  "Thank you," Blake said. "I appreciate it."

  "No problem," Terry said and hung up the phone.

  Blake
turned to me then, and I felt like I would faint. "You know who it is, don't you?" he asked me.

  I nodded. "Yes," I said. "It's his father."

  "Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too," he said. "I hate it, but it probably is his father."

  "What are we going to do?" I asked. "Why would he do that?"

  "I don't know," Blake said. "But there can't be another suspect."

  "I can't believe Ellis . . ." I shook my head. "They must have had an argument. I mean, they never got on that well, but . . ."

  "Yeah, I know," he said. "I didn't think he was actually capable of it."

  "You had suspicions?" I asked.

  He nodded. "I did," he said. "I mean, I had a feeling that something would happen. I get those feelings every once in a while, and they don't often come true . . . but sometimes they do."

  "Shannon," I said suddenly. "Shannon might be in danger."

  He got up right away.

  "Let's make sure no one is in danger from this family again," he said. "Are you with me?"

  "Yes," I said. "Where are we going?"

  "Terry is going to call the cops," he said. "I want to get there first. Sam will listen to me, and he'll make an arrest right away. This is going to be over today, Laurie."

  I had heard that so many times before, but I trusted him. Today, my nightmare would finally end. The sun would come out and I would be all right. At the very least, I could really start to heal now.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Blake

  I was certain that we had more than enough evidence to make the arrest happen. After all, there was no one else. We had looked at everyone from every angle. Devon and the guys at his firehouse didn't get along, so he wouldn't have trusted them to get near him. Devon would have had to trust the person who killed him a lot. He was a big, strong man, and it wouldn't be that easy to put your hands on him, let alone kill him. But apparently, when we got to the police station, Sam clearly thought otherwise.

  "Blake, I can't make an arrest without evidence," he said. "Look, I can question them more—"

  "There isn't time to question them more," I argued. "Sam, Ellis clearly did this."

  "I know you believe that," he said to me. "But you know the rules."

  "Sam, you can't let the rules stand in the way when people's lives are in danger," I demanded. "Come on."

  "Blake, you know I can't," Sam said. "Listen, let me go and question him—"

  "He's just killed his son," I said. "And you know that if he's never done it before, there's a chance he could be unstable. Don't go there, Sam, not alone."

  "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," he said. "Whether or not he's a murderer, he has rights."

  "No one has rights when they act like that," I said. "He's scum and he taught his son to be scum."

  "I. Can't," Sam finally said through gritted teeth. "And your begging me isn't going to change anything."

  I felt like yelling. I knew he was right. I'd forgotten how constrained I felt by the police force and how ridiculous all the red tape could be.

  "Fine," I said and started to leave.

  "Blake, where are you going?" Sam asked.

  I shrugged. "I don't think it's any of your business," I said, "since I'm not on the force anymore."

  'Blake . . ." Sam said. "Don't do anything dumb."

  I shrugged. "What would I do?" I asked. "I've got Laurie with me."

  I knew Sam underestimated her, so his shoulders dropped for a moment until he caught the look in my eyes.

  "Blake . . ." he started.

  I smirked. "Don't worry, Sam," I said. "You're the police officer. I'll leave the arrests to you."

  With that, I sauntered out of the office. Laurie was waiting in the hallway, and she jumped up when she saw me.

  “What did he say?" she asked.

  "No dice," I said. "Looks like I'm going to have to take matters into my hands."

  "He won't arrest him?" Laurie said in shock. "But . . ."

  "I know," I said. "It's stupid, and the police have to play by stupid rules. Don't worry about it."

  "Don't worry about it?" she asked me. "But—"

  "Laurie." I took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Do you trust me?"

  "Yes," she said.

  "Then trust that I'm going to take care of it," I said.

  She eventually nodded, and I leaned in and kissed her.

  I never thought in my life that I would be kissing a girl who wasn't Lola outside headquarters. Times changed, and if I didn't change along with them, I would be swept away. And for the first time, I realized that I didn't want to be swept away. I wanted to live.

  "All right," I said. "Now, let's go."

  "Wait!" Anna appeared in the doorway then.

  I rolled my eyes. "Anna, what do you want?" I asked her. "If Sam doesn't want to talk to me himself, he's not going to get me to talk to you."

  "Blake, I know that you resent me for some reason," she said. "And I know that you don't want anything to do with me because I'm his partner. I get it. I really do."

  "Do you, Anna?" I asked. "Do you really?"

  "I do, and I want to help you," she said. "I don't want another officer killed in the line of duty."

  "I . . ." I started.

  "Look. I knew Lola. She came to my graduating class to speak," Anna said.

  That silenced me. I'd had no idea that the two of them had ever even met.

  "I guess you didn't know that. I didn't really make the connection to you either until I came here." She frowned and then looked at me like she was looking at my soul. "Do you know what she spoke about?"

  "Was it about being a woman in the police force?" Laurie asked.

  Anna shrugged. "No, not really," she said. "I was expecting that talk, honestly, because we hear it nearly all the time about how difficult being a woman on the force can be, but Lola wasn't like that." Anna smiled and I could tell she'd really admired Lola. "When Lola came to speak to us, she talked about feeling accepted by the officers here and feeling like she had finally found her place to belong. She spoke about how she had found a great police force, a great partner, and she felt equal. She said that each of us had our place in the world and each of us was equal. I felt more empowered from her speech than anything else I'd heard from different speakers. She was a great mentor."

  I didn't know that she'd spoken of us like that. I knew that whenever a graduation class asked for a working officer to speak, Lola went. I'd assumed she just talked about boring things. I didn't know that she talked about how awesome it was to work with us. How awesome we were.

  "Yeah," I said quietly, feeling tears burning my eyes. "She was."

  Anna smiled and patted my arm, then turned to Laurie. "Give me your phone," Anna said.

  I raised my eyebrow. I had no idea what she was up to.

  As Laurie handed her the phone, Anna said, "Look, I'm going to put a video link into it. If you go to it, you'll be able to livestream to us. It's a secure link, so no one should be able to track it. But it will lead us to you if you need us."

  "Oh," Laurie said in surprise. "Thank you."

  "Turn it on as soon as you get to the Whitman house," Anna said. "I'll be watching. And we'll be there if you need us. I'll make sure we have units nearby, and we'll be ready to roll. And you've got my card if you need to call me."

  "Thank you for helping us," Laurie replied and turned to me.

  "I . . ." I didn't know what to say. I was still a bit choked up over her kind words about Lola. "Thank you, Anna."

  "No problem," Anna said, giving us a wink. "Good luck."

  "Does Sam know you're doing this?" I asked her.

  She gave me a little smile. "No," she said. "You never kept a secret from your partner, Blake?"

  "Sometimes," I admitted with a chuckle. "She always found out, though."

  "Yeah, I know," Anna said, grinning. "Sam will find out eventually. Let's hope it's after the bust."

  "Let's hope," I said, and
I actually smiled at her. Hell didn't freeze over when I did, and I took that as a good sign.

  We headed out of the building and Laurie turned to me.

  "Did you expect that?"

  "No," I said. "I guess sometimes people can surprise you."

  "Uh, yes, they can," she said, nodding. "Do you want me to turn on that link?"

  "When we get there," I said as we got into the car. I tried to hide the fact that my hands were shaking and I was sweaty. All of my police life, I had dreamed of a bust like this. Of course, in my head, I was backed up by several officers and we took down the suspect together.

  This time, it was all me.

  I wondered if Lola would tell me I was being an idiot. Or maybe she would be proud of me. I hoped that she would be proud of me.

  When we got to the Whitman house, Laurie took off her seatbelt.

  "Whoa, whoa," I said to her. "Where are you going?"

  She looked at me like I was crazy. "I'm going inside?" she asked.

  I shook my head. "No, you're not."

  "But—"

  "Laurie, listen to me," I said. "The man inside is a murderer who hates women. I need you to stay here."

  "But—" she protested.

  I put a hand on her knee. "Please," I said to her. "Stay here. You'll have my microphone to listen to through the computer, so you'll know if something is bad."

  "I—" She looked like she wanted to protest further.

  "It's because I love you," I assured her. "It's not because I want to keep you captive."

  "I know," she said. "I know. It's just that . . . this is it, Blake. This is the end game."

  "And it will be the end game still, even if you're safe here in the car," I promised her. "Please, I need you to stay here, in the car, and call for backup if you hear me get into trouble, okay? They may not want to make an arrest, but they'll come if I'm in trouble. Pull up the live stream on your phone. I'll take it with me so you can see, and I'll leave my phone for you to call in Anna if we need you to. And you can watch the stream on the computer."

  “Okay," she agreed at last. "But the first sign of trouble and I'm coming in."

  "I expected nothing else," I said and leaned in to kiss her. "I love you."