Dead Center

by Susan Sleeman

  “Ainslie,” Blake said. “Meet Coop and Jackson.”

  “Cooper Ashcroft.” The taller guy held out his hand. “But call me Coop.”

  She nodded and suffered through a punishing grip as he shook her hand like a water pump that needed encouragement to produce liquid.

  She extricated her hand and looked at the other guy. “You must be Jackson, then.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, his grayish-blue eyes fixed on her. “Jackson Lockhart.”

  “And you guys know Grady, right?” Blake asked.

  “Most definitely.” Coop fist bumped Grady, and Jackson followed suit.

  There was so much testosterone in the room that if Sierra had been in the lab, Ainslie figured her boss would’ve figured out a way to collect a sample and measure it.

  “We just wanted to check in with you before we start working on locating and tailing Eggen,” Coop said. “Is there anything specific you want us to be watching for?”

  “Assuming you find him,” Ainslie said.

  “Yes, ma’am, but we will,” Jackson said.

  “Please, I am so not a ma’am,” she said, though she was admiring their precise military manners in a world where people were so informal and crass at times. “Call me Ainslie.”

  “Yes, ma’—Ainslie,” Jackson said.

  “We think Wade is into illegal arms dealing,” she said. “Catch him at that so he can be arrested. Then maybe Detective Flores can make a deal in trade for the truth on his shooting.”

  “We’ll watch for that, then,” Coop said. “Once located, we’ll set up twenty-four/seven surveillance rotating twelve-hour shifts.”

  Jackson faced Grady. “Blake says you offered to put us up in our downtime.”

  “Absolutely.” Grady dug out his key ring and slipped one off. “I have a spare key in my lab, so you can take this one and drop your things now if you want.”

  Jackson took the key. “Perfect. We’ll check in back home, and then get started right away.”

  Blake looked at Grady. “I’ll serve as their point person and make sure they’re escorted in the building.”

  Grady gave a firm nod. “I was just leaving, so I’ll walk out with you.”

  “Nice meeting you, ma’—Ainslie,” Jackson said.

  “Ditto.” Coop pocketed the key.

  “For me, too.” She smiled and watched the four men head for the door.

  “Dude.” Coop clapped Grady on the back. “We are definitely going to stop in your lab and take a look around before we leave town.”

  “Wouldn’t expect anything less.” Grady chuckled, his laughter ringing out behind him as the door closed.

  She stared at the door after them, struck by how well Grady fit in with these tough guys. He was a real man’s man. The kind of guy she’d never been particularly attracted to. And yet she found him to have a sensitive side. Caring about his friends and family seemed to come first. And in all this time, he didn’t lament missing his sports. He hadn’t even glanced at the TV the night before when Drake had continued to watch the Blazers play.

  She wanted to keep thinking about him. To sit and just feel the emotions he evoked in her, but she had work to do and repaying Sierra was more important. She opened the Randall file containing hundreds of photos from the murder scene. Most people thought forensic photographers shot only photographs of the evidence, but they took photos of the entire scene so a defense attorney couldn’t raise a question about the photographer missing a key piece of evidence. To accomplish that they stepped into the four corners of a room and took shots from each angle. Later, they combined the photos so the jury could see the entire room, which is what Sierra had tasked Ainslie with doing now.

  She got out Sierra’s photo log and found the numbers for the Randalls’ overall photos. One by one, she opened them and lost herself in her job, glad to be doing something productive again. Hours later, she sat back to stretch and admired her work.

  Grady’s comment about other photos came to mind, and her moment of satisfaction evaporated. She sat forward and accessed the cloud where she stored her personal photos. In the last six months, she’d only taken two sets of pictures. The first group was from a hiking trip to Forest Park located in Portland. Park. Ha! The word park was so misleading. At over five thousand acres, it was one of the largest urban forests in the country, with miles and miles of hiking trails. It was so much more than a park.

  She started through the pictures, enlarging each one to study every pixel, but she hadn’t captured a single person. She moved on to the second set of photos taken in the International Rose Test Garden. The pictures revealed several visitors in the background, but she didn’t recognize them.

  Nothing here to help her, but one thing was suddenly obvious. Since she’d taken the job at the Veritas Center, her personal life had suffered. She’d neglected her favorite hobby. Maybe neglected Ethan. If she hadn’t been working so much, might she have prevented Ethan from getting arrested for attempted murder?

  That thought cut her to the quick. When she’d cleared his name, she needed to do some soul searching about the lack of a personal life. That would include finding more time for her brother, and maybe, just maybe, finding time for a relationship, too.

  Ainslie clutched her hands under the table and watched the tall beautiful woman dressed in a deep green tailored pantsuit enter the conference room. She had a confident stride and held her shoulders back. Her hair rested in thick waves on her shoulders, the suit color bringing out the dark hue. Without saying a word, Malone Rice commanded the room, and when she fixed her dark gaze on Ainslie, Ainslie’s old insecurities came rushing back.

  “Ainslie, this is Reed’s sister, Malone.” Grady didn’t seem to even be aware that Malone was gorgeous as he pinned his focus on Ainslie.

  Malone held out a hand with pale pink manicured nails. “Good to meet you, Ainslie. I’m sorry it’s under such difficult circumstances.”

  Ainslie quickly ran her hand down her pant leg, swiping perspiration from her palm, before shaking. “Thank you for agreeing to help. If you would please bill me, and I can pay you—”

  “No,” Malone said firmly. “Sierra cares about you, and that makes you family in my book, so please let me do this for you.”

  Her tone left no question that Malone expected Ainslie to comply. As much as she didn’t want to, she was done fighting the kindness of all of these wonderful people. They genuinely wanted to help. To share their God-given talents. And she had to believe He’d put them in her life for that very reason. So saying no to Malone would be like saying no to God’s plan. She took comfort in the fact that this strong woman would do a great job for Ethan.

  “Good, that’s settled then.” Malone took a legal pad from her leather briefcase and sat. “Tell me all about your brother’s situation, starting with his full name.”

  “Ethan Alan Duncan.” Ainslie took a seat across from her and recounted the details of Ethan’s predicament while Grady propped a shoulder against the wall and looked on.

  Malone took notes in swift precise letters, her expression a mask, but when Ainslie finished and sat back, Malone frowned.

  “Uh-oh.” Grady came off the wall and stepped to the table. “That’s not a positive look.”

  Malone laid down her pen and folded her hands on the legal pad. “I’m not one to sugarcoat things. If the evidence has been handled and processed correctly, and if Ethan doesn’t have an alibi, then it will be difficult to mount a strong defense.”

  Ainslie opened her mouth to say something—what, she didn’t know—but Grady planted his hands on the table. “Then it’s important for you to get the evidence for us so we can be sure it was handled right. Especially the CT scan and gun. I’m confident that they didn’t find anyone with my skills to do the work. There’s no one better than I am in the area.”

  Malone arched a perfectly plucked eyebrow. “Confident much?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? Every one of us here are top in our fields.” Grad
y’s words came out between nearly clenched teeth. “We worked hard to gain those skills and experience. I’m just speaking the truth.”

  Malone held up her hands. “I believe you.”

  “All right, then. What do you have to do to get me that CT scan and Ethan’s gun?”

  Ainslie was surprised at how he was pushing Malone when she was volunteering her time. Ainslie would never be so insistent, and he likely knew that. Could be his very reason for stepping in.

  Malone shifted her gaze to Ainslie. “First, I need to talk to Ethan and have him change his attorney of record. There won’t be any problem with that, will there?”

  “I haven’t spoken to him about the change, but I can’t see Ethan refusing to have a talented attorney like you representing him.”

  She gave a sharp nod. “Then I’ll interview him and talk with his PD—public defender—to ask for any work he’s completed. After that, I’ll need to file an order to inspect and preserve this evidence.”

  “Is that what it sounds like?” Grady asked.

  “If you mean does it protect Ethan’s right to inspect and copy or test evidence before trial and ensures that the agencies are responsible for maintaining it? Then, yes. We’ll want to get the request in right away, before any evidence is lost, misplaced, or destroyed. Or even consumed or damaged by testing before we have a chance to view or test it.”

  “Could Ethan’s PD already have filed that request?” Ainslie asked.

  “He could have, which is why, after talking to Ethan, I’ll need to talk to the PD.”

  “The police have a DNA report from Wade’s shirt so they’ve obviously processed some of the evidence,” Ainslie said.

  “Then we need to get on this right away. If the PD hasn’t filed it, I’ll get the order written up and have my assistant serve it to the prosecutor, the medical examiner, the crime lab, and every involved law enforcement agency. I should have everything filed and delivered in a few hours. How long it takes the police to comply is another—”

  “A few hours?” Ainslie asked in disbelief.

  “What?” Malone tilted her head. “You think that’s too long?”

  “No. No. It would take the PD longer than that just to call me back if I had a question.”

  “Oh, right. Okay. So let’s not waste any time.” She offered a tight smile. “Do you want to accompany me to meet with your brother? I think he’ll be more forthcoming without you, so I won’t let you remain in the room when I question him. But it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have you break the ice.”

  Feeling optimistic for the first time since Ethan’s arrest, Ainslie smiled at Malone. “Then let’s do this.”

  Grady pushed off the table. “Not without me and Drake.”

  Malone raised an eyebrow.

  “Someone is trying to kill Ainslie.” Grady quickly explained about the swat incident and fire. “Drake Byrd has been assigned to tail her in the event she might lead him to Bittner and also to keep her safe.”

  Malone peered at Ainslie. “Maybe it’s safer for you to stay here.”

  “Maybe,” Ainslie said. “But I’ll do anything to get my brother out of jail, and I think introducing you two will move things along faster. So threat or not, I’m going.”

  11

  Ainslie got right in to see Ethan, and he agreed to Malone’s representation, but he wanted Ainslie present at the meeting. Malone agreed, albeit reluctantly. But before they could begin, he first had to wait for what the jail called walk time to call his PD and tell him of the change so he wasn’t blindsided. Once that was accomplished, Ainslie and Malone stepped into the visiting area, and Ethan looked even more forlorn than he had when she’d seen him an hour ago. He didn’t even perk up when he saw Malone, and what red-blooded male wouldn’t notice such a beautiful woman?

  “Sis.” He stared blankly at her as she introduced Malone.

  “Nice to meet you, Ethan.” Malone offered her hand.

  Ethan nodded and shook, but didn’t look her in the eye.

  “We have limited time so let’s get right to this.” Malone took a seat on a metal bench, her posture perfect. “Let me go through the plan with you. First, I’ll file a motion to substitute attorneys so I’m on record as your official counsel. This form will require your PD’s signature as well, but since you gave him a heads-up, the change is just a formality.”

  “Right.” Ethan cast a distracted gaze around the room with half a dozen visitors and inmates.

  Malone bent forward, probably to get his attention. “Next I need to confirm that you want my representation.”

  He nodded.

  Malone got even closer. “I need you to verbally confirm your intentions, Ethan.”

  “Yeah, I want you to represent me.” He sounded reluctant.

  Ainslie gaped at him. She just didn’t get his behavior. She wanted to cuff him upside the head and tell him to snap out of whatever was bothering him and embrace this gift Malone was offering. But maybe something bad happened in here, and if that was the case, she surely didn’t want to chastise him and make things worse. So she clamped her mouth shut and sat on her hands.

  “I’ll file the necessary paperwork,” Malone continued, sounding very professional. “And also file to be sure that all recovered evidence be preserved. I had to register as a social visitor today so Ainslie could accompany me. That’s why we didn’t get a private room and means I was unable to bring in a pen and can’t take notes. What I would like to do is schedule a professional visit to get your side of things. Are you okay with that?”

  He glanced at Ainslie and gnawed on his lip.

  She couldn’t stand not knowing what was bothering him any longer. “What’s wrong?”

  He wrung his hands on the table. “There’s something I need to tell both of you. These hours of just sitting in this place. Thinking and thinking. I can’t stand it anymore. I need to tell someone so I can finally get some peace.”

  Ainslie’s heart dropped to her stomach. He was so distraught that she was terrified of what he might say and wanted to have him rethink his decision. “Are you sure you want to do it in a public setting like this?”

  “I have to. Don’t you see?” His grip tightened, and his fingers turned white. “It’s driving me mad. Just mad.”

  He shoved his fingers into his hair and gave Ainslie such a pitiful look that she could hardly keep from hugging him. Except if she touched him, she’d get kicked out.

  She leaned closer to him. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s about Wade. About how we first started hanging out as kids.”

  Not what she expected at all. “I always wondered if there was something that happened. He wasn’t the kind of guy you would normally hang with.”

  “He wasn’t. And I didn’t want to. Honest.” Ethan grimaced, and he met her gaze, his face paling. “But I saw him…I saw him murder Neil Orr.”

  “Neil Orr?” Ainslie’s voice rose.

  The nearby burly guard gave her a testy look.

  “Sorry,” she mouthed.

  Malone was sitting, shoulders in a hard line now, eyeing Ethan, her gaze suspicious. “Who’s Neil Orr?”

  Ainslie waited for Ethan to answer, but when he didn’t, she looked at Malone. “He was a boy we went to middle school with in Texas. He went missing when I was in eighth grade.” Ainslie shifted to look at Ethan, her heart tearing over his distress and this sudden revelation. “You’ve known all this time Wade murdered him. Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I couldn’t. Wade threatened me. Then you and Mom. I was just a kid. Only eleven. I believed him. Totally. I was terrified of him.”

  “Tell us what happened,” Malone said.

  Ethan pressed his hands out flat and looked Ainslie in the eye. “I was heading to the lake for a swim and saw Wade beating Neil up. You know how mean Wade was back then. I was afraid and thought if I said something he would hit me, too.”

  She did remember Wade. A real bully. Tough guy. “I’m sure you’re right.”


  “For some stupid reason, I didn’t take off but hid and watched. Neil got away. Wade grabbed Neil and bit his arm. Man, Wade was mad. Madder than I’ve ever seen anyone. His face was so red and contorted. Scared me something fierce.”

  “And yet you stayed?” she asked. “How come you didn’t run?”

  He shook his head. “To this day, I don’t know. I wish I had taken off so I didn’t see Wade get Neil in a stranglehold and keep squeezing until Neil dropped to the ground.” Ethan took a long shaky breath. “I knew he was dead, and I must’ve gasped or something because Wade looked up and saw me. That’s when I ran. As fast as I could. I heard a gunshot, and thought he had a gun, too. He came after me. I made it to town before he caught up to me. There were other people around, so I thought I was safe. But he twisted my arm behind my back and dragged me into an alley. I thought he was going to kill me too.”

  Ainslie could see the terror lingering in his eyes as he swallowed hard.

  “Did you see the gun?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “But Wade got in my face and said he would kill you and Mom if I told anyone. I knew he would do it. No doubt in my mind. So I kept my mouth shut, and, as soon as I turned eighteen, I split.”

  Memories flooded back of the time when Ethan became more introverted, and her heart broke for what he’d endured. “This explains so much. About how you suddenly changed. Why you hung out with him and pretended to like him. Why you were always so protective of me. Why you left.”

  Tears formed in his eyes. “I’ve felt so guilty. Neil’s parents… They’ve suffered all these years because of me. I can’t even—”

  His voice fell off. A sob crawled out of his mouth, and he clasped a hand over it.

  “You were a kid,” Malone said. “Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

  He shook his head hard. “But I’ve been an adult for years. I could have said something.”

  “Why didn’t you?” Ainslie asked, trying to be gentle with her questions. “I mean, we both moved here, and we were a couple thousand miles away from Wade.”