“A rat, eh?” He smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“You know what I mean.”
“Jimmy’s equivalent to fishy.” He winked at her and opened her car door.
When he got behind the wheel, she continued. “Katie was found in running gear. She had headphones…”
“Okay,” he dragged out the word, clearly not following her line of thought.
“What do most people do when they are running?” It was so clear to her that she found it hard to believe he was missing it.
His gaze was blank, and he shrugged. “I’m going to need a little help here.”
“Listen to music. And how do most people get music these days?” She’d give him a few seconds before she jumped in.
“They stream it— Oh.” His eyes widened. “Through their phones, but Katie’s phone hasn’t been found.”
“Oh, but it has. Before you joined us, Mirela told me she’d called Katie’s phone and her boyfriend answered it.”
“They could have lived together, and maybe she didn’t take her phone with her that day.”
“He also could have taken her phone from her dead body.” Her system was fused with adrenaline. So often it was the spouse or the lover who was the killer. Someone close to the victim. Someone the victim trusted. Someone, in this case, who knew her routine. “I’m calling Helen and having her pull the addresses for Katie and Levi just quick.” She placed the call.
“Hi, Sara.” Helen’s voice was chipper as always; it didn’t matter how much work she had on her desk.
Sara told her what they needed and why, and in less than two minutes, they had their answer.
“Katie Carpenter and Levi Bradley have different addresses. They didn’t live together.”
“Thanks, Helen. Please reach out to Levi’s agent. We’ll need to speak with him.”
“I’ll let you know the moment I hear back.”
Sara thanked her again and hung up.
“Agent?” Sean looked over at her, confusion creasing his brow, and she remembered she hadn’t told him.
“Oh, her boyfriend’s Levi Bradley. Guess he’s some pro-athlete.”
“What?” he gasped and turned his body within the confines of the car to face her. “You’re kidding me. Levi’s a champion pitcher for the New York Mets.”
Sara stared at him in disbelief. “Since when do you follow baseball?”
He winced. “Since forever.”
“Since forever,” she parroted. She found it hard to believe Sean would idolize anyone—and a sports fan? But what was cutting her was the fact she thought she knew everything there was to know about her husband of over six years. She drew back, leaning against the passenger door. “Why have you never told me?”
“It’s not like I intentionally kept it from you, but you’re not exactly a sports lover.”
“Not true.” She bristled. “I watch the summer and winter Olympics when they come around.”
“When else have you ever shown an interest?”
“We’re not talking about me here. Why did you hide the fact you like baseball? What other sports should I know about?” She’d find her phrasing amusing—as if his interest in sports was equal to him being unfaithful—if she wasn’t hurt by the fact that he’d kept it from her.
“I like hockey sometimes, football. I’m not really into car racing. It’s just a lot of around and around and around.” He spun his finger in circles.
“At least you draw the line somewhere.”
He dropped his hand. “Please, darling, don’t let this upset you.” He reached out for her arm, and she found herself wanting to pull back.
“I thought we shared everything with each other.”
“We do.”
“Apparently, we don’t.”
“I’m sorry if my liking sports has hurt you in some way.”
She moved her arm out of his reach. “It’s not that you like sports; it’s that you felt the need to hide it from me.”
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t really hide it.” There was pain in his eyes, and his apology was sincere.
“Please don’t keep things from me—even if it seems small.” She tried to swallow her emotion. It was more so what his holding back represented to her: she didn’t know her husband as well as she’d thought. What else didn’t she know about?
Sean’s phone rang over the car’s speakers. He pointed to the display on the dash and said needlessly, “It’s Jimmy.”
She gestured for him to answer.
“Hi, Jimmy,” Sean said, his gaze on her.
“Someone’s sounding a little serious.” Jimmy hadn’t been a sergeant because his detecting skills were mediocre. “You’d think you just spent an hour of your life with Needham.”
“Do you have something for us?” Sean asked.
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.
“Jimmy, it’s fine. Just talk to us,” Sara said. “We just finished speaking with Ronald.”
“You poor things, and here I was complaining about Needham.”
Sara appreciated Jimmy’s attempt at lightening the air. All three of them knew that Needham was far worse to deal with than Roland.
“Speaking of Needham, what did you find out?” Sean asked.
“Cause of death was drowning, aided along by the rough tumble Katie had taken which would have rendered her too weak, possibly unconscious and facedown in the Hudson.”
“What else?” Sean asked impatiently.
“All right…” He paused, and it seemed like time stood still as they waited for him to continue. “How about the fact she was wearing earbuds? One was in her ear, one was out. But there was no sign of a cell phone or an MP3 player.”
“Jimmy, you said one was in her ear, the other out?” Sara asked.
“Uh-huh.”
“There could have been a struggle between Katie and whoever pushed her over the hill,” Sara suggested.
“That’s what I thought.”
“Sean, it seems your boyfriend might have some explaining to do.”
“Am I missing something?” Jimmy’s voice reached a higher octave.
“Yeah. It turns out Sean’s a big fan of baseball and Levi Bradley.”
“The Levi Bradley…the pitcher for the Mets? He…he was Katie’s boyfriend?” Jimmy stammered.
“Yep.” She clamped her jaw shut. It didn’t escape her notice that Jimmy hadn’t touched on her comment about Sean being a baseball fan. “You knew that Sean loved baseball?” Another wave of betrayal washed over her.
A few seconds passed in silence. When it seemed neither man was willing to speak, she said, “Thanks for the update, Jimmy,” referring to his tidbit about the earbuds, though it could carry double meaning.
“No problem. Hey, what do you want me to do next?”
“Let’s meet up at the firm, talk over our next steps,” Sean said. “I don’t want to rush into talking with the boyfriend until we have more information.”
And until we have an appointment, Sara thought.
“Okay, I’ll see you two soon.” With that, Jimmy disconnected, and Sean put the car into gear.
She watched his profile as he drove. Was Sean’s lack of communicating a sign that their marriage was in danger? One small secret now, a larger, far more destructive one later? She sure hoped not.
-
Chapter 9
PULLING A HAMSTRING
There was trouble in paradise. Jimmy could see the storm clouds darkening the horizon. After all, he’d been married before, the vows of “’til death do us part” crashing and burning at the twenty-five-year mark. But he’d taken the brunt of the blame for that. His job had been his mistress, and over time, the affair had won o
ut. The fact he could understand his wife’s jealousy—and eventual indifference—didn’t make the divorce hurt any less. But he and Clara had been growing apart for years, and they’d been such different people to start with.
But Sean and Sara were a couple destined in the stars. At least Jimmy couldn’t imagine them ever breaking up. He found it hard to accept they ever had any arguments, but something was a little damaged when he’d called. Then again, maybe he was just judging the scenario through his tainted lens of love gone bad. Not that he had reason to be so cynical anymore. It had been Sean and Sara who helped him believe that maybe love was still possible. If he hadn’t taken their encouragement to pursue Meredith, he’d probably just be an old, lonely dog, licking his wounds and downing bottles of cognac. Instead, he and Meredith were going on five years. They’d kept it slow, at a pace that made them both comfortable. Meredith had also been burned in marriage and wasn’t exactly in any hurry to exchange vows anytime soon, either.
Jimmy walked into the firm and waved at Helen on the way by to his office. “Sean and Sara here yet?” he called back to her.
“Not yet.”
He grabbed a notebook and pen and headed to the conference room. He had some time to scribble down his takeaways from speaking with Needham about the Devin and Carpenter cases. There weren’t many, and he’d already shared the juiciest finding from the Carpenter case with them.
He’d just finished his notes when Sean and Sara walked into the room. There was definitely something off between them. Sara entered ahead of Sean as if she just breezed into the room, and he was lagging behind. Usually, they were holding hands or walking close to each other, but not now. Maybe Jimmy was just reading too much into the matter. Even the most perfect couples were bound to have differences of opinion from time to time; it didn’t mean combustion.
Jimmy pointed to Sara’s empty hands. “No coffee for me, I see,” He was playing it out as if she had one, in an attempt to feel out the room a little more.
“None for me, either. Though it’s a fabulous idea.” Sara was a coffee hound if Jimmy ever knew one. She’d be happy to strap one of those drinking hats to her head if they were fashionable. Sara left the room, no doubt to grab a cup of brew.
Jimmy turned his attention to Sean. “What have you two been up to?”
Sean dropped into a chair across from Jimmy and put a hand to his forehead. “We just got finished down at the Albany PD when you called.”
“As I’m aware.” Jimmy had hoped Sean would open up with him about what was going on. “Did Roland give you a hard time about accessing the investigation files?”
“You know Roland.” Sean gave him a tiny smile.
“And I don’t see any files.” Jimmy spread his hands over the table.
“Not yet. Hopefully tomorrow.”
This was the most awkward conversation Jimmy had ever had with Sean. He glanced at the door and actually considered coming right out and asking about him and Sara. He could probably get away with it, but that didn’t mean it was a good line to cross. Then again, he always felt like a bit of a father figure to them. He cleared his throat. Here goes… “Everything all right with you and Sara?”
Sean met his gaze. Said nothing.
“It’s me, Sean. You can talk to me.”
“It will be. I’m not even sure why she’s making such a big deal out of it.”
Jimmy was lost on what it referred to, but kept quiet as Sean continued.
“She just never realized I was a sports fan until thirty minutes ago.”
So that was why Sara had asked him if he’d known. Jimmy found it surprising that Sara hadn’t. “I thought you two knew everything about each other.”
“That’s what she said, and she’s feeling hurt by the fact she didn’t know this about me. Or that I held it from her.”
“You didn’t hide it from her on purpose, did you?” Stupid question, and Jimmy shook his head at himself for asking it.
“Of course not.”
Jimmy bobbed his head. Just as he’d thought.
“I’d watch the games after she went to bed,” Sean said. “It’s not that I intentionally deceived her or kept it from her.” There was the edge of defensiveness to his voice. “You were married, Jimmy. Did you provide Clara with a play-by-play of your life?”
Jimmy swallowed roughly from regret but refused to get mired in the past. “Maybe if I had, things would have been different.”
Sean looked at him, pain seeping into his eyes.
“You’ll both get through this, but always remember that you have an angel in Sara. Do whatever is necessary not to mess that up.”
Sara came into the room holding two cups and set one in front of Jimmy. “Black with two sugars.”
“Just the way I like it. Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” She tapped his shoulder and sat next to him, leaving Sean stranded solo on the other side.
Jimmy winced. The tension in the room was palpable.
“You were speaking with Roland…” Jimmy wanted to get the conversation started in the direction of business, but once the words were out, he could feel how weak they were.
“Yep. And you spoke to Needham about Katie and Mr. Devin,” she responded. “What did he have to say about Mr. Devin?”
“He died of an overdose of prescribed oxycodone…Not that the overdose was prescribed.” Jimmy chuckled, waved his hands. “Tough room.” It was unnerving being with Sean and Sara when they were obviously upset with each other. He wanted to call a time-out and patch things up for them, but that definitely was not his place.
“It’s how did he get to be overdosed that we need to answer,” she said.
“Probably from taking too many pills.” Sean flashed a goofy smile, and Jimmy shook his head and ran a finger across his neck for him to stop.
Sara stiffened next to Jimmy. “Obviously, darling,” she said, darling crackling with heat like a popping log on a fire, “but more specifically, was it suicide or murder?”
“Well, the caregiver, who you know the daughter suspects, had something to gain.” Jimmy might not have much to offer on Katie Carpenter, but the case of Max Devin was gaining some forward momentum.
Sean inclined his head. “We do?”
“Yep. Needham was contacted by Golden Phoenix Insurance for a copy of the death certificate. I called them and managed to uncover that Mr. Devin had a policy with them, and the beneficiary was the caregiver.”
Sara leaned forward on the table. “Not his daughter?”
“Nope, she wasn’t in the policy at all. She wasn’t in his will, either, I also discovered. Everything Mr. Devin had is going to the caregiver.”
“How much money are we talking about?” Sean asked.
“Said and done, half a mil.”
Sean whistled.
“That’s some serious cash,” Sara concurred.
“And some serious motive,” Sean added.
Sara blew on her coffee. “For the caregiver and daughter, really.”
“Only, she’s the one who came to us to investigate her father’s death. Why draw attention to herself if she was behind it?” Sean raised his eyebrows.
“Ah, but we might be jumping ahead of things,” Jimmy said. “We don’t even know if the daughter knew about the policy or the will.”
“Or if she had the opportunity to overdose her father,” Sean said.
“Right.” Sara took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair with cup in hand. “More to prove.”
“If she’s the one who killed her father, Sara, we’ll figure it out,” Sean assured her.
“No question about it.” She tilted her chin out and looked at Jimmy. “You good to question the daughter again?”
“I’m good to do whatever you need me to do.”
“Thank you.” Sara took a long draw on her coffee, and her eyes fluttered shut.
“You two should get a room,” Jimmy teased, referring to Sara and her coffee, but he caught Sean’s eye and regretted saying anything.
“That’s not a bad idea.” She winked at Jimmy and took another sip.
“Now that we have matters relating to the Devin case out of the way,” Sean started, “let’s turn our attention to the Katie Carpenter case. Roland’s going to clear it by Commander Delarosa, but hopefully, she okays us getting a copy of the investigation file.” Sean got up and went to the watercooler in the corner. He filled a cup and drank some. “We’ll give it till tomorrow at noon, but if we don’t hear any more, maybe you could visit your old friend.” Sean was looking at him.
“Sure I can.” Not that Jimmy would call Delarosa an old friend—she could be nice enough, but she also made him jittery, sort of like coffee after four in the afternoon. His eyes went to the brew in front of him. Drinking it wouldn’t be a good idea, but Sara was making it look so good. He gave in and drank some, certain he’d just kissed goodbye to a good night’s sleep.
“The matter of Katie’s cell phone is really niggling at me,” Sara admitted. “Why does the boyfriend have it? And one earbud in, the other out. Curious and curious-er.” She smiled at Jimmy, and he was happy to see her perking up. Guess there was nothing like a death investigation—and maybe some coffee—to lift one’s spirits.
“We need to take a good, hard look at the people in Katie’s life,” Sean said. “We should probably get Adam on the phone and see how he’s making out.”
Sara nodded, and Jimmy agreed, too—even if the young whippersnapper rubbed him the wrong way sometimes.
-
Chapter 10
A JOG IN THE PARK
Sean asked Helen to set them up for video conferencing, and as soon as Adam connected, his face would display on a large screen in the meeting room. They didn’t have to wait long for the up-close-and-larger-than-life Adam to be looking back at them.
Exercise Is Murder Page 4
