by Marion Myles
With Mia’s problem added to the mix, like a cherry on top of a fucking sundae, he certainly didn’t feel any calmer. There came a point when the body would take what it needed, and he sensed tonight was the night. He brushed his teeth, splashed water on his face and stripped down to boxers before collapsing face-first onto the bed. Within moments he slipped away to sleep.
Getting a solid six hours helped, but even still, his first thought upon waking was coffee. He pushed to his elbows, lifted his head, sniffed the air. Nothing. Dammit, he’d forgotten to set up the coffee machine the night before. For a moment, it all felt like too much, and he wondered what would happen if he put the pillow over his head and refused to get up.
A vision of Mia floated across his mind, eyebrows furrowed and hand rubbing up and down between her breasts the way she did when agitated. Then came his mom’s red-rimmed eyes and father’s ashen face, and finally Anita’s skull with the empty eye sockets and discolored teeth. He thought of how much she’d hate knowing all the whitening strips in the world hadn’t stood a chance against a decade of soil.
He rolled off the bed and stood up, stretching his arms overhead and leaning back until his shoulders cracked. It was time to take on the day and hopefully get closer to catching himself a murderer.
By the time he’d showered, caffeinated, and driven the few blocks to the station, he was firing on all cylinders. His phone pinged while he walked across the lot to the front door and looking down, he saw it was from Mia.
All okay here. No sign the intruder returned. How are you?
Instead of texting back, he waited until he was at his desk with another cup of coffee in hand. He punched her number. She picked up on the second ring.
“Good morning,” he said. “How’d you sleep?”
“Um…okay, I guess.”
“That good, huh? You should’ve taken me up on the offer to stay. You never said if you got any…I mean, if you…you know, saw anything when you touched the note the perp left on your window.”
He heard her exhale. “That’s because I didn’t get anything from it. Nada. It’s infuriating. I see all these random visions from people and objects, but when it’s something seriously important to me and my safety, I get a big fat goose egg. Maybe if I try again when I’m not so emotional, it might work…” She trailed off and sighed.
“Hey, don’t get so down about it. You know what occurred to me? It’s likely the person who cut your dog fence is Anita’s killer.”
“Knowing that a murderer was on my property and left me a threatening note does not make me feel better,” she snapped out.
“Okay, yeah, that part isn’t great, but on the flip side, it means he’s still around here, and he’s damned nervous. Nervous criminals make mistakes.”
“I guess that’s a good thing,” she said.
“Look, the tech guys will be at your place soon. They’ll probably be there for several hours processing the scene, especially now we’re looking at it in the context of Anita’s murder. I’m going to put in for some black and whites to patrol your place, and I’ll be there tonight. FYI, I’ll sleep on the couch if that’s what you want, but I’m staying.”
“It’s…okay, we’ll see how the day goes, I guess, and decide later. Did you get a chance to find out if anyone in your family knew about Anita being pregnant?”
“Nobody did, and it was another arrow in their hearts, let me tell you. We’re gonna bring Luke in this morning and see what he has to say.”
“Good luck.” She paused for a beat. “I honestly don’t know what to wish for. Luke seemed like a really nice guy, and he has the two little boys and everything. It’s hard to believe he could have killed her.”
“Well, if he did, he’s going down.” Roman took a second to unclench his fists, and when he spoke again, his voice had softened. “I’ll be in touch later. Let you know what time I’m coming out to your place. Remember, cell phone with you at all times.”
“Aye aye, Captain. See you later.”
Kevin poked his head in the door. “They brought in Luke McNally. Schmidt said if you want in, we can do the interview. Otherwise, it’ll be him and Cooper.”
Roman placed the receiver on its cradle and pushed up from the chair. “I want in so bad it hurts.”
They went downstairs at a jog, but before Kevin could pull the door open, Roman stepped forward to block the way. “Listen, man, I don’t know if I’m gonna go there right now, but I want you to be ready for some questions about Anita being pregnant.”
Kevin raised his eyebrows. “And you’ve been keeping this to yourself, why?”
“Because I only found out last night. I have to think McNally knew. I don’t know how it plays in yet but…”
“Yeah, but…” Kevin said. “Where’d you get the info?”
Roman stepped to the side and grabbed the handle to the door. “Mia,” he said before stepping into the main lobby.
“Oh, man,” Kevin said under his breath before hurrying after him. “Hey, Roman, are you out of your mind?”
Roman didn’t reply until they were outside the observation room to interview A. “I’ll feel him out first and see how it goes. I’ve gotta believe Anita being pregnant is important. If it had nothing to do with her death, how come McNally never said anything about it?”
“Schmidt isn’t going to like this,” Kevin warned.
“Yeah, well, Mia found her, didn’t she? I can’t think of any way we would have stumbled across Anita’s remains without her pointing us straight to the spot, can you?”
“No, but come on, you know what the brass thinks about psychics and the like.”
“I know. Me too, mostly. Except this time, it’s different. This time we have someone who actually does see stuff. Real stuff. And it’s for my sister, man. I’ve gotta push on this. I understand if you want to stay out of it.”
Kevin hissed out a breath. “No, we’re partners. I’ve got your back. Do me a favor? Make sure it gets us somewhere. I don’t want to take a bunch of crap from the guys.”
Roman nodded before pushing into the room. With a sigh, Kevin followed in his wake.
“He’s lawyered up,” Lieutenant Schmidt said when Roman and Kevin stepped up to the glass beside him and looked in at Luke McNally. “Jessop from Nashville. He’s a big wig. Done some high profile murder one cases. I’d say our local doctor is feeling the heat. You boys ready?”
“Yes, sir,” Roman said.
“Okay, good. I’ll be watching. No need to go in hard since it’s a routine follow-up. I’m giving you a chance to keep your finger in the investigation, so check your personal feeling at the door, Mancini.”
“What personal feelings?” Roman asked.
“He’s got ice in his veins,” Kevin added, clapping a hand on Roman’s shoulder.
When they entered the interview room, the lawyer got to his feet. “Detectives, I’m Walter Jessop. Mr. McNally has retained my services.”
He was a tall and extremely thin man. His navy suit fit him like a glove. Must be made-to-measure, Roman thought. Glancing down, he noted the lawyer wore the much-favored black wing-tips shined to perfection. The briefcase on the table probably cost more than Roman’s car.
Kevin pointed to Roman. “This is Detective Mancini, and I’m Detective Latterly. Hi, Luke. Sorry to bring you in here again. We’ll be recording this.”
Roman walked across the room. After pulling out his key fob, he opened the cabinet in the corner. He selected one of the digital recorders and brought it back to the table before turning it on and setting it squarely between both parties. Kevin recited the case number, date, and names of those in attendance before sitting back and turning to Roman.
“Excuse me, Detectives, but I’d like to start by asking why my client is here today? Unless you have any new evidence and are planning to charge him, this is completely unnecessary. I’m fully aware that you, Detective Mancini, questioned Mr. McNally at a café last week and then had your assistant go to his office the
very next day. I think I could make a strong case for harassment.”
The lawyer leaned back in his chair and spread his arms in a gesture of a man attempting to be reasonable under extraordinarily trying circumstances. Roman would just bet Jessop was a killer in the courtroom. The juries probably loved him too. Luke had chosen well, but it was bound to be costing him an arm and a leg and possibly his firstborn.
“We have a few follow-up questions,” Kevin said in an easy voice. “I’m sure your client is as eager as we are to find the person who killed his girlfriend.”
Roman shifted to face Luke more fully and at the same time dismiss Jessop. “Luke, tell us again about the dinner you had with Anita on Sunday, July fifth. How did she seem?”
Luke’s eyes shifted to Jessop and then back again to Roman. “Um…she was tired. We all were. As you know, it was a busy weekend.”
“What did the two of you talk about?” Kevin interjected smoothly.
“Oh, the parade and the fireworks. Stuff like that. We were both looking forward to some downtime at the end of the week.”
“Why was she crying?” Roman asked.
“She…wait, what?” Luke stuttered. “Who said she was crying?”
Roman paused for a beat, locking eyes with Luke. “Let’s say I had an interesting conversation with Brooke the other day. Turns out something was up with Anita, isn’t that right?”
“Brooke couldn’t have known…I mean, Anita didn’t—”
Jessop raised his hand. “A moment, please. I’d like to confer with my client.”
Kevin reached out and hit the stop button on the recorder, and both he and Roman got up and walked back out to the observation room.
“What’s going on, Mancini?” Schmidt all but pounced on Roman when he stepped into the room. “You better have something, or Jessop will tear us to shreds.”
Roman blew out a breath and turning, stared into the room. Jessop and Luke were huddled together with the lawyer apparently doing most of the talking. Luke occasionally nodded.
“He knew,” Roman said to Kevin before answering his lieutenant. “I’ve recently discovered Anita was pregnant in the weeks leading up to her death.”
Schmidt’s icy blue eyes pinned Roman. “Why didn’t you come to me with this?” he demanded.
“Because the information only came to light last night and the source can’t go on record. I had to find out if McNally knew. This seemed like the best way of doing it.”
“Am I to take it that Brooke Adams did not provide you with this fact?”
Roman shook his head. “No, I just used her in there with McNally.”
Schmidt sighed. “Mia Reeves then? I should have known. You’d better make this work because I’m not gonna save you from whatever that high dollar shark hits you with if you’re wrong.”
“Understood,” Roman said.
“You too, Latterly.”
“Yes, Lieutenant. I understand.”
Back in the interview room, Kevin reengaged the recorder and nodded at Roman.
“Why was Anita crying?” Roman asked.
“Because…there was…we were having a discussion about our future, and she got emotional, that’s all.” Luke’s eyes stayed on his hands which rested on the table.
“Were you breaking up with her?” Kevin asked.
Luke’s head shot up, and he faced Kevin. “No, absolutely not.”
“So, she was happy about whatever you two were talking about?” Kevin pressed.
“Not exactly happy. We were trying to decide some things.”
“Why would you attempt to make important future decisions at a Pizza Hut during Anita’s short dinner break on a night when you were both admittedly exhausted?” Roman asked.
“It wasn’t planned. It just sort of happened,” Luke said.
“My client has answered your questions about the conversation he had with the victim on the night of July fifth. Was there anything else?”
Roman blew out a breath and thought fuck it. “Come on, Luke. We know she was pregnant. It must have been a bummer. You were barely into your second year in pre-med, and now you’d have a baby to support. I’m sure that wasn’t in your carefully organized life plan.”
Luke said nothing. With head bowed he kept his eyes fixed on the table.
“Maybe you were pushing her to have an abortion?” Kevin suggested. “Is that why she was crying?”
Jessop slid the cap on his gold pen and placed it along with the yellow pad of paper in his briefcase. He closed the lid down with a snap. “We’re done here, gentlemen. My client has nothing further to add. Unless you’re charging him with something, we’re going to get up and walk out.”
“I always liked you, Luke,” Roman said. “And I know without a shadow of a doubt Anita loved you. It’s too bad when the chips were down, and she needed you the most, you weren’t the standup guy we all thought you were.”
Roman pushed back from the table while Jessop pinned him with a stare. “That was completely unnecessary,” the lawyer said. “I won’t have you pestering my client. He’s a pillar of this community. If I discover any evidence you are sullying his name, we’ll see you in court. You can count on it.”
“Yeah, I can see how awful it would be to have his name sullied. It’s not like we’re talking about the murder of an innocent young woman or anything,” Roman said in a low voice.
Kevin put a hand on his arm, and Roman merely nodded and moved away from the table.
“Yes, she was pregnant. Yes, the baby was mine. But I never pushed for an abortion and as God is my witness I didn’t kill her,” Luke said, his eyes blazing into Roman’s.
* * *
“Luke knew, didn’t he?” Mia asked within seconds of Roman stepping inside her house that night. “Do you think he killed her?”
“You know something? I could really use a beer.” He handed her the two pizza boxes and crouching down, patted the dogs, most especially Layla.
“I’m sorry. Of course, come in. I have Rolling Rock and Desperado. Why don’t you sit down and relax.”
“I’ll take a Rolling Rock.”
He followed her back to the kitchen and refusing an offer of a glass, took the beer bottle from her and drank deep. Leaning his hip against the counter, he shifted his head back and forth to stretch his neck and sighed.
“Do you want me to reheat this,” Mia asked, lifting the lid off the larger of the two pizzas.
“Nope, as is will do me fine. You know, I’ve never ordered a pizza with no meat and no cheese. Gus looked at me as if I had a head injury. You’re really disciplined about your diet, aren’t you?”
Mia turned away and opening a cupboard, pulled down two blue plates. “I guess,” she mumbled. “It’s not what you think though.”
“What is it then?”
She didn’t say anything for a minute. Instead, she heaped four slices of pizza, loaded with pepperoni and sausage and dripping with cheese, onto one of the plates and handed it to him. “Napkins are on the table.”
He watched her open the smaller pizza box and put two slices on the second plate. She stepped around him and made her way over to the table in the kitchen nook. Reaching for the macramé napkin holder, she placed one on the setting across from her and one on her lap. Mac wandered over and sat by her chair. Roman stood for another moment while she picked up a slice of pizza and took a delicate bite. He walked over and slid in across from her.
“You’re not going to tell me?” he asked.
She continued chewing and swallowed before meeting his eyes. “It’s going to sound crazy.”
“Try me.”
“I sometimes get things from the food. Flashes, I mean. What I see from meat and dairy is…let’s say there’s no way I can eat it after seeing what I see. Fruits and vegetables can give me things too, especially if the person picking or harvesting or whatever was in a state of emotional distress. But at least I’m not eating something whose misery and death are firmly rooting in my consciousness.
And more than that, the animal’s suffering was in essence caused by me.”
Roman stared at her then abruptly sat back against the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you trying to make me feel bad, so I convert to veganism because it won’t work? I love my meat.”
“No, I’m not. I firmly believe each person has to make up their own mind,” she said. “Though I think it’d be darn interesting if everyone saw what I saw.”
He looked down at his pizza and back to her again. “Then I guess I’m glad I can’t see it.” Picking up a slice from his plate, he took a huge bite and chewed. She smiled placidly at him.
“Okay, I’m dying here. You have to tell me what happened with Luke,” she said once he’d finished the slice and taken another pull from the bottle.
“After some pushing and prodding, he admitted he knew Anita was pregnant. She’d only taken the test at work on the day they met for dinner at Pizza Hut. They were both shocked and upset and hadn’t decided anything by the time she had to go back to work. Luke admitted he kinda lost his mind for a bit. They were supposed to have lunch the next day and talk some more, but he canceled at the last minute. Said he needed time to think.”
“And when Luke canceled, Anita reached out to Brooke. That’s why she was so distracted during their lunch. Except it doesn’t seem she told her about the pregnancy.”
Roman shrugged. “I’d lay money she didn’t, but we’ll follow up with Brooke tomorrow.”
“Back to Luke. Do you think he killed Anita?”
“I dunno. It doesn’t read that way. He comes off as telling the truth or at least now he is. Plus, he’s alibied tight unless his parents lied for him. Parents will do that, sure, but in this case, I can’t see Doc McNally living with the fact his son killed a girl.”
She knocked her fist on the table. “I wish I could get a better read on Luke. The only things that came to me were pain and loss and regret. None of it felt violent.”
“And if it’s not Luke, we’re back to having nothing.”
“Can you think of anyone else she might have told?” Mia shook her head. “I guess it doesn’t really matter though because the only person who would care enough about the pregnancy was Luke.”
