Hometown Detective (Cold Case Detectives Book 6)

by Jennifer Morey

  He sat up on the bed. Beside him, Kendra lifted her tousled, red-haired head and sleepily looked up at him, momentarily arresting his senses.

  “Did you hear me?” Cal asked.

  Roman swung his feet over the side of the bed. “Yeah. Just woke up, that’s all.”

  “It’s noon.”

  He stood from the bed, careful not to look at the sexy thing in the bed. “We’ll fly back as soon as we get ready.”

  “Why did you sleep so late? Were you up with that long-legged beauty all night?”

  Not just bold and direct, Cal was incredibly intuitive. “Cal, I’m sure you and I are going to be friends for a long time, but we aren’t that close yet.”

  Just before Roman disconnected, he heard Cal’s deep chuckle and, “Lucky man.”

  Kendra got off the bed and captured his senses again as she walked naked to the bathroom.

  Hearing the shower run, he went in. She’d left the door open. Was that an invitation or was it more a surrender to the inevitable? They’d already made love. Why be modest now?

  He climbed into the shower behind her. With her back to him as she rinsed herself, he took the opportunity to soak in the sight of her. Then she turned around, tipping her head back to slick back her hair. She presented an erotic vision.

  Opening her eyes, she moved out of the spray. “Your turn.” Although she smiled, Roman picked up on her stiffness right away.

  He went under the spray and rinsed off, eyeing her when he didn’t have to close his eyes to water. She shampooed her hair with occasional glances at him. She didn’t look at him with passion. She seemed to have withdrawn. Back to not trusting. She must be going over last night and feeling too vulnerable. This morning she protected herself and Roman would get only what she felt comfortable showing him.

  He’d been thrilled to see her let go the way she had last night. He’d thought maybe he’d finally found that special woman. But now...

  * * *

  “Come on. I want to talk to Vikki before she decides not to say anything,” Roman snapped as he walked briskly toward the hospital entrance. She’d barely spoken to him and the shower had felt invasive.

  “I’m coming. Slow down. A few seconds won’t matter.” She trotted to keep up with him.

  Roman didn’t mean to be surly but finding out Kendra had put her wall back up disappointed too much. She let go during sex but at no other time. She reminded him of the CEO he’d dated. Except Kendra was completely different and he hadn’t felt this irritated with the prospect of not being with the CEO.

  All the way back to Chesterville, he’d avoided talking to her at all. That hadn’t been difficult since she hadn’t said much, either. Thankfully, it was a short flight.

  He let her push through the door first, glancing around to make sure they weren’t followed. The sun was low in the sky and shadows were getting long.

  Maybe he felt this way because he wanted Kendra to be the woman he craved and couldn’t shake the instinct that she wouldn’t reciprocate. Her barriers were too cemented into place for her to allow him in. He didn’t like being wrong about people and he strongly suspected he’d been wrong about Kendra and his first impression had been accurate. He should never forget how good he was at reading people. That was partly what made him such a good detective. He picked up on undercurrents in people. Kendra’s may as well flash in bright red neon letters: Stay back.

  She must be one of those people—no, she was one of those people—who avoided attachments.

  In the elevator, he sensed her watching him. She turned her head slightly every once in a while, just enough to get a glimpse of him. Her eyes would go all over his black shirt tucked in tan slacks, and then steal a look at his face. If she wondered why he was in such a testy mood, she didn’t ask to find out why, which told him she already knew and probably didn’t want it out in the open, freely communicated. That only served to irritate him more, and for the umpteenth time, he wished he could light up a cigarette. It didn’t help that she wore another figure-flattering sundress, this one blue and white with a slit that allowed her knees to peek out when she moved. She’d also left her hair down and he didn’t like how much he enjoyed its smooth waving as she walked.

  On the floor where Vikki was staying, he walked with long strides down the hall. Cal had left already and the local cops had probably already spoken with her.

  He entered the hospital room and saw Vikki watching television.

  She saw them and Roman instantly recognized her fear.

  “Hello, Vikki, how are you feeling?”

  “Not well, but I’m improving. I already answered questions. I don’t know anything.”

  That told him she did know something. Why else would someone try to kill her? Of course, they had no proof yet, but Roman was certain the test results wouldn’t surprise him.

  “We don’t want to bother you long.”

  Kendra’s phone rang and she took it out in the hall. Roman briefly wondered why she had to leave the room. In case whoever called asked her about him?

  “Do you think your husband is poisoning you?” Roman asked.

  “No.”

  She sounded sure. “Who, then?”

  “I don’t know.” She averted her face.

  “You can tell me, Vikki. I can make sure no one hurts you.”

  “No, you can’t.”

  In other words, she knew someone was trying to kill her and she knew why.

  “What will you do if the tests confirm poisoning?” he asked.

  “When I get out of the hospital, I’m going to stay with my mother in Florida,” she said.

  That was probably wise, at least until they caught the killer.

  “Then you are afraid of Glenn?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t trust anyone right now.”

  “You must suspect someone, or you wouldn’t have made plans to go to Florida.”

  “Look, I appreciate all you and the local police are doing, but there’s nothing more I can do for you.”

  Kendra entered the room again with rounder eyes than when she’d left. “That was Raelyn.”

  The way she looked at him said that’s all she’d say in front of anyone else. With Vikki not talking, who knew whose side she was on?

  “We’ll leave you be.”

  “Thanks for stopping by.”

  Roman left the room and stopped with Kendra outside the door.

  “She said she found some photos her mother took of a house she didn’t recognize. She took a cell phone picture of them and sent them to me.” Kendra showed him her phone.

  He thumbed through each photo.

  “That’s Glenn and Vikki’s backyard,” she said.

  It was. He looked at Kendra as the significance rang through, then handed back her phone.

  “Good. You’re both finally here.”

  Roman saw Cal rushing down the hall.

  “It’s just been confirmed,” Cal said. “Vikki was poisoned with ethylene glycol.”

  A doctor passed them on the way into Vikki’s room, likely to go inform her. Roman followed him, staying just out of sight but within earshot.

  “We received your test results,” the doctor said. “The reason you’ve been feeling so sick is because there was a toxic amount of ethylene glycol in your system. Ethylene glycol is found in antifreeze.”

  After a few seconds, Vikki said, “Y-you mean... I...I was poisoned?”

  “I’m sorry to say, yes. Who do you think would have done this to you?”

  “I...I...I don’t know. I...I need to call my mother. She’s supposed to come and get me.”

  Roman didn’t need to hear any more. Vikki wasn’t ready to talk.

  “We’re bringing Glenn in for more questioning.” Why don’t you two follow me to the station?”

  “You
might want to get another warrant first.” Kendra handed him her phone and he looked at the photos.

  “That’s Glenn and Vikki’s backyard.”

  Cal looked up at Roman, and then walked into the hospital room.

  Roman followed with Kendra.

  The doctor finished up with his patient and left them after acknowledging Cal and then Roman and Kendra. He seemed to know Cal from talking to him about the case.

  “Not you again,” Vikki said. “I need some time alone.”

  “What’s your favorite thing to drink?” Cal asked.

  “I like lots of things. Coffee. Tea. Juice. But I suppose if I had to choose I’d say sweet tea. I have a glass every day.”

  “Where do you get your tea?” Roman asked.

  “I order it online most of the time.”

  “Has anyone ever given you tea for any special occasion?”

  “Why, yes. Glenn and his parents almost always do.”

  * * *

  Cal had the police wait to bring Glenn back in for questioning and arranged for another search warrant at his house. Glenn had gone to work that day and didn’t stop by the hospital on his way home. Kendra found that peculiar. Didn’t he want to see how his wife was doing?

  This time when police approached him, he looked scared rather than defensive. And he was accommodating with the team who would be searching his house.

  “Come in,” he’d said when Cal handed him the warrant.

  Police went straight to the backyard, though, and Kendra watched how Glenn went a little paler and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He trailed behind the team of criminal investigators.

  Kendra followed Glenn, Cal and Roman onto the back patio.

  Two team members checked the photo Kendra had given to Cal and found the location of the rock.

  When one of them rolled the rock over and took a shovel handed to him, Glenn asked, “Why are they digging in the flower bed?”

  Was he pretending? Did he actually know the answer?

  “We have reason to believe someone buried evidence here,” Cal said.

  “Evidence of what?” He seemed genuinely perplexed.

  Roman moved to stand right in front of Glenn. “Your wife was poisoned, Mr. Franklin. We just received confirmation from the hospital.”

  Glenn’s mouth opened a fraction, and then he closed his mouth as though recovering from some revelation. His eyes drooped in defeat.

  “Is that why you haven’t been by to visit your wife?” Kendra asked.

  Glenn shot an insulted look her way. “You aren’t a cop. Stop asking me questions.”

  There was the belligerent Glenn Franklin, aka Bear. Is that how he’d gotten his nickname?

  “Speaking of questions,” Cal said, standing to Glenn’s left. “We’d like you to come to the station to give us your statement.”

  “As soon as I contact my attorney, I’ll stop by.”

  Kendra resumed watching the investigators dig in the flower bed. She moved to the edge of the patio, leaving Roman and Cal to deal with Glenn. They’d get nothing out of him with an attorney present. They’d have to prove who killed Kaelyn and Deidra the hard way.

  The investigator digging put the shovel aside and went to his knees to dig with his hands.

  “We’ve got something.” The investigator standing near him said, looking down into the hole.

  The kneeling investigator stood with a can in hand. It was an old-fashioned can that once held coffee. It could have been a valuable piece of art had it been preserved.

  Cal and Roman put on gloves and approached the two.

  Kendra watched Glenn. His brow had creased as though confused over what they’d found.

  Cal took the can and inspected it. He opened the lid.

  “There’s a white powder filling this to about a quarter of the way,” Cal said, then he looked over at Glenn. “Ethylene glycol?”

  “I don’t know what that is. I didn’t bury it.”

  Kendra would have to say she believed him. He seemed not to understand why anyone would want to dig up his flower bed.

  Cal put the can into a bag and handed it back to the investigator.

  “We’re going to have that tested, Mr. Franklin,” Roman said as he walked back to the patio.

  “I’m telling you, I didn’t bury that.”

  “Did you buy the powder?” Roman asked.

  “No,” Glenn answered defensively. “And I didn’t put it into the can and bury it, either.”

  Roman took his time before he said, “You could make this a lot easier on yourself if you talk to us.”

  Glenn just glowered at him.

  “If you’re convicted of murder and attempted murder, you could get a harsher sentence than you would if you cooperate with us,” Cal added. “We can’t work any deals unless you cooperate. Do you understand?”

  “I understand, Detective, but I didn’t kill anyone, least of all my first wife and I’d never try to kill Vikki. We might have our issues but I’d never kill her over them.”

  “What issues?”

  “My affair with Kaelyn,” he said.

  “We’ll talk to you soon.” Cal nodded to Roman, signaling them to follow him.

  Outside on the front porch, he faced them.

  “The coroner found calcium oxalate crystals in Deidra’s tissues. That’s ample evidence she was poisoned with ethylene glycol.”

  Kendra leaned her head back in relief. “That’s great news.” But what about Kaelyn? How would they identify her killer?

  * * *

  Roman waited with Kendra for detectives to bring Hudson Franklin into the interview room. The detectives had just finished with Glenn, and not much had been gained. All they’d established was that Deidra had also drunk tea on a regular basis, as well as powdered lemonade. Cal and his team were poring through all of Glenn’s financials to try and link him to a purchase of the poison. They were also examining his computer and other electronic devices.

  When asked about his father’s bribery practices, Glenn had denied knowing anything about it. He conceded he’d heard about the affair with the mayor’s wife but couldn’t say whether it was true or not.

  Next was his father. They’d see how much he corroborated.

  Cal remained standing in the room when Hudson was brought in. To Roman’s surprise, he hadn’t asked for an attorney. Glenn had been brought in separately and no one told Hudson he was being questioned, as well.

  Call began with small talk as Hudson sat and someone brought him a bottle of water.

  “Would you mind telling me why I’m here today? I know it’s about Deidra, but how do you think I can help?”

  Moving closer to the table, Cal leaned on his hands as he faced the man. “We know you took bribes and can prove it in court, Mr. Franklin. If you cooperate with us now, we might be able to make some kind of deal with you.”

  “Bribery? What are you talking about?”

  Cal straightened. “There’s no point in denying it. We have proof you accepted gifts and money, which all coincide with cases you prosecuted that could not have coincidentally gone so well otherwise. The mayor’s son? I can name others.”

  After a long while where Hudson stared up at Cal, he asked, “What kind of deal?”

  “That depends on how much you can tell us.” Cal walked around the table to the other end.

  “What do you need to know?”

  “Let’s start with the murders.” Cal folded his arms, palms flat against his rib cage. “Did your son kill his first wife Deidra and attempt to do the same with Vikki?”

  Hudson’s head lowered as he seemed to think things over gravely. Finally he lifted his head. “No.”

  “What about Kaelyn Johnston?” Cal asked.

  “I believed her death was suicide.”

 
“Did you?” Cal challenged.

  Hudson sighed long and deep, head lowered again. This time, he answered without lifting his head.

  “I suspected it would come to this. I almost came in to talk to you before detectives came to my door and asked me to come here this afternoon.”

  Cal didn’t move, nor did he say anything. Hudson had reached a point where he’d decided to stop running, to stop hiding, and maybe even stop protecting his son.

  “The day Kaelyn died, I was at work all day,” Hudson said. “My wife called late morning and asked me to meet her in Chicago so we could fly to New York.”

  Kendra gripped Roman’s forearm. This was an enormous revelation. Kendra would finally know what happened to her twin sister.

  To a detective standing in the room with them, Roman said, “Get Melody Hudson’s phone records. See if we can place her near Chesterville, along the highway where Kaelyn was last known to have been.”

  The detective nodded once and left the room.

  “I asked her what she was doing in Chicago, and she told me she flew there to shop.”

  “You believed her?” Cal asked.

  Hudson shook his head. “I did at first, but I always thought it was strange. We had already planned to go to New York, so I flew to Chicago and picked her up, and then we did go to New York.”

  “She called you late morning?” Cal asked.

  “Yes, at around eleven thirty. It may have been later. I don’t recall.”

  That would coincide with Kaelyn’s time of death. Melody must have killed her, and then phoned her husband to cover her tracks for the rest of the day. All she would have had to do is drive Kaelyn’s car back to where she planned to stage the suicide, then get to Chicago to meet Hudson. Kaelyn wasn’t heavy. Melody would have struggled, but she could have carried out her plan.

  “Did you ask her why Chicago?”

  Hudson lifted his head. “Yes. More than once. But she wouldn’t talk to me about it.”

  “And you didn’t think that was strange?” Cal asked.

  “I did, but I hardly would have thought my wife capable of murder. I did wonder if she had started having an affair, but she adamantly denied that and I believed her. Melody is many things, but she isn’t unfaithful. I provided her everything she wanted or needed in life.”