Liar

by Campbell, Jamie

  “Was she particularly worried about anything?” Leo pushed, trying to get something out of his two hour drive to meet with her. He needed a new lead and he needed one quickly.

  “She was worried about money, like everyone is.”

  The news came somewhat as a surprise to Leo, considering the savings account statements he found hidden in Renee’s closet. There was thousands of dollars in there. “Did she mention she had a savings account? One in her name only?”

  “No.”

  “Were you very close with your daughter?”

  “What are you saying? That I didn’t know my own daughter?”

  Leo quickly backtracked. “No, not at all. We’ve just found Renee to be quite secretive. I don’t know how much she has confided in you.”

  “We were as close as two people could be. I spoke to her on the phone every other day, I went to every one of Jordan’s school functions. Renee knew I was only a phone call away and I would drop whatever I was doing to be there for her.”

  Amelia figured Leo needed saving, perhaps a woman’s touch might help calm the situation. “Mrs. Armitage, I’m sure you were very close with Renee. We’re very sorry for your loss.”

  Leo gave her a questioning look, wondering where she was going. Rita sniffled and blew into her tissue. Amelia shrugged, that was all she had.

  Leo picked up the conversation again. “Mrs. Armitage, the truth is we think Renee had information about a crime. She met with the district attorney but passed away before she could reveal what she had. I was hoping you would know what she might have had?”

  Judging by the horrified look on Rita’s face, they already got their answer. “She never said anything to me. And my daughter told me everything. You must have her mistaken for someone else.” My daughter never told me anything, Amelia heard. Perhaps their relationship wasn’t as perfect as Rita wanted them to believe. After all, if she really believed it, Amelia wouldn’t have heard the lie. It gave her the ammunition to keep going.

  “Mrs. Armitage,” she started warily, hoping she wasn’t about to blow everything. “We also suspect Kale isn’t Jordan’s biological father. Do you know anything about that?”

  The room instantly grew deathly silent. A parade of emotions crossed over Rita’s face. She suffered the entire spectrum of feelings: denial, anger, acceptance, then anger again. She decided to stick with the last one. “How dare you come in here when my baby’s body is barely cold and accuse her of such things. I want you to get out. Now.”

  “Mrs. Armitage, we’re not accusing Renee of anything,” Leo said quickly, trying to salvage what he could. “We’re just trying to get to the bottom of things. If you’ll hear me out, I can-”

  “I’m not going to hear you out on anything,” Rita interrupted, pushing herself up off the lounge. She moved slowly and with great effort. “Get out of my house before I call your superior.”

  She stood, as stoic as a marble statue, as Leo and Amelia did the same. All they could do was leave as they were told, their tails between their legs in shame.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Armitage,” Leo tried apologizing. He didn’t get very far.

  “If you were truly sorry, you would let my baby rest in peace.” Rita’s voice was as hard as stone. “Don’t come back around here again.”

  Leo nodded in acknowledgement, but not exactly in assent. He couldn’t make any promises that he wouldn’t be back. If he gathered enough evidence so he could take the case to Commissioner Pace, he would no doubt return to find out what else Mrs. Armitage might know about her daughter’s secret life.

  On the two-hour drive back home, Leo was bristling with frustration. He was back at square one and not happy with how the investigation was going. His time was perilously growing to a close with only eleven days left before his suspension was over and he would be required back at the station.

  The heavy traffic was the last straw as a young driver cut him off. “Ugh, how do these people get their license?” He thumped the steering wheel.

  Amelia had sensed his terrible mood since they had left Renee’s mother’s house. She had remained quiet, hoping it would pass. She couldn’t help but feel the detective was angry with her, she should have used more tact with the woman. She should have left the conversation to him.

  “I’m sorry I blew it back there,” she started, waiting for the onslaught directed at her.

  “You weren’t to know she would react like that.”

  “I should have shut up.”

  Leo stole a glance at her, seeing how upset she was with herself. He didn’t need to give her any additional grief over it, she was beating herself up enough for the both of them. “You’ll know for next time.”

  His reassurance didn’t really help her. His words were one thing but he was still in a foul mood. Perhaps it wasn’t just her that was causing it. “Is everything else alright?”

  He beeped his horn as he was cut off by another driver, this time a tradesperson in a van. “I can’t believe these drivers. We need more highway cops on the road.” He paused, remembering she had asked a question and was expecting an answer. “This case is just frustrating. Every time we get somewhere we hit another brick wall.”

  “Isn’t it like that with every case?”

  “This one is different,” he said, trailing off. Amelia noticed, it convinced her to keep going. She figured he wouldn’t have said anything, or lied, if he didn’t want to talk about it. Plus, they still had another hour of driving and her boredom was growing by the minute.

  “What makes this one different?” She asked gently, learning her lesson from Rita’s reaction.

  Leo waited so long to answer that she thought he never would. Finally, he said in almost a whisper, “The kid reminds me of someone I used to know.”

  “Who was that?”

  “My brother.”

  She wasn’t expecting the answer to be something so personal. She wondered if she had overstepped a line somewhere. She stopped pressing. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Nicholas was only six when he was killed. He looked a lot like Jordan White.”

  Considering he must want to talk about it after all, Amelia continued. “How did it happen?”

  “We were at the shopping center with our mother. Nick and I were both bored out of our brains so we wandered off. I turned away for only a second and he was gone. We couldn’t have been out of our mother’s sight for more than a few minutes. But it’s all it took.”

  “Was he kidnapped?”

  Leo nodded slowly, his mind back to the scene of the crime twenty-six years ago. “Charles William De Bono, age fifty-three, Caucasian, on parole for interfering with a minor at the time. He took my brother and strangled him after only a few hours. He buried his body in a public park, a couple of teenagers found him after a few days.”

  “It’s terrible how just a few moments can change everything,” Amelia said, unsure what else to say. She had never suffered such a tragedy in her life, there was no way to comprehend what he had gone through. “How old were you when it happened?”

  “Eight. Nicky was my little brother, I was supposed to look out for him.”

  “You were eight, you were too young to expect a predator would take him. You probably didn’t even know they existed.”

  Leo shrugged, his resolve to accept the blame for his brother’s fate had long been decided. “It doesn’t matter, I was supposed to keep him safe and I didn’t. I can never forgive myself for that.”

  “Is that why you became a cop?”

  He smiled, just a little. “Partly. I didn’t want other people to go through what we did. I wanted to make sure I caught all the bastards.”

  “Did it take the police long to get your brother’s killer?” Amelia asked, suddenly understanding Leo so much more than she did. They had only known each other for a few days, but it seemed like he had allowed her to see a very private side of him. And he hadn’t lied about any of it.

  “It took them two years, four months, a
nd five days to get him.”

  “Why so long?”

  “Dead ends.”

  She realized his frustration now. “And you don’t want Kale White to have to wait that long.”

  He nodded, staring ahead. “No, I don’t.”

  “How did they catch him in the end?”

  “He did it to someone else,” Leo answered solemnly, remembering his family wasn’t the only one to suffer a loss. “They didn’t catch him before he reoffended and another little boy lost his life because of it.”

  Amelia was lost for words. Finally, she knew she did the right thing by coming forward with her knowledge of Blake Turner’s false confession. Criminals just can’t help it, they have to reoffend whenever they get the chance.

  Still, there was nothing she could say that would erase the painful memories of his past or the way Leo still missed his brother and wondered what kind of a man he would be had he lived. All she could do was try to solve Jordan’s murder as quickly as possible.

  * * *

  Amelia stepped out of the car, glad to be finally home. She went to say goodnight to the detective but stopped. He looked so sad, she felt for him. She couldn’t let him go home to an empty house, not with the shadow of his brother looming large that evening.

  “Do you want to come in and have dinner with us?” She asked, half hoping he would decline the offer. At least then she could be satisfied with having tried.

  “You wouldn’t mind?”

  “No, it would be an honor.”

  Leo cut the engine on the car, his decision made. He followed her into the house and was re-introduced to Lane. She quickly explained he was staying for dinner, silently communicating to her boyfriend that she was sorry for not giving him any warning.

  Within ten minutes, they were seated around the small dinner table in the living room.

  “So, Lane,” Leo started, trying his best to make conversation. He was already questioning whether he had made a good decision to stay. He didn’t particularly want to go home but this wasn’t exactly what he had in mind either. “Amelia said you were a motor mechanic. That’s got to be interesting.”

  “I fix cars. That’s about as interesting as it gets.”

  Amelia butted in. “You do more than fix them, you restore the old ones too.” She turned to Leo, explaining. “He takes old rust buckets and restores them back to classic cars. People come from all around for his handiwork.”

  “You must be very good at it,” Leo commented. Lane just shrugged in response. They weren’t exactly hitting it off. Quite the opposite, Amelia noticed. She hoped she wasn’t in for another argument later.

  “Leo’s known for his good work at the station too,” she went on, filling the silence. “He was one of the youngest cops to ever make detective.”

  “Good for him,” Lane mumbled. He tossed Amelia a glance, challenging her to continue on when he was clearly able to make a scene if given enough fuel. “Please pass the potatoes.”

  She picked up the dish and passed it along, trying to resist the urge to throw them at him. She knew she sprung the dinner on him with absolutely no warning, but he still should have been civil to their guest. She would have done it for him if the roles were reversed. Or, at least, she would have liked to have thought she would anyway.

  “So we are getting further with the case,” Amelia commented, figuring it was safer than discussing their personal lives again. “I’m sure we’ll solve it soon.”

  Leo gave her a smile. “I hope so.”

  “And then you can get back to work. They called for you again today, want to know when you’re returning,” Lane said with a mouthful of food. “What should I tell them next time?”

  “I’ll give them a call,” Amelia said, anything to shut him up. “They’ll be fine when I explain everything. It’s not like the archives are time sensitive or anything. It’s just paper. It can wait, right?”

  “Your help to the investigation is a lot more valuable to the community than archiving,” Leo responded happily.

  Lane, however, wasn’t so happy. “What are you doing to help again? Didn’t you just witness something? I don’t know why it’s taking so long.”

  Amelia inwardly panicked, trying not to let it show on her face. She hadn’t even thought of the lies she told when she had invited Leo in for dinner. She wanted to smack herself for not thinking it through thoroughly. She needed a lie and she needed one quickly.

  Leo looked between Lane and Amelia, confused himself now. “You didn’t tell him you’re using your psychic abilities to help me?”

  “Psychic abilities?” Lane almost choked on his mouthful of food. “Since when have you been psychic?”

  Amelia felt like a deer trapped in headlights, except worse. At least the deer had made an honest mistake. She didn’t know who to tell the truth too – her boyfriend or the cop. It was an impossible situation.

  “I, uh, yeah,” she stammered out, hoping it would be vague enough to appease them both. Before she could wait for a response, Amelia picked up her empty plate and headed for the kitchen. Lane glared at Leo before following.

  “What the hell is going on, Amelia?” Lane demanded once inside the kitchen.

  “Keep your voice down,” she whispered. “Nothing is going on.”

  “You told him you’re psychic!”

  “Maybe I am psychic.”

  Lane was too stunned for words. He stared at her, shaking his head and trying to figure out what was going on for himself. Clearly he wasn’t going to get anything sensible out of her.

  Out in the adjoining living room, Leo was taking the last few bites of his dinner. His growing awkwardness was being fed by the fact he could hear their entire conversation as if he was in the same room.

  He looked around, wondering if perhaps he should just leave. It might be rude but it didn’t seem very considerate staying either. Obviously there was something going on between the pair and he seemed to have made it worse.

  “You’re not psychic, Amelia,” Lane said in a half-whisper, half-yell. “What are you really doing spending all day with this guy? Is it just a cover? Is something else going on?”

  “Nothing is going on. God, Lane, why can’t you just trust me for a change?”

  “Because you never tell me anything. You’ve never given me a reason to trust you.”

  “And I’ve never given you a reason not to either,” she finished, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself before she completely broke down. “We’ve got a guest. Can we please just act like normal people for one night?”

  “You wouldn’t know how,” Lane sneered as he left her standing there. He didn’t return to the dining table, instead heading for the bedroom and slamming the door with a bang.

  Amelia plastered on a smile and returned to Leo. “We don’t have any dessert, I’m sorry. There’s ice cream, but I’m not entirely sure how long it’s been in the freezer.”

  Leo stood, fearing his welcome was already well overstayed. “I couldn’t fit it in, thank you though. I should get going. Do you need a hand with the dishes or anything?”

  “No, don’t be silly, we have a dishwasher so it’s all good.”

  She walked the detective to the door in silence. She hoped he hadn’t heard the argument but didn’t want to make it obvious and ask as much. She didn’t want to make him lie to her.

  “Thanks again for dinner, it was really nice of you to invite me,” Leo said as he stood on the front stoop. “I hope I didn’t cause any trouble.”

  “No, of course not. I’m sorry about Lane, he’s a bit… emotional with me at the moment.”

  “Don’t even mention it. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “Bright and early.”

  She waited, leaning against the doorjamb until the vehicle pulled from the curb and drove into the distance. Amelia sighed and closed the door, thinking about the long night ahead of her.

  * * *

  Zoe Mason was taking the news of her best friend’s suicide quite well. Co
nsidering she had lost her friend in tragic circumstances, she seemed quite aloof with the whole situation. The fact didn’t go unnoticed by the seasoned detective.

  They were sitting in the living room of her terrace house, the little ornaments and white cushions telling them she didn’t have any children. Photographs of various people smiling and having a good time lined the walls. Leo concluded she was probably single.

  “Renee never liked to color in the lines, if you know what I mean.” Zoe winked, it only added to her bizarre behavior. She had allowed the cop and his associate into her house to discuss Renee White’s private life with no detailed explanation. It was almost as if she had been expecting them.

  “How much did Renee share with you about her life?” Leo asked, his notebook already filled with details from the woman.

  “Oh, God only knows. She told me a lot but I have no idea what else she could have got up to.”

  Leo was ready to start asking the difficult questions, he got the feeling Zoe wouldn’t react like Mrs. Armitage or Kale had. This one would probably revel in the scandal of it all. He started with the softer ones first. “Did you know she was about to lose her job?”

  “Yep.”

  “Do you know why she was about to lose her job?”

  “She was stealing,” Zoe replied simply, having no qualms about trying to cover for her friend. “Drugs or tongue depressors or something?”

  “Prescription drugs. Do you know what she was doing with them?” Leo was holding his breath, it was the question he had asked himself so many times before.

  “She said she was selling them, she needed the money. That husband of hers didn’t exactly earn much, she needed to make ends meet somehow. She was determined her boy was going to have everything he needed.”

  “Was she selling them on the streets?”

  “No idea.”

  Leo shot Amelia a look, trying to gauge her reaction to the woman. She nodded back, so far there had been no lies. At least not big ones anyway, Zoe had lied about her age when they first arrived. She was happy to keep that secret for the woman.