by Diana Orgain
My throat felt dry. My finger lingered over the contact number. It would be so easy to look and see if they had been messaging back and forth. My palms were sweaty.
It was this weird, ominous moment. If I clicked that name, it meant I didn’t trust Jim. But, if I chose not to check, would I wind up being the fool later on?
I clicked it.
And, my stomach dropped when I saw a picture of Cassandra pop up on his cell in their message history. It wasn’t anything too provocative. It was from over two weeks ago – probably right before the incident where Jim and she had gotten into it.
She was smiling in the little selfie, and her loose fitting tank top showed off a bra strap that made me want to go upstairs and find the room where she was staying just so I could smack her. The text read simply: like the new haircut?
I breathed deeply and told myself not to freak out just yet. It was a fairly innocent picture, and Jim hadn’t even responded to it. I scrolled down. A text from Jim: headed that way.
Okay, that could be him saying he was coming to pick up brownies, right? Or, it could be something else…
Then I saw a few texts from Cassandra to Jim – just a bunch of smiley face and winky face emojis. That made my toes curl. I’m all for platonic male/female friendships, but why in the world was this woman sending stuff like that to Jim?
To my husband!
That wasn’t appropriate. Then, I read something that I most definitely couldn’t write off as nothing. A text from Cassandra: Hey Sexy!!! You coming by later? ;)
I think if I’d squeezed his phone any harder it would have shattered. But, I didn’t have time to investigate further. I heard the door to my hospital room squeak, so I rushed to put the phone back down where I’d snatched it from.
Sexy!
Okay, if I’d not just been beaned by a car and wasn’t completely sore, there was a good chance I would have marched right up to Cassandra’s room and pulled her hair out.
My pregnancy was making me just crazy enough to want to push her out of the hospital’s second floor window. I swear, I was ready to claw her eyes out – and, frankly, I wanted to start a screaming match with Jim.
But, I stopped myself as Jim and my mom entered the hospital room. I was training to be a PI. And, there was one thing Galigani had definitely hammered into me.
Never jump to conclusions.
Jim and I had a great marriage. I wasn’t about to let my pregnancy brain get me all riled up. I wasn’t going to scream and shout accusations.
Not yet.
And, frankly, I think I was a lot like Sarah. Like, billboard in front of your parents’ house Sarah. If Jim was or had really already cheated on me, I was going to make sure I had evidence.
But most importantly, I love Jim.
I loved him so much even in that moment when I was fighting mad. I wasn’t going to let myself believe he would ever cheat on me – not unless I had cold, hard evidence.
“My baby!” my mom yelped as she hurried over to me. “Are you okay? Jim told me one of your client’s husbands did this to you!”
“I’m fine, Mom,” I said and smiled at her. I even smiled at Jim as he sat down in one of the empty chairs in the room with that concerned look he often wore for me. I knew I had a good man there, so it really pained me knowing that I was about to turn our marriage into a case to be investigated.
Chapter Eleven
As I was finally getting discharged from the hospital, Galigani made an appearance. A nurse wheeled me out the front door, Jim and Mom walking alongside us. Galigani was standing out front, he never stepped foot in a hospital if he could avoid it.
He waved when he saw us. “You all right, Kate?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Glad to be alive. And my babies are alright, which is the main thing, and I’m annoyed about my car.”
“I just got a call from the station. They arrested our good buddy Raymond,” Galigani said.
“Good!” Jim hissed.
“Easy, big guy,” Galigani said. “Kate, how are you feeling?” He gave me a sideways glance.
I squinted back at him, not sure what to expect. “Uh… Not bad considering, but I’m sure tomorrow when the pain meds wear off, I’ll feel like a car hit me because, guess what? One did.”
Galigani nodded. “Well, I want to give you a little sleuthing advice if you’re up for hearing it.”
“I could always use advice,” I said, and Jim rolled his eyes and told me he’d pull the car around.
I watched him hurry off, and I sighed. I was trying really hard not to let this whole thing with Cassandra get to me. I was trying to be professional, but it was hard. Galigani put an arm across my mom’s shoulder while we waited for Jim.
“You need to talk to Raymond,” Galigani said. “Feel him out and see if you can get a confession out of him. Right now, it’s not looking good for him – he seems like a pretty obvious suspect at the moment.”
“Yeah, but the police have him,” I said. “Oh, are you going to let me use one of your contacts?”
“Nope,” Galigani said, and I frowned. “Kate, your goal is to one day start your own practice, correct?”
“Right…” I said, unsure of where he was going.
“That means, dear, you need to learn how to make nice with the police for yourself,” he said. “It’s better to work with them than against them.”
I frowned, thinking of Inspector McNearny. He couldn’t stand me, and knowing my luck, I was pretty sure he’d be at the station. He’d do everything in his power to keep me from speaking to Raymond. “What about McNearny?” I questioned.
“Forget about McNearny,” he said. “He’s not going to do you any favors.”
“So then what am I supposed to do?” I asked. “Can you put in a good word with him—”
“Like I said, forget about him,” Galigani said. “I’m training you, remember? And, I’m telling you, forget McNearny. You have got to, well, make some friends! Cops. That’s how you get ahead in the business. Connections. Connections are important, and right now, you don’t have any.”
“Are you really pulling a sink or swim moment with my daughter?” Mom asked.
“Pretty much,” he said. “If you start sinking, you know I’ll help pull you up, Kate, but I want you to give this a go without borrowing my connections. Go to the station. Find a way to talk to Raymond.”
“If you say so,” I said under my breath as Jim pulled up with the car. He helped me out of the wheelchair, being as sweet as he could be. He probably would have let me fall over if he knew just how crazy my thoughts about him were in that moment. I really can’t believe how much I’d let this whole thing get into my head. “I’ll go by there later. I think I’m going to go home and rest for a little bit first.”
“Good idea,” Galigani said. “You did just get hit by a car.”
I moaned, and said goodbye to Mom and Galigani. Jim drove me out of the hospital parking lot while I sulked in the passenger seat. We pulled into a car rental place, and I was glad to have that taken care of by the time we got home.
Kenny was sitting with Laurie in the living room. He was singing and making funny voices using a frog hand puppet to dance for her and she was giggling away.
“Kate,” he said, standing up. “Are you all right? Jim told me what happened.”
“I’ve been better,” I said, plopping down on the couch.
Kenny got a good look at me and sighed. “You and I have matching black eyes from the same creep… yours looks a lot worse.”
“She did get stitches,” Jim said. “I have to get to work. Kenny, would you mind hanging around for a little bit longer? I think Kate could use the rest.”
“I’m here so long as you need me,” Kenny said, and I thanked him.
I took Laurie to her room and spent some time breastfeeding her before handing her off to Kenny again. I needed a nap, and I collapsed in my bed. I had no trouble falling asleep despite the aches and pains from the accident. When I woke u
p a couple hours later, I was surprised that I wasn’t totally incapacitated from my injuries.
In fact, I felt refreshed. I picked up my phone to check the time, it was still pretty early in the afternoon. I also had a text from Paula; she wanted to do a girl’s night, and honestly that sounded just lovely after the sort of week I’d had. Jim had already left, and Kenny had gotten Laurie down for a nap by the time I made it into the living room, Kenny was glued to his phone, texting and facetiming his friends.
“Butterfly?” I asked.
He smiled, “Nope. A sage woman told me; once a cheater, always a cheater. I’m chatting with French Fry.”
I laughed. “Should I even ask?”
“I met her last night at the café around the corner. We split an order of fries. She’s thinks I’m a big tough guy ‘cuz I have a black eye.”
“Oh my goodness, Kenny. You’re jumping from the frying pan to the fire. You can’t let this girl think you’re someone you’re not.”
He frowned. “I’m not a big tough guy?”
We both burst out laughing.
“Listen, I have to go to the police station,” Kate said. “Can you stay a while longer? Or should I call my mom?”
He shrugged. “It’s no problem. French Fry is working today, so we’re going to hang out later tonight, no worries,” he said and smiled at me.
I thanked him and snagged a power bar from the kitchen before heading out. I was starving. I got into my stupid little rental car, griping and thinking about insurance claims and wondering how that was going to work – it was attempted vehicular homicide. Pretty sure that would make Raymond responsible for replacing my vehicle.
But this was my second accident, since Laurie had been born and I wondered if that meant my insurance was about to go.
I’d felt pretty confident up until the moment I arrived at the station. I saw McNearny heading inside, and I suddenly wished that I’d come a lot earlier.
“I shouldn’t have taken that nap – I would have missed him,” I groaned.
But, I had a job to do, so I sucked it up and headed inside. McNearny spotted me immediately, of course.
“Oh, geez, what are you doing here?” he groaned as I made my way into the station. “What happened to your face?”
“I was in an accident,” I said, frowning. “Thanks for your concern.”
“What can I help you with today?” he asked, sounding smug. It was hard to believe this was Galigani’s former partner.
“I need to speak with someone you have in custody,” I said. “Raymond Kent.”
“Why in the world would I let you speak with someone we have in custody?” he questioned
I frowned. “Well, McNearny, I see that you’re a little late getting here, so I’m going to lay it out for you. The whole reason Raymond is in your jail cell is because he tried to kill me this morning.” I pointed at the stitches above my brow. “He hit me with his truck – totaled my car. I need to speak to Raymond because, in addition to going after me, he’s a suspect in a case I’m working. Now, are you going to play nice, or are you going to continue wasting my time?”
“Well, what do you think?” he smirked.
“Oh, leave her alone, Mac,” a voice behind me said.
I turned around to see a woman in uniform giving McNearny this you-are-such-an-embarrassment look. “Why do you always insist on giving everyone such a headache?”
I smiled at her, but she just sort of shrugged in my direction. From what I gathered, the only reason she’d come to my defense was because McNearny was a mutual enemy. “Can it, Fisher,” he said. “This is none of your business.”
“Um, actually, Raymond is my perp, so…” she rolled her eyes and then looked at me. “Why do you want to talk to him?”
“I’m investigating him,” I said. “I’m a Private Investigator, and I was looking into his extramarital affairs, and his side girl wound up dead. Then he went after me and my nanny, so, frankly, I think it’s about time I had a face to face with the lumberjack.”
“Lumberjack? Ha! That’s funny. That’s exactly what I thought of him too.” She turned to McNearny. “I like her,” she said, and McNearny rolled his eyes.
“Do what you want,” he snarled and stormed off.
She stepped toward me and put out her hand. “Officer Deb Fisher. I was the one who snagged Raymond trying to get out of town this morning. You were the woman he hit? Kate?”
I shook her hand. “That would be me,” I said.
“Sure did piss him off, huh?”
“Raymond or McNearny?”
She laughed again. “Funny. I like that.”
“Listen, I know it’s probably not protocol, but I need to speak with Raymond. It’s for my case.”
Deb stroked her chin; she seemed to be contemplating my request. “You think you can get him to state he was trying to kill you?” Deb asked.
“I can try.”
“The lack of confidence in your tone isn’t convincing me to let you into an interrogation room with him, hon,” she said, removing her cap to place it on the front counter at the station so that she could redo her chestnut brown bun that had started to fall loose.
“I can do it,” I said.
“Atta girl,” she said, and I swear she sort of winked at me.
What an odd character.
But I liked her anyway.
I followed her into the back of the station, and looked at Raymond through a two-way mirror. It made my skin crawl. He was a big, intimidating guy. I hadn’t really seen him up close before; I was glad he was handcuffed.
“You ready?” Deb asked, and I nodded.
She let me into the room, and I closed the door behind me. Raymond sat upright when he saw me, and a scowl appeared on his face. “You got to be kidding me,” he said. “You’re a cop?”
I didn’t answer.
He leaned back in his chair.
I sat across from him, and just stared at him with what had to be the most pissed off face he had ever seen. He didn’t like the silence. He started tapping on the table. I waited just long enough until the quiet made us both a little uncomfortable.
“I’m pregnant.” I hissed at him, and I could tell this bothered him.
“Oh…” he said.
“Twins,” I said. “You know if you kill a pregnant woman, you can add a second murder count to the charges. You would have gotten three if you had finished the job. Does it feel worth it?”
He scowled. “You were trying to ruin my marriage.”
“No, Raymond, you did that. Sarah came to me because she already suspected something. Now she just has proof. You stopped talking to her. Stopped coming home from work on time. She didn’t need me to put two and two together – she came to me for proof. She already knew. She just wanted something to bring to her lawyer. You did this. Not me.”
The man banged his fists down on his table. “If I get out of here, I’ll mow you down again. I should have gotten out of my truck and shot you in the head. You and that little pink haired errand boy punk.”
“Wow,” I said. “You made that way too easy. You’re probably going to be in prison for a while now, Raymond.” I crossed my arms. “Murder and attempted murder. It’s not looking good for you.”
Then he got still. “What are you talking about? I didn’t kill anybody.”
“Oh, didn’t you, though?” I questioned. “Because Morgan isn’t looking too good these days. You poisoned her with chloroform. Took her out to keep your secret just like you tried to take me out.”
“Morgan?” he asked. His eyes become huge and he choked out, “What are you talking about?”
“Come on, Raymond,” I said. “Don’t try to play games. You already confessed to beating up a kid and assaulting me with a car. How did you manage to poison those brownies that killed your girlfriend?”
Raymond paled. “Killed my girlfriend? You mean Morgan’s dead?” he asked, his voice raspy.
He was upset – like, really upset. Shaking
and slobbery like, this was obviously news to him upset.
“I… I just talked to her a few days ago… told her I wanted to lay low for a while because I thought Sarah was getting suspicious. She’s really dead?”
I could tell it wasn’t an act. The man was horrified. I suppose even creepy Raymond cares about some people.
“Yeah,” I said. “And, you better start talking.”
“I didn’t kill her!” Raymond yelped, his voice cracking. “What happened!”
“Someone poisoned her,” I said. “Any idea who might want to hurt her?”
Raymond was too stunned to even think. He broke down crying and sniveling into his hands. He wasn’t going to be any more use to me at this point, so I stood. When I exited the room, Deb was standing there along with three other officers and the stations local Chief.
“Nice,” Deb said and gave me a thumbs-up.
“Excellent call letting her go in, Deb,” the Chief said, and he took a moment to thank me for my assistance. I thanked them for helping me with my case as well. It was starting to look like I was managing to pull off just what Galigani had wanted me to do. Make some cop friends.
Deb walked me to a cubicle in the center of the station, and she sat down and pulled up a chair for me. She wanted to ask a few questions about the case I’d been working for Sarah since that was what had gotten Raymond all up in arms – just making sure she had everything covered when this went to court. And, of course, I told her I definitely wanted to press charges.
While I was sitting there, I took notice of Deb’s desk. There was a picture frame on the corner of the desk, but it was turned down like she didn’t want to look at it. There was a bunch of chocolate wrappers in her little trash bin, and tissues with what looked like mascara wiped away on it. I frowned when she looked up from her notebook.
“Are you doing okay?” I asked her, and she gave me this quizzical look. My eyes shifted toward the picture frame, and she sighed.
“Nice observation,” she said and picked it up, looking at the picture. “Haven’t finished cleaning off my desk since the breakup. A lot of mementos.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “A rough breakup?”
