Expert Witness

by Rebecca Forster

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:

  Hannah sat with her knees together, her elbows crooked, her face cradled in her upturned palms. Her index fingers tapped and tapped, paused and tapped. The sleeves of her jacket had fallen away from her wrists and pooled at her elbows. As Hannah watched herself attacking Isaiah Wilson on television, Daniel Young watched her.

  She was used to men looking at her, but not the way Daniel Young did. It was as if he was trying to decide what to do with her. The fact that he was still in the house annoyed her. Or, maybe she was just aggravated that Archer insisted that Daniel sit with her like a nanny while he regrouped. She had looked out the window twice to see him sitting on the low wall. Both times he was talking into his phone. She knew one of the calls would be to Faye, because what happened was probably going to get child protective service’s panties in a knot. Archer wouldn’t be able to keep Hannah out of custody; they were going to need a lawyer. She figured the other call would be to Liz Driscoll to see if there was anything new on her end. But now it was just her and Daniel Young, and she wished she were alone. At the very least, Hannah wished she hadn’t sent Max out to be with Archer.

  “What?” Hannah demanded without bothering to look Daniel’s way.

  “I beg your pardon?” Daniel answered.

  “You’re staring at my arms.”

  “No,” he answered. “I was just thinking.”

  “Bet you’re thinking it would be cool to cure me.” Hannah sat back, not liking this tall man in the well-pressed clothes.

  “I don’t recall saying I thought you were sick.”

  “That’s rich,” Hannah snorted. Her eyes were still glued to the television. The news anchors were laughing, and there was a picture of a duck in the corner of the screen. At least it wasn’t a picture of her.

  “I am curious about you and her, that’s all.”

  “What do you want to know?” Hannah’s eyes flickered his way. “I’ll tell you, and then you can go home.”

  Daniel laughed, lazy and long before his voice just sort of blew away. He shook his head like a parent who had heard it all. His patients must hate it when he did that.

  “I’m not some gossipy neighbor, Hannah.”

  “And you’re not a friend. You’re just someone Archer is supposed to be protecting.”

  He laughed again. “No, I don’t need protecting. I know things about Xavier Hernandez that. . .”

  He never finished his thought. Hannah stood up so abruptly that he was stunned into silence. She turned her back and started to walk away.

  “I was speaking to you, Miss.”

  Hannah looked over her shoulder. It was her turn to laugh, but she didn’t. She just smiled slightly.

  “Wow. That was weird.”

  “And what you did was rude,” he suggested in that ever-so-patient way of his. Hannah titled her head. She narrowed her eyes. Something had crept into his voice that made her think twice about getting in his face.

  “Okay. Sorry,” she said. “Do you want something to drink?”

  “No. Thank you.”

  “Then you can go if you want. I’m good.”

  “I’ll wait until Archer comes back in.”

  “Suit yourself, but I don’t need a babysitter.”

  “Then do you mind if I look around?”

  Hannah pulled up short again. He might as well have asked her to drop her drawers. This was Josie’s place and even Hannah didn’t take liberties yet.

  “Why?”

  “Maybe something will jump out at me.” Daniel stood up and wandered toward her. “You live here so you might not see certain things. I’m trained to notice, to read into clues that people leave subconsciously.”

  “Cool. Like a pile of rocks that will point us to Josie?” Hannah widened her eyes, mocking him. “You must have been a Boy Scout.”

  “You never know. Sometimes you don’t see what’s right in front of your eyes. That’s the funny thing about human nature, you see what you want to.” Daniel was neither insulted nor deterred by Hannah’s defenses. “Wouldn’t you be sorry if there was something that you missed? Wouldn’t you hate to live with that knowledge the rest of your life? What if there was one small thing you didn’t see that might have saved Josie?”

  “I thought you didn’t like her,” Hannah said warily.

  “It’s not about her, it’s about me,” he said as he held Hannah’s gaze. Then he smiled broadly. “It’s all about me, Hannah.”

  He came closer. He touched a lamp. Hannah didn’t want him to do that. Not without touching it more than once. One more step and his shin was against the coffee table.

  Hannah’s eyes swept over Daniel as she tried to figure out what made her wary of him. He seemed to be growing in stature, taking up more room than he should and Hannah backed up a bit. Yet it wasn’t his physical presence that bothered her, it was something else. Then she figured it out. There was something under Daniel Young’s skin that he was refusing to scratch.

  If it had been her, she couldn’t resist touching, probing, and exploring the boundaries of whatever it was that caused her anxiety. She wanted to understand everything: the bad and the good. This guy was too eager for something and Hannah didn’t want to know what it was.

  “Yeah, whatever,” she said abruptly.

  Hannah turned on her heel and went into the kitchen, cupped the curved rim of the counter with the heels of her hands, let her fingers tap the cool granite top, and scanned the walk-street before looking out toward the ocean.

  Wherever Josie was, Hannah hoped she could see the ocean. It was with that peaceful, wishful thought that the house erupted with a noise that seemed to come straight from hell.

  A Rental House, San Fernando Valley

  The girl sat on one of the dilapidated lounge chairs strewn around the backyard of the house she shared with her boyfriend and his friends. She smoked a joint and tried to relax. She didn’t have to be at work until eight, so she had all day to catch up on her sleep. But she couldn’t relax, and she couldn’t sleep because every time she closed her eyes she thought about that place in the woods.

  Her boyfriend told her she was tripping. Her boyfriend laughed at her. Finally, her boyfriend told her to forget about it. Last thing they needed was any trouble with the law. Still, she argued, it was only a phone call to some guy. Her boyfriend got mad, called her a couple of names and then wanted to screw around. She didn’t like that one bit, so out she went to the yard where she stayed all night. Now it was another evening and he had gone off to his part-time job and she was supposed to be doing laundry. Instead she was watching the sun make its way across the sky. She was stoned and lazy and the thought that he was probably right about all that shit drifted in and out of her mind like the smoke to her lungs. She raised the joint to her lips, inhaled, and held it.

  Yeah, he was right.

  She should forget about it.

  She was working on it.

  Josie Bates’ House, Hermosa Beach

  Hannah dashed through the house toward the sounds of Max’s barking and snarling, only to stop in the doorway of Josie’s bedroom and cling to the jamb. Archer stood with his legs splayed and his back bent over so he could hold on to Max who was straining to get at Josie’s closet.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Archer growled.

  Hannah pushed off, wanting to see what Archer was seeing. Knowing you didn’t run headlong into trouble, she made a wide circle and stood behind him. What she saw was Daniel Young cowering in Josie’s closet, half buried in her clothes, clutching a shoe like a club.

  “Get that animal away from me!” Daniel’s scream made Max bare his teeth and snap all the more. Spittle flew from the dog’s mouth, and Daniel turned his head away. His escape was blocked on all fronts. Young’s arms flailed over his head, his knees were pulled into his chest as if he could save himself by getting small. He screamed again. “Put that animal away.”

  Archer hollered back: “I should let him go.”

  “
Archer,” Hannah said quietly.

  She touched him. Touched him again and again on the arm that quivered with tension of holding the big dog. A second later, he handed the growling dog off to Hannah.

  “Put him in the kitchen.”

  The tone of his voice left no room for discussion, so Hannah took Max and spoke gently to him as she led him out of the room. She would have been gone in another second, but Daniel Young defended himself at her expense.

  “She gave me permission. It’s her fault.”

  Hannah whipped her head back. The old dog, sensing a change in attitude, strained toward Daniel once more.

  “I never did, Archer,” Hannah insisted. “I didn’t tell him he could come in here.”

  “Go on, Hannah,” Archer said, making it clear he didn’t put much stock in Daniel’s objection. He grabbed for Daniel. “And you. Get out of there.”

  Before Archer could touch him, Daniel stood up, pushed aside the clothes, and dropped the shoe in an attempt to regain his dignity.

  “I’m sorry I upset you,” he said as he eased his way around Archer. “I thought I might find something you and Hannah overlooked. Something that might lead us to understand what convinced Ms. Bates to meet with Hernandez.”

  “Do you think we wouldn’t have noticed something out of place?” Archer demanded.

  “No, but you might not think that something you see everyday could hold a clue. No one is completely open about their lives, Archer.”

  “Josie is,” He grumbled and went to the bed and sat down. He was tired. Physically and emotionally exhausted. The last thing he wanted was for his mind to be muddled. Young was slick and he muddled minds for a living.

  “No, Archer, Josie isn’t any more honest than any other person. I’m not saying she has lied to you, I’m saying there are things that are personal to her. I was just going to look through the book at her bedside when that dog came at me.” Daniel swiped at his slacks but inclined his head toward the nightstand. “Do you know what she’s reading?”

  Archer shook his head.

  “Just because you don’t know doesn’t mean she has lied to you about something. It only means the subject hasn’t come up in conversation. But it might mean something to me. Xavier was a voyeur. Did you know that? He loved to watch women. He would go into houses and take things from them. They probably never knew their things were gone they were so inconsequential.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that before?” Archer asked, peeved that this kind of information was withheld.

  “We’ve been busy, and as I recall you preferred me to speak only when spoken to.” Daniel sat on the opposite side of the mattress. “In forty-eight hours you’ve assaulted me and dismissed me. You’re angry with me for talking to the press. I would at least have expected a thank you for helping Hannah when Isaiah came, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt on that one.” He laughed a little. “I must say meeting you has been a challenge, Archer. I didn’t expect you at all, but I do understand. Now I need you to understand me.”

  “Yeah. Okay.” Archer gave a grunt and a nod. He looked around the room. “So did you find anything?”

  Daniel reached for the book and fanned the pages. Then he put it back on the table and looked around the room.

  “No. I suppose you were right. There’s nothing special here. Nothing special at all.” Daniel sighed. “I would have expected more of Ms. Bates. Something more interesting.”

  Archer had enough. He stood up. He had things to do, but Daniel wasn’t finished.

  “You have to prepare yourself for the eventuality that she may never be found.”

  Archer shrugged him off.

  “I don’t give up, Young, and neither does Josie.”

  “Perhaps denial is best for now.” Daniel looked at his watch. “Just remember, I’m here for you if reality rears its ugly head. Now, I suppose I better be going.”

  Daniel was almost out the bedroom door when Archer called to him:

  “What did Josie do to you?”

  Daniel turned around. He smiled as if he was pleased. Archer was finally beginning to realize that Josie Bates was not the woman he thought her to be.

  “Are you sure you want to know?”

  “Yeah,” Archer answered.

  “She discredited me. Josie Bates questioned my integrity and my standing as a medical doctor. She found old records that indicated I had not finished my graduate work and she presented this information to the jury as if that made me a charlatan. I lost my standing with the media, the ethics board reviewed me, and it took me three years to straighten things out. By that time Josie Bates had moved on and made her fortune, and my practice was in a shambles.”

  Daniel tilted his head and watched Archer. If he was hoping for sympathy he didn’t get it. If he was hoping to see Archer’s appreciation for Josie waver, he didn’t see it. Daniel took a step closer to the big man.

  “Paul Rothskill? The young man who went for help that day? Josie Bates got him on the stand and pointed out to the jury that he was a convicted sex offender. In reality, he was a young man serving his church, and trying to help the teenagers in his charge. She painted him with the ugliest of brushes. She ruined his life.”

  “Was he a pervert?” Archer demanded.

  “When he was eighteen he had sex with his sixteen-year-old girlfriend. Her parents brought charges. Josie Bates smeared Janey Wilson with her diary and with the fact that she had traveled to Mexico with a young man who had sex with an underaged girl. Josie Bates drove Isaiah Wilson to near madness. Josie Bates made Susie Atkins look like a little whore.” Daniel paused, seemingly surprised at the passion in his story. He pulled back; he twisted his neck. He calmed himself and lowered his voice. “You know, now that I think of it, she and Xavier were well matched. They looked for weakness, and when they had the opportunity they exploited it. There is some skill in that; there is something to be admired about that ability. I suppose, though, someone is just better than she is at it now. Somebody smarter found her weak spot.”

  “Xavier.” Archer said.

  Daniel blinked.

  “Xavier, of course. But as you and Detective Driscoll speculated, there may be someone else. It could be anyone. In truth, I just don’t think there are a lot of people who love Ms. Bates the way you do.”

  With that, Daniel left Archer sitting in Josie’s bedroom. He was too tired to move, too worried to know which way to turn. Then he heard the doorbell ring, his name called out, and he was re-energized. By the time he got to the living room, Daniel Young was gone and Liz Driscoll was waiting, grinning like a fool.

  “Let’s go, cowboy!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY- FIVE:

  An Outbuilding in the California Mountains

  Josie broke off the edge of the energy bar and held it out to Erika, but the other woman’s eyes were glued to their tiny window on the world. The sun was starting to go down. The heat had settled beside them like the fat relative at a small Thanksgiving table.

  “Erika!” Josie picked up the blonde’s hand and put the piece of food into it.

  Erika put it in her mouth while Josie rewrapped the oatmeal bar carefully, intent on preserving any fingerprints that might be on the plastic coated paper. That would make two pieces of evidence if they were lucky. When she was done, she leaned back against the wall and nibbled at her own little chunk.

  “He’s coming tonight,” Erika said.

  “Yeah?” Josie said.

  “He is,” Erika insisted. “Tonight is going to be different. I think it’s getting close to the end. I think this was all some kind of joke or a test or something.”

  She pulled her eyes away from the small hole in the wall. Her skin had a pink tinge, the color of the sunset. She smiled at Josie as she scooted back to rest against the opposite wall. Josie smiled back. She couldn’t take her eyes off Erika Gardener whose own were bright with excitement.

  “You know, we might be on television or something. Like a reality show.”

&
nbsp; Josie nodded.

  This was not good.

  Sepulveda Boulevard, Torrance

  “Arnson called. Him and Levinsky are stuck at a triple homicide, so he thought we could check this out and let him know what we find.”

  Liz’s eyes darted left and right to monitor the traffic. She wanted to get where they were going, and she wanted to get there fast. There was only one problem. No one got anywhere fast once you got out of the beach areas.

  “Don’t get your hopes up. We may not find anything,” Archer warned.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. But it could be something. Hell’s bells, I didn’t even think about asking if Hernandez was monitored. It’s amazing what they can do with those things. They’ve got GPS technology on those ankle bracelets.”

  “But why didn’t Cuwin Martin tell Arnson and Levinsky that Hernandez was wearing a GPS when they first caught the case?” Archer asked.

  “Because it wasn’t him who spilled the beans. Cuwin’s supervisor took his files because he’s been out on sick leave.”

  “More like putting his head in the sand,” Archer countered.

  “Either way, he wasn’t exactly doing a bang up job on the follow-up of Hernandez. The darn monitor went off like Fourth of July fireworks in the last month. Hernandez wasn’t staying put, but the monitors only reported his movement half the time and half of that time Cuwin blew it off. He put most of the reports in the round file, if you know what I mean. He’s a lazy son of a bitch,” Liz decided. “Anyway, Levinsky is going to run down the movement in 90036 zip to see if Hernandez was anywhere near Erika Gardener’s place. It made sense to send the South Bay tracking our way. So, we’re going to check out this place in El Segundo because the GPS put him there within the last week.”

  “How is Hagarty hanging?”