by Ladew, Lisa
Sgt. Gale's gaze went firm again. Kara held her breath and pleaded with her eyes. “This is my life we’re talking about," she said softly.
Sgt. Gale took a deep breath and pulled something out of her pocket. A piece of paper and a pen. She scrawled a note and handed it to Kara. “My file cabinet is unlocked. The file is in the top drawer. Get the desk sergeant to let you in. Show him that if he gives you a hard time. Show it to any detectives who ask you what you are doing.”
Kara took the piece of paper gratefully and pulled away quickly, before Sgt. Gale could change her mind.
Ivy twisted in her seat and stared at Kara open mouthed. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. I thought for sure she was going to tell us to go to hell. How did you do that?”
“I don't know. She’s been acting like a human being since she arrested Zane.” Kara felt her throat close up at the last two words she had said. She wondered where exactly Zane was and what he was thinking. Had anyone talked to him yet? Or had they just thrown him in the cell block without any explanation?
It took Kara and Ivy fifteen minutes to make it to the police station and Kara was almost breathless with anticipation as they walked in the door. The feeling that there was something in the manila folders that would lead them to the real killer was stronger than ever.
The desk sergeant unlocked the detective's office and they headed straight for Sgt. Gale's filing cabinet, pulling out every file in the top drawer. The open detective's office was completely empty since it wasn’t even four in the morning yet. The lights were down low and the place had an eerie, unused look. Kara snapped on the lights to one of the conference rooms and motioned Ivy inside, then started spreading the files out on the table. Sgt. Gale had everything in pristine order and perfectly cross-referenced to everything else. Kara laid out the pictures of the women who had suffered through this before her and shuddered as she did it. Her picture was the last one and Kara was determined to pitch it in the garbage when this was all over. She would end this case, not become a part of it.
Kara's phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out, expecting something from Sgt. Gale. But it was Joe.
You’re probably sleeping. But I can’t. Feeling guilty for telling Sgt. Gale. Feeling like we put the wrong guy in jail.
Kara shook her head and laughed. He was twelve hours too late. She texted him back.
Not sleeping. You did what you had to do. We are in detective’s office going over case. Get down here.
Kara didn’t receive a text back so she shoved her phone back in her pocket. She knew he would be there shortly. She opened the last file and peeked inside. Several handwritten notes greeted her. She took them out and read them.
Tita. Real name Leilani Kahale. Released on the fourteenth. Possibly left town. Wants placed. Want to interview about what happened on the night Dawn’s hair was cut. Does she know what happened? Does she remember who the guards on duty were?
Another note.
Guards not interviewed because we don't know who they are. Call placed to human resources. Guards who have been interviewed so far and were not working that night are:
Below this was a list of names.
The first three words, guards not interviewed, had been underlined three times, as if it were a big deal. Kara bit the inside of her cheek. Sgt. Gale was right. This was a really big deal and possibly a piece of information they were missing that would pull everything together. Kara thought hard to herself. She knew someone who had been a prison guard but she couldn’t quite remember who. Then it came to her. Seth, her recruit. Had she ever asked him what prison he worked at? She hadn’t. She would call him when the hour was a bit more decent and ask him. Maybe they could catch a break and he would know somebody at Worshaw. Maybe he had even worked there.
Kara bent back over the table, reading Sgt. Gale's notes as Ivy went through another file.
The third note gave the names of the two other women in the cell block with Dawn the night of the incident. One had died of an overdose. The other had also been released. Sgt. Gale had tracked her down and interviewed her and the woman had said she couldn’t remember anything, just like Dawn had. Underneath this information, Sgt. Gale had written it’s almost like they were drugged. In fact I’m starting to think that is the answer here. It makes me want to interview the guards even more. Or take a hypnotist out there with me. Or both.
Kara was reading this note over for the third time when Joe breezed into the room with three coffees.
“How did you know I was here?” Ivy said.
Joe put a coffee in her hand. “Where else would you be?”
Ivy snorted. “I don't know, at home in bed?”
“Nah, cops don't sleep.”
Ivy laughed and took a drink of her coffee.
“Thanks,” Kara told Joe, her attention still on the note in her hand. Joe read it over her shoulder and made a small noise in the back of his throat.
“What?” Kara asked him.
“That’s a good idea. Hypnotizing her.”
“Yeah, that would be a great idea if we had somebody who could do it.” Kara sneered lightly.
Joe pressed his lips together and held up a finger.
“What? You never told me that.”
“You never asked.”
Kara shook her head. “How did you learn?”
Joe shrugged. “You know I have a background in counseling. It was one of the courses we took.”
Kara's face lit up. “We should do it.”
“I’m willing to give it a try. It doesn’t work on everybody. In fact, it doesn’t work well on many people, and especially in an environment like a prison. But if I can relax her and get that chip off of her shoulder maybe I can get more information than we found from her before.”
Kara glanced at the white clock on the wall. It was barely five in the morning but someone would be answering the phone at the prison. She could start making appointments now. She rushed out of the room to make the phone call and left Ivy and Joe to wrestle with the files.
Chapter 25
Three hours later, Joe drove the three of them to the prison in his silver minivan. Ivy sat in the backseat looking around in disbelief. “I still can’t believe this is what you drive,” she told Joe for the third time.
Joe shrugged. “It gets good gas mileage.”
Ivy uttered a nervous laugh and Kara smiled briefly. She was used to Joe’s eccentricities by now. “Have you been out to the prison yet?” Kara asked Ivy over her shoulder.
Ivy shook her head. “No. Not yet.”
Kara gave her a reassuring half-smile and looked back over the notes in her lap. This was going to be where everything turned around for them. She could feel it.
They pulled into the prison drive and the gate guard inspected their car and their badges, then waved them through. Ivy craned her neck at the large, dreary looking building in front of them. Kara looked at it too and said her standard thank-you prayer to herself for never committing a crime, just like she always did when she drove out here. She hated this place. She hated the way it looked, the way it smelled, and the way it sounded inside. She hated the way she felt when she got close. She never would have been able to be a prison guard.
They walked inside and turned over their guns at the desk, then followed the inner guard's directions to the interrogation room where Dawn was probably already waiting for them. A female prison guard with long brown hair in one thick braid down the back of her head stood outside the room watching them approach. She looked barely fifteen years old. Kara shook her head and wondered if she was just getting old, thinking everybody was younger than they really were.
“You should talk to her, see if she works nights,” Joe whispered to her. Kara nodded, thinking she was going to do that anyway. Joe kept talking. “I’ll go inside. Maybe you and Ivy shouldn’t come in at all. Seeing either of you might distract Dawn.”
“What about once you’ve got her hypnotized?” Ka
ra whispered back.
“It doesn’t really work that way. Most people don't go into a trance, they just relax enough that their brain doesn’t throw up barriers to what they are trying to remember.”
“Okay, we’ll stay out here, but can I crack the door open so I can hear?”
Joe nodded and squeezed her arm, then greeted the guard outside the door and walked inside. Kara was surprised to hear his voice sound natural and happy as he greeted Dawn. Kara remembered that he had wanted to kill Dawn for months after she shot Kara in the leg. The door shut behind him and Ivy and Kara turned to the guard.
“Hi, we haven’t met yet. I’m Kara Price, a cop in the city.”
The guard held out her hand to shake and an easy, eager smile flashed over her face. “I’m Chelsea. Nice to meet you.”
Kara forced out a smile that she hoped looked genuine. She was too keyed up to be friendly, but she was forcing it. No use getting on anybody's bad side. “Good to meet you too. Let me ask you a question. Do you ever work nights?”
“Yeah, all the time. I worked last night and I’m working four hours of overtime right now.”
Hope flared in Kara’s chest. “Something happened in this building five months ago to Dawn that we need to find out about.”
Chelsea shook her head already. “I’m new. I’ve only been working for two months.”
Kara hopes fell to the floor. “Practically everyone I’ve talked to has been new,” she grumbled more to herself than anyone else.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a sucky place to work. Not too many people stick around for long.”
Kara had heard that before. “Let me ask you, maybe you’ve heard about the incident. Dawn had all her hair cut off in the middle of the night five months ago. Did you ever hear about that?”
The guard shook her head no and Kara almost gave up. But instead, she dug one of her cards out of her pocket and pressed it into the guard's hand. “Do me a favor and ask around about it? If you run across anybody who knows anything about it at all, can you call me?”
The guard nodded eagerly. “Sure.”
“Thanks,” Kara said. “I’m just going to listen in here, okay?” she said pointing at the door.
The guard made a be-my-guest gesture and stepped to the side. Kara pushed the door open and immediately heard Joe’s voice talking soothingly to Dawn.
“It was on the night that your hair was cut off. Do you remember that night, Dawn?” Joe’s voice stopped for a moment and then continued on just as smoothly as before. “You and your cellmates are just being put into your cells. Tell me who you are with.”
Kara heard Dawn name three women. Her voice sounded fluid and dreamy.
“Tell me what’s happening,” Joe breathed, his voice all silk.
“Tita is razzing Chrissie cuz she said she don't like pussy, and she don't care how long she locked away. She ain’t never going to eat it.”
Kara shuddered, thinking how much different Dawn sounded than the last time she had talked to her. Dawn’s voice had taken on a harder twang than it ever had before and she sounded harsher, meaner, less educated.
“And then what happened?”
“And then Po-po brought us Coke.”
“Coke?”
Kara listened closely. Someone brought them cocaine in prison?
“Yeah, a can of Coke for each of us. It tasted great. We don't hardly never get pop.”
Ohhhhhh.
“And who is Po-po?”
Kara held her breath. Po-po had to be a guard. And the Cokes had been drugged. That explained how nobody woke up when someone cut off Dawn’s hair.
“You know, Po-po. He’s kind of a joke. But you don't joke to his face. He’ll knock you on your ass.”
“Is Po-po a nickname?”
“Yeah.” Dawn sounded irritated now, like that was a stupid question.
“What is Po-po's full name?”
“I don't know,” Dawn said, agitation clearly in her voice now.
Joe pushed on. Kara crossed her fingers. They were so close.
“What does Po-po look like?”
"He’s got red hair. Hard face. Always mad looking.”
“Why do you call him Po-po?”
“Because he wants to be a cop so bad. He always says When I’m a cop if I see you on the street I’m gonna fuck you up.”
Kara winced at that. Those were exactly the kind of cops she hated to see on the street. Luckily, there weren’t very many of them. A thought struck her suddenly and dread pooled like liquid fire in her belly. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized she might know who Po-po was.
Joe kept talking in the room, unaware of Kara's insight. “Did Po-po work last night?”
“Nah man, I ain’t seen Po-po in months.”
Kara stomach uncoiled and spilled heat throughout her torso, making her feel like she wanted to throw up.
“What is Po-po's last name?” Joe said.
“Don't know. Don't care.”
Joe uttered a snort of frustration or irritation and Kara heard a noise like chair legs scraping. “We done here yet? I need a smoke,” Dawn said.
Joe peeked around the door and looked at Kara. Kara waved him out weakly. He'd done all he could.
Joe turned back to Dawn one more time. “Thanks Dawn for your cooperation. Keep it tight.” Dawn didn’t respond and Joe came out to meet Kara and Ivy in the hallway. They had a whispered conversation right there. Kara kept her fears to herself, for now. They had a nickname and she was certain they would be able to use it to their advantage. No need to spout accusations and turn suspicions on another man until she was sure.
Kara waved over the young guard who was watching them curiously. “Do you know of a guard with the nickname Po-po?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never heard that one.” Kara nodded distractedly, looking around for other guards passing through the area. She would check at the front desk. There had to be someone working today who had been there for more than two months.
They thanked the guard and walked slowly back down the long corridor the way they had come, Kara’s mind in an uproar. An older gentleman in a long white doctor's coat exited a room and walked past them. Kara turned quickly to follow him. She recognized him as Dr. Fred Doctor. She had met him at a black-tie political function her father had gotten her into and always remembered him because of his unusual name. She knew he ran the Mental Health Section of the prison that covered both inmates and guards, and had for thirty years now. If their guy had ever needed psychiatric screening or evaluation, Dr. Doctor might remember him. And Kara thought it was a good chance that this particular guard had gotten in trouble at least once or twice.
“Dr. Doctor?” she called, stopping him in his tracks. He turned slowly and looked at her. She pulled out her badge and showed it to him. “You may not remember me. I am Kara Price and we met at the mayor’s fund-raising party. Can I ask you a question?”
The doctor smiled and his eyes crinkled merrily. “Of course, what is it?”
Kara found herself smiling back. “Do you happen to know the name of the guard whose nickname is Po-po?”
A mask fell over Dr. Doctor’s features and his smile disappeared. “I’m afraid I don't. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m in a hurry.” He practically fled down the hall in the direction he had been going when they stopped him. Kara turned around to look at Joe and Ivy. Ivy’s eyes were wide, staring after the doctor and Joe just looked pissed. “The hell he says,” Joe growled.
“I know,” Kara said. “He knows who Po-po is. Why in the world wouldn’t he tell us?” Kara felt her feet taking her in the direction the doctor had disappeared in. These were the administrative halls of the prison and she didn’t think they would get in trouble for going this way.
Joe strode past her, more determined than her. “Let’s ask him.”
They walked self-consciously through the corridor, trying to act like they belonged there. It turned sharply to the left and let them out in a large open roo
m with chairs on one side and a glassed-in reception area, plus doors with names on them on the other side. It looked like a waiting room. Joe strode to the doors and began reading the nameplates on them. “What was his name again?”
Ivy sat down in one of the chairs and watched him.
“Doctor,” Kara said.
“I know that, what’s his last name?”
“Doctor,” Kara said again, unable to resist the chance to poke at Joe a little, even with her stomach sitting heavy and uneasy in her midsection.
Joe whirled on her, eyes flashing. “Are you done? Because murders are serious business.”
Kara bit back her smile. She knew. But Joe was never serious. “His last name is Doctor. Dr. Fred Doctor.”
Joe rolled his eyes and she saw his lips twitching. “Just say that next time,” he hissed at her and went back to the doors.
“Can I help you?” A woman called from behind the glassed-in reception area. Kara turned to look at her and saw she had the phone to her ear with one hand poised over the buttons.
She hurried over to talk to the woman and hopefully keep her from calling security. “We are looking for Dr. Doctor.”
“He’s unavailable right now,” the woman said coolly, her jet-black hair contrasting strikingly with her fair skin.
Kara pulled back and began to nod. They didn’t need to get thrown out of here and it was pretty obvious Dr. Doctor didn’t want to talk to them. She turned to call Joe off but he was right there, a smile breaking out over his face. “CeCe? I didn’t know you were working out here.”
The woman’s face lit up and she hung up the phone immediately. She leaned forward and crowed excitedly, “Joseph Bristow, I haven’t seen you in years. What are you doing here? Oh my God it is so good to see you.”
“You too,” Joe said. Kara looked back and forth between the two of them and wondered if this was a romantic reunion. It seemed like it to her. Joe turned to her. “Kara, this is my friend Cecilia from high school, Cecilia this is Kara, my partner.”
