An Eye for an Eye

by Caroline Fardig

  Amanda sighed and rubbed her eyes. “There could have been dozens of incidents over all those years. And maybe his retaliations didn’t all involve arson.”

  Who knew what kinds of “punishment” the Fox men had decided to mete out? There could have been even more murders, for all we knew. The sooner my sister was away from that maniac, the better.

  Manetti replied, “Could be. At the same time, Justin Fox was taking the occasional community college course in criminology, with the intent of becoming some kind of investigator who could reopen his dad’s case and get him exonerated.”

  Sterling pulled a face. “Wouldn’t it have been faster to appeal?”

  Shrugging, Manetti said, “With what money? Samuel Fox was dead broke, and his kid had been living on the streets.”

  Baxter asked, “Did the cellmate ever hear Samuel Fox talk about his wife? Did he ever brag about killing her?”

  “I asked him that, and he said Fox never uttered a word about her. The one time the cellmate brought it up, Fox beat the hell out of him.”

  His anger barely contained, Sterling griped, “Exemplary inmate, my ass. Samuel Fox turns his pyromaniac kid into his errand boy, causing all kinds of death and destruction out in the world, all the while sitting pretty in his cell pretending to be wrongly accused. If he was blabbing to his cellmate, then it was common knowledge in the joint. Was the warden lying to us or does he just have his head up his ass?”

  Manetti said, “Neither of those choices are favorable. But considering the cellmate’s story verifies our theory, I’m inclined to believe him. Deputy Martinez, will you give us an update on what you, your fellow deputies, and Chief Esparza found in regard to the agricultural properties?”

  Martinez said, “As many of you know, we thought we’d found a lead, but it turned out to be nothing.” Glancing my way, he said, “I’m sorry for that. The rest of the properties we visited checked out. There was no evidence of anyone holding hostages in those barns, nor did any of the barns’ interiors match the one in the video. We’ll expand our search and head out again first thing tomorrow morning.”

  “Thank you, Deputy,” Manetti replied. “Detective Sterling.”

  Sterling said, “I had a hunch about Richard Kendrick, and I found out that his alibi wasn’t so solid after all. When I re-interviewed two of the parents who’d said they were at a little league board meeting with him that night, I found out they were Kendrick’s bros from way back. Now that Kendrick is dead…” He grimaced. “And I promised not to bust their asses for lying to the authorities all those years ago, they decided it was time to come clean. Kendrick asked them to vouch for him during the time of the murder because he said he was ‘out driving around’ and didn’t have an alibi.”

  Baxter sat forward in his seat. “That puts a different spin on things.”

  “I agree, but the problem is going to be proving he did it. Without being able to interrogate him, we have no way of gauging whether or not his story is legit.” He turned to Jayne. “Sheriff, did you question him?”

  She nodded. “Yes, Frank, Wade, and I met with him once Samuel Fox started accusing him of killing Leann. I don’t recall having any reason to believe that he wasn’t telling the truth at the time. We questioned him thoroughly because we didn’t want any surprises at the trial.”

  Glancing at me, Baxter said, “I guess we can try to talk to Kendrick’s widow and see if she knows anything. My guess is that whatever he was doing that night, he was hiding from his wife, too. Otherwise he would have had her vouch for him.”

  Manetti said, “I think it’s worth a shot to speak with her. What else did you learn today?”

  “Multiple people verified that Leann Fox had a cellphone, and her best friend, Mariella Vasquez, said that her ‘boyfriend’ had given it to her to plan their hookups. Now I’m more convinced than ever that the boyfriend killed her and took the cell so it couldn’t be traced back to him. But then again, that proves nothing if we can’t figure out who the boyfriend is.”

  “And her best friend had no idea who her boyfriend was?” Amanda asked, her brow furrowed.

  “No. Leann wouldn’t tell her his name because he was married at the time, too. She didn’t want either of their lives ruined by their affair.”

  Jayne said, “I’d like some follow-up done with Mariella Vasquez about Leann’s relationships with the mystery boyfriend as well as the former boyfriend, Rajit Prasad. I’d also like to speak with her about the vehicle arson. Do you think she would be one I could contact without running the risk of it getting back to Justin Fox?”

  Nodding, Baxter said, “I think so. Thanks, Sheriff.” He cleared his throat and addressed the others. “And not for nothing, but one of Justin Fox’s foster brothers we visited suggested that Justin himself could have killed his mom. So there’s that to chew on.”

  Everyone in the room took a pause to think that one over.

  Jayne finally said, “In my mind that’s a stretch. His prints weren’t on the spade. Leann’s cell was never found. And the neighbor heard adult voices arguing in the backyard. Justin Fox was a scrawny little kid. I don’t think he would have had the physical strength.”

  Manetti’s gaze was on me. “Ms. Matthews, you’ve been quiet. What do you think of all this?”

  I’d been digesting everything that was said, and the more I heard, the more convinced I became that there was only one person who could put all the pieces together for us. “I think I want to talk to Justin Fox. Face-to-face.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Everyone decided to barrage me at once, except for Jayne, who put her head in her hands.

  Next to me, Baxter hissed, “You want to what? We did not discuss this.”

  Manetti said firmly, “No way.”

  Amanda wore a terrified expression. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “Bad idea,” Martinez said.

  Sterling’s eyebrows shot up. “How in the hell do you think you’re going to make that happen without getting yourself killed?”

  I put my hands out. “I didn’t mean to make you all nuts. I’m only saying that if he and his dad spent all those years brooding over Leann’s murder and planning their retaliation, they had to have some idea of who could have killed her. And the fact that we felt forced to go to him for help will make him think he has the upper hand.”

  Manetti’s face seemed even more drawn than before, if that was possible. “I would consider a phone call or a text or email conversation…maybe even Skype. But I can’t in good conscience let you or anyone else on this team near him.”

  Sterling added, “And what makes you think he’d even want to meet you? The situation has ‘it’s a trap’ written all over it. He’s too smart to agree to that.”

  I replied, “He’s also cocky and demented. He’d love to rub what he’s done in my face and watch my reaction. Besides, he’d make sure he has some kind of failsafe. Like…I don’t know…if we try to capture him, then we’ll never find Rachel or some shit like that. You know how he is.”

  Sterling’s words were sharp, but his eyes were troubled. “Yeah, we all know how he is. He’s an unstable serial killer who might just snap your neck for the hell of it. It’s a stupid idea.”

  “Normally I would take offense, but I know your words are coming from a place of love,” I replied, giving him a fake smile.

  Baxter had been deep in thought while we’d been talking. He said quietly, “I think it could work.”

  Frowning at him, Jayne said, “I thought you of all people would be against it.”

  “Look, we’re getting nowhere fast on who killed Leann Fox. We’ve got a few leads, but they’re crap and we all know it. Aside from trying to find Rachel before our window is up or pinning the murder on a dead guy, we don’t have a lot of options. We need to change the game.”

  “What if something goes wrong? What if he decides to change the game?” Jayne demanded.

  I said, “Then so be it. None of you know what it’s like for me to k
eep running into these roadblocks and dead ends while knowing my only sister is waiting for us to figure this out so she can live to see another day. I’m willing to do anything to get her out of this nightmare. Anything. Think if Justin Fox were holding the person you love most in this world. What would you all do?”

  Tears glazing her eyes, Amanda said, “I’d do whatever needed to be done if it were my sister.”

  Manetti rubbed his forehead. “You’re not going to back down from this, are you Ms. Matthews?”

  “No.”

  Baxter said, “I’m not either. And I’m going to be there with Ellie to meet with Justin Fox. I’m part of this package, too.”

  ***

  Since we knew Justin had been monitoring our progress on the case through local newscasts, Manetti made a special statement to the press including a direct message to Justin that he should contact us at once. Of course that brought out all the crazies, and the tip line got jammed. But I knew that the only legit call would come to my phone from Rachel’s number.

  While all that was being set in motion, Baxter and I wasted no time, heading first to a mom and pop electronics shop in Noblesville that was Justin’s last known place of employment. They were getting ready to close for the evening, but we managed to get in before they locked the doors. Manetti’s face was on the big screen TVs lining the walls, as local stations pre-empted their evening programming to run his statement.

  Baxter showed the owner, Marshall Babcock, his badge and made our introductions. “We’d like to ask you a few questions about a former employee of yours, Justin Fox.”

  Babcock’s face turned grey. “That boy. He was a whiz at tech, but his people skills…” He shuddered. “He frightened the customers, and he frightened me. He stole things and intimidated his fellow employees. I was scared to fire him, worried I’d anger him and he’d come back and shoot up the place. But by some miracle, he came in and quit one day, out of the blue. I wrote out his last paycheck on the spot and never heard from him again, thank goodness. Now he’s moved on to terrorizing law enforcement. None of us are safe.”

  I saw Baxter’s jaw clench. He said, “We want to know if he had any friends who he worked with that he might turn to if he needed something.”

  Babcock didn’t answer his question, too busy peering at me over his glasses. “Aren’t you the woman whose sister he took? I’ve been seeing your face on TV all day.”

  I bit back a groan. I hated to think I was in the limelight yet again. The only saving grace this time was that the media hadn’t been able to get hold of my phone number since I’d changed it. I’d made it a point to only give it out to a handful of people, so I hadn’t had hundreds of calls from reporters begging for interviews like I’d had during the last case. I was sure that my home was surrounded by reporters since no one had been there all day to shoo them away.

  I cleared my throat. “Yes. Please answer the question.”

  “Sorry. Um…I don’t remember him being chummy with anyone here. Like I said, he intimidated the rest of my staff. No one wanted to be on shift with him, so I would schedule myself at those times as often as I could. He didn’t talk to me aside from the occasional work-related question.”

  “Did anyone ever come in to see him?” Baxter asked.

  After thinking for a moment, Babcock said, “I think a girl came in once.”

  “What do you remember about her?”

  “She had blue hair.”

  “Anything else you can tell us?”

  Babcock shrugged. “Not really. I couldn’t get past the hair. Oh, and the dark makeup. It wasn’t Halloween, but she sure was a fright.”

  “If we showed you a photograph, would you be able to ID her?”

  “Maybe.”

  I turned to Baxter and murmured, “Who do you think it could be?”

  “Courtney Kapinski is the only ‘girl’ who lives in the area that we know he’s been close to at some point.” He sent a text to Sterling, and after a few seconds got back a BMV photo of Courtney Kapinski, a bottle blonde wearing a normal amount of makeup. Showing the photo to Babcock, he asked, “Could this be her?”

  Babcock peered at the photo. “I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. This girl isn’t all made up, so I don’t think so. I don’t remember any facial features or anything like that. Sorry.”

  My phone beeped and displayed a text from Rachel’s number. I grabbed Baxter’s arm and showed him the screen. Without so much as a goodbye to Marshall Babcock, we raced out of the store and to Baxter’s vehicle. On the way, he made a call to Sterling to have him trace Rachel’s cell signal. Once inside, I pulled up the text and held out my phone so Baxter could read it.

  It said, Your Federal mouthpiece got on TV and ordered me to get in touch with you. That’s not how our arrangement works.

  My stomach clenched, dread filling me that we had made the wrong move.

  Another text came in. But I have to say I’m intrigued. Have some information for me about my mother’s killer?

  With trembling fingers, I texted back, Not yet. We contacted you because I wanted to ask if you’d be willing to meet in person.

  A tense few seconds went by until he replied, You’re joking, right?

  Baxter shook his head. “I was afraid he’d balk at this. He’s been smart so far about staying in the shadows.”

  Justin had said he was intrigued, though. He seemed to like playing games. I could work with that.

  I texted back, No, but I think you want this case solved as much as I do. And considering you’ve killed some key players and possible suspects, you owe me.

  After only a moment, he replied, Fair enough. I’ll think about it.

  I let out a pent-up breath. It wasn’t a yes, but it was something.

  Baxter started his vehicle and called Sterling. “Did you get anything?”

  Sterling’s voice came over the car’s audio system. “Not anything helpful. There’s no GPS signal coming from Rachel’s phone, which I assume is because he disabled it. We managed to determine that the tower used to send the texts is near Castleton Square. Finding him in a big shopping area like that two weekends before Christmas would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Did he agree to meet you guys?”

  “He said he’d think about it,” Baxter replied.

  “Well, if you do get a meeting with him, you want me to come along with my sniper rifle and pop him in the head? He’ll never know what hit him.”

  “One thing at a time.” Baxter ended the call and turned to me. “Do you want to go to the station and wait for his reply or would you rather continue our interviews?”

  “I can’t just sit. Let’s keep going.”

  ***

  Our next stop was at a convenience store in Noblesville—one Justin Fox did not burn down. Judging from the glassiness of their eyes, the two employees working tonight were on something. I hoped they’d be able to give us a straight answer.

  When we asked them about Justin, only one of them had been working there long enough to know him. It had been a year since Justin had left this place, and I was worried it might be a long shot to find a coworker in a job that had such high turnover.

  “Do you keep in touch with him?” Baxter asked the twenty-something guy whose name tag read “Nolan.”

  Nolan shrugged. “I’ve seen him around since then.”

  “Where?”

  “He still comes in here sometimes.”

  “When was the last time you saw him?”

  Staring off into space, Nolan was quiet for a minute.

  Assuming he was zoning instead of thinking, I snapped my fingers. “Nolan. Answer the question.”

  He shook his head, seeming dazed. “Um…the last time I saw him was…today.”

  Baxter and I both tensed.

  Nolan shook his head again. “No, wait. That was on TV. He was here at the store a couple weeks ago, I think.”

  Baxter rolled his eyes at me.

  Nolan lowered his voice to a whisper. “So
metimes I look the other way so Justin can shoplift. He’s one scary dude, so, you know, I don’t narc on him or anything.”

  “What does he steal?” Baxter asked.

  Shrugging again, he replied, “Food, mostly. I think he’s, like, poor now or something.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because he told me he doesn’t have a job and he lives in a barn.”

  I took in a sharp breath. “Did he tell you where this barn is?”

  “Um…” Nolan began staring off into space again.

  Slamming my hands down on the counter between us, I cried, “Where’s the barn, Nolan?”

  “Um…I don’t remember.”

  Fuming, I grabbed the nearest thing, a candy bar from a rack on the counter, and chucked it across the store. I walked several steps away, worried I’d grab Nolan next.

  Shooting me a frown, Baxter asked him, “You’re sure you don’t remember what he said?”

  Nolan shook his head. “Sorry, man. My memory is for shit sometimes.”

  “I wonder why,” Baxter muttered. He handed Nolan his card. “If you manage to come down off your high and think of anything you forgot, please call me. And call me if you happen to see Justin Fox again. A young woman’s life depends on whether or not we can find this barn.”

  Once we were outside, Baxter said, “You need to calm the hell down.”

  I stopped in the middle of the parking lot. “And you need to back the hell off me. That numbnuts could be one of the only people on the planet who knows where my sister is, and he’s too high to be able to tell us!”

  Baxter stared stonily at me. “Substance abuse sucks when you’re on the other side of it, doesn’t it?”

  “Oh, don’t get back on your high horse, Baxter. You’ve already done your intervention. Haven’t you nagged me about my problems enough for one day?”