Killing Secrets

by Dianne Emley

  Nan turned down the alley, passing the open back door to Bobo’s Billiards. The business stayed open until two A.M. on weekends and served beer, wine, and food. It was a familiar location to the PPD because of fights and nuisance complaints. Nan looked inside the brightly lit establishment and saw officers interviewing patrons and the manager, whom she recognized.

  Outside on her left was a row of Dumpsters against the wall. On the far side of the last one, she saw Alex Caspers talking to Lieutenant Beltran and Commander Tovar. None of them had spotted her yet. She passed more PPD personnel processing the scene. Some were pulling garbage bags from the Dumpsters.

  As Nan walked closer, she saw light reflecting off a dark and shiny rivulet of blood that flowed beside the farthest Dumpster. The blood had pooled in a depression in the middle of the alley. On the ground past the edge of the last bin, she saw the victim’s legs clad in jeans and wearing athletic shoes. Approaching the pool of blood, Nan saw an open aluminum can of Arizona iced tea partially submerged in the middle.

  Alex Caspers, facing the direction in which Nan was walking, was the first to see her. He hitched his head back to acknowledge her, his expression grim. Beltran and Tovar both turned. Tovar broke from the group and jogged toward her, saying when he caught up, “Nan, I’m sorry.”

  She didn’t stop and doggedly walked ahead. He turned to walk with her as she went around to the other side of the Dumpster, where she saw the body of Ashton McCarthy. She involuntarily shivered.

  “Single gunshot wound between his eyes,” Tovar said.

  Chapter 41

  Ashton was lying on the asphalt on his back with his arms by his sides on the ground, palms turned up. His eyes were open. Blood had flowed from the wound between his eyebrows and onto the ground. She turned to look behind her at the iced tea can in the puddle of blood. The pavement in the alley sloped down slightly.

  Caspers and Beltran approached her and Tovar.

  Nan asked them, “Any weapon?”

  “Haven’t found anything,” Alex said with a flick of his hands that were clad in nitrile gloves.

  Beltran was watching Nan with a disapproving expression that annoyed her. She wished he would just say what was on his mind.

  She switched on her Maglite, and turned the beam onto blood splatter near the top of the Dumpster. The lid was blue, indicating it was for recyclables. She pushed up the lid and shined the beam under it before letting it drop back down.

  “The manager of Bobo’s told me that Ashton came in with a Latino gangbanger and they started playing pool,”Alex said. “The gangbanger accused Ashton of moving the ball and Ashton said he was nuts and so on. The manager said they acted like they were joking around but he wasn’t sure, plus he thought they were gambling and so he asked them to leave. The gangbanger took off out the front door. Ashton stayed for a minute, drinking the iced tea he’d bought, and then went out the back. Gangbanger was probably waiting for him in the alley.”

  “Was it Nacy Dena?” Nan saw Beltran look at his watch as if she were wasting their time.

  “Don’t know,” Alex said. “I’ll find out. Ashton knew Nacy?”

  “Yes. They were seen together about an hour ago at Cuppa Crown City across from PCC. Ashton got into Nacy’s car, a tricked-out black Honda Civic. Emily was there having coffee with Ashton, but the kids working the counter said she left when Nacy showed up.”

  Beltran smirked. “I would have made any daughter of mine break up with a kid like that after what he did to her. Slipping her a roofie.”

  Tovar winced at his comment.

  Nan ignored Beltran and walked around the body. Analyzing the crime scene helped quell her fears about Emily, plus she had to understand what had happened to Ashton. She knew in her bones that his murder wasn’t random, that it was tied to Erica’s and Jared’s deaths. It was purely an instinct on her part and she needed facts to prove it.

  She pointed at the ground in front of the Dumpster. “Ashton was standing here. He came over to throw away his can of iced tea in the recycle bin. Blood splatter beneath the lid shows that he was holding it up.” She formed a gun with her hand and raised it to about where Ashton’s head would have been. “Someone came up behind him. Maybe that person called his name. He turned around and boom.” She fired her imaginary gun, moving her hand up with imaginary recoil. “He dropped the lid. Went down like a stone. Dropped his empty can and it rolled over there. It doesn’t have blood all over it, so it got there before the blood reached it.”

  Nan crouched beside Ashton. As she looked at his vacant eyes, sadness fell like a dead weight against her chest. Even though Ashton had caused Emily distress, Nan was horrified at how he had been executed. She thought of his winsome smile and his charm, which he’d regularly used to manipulate others.

  She looked up at Alex, “Did you search his pockets?”

  “I was about to when they showed up,” meaning the brass.

  Tovar helped Nan roll the body so that Alex could reach inside Ashton’s back pocket. He took out his wallet, opened it, pulled out a pile of cash, and counted it. “About a hundred and twenty bucks. Credit cards.”

  “If Ashton was arguing with some guy about a bet in a pool game, you would think the guy would have taken his money,” Nan said.

  Beltran commented on her fairly obvious observation, “That’s why you’re the best homicide investigator we have, Nan.”

  His sarcasm grated. Nan’s nerves were raw and she had little patience for him.

  Finally, Beltran got to what was needling him. “Why are you here, Nan? You’re supposed to be off for the weekend. Do you spend your spare time listening to our radio frequency?”

  Nan rose to her feet and squared her shoulders as she faced him. “I was out looking for my daughter. I don’t know where she is and I can’t reach her.”

  “What?” Tovar put a comforting hand on Nan’s upper arm.

  She turned to look at him, her eyes rising to meet his, and for a moment, she lost her train of thought.

  “How long has Emily been missing?” Alex seemed truly upset.

  Nan raised her left hand to look at her watch, causing Tovar to release his hold on her arm. “I haven’t been able to contact her for a couple of hours.”

  Tovar said to Beltran, “Track down that lead about Nacy Dena. Put out a BOLO for him. Get his mug shot and see if Medina’s the guy Ashton argued with in the pool hall.”

  “Right away, Commander,” Beltran replied with that hint of sarcasm.

  Nan had turned to leave when there was shouting coming from the other side of the cinder-block wall: “Gun! Found a gun.”

  Chapter 42

  Alex took off running down the alley and Nan followed, not even trying to keep up with him. She glanced back to see Tovar and Beltran going into Bobo’s rear door.

  She picked up her pace and entered the yard of the house next to the alley, wondering how many times the residents had called the police to report nuisances that had spilled over from the pool hall. She went through a wooden gate that was propped open and into a side yard, where pea gravel and stepping-stones covered the ground. Several plastic garbage bins with wheels were lined up against the house.

  As she moved aside to let two officers pass, her cell phone started ringing. She exhaled with relief when she saw that Emily was calling. She answered, “Em, are you okay?”

  “I’m okay.”

  “Why didn’t you answer my texts or phone call?”

  “I’m sorry to make you worry, Mom, but I just couldn’t handle…” Emily’s speech degenerated into sobbing.

  “Where are you?”

  Nan could barely understand what Emily was saying through her sobs. “Mom, Ashton’s dead.”

  “I know, honey. It’s horrible. Where are you?”

  “I’m here.”

  Nan reflexively looked around. “What do you mean, here?”

  “Where they have the street blocked off behind Bobo’s. The stupid police won’t let me in. I said I’m yo
ur daughter. They told me that you’re here.”

  “How did you know to come here?”

  “People started tweeting about a murder here and someone said it was Ashton. I just saw him, Mom.” She again began choking with sobs.

  “Emily, stay where you are. I’m coming to get you.” Nan started walking back through the side yard but stopped when she heard Alex Caspers yell her name.

  She turned to see him with his hand above his head, waving her back. He shouted, “Nan, you need to get over here.”

  Still holding her phone to her ear, Nan raised her index finger on her other hand to signal Alex that she’d be there in a minute. Into her phone, she said, “Em, where’s your car?”

  “Around the corner, on the next street after the alley.”

  “Go sit in your car and don’t move until I get there. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Okay?”

  Nan again went through the side yard and into the backyard. Alex was standing on a concrete patio, watching Glen from PPD Forensics, who was on his knees taking photos of a flower bed where an unkempt boxwood lined the wall. Nan had often worked with Glen over the years. He was well into his fifties and Nan felt for him having to kneel on the pea gravel.

  Alex watched Nan approaching, standing with one arm across his waist, the elbow of his other arm propped on it, and his hand pressed over his mouth. As Nan grew nearer, he moved his hand away from his mouth to point into the shrubs.

  Nan stepped to see around Glen and lurched backward with surprise. She looked at Alex, who raised his eyebrows and shook his head with disbelief.

  “That’s a beautiful little Walther,” Glen said as he painfully pushed himself up from the ground. “I’ve never seen a gun like that used in what looks like a gang shooting. Must’ve been stolen. Can’t imagine why the shooter would throw it away if it wasn’t.”

  Nan was transfixed as she stared at her stolen Walther PPK on the hard dirt beneath the shrubs.

  Alex pulled her aside and said into her ear, “What’s your backup gun doing there, Nan?”

  “It was stolen from the glove compartment of my car last night when it was parked in front of Ashton McCarthy’s house.”

  “You reported it stolen, right?”

  “Of course. Don’t you see what’s going on here? They’ll claim I reported the gun stolen to use it to kill Ashton. I got in an argument with him today about Emily at Coopersmith School. He came to the station with his stepdad and filed a complaint against me.”

  “Nan, no one’s going to believe that you killed your daughter’s boyfriend in cold blood and then showed up at the scene.”

  “Maybe no one will believe it, but it’s enough to question my credibility. I’ll be put on leave until there’s an investigation.”

  “Why would somebody murder Ashton and implicate you?”

  “To silence Ashton because he had information about what happened to Erica and Jared and to discredit my investigation.”

  “That’s far-fetched, Nan.”

  “None of this is a coincidence. I’ve got to go. Right now.”

  “You can’t go. You need to be tested for gunshot residue.”

  “I don’t know for sure that I won’t be arrested. I have to find out what’s going on before they shut me down.”

  “Who’s ‘they’?”

  “I can’t tell you.” She started walking.

  He followed her. “Did you find Emily?”

  She looked at him, opening her mouth to speak, but ended up not answering his question and continuing to walk.

  “If you know where Em is, I need to talk to her about Ashton. She might be able to help me fill in his last hours.”

  “Alex, do what you need to do to work this case, just do me a favor and cover for me. Tell anybody who asks that I was right here a minute ago and you didn’t see me leave. Will you do that for me?”

  He hesitated, furrowing his brow and then his expression turned into one of concern as if he finally believed what she’d been saying. “Sure, Nan. No worries.”

  She stopped walking, faced him, and tapped her index finger against his chest. “One thing: Trust no one.” She began to leave and turned back. “Except me or Jim Kissick.”

  Chapter 43

  Nan jogged to her car in the Japanese restaurant’s parking lot. On her way there, she called Emily’s dad, Wes, waking up both him and Kaitlyn.

  “Wes, I’m bringing Em to your house. I’ll fill you in later. If anybody asks, just say that you don’t know where Em and I are.” When he and Kaitlyn both started barking demands for more information, Nan shut them down. “I’ll call you in a little while. I’ve gotta go.”

  Reaching her car, she opened the rear hatch, grabbed her duffel go bag, and slammed the hatch closed. From the backseat, she snatched her microfiber jacket, then she locked the car and ran to find Emily.

  She turned the corner and saw Em’s BMW parked in front of a dental office on the other side of the street. Emily was in the driver’s seat, her face glowing from the light of the cell phone she was focused on in her lap.

  As she crossed the street, Nan used the electronic key fob to unlock the BMW’s door, startling Emily. When the girl saw her mom, she burst from the car and threw her arms around her. She wailed against Nan’s shoulder, “Oh, Mom…”

  “I know, sweetheart.” Nan guided Em to the rear of the car, out of traffic. She dropped her duffel bag onto the ground and tightly squeezed her daughter, her anger displaced by her relief in holding Em again and finding her safe and sound. Nan stroked Emily’s hair and stepped back, her hands gripping her daughter’s arms as she stared intently into Em’s eyes. “Okay. You have to hold it together. Can you do that for me? We have things to do. Get in the car. I’m driving.”

  Nan threw her bag and jacket into the trunk, closed it, and got into the driver’s seat.

  Emily put on her seat belt. “Where’s your car?”

  “It’s parked nearby. It’ll be fine.” Nan put on her seat belt, started the car, and drove off.

  Emily spoke through her tears. “Who would kill Ashton? Was it that Nacy Dena guy? Aubrey texted me that you called her looking for me. I’m sorry. I just thought I’d see Ashton real fast and be home when you got there, but Ashton talked and talked. I believed that he was truly sorry. Then Nacy showed up and wanted me to stay. He creeped me out, so I left and now Ashton…” She put her hands over her face and sobbed.

  “You’ll be okay, Em.” Nan rolled down the driver’s window so she could better hear what was going on outside. She drove several blocks, keeping to side streets while heading in the direction of the nearest freeway on-ramp. Not seeing any cars or a helicopter following her, she pulled to the curb, put the car in park, and got her phone from a back pocket of her slacks. She forwarded the photo of the Montblanc pen to Jim Kissick and typed a text message: Ashton M picked this up at the Arroyo scene. Please have photo enhanced to see if that’s engraving on the cap. If it is, you’ll recognize it too. It’s something but not enough. Please keep on QT for now. I have to handle this my own way. Trust me. Love you.

  She powered off her phone, opened the lid over the car’s console storage area, and dropped it inside. She took a moment to take a breath, released the parking brake, and again started driving. “Em, where did you go after you left the café?”

  “I just drove around. I knew I needed to call you. I don’t know, Mom. I just lost track of time. Then Aubrey texted me about tweets showing up on hashtag Pasadena and hashtag Coopersmith about a murder behind Bobo’s and maybe it’s Ashton and was I okay? That’s when I drove over to Bobo’s and the cops said you were there so I knew I’d find you.” Emily pushed her head against the headrest and breathed through her mouth. “This is a nightmare that won’t end. I just want to go to bed. I feel like I could sleep for, like, a million years.”

  “We’re not going home. I’m taking you to your dad’s house.” Nan was being careful to drive with the flow of the traffic and to obey the laws.

  “D
ad’s? Why?”

  “Because I have something to do and you can’t stay home alone.”

  “Why? Is somebody going to try to kill me?”

  “We just have to be careful. You’ll be safe at your dad’s for now.” Nan wasn’t absolutely confident that Emily would be completely safe at Wes and Kaitlyn’s but it was the best situation she could pull together on the spur of the moment. At least their house was well secured.

  “What about my things? My laptop? My clothes?”

  “Kaitlyn will be happy to buy you anything you need. You can use the computers at their house, but you have to stay off social media.” Nan looked at her daughter. “Promise me. Emily, you have to promise me.”

  The girl looked scared. “I promise.”

  Nan held up her hand. “Give me your phone.”

  “My phone? Why?”

  “Emily, give me your phone. I’m not going to ask you again.”

  The girl took out her phone from where she’d tucked it beneath her thigh and handed it to her mom. “I’ll stay off it. I promise.”

  At a stoplight, Nan powered off Em’s phone and put it into the console.

  Emily frowned at the closed console. “You didn’t have to do that. I’m not a child, Mom.”

  “I know you’re not a child. Our phones have GPS tracking.”

  “You can just turn the tracking off.”

  “Emily, I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “We’re really hiding.”

  “Yes.”

  “Who would want to hurt me?”

  “Em, I think Ashton was murdered because of that pen he took from the crime scene.”

  “Aubrey told me she sent you the photo he’d taken of it. Ashton the rebel. Damn him.” She hung her head and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I shouldn’t talk about him like that now that he’s dead.”

  Nan reached to pat Emily’s leg.

  She slid her eyes to look at her mom. “Why would whoever killed Ashton come after me? I only saw a picture of that pen. You can buy a pen like that almost anywhere.”