“Yes. I was too busy paying attention to the new Mrs. Bailey.”
Julius laughed.
His boss stopped smiling and said, “You’re like a son to me. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. I even gifted you with a column of your own.”
“A handful of people hate me for it, too.”
“Who cares?”
The muscles in Julius’s face relaxed. “I’ll have the article on your desk this evening.”
“Very well. Kiss the princess for me,” Bruce said, and left.
Julius opened his laptop. Clicking on the file for his article, he pounded out the magic words that would make his boss happy and keep his readers reading. As he typed, endless considerations on a headline for his next article filled his thoughts. Now I’ve got you, Ibee.
He worked furiously, knowing that soon he’d have to step back into reality and do his obligatory duty as a son and visit his parents. Even if it meant once again opening a door he wished would stay closed.
*
3:33 p.m.
Julius parked in front of the ramshackle home perched up on Pearl Street. He closed his eyes at the sight of the red chipped paint and splashes of a white milky substance in the shape of partial hand prints smeared on the windows, left over from his childhood years. What a pigsty. Daddy will never clean up this place.
Julius’s visits to his dad, Grant Willer, were stressful, but important to him. Twice a month, he’d check up on him, cook a nice meal and make sure the family cat was still alive.
Julius hopped out of his truck, reached into the cab, pulled out two brown grocery bags and trekked across the front yard of uncut grass tall enough to cover the tires on the green station wagon.
Screams erupted from children next door as they chased one another in a game of flag football. “Watch out!” one kid yelled.
Julius glanced at the football as it came over the fence, bounced once and landed at his feet. He picked it up and threw it back. Kids? I wouldn’t mind having a son. It’d be good to have one with Lily. She’d be a great mom.
He dug into his pocket, produced a copy of the house key, and let himself in.
Rolled up newspapers left in front of the door tripped him as he entered.
“Dammit, Daddy. How can you live in such filth?” Julius asked, kicking a newspaper across the room.
“It’s my burglar alarm,” Grant boomed from his easy chair.
Julius zipped past his dad, went into the kitchen and placed the bags on the countertop. “At least you did the dishes,” he mumbled.
He began removing the items from the bags and setting up so he could cook.
A plump, long-haired cat jumped onto the counter and rubbed against Julius’s arm.
“Hey there, Smokey,” he said, stroking the Persian’s gray fur. Smokey purred. “I know boy. Miss you, too.”
“Grab me a beer while you’re in there, will ya?”
Julius walked back into the living room and handed Grant the beer. “I can’t stay long this time. I have a deadline for the paper.”
Grant popped the top. “I’m waiting for my program to come on.”
“What do you want me to make you for your dinner?”
“My usual will do,” Grant said.
Julius walked back toward the kitchen and turned on the oven. “Corned-beef hash and eggs are not for everyday consumption. Your body needs variety.”
Ticking from the kitchen timer caught Julius’s attention. “What’s the timer for?”
“The doctor gave your mother a med for her stomach troubles.” A burp gurgled in Grant’s throat.
Julius ripped the plastic off a T-bone steak, whipped up some marinade in a container and placed the steak inside. He mixed the steak with the juice and put it in the oven.
“I miss your mother’s cooking.”
“I miss it too. But it doesn’t mean to quit living your life.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Julius moved about the kitchen in silence. “Make sure you store the leftovers in the fridge for tomorrow.” He peeked inside the oven, poking at the steak. “Do you need any help with chores around the house?”
“No.”
Julius opened the oven door, stabbed the rare steak with a fork and placed it on the plate. He tossed a little garnish on the steak and spooned the steamed potatoes next to the sizzling meat.
He placed the plate in front of his father and watched as he devoured his food.
“I’m going up to our property in Oconto to get things ready for our hunting trip,” Julius said.
“Do you remember what needs to be done?”
“Post the ‘No Trespassing’ signs, clear the kill zones and the tree stands.”
“I need a new hunting jacket.”
“I’ll pick one up for you.”
“If your mom wasn’t dying, she would just sew it up,” Grant said, finishing his potatoes. “I want her back to the way she used to be.”
Julius shoved his hands into his pockets. “If Mom wasn’t dying? Is there something you want to tell me?”
“A man shouldn’t have to live without his wife,” Grant yelled. Pieces of chewed meat flew out of his mouth, landing on the floor. “Ever since she got sick things just aren’t the same. You watched as she cried for help.”
“I was just a kid, but you seem to keep forgetting that. Along with other things. I didn’t know any better,” Julius shot back.
Grant flinched.
“I’m sorry, Daddy.” Julius stormed off towards his mother’s room.
Maybe he was being too hard on his father. Anyone could look at Grant and see that he was suffering. Maybe he should’ve called 911 immediately after seeing his mother rolling around in the tub, holding her stomach. What twelve-year old wouldn’t realize something was wrong?
Julius halted and stared at the wooden door he’d opened many times during his parents’ drunken arguments where objects were thrown, sometimes even fists. Mom’s fists.
He walked up to the door and rested his head on the small slice in the doorway where mom had swung an axe at dad. He placed his hand on the doorknob and held it there. What kind of mood are you in today?
“I see your shadow underneath the door. Just come in and stop standing by my door as if you were left there by gypsies.”
“Love you, Ma. You hungry?”
“Why? You cook me something?”
“I’ll cook you whatever you want.”
“Not if you’re still running the streets, chasing the news. Why couldn’t you be a chef?”
Again with the disappointing son. She was always going to remind him that he didn’t go to school for what she wanted him to major in. Maybe the pain she was in made her bitter. Was it going to get worse from here?
Julius’s phone beeped. He pushed off the door, checked the display and recognized the number. What is Collin doing up here?
*
Forty minutes later, Lily scrolled through Barkin Brewery’s payroll while Morgan finished up a phone call.
“This can’t be,” Lily said, flipping back and forth between pages. “Wait a minute. Sanchez had perfect attendance up to the day he was fired.”
Morgan hung up the phone. “Then why was he fired?”
“It says there was an incident and he was let go.” Lily opened up her notepad, found what she needed and dialed Victor’s number.
Victor picked up on the second ring and Lily relayed what they had found. “Can you come down to the station?”
“Can’t we just talk over the phone?”
“We need you to make a formal statement.” NO
There was a moment of silence on the line.
“I’ll have my driver bring me now.”
“Just ask for Detective Blanchette at the desk.” Lily replaced the receiver in its cradle. “I’ll be in Sarge’s office.”
Morgan took the invoices from Barkin’s Brewery off Lily’s desk and started reading.
“Where’s your
partner?” Evan said, poking his head into the cubicle.
“She’s in with Sarge,” Morgan said, keeping her eyes glued to the pages.
“Let her know I’m done with the final report on Serena Fellows.”
“Will do.”
As Morgan finished reviewing the final invoice from Barkin Brewery, Lily’s desk phone rang.
It rang a few times before it stopped. After a couple of minutes passed, Morgan’s phone lit up. She extended her arm and picked up the receiver. “Homicide. Detective Danvers.”
“It’s Sean. Down at McGinley’s.”
“What’s up?”
“Where’s Lily?”
“She’s not here, but I can give her the message.”
“It’s about Collin.”
Morgan sat forward. “What about Collin?”
“There’s talk he’s been asking questions about that murder a while back. You know? The one with Lily’s sister?”
Morgan pulled the phone away from her ear and glanced outside the cubicle. “She’s still not back. But I’ll let her know.” She hung up the phone, sat back in her chair and looked over at the photo she had of her, Collin, and Lily. What did you find out?
Chapter 13
After Collin messaged Julius to meet him at the boat yard in an hour, he was surprised to see his son-in-law was already waiting for him. The steel arch of the I-43 bridge loomed over the water leading to Green Bay. The fog signal from the harbor light house sounded as a thick haze rolled in from the bay. Die hard fisherman and boaters braved the damp air promising rain while seagulls cried out to each other, searching for an easy meal of smelt or other fish.
Julius leaned against his truck, probably thinking of another excuse to keep his source and the information he had about the case a secret until he released the article on the social media sites. All for ratings and money.
Collin understood Julius’s reason for hesitating, but didn’t care. “I’m not asking you to give up a name. All you need to do is point me in the direction of your source with a description and where they hang out. I’ll do the foot work.”
“I’d like to help, but can’t. Lily and I have an agreement that we won’t interfere with each other’s work. And that’s a promise I’m going to keep.”
“You love my daughter?”
“Yes sir.”
“How are you two getting along?”
“We’re trying.”
“It’s better than not trying. The first years of a marriage are the hardest. Damn hard,” Collin said, rising from the bench. “You’re aware of the case she’s working on. It’d place a strain on your relationship if she knew you were holding back information. Promise or not, my daughter doesn’t like being lied to.”
“Besides personal ties, how’s this case any different than the others? You’re asking me to do something that you wouldn’t ask any other reporter to do.”
Collin shook his head. “I’ve done it before. I’m a cop first and finding my killer comes before any journalistic oath. Lily is a strong believer in that as well. But you knew that, I’m sure. At least for this particular case, you’d want to put Lily first.”
“Do you think she’d take it personal if I didn’t say anything?”
“Unfortunately, this case is personal. Since you’re the one closest to Lily, you’re the one that needs to talk to her before anyone else. If it came out you had information and didn’t help, you’d look like one of the bad guys.”
Julius drummed his fingers on the hood of his truck. “I really want my marriage with Lily to work and not have it end up like my other relationships.”
“Back her up. Toss me a bone and I promise that nothing will point to you that’ll cause you to look bad in front of your colleagues. I keep my promises.”
Julius buried his hands in his hair and exhaled. “I’m going to regret this.” He turned his back on Collin and reached into his briefcase. “I don’t have a description. I have a handle. The place to find this person is online.” He handed him a slip of paper. “That’s all I’m giving you.”
Collin opened up the piece of paper. Follow up on a campus report filed by Celine Blanchette who’d been attacked by a person she met online. He shoved it into his pocket and shook Julius hand. “After I have this checked out, I’m headed back home.”
“And no one will know I gave it to you?”
“I keep my promises,” Collin said, hurrying back to his car.
*
5:11 p.m.
Sergeant Owen signed off on some paperwork and put it to the side as Lily walked into his office. “You look like shit.”
“Give me two days of uninterrupted sleep. I’ll look a lot better.”
“Any updates?”
“Victor Barkin is coming in to make a statement about Sanchez. He worked for the brewery two years straight before he was fired recently,” Lily said.
“Why was he fired?”
“Not sure.”
“Any feel on whether or not Barkin is tied to this case?”
“He’s hiding something. I’m hoping I can get him to open up. It’d be nice to get a warrant for Barkin Brewery.”
“If you get any leads after the interview, fill out the request and bring it to me.”
“Okay.”
“And when you’re done with Mr. Barkin, go home and get some rest.”
“Can I speak off the record about Officer Martinez?”
“Go ahead.”
“He should’ve never touched Tanya’s body.”
“It’s being handled. Okay?”
“No sir, it’s not okay. I don’t trust Martinez. I’m afraid this will be swept under the rug like the Dotson Wells issue, where everyone pretended nothing happened. Now he’s a defense lawyer?”
“Back up, Lily. You’re out of line. For the record, it wasn’t swept under the rug. After I found out Wells was on the take, I followed protocol and not long after that he was out. What he did was wrong, but I’ve seen worse while certain people looked the other way.
“As for this mess with Martinez, my hands are tied. All I know is his boss was instructed to put Martinez on desk duty while an investigation is being done in-house. His print was on the watch but it could’ve easily been made checking for a pulse.”
“He should’ve been suspended.” Lily left the office and charged toward the interview room.
*
5:42 p.m.
Victor inhaled deeply on a cigarette and blew the blue-tinted fumes off to the side.
“Want anything to drink?” Morgan asked.
“No thanks.”
Lily pushed the red record button and said, “I have to inform you that we’re recording your formal statement. For the record, please state your name.”
“Victor Barkin.”
“What’s your date of birth?”
“April twenty-fourth of sixty-six.”
“Why was Thomas Sanchez fired?”
Another heavy drag on the cigarette. “He was caught in a storage room with a young girl.”
“How old was the girl?”
“Not certain.”
“Give us an educated guess.”
“Sixteen. Seventeen.”
“Were they having sex?”
“Yes.”
“Did you call the police?”
“The young lady begged me not to call, so I called her parents instead,” Barkin stabbed the cigarette out in the ashtray.
“She requested her parents?” Morgan asked.
“Yes.”
“Shit. If that was me I would’ve ran to the police. Hoping they’d protect me from my parents,” Morgan said.
Unsure of how to respond, Victor snickered. “Thomas was fired immediately.”
“Did the parents come down?” Lily asked.
“They did.”
“Do you remember their names?”
“The girl only gave me a number. Her parents came down, picked her up and left.”
“What was the girl’s name
?”
“Jesus. I wasn’t taking a census. I just wanted her gone.”
“It’s hard to believe the parents didn’t call the police on you and Mr. Sanchez.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m glad they didn’t. I’m a business man and something like this would’ve been detrimental to my reputation.”
Lily shuffled the papers and tucked them into the folder. “If it was me, I wouldn’t have worried about my reputation. I’d been afraid of going jail.”
“Jail?”
“Your employee was having sex with an underage girl on your property. That’s statutory rape. The fact that you knew about it and didn’t report it to the police makes you just as guilty as Mr. Sanchez.”
“Am I being charged with something?”
“Not today. Besides, it’s not like you’ve lied to me. Right?”
Victor took another hit of nicotine. “I haven’t lied to you.”
“Did you sell the truck to Mr. Sanchez before or after the incident with the girl?”
“For Pete’s sake, it’s not against the law to sell someone a truck.”
“Before or after?” Lily pressed.
“Before.”
“Ever notice anything odd about him?”
“No, I did not. He came to work, did what was required, and clocked out.”
“Why did you shut down the brewery?”
“Divorce. It was community property and I had to sell. She got half.”
Lily sighed heavily. “Okay. I’m done.”
“That’s it? We could’ve done this over the phone. Am I free to go now?”
Lily’s phone rang. “We appreciate your time,” she said, moving out to the hall.
Victor scooted his chair back from the table, collected his cigarettes and tucked them away in his pocket.
Nick came in and escorted Victor through the halls to the elevators.
As Morgan came out of the interview room, she waited for Lily to get off the phone.
Lily smiled and hung up.
“What’s going on?” Morgan asked.
“That was Mrs. O’Neal. They were picking Ursula up from Mitchell International. She’s flying back from Texas. They’re going to bring her in to talk to us.”
“When will that be?”
“When they can convince her it’s the right thing to do. Mrs. O’Neil stated her niece is scared and isn’t sure that she wants to talk to us.
Promised Lies (A Detective Blanchette Mystery) Page 9
