by Andrew Hess
“I tell you what, how about I make you another appointment in a day or two and I’ll go with you. We can spend the whole day together.”
Amanda’s lips curled into a smile. For a brief moment, I saw the sister I knew and loved for twenty-two years finally come back to me.
************************************************************
The next morning was no better than the previous. I woke in my queen sized bed and felt the other side. The cool touch of the sheets reminded me it was another night spent alone. I tried to call Matthew last night before I went to bed. It rang twice before going straight to voicemail I guess he wasn’t ready to hear from me. I wanted to pour my heart out to him, to admit I was wrong and beg for forgiveness. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard his voice, but it was only the voicemail. I couldn’t leave a message like that.
“Hey Matthew, it’s me; Ali. Look, I’m really sorry; I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I was an idiot to think you’d do anything to hurt me. Call me back. I love you.” I hoped my plea didn’t fall on deaf ears.
The message was the first thing on my mind this morning. I reached for the phone on the nightstand. There were no voicemails, no missed calls, and no text messages. My hopes of salvaging our relationship deflated like a flat tire. Maybe he didn’t get the voicemail yet. Maybe his phone died last night and didn’t get a chance to see my missed call. Or maybe he just didn’t care or worse. Maybe he was with another woman.
The last thought sent me over the edge. Any motivation to get out of bed and start my day quickly evaporated. Going out for my morning run was out of the question. It was heartbreaking to think that I caused irreparable damage to my relationship, but I still needed to get up and do my job. I forced myself out of bed and got ready.
When I arrived at the station, a small crowd gathered around the pit. That only happened when the Lieutenant was going over a case. The only one that would require the whole department to be clued into was the Ambrose case. The time on the clock told me I still had three minutes before I was due in. Did they start the meeting without me?
I pushed my way through the circle of officers. Rodney stood next to the Lieutenant. Neither uttered a single word, but a man was addressing the crowd. The voice was familiar and sent a chill down my spine. After breaking the circle, I saw who it was. Detective Thornton, the sly arrogant prick was running our case briefing.
“We have a hit on the woman that Mr. Ambrose spent most of the night with. Her name is Wendy Fuller. She’s a waitress for the Ice House. A few of my men are picking her up as we speak.” So not only was Thornton working my case and taking over the briefing, but it was starting to look like he was calling the shots too. “The other woman in the video was unidentifiable. We couldn’t get a clear shot of her face from any of the camera positions.”
“Are we thinking this is premeditation,” Officer Reyes asked.
Thornton’s gaze fell on me for a brief moment. He smiled and turned towards Officer Reyes. “We’re not ruling it out. Our mystery woman made sure to stay clear of the cameras all night. Either she knew about the cameras and where they were, or she had a damn good eye for them.”
I wanted to speak out against him. Something in me wanted to scream that he was wrong, but the facts dictated he was probably right. I stood by and let him continue showing off for the crowd of officers. Let him get what he wanted, this time. There was no point in having a pissing contest in front of everyone. He wanted to get a rise out of me. He wanted me to be the overly emotional woman that couldn’t play well with others.
I waited until he was done talking and for the meeting to adjourn before pulling the Lieutenant into his office. Rodney looked like he wanted to say something too, but I closed the door before he could utter a single word.
“What’s this about Ali?”
My eyes narrowed at him. My arms crossed in front of my chest. The Lieutenant’s face contorted in the “oh damn; she’s really pissed off now” kind of way.
“You let that slime ball into our station and run our briefing?” It wasn’t really a question. It was more like an incomprehensible statement of fact.
“First off, you’re in my office and you’re one of my officers. Show some damn respect to me and to anyone that’s a guest in our station.” Guest? He invited Thornton to our briefing? “Secondly, we are working closely with the Dutchess County Police Department to bring Ambrose’s killer to justice.”
“I don’t understand why we have to work with them.”
“You know damn well. We can’t be sure where the murder occurred. Ambrose lived in Dutchess County, the bar he was last seen at was in Dutchess County and it is believed he was murdered in Dutchess County. We’re lucky they didn’t fight harder to take this case away from us.”
“They haven’t proven the murder happened on their turf, and Ambrose’s body washed up in our side of the county line.”
“That was one of the reasons we’ve been able to hold onto this case. That and they heard how you did everything to track down the Campus Killer. In fact that was part of the deal.”
“Deal? What deal?”
“This is going to become a high profile case. It’ll look good for both counties if we bring Ambrose’s killer to justice. They wanted our best working on it.”
“And you think I’m your best officer?”
The Lieutenant’s chubby hand covered his mouth as he let out a hearty laugh. I took that as a no. “Everyone knows you and the work you did taking down that DeFalco kid. They expect more of the same for Ambrose.”
I should feel flattered that they wanted me on the case. Even though Lieutenant laughed at me, I knew he considered me his best officer. But I wasn’t stupid. I knew that wasn’t what they were using me for. I was a puppet, their puppet, put in place to be the figure head of the investigation. The public would see me working the case and would feel like it would be solved. If we failed, it would fall squarely on my shoulders.
“Fine, but why the hell was Thornton running the briefing?”
“His team processed the video and came up with the lead. It was only right to let Detective Thornton present the facts to the squad.”
I couldn’t explain why, but I hated the thought of anyone from the Dutchess County Department being in our house, running our investigation. Or maybe it was just the thought of Mr. Hotshot continuously getting in my way.
I glanced out the window of the Lieutenant’s door. Thornton was out there laughing, smiling and mingling with my co-workers. I caught his attention momentarily. “I’m resigning from this case. I don’t want it and it seems like Detective Thornton and Rodney have a handle on it.”
The Lieutenant came around the desk. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you or what issues you have with working with the D.C.P.D., but you need to get over it. You’re on this case whether you like it or not.” I definitely chose not. “I want you to go back to the station with Thornton. You two need to squeeze whatever information Ms. Fuller knows about our victim and about that night.”
Great, just how I wanted to spend my day, with a man I couldn’t stand. The Lieutenant held the door open and dismissed me. I hated being told what to do and that was evident by the evil look I gave the Lieutenant before leaving his office. “This isn’t over,” I replied before I stormed out of his office.
“Yes it is detective. Now bring back something we can use to nail this bastard’s killer.” The Lieutenant closed the door with a laugh.
Rodney saw me making a beeline for the doors and he followed me out to the parking lot. “Hey partner, where you off to?”
My head snapped back. My lips were pursed together giving him the angriest scowl I could. “I’ve been ordered to go to the D.C.P.D. and work with-with…”
“With me,” a smooth calm voice said from behind Rodney. We turned and saw Detective Thornton strutting towards us with his navy blue suit jacket draped over his shoulder. “I hear we’re going to be spending some quality time together De
tective.”
“I’m only going so I can question Ms. Fuller. You can have your turn when I’m done.
“Okay, we’ll play it your way.” The sly smile reappeared on his face. He was enjoying every minute of this. “Hop in Detective; I’m driving.”
The top slowly retracted from Detective Thornton’s silver Audi. His devilish grin soaked in my look of surprise as the car lurched forward. We pulled out onto the road and took off. The wind whipped my hair back as Thornton pressed harder on the gas pedal. I couldn’t contain my excitement. I loved to speed. I loved going fast. I just wish I was the one driving.
Chapter 12-Ali
We pulled into the D.C.P.D. parking lot and zipped around to the back. My hair was a curly nightmare. Strands were standing up on end, hair was plastered to my face, and was now a frizzy mess due to the wind and the heat of a hot summer day. I flipped down the visor and checked the mirror. There was no way I could go into an interrogation room or even the station looking like that. My fingers worked swiftly, tucking strands behind my ears and pulled it into a ponytail.
“You okay,” Thornton asked.
I sighed heavily which was mixed with happiness and relief. “Never better,” I replied. I jumped out of the car and followed him into the station.
He held the door open for me. How chivalrous? That was a bit of a shocker. Officers stood and stared as I walked into their domain. I was a trespasser. They didn’t like that I was there and the feeling was mutual.
“Right this way Detective,” Thornton said as his hand pressed the small of my back. I walked faster to get away from him, but he quickened his pace to keep up. “This was way,” he continued. This time he grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to him.
I ripped my arm away from him and shoved him against the wall with my elbow tucked under his chin. “Keep your hands to yourself,” I admonished. Yeah that’s right; I put him in his place. Someone needed to.
“Take it easy Detective Ryan,” a voice said from down the hall. I couldn’t see who was there, but I stepped away from Thornton anyway. “He’s harmless.” The man continued walking towards us. He was tall, but just shy of reaching Rodney’s height. A big bushy blondish gray mustache hung over his lips.
Who the hell was this guy? Was he a lawyer, a co-worker or…The man stood next to me, allowing me to get a better look at him. Shit, this was Detective Thornton’s boss, his superior. This had to be Lieutenant Michael Guinn.
The towering man barely glanced at me and then stared back at Detective Thornton. “You’re late. The woman and her lawyer have been here for almost an hour waiting.”
“Sorry sir. The briefing ran a little longer than expected.” He looked to me to confirm his story. I don’t know why, but I nodded in agreement.
“Fine, just get in there and get that woman to spill her guts about Ambrose. I want to know everything she knows about him and about that night.”
There was something about Lieutenant Guinn that made him appear more intimidating than any altercation I endured with my Lieutenant. Yes he was taller and that did impose an intimidating factor. But there was something about his voice. He didn’t shout or holler at us. He didn’t curse or slam anything to illustrate his point. There was nothing more than a controlled anger built into his voice that sent goose bumps all over my body.
We followed Lieutenant Guinn to the interrogation room. It was a little bigger than ours, but otherwise looked the same. We peered through the one-way mirror and saw what was casually referred to as a blond bombshell sitting there in tight black dress pants and a white tank top. She looked like they dragged her from her house while she was in the middle of getting ready for work. Next to her sat a man dressed in a crème colored suit with an olive green tie. His white hair, beard and glasses gave me the impression he was well into his sixties.
“I’ll take the first crack at her,” I said.
A firm grip wrapped around my wrist preventing me from moving towards the door. “No, this is a partnership.” Lieutenant Guinn released my hand and stared a hole through me with his muddy eyes. “You either both go in and work together, or you can watch from here while Detective Thornton questions her.”
My face was turning red hot. Thornton and I had made a deal. Now his Lieutenant broke that agreement and was forcing me to work with him or I would be forced to watch from the sidelines.
“Fine,” I growled.
Thornton opened the door. Again he allowed me to enter first. That angered me even more. He was being nice to me and all I wanted to do was slam the door open or closed. It would at least allow me to get some frustration out and maybe scare the witness into cooperating.
I tried to wipe the pissed off look from my face as Ms. Fuller and her attorney turned their heads towards me. “Good morning,” I said cheerfully. “My name is Detective Ryan and this is Detective Thornton. We’d like to ask you a few questions.”
Wendy turned to her attorney. Her eyes pleaded with him to get her out of there as fast as she could. “What seems to be the meaning of this,” the man asked.
“And you would be,” Detective Thornton asked.
“Wendy’s lawyer.” He removed a card from a metal card sleeve and produced two cards. He handed them to us. The name David Thomas Lynch was in bold lettering. “Now, would someone please explain to me why my client is here and has been waiting for more than an hour?”
I took a seat across from them. I could tell Wendy’s lawyer wasn’t the kind of guy to beat around the bush and I was in no mood to play any games either. “Does the name Blake Ambrose ring a bell?”
Wendy’s eyes opened wide with surprise. She stared at me as she leaned in and whispered something to her lawyer. “My client is enacting her right to attorney client privilege.”
“I thought you were her attorney,” I smiled.
“Mr. Ambrose was my lawyer,” Wendy replied. “My father hired Mr. Lynch recently.”
“Why were either men hired,” I asked.
“Again that is attorney client privilege,” Mr. Lynch said, this time with a bit more anger in his voice.
“Okay, you don’t want to talk to us about how you know Mr. Ambrose. Then maybe you can tell us why we have you on camera at Whiskey J’s?”
Wendy straightened herself up in the chair. “Mr. Ambrose invited me there to go over a few things. I was there strictly as his client.”
Detective Thornton strutted over to the table and rested his hand on my shoulder. “We’re not going to get anywhere like this. Do you mind if I try something,” he whispered. His cool minty fresh breath smelled like he had just popped a Tic-tac in his mouth.
I was rattled and off my game. It had been too long since I interviewed a potential suspect and to top it off she had “I’m hiding something big” tattooed across her face. Whatever she was hiding, she was concealing the truth behind the thick curtain of B.S. that was the attorney client privilege.
“Sure, be my guest,” I said through gritted teeth.
Thornton took a seat on the corner of the desk. He stared longingly into Wendy’s hazel eyes. His hand inched towards her without anyone noticing. “We don’t care about what you and Mr. Ambrose talked about. We’re more concerned with what happened the other night when you two were at Whiskey J’s.”
Wendy was hooked. She was melting with every word Detective Thornton said. “We-we were just having a few drinks.”
“How much did you two drink?” Thornton’s words were soothing and comforting. I was even getting lost in the sound of his voice.
“I-I don’t know. We had a few shots, a few beers. He just kept ordering them like they were free or something.”
“So what time did you leave together?’
Wendy seemed to snap out of her little daze. She leaned back in her chair. “I didn’t go anywhere with him.” That was the reaction I was hoping to get from her during my interrogation. “He got a little too weird for me and I bailed on my own.”
“How’d you get home,” I interrupte
d.
Wendy craned her neck to get a look at me. “I called a cab. You can look at my phone, talk to the cab company, do whatever. I don’t care.”
“Thank you, I will.” I reached for the phone. Mr. Lynch gave a disapproving glare at both Wendy and then at me.
She mouthed to him “I’m not going down for his death.” He nodded and allowed her to give me her cell. I scrolled to the night in question and took down all the numbers from her call log for that day.
“You said he got weird,” Thornton said calmly, bringing Wendy’s attention back to him. “What do you mean by; he got weird?”
“After a few drinks, he started getting handsy. He kept telling me how hot I looked and how he was so happy we were out together.”
“How many drinks in was that,” I asked.
“I don’t know I didn’t keep count.”
I knew Ambrose had been drugged and believed it may have happened early in the night. “How long did it take for him to get weird after the first round of drinks?”
“Fifteen-twenty minutes, maybe a half hour.”
That all but confirmed my theory. A trip to visit Dr. Woo should give me the full confirmation I needed. “Did you talk to anyone else at the bar?” I knew she came in contact with our mystery woman. I just needed to know if Wendy knew her.
“Some crazy drunk woman started talking to me about my purse. She wouldn’t shut the hell up about it.”
“Did you know the woman?”
“No, she just randomly popped up and pushed her way between Mr. Ambrose and me.” She kept calling him by his last name which was a clear indication that their relationship was purely professional, at least in her mind.
“Ms. Fuller, would you recognize this woman if you saw her again,” Detective Thornton asked drawing Wendy in again.
“I- I don’t know, maybe. It was dark in there and I didn’t get a good look at her.” That was one of the problems we had as well.
