FIRST ONE DOWN: A Paul Sutton Novel

by R. J. Belle

  CHAPTER 31

  The air was crisp, but the full sun was shining bright in the blue skies over Seaside Village. Kali found a parking space near her favorite coffee house and began to get out of her SUV. As she reached to disconnect her iPhone from its car charger, she noticed a voicemail message that she hadn't known was waiting. Holding the phone to her ear, she heard Sutton's raspy voice telling her he was running about a half hour late, and that he would arrive closer to 2:30 p.m. Looking up at the quaint shops dotting the front of Seaside Village, she decided to stroll through some of them to pass the time while she waited for the detective.

  Sutton arrived at the crowded, west side parking lot adjacent to Words By The Cup. He had never been inside the small coffee house, but it was easy to find and within walking distance from the station. If he hadn't been held up by Andrew's unscheduled visit, he might have decided to walk to the agreed upon meeting place. It was only about a mile from the station, and he knew he could use the exercise. As he was walking up the cobblestone-like pedestrian path, he noticed a strikingly beautiful, dark-haired woman standing near the entrance to the coffee house. It had to be Ms. Hanson, he thought.

  When he reached the woman, he met her eyes, "Ms. Hanson?" he asked.

  "Yes," her eyes dark and mysterious, she replied with a slight smirk on her face, "Detective Sutton, I presume?"

  Holding out his hand to her, she offered her frail, long fingered one and shook his with a firmer grip than most men he shook hands with. It was an odd feeling, and looking at her hand, it was unexpected.

  "Shall we grab a cup and find a seat?" Sutton asked.

  "Yes," she smiled at him, "have you ever had a cappuccino here?" Kali asked.

  "Never been here before, ma'am," Sutton said, relieved by her calm demeanor and attempting not to stare. She had a beauty that drew you in, and an energy about her that was like a magnet, able to hold a man captive. He could see why Andrew had fallen for her.

  "You are in for a treat, Detective," Kali said, as they made their way to the growing line of guests waiting for their end of the workday, caffeine fueled, pick-me-ups.

  Kali ordered for both of them and once they had received two large mugs of steaming cappuccino's boasting a foam top displaying the barista's artistic rendition of a pumpkin painted in cinnamon, they made their way to the upstairs seating area. They were the sole patrons on the top floor, and they chose a small, round wood table in the center of the seating area. Once seated, they both took a sip of the drinks. A tense air grew between them in that brief silence. Sutton could tell Kali Hanson was nervous and he began the interview in a quiet, unobtrusive manner.

  "Can we begin with how you came to know Nate Warner?" Sutton asked.

  Kali felt a sharp pain in her chest, and fighting back the flood of cutting emotion that came with the memory of the evening she had met Nate, she began to recount for the detective the short version of that night. When she finished, she searched Sutton's eyes for a sign of what would come next.

  "Ma'am, you think it's safe for a beautiful woman like yourself to be out running after dark?" Sutton asked.

  Kali was thrown off by his question, she blinked her dark eyes a few times, "um, I, um...I try to run during daylight, but sometimes I run at night. I guess I don't think much about it, really, and I run areas that I feel safe in."

  "Can you tell me about your relationship with Olivia Foster?" Sutton asked, knowing it was risky to jump right to that road, but he wanted to establish the two relationships before he moved on to questions specific to the evidence he had.

  Kali felt her throat tighten. She had hoped that he wouldn't ask her about Olivia, that part of the story was impossible for her to tell without tears and she didn't want to appear weak to the detective.

  "Olivia and I met through work."

  "Did you have a relationship with Ms. Foster outside of work? Were the two of you friends?" Sutton asked.

  "I wouldn't say that we had a relationship outside of work. We attended the same functions frequently, but she wasn't on my speed dial. We were friendly, yes. We had lunch together sometimes, during the workday," Kali said, her tone becoming slightly strained as she spoke.

  "How did you come to suspect that Ms. Foster and Nate Warner were involved?" Sutton asked.

  "A woman knows, detective. Nate came to the facility to see me, often, and in the latter months of our relationship, when he would visit and Olivia was around, I could sense something between the two of them."

  "Is that why you followed Ms. Foster to Nate's home the night of December 24?" Sutton asked.

  "I did no such thing. I didn't follow her; I didn't even know she was there until I arrived myself. And, I didn't go there because of Olivia. I went there to check on my boyfriend, the Christmas holiday is rough on him," Kali quit talking suddenly, realizing that she was oozing with a defensive tone, and had probably said too much.

  "Why is that ma'am? Why were you worried about Nate Warner that night?" Sutton asked, curious to find out how much Kali knew.

  "Because he lost his mother on the Christmas holiday when he was a young child," Kali said.

  "Lost ma'am? Do you know how he lost his mother?" Sutton asked.

  Kali could feel tears welling in her dark eyes, "I don't know the details, I only know that she was murdered on Christmas Eve when Nate was very young."

  "All right, let's move on. How long were you involved in a relationship with Nate Warner prior to December 24, 2009?" Sutton asked.

  "A little over two years," Kali said.

  "And, how was the relationship? Did the two of you get along well during that two year span?" Sutton asked.

  "Yes," Kali said, not knowing how to answer that question truthfully. She and Nate hadn't fought, but she wasn't sure if they had gotten along. She didn't know what they had had, and she had no way of summing up the relationship in terms of getting along well, or not getting along at all. Should she tell the detective that her answers would need to be based off of whether or not the question was limited to outside of the bedroom, or inside of the bedroom? Because to lump the two together made it unlikely that she could answer the questions accurately.

  "I need to ask a few questions of a personal nature, Ms. Hanson, is that okay with you?" Sutton asked.

  "Everything you've asked thus far, has been personal to me, detective," Kali said, folding her hands together in front of herself, and resting them on the table, a hint of aggravation in her voice.

  "I am sorry to bring up old hurts, Kali. I'm just doing my job, trying to cover all the bases." He searched her face for clues watching her body language closely and feeling sympathetic to the plight of this young woman, for he knew far more from those text conversations between her and Nate Warner than any outsider should ever know about the intimate relations between a couple.

  "Can you tell me about Nate Warner's general demeanor? Was there ever a point in your relationship with him that you felt unsafe or feared for your safety?" Sutton asked.

  "No," Kali answered, as she sat back in the fabric lined chair, and folded her arms over her chest.

  "Did you ever feel uncomfortable around Mr. Warner?"

  "No," Kali said, adding up the lies she was telling, in her head.

  "I apologize for the private nature of the next series of questions I need to ask you, Ms. Hanson," he swept a hand through his thick hair, pausing briefly, "Would you describe your sexual relationship with Mr. Warner as normal?"

  Kali stared into Sutton's eyes from across the table. She said nothing, the look on her face expressionless. Looking down at the floor beside her chair, she spoke so softly, Sutton could barely make out her answer, "No."

  "Did Mr. Warner force you to do anything you were uncomfortable with sexually?" Sutton asked.

  "Not exactly."

  "Ma'am?" Sutton said, urging a more complete answer.

  "No, he didn't make me do anything that I didn't want to do, detective."

  "So, you are telling me that during every
sexual encounter that you shared with Nate Warner, you were a willing participant? You never felt threatened, and you never participated in anything that you were uncomfortable with, Ms. Hanson?"

  "Yes, I mean - no, I don't know. Why are you asking me these questions?" Kali said, her frustration with the line of questioning becoming increasingly evident.

  "Ms. Hanson, I am trying to figure out what makes Nate Warner tick, what possible events could have led him, or put him in such a state, that he would feel that murdering a woman would seem like a logical thing for him to do."

  Sutton paused, contemplating if what he was about to reveal was wise, given the obvious emotional instability he was witnessing from Kali.

  "Ms. Hanson, during the course of this investigation, we subpoenaed Nate Warner's phone records. Including transcripts of text correspondence. We were given a great deal of text transcripts, and those included text conversations between yourself and Mr. Warner." Sutton paused, allowing an opening for her to respond, and when she didn't, Sutton continued, "I read through every conversation had via text between you and Mr. Warner during the time surrounding Laura Carmichael's murder. What I read, would lead me to believe that you may have not been a willing sexual partner, or that you may have felt pressured into certain situations of a sexual nature. Would that be an accurate assumption on my part, Ms. Hanson?"

  "I am not going to discuss my sex life with you, Detective Sutton. If you have any questions for me regarding the night you think that woman was murdered, I am happy to answer them, but I will not answer questions about my sexual relationship with Nate Warner." Kali said, as she shifted in her seat, sitting upright, her demeanor switching to that of a professional nature and her eyes looking straight at Sutton's face as if daring him to press the issue.

  Sutton knew he had lost all hope of learning anything more about the relationship or specific details regarding the relationship between Kali Hanson and Nate Warner.

  "Fair enough, let's talk about the night in question," Sutton said.

  "Okay."

  "Tell me about your recollection of that evening. What time did you arrive at Nate's residence on December 24, 2009?" Sutton asked.

  "I think it was about 9 p.m.," Kali said.

  "Did you enter the residence?"

  "No," Kali said, her voice becoming strained again as she shifted in her seat.

  "Did you see Mr. Warner, speak to him?" Sutton asked, confused by her answer.

  "Yes I went to his door, he answered, and he asked me to go home."

  "I'm sorry, I don't understand. I thought that you found Olivia Foster at Nate's residence on the night in question."

  "I did. I saw her car parked on the street near Nate's house," Kali said.

  "Did you, at any time, see Ms. Foster in person?" Sutton asked.

  "No."

  "How did you know she was with Nate?" Sutton asked.

  "Like I said before, detective, a woman knows."

  "I understand ma'am, but how is it that you came to know?" Sutton asked, his questions coming faster, and the time between questions shortening.

  "Detective, as I'm sure you know by reading my private text conversations with Nate Warner, we had an extremely, umm...active, sex life. Nate's appetite for sex was voracious.

  When I arrived at his house that night, he didn't allow me to enter; in fact he turned me away at the door. I wasn't a math major in college, detective, nor do I carry a badge, but it doesn't take an advanced degree or investigative experience, to add that up. Olivia's car was parked on his street, he didn't want to have sex with me, and he turned me away at the front door. What other conclusion could one possibly come to?"

  "Do you think Olivia Foster was the first woman that Nate had on the side during the course of your relationship, Ms. Hanson?" Sutton asked.

  "I would like to say yes, but I suspected he had others the entire length of our relationship," Kali said, a childlike sadness overcoming her.

  "When is the last time you saw Olivia Foster?" Sutton asked.

  "That night."

  "I thought you said you did not see Olivia that night."

  "Well, her car. I guess the last time I saw her in person was that morning at the office." Kali began racking her memory and was not even positive that she had seen Olivia at the office that day. It may have been the previous day, Kali wasn't sure. With one hand, she began fidgeting with the sapphire pendant on her necklace, and with the other she started to massage her right temple.

  "And when was the next time you saw Nate Warner after that night?"

  "Um, I..." Kali said, thinking back to that time. It had all been a blur, she had been blinded by her grief and anger at being betrayed. She couldn't piece the time line together. "I don't know, detective, I didn't really see him anymore after that. He came around many times but I refused to see him."

  "So, you haven't seen him since then?" Sutton asked.

  "I don't know how to answer that question," Kali said, feeling like an idiot as soon as the statement left her mouth. Of course she knew how to answer that question, but she didn't want to admit, for the second time in the same day, that she had slept with Nate, more than once, since the night he had betrayed her.

  "It's a yes or no, ma'am," Sutton said, interrupting her thoughts, his tone terse.

  "Yes."

  "Can you tell me when, Ms. Hanson? When is the last time you saw Nate Warner?" Sutton asked.

  "I don't know. And, I am done answering questions, detective. I think our meeting is over now." Standing up she gathered her things, and turned to say goodbye.

  "Oh, Ms. Hanson, one last question, and it's probably nothing, but, well-I have to ask. Do you know a woman by the name of Megan James?"

  "Yes, Meg is my best friend, why?"

  "Just wondering what her connection to Nate Warner is, or was. Her number was one of many numbers that showed up in Nate Warner's phone records," Sutton said, pausing, while watching the expression upon Kali's face go from blank, to confused, and then to flat out angry. "I figured it was one of his 'others', to quote your term, and hers was just one of many text conversations that revolved around fulfilling Mr. Warners sexual desires. But, as you have made crystal clear a woman knows, so I'm sure you were already aware of their involvement." He finished and watched Kali quite literally fall apart before his eyes. He felt like a heel for dumping that piece on her, and he was certain that she had not known about Megan James and Nate Warner. Sometimes, he thought, the part of the job that required him to rattle the innocent was an extremely unnecessary evil.

  Kali placed her hand over her quivering mouth, as if to keep vomit from spewing all over the flooring of the coffee house. She turned and ran down the aged wooden staircase, almost tripping on her way down, and raced out of the building and down to the busy parking lot. It was bustling with people coming and going, and Kali almost knocked down a woman carrying an armful of bags on her way to her vehicle. Once inside her SUV, Kali began sobbing hysterically, hitting the steering wheel and blinded by a rage that threatened to destroy her in that very moment. When she calmed her sobbing enough to examine her surroundings, she pulled her rear view mirror down and looked at her wet, red face, snot dripping from her nose and clinging to her lips and chin. Black mascara lined her cheeks like skid marks left by an emergency stop made on a grime-stained freeway off ramp. She had to move. She feared if she sat still for one more minute, she would become paralyzed by her pain and stay there, in that parking lot, with her snot stained face frozen in time - killed by a broken heart and on display, like a freak show, for all the world to see.

  Needing time to pull it together, Kali decided to make the drive back to Carlsbad. She would change into her running clothes at home and put in some miles, to clear her head, or run away, she wasn't sure which, and she didn't care. All she knew was that she couldn't afford to think anymore right now. She had to erase the pain from her mind, and she had to do it soon.

  CHAPTER 32

  When Sutton arrived back at t
he station, he made his way up to the unit floor and sat at his desk to dial Andrew's number. He wanted to give the man a heads up that his new girl was on the verge of a breakdown and also wanted to let him know that he was heading out of town for a few days in hopes that would prevent his partner from having to deal with any unexpected visits by the big guy, to the station.

  Andrew's voicemail came on, and Sutton left a brief message with the information he had intended to relay. Then he pulled up his email account and printed out his boarding pass for his flight to Portland. On his way to the elevator, he dropped a handwritten note on Ryan's desk with his flight information and a request for his partner to keep tabs on Andrew while he was in Portland.

  Sutton swung by his small house in Mission Hills, threw some articles of clothing and his shaving kit into an overnight carry-on, and headed for Lindbergh Field. Once he made it to the boarding gate, he tried Andrew again. The call went straight to voicemail this time, and Sutton hung up without leaving another message. Perhaps Ms. Hanson had already contacted Andrew, and he was busy dealing with her out of control emotions after discovering that what she had thought had been the biggest betrayal, committed by Olivia Foster, was only the tip of the iceberg. It struck him as curious that a woman with so much going for her could or would become involved with a man who seemed unwilling to practice monogamy. Sutton sat there wondering what made people tick, and how strange it was to look on, from the outside, at how messy interpersonal relationships could become. Given enough free will, and with a leader as twisted as Nate, the web had spun seemingly out of control until someone died, paying the ultimate price for playing a game so wrought with deception.