“The person we want is her brother. You give him up, and then we’ll talk.”
“I don’t know where he is.” Hannah turned to face Baptiste and acted as if Robert wasn’t in the room. “I am the last person he would tell. My brother hates me.” She inhaled. “My Aunt Ava had a house in Winchester, but she’s been dead for five years. My parents in Wakefield are so drunk all the time that they wouldn’t notice if Josh went back there, but he wouldn’t bring Mari there.” She shrugged. “So I don’t know where he went.” Robert shouldn’t have believed her, but he knew she was telling the truth.
“It seems,” Baptiste said to Mitch, “that you don’t have much to bargain with.”
“My client can’t give you her brother, but she can give you someone else.”
There was that sinking feeling again. “There was another accessory?” Baptiste asked. “Do you mean the person who facilitated the electronic cover-up?”
“No,” Hannah said sharply. Mitch shot her a look.
“That person is in a foreign jurisdiction and you’ll be chasing your tail if you want to go after him. And I promise, this is much better.” A little bit of the snark came back, but it was less self-satisfied. “How long had Joshua Bruges been in Boston before Alex Sheldon was murdered? You really think he’s the one who wanted him dead more than anyone else?”
“It’s not up to me,” Baptiste said icily.
“We’ll wait,” Mitch said. “We’ve got all night.”
Baptiste glared as he left the room, but nodded to Robert to signal that he should stay.
“Did you two need some time?” Robert asked.
“No,” Hannah answered. She looked at him now full on, and he felt like she’d landed a punch on his chest. “It’s time to get this done.”
Robert stared at her. He knew Mitch was there, but he didn’t care. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Hannah swallowed. “You wouldn’t get it.”
“Why’s that? Because I don’t have a brother I’d do anything for?” She glared at him. “Is that what you were doing with me?”
“Teague, shut up.”
Robert couldn’t hear Mitch. “Is that why you came back? The night he killed Sheldon? Because what better way to keep tabs on the murder investigation you knew your brother was guilty of!”
Hannah clicked her tongue. “Well, yeah, that’s what it was. What else could it possibly be? And I am so smart that I just knew he was going to kill someone and I just knew it would be your case—and I knew before my brother even met that woman. And I am so smart—and so good, right?—that I got you to ask me to your apartment.” She trembled. “It has nothing to do with the fact that you like to celebrate sort of-kind of closing a case by screwing someone involved in it! Right, Captain?” she asked Baptiste, who had just entered the room.
“Hannah!” Mitch put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t let him bait you. He’s trying to get you to give him a name before we can get a deal.” Hannah closed her eyes. “Do we have a deal?” he asked Baptiste.
Baptiste nodded, looking at Robert out of the corner of his eye. “I spoke to the ADA. She’ll make the deal if your evidence is solid.”
“It is.” Hannah looked at the table. “If you make me, I can have my niece pick the woman’s photo out. But you’re not going to make me.”
Robert recovered himself. “Who?”
She still didn’t look up. “It wasn’t Lucy Bartolome.”
“Why,” Baptiste asked, ignoring Robert, “would your niece be able to identify her?”
“Because she approached my brother for the first time while he was at the Boston Common with my niece.” Hannah gripped the table edge. “Because the first chance my brother had to be a father to his little girl, this woman came and played on his nightmares. Mariana didn’t understand any of it, but this woman literally couldn’t have done it without her.
“You can also check phone logs,” she continued. “Not my brother’s, but hers. I will tell you the number that he used, and you can see that she got a call the day Alex Sheldon wrote that check. You’ll also see that she made a bunch of calls after. I know; I already checked.”
“Hannah,” Mitch said by way of warning.
“Who?” Robert repeated.
“Someone Alex Sheldon put under his heel a long time ago and who reapplied pressure every so often to show that he could. No, Robert, still not Lucy.”
“Miss Bruges,” Baptiste said, “I am losing my patience.”
“How about one more clue?” Hannah taunted. “Because you guys should have figured this out a while ago. Because she was right under your nose the whole time.”
“Hannah—” Mitch began.
“If you’d been doing your job, she would have been the first person you thought of.” She glared at Robert. “Got it yet?”
Robert finally knew why he’d been falling that whole day. “Are you sure?”
“So close, yet so far.” She traced a line on the table and it reminded Robert of the way she would touch his skin when they were alone. “You were this close to her, but you never saw it because you didn’t want to. Want to tell your boss now that you finally got it?”
“Now!” Baptiste roared.
“Joanna Hazlett!” Hannah shouted back. “Your very nice English professor turned my brother into a murderer! And if you don’t believe me, why don’t you ask all those kids she got to get rid of Sheldon’s things?” She shuddered. “And where do you think those kids came from anyway?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Mitch had been trying to get Hannah to eat something since Robert had gone to pick up Joanna Hazlett, but the best she could do was drink some water. Everything made her sick. No, that was wrong; she was already sick and had been sick for weeks. No, she’d felt this way for years. The few days after she’d found Mariela and Mariana must have been a dream, because she hadn’t felt this way then. She had believed in good things then.
Hannah was in the lobby of the station when she saw Robert walk in with Joanna Hazlett and a woman who must have been Joanna’s attorney. She looked as smug as she had the day Hannah had visited her, the day she had begged her to leave Josh alone.
She sprang up from her bench. “You evil bitch!” She meant to grab Joanna’s throat, but Mitch held her back before Hannah could touch her.
Robert stepped in front of Joanna and that enraged Hannah more. “Calm down,” Mitch urged. “Don’t make this worse.”
“Worse?!” Hannah tried to break free. Mitch had a strong grip, but Hannah was done holding back. She couldn’t see Joanna behind Robert, but she’d push through him if she had to. “It’s all over because of you!” She knew Joanna could hear her. “Monster! You came at my brother when he had his little girl! And when Mari was still in the hospital! Do you know what it did to him to see her like that? Sure you did—that’s why you followed him, you manipulative witch!”
She was almost free of Mitch before Baptiste stepped in and put a hand on her shoulder. He was strong, but that didn’t matter. Hannah was going to use every ounce she had left in her to get past them.
“Did Professor Hazlett stalk your brother?”
Hannah pictured Mariana as Josh had led her out of the hospital to take her to the playground. She couldn’t move. “That’s exactly what she did.” Why was it so hard to talk? “And she brought—” She took a deep breath, but she still felt like she was choking. “—she brought a balloon and gave it to my niece. She poisoned my brother so she could turn him into a murderer!”
Why did Robert look surprised? Hannah had already told him this. Besides, how could he have missed what Joanna was? “You couldn’t have waited until he was alone?” he asked Joanna.
“Because then it might not have worked!” Hannah pushed forward again, but it was harder now, no matter how much she pictured going for Joanna’s face. “I hate you! I hate you! They were finally going to be happy and you ruined their lives. I begged you to leave my brother alone, but you acted like you had no i
dea! Did you think you were going to convince me I was crazy? And I made sure you’d see that story in the newspaper so you’d know I could handle him, but you didn’t care.” She heard a scream and realized it was coming from her. “You didn’t think they’d suffered enough? I could have protected them from Sheldon and made sure he paid, but all you cared about was making sure his brains were splattered on his floor!” She pushed one more time. “I hope you die in jail after you’ve forgotten what the sky looks like!”
She felt like she couldn’t stand anymore. She saw Robert move as if he were going to help her, but she felt Mitch and Baptiste hold her up and turn her around. “She needs to get out of here now,” she heard Mitch say, but he sounded far away.
“Let’s go.” Baptiste led the way away from Joanna and Robert. “No,” she said. “They’re gone and it’s all her fault.” She said it again and again, hoping they’d hear her, but they didn’t stop until they got into an office.
Mitch guided her to a couch. He looked far away now too. “Try to get some rest.” It reminded her of the way Josh spoke to Mariana.
It wasn’t fair, was the last thing she thought before she closed her eyes.
She dreamed of the day she met Mariela at the mall. She dreamed that instead of bringing her extra food, she’d grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out of the mall.
“My mother!” Mariela cried, but Hannah knew it wasn’t going to matter. They got into a car and drove away. They picked up Josh, who smiled at Mari. Then they picked up Mari’s mother. They drove and sang and when Hannah looked in the rearview mirror, she saw Mariana as a chubby toddler sitting with her parents.
“It’s okay now, Aunt Hannah,” Mariana said with a giggle.
“Mariana,” Hannah said in her dream. “I’m going to make it okay.”
“Hannah.” She opened her eyes when she felt a hand on her arm. She saw Emily hovering over her. “Mariana’s fine.”
Hannah sat up. This must have been Baptiste’s office. Mitch’s jacket was next to her. He must have put it on her when she fell asleep. Who said she could fall asleep? “I have to get to Mariana.”
“Jessie’s watching her and Hellie,” Emily said. She sat next to her on the couch. “Mariana is fine.”
“No, she’s not.” Misery was crawling up her throat. “I ruined everything.”
Emily rubbed her arm. “That’s not true. You tried harder than anyone else could have. And you saved Mariana—twice.”
“But now she doesn’t have her parents, and they don’t have her.” She swallowed. “I was supposed to save them, too.”
“Sweetie,” Emily said. “There’s nothing more you could have done.”
Hannah bit her lip. That was never true. “I could have told someone. I thought about telling Robert, or even Mitch. But what were they going to do? Joanna didn’t come out and tell Josh—” It hurt to say his name. “She just told him that no one would be able to stop Sheldon, because no one ever could. And Josh didn’t tell me he was going to do it, I just knew he was.” She looked at Emily pleadingly. “What could they have done if I’d told them I thought my brother wanted to kill someone?”
Emily was trying to smile, but it wasn’t working. “They could have talked to him, maybe. But I don’t know what they would have said.”
“I knew what to say to him.” Hannah closed her eyes and saw Josh as he was the day Mariana had told her about the balloon. “Alex Sheldon was pathetic. I’ve met men that made him look like Santa Claus. I could have handled him. And I would have done it for real, not like Lucy Bartolome did, playing games with money.” Why did people like that think they could buy their way out of a problem? She wanted to laugh, except it wasn’t funny. “He wouldn’t have hurt anyone again.”
Emily exhaled. “I think—in her own way—that’s what Joanna thought she was doing. I know that doesn’t make it okay—”
Hannah wanted to tear her own hair out. “No! She’s nothing but a user. I begged her to leave Josh alone. I told her that I could take care of Sheldon and she’d never have to worry again, but she didn’t care. I just made everything worse.”
“You didn’t do this.”
“No, I think I did.” She couldn’t deny it any longer. “I went to see her right before the MFA benefit, and Josh killed him two days later. Maybe she told him he needed to do it when he did because I made her nervous.”
Emily looked helpless and it made Hannah feel worse. “Don’t do this to yourself. If she and Josh wanted to do this, there wasn’t anything you could have done.”
Hannah turned away from Emily. How was that supposed to make her feel better?
—
“I think you’ve kept my client waiting long enough,” Joanna’s lawyer said venomously when Robert walked into the interrogation room.
Robert was holding a number of files in his hands. She didn’t have to worry. “This won’t take too long.”
The attorney looked at Joanna, who raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “Very well,” she said reluctantly. “Because it doesn’t sound like you have anything more substantial than the rantings of the sister of your real culprit.”
“I’m afraid I have a little bit more,” Robert said. “Would you describe your client as medium height and build?”
The attorney frowned. “Don’t waste our time.”
“I would,” he said. “And I think a jury would as well. And her eyes...brownish hazelish?”
“I just have one of those faces, Bob,” Joanna said. “Not particularly unattractive or beautiful, and not particularly memorable.”
“I don’t think people think that once they get to know you,” Robert said. “And I think you make more of an impression than you might realize on young people.”
“What did you do, cut a deal with some of the juveniles you’ve got in lockup?”
Robert didn't find accusations of corruption amusing today. “No. We have the kids who received Alex Sheldon’s stolen items. One of their names is Bryson Diaz. And oh, right, he also has a brother named Devon who was involved. But that’s not all. They’ve got a sister named Carla, but she runs with a much different crowd, doesn’t she, Jo?”
Joanna lifted her chin but didn’t say anything. “Detective,” the attorney said condescendingly, “I hope your case doesn’t rest on a young woman taking one of—”
“I have no idea whether Carla Diaz took one of Professor Hazlett’s classes.”
There was a knock on the door. “Excuse me,” Robert said as he answered it. A young uniformed officer handed him several files. “Captain Baptiste wanted you to have these, sir.”
“Tell him I said thanks,” Robert said as he closed the door. He looked through the files until he came to the one he was looking for. “Here we go. Carla Diaz,” Robert said as he returned to his chair. “Her academic record, to be exact. Good student, it seems. And she showed a lot of potential, even as a little girl. That’s why she was selected for the University’s Boston Scholar’s program. Are you familiar with it?”
“You either have a charge against my client, or you don’t.”
Robert pointed a finger. “I’ll take that as a no. And I don’t blame you; it’s hard to keep up with them because there are so many. Joanna knows all about the Kay Scholars, right?” That was the scholarship Joanna had tried to get for Josie through Tom Bartolome. Instead, Josie ended up with Tom. “But I bet you also know about this one. Who runs that again?”
“Lucy chairs a lot of committees. You know that,” Joanna answered coolly.
If she wanted to play, so did he. “But didn’t she help found this one? Wasn’t she, in fact, instrumental in getting it off the ground several years ago?”
“We’re done!” the attorney said as she rose.
“Are we, Jo?” He waved the files. “Because Carla Diaz isn’t the only student in the program with less promising siblings and friends. And I have a feeling that when I ask Devon if what he did had anything to do with his sister, he’s going to tell me that the only reas
on he would do something this stupid and get their little brother to help was because he wanted to protect the older sister who has so much potential.”
The attorney looked at Joanna from the side of her eye. “I need a moment with my client.”
“I’ll be right outside. But, please, don’t take too long. I know how worried you were about the time.” He got up to leave but left the files on the table.
Mitch and Baptiste were waiting in the lobby. Baptiste was pacing and Mitch was leaning against the wall, trying not to fall asleep.
“Tell me she confessed.” Mitch’s eyes were bloodshot. “Or at least tell me you don't need Hannah.”
“Please,” Robert said, too tired himself to be proud. “I want them to know that Hannah’s here to rebut anything Joanna tap dances around.”
“You’d better not want her here for anything else.”
“Excuse me?” If Robert was done with Martin’s attitude, he was also done with Mitch’s. And what if he did want to make sure Hannah was okay?
“Enough.” Baptiste was done too, and not just with Mitch. “How close are we?”
“They know we know about the kids she used. They don’t know about the rest of it.”
There was a knock on the window. “So tell them.”
Robert found Joanna’s attorney considerably more flustered. Joanna, however, was cool as ever. “Professor Hazlett is willing to admit that she had a conversation with Mister Bruges shortly after his daughter and her mother were recovered. She regrets anything she said that inadvertently fed his anger toward his victim.”
Save it for trial, Robert thought. “Is that the extent of what your client is willing to admit to?”
Justice, Mercy and Other Myths (The New Pioneers Book 7) Page 16
