Truth and Consequences

by V. J. Chambers

  Jennifer kept getting texts from her babysitter asking questions about her kid, which seemed to be annoying the heck out of Jennifer. “I’m just going to ignore it,” she kept saying.

  “You should,” said Marissa.

  But then another text would come in, and she wouldn’t ignore it. She’d read it aloud to the group and then tell everyone her response. So, there wasn’t much conversation going on, because it kept being interrupted by questions about whether it was okay for Jennifer’s kid to have candy or to watch various movies or to have a bubble bath, and if so, where was the bubble bath soap?

  Iain found it all pretty tedious. He’d rather not be here, and he was only doing it for Harley. He nursed his beer and kept his mouth shut.

  Then Jennifer got up to get another drink and Harley went with her.

  It was only Iain and Marissa at the table.

  “So,” said Marissa, “it’s really good to meet you.”

  “Thanks,” said Iain. “You too.” He thought that was the right response to that. There were so many little small talk scripts that people were supposed to use. He had a hard time keeping them straight.

  “I mean, Harley talks about you all the time.”

  “Really?” said Iain.

  Marissa nodded.

  “Huh,” said Iain.

  “Yeah, I guess you guys have been friends a long time, and you finally realized you were in love with each other? So romantic.”

  Iain cleared his throat. He wasn’t sure he would exactly describe it as being “in love.”

  It was quiet.

  Damn it. He was supposed to say something now. What was the last thing that Marissa had said? How should he respond? He turned around, looking for Harley. Where was she? Was she coming back soon?

  Marissa smiled. “You’re a police officer, right?”

  “Right,” he said.

  She laughed. “Well, I’ll have to be careful around you. Make sure I don’t do anything illegal, like roll a joint or something.”

  “I’m not actually that kind of police officer,” said Iain.

  “Oh, no, I know,” said Marissa. “I was… making a joke.”

  Iain slugged down half his beer. Where the hell was Harley?

  “Guess it wasn’t funny. I mean, not that I really ever roll joints or anything. That stuff makes me all paranoid. But I still do think it’s kind of stupid that it’s illegal. You know it’s not illegal everywhere, so people can’t even decide if it’s really bad or whatever.”

  Iain had no idea how to respond to that. What was he supposed to do in this situation?

  “Never mind.” Marissa laughed again. She looked at the bar too, as if she wanted to get away from him.

  He waited for her to get up.

  She didn’t.

  More silence.

  Marissa picked at the label on her beer. “What are you working on right now at work?”

  Finally, something he could talk about. “Well, we review old cases to see if we’ve convicted the right person,” said Iain.

  “Oh, yeah, Harley told me that. Really interesting.”

  “This is an interesting case,” said Iain. “I mean, maybe it is. It could be that the guy who was convicted is guilty. The victim was completely mutilated. Whoever the perpetrator was took to her face with a knife, just cut her up like chopped meat or something.”

  Marissa made a face. “Oh, geez.”

  Iain winced. He shouldn’t have said that.

  “Uh, I’m going to get another drink,” said Marissa.

  “Great,” said Iain. He shook his head. He wasn’t supposed to seem relieved she was leaving. “I mean, that’s fine.”

  Marissa stood up and went over to the bar.

  Iain sagged in his chair, feeling happy to be alone. He enjoyed the next several minutes, no one talking to him, no pressure to say the right thing.

  Harley appeared at the table. She set down her drink, but she didn’t sit down. “What did you say to Marissa?”

  He looked up at her. “I don’t know. She asked about the case I’m working.”

  “She says you’re creepy.” Harley glared at him.

  Iain sighed.

  “She said you were creepier than Dale.”

  Iain gritted his teeth.

  “She knew Dale back when he and I were married, and Marissa said that you remind her of him.”

  Iain finished the rest of his beer. “Why are you saying this to me?”

  She put her hands on her hips. “What did you say to her?”

  Iain scooted his chair out and got up. “I’m trying here, Harley, but I’m not good at this. I only came here because you wanted me to.”

  She shook her head. “Well, it’s pointless now, because Marissa is telling everyone you’re creepy, and now no one will want to talk to you.”

  Iain shrugged. “Great. So, does that mean I can go home?”

  “I don’t want to leave.”

  “You stay,” he said. “I’ll go.”

  “So, you don’t even care if you’re around me or not?”

  He was going to lose it. “Harley, tell me what you want from me,” he said in a low, frustrated voice.

  “Nothing,” she said, taking a step back. “Nothing at all.” She turned her back on him and stalked off.

  He drank the rest of his beer and slammed the bottle down on the table. So, now what? Could he go home or not?

  * * *

  “Hey there,” said a tall dark guy wearing a black shirt that clung to his nicely shaped chest. “Can I buy you a drink?”

  Amos was standing at the bar at the Rainbow. He was out with a few friends. The Rainbow was his favorite bar to go to, sort of his home base. “Actually, I was getting a pitcher for the table,” he said.

  “Oh, you’re here with someone,” said the guy.

  “Friends,” said Amos. He laughed a little. The last guy who’d flirted with him had turned out to be a serial killer, so he was a little wary these days. However, he’d gotten a very bad vibe from the killer, who’d called himself Dick, and this guy wasn’t giving him any bad signals. “You could join us if you want.”

  “Yeah?” said the guy. He offered his hand. “I’m Carlos.”

  “Amos.” He shook hands with Carlos.

  Then the bartender came by. Amos ordered the pitcher of beer.

  “You know, you look familiar to me,” said Carlos.

  “Well, I come here a lot,” said Amos. “This is kind of my home base bar.”

  “Yeah?” said Carlos. “I never come here, so that’s not it. I mean, isn’t this the bar where that serial killer was picking people up a few months back?”

  “It is,” said Amos. “But they caught him.”

  “That’s it,” said Carlos, pointing at him. “It was you. He got you. I remember your picture in the paper.”

  Amos wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

  “Sorry,” said Carlos. “Maybe it wasn’t cool to bring that up? It’s probably not your favorite memory ever.”

  “No, not exactly,” said Amos.

  “Right, so let’s not talk about that,” said Carlos. He turned, back to the bar, leaning his elbows on it and looking out over the place. “So, uh, what do you do?”

  “I’m a paralegal,” said Amos. “Actually, I’m kind of a glorified secretary, but I like it. It’s a great job.”

  “That’s cool,” said Carlos. “Who do you work for?”

  “It’s this department of the DA’s office,” said Amos. “It’s called the Conviction Review Unit.”

  “Oh yeah, I heard about that. You guys got that girl and her boyfriend out of jail.”

  “Yep,” said Amos. “That’s us.”

  “What’s that like?” said Carlos. “I mean, working with that, um, woman, what’s her name? Lawrence?”

  “It’s fine,” said Amos. “She’s a good boss.”

  “Yeah, but she was married to this big time drug dealer. You know about that?”

  “Uh…” Amo
s shrugged. “She doesn’t really talk about that.” The bartender brought the pitcher back. Amos gripped the handle.

  “And that other guy, the police officer, he has this girlfriend who shot her husband?” said Carlos.

  “What?” said Amos.

  “Yeah,” said Carlos. “You don’t know about that?”

  Amos furrowed his brow.

  “He called it in,” said Carlos. “Made sure she got off on self-defense. But not everyone thinks it was. Some people think that guy was murdered.”

  Amos picked up the pitcher. “Are we talking about the same guy? Iain Hudson.”

  “Yeah, that’s him,” said Carlos. “What’s he like?”

  “He’s, um…” Amos laughed again. “Look, I don’t know if I want to talk about work.”

  “Sure,” said Carlos. “Sorry.” He rolled his shoulders. “Man, I’m really striking out with conversation topics, huh? If you don’t want me to come back to your table with you now, it’s cool.”

  Amos smiled. “You’re fine.” He gestured with his head. “Come on.”

  As they walked back to the table, though, Amos couldn’t help but wonder about that story with Iain. He’d said something about that, hadn’t he? And his girlfriend, the one who’d been taken by Wheeler or Chapman a few months back, there was something going on with her, a dead husband or something. But the way Carlos had talked about it, he’d almost made it sound like Iain had killed the husband. Which Iain would never do.

  At least Amos didn’t think so, anyway.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Listen,” Gloria Fisher was saying, “I had a thought, and I was wondering if it might help you.”

  Elke was in her office, on the phone. Gloria had called her, and she had felt like she needed to take the call. But she didn’t really know what she was going to say to the woman if she wanted some progress toward proving her son’s innocence, because they hadn’t really made any.

  “See, I was thinking that if you could prove who actually committed the murder, maybe that would prove Curtis’s innocence.”

  Well, Elke couldn’t fault the woman for being forward thinking, especially since she was moving the investigation in that same direction. “Yes, that’s an avenue we’re pursuing, Ms. Fisher. Don’t worry.”

  “I’ve told you to call me Gloria, haven’t I?”

  “Sorry.”

  “Anyway,” said Gloria. “I was thinking that I’ve always had a theory as to who did it.”

  “You have?”

  “Yes. I think it was Noel.”

  “Who’s Noel?”

  “Noel Hughes. She was Allison’s best friend.”

  “And why would she kill her?”

  “Well, that I don’t know, but I do know that she’s a liar.”

  “Ms. Fisher—Gloria—perhaps I could give you a call at another time?”

  “If you’re busy, this will only take another minute,” said Gloria. “See, at the trial, Noel testified that the night before the murder, around 8:00, Allison came to her house and told her that she was afraid of Curtis.”

  Oh, great. Another nail in Curtis’s coffin. Elke shut her eyes. How had she missed that in the trial notes?

  “Well, Allison didn’t do that,” said Gloria. “And I know that because Allison was at my house that night. She ate dinner with us and then she and Curtis watched a movie in the den. She didn’t leave until nearly 10:00 that night.”

  “Did Allison watch movies at your house often?”

  “Oh, sure. She was over there all the time.”

  “This was such a long time ago. Maybe you’re confusing the days?”

  “Who’s side are you on?”

  “Just playing devil’s advocate.” Elke didn’t know if that really meant anything. “For that matter, maybe Allison went to Noel’s house a different night and she’s the one who’s confusing the days. Allison still could have told her friend she was frightened of Curtis.”

  “No, that girl is making it up. She’s trying to throw suspicion on Curtis and off of herself.”

  “I guess that is another possibility,” said Elke.

  “Promise me you’ll look into Noel.”

  “Of course, Gloria.”

  “Thank you.”

  * * *

  Elke had only just hung up with Gloria Fisher when Amos appeared at her door.

  “What?” she said. Amos looked concerned.

  “Some guy is here to see you,” said Amos. “I told him that he needed an appointment, and he told me that if I asked you if you wanted to see Jeremiah, you’d let him back.”

  Elke swallowed, suddenly going cold all over. It was Felix’s friend and former partner, Jeremiah Russell. He was the man responsible for going after Patrick and for sending that man with the knife after her in the parking lot. What was he doing here?

  “You want me to tell him to screw himself?” said Amos.

  She took a deep breath. “No, it’s okay. He can come back.”

  “You sure?” said Amos. “I don’t know about this guy. Something about him rubs me the wrong way.”

  “I’m sure,” said Elke. Jeremiah wouldn’t cause her physical harm in public. That wasn’t his style. He probably wouldn’t do it personally, anyway. Wouldn’t want to get his hands dirty.

  But that didn’t mean that her heart didn’t pound for several seemingly eternal moments as she waited for Jeremiah to come back to her office.

  While she waited, she straightened things on her desk, trying to look busy. She noticed when he came in, but she didn’t look up, pretending to be consumed by her task of putting paper clips into the little magnetic tray under her pen holder.

  Jeremiah cleared his throat.

  She looked up at him. She hadn’t seen him in over a year, but he looked the same. He wore a leather trench coat over a flashy suit. A fedora sat jauntily on his head. He removed it, smiling at her.

  Jeremiah didn’t come into her former life often. The story Felix told her was that they were old friends from college, so Jeremiah was invited to their dinner parties and to their barbecues. He’d even come to their wedding. But he wasn’t a fixture in her everyday life. He showed up now and again, and he was usually polite. She didn’t used to think much of him. Now, of course, she knew that he was Felix’s drug partner. With Felix locked up, Jeremiah was running the show. She wished she knew of any evidence that Jeremiah was dirty. She could nail him to the wall too.

  “May I sit?” said Jeremiah.

  “It’s a free country.” She pressed her lips together.

  Jeremiah chuckled. “Well, isn’t someone a bit hostile? That’s to be imagined, I guess, considering the situation.”

  She didn’t say anything.

  He sat down and began unbuttoning his coat. “Felix was angry with me the last time I saw him. I know you don’t want anything more to do with the man, but he’s still head over heels for you. Couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you. He was extremely pissed off that I would deign to threaten the lovely Elke.”

  Elke still didn’t say anything. Was he going somewhere with this?

  “I told him to fuck off,” said Jeremiah, settling back in his chair. “I told him that I was in charge now, and he wasn’t, and that I didn’t feel any sympathy toward you, considering you weren’t exactly helpful in keeping Felix out of jail.”

  “If you’re only here to threaten me—”

  “Then what?” He chuckled again. “What will you do?”

  “Then I think you might as well leave.”

  “Actually,” said Jeremiah, “I’m here to talk. I want you to understand that I have no issue with using whatever force I need to use against you and your family.”

  “Get out,” said Elke, working hard to keep her voice even.

  “But,” said Jeremiah, “I hope it doesn’t have to come to that. See, I’m beginning to feel as if there’s a bit of a misunderstanding going on. Felix seemed to think we were targeting your brother Patrick for no reason at all, and that isn�
��t true.”

  Elke squared her shoulders. “What are you talking about?”

  “Patrick has something of mine,” said Jeremiah.

  “No, he doesn’t,” said Elke.

  “He took product,” said Jeremiah. “At the time, that was fine, because he was meant to take the product and sell it. When he came back later and said he wanted out, that was fine too, but he was supposed to return either the product or the money he got from selling it. Once he does that, then Patrick and I are square.”

  “Patrick doesn’t have any drugs or money,” Elke protested.

  “You sure about that?”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Iain tossed aside the DNA profile that had been worked up for Allison’s remains. There was nothing there. All they’d found was Fisher’s DNA.

  Well, there was some other bits here and there from someone with a similar DNA marker to Allison. Family members, but that was to be expected, considering Allison had lived with them. That kind of transference happened all the time.

  Other than that, there was literally nothing.

  Which meant that Iain couldn’t get a handle on how it was that Joel Sanders could have done this. Maybe it was like Elke had said, gloves and hairnets. Hell, maybe he wrapped himself in plastic wrap. But Iain thought that was unlikely. And if he couldn’t tie Sanders to the case he was working, then there was no reason to be looking into him. Still, Iain couldn’t help himself.

  His cell rang.

  It had been beeping notifications at him earlier, but he’d ignored them. Now, looking at the screen, he saw that he had five missed messages from Harley. She was the one calling him right now. He picked up. “Hey.”

  “Hey?” she said. “That’s what you have to say?”

  Great, she was already mad. Before he and Harley had tried to do this official boyfriend and girlfriend thing, she had never been mad at him. Now, it seemed like she was angry all the time. “Uh, what should I say?”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m at work.”