by Lisa Olsen
“So she is your girlfriend,” Tim grinned, earning a scowl from Gabriel.
“Stop fishing, we’ve got work to do.”
***
Gabriel was loathe to call Allie and tell her about her husband’s death until he knew a little more about how Neil died, but he knew it would be worse if he put it off for too long. Still, he found himself dialing Lexi instead of her sister first. Not terribly surprised to find her still at Allison’s place despite his advice to spend some time away, he let her know he was on the way with some news and refused to say anything beyond that over the phone. Getting used to the drive up Branciforte, the sun was just starting to slip from the sky when he pulled up in front of the weathered house. Grateful that he’d sent Cooper off to see the Captain about getting Chloe bumped up to Amber Alert status, the last thing he needed right now was a dose of his partner’s sarcastic humor. Lexi came to the door, a mug of something in her hand, feet still bare, those multi-colored toenails peeking up at him. Gabriel gave her a nod, resisting the urge to give her a more personal greeting, but damn she looked good.
“I thought you were gonna call a long time ago.”
“Sorry, it’s the nature of the business, stuff comes up, we don’t have a whole lot of control over that.”
“That’s okay; I figured it was something like that. I get lost in my work too, but it’s never a life or death thing if I lock myself in for an hour or six,” she handed over the mug. “It feels like I’m always making you a cup of coffee and you’re always running off without drinking it. Maybe I should stop offering and you might stick around more,” she grinned.
Damn, now that she was in a flirtatious mood he had to be all business. Gabriel accepted the mug with a nod of thanks, trying to strike a balance from his normal interrogation style and the friendly tone that sprang up whenever he talked to her. “Hey, I’d like to talk to Allison alone if you don’t mind. But stick around, okay? I’d like to talk to you afterwards.”
“That sounds ominous, what did you find?”
Gabriel’s voice dropped considerably, “Neil’s body in the trunk of his car.”
“Oh God, that’s awful!” Her gloved hand covered her mouth, a quick look darted over her shoulder towards the house. “How did he die?”
“I’ll tell you all about it after I talk to Allie, okay? I really should tell her first.” Even though Lexi was the first one he called, now that he was actually there it seemed wrong not to speak to the widow first.
“Yeah sure, whatever you say,” she nodded, stepping back to allow him admittance to the house. “I’ll be in the kitchen. Allie? Detective Ryan is here to see you.”
Grateful that she let go of the questions for once, Gabriel hung back in the foyer while Lexi moved deeper into the house. This was the part of the job he hated; having to tell family members that their loved one had passed on. It didn’t make it any easier or harder that he used to know Allie; experience told him she’d be devastated, even if they were having marital problems.
“Hello Gabriel, Lexi says you have news?” Allie looked calm and composed; more so than she’d been the last time he saw her and he guessed the girls’ night in had done her some good.
“I do, maybe we should sit down.” He gestured towards the couch, waiting until they were both seated before he continued.
“Did you find them?” Allie sat, her back perfectly straight.
“Allie, I’m just gonna come right out and say it. Neil’s dead, we found him in the trunk of his car in a parking lot on the west side. So far there’s no sign of Chloe.” Gabriel made his voice low and sympathetic but the words were blunt and effective and he saw understanding dawn on her face right away.
“Dead… how?”
“We don’t know yet, the medical examiner thinks it might be either drugs or poison. There wasn’t any sign of a struggle,” he paused to let her process that.
“Do you know who did it? Or who took Chloe then? Oh my God… my baby is out there somewhere… who knows what unspeakable things might be happening to her right now…” Allie’s face crumpled into tears as the ramifications of the discovery sank in.
“We’re going to find out who did this Allie, I promise, but we’re just in the first stages of the investigation. We’ll need your cooperation to get a better picture of what happened that night.”
“Better picture? But I told you everything I know. He didn’t come home that night, I have no idea where he went or what happened to him,” she sniffed, reaching for a tissue.
“That was when we thought he ran off of his own accord, now that it’s a murder investigation we’ll have to go over every detail again. I’m afraid I have some questions to ask you that you’re not going to like.”
“I don’t think there’s anything you could say that could upset me any more than I already am,” she laughed bitterly.
“Were you aware that your husband was having an affair?”
Allie’s jaw dropped open, no sound coming out before she snapped it shut again, her expression becoming shuttered. “What do you mean?”
Damn. She was lying. He might not know all that much about women, but he definitely knew when someone was lying. It was written all over her face and strengthened by the fact that she wasn’t looking him in the eye. “What I meant to ask was, when did you find out that Neil was having an affair with a coworker?”
Her eyes flicked up to meet his briefly before darting away again and he thought she was giving some serious thought to lying to him again. But then her shoulders sagged with defeat. “I’ve known for a few months, I’m not sure when I found out exactly.”
“And was he aware that you knew?”
“God no, I never said anything to him about it. We weren’t talking a whole lot those last few weeks.”
It never ceased to amaze him what information people held back when being questioned, even when they weren’t guilty of anything. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”
“Because I knew you’d make the assumption that he ran off with his girlfriend, but I knew that wasn’t the case. I called her the next day at work before I reported him missing.”
“You talked to her?” his brows climbed in surprise.
“No, I only asked for her to see if she was in the office and I hung up as soon as she came onto the line. But there’s no reason why she would be at work and he wouldn’t if they’d run off together, so I didn’t mention it. I just… I didn’t want you to look at me the way you’re looking right now.”
“How am I looking at you?” Gabriel’s head canted to one side in confusion.
“Like I’m the poor wife who couldn’t hold on to her husband. He might have been a cheating S.O.B. but he was my husband, and I was willing to try and make it work for as long as he stuck around. Neil had no reason to take off on his own, he had no idea I knew he was cheating. Whoever killed him, it had to be for some other reason. What about his girlfriend? Maybe she did it because he wouldn’t leave us? Maybe she even took Chloe, trying to lure him into starting a new family with her?”
“I can assure you, we’ll be talking to her in more depth along with his friends and coworkers.” There was a lot of legwork to be done coming into it so late in the game. Everyone’s stories would have to be checked and rechecked, alibis confirmed. Now they had a lot more leeway into what they could check though. They’d have access to Neil’s cell phone records and financials going much farther into the past to see if there was any irregular activity. They’d interview everyone again as well as neighbors, even distant family to try and come up with a plausible motive.
The biggest help of all would come with the forensics report; there was bound to be some evidence on the body that could link them to the killer. Unfortunately the longer the clock kept ticking, the less likely the chance was that they would recover Chloe alive. Most missing children found dead were killed within the first seventy-two hours and Chloe had already been gone longer than that. If whoever was holding her intended to kill he
r, her time was running out.
“Now back to Neil again, has he ever had a history of drug use? Either prescription or illicit drugs?”
“Drugs? No, not that I know of. He didn’t even drink hard alcohol much, just beer and the occasional champagne if we were celebrating something. Why, do you think he was mixed up in some kind of drug deal?”
“It’s too early to tell, but drugs are a possibility for the cause of death.”
“I just don’t know anymore. It seems like there was a whole part of his life that I didn’t know all that much about. It’s possible I guess.” She was silent for a few moments, lost to her own thoughts. “I can’t help but feel like something awful is happening to Chloe, right this very minute.” Allison’s voice sounded far away, her eyes staring sightlessly out the window.
Gabriel laid a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. “Hey, the good news is that Chloe’s going to be escalated onto the Amber Alert and there will be a new feature on her going out tonight. Neil’s death gives us a much bigger pool of assets to pull from, and we’ll be canvassing a much larger area than we were able to look at before. CSU is gonna have to come and process the entire house as this is officially a crime scene now. In fact, it might be a good idea if you went to stay with Lexi for a few days.”
“No,” Allison’s gaze returned to him instantly. “If you need to cordon everything off I can stay in the guest bedroom, but I’m not leaving my own home.”
“I’m not so sure it’s safe for the two of you to be here all alone,” he disagreed.
“I’ve been fine here this whole time.”
“I’m serious Allie, your husband is dead, your child is missing; what if you’re the next target?”
“I thought you were pursuing me as a suspect?”
Gabriel knew better than to rise to that bait. “Fine, stay then, I was just passing the warning along.” They were done for the moment, at least he was. “I’ll go have a few words with Lexi. You should expect a team to arrive later to do another sweep of the house like I said. If you need anything, just call.” Not really sure why he felt prickly now, it was better to end the interview before he said anything he might regret later. Lexi was waiting in the kitchen, her fingers tapping on the edge of her coffee mug with impatience. “Too much caffeine?”
“Too much curiosity. You can’t drop a bomb on me like that and not expect me to be climbing the walls trying to figure out what happened to Neil.”
“I have a few questions to go over with you if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, I told you he was dead,” a smug smile appeared on her face.
“Yeah I know, listen about that... Where were you on the night Neil disappeared?”
“Seriously?” her brows came up in surprise.
“Seriously.” Gabriel hoped she wouldn’t take offense, but he wasn’t exactly batting a thousand so far.
“I was home I guess.”
“Was anyone else home to corroborate that?”
Lexi paused to think for a moment. “I’m pretty sure Maddie was home too. Tuesday… we watched TV; she has a crush on Michael Weatherly,” she added with a grin. “Paul came home later, about eleven o’clock; I’m not sure where he was before that. I went to bed around eleven-thirty.”
“Alone?”
Her lips curved into another smile. “Alone,” she nodded.
“When did you find out about Neil’s affair with Monica?”
“The next day here, when Allie called me to see if I could get a read on him. I sure wish I could un-see that particular vision.”
Gabriel did his best to keep a straight face but the corner of his mouth twitched into an almost smile before he continued. “You never had any indication before that he was cheating on her?”
“Well… I had my suspicions but I’d never gone looking for it before, no,” she admitted. “Why, is that important?”
“At this stage we don’t know what’s important and what’s not. I’m just gathering information. Speaking of which,” he took a deep breath, “I’ll need to get your prints and Allie’s for elimination on the car.”
“Not because we’re suspects?” Lexi’s tone was mild and he was grateful for that.
“I guess you could look at it that way,” he allowed, “but like I said, we’re just collecting data at this stage.”
“It’s fine, I don’t think I’ve ever been in Neil’s car, I have nothing to hide.”
“I thought you said everyone has something to hide?” Gabriel couldn’t help but throw her own words back in her face. Wasn’t that the reason she didn’t want to touch him? Because she didn’t want to know what he had to hide?
“Okay, I don’t have anything to hide about Neil’s death,” she amended. “How long until you know what it was that killed him?”
“That depends on what kind of a rush job the M.E. can swing. It could take a few hours or a couple of days. Were you aware of any kind of drug habit Neil might have had?”
“Not really, but then again we didn’t spend all that much quality time together. I saw him with a beer in his hand most of the time, but that’s about it. Are you gonna talk to that Monica woman?”
“We’re going to talk to everyone,” he nodded.
“What about Chloe, what happens now that we know Neil doesn’t have her?”
Gabriel realized he’d lost control of the conversation; she was interrogating him again, not the other way around. “Hey, who’s running this investigation?” he scolded her gently.
“Sorry,” Lexi gave a sheepish grin. “I guess I got carried away. I just… I want to help and now I feel like the rug got pulled out from under me. I thought maybe Neil was in an accident or something, you know? I never would have guessed murder.”
“And it still might not be. It could be a drug overdose and whoever he was with got cold feet. We’re looking into every option right now.” Speaking of which, Gabriel needed to wrap it up and get back to the office to go over the preliminary reports and divvy up the upcoming interviews before Cooper got the best picks.
“I’ve got to get back to the station, it’s gonna be a long night. CSU will be coming through here to take another look at the place, they’ll ask for your fingerprints. Are you planning on being here later or should I have them swing by your place?”
“No, I should be here. I think that’s for the best, don’t you?”
Gabriel came around the corner of the counter, fingers stretching out to tug lightly at the bottom of her glove, pulling her closer. “Actually, I think it’s better for the two of you to get out of here and stay somewhere else, but do what you think is best.”
“Don’t tell me you’re worried about me?”
He took it as a good sign that she didn’t sound bothered by the notion. “It’s all part of the job, I’m a full service detective,” Gabriel teased, wishing he had longer to spend with her but after that brief contact he let go.
Lexi followed him to the front door, waiting until he reached it before stopping him with a gloved hand to his arm. “You have to let me touch some of Neil’s clothes.”
“Knock yourself out until the team gets here, they might end up sealing the closet after that.” Though he doubted it. There wasn’t likely to be much new evidence to turn up at the house on Neil’s disappearance, but you never knew.
“No, I mean the clothes he was wearing when he died,” she clarified. “I should be able to pick up who put him in the trunk.”
Her eyes were bright and full of excitement and Gabriel hated to crush her plans, but what she was asking was impossible. “I can’t, they’re going to CSU to be processed.”
“Okay, what about afterwards then?”
Gabriel tried to think what his Captain would say if he knew he was even considering this. “That would be sealed evidence then, kept in the evidence locker.”
A roll of the eyes was given. “Do you want to find the killer or not?”
“You know I could get fired for something like that.” It was a stat
ement, not a question.
“Yep,” she answered breezily and he couldn’t help but smile at her cheer in the face of his career suicide.
“I’ll think about it.”
Chapter Twelve
Before the CSU could arrive, the TV cameras came, all eager to get a sound bite for the nightly news. Allison did a fair job of keeping it together while she described the circumstances of Chloe’s disappearance, but didn’t comment much on Neil’s death; except to say that it was a difficult time. Overall Lexi thought she did well. Lord only knew, if it was her in front of the cameras, like as not she’d sound deranged talking about ghosts of dead children. In fact, it took all of her self restraint to simply shake her head and say that she had nothing to add. It was better that way. Lexi had no interest in being on the news; the fewer people who knew about her particular gift, the better.
By the time the crime scene unit was done with Allison’s house, Lexi was ready for bed, but she hung around, unsure if her sister wanted company or not. She found her sitting in Neil’s study, staring at the computer screen. “Aren’t you going up to bed soon, Allie? You look beat.”
“I’ll be up in a while,” she replied distractedly. “I was contacted by this group that helps find missing children. They want to build a web page for Chloe. I think it sounds like a good idea, what do you think?” Allison sat back to let Lexi get a better view of the screen.
“I think that sounds like a fantastic idea,” Lexi agreed readily, eyes quickly scanning the web page. “What do they need to get it going? Just some pictures?”
Allie nodded, “And they need some background on her kidnapping, a write up on her appearance and personality, anything that might help identify her if someone were to spot her out there.”
“Sounds good, is that what you’re working on?”
“No, I was just looking at some of these pages on other missing kids. It’s so sad… I can’t believe how many children disappear every day. You hear about it on the news in passing, but for every single one of those kids out there is a whole family that’s been absolutely destroyed.” Allison’s voice broke, and she swallowed, turning away from the monitor.
