“Um, I’m a consultant for the police department in Sea City,” I said. “I usually help Lachlan with cases.”
She raised her eyebrows. “So, you work together and live together? Don’t you get sick of each other?”
“Not yet,” Lachlan spoke up.
She pursed her lips.
It was quiet.
The two little girls crowded close, neither speaking, both just staring up at us with their big, curious eyes.
Debra swallowed. “Come on, Andrea and Ayanna. I’ll let you guys watch a video in the den if you want.”
The girls both brightened. They hurried out of the living room excitedly.
“I’ll be back,” said Debra to us, and she followed the girls out of the living room.
Alone, Lachlan and I surveyed each other. Well, this was awkward. All of it, from our interaction with Debra to our interaction with each other. I tried to think of something to say, something that would make Lachlan and I close again, cement our bond and make it so that we could tackle this case together. But, of course, I couldn’t think of anything.
Debra reappeared moments later. She tried to smile at us, but the sentiment didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Sorry about that.”
“Not a problem,” said Lachlan. “We, uh, we have a little one too. He’s only one year old, but, you know, he’s a handful.”
“Oh,” said Debra. “I didn’t realize you… Your father didn’t say.”
“My dad and I don’t talk much,” said Lachlan.
“Right,” she said. She took a deep breath, let it out, and looked everywhere but at Lachlan and me.
It was quiet for several horrible moments. No one looked at each other, no one spoke.
Finally, Debra seemed to pull herself together. “I’m glad you’re here. No one’s looking into Tim’s murder, and I know that the longer that you wait to look for evidence, the colder the trail gets.”
“You’re calling him Tim now.”
“It’s what he wanted,” said Debra. “I used to forget all the time when he was a teenager living under my roof. I’d called him Timmy his whole life. But now that he’s gone… well, somehow it seems important to call him what he wanted to be called.”
Lachlan nodded slowly. “You’re right. So, um, what can you tell me about Tim? How much contact did you have with him before he was… before he, um, passed?”
Her mouth twisted. “You can say killed. I can handle that. I can handle a lot anymore.”
A pause.
“Okay,” said Lachlan.
We were all just standing in the middle of the living room, a few scattered toys at our feet. Lachlan and Debra faced off, and I hung back. The tension in the room was thick and getting thicker.
Debra drew in a shaky breath. “You two want to sit down?” She gestured to the couch.
Lachlan and I sat together at one end.
Debra perched at the other end. “Well, I guess it was… oh, I don’t know, maybe a year ago that he got in touch with me. He called the house. I answered the phone, and I had a collect call from an inmate at Clive R. Sorghum Prison. I was shocked. I’d made it clear I didn’t want to talk to him. His father paid for all of Tim’s defense, supported him in jail, everything. But, you know, Tim was Mickey’s only son, so I’m sure it’s tough for him.” Suddenly, she shook her head, letting out a caustic laugh. “You know, if you would have told me that I was going to be on my third marriage and that all my kids were going to have different fathers and that two of them were going to be gone….” Her lower lip trembled.
Lachlan pressed his lips together. He didn’t say anything.
So, I got up and went to her. As I moved, I realized I was glad Lachlan hadn’t tried to comfort Debra. It probably would have made me feel jealous. I put a hand on her shoulder. “Life happens. None of us in this room have a beautiful past. You shouldn’t blame yourself for any of this.”
She looked up at me, tears in her eyes. “Thanks.” She wiped at her eyes, folded her hands in her lap.
I dropped my hand from her shoulder and stood there for a second, unsure of what to do. Finally, I just went and sat down next to Lachlan again.
Lachlan cleared his throat. “So, the first time you spoke to him was a year ago?”
“That’s right,” she said. “He called me, and he was crying. He was apologizing over and over again. Said he had nightmares about his little sister, and that he hated himself for doing it. He said he didn’t want my forgiveness—that it wouldn’t matter, because he was never going to forgive himself, but that he needed me to know how sorry he was. He said after that phone call, I wouldn’t hear from him again.”
“But you did?”
“Well, I forgave him.” Her eyes were still shiny. “He was my little boy. My very first child. My only boy. I…” Tears spilled out of her eyes. “I had to forgive him, you know. But I had to know why he did it. That’s what I told him. I said that I need to know why he did what he did.”
Lachlan stiffened. His voice was gravelly. “What did he say?”
“He said…” Debra sat up straighter. “He said that he didn’t understand what death really was. He said he never thought the consequences through. He was self-centered and he only focused on himself. He didn’t think about how badly he was going to hurt everyone. He didn’t think about how final it was. He said he was just stupid.”
Lachlan’s jaw tightened.
Debra was still talking. “And, um, that he had stupid friends as well, and that they all thought death was like on video games or something—”
“He blamed video games?” Lachlan growled.
“No,” said Debra. “I think he just… I don’t know, honestly. The real truth, I’m afraid, is that he really doesn’t quite know why he did it. I think he thought about it for a long time, kind of in an abstract way, the way you do when you’re a frustrated adolescent? I think it grew into a plan, and I think that he got caught up in the forward motion of how detailed his plan was. Once he knew all the ins and outs of how he would do it, and there was nothing left to plan, well…”
“He had to do it,” muttered Lachlan. “There was nowhere else to go.”
Debra nodded.
“Well, that’s…” Lachlan shook his head. “That’s no excuse.”
“No, it’s not,” she said. “And I know you wouldn’t forgive him—”
“I don’t blame you for being there for your own kid, Debra.” Lachlan’s words were reassuring, but his tone was snappish.
She drew back, looking stung.
“Um,” I said, wanting to diffuse whatever was between them. “So, you were speaking to him for a year or so?”
“Yes,” said Debra. “Always over the phone. And he would call me. It wasn’t a regular thing. Maybe once or twice a month, I guess. I kept talking about going to see him, but I never did make it there.” She shut her eyes, and I thought she might cry again. “I wish I would have gotten to see him one last time.”
“You couldn’t have known,” I said softly.
“No,” she said. “And I was torn about going to see him. It was one thing to talk to him on the phone. But to go down there and visit him? I felt like it might be a betrayal to my little Hallie, and I couldn’t…” She shrugged. “Besides, Steve didn’t think I should see him.”
“No?” said Lachlan, whose face had gotten pinched at the mention of Steve.
“He said it would only upset me. I guess maybe he helped me talk myself out of going down there.”
“Well,” said Lachlan, his tone sarcastic, “how helpful of him. It’s really great that he’s there for you. Glad you two are happy.”
She drew back, surprised at his reaction.
Lachlan studied his hands.
I was a little taken aback by his rancor too. He really hadn’t dealt with any of this, had he?
“Sorry,” Lachlan said. He blew out a breath. “Listen, maybe we should just stick to the facts. And I promise that I’ll, um, be more professional. So, when you
spoke to Timmy—Tim—did he ever indicate to you that there was anyone he was afraid—”
The door opened.
Lachlan and Debra both stood up from the couch, as if they were two teenagers who’d been caught doing something inappropriate.
I got up slowly too.
The person at the door was a man in a suit. He had a fit, trim body and a bald head, but on closer inspection, I could see that it was only bald on top, and that he’d shaved the rest of his reddish hair. He had a serious face with a straight nose. When he saw Lachlan, his nostrils flared.
Lachlan’s jaw clenched. “Steve.”
Steve turned to Debra. “You said he hung up on you.”
“He called back,” said Debra.
“When?”
“A few days ago,” she said.
“And you didn’t tell me?” Steve’s tone was mild, but his body was tense and his face was getting red.
“I…” She folded her arms over her chest. “You know that he’s the best. Everyone said so.”
Steve’s face got even redder. “Everyone said we were the best.” He wasn’t looking at Lachlan. “We were a team.”
Lachlan snorted. “Right. Because you were such a team player.”
Steve glanced at him, but then he went right back to Debra. “You get him out of here. I don’t want him in my house.”
Lachlan let out a disbelieving laugh. “You don’t have the right to be self-righteous with me.”
Steve’s face twitched, but he didn’t look at Lachlan. He pointed at Debra. “Get him out of here.” He stalked out of the room.
We all watched him go.
Wow, this was going really well. I was so glad we’d packed up, taken a long flight from Maryland, and gotten kicked out of a hotel for this.
“And those dragons too!” Steve called from the depths of the house.
“Dragons?” said Debra.
“Don’t worry about that,” said Lachlan. “They’re completely under control, I promise you.”
Her eyebrows shot up. She sighed, shaking her head. “I guess you should go.”
“I told you that the department was not going to welcome me with open arms,” said Lachlan.
“That’s just Steve,” she said. “He’s… sensitive when it comes to you.”
“Oh, poor him,” said Lachlan.
“You two used to be best friends—”
“We were partners,” said Lachlan. “He was dumb and reckless, and he never thought the rules applied to him, and I tolerated him.”
She pressed her lips together.
It was quiet.
Lachlan rolled his eyes. He squared his shoulders and then started for the door.
I followed him, feeling a little confused. Certainly, we should say goodbye or make some attempt at being polite.
Lachlan yanked the door open without a word.
“The guards at the jail are expecting you,” Debra called after us. “I didn’t tell Steve you were coming, but I did tell the warden at the prison, and he said it’s fine for you to stop by anytime.”
* * *
“Zachary Jenkins,” said the prison guard as he pumped my hand enthusiastically. He was standing in the doorway to his office. It was a small office, containing only a desk laden with stacks of paper and two folding metal chairs in front of it. There was no window. We’d been directed here by the warden, who said that Zach Jenkins would help us out with anything we needed. He had the same faint drawl that Lachlan had. “You can call me Zach. I work here, and I also work part time at the police department in town.”
“Penny Caspian,” I said. “I’m, um, a consultant with the department in Maryland. I work with Lachlan.”
Zach offered his hand to Lachlan, who took it. Zach shook his hand with gusto. “And you must be Lachlan Flint. Good to meet you, man.”
“Two jobs, huh?” said Lachlan. “Here and down at the station?”
“Yeah, well, gotta pay the bills,” said Zach. “ You know, you’re kind of a legend in these parts.”
Lachlan raised his eyebrows.
“Did you really arrange it so that every member of the Bryant clan got arrested on the same day?” said Zach.
“I did,” said Lachlan. “But that was basically an abject failure. I mean, none of the charges stuck, and they all went free.”
“You drove ‘em out of Texas, man,” Zach said, grinning. “Nobody’s seen hide nor hair of them in years.”
I wished we could say the same thing, but we’d had our own entanglements with the Bryant clan. Unfortunately. But I didn’t want to think about that, so I put it from my head.
“They’re still very active in other parts of the country,” said Lachlan. “I really didn’t do anything to help that situation.”
Zach laughed. “And modest to boot.” He slapped a hand on Lachlan’s shoulder. “So, I hear you want to poke your nose around in the Tim Abbott case?”
“Well, we’re not trying to step on anyone’s toes,” said Lachlan. “We don’t want to get in the way of the official investigation.”
Zach snorted. “What official investigation, man? They got nothing, and they know it. You know how it is down there. They like their open-and-shut cases. They don’t have time to send men up here and try to figure out what happened to a convicted killer. I think most of them figure good riddance to bad garbage, you know?”
Lachlan nodded. “Right, but the fact that he was locked in his cell, you’d think that would pique some interest.”
“Just makes people frustrated,” said Zach. “I mean, we don’t have Sherlock Holmes on the payroll.” He chortled.
Inwardly, I wasn’t sure about this guy. He seemed a little oily, almost too nice. I didn’t know if I liked him exactly. But he was a prison guard, wasn’t he? There was a reason that calling someone a prison guard was an insult.
“So, anyway,” said Zach, “I’m all yours, guys. Anything you need, anyone you want to talk to, anything you want to see, warden authorized me to help you out.”
“You’re all right being our errand boy?” I said in a quiet voice.
He turned to me, and his smiled faltered a little. “I don’t know if I see it that way, ma’am. To be honest, it gets me away from paperwork or working in the yard with the inmates. I can stand the break, let me tell you. This job can wear on a man. I don’t know what’s worse, the guys you hate but have to be fair and balanced with, or the guys you like but can’t do anything for.”
I felt sorry for my earlier assessment. Maybe I hadn’t really ever thought of things from the perspective of a prison guard. Now that I did, I could see how it would be a really tough job.
When Wyatt would decide that he wanted to watch more TV, even though TV time was over, I sometimes got really frustrated with his fussing. The best thing to do was to be loving and calm and find some way to distract him. But sometimes I was tired and annoyed, and I would get angry with him. Enforcing rules was not fun. And that was with my little toddler who I loved more than life itself.
I couldn’t imagine how much worse it was with a group of grown men, many of whom were not even nice people. Yeah, I could see how that could wear on a person for sure.
“I can definitely see that,” said Lachlan, smiling at Zach. “So, uh, why don’t you walk us through what happened?”
“With Tim?” said Zach.
“Yeah,” said Lachlan. “Who found him?”
“I did,” said Zach. “It was early morning, and I opened his cell for breakfast. In this prison, everyone has a private cell. We’re lucky that overcrowding hasn’t caused us to have to make inmates double up. Here in Texas, people are pretty good about approving money for new prisons. Plus, we don’t keep the baddies around for too long, if you know what I mean.” He drew his finger across his throat, as if cutting off a head.
And I felt a stab of dislike for him again. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the death penalty for murderers who were without-a-shadow-of-a-doubt guilty, but I didn’t think anyone should
be glib about killing someone, no matter how bad of a person they were.
Lachlan just ignored the commentary. “So, you opened up the cells, how’s that work? You flip a switch and everyone comes out?”
“Oh, in a normal cell block, it would be like that, but Tim had been sequestered in solitary.”
“For punishment?” said Lachlan.
“For his safety,” said Zach.
“So, there had been threats against him?”
Zach nodded. “Well, yeah. The guy killed a kid. No one likes people who kill little girls, okay? Not even other murderers.”
“I see.” Lachlan nodded slowly. “So, a lot of threats.”
Zach shrugged. “Not a lot of overt threats, but a general feeling that we should be careful with him. He got transferred here from a juvenile facility when he turned eighteen. He had been tried as an adult, but he was allowed to start his sentence out in juvie. Anyway, ever since he’s been here, he’s been kept away from the general population for the most part. He would take exercise in the yard with the guys from the C wing, and he ate meals with them as well.”
“So, when you were getting him from his cell, it was to take him to breakfast with the other inmates?”
“That’s right,” said Zach. “Every morning, I’d escort him to the mess hall.”
“So, what happened that morning?”
“Well,” said Zach, “he didn’t come to the door when called. I looked in through the window and saw him lying on the bed. He didn’t look good. His color was bad. I opened the cell, and I went over to the bed and check for a pulse, and I didn’t find one.”
Lachlan stroked his chin. “And no one had access to the cell?”
“The cell is in a corner, not in a cell block. It’s isolated.”
“And it was locked when you opened the door?”
“Yeah,” said Zach. “Yeah, I unlocked the door.”
“So…” Lachlan tapped his chin. “How could someone get in?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” said Zach. “That’s what no one knows.”
Lachlan looked at his shoes, thinking. “Besides the general threat against him, was there anyone who might have had a specific reason to kill him?”
“Well, I’ll tell you what I thought originally,” said Zach. “Before they found out about the pillow and the struggle, I thought it was an overdose. We do have a drug smuggling problem in this prison, and we’re fighting all the time trying to find the kind of proof we need to stop the major players. We know who they are, but they cover their tracks too well. Anyway, I thought it was an accident. I thought maybe Tim had just taken too many drugs. He could have been purchasing them during his time in the yard or during meals, but we have no proof of that either way. After we found out it was murder, though, I thought maybe it was a message.”
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