“Not yet.”
Alyssa felt her skin crawl as Norman’s voice entered the room.
“But today we start.”
* * *
“FOUND IT! MY GOD, I finally found it.”
Caleb looked up from his computer as Captain Jones ran into the bull pen. He didn’t slow as he made his way through to the conference room where the sheriff had made the base of operations since the station had gone into lockdown three hours beforehand. Just thinking about the time that had gone by and they still didn’t have a lead on Norman or Alyssa made Caleb’s stomach twist.
But he was starting to like the enthusiasm in the captain’s voice.
“What did you find?” the sheriff was already asking by the time he made it into the room. While Caleb’s shoulder had been popped back into place, the explosions had covered his body in cuts, burns and pain. All minor compared to what could have been. Still, he’d spent a useless amount of time trying to fend off the advice of the EMTs. He’d go get seen about after he found Alyssa. And only then.
“The briefcase,” Jones exclaimed. “And damn if it wasn’t hard to track down. But, thanks to the current manager of the bank and the shop across from it, I found the sucker.”
He bent over the table to an open laptop. His fingers danced across the keyboard and mouse until he was satisfied. Caleb waited. It was a hard feat.
“Norman goes back to pick it up three weeks after the robbery.” He stepped back so they could crowd around the laptop’s screen. It was a picture of Norman holding the case they’d seen him enter the bank with earlier. “No one paid him much mind, since no one from the original robbery was actually there that day. Which means, not only did he hide the briefcase before the robbery, he waited until he knew he could go back and get it without being recognized.”
“Which means whatever was in that briefcase was extremely important to him,” Caleb concluded.
Jones nodded. He held up his index finger.
“But that’s not the exciting part,” he said. “All the witnesses inside the bank during the robbery told authorities that Dupree and Anna disappeared into the back to go to the vault to fill their bags with money. Even the manager at the time, Davis Palmer, corroborated that story. However, after we made the discovery about the briefcase, I decided to give Davis a call to just go over everything one more time.” He smiled. The gesture wasn’t born of happiness but excitement. He’d found something. Something important. “While Anna shoveled money into her bag, she ordered Davis to get on his hands and knees and face the corner. He assumed Dupree was always there in the vault with them because a few minutes later he walked Davis and Anna out.”
Jones held his finger up again to tell the room to hold on. He moved quickly to the whiteboard and wiped a space clear. He started to draw as he spoke.
“Two days after the robbery the bank owner took stock of all the damage done, making a list to turn over to CSU to add to their findings as well as a copy for insurance.”
Caleb took a step closer as the man’s drawing began to look like rough floor plans. The bank’s floor plan, to be more precise.
“Two of those items included a busted lock on one door and another door off its hinges.” Jones circled two spots on the drawing. According to the floor plan, those doors were separated by a hallway that ran parallel to what Caleb assumed was the vault.
“The owner admitted to the head of CSU that he’d already been having issues with one of the doors being loose.” Jones pointed to the one closest to him. “So it wasn’t flagged as something suspicious. Just as the busted lock wasn’t either, since they’d also had some problems with it sticking before. Plus, it was assumed that Dupree never left the vault until now. The owner and CSU had bigger fish to fry and chalked it up to a coincidence or just moved past it altogether.”
Captain Jones tapped the vault, moved his marker to the hallway next to it and moved past another hallway’s intersection all the way until he made it to the circle he’d drawn for the busted lock.
“This leads into the safe-deposit room,” he said. Before anyone could comment, he ran the marker back down the hallway to the intercepting one. He tapped the second dot he’d drawn for the door off its hinges. “And this is the employees’-only entrance next to the bathrooms and lobby. It’s usually always locked.”
The captain capped his marker.
Caleb’s mind was racing.
“The robbery was just a distraction,” he said, already going through the implications in his head. “Dupree slips out while Anna keeps the manager occupied. There’s no one to stop him from going to the safe-deposit boxes, so he gets something out of one of them and goes into the bathroom, where he stashes whatever it was into the hidden briefcase. He gets caught, but Norman has no issues coming back a few weeks later and getting it.”
“He could easily have hidden it behind a ceiling tile,” the captain added. “No one would have looked up there unless there was a reason to. And there’s already no cameras in front of the bathrooms.”
“But what about the cameras outside the safe-deposit room or in the hallways?” the sheriff asked. “And, for that matter, what about the two keys needed to open one of those boxes?”
The captain didn’t look as excited as he once had.
“The cameras covering both had been down a week and a half,” he answered. “The owner had called for a technician, but he never showed up. After the robbery he called a different company and they came out to fix it. Again, everyone thought these were separate issues.”
“But together they’re making a brand-new picture of what happened,” Caleb finished. “The sheriff’s right, though. Let’s say Dupree had one of the keys to get into the box. He still needs the manager’s—” The captain’s expression stopped Caleb’s thoughts. “Let me guess, a set of his keys went missing and no one thought to add that into any kind of report.”
Captain Jones nodded.
“Davis admitted he thought he lost his keys during his attempt to escape when the shooting started.” Jones’s expression softened a fraction. “Not that I give in to rumors around here, but Cassie heard that Davis had been sweet on Larissa Colt. He was with her when she died.”
They all silenced.
If Caleb had been in the bank manager’s position, holding on to Alyssa while she... Well, he also wouldn’t think twice about lost keys. Especially when they didn’t appear to have any bearing for what happened.
“Okay,” Caleb said, breaking the silence. “If all this is true, then we know why the robbery happened but not what was taken. Is there any way to find out which box he might have opened?”
Sheriff Reed’s expression scrunched in thought. Then he was jumping up out of his chair. “I have an idea.”
Caleb listened to the plan with optimism as the sheriff explained it to a roomful of deputies before disappearing altogether. That feeling, however, started to dwindle as another half hour went by. By the time it turned into an hour, he was ready to throw in the towel and start to search all of Riker County inch by inch until he found Alyssa.
But then they finally got something they’d been lacking in the last week.
A good lead.
“We have a caller who claims a file of his is missing from his safe-deposit box,” a deputy named Patty said, rushing into the conference room. Caleb jumped up, body stringing up with an adrenaline boost. The sheriff was on her heels.
“Dean Cranston.”
No sooner had he read the name out loud than Reed’s expression darkened.
“Who’s Dean Cranston?” Caleb asked, annoyed he was new to town. “And what’s missing?”
“Dean Cranston owns a processing plant on the outskirts of town,” Cassie answered. The sheriff cursed beneath his breath. “He isn’t the most liked man in Riker County.”
“Why?�
�� Caleb once again was in the dark. He didn’t like it one bit.
“He inherited the plant when his father passed away a few years ago and decided to make a few changes the county didn’t agree with,” Patty answered.
“And by changes she means he started outsourcing almost everything he could to cut costs,” the sheriff said, clearly angry. “He laid off more than three hundred people and then dumped the extra savings into building a fancy hotel in the city of Kipsy. He’s always been in love with his own name and thinks he’s some kind of celebrity when really most people just despise him for the greedy man he is. His layoffs forced a lot of longtime residents to move out of the county just to find a job. It ruined a lot of families. It wasn’t pretty.”
“So this guy is scum,” Caleb said. “But what is his connection to Norman and—” He stopped himself and changed gears. A hunch began to yell so loudly he couldn’t help blurting it out. “What if Norman was one of those families? What if he was laid off?”
“He said he was out for revenge,” the sheriff said, eyes widening. They were finally getting some traction.
“What better target is there than a scumbag employer who took away your livelihood?” Caleb added. The sheriff snapped his fingers.
“But what did he take from the safe-deposit box?” Cassie asked Patty.
The deputy’s lips had stretched into a grim line.
“Detailed blueprints to the Cranston Hotel in Kipsy,” she said. “And Cranston’s secretary relayed this information to me because Cranston was getting ready for a party being thrown tonight in his honor...at the Cranston.”
The sheriff and Caleb shared a look.
“It’s a lot easier to destroy a building if you know just where to put the bombs,” Caleb pointed out.
“And that’s one hell of a way to get revenge.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The sunset was beautiful, all things considered.
Alyssa watched through the window as violet, red and orange faded into darkness with a weird sense of calm. Or shock. She didn’t care which. All she knew was that she was stranded in a place where fear and anger and anguish had become a constant. And, in that way, they had canceled each other out.
Now she was waiting for an opening.
One she hadn’t been able to get, since Norman hadn’t left her side in hours. She’d tried to talk to him, to understand what was going on, but he’d told her on repeat to wait for the sunset. She’d contemplated running but knew Dupree was near. She could hear his heavy steps echoing.
“Did you enjoy it?” Norman asked once they were staring at darkness through the window. It made her jump. When she didn’t answer he continued, unperturbed. “When I built this house, that’s what made me choose this room as my favorite. Sure, all the other views are nice, but there’s something about this spot that makes it feel magical.” He let out a long sigh. His tone changed. “This was supposed to be my castle. I was going to be the king.”
He reached over and, as if her hands weren’t cuffed behind her, patted the top of the armrest.
“I’m glad you stayed,” he said, stronger. “It would have been a shame had you left too. I might be forgiving, but I’m not that forgiving.”
Alyssa’s emotions were starting to pick up traction again, a slimy feeling along with them. It was like Norman was and wasn’t there. Like he was and also wasn’t talking to her. She wondered if she could use his struggle with reality to her advantage.
“Who else left?” she asked, careful to keep a soothing tone. Even if she wanted nothing more than to cause his pain. “Norman?”
He lazily moved his gaze to hers.
“She said if I couldn’t have a castle, then I couldn’t be a king. And she deserved more than someone like me.”
His words were low and hollowing out. Alyssa’s muscles started to tense. Readying. To run or fight, she didn’t know.
“And why could you not have a castle?” she asked, matching his volume. “Isn’t that where we are right now?”
A faint smile crossed his lips.
Then it twisted.
“These are just walls,” he snarled, getting to his feet. “They don’t mean anything, Barbara!” Norman’s eyes were crazed when they met hers. Alyssa didn’t move an inch. He rounded the chairs and stopped in front of her, grabbing the armrests. Who was Barbara? “We could have been happy, but you left me! Why?”
Alyssa yelled out in surprise as Norman lunged at the chair. Together she flipped over with it. Pain lit up her back as it connected with the hardwood.
“It wasn’t my fault he took it all away from us,” Norman roared, still rooted in his own world. He turned around and punched the window. Not hard enough to shatter it, but Alyssa didn’t miss the blood that blossomed across his knuckles. He paid it no mind. “If you’d just given me some time...”
He sighed and looked down at her. “But we can be happy here.”
Norman lowered himself into a crouch.
To her surprise, he gave her a smile. It was off, but Alyssa was starting to believe that Norman had finally reached a point of constant unraveling. She just hoped she wasn’t with him when he finally went over the edge. He reached out and brushed his knuckles along her cheek. His blood was wet against her skin. She fought the urge to shudder.
“We’ll be happy here now that you’re mine and not some lowly deputy’s. You’ll see.”
In that moment all Alyssa saw was red.
“I am not yours,” she said, teeth bared. “I am not his. I. Am. Mine.”
Alyssa swung her left hip around and up, her leg with it. The kick caught Norman off guard. He didn’t have time to block as her shoe connected with the side of his head. He let out a strangled yell of pain and fell backward. Alyssa knew an opening when she saw one.
She rolled off the chair and managed to get into a sitting position. From there she got to her feet. The movement was hampered by her cuffed hands, but she wasn’t about to let that slow her down. Not wanting to chance Norman getting the upper hand again, Alyssa ran straight for the open door. She paused for a second, trying to listen for a clue as to where Dupree was, but Norman’s yell of pain changed to one filled with cursing. She decided she was just going to have to chance it.
Unimaginably glad she’d worn good shoes, Alyssa tore down the hallway toward the stairs. Halfway down them, though, a gunshot over her head made her nearly trip.
“What a pain in the ass,” Dupree yelled behind her.
Alyssa screamed as another shot sounded. By the time she hit the first floor, her heart was hammering in her chest.
Run, her mind yelled. Run!
She wanted to go down the only familiar path she knew of the house, but it was too long and open for her liking. Instead Alyssa ran through the kitchen and toward the back door.
“Don’t shoot her!”
Norman’s voice carried through the house just as Alyssa made it to a set of French doors. The seconds it took her to turn around and grab the knob with her bound hands were excruciating.
“I’m done playing these games,” Dupree yelled back. He was too close for her comfort. “If you don’t want me to kill her, then stop me.”
Alyssa got the door open and ran outside. She was on the deck that overlooked the sloping yard and the pool. It reminded her of Gabby’s giant deck in Colorado. Which gave her the hope that maybe it was built the same way with an access door at its front used for storage.
Norman and Dupree were still yelling behind her.
She didn’t waste any more time.
Trying to run as fast and quietly as she could, Alyssa took the side stairs that ran alongside the deck until she was on a concrete patio that surrounded the pool.
“No,” she breathed, rounding the front part of the deck. There was no door. Just stained w
ood and a life preserver placed in the middle.
“You should have hidden,” Dupree yelled into the night air, tearing her own thoughts from her mind. “There’s nowhere to do that out here.”
Alyssa froze up as footsteps thundered toward her.
“You are not worth this effort.” Dupree’s face swam into view as he peered over the deck and down at her. He was angry, very much the man she’d seen before he’d shot her in the bank. He lowered his gun. “And I have to say, I’m going to really enjoy repeating history.”
The shot exploded through the quiet of the night.
Alyssa braced herself for the end.
But it didn’t come. At least, not for her.
Dupree dropped his gun and tipped forward. His weight carried him over the railing so fast that Alyssa hurried backward to get out of the way.
Expecting to find solid ground, she yelled in surprise when she started to fall.
Right into the pool.
Cold water rushed over her as the tarp wrapped around her body. Panic exploded in Alyssa’s chest. She tried to move upward, but with her hands behind her back, she floundered. She kicked out viciously, but the tarp countered every move she made to try to make it back to the surface. In the movement her glasses fell off her face.
The already dark world blurred.
A muffled shot sounded overhead, but she didn’t have the focus to wonder about it. Not while her lungs were starting to burn.
She was suffocating.
Something hit the water next to her. The chlorine burned her eyes as she tried to focus on what it was, but the tarp created a barrier she couldn’t see past.
But then, out of that darkness, a hand found her side. Then another.
She stilled as the tarp was pulled away, lungs on fire.
Then she was being pushed to the surface.
“Breathe,” a man commanded at her side as soon as she began to cough and sputter. He repeated his order while moving them to the shallow end of the pool. Alyssa did as she was told, turning her gaze to the blur next to her.
But he was too close to be a blur.
The Deputy's Witness Page 18
