by Robin Caroll
She shrugged and tilted back in her chair. “If someone could delete images off the video, don’t you think it isn’t too far-fetched that someone could’ve manipulated the time stamp of the video too? And maybe that’s what it is, not just deleted screen images, but time stamp altering as well.”
“I think you’re reaching.”
“And I think you’re letting the wool be pulled over your eyes because he’s your friend. Besides, he’s used to playing mind games. He’s smart, right? Like I said, he could’ve gotten that tampered energy drink into her room at various times we haven’t even considered yet. Remember, he helped set everything up on Wednesday morning. So the timing of the missing video minutes doesn’t prove his innocence.”
She just wasn’t going to give up.
“It sure isn’t going to prove his guilt though. Not by a long shot.” Brandon sat on the edge of her desk and looked down at her. “I don’t get what your beef is with him, Dani. You’ve had him in the crosshairs since we got the case. I thought maybe it was because he never called your sister back after their date, but your attitude is beyond that…. I don’t know. It’s not like you. This feels like it’s more personal. What’s going on?”
A hardness he’d never seen in her before settled over her face. “I’m doing my job, that’s all. I’m sorry if you don’t agree with my gut instincts, but you aren’t the only one allowed to have them in this department, you know. I know you want him to be innocent. Me? I don’t really care. I just want to have justice for Anna Belle, no matter who’s guilty. I get that many people didn’t like her because they thought she was ruthless to rise up the ladder in her business, but so what? That doesn’t mean she deserved to die.”
She stood suddenly, almost ramming her chair into his shin. “If a man had acted the exact same way as she did, probably no one would think twice. But because she was a woman, and beautiful, she’s being ostracized.”
Whoa, where was this all coming from? He pushed off the edge of her desk and straightened, holding his hands up in mock surrender. “Wait a minute, that’s not what I’m saying at all.”
“Aren’t you? You’re acting like her having an abortion without telling him was like the most unforgivable thing ever, but you know what? It was her body and her decision. It was her legal right to make that decision.”
Brandon took a step backward, ramming into the filing cabinet. “Dani, you were the one pushing him about the abortion during the interview, not me.”
“Only because that was an interrogation. I was doing my job, Brandon. Removing my personal feelings from the issue. Did I think she was awful for having an abortion? Nope. Do I think she should’ve told him? No, because I think their marriage had already deteriorated at that time, and if I had been her, I wouldn’t have wanted to have a baby that would forever tie me to him.” She snatched up the file and her notebook and clutched them to her chest.
Brandon’s jaw went slack.
“See, you’re a little shocked. I’m sorry if I’ve offended your sensibilities. I don’t think Anna Belle was this horrible person and Grayson this sad victim. She had an affair. Who’s to say that he didn’t neglect her or whatever? We don’t know what happened in their marriage. We only have his statements, not hers.”
“Nobody’s saying Grayson is a victim.”
“Oh, it’s on your face every time you mention Tim Dubois. Maybe she fell in love with Tim. People do that all the time, you know, fall in love with someone while they’re married to someone else. It happens. That’s a reason for divorce. And yes, Anna Belle divorced Grayson, how sad for him.”
She grimaced. “He’s a grown man. He can deal with some disappointment. What is it everyone always tells a woman? Oh, right. Pull on your big-girl panties. Well, Grayson can pull on his Batman undies for all I care. I don’t see him as a victim in any aspect. I see him as a man who was humiliated and angry and hurt, and all three of those emotions can make people do the unthinkable.”
Danielle slammed her chair back under her desk. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to update the commander before we head over to the Darkwater Inn to talk with Monique Fredericks.”
Brandon could only stare at her retreating back. What in the world was all that? He’d never seen his partner so riled up like this. Over what? Nothing really. They’d debated other suspects before, but nothing like this. He couldn’t figure out if it was Grayson she had a thing against or, considering the arguments she’d made just a few minutes ago, she felt more like a defender of Anna Belle’s person.
He slumped into his desk. Anna Belle Thibodeaux needed many things, but he’d never considered a defender of her methods and personality to be one of them. She’d seemed quite capable of taking care of that herself, certainly where her career was concerned.
Anna Belle’s affair with Tim and her abortion seemed to be hot spots for his partner, and he had no idea why. Had she been involved with a married man before? Had an abortion? So many things he really didn’t know about Danielle Witz, even though they’d been partners for three years. He knew she wasn’t involved with anyone at the moment, as the guy she’d been seeing for over a year had called it off several months ago, but she was thirty-eight, so maybe she felt like she was getting old and past her prime.
The phone on his desk demanded his attention. “Detective Gibbons.”
“Hey, Brandon, it’s Kara.”
Maybe there’d be some good news on the case. “Whatcha got for me?” He lifted his pen and pulled up a piece of scrap paper.
“No prints recovered on the paper or rock; however, there was a bit of DNA on the paper.”
“And?” He crossed his fingers there’d been a match, even though it was really fast to have a result.
“The sample was too poor quality to run the sequence.”
His hopes smashed to the ground. “Well, thanks for—”
“Wait, all is not lost.”
He held his breath.
“While I can’t run a full sequence, I can tell you one big determination from the sample.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s DNA from a woman.”
TWENTY
Grayson had told Pam and Colton he’d be in this afternoon before Pam had to go give a statement at the police station at three, but sitting in his truck, staring at the building, he wasn’t sure it was such a good idea. The last thing he felt like doing right now was creating a game, talking about a game, or analyzing anything.
The wind kicked litter across the parking lot. Little tumbleweeds skipping along the asphalt looking out of place in the Big Easy.
He couldn’t avoid the office forever. There’d be whispers, he knew. He had prepared for them as carefully as he had his interview with the police, and look how that had turned out.
Tap! Tap!
Grayson almost jumped at the knock against the passenger window. Pam smiled. He pressed the button to unlock the door. “What’re you doing out here?” he asked as soon as she opened the door and hopped into the cab.
“Going to lunch, but then I saw your truck. How’d your interview go?”
He gripped the bottom of the steering wheel. “About like I thought. Danielle Witz would have the lynch mob after me about now if it wasn’t for Brandon.”
“I’m not gonna lie—that woman rubs me wrong.”
Grayson grinned. “Hadn’t noticed.”
Pam shoved him. “I’m more than a little nervous about going in myself.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter that nobody did anything wrong. That woman twists it and makes it sound like you’re Jack the Ripper and I’m your assistant.”
“I guess she’s just doing her job.”
“Doing her job would be finding out who really killed Anna Belle, not looking for reasons to blame you.”
He smiled. There was never any doubt as to what Pam was thinking, because she usually let it out. Often bluntly.
“In other news, I’m not having a lot of luck on that coat of arms.”
“Really?” He’d hoped something would connect with that. “I guess it doesn’t matter, really. No telling how long it was in the hedges.”
Pam shook her head. “I’m not an expert, but I can almost guarantee it wasn’t long. There’s no sign of rust or corrosion on it, no tarnishing. With the rains we had over the last couple of weeks and all the flooding, I’m pretty certain it would’ve been washed out. I’m thinking it’s recent. Like night-your-tires-were-slashed recent.”
As usual, he couldn’t argue with her logic. “But in the bushes? I doubt anyone would get close enough to drop a pendant like that.”
“It’s a charm from a charm bracelet.”
“Okay, but I still don’t think someone would get that close for fear of being caught. I mean, obviously I was home since they knew my truck was there.”
“Watch this.” Pam made a motion like throwing a baseball. “If someone was throwing an egg, or say a rock through a window, this is how they would move, right?”
He nodded.
“If I’m wearing a charm bracelet and a charm is loose that I don’t know about, and the connector ring turns with me doing this”—she threw invisible balls again—“then the charm could have followed the trajectory of my arm and whatever I was throwing.”
“Good point. So you think whoever threw the rock through my window was wearing a charm bracelet.” He tapped the steering wheel. “That would mean it was a woman.”
“Or she was throwing eggs just before the guy she was with threw the rock through your window.”
“Great, so now there are two people mad at me.”
She laughed. “I’m just saying a woman, or women, or a woman and a man.” She pulled down the sun visor and opened the mirror, running her finger along the edge of her lipstick. “Maybe a man and woman like Tim and Emmi Dubois.”
“Back to them, are you?”
“I’m just saying. We already know Emmi knew secrets about Anna Belle and used them to torment her. Or maybe blackmail her.” Pam snapped the mirror shut and popped the visor back in place. “Ooh, I never thought about that. What if Emmi was blackmailing Anna Belle? What if she was threatening to tell Tim and/or you about the abortion if Anna Belle didn’t pay her?”
Blackmail—interesting concept.
“I mean, we know Anna Belle had recently really been coming after you about the divorce settlement. Maybe that was because she was being blackmailed.”
Maybe… “But what would it matter if Tim or I knew? Nothing we could do about it after the fact.” Grayson knew that all too well. He’d spent many nights wondering if he’d missed the signs, just like Danielle had grilled him about.
Pam shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe she was ashamed. There was a reason she didn’t tell you, even after the divorce. Maybe she thought Tim would fire her if he knew. I don’t know.”
It wasn’t too far out in left field. No more than the police trying to make everything fit him being the guilty party.
“If that’s true, then why would Emmi and Tim throw a rock with a message through my window and slash my tires?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers. I just thought of the blackmail possibility.”
Grayson chuckled. Pam was an original, and not just with her loud hair and makeup and clothes choices. He was lucky to have her as his friend.
“I’m glad you can laugh, buddy. This is your life we’re talking about here.”
“I know, but if I don’t laugh, I might go insane.”
“Anyway, back to the coat of arms on the charm. I haven’t found out anything. I can’t even really tell what kind of fish it is. I thought maybe a marlin or a tuna, but that doesn’t match any graphic I’ve seen. Not having a motto doesn’t make it any easier.”
“Motto?”
She nodded. “A coat of arms is actually a heraldic design on a shield. It contains four elements: the shield it sits on, the supporters, which are on either side of the shield, the crest itself, and the motto on a scroll thing on the bottom.”
“The charm has no motto?”
“No motto, no supports, nor the crest. All I have is the design on the shield.”
“I’m guessing that makes it harder, right?” Less design available, less available to look up.
“To say the least.” She smiled. “But don’t worry. I took a picture of it and sent it to some sources I have to see if they can recognize the fish or anchor. Maybe it’ll lead to something.”
“Thanks, Pam.”
“Of course.”
Rare emotions filled his chest. “Not just for this, but for everything.”
In a rarer still show of affection, she leaned over and hugged him, squeezing him, then immediately retreated back to the passenger’s side. “You’re going to get through this. It’ll be tough, but you got this.”
He smiled and nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
“Well, I’m going to grab a taco. You want anything?”
“No, thanks.” He stared at the office. “Guess I’d better get inside.”
“Hey.” She grabbed his arm. “It’s okay. Everyone in there is on your side. Vic has asked me a thousand times how you’re doing, and Colton has come into the office like every thirty minutes or so to see if you’re there yet.”
So maybe the whispering wouldn’t be so bad after all.
No time like the present to find out. “Go get your taco. I’m going to work.”
After Pam scooted into her own car, Grayson locked his truck and headed into the office. He felt out of place but couldn’t explain why. Like a stranger walking into someone else’s life. He shouldn’t feel out of place. He and Colton had started Game’s On You together about three years ago. He could still remember Colton calling from out of the blue and asking him to meet for dinner. Grayson had been curious, so he and Anna Belle had met.
The proposal Colton had presented was simple. At the time, escape rooms were storming the market and were huge hits with individuals, families, and groups, but they were limited. All were the same, and once the room had been played, the players were done with it whether they successfully escaped or not. What Colton proposed was to take the experience and enhance it, based on his and Grayson’s degrees and experience. Custom design not just an escape room, although that would always be a part of the game, but really give the players a one-of-a-kind experience. They would market it to the upper-end crowds and businesses. Team building in organizations and groups.
When Grayson had hesitated, Anna Belle had pushed. She agreed with the potential that Colton had projected. She was, after all, in the PR world and could see how such a service could be marketed successfully. When Colton laid out his business prospective, Anna Belle jumped on board. Colton had the resources to provide the start-up capital. Grayson had balked at using Colton’s personal money, but he said he’d won it in Vegas and wanted to invest. That still hadn’t swayed Grayson, so the two of them each put in a base amount and started smaller than initially projected, but the business had taken off.
Taken off very well. In fact, they’d raised their fees each year yet continued to gain new clients and increase their income. Just when Grayson was getting back in the “doctor income” bracket Anna Belle had so missed, they divorced.
Grayson took a deep breath and opened the front door. Maybe once he was inside, he wouldn’t feel so discombobulated.
Jackie Pitre, receptionist, was on her feet and around her desk before the front door even shut behind him. The older woman, short as she was, pulled him into a bear hug. “I’m so sorry, Grayson. So sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” He did appreciate Jackie’s unapologetic empathy for his loss. Anna Belle had been his ex-wife, certainly, but she was now gone, and that was a loss Grayson would forever feel.
The phone rang.
“Just know if there’s anything I can do for you, honey, you just holler at me.” She patted his hand, then moved back to her desk and lifted the receiver. “Game’s On You. How may I assis
t you today?”
He headed down the hall to his office. Each team was housed on their own side of the office space, Grayson’s on the right, Colton’s on the left. The wings were mirror images of each other: a general conference room to meet and talk with clients, followed by a big office with four cubicles for the team, then the computer room, and finally, Grayson’s and Colton’s offices. The back of the offices, behind the front facade and Jackie’s desk, was the on-site escape rooms setup.
As he passed the conference room with its lights out, he wondered if he would ever create a game again that didn’t remind him of this one.
“Hey, you.” Nora jumped up from her cubicle as Grayson made his way down the hall. “Are you okay?” She stopped a couple of feet in front of him, unsure how to act.
He smiled. “I’m going to be okay.” She’d been at the house, been there when Anna Belle had died. “How’re you?”
She nodded, her midlength curly hair brushing against her collarbone. “I’m okay. Colton had told us all to take off yesterday, so I did. I’m good though. Good.” She smiled, her face unmarred with makeup. One of the things he truly admired about Nora was her inability to put on airs to try and impress anyone. She was who she was, without excuse. Maybe that was one of the reasons she and Pam got along so well. She accepted Pam’s quirkiness as easily as Grayson did.
“Hey, boss.” Vic met him in the hall. “Glad you’re back.” He slapped Grayson’s shoulder as Nora retreated to her cubicle.
“Thanks.” Grayson fell into step beside the younger man. He’d hired Vic Abshire and hadn’t regretted it once, despite Vic’s background. He’d had a stint in a federal prison camp for drugs and came out with a chip on his shoulder and a cry of racial inequality in sentencing guidelines. His involvement as a black man who had been a victim of just that helped change policies in Louisiana. He had emerged a stronger man, and Grayson respected him as a man and as a friend.
