But Not Forsaken: A Clint Wolf Novel (Clint Wolf Mystery Series Book 3)

by BJ Bourg

  “What time did she leave the office again?” Susan asked.

  Ali was thoughtful. “I believe it was three-thirty, four o’clock.”

  “Did she say where she was going or if she was meeting anyone?”

  “No, ma’am. If she’s working a story, she doesn’t really talk about it until it hits the paper.” Ali started crying again. “I wish she would’ve said something to me, because I might’ve been able to do something to help find her before it was too late.”

  “Don’t even think about blaming yourself.” Susan put her arm around Ali’s shoulders. “There’s nothing anyone could’ve done to save her.”

  When she was sure Ali was calm enough to be alone, Susan led Mallory outside. The fall air was cool on her face. It was normally her favorite time of the year, but her heart was heavy and filled with emotions she didn’t understand. When Clint had murdered Simon Parker in cold blood she had panicked. She was certain he would end up in prison for the rest of his life and it killed her inside. When Mallory and Doug tried to question her about what happened, she did something she’d never done before—she refused to cooperate with an investigation. She later spoke with Melvin and Amy, and they said the same thing.

  “I told Doug and Mallory to kiss my ass,” Melvin had declared defiantly when they were alone on the street outside of the sheriff’s department. “That piece of shit Simon deserved to die and I’m glad Clint had the stones to kill him.”

  “I told them I wasn’t saying a word either,” Amy said. “Doug tried to play me like a fool, telling me I could be indicted if I stood idly by and watched Clint murder Simon. I told him to go to hell and charge me if he wanted to, but I wasn’t saying a damn thing.”

  “I’m just glad they decided not to charge Clint,” Susan remembered telling them. “Because I know he went in and told them exactly what he did.”

  Susan shivered, trying to shake the foreboding cloud that still hung over her. All of the hurt and desperation she had felt when Clint was shot a year ago came flooding back last night. Although going to prison was better than dying and she would’ve still been able to visit him on a regular basis, she wanted him in her daily life—needed him in her life. Just the thought of wanting him and needing him caused a wave of guilt to wash over her. She had no right to have those feelings, much less allow herself to verbalize them internally. Clint was Chloe’s boyfriend and, even though Chloe was gone, it would be improper for her to make a move at this point, or any point, really. He was her boss, which meant they could never be an item. Period.

  As Susan reached Mallory’s unmarked cruiser, she remembered Clint’s words from the night before, “Cops can’t go around doing things like that, so I have to resign.” A new wave of panic came over her as she wondered what that meant. Where would he go? What would he do? Would he move back to the city? What if he—

  “Where the hell are you, girl?”

  Susan jerked her head around and saw Mallory standing with her hands on her hips, staring with her head cocked to the side.

  “What? Did you say something?”

  Mallory frowned. “Your body’s here, but your mind is a million miles away. It’s him, isn’t it?”

  Susan felt her face catch fire. “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me,” Mallory said. “I’ve seen the way you look at him, and I’ve seen the way he looks at you. There’s a connection.”

  Susan turned her head, embarrassed. “He’s got a girlfriend.”

  “Not anymore,” Mallory said softly, taking her place in the driver’s seat. “You heard Ali—they broke up before she was murdered. He’s available.”

  “Jesus, Mallory! He hasn’t even had a chance to bury Chloe yet. Give it a rest.” Susan slipped into the passenger’s seat shaking her head.

  “All I’m saying,” Mallory explained, “is that he’s available now and so are you—and you’re what he needs right now.”

  “What are you talking about?” Susan felt guilty for even entertaining Mallory’s idea, but she was curious.

  “He needs a strong woman who can take care of herself when he’s not around,” she said, cranking the engine and pulling out of the apartment parking lot.

  “Now you’ve lost me.”

  “Think about it—his wife and daughter were killed right in front of him and there was nothing he could do to save them. That kind of thing can bring a strong man to his knees.” Mallory nodded her head for emphasis. “I promise you he’ll never have kids again. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already gotten a vasectomy.”

  “You’re talking crazy,” Susan said.

  “Hear me out. As for the women in his life, he’s tired of falling in love just to have his heart ripped out every time they die on him.” Mallory stopped at a red light and turned to face Susan. “He already knows you can take care of yourself, so he knows his heart will be safe with you.”

  “If what Ali said is true, he lost Chloe before she was murdered.”

  “Either way, he’s coming for you. It might not be today, or next week, or next month, but he’s coming. I saw it in the way he looks at you.”

  Susan’s eyes misted over and she turned her head so Mallory wouldn’t notice. She was sorry Chloe was dead, but angry at her for two-timing Clint. Her hands began to shake and her heart raced as she wondered what to do about this revelation. Clint hadn’t shown any signs of having problems at home, and he spoke of Chloe as though they were still together. Should she tell Clint, or leave it alone?

  CHAPTER 41

  Chateau Parish Sheriff’s Office

  It was almost four o’clock when Reginald walked into the conference room. I stood and shook his hand, then pointed to the open murder book on the table. “I bet this brings back some bad memories.”

  He nodded, taking a seat across from me. “This was a terrible case, that’s for sure. At the time, I didn’t know Bill personally, but I knew of him, as did all the cops who worked it. We figured if it could happen to him, it could happen to any of us. It made us all feel vulnerable.”

  “You mentioned you think this case has something to do with Chloe’s murder,” I said, getting right to it. “What makes you think so?”

  “Chloe came to the district attorney’s office on the day she was murdered.”

  “That’s not uncommon. She was always at the DA’s office or the courthouse. It was part of her job.”

  “But this time was different.”

  My brows furrowed and I studied his face. “How so?”

  “She walked in asking to speak with Bill. She told the receptionist she wanted to do a feature piece on him. She made it sound like she wanted to highlight his accomplishments since taking office. I mean, what politician doesn’t want a little positive press every time they can get it?” Reginald pointed to the file in front of us. “But that was a lie…she really wanted to ask questions about his wife’s murder.”

  “Did he meet with her?”

  “Of course, he did. My buddy, Danny, who’s one of our new prosecutors—I played ball with him in high school—was in the meeting with them, and he said it went from cordial to contentious in seconds.” Reginald took a deep breath and exhaled, explaining how Chloe had barely sat down when she began questioning Bill about one of the witnesses in his wife’s murder case. “Chloe told Bill she’d obtained a copy of the investigative report and saw that Megyn Sanders was a witness, but her name hadn’t appeared in the transcript from Duggart’s trial. When Bill acknowledged knowing about Megyn, Chloe wanted to know why she hadn’t been called.”

  “What did Bill tell her?” I asked.

  “He told her the truth—that Megyn was a friend to Duggart and the prosecution figured she would try to say something that would jeopardize the case against Duggart, so they didn’t call her.”

  “Isn’t she the one who broke the case?” I asked.

  “She did, but the prosecutor from Magnolia Parish was calling all the shots.” Reginald lifted a finger, shaking h
is head. “I take that back. Although Bill recused himself, I think he was calling the shots from behind the scenes. After all, he’s good friends with the district attorney in Magnolia.”

  “You said it got contentious…what happened?”

  “She straight up accused Bill of killing his wife.”

  My mouth dropped open. “She did what?”

  Reginald nodded and said Chloe had accused Bill of murdering his wife so he could be with his lover, and she accused him of using his position as DA to pin the murder on Duggart, whom he knew was sleeping with Jolene.

  “Bill had a lover on the side?”

  Reginald shook his head. “Not that I know about, but Danny said Chloe claimed to have a witness who was going to name his lover and it would break the case wide open.”

  “How’d he react to that?” I asked.

  “Danny thought he was going to hit her—he was that mad.” Reginald frowned. “He kicked her out of the office and told her she was never allowed back in the building.”

  I sat quiet for a while, processing this new information. I needed to know what she knew. She went to Bayou View Pub sometime after confronting Bill, so Megyn must’ve been the witness she was talking about. If Megyn did know something that would implicate Bill in the murder of his wife, and she was willing to give that information to Chloe, it would be motive enough for Bill to want both of them dead.

  I asked Reginald if Chloe ever tried to interview him about the case, but he said she hadn’t. I told him what I knew about her conversation with Doug and asked why he thought she would speak to him about the case. “You wrote the primary report, so I would’ve guessed she’d have spoken with you.”

  “Doug handled the initial investigation,” Reginald explained. “I was brought onboard when the case started growing stale. I don’t know if you know it, but there was some bad blood between us during the investigation. He was mad that the sheriff gave me the lead role over him.”

  I pointed to the investigative report, which I’d read from cover to cover, and asked what had led him to Megyn Sanders. “Lance Duggart wasn’t on anyone’s radar until you met with Megyn, but there’s no mention of how you got to her.”

  “I was actually looking for Duggart when I stumbled upon Megyn.”

  “Duggart?” I rubbed my chin. “I thought you got his name from Megyn. That’s what the report says, anyway.”

  “Bill’s the one who turned me on to Duggart—handed him to me on a silver platter, come to think of it.” He ran his hand through his slicked-back hair and shook his head. “Looking back now, it does seem a little convenient.”

  He went on to explain how he had marched into the district attorney’s office and demanded to know where he was when his wife was murdered. Bill claimed he was at a conference two hours away, and when Reginald asked who could verify that fact, he grew belligerent and said there were four hundred lawyers and judges who would back him up.

  “But when I told him I’d spoken to every one of those judges and lawyers,” Reginald said, beaming, “and not one of them remembered seeing him between the hours of nine o’clock at night and one in the morning, he lost his shit.”

  “That was pretty slick,” I said, knowing he hadn’t spoken to any of them. “I’m surprised he bought it.”

  “I was, too, but after his wife died, he’d spent the week in a drunken fog, so he had no idea what we’d done—or hadn’t done—on the case. I used it to my advantage and it paid off.” Reginald shrugged. “That’s where Doug went wrong. He treated Bill like a district attorney instead of like a regular husband who might have killed his wife.”

  “But how’d that lead to Duggart?”

  “My ploy scared Bill into coming clean about his wife’s affair. He realized he’d have to cough up something or risk being a suspect in his wife’s murder, and—true or not—those kinds of suspicions could wreck a campaign.”

  “I didn’t read anything in the report about an affair. Are you talking about her affair with Isaiah Wilson?”

  “I had no clue about Isaiah until Susan’s lawyer came by the office Thursday.” Reginald shook his head and recalled how Bill had found a receipt in his wife’s purse for a hotel room in the city. “That prompted him to follow Jolene one day and he saw her meet up with this guy in a black pickup truck. He copied the license plate number and had one of his investigators run it. It came back to Lance Duggart.” Reginald explained how Bill had confronted Jolene and threatened to divorce her, but she begged him not to leave her and promised to break it off with Duggart.

  “But why isn’t any of that in the report?”

  “Professional courtesy.” Reginald shrugged. “Bill had been through enough, so I didn’t see any reason to cause him further embarrassment by speculating about his wife’s infidelity.”

  “It’s not speculation—Bill told you about it. And wouldn’t that tidbit of information be huge during the trial?”

  “The information I had from Bill was pure hearsay and Duggart never admitted to the affair. In fact, he flat denied it.” Reginald grunted. “It wasn’t until we got the results back on the semen found inside Jolene that he wanted to talk.”

  I went back to the picture of Jolene’s nude body, processing what I’d just heard. “So, do you think Jolene was trying to break it off with Duggart and he got angry and attacked her?”

  “That’s basically what he told me when he confessed.”

  I flipped through the report, locating a synopsis of Duggart’s statement to Reginald. “I read that, but I couldn’t find a transcript or an evidence form for a recorded confession. Everyone was using cassettes back then and I’m guessing y’all were, too, right?”

  “Yeah, but he refused to give a recorded statement,” Reginald said. “I told him it would protect him by keeping us from putting words in his mouth, but he told me to go screw myself.”

  I asked Reginald if Bill’s revelation was what led him to the Bayou View Pub, and he said it was. He said Duggart wasn’t there, but Megyn was and she was willing to tell him everything he needed to know. “She confirmed the affair and even said Duggart told her he was tired of being used by Jolene,” Reginald said. “I immediately went out to his house to question him. He gave us consent to search his house and we tore it apart, but didn’t find anything.”

  “I saw that in the report. It looked like y’all found the bloody knife outside…in the garage, right?”

  “Yeah, Doug went rummaging through the garage and found it hidden in a rusty toolbox. It made him feel better about losing the case to me.” Reginald smiled, thinking back. When he continued, he said Duggart went crazy when they showed him the knife and he accused them of planting it.

  I’d read the crime lab report and saw that the blood on the knife came back to Jolene. I mentioned it to Reginald and he nodded.

  “I arrested Duggart as soon as the preliminaries came back on the blood. Once he was in custody, I asked for consent to swab his cheeks for a DNA sample, but he refused.” Reginald chuckled. “I got a search warrant and we tied him to a table and swabbed his cheeks anyway. Considering how hard he fought, I wasn’t surprised when the lab matched his DNA to the sperm recovered from Jolene’s dead body. Needless to say, the jury deliberated for less than an hour when they heard that key piece of evidence.”

  I stared down at the file. What was I missing? Chloe had hit on something—and that something had gotten her killed. But what was it? Could the name of Bill’s lover be the key to everything? Or was it simply the time issue?

  “Reginald, did you listen to the recording Chloe captured right before she died?”

  “No, I haven’t had the chance yet.”

  I explained how the evidence custodian couldn’t find Megyn’s recorded statement, and asked if Megyn told him what time Duggart returned to the bar that night.

  “Damn, that was twenty years ago, Clint.” Reginald stared at the ceiling and squinted. After a moment he said, “I think she gave an exact time, like eleven-thirteen, or s
omething. When I asked how she could give an exact time, she pointed to some clock in the bar and said she looked at it when he got there.” Reginald smirked. “When I compared the time on the clock to my watch, it was off by an hour and eleven minutes.”

  “Did Megyn or Lance ever mention Bill having a girlfriend?”

  Reginald shook his head. “If he was having an affair, we would’ve known about it.”

  I leaned back in my chair and shook my head. “What was Chloe after, Reggie? What did she find that we’re missing?”

  Reginald scowled and leaned over, staring down at the ground. “I don’t even want to consider what she might’ve found,” he said softly.

  “Why’s that?”

  “For most, their first instincts aren’t always right, but for me, they are.” When he looked up his eyes seemed drawn. “My first instincts were that Bill Hedd killed his wife, but I let him talk me out of it.”

  “What are you saying?” I asked, my blood slowly turning to ice. “Do you think Chloe found evidence that implicated Bill in the murder of his wife and he killed Chloe to keep her quiet?”

  Reginald stood and paced back and forth, shaking his head. “I can’t even go there in my head. I’ve known Bill for too long. He’s a bit bullheaded and brash, but he’s honest. I don’t think he’s capable of that sort of thing. Hell, he hired me as his top investigator because I had the stones to stand up to him. He admired that and respected me for it.”

  “Then what is it, Reggie?”

  He stopped pacing and pursed his lips. “Considering how mad Danny said he got at Chloe, I just don’t know anymore.”

  I suddenly remembered the text I’d received from Chloe’s phone while it was pinging in the area of the news station. “Does Bill have any friends or allies at the news station?”

  “Bill’s got friends everywhere. Why?”

  I explained what we learned about her phone being used in the area of the news station after her death, and he dropped to a chair, mulling it over. After sitting there for a while, his mouth dropped open. “Shit, Clint, our office is a block away from the news station!”