On Your Knees

by Liz Bradford

  “Oh, um…” he sat back up. “Not much. They got married shortly after we returned from a deployment. He seemed to ride the monogamy thing well for a few years. But towards the end that didn’t last, I know he was with other women. He separated from his wife for a year, per state law, before divorcing her after four years of marriage while we were on another tour.”

  “Did you ever observe any abuse?” Adam asked that question more out of concern for Jocelyn than anything.

  “We weren’t close enough. Barely ever saw the wife.”

  Jared said, “Okay, so we’ve established that he fits the profile, but what do we have as evidence that will help a judge grant us a warrant for his arrest and a search of his home.”

  Adam replied, “We have the video tape from Thursday. It’s totally circumstantial, but he was going somewhere he didn’t belong with a bag that could easily have hidden the flowers.”

  Amelia added, “But after you left yesterday, we established that he was around here over the weekend. Even at times when he wasn’t on duty.”

  “More circumstantial evidence.”

  Gavin asked, “But if whoever stole the evidence from the lab deleted footage of the lab entrance, and manipulated the entrance log, and broke into a secured lab, why wouldn’t he delete himself from the other videos as well. If it was Patrick, wouldn’t he have done that as well.”

  Adam ran his fingers through his hair. “Except he didn’t do it before we found it, and if it was Patrick, he probably knows that Jocelyn backs up her evidence in a separate server.”

  “Why not just hack that too?” Gavin asked.

  “Printed pics,” Amelia said. “As soon as you guys found that footage you printed the pics and brought them to me. Maybe he knew that. But either way, I’m getting hungry. Can we break for lunch?”

  “Of course, the pregnant woman is hungry.” Adam gave her an exaggerated eye roll.

  “I can’t help it. Making a baby human is a lot of work.”

  He smiled at her, and they all agreed lunch was a good idea.

  After lunch they gathered once again in the conference room and spent another hour discussing Patrick and laying out their request for a warrant. It was questionable whether or not the judge would grant a search warrant, let alone the arrest warrant, but they were hopeful. The crimes were serious enough that they needed to leave no rock unturned.

  “I’ll take this to the judge,” Amelia offered.

  They all scattered when Amelia left to talk to the DA and judge, but before Jared left the room Adam pulled him aside. “Is it all right if I go talk to Jocelyn? I’d rather her have the heads up. I know she won’t alert Patrick to the situation.”

  “That’s fine, but be sure that she doesn’t call him.”

  “Of course.”

  Adam bit his lip and knocked on Jocelyn’s office door. He wasn’t quite sure how he was going to tell her this. Was it really possible that her husband was the one who attacked Ella seventeen years earlier? Was he really the one that had tried to grab her the other night? For Jocelyn’s sake Adam hoped the team was wrong, but for Ella’s sake… for her sake he hoped they were right, because if they were right that would mean once they had him in custody, she would be safe again.

  The door opened. “Hey, Adam, come in.”

  “Hey. Got a minute?” He walked into the room that was half office and half photography studio.

  “Sure, what’s up?”

  He closed the door behind himself. “Well, I have a few questions for you.” He tried to keep his voice soft and compassionate as he did not want to put her on the defensive.

  “About Patrick? He really is a suspect?”

  “Person of interest, but yes.”

  Jocelyn sighed but barely blinked.

  “You aren’t surprised?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been mulling it over since we saw him on that tape… Is he really capable of the things that were done to these women? I… I just don’t know, Adam.”

  A knock sounded on the aluminum door. Adam turned and opened it. Gavin Riley stood on the other side. “Oh, hey, Jamison.” His eyes widened.

  “Hey. What’s up?”

  “Um. Was just coming to um…”

  “Come in, Gavin,” Jocelyn said.

  Adam stepped back far enough for Gavin to come in the room as well. “Jocelyn, I still have some questions I’d like to ask you.”

  “I don’t doubt it, but Gavin can be here.”

  “You sure? I’m going to ask as your cousin, not a detective.”

  “I know. Gavin probably knows the answers to any of the questions you want to ask anyway.”

  Adam raised an eyebrow. “Really?” He looked Gavin in the eye. “You didn’t seem too eager to indulge us upstairs.”

  “Wasn’t my place.”

  He liked Gavin, but he seemed awful chummy with Jocelyn considering Patrick was the jealous type. “Fair enough.” Adam grabbed a folding chair and turned it around and sat backwards in it. He motioned for Jocelyn to come sit by him. She pulled out her desk chair and sat face to face with Adam. Gavin grabbed the other folding chair and sat down with them. “How are things going with you and Patrick? The only way I see it being Patrick is if things are not settled at home. That could be a trigger to go back and recreate his past crimes and kill his victims as well. If you say things are going well, I’m inclined to call the whole search into him off.”

  Jocelyn fiddled with her hands and avoided eye contact.

  “Jocelyn?”

  She and Gavin exchanged a look that he couldn’t quite distinguish, and Gavin nodded to her. What’s going on between those two?

  “Well, it’s not that good. We’ve tried to work it out, but he moved out back in May.”

  “May? He moved out? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because I was embarrassed. Please don’t tell anyone. No one else needs to know. But yes,” her eyes dropped to her shoes, “he did move out. Said it was for my protection.”

  “Do you believe that?”

  “In some respects, yes. After all we had started fighting so much more, and he was losing his temper all the time over even the stupidest things.”

  “Has he ever hit you, Jocelyn?”

  “Not really.”

  “What does ‘not really’ mean? He’s either hit you or not.”

  “Well, he’s never beat me. Never punched my face or anything.”

  “So, you’re saying he has hit you though?”

  “I guess a couple of times. Nothing like abuse.”

  “If he’s hit you at all, Jocelyn, that’s abuse.”

  “It’s gotten better. He’s been more agreeable since we’ve had time apart. I think he might move back soon.”

  “Why would you take him back?”

  “Because he’s my husband, Adam. I married him; I made a vow: ‘til death do us part. I have to honor that. I thought you would appreciate that.”

  “I do, but not if he’s abusive. There is a line that I think even God would agree; you should not stay with a man who would hurt you.”

  “I don’t know. It’s not like he beats me. Anyway. If he’s the killer, he’ll go to prison. Then you won’t have to worry about me.”

  “Do you think he’s capable of this?”

  “I don’t know. I really don’t. I want to say no, but I feel like he has this dark side that he never lets anyone see. I saw that profile you drafted up on the board. He does fit it.”

  “The profile isn’t everything. We need evidence and at this point we don’t have much. Amelia’s talking to the judge right now about a search warrant.”

  “Make sure it includes the cabin. That’s where he’s been staying. But don’t—”

  “I won’t. Thank you, Jocelyn.” Adam pulled his phone off his belt and texted Amelia, “Include Jocelyn and Patrick’s cabin out at the river in the search warrant.”

  A moment later his phone chimed. “Got it.”

  “Jocelyn, it’s almost time to p
ick Ella up, want to go with me?”

  “Sure. I could use the distraction. Wait, you’re also supposed to babysit me to be sure I don’t alert Patrick, aren’t you?”

  He smiled at his cousin. “Not really, well, sorta, but I was actually thinking it would be a good distraction for you.”

  Gavin had been quiet during the whole conversation and stayed that way as they all left Jocelyn’s office. Once they reached the top of the stairs, Adam turned to Jocelyn. “I have to go grab my keys and let Jared know I’m leaving. Be right back.”

  He had half expected Gavin to follow, but he hung back and stayed with Jocelyn. Adam wanted to think better of the two of them, but he was worried that they were treading on thin ice. But that was a worry for another day.

  Right now, his pulse pounded at the idea of seeing Ella. He found that he was missing her whenever she wasn’t around. Her smile was exactly what he needed right now. He wished they could just go back to his place tonight, but that wasn’t going to happen. It was going to be a long night. Assuming Amelia had no trouble getting the warrants signed, they could have Patrick in for questioning before night fall, and if that happened, he didn’t see sleep in his near future.

  Ella stood up from the couch in Captain Baker’s office and paced back and forth. She felt a little like a caged animal. She was having a great time visiting with Jocelyn. Her friend was sweet as always but was also clearly hiding something. Ella didn’t want to be rude, but she was about to ask Jocelyn what was going on.

  The activity around the station was chaotic. She had never been here when so many people were moving around looking so serious. Adam hadn’t told her anything, other than that they had to come to the station today since he and the others were in the middle of something. He had said he would tell her more later, but it was already after five, and he hadn’t said anything. About fifteen minutes ago, Becca, Jared, Amelia, Captain Baker, and a bunch of others headed out the door wearing bulletproof vests. Adam and Gavin hadn’t gone with them. That fact alone settled her nerves about what might be going on.

  She looked out between the blinds on the window into the squad room. She found her target, and her heart fluttered. Adam stood up from his desk and ran his hands through his short dark hair. The dark blue tie around his neck hung looser than it had been an hour ago. He had also shed his blazer and rolled up the sleeves of his long sleeve, blue and white striped shirt. The shirt was fitted and accentuated his muscular shoulders quite well.

  “Like what you see, do you? But are you keeping your thoughts pure?” Jocelyn’s teasing tone did nothing to help diminish the blush forming in Ella’s cheeks.

  “Shut it.”

  Jocelyn laughed.

  Ella glanced briefly at her friend and shook her head before turning her attention back to Adam. Her heart jumped; he was coming toward her!

  “You are so smitten.”

  In the most facetious tone she could muster, Ella said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Hey, ladies!” Adam spun around the door frame and entered the room.

  “Hey.” The heat in Ella’s cheeks increased.

  “Anyone else want some dinner? I ordered pizza. Should be here in about half an hour.”

  “I’m hungry,” Ella said, “but can I ask what’s going on around here?”

  The smiles on both Adam’s and Jocelyn’s faces faded, and Jocelyn started picking at her fingernail.

  “Well, yeah, we should tell you,” Adam said. “Let’s sit.”

  “Okay…” Ella sat back on the couch next to Jocelyn and Adam took a chair across from her.

  “We’re going after a suspect in your case, Ella.”

  “Isn’t that a good thing?” Her spirit rose a bit but stopped before it even reached the ceiling. Adam didn’t even seem happy with it. “What’s wrong?”

  Jocelyn didn’t look up from her hands. “The suspect is Patrick.”

  “What? Really? That doesn’t seem right. Could he really be the guy who attacked me?”

  “It’s possible,” Adam said.

  “So that’s where everyone went, and why”—she looked at Jocelyn— “you’re hanging out with me this evening. You have to stick around here too don’t you.”

  “I probably don’t have to, but I want to. I’m enjoying hanging out with you, but I’m also anxious to see what happens with Patrick. I hope this doesn’t make things awkward between us. If he is the guy, I had no idea.”

  “I know.” She reached over and put her hand on Jocelyn’s shoulder. “I can’t even imagine what you must be feeling right now. You’ll always be my friend. I know you didn’t have anything to do with what he did, if it even was Patrick. Well, one easy way to clear it up is if Patrick had a cut on his right arm after last Wednesday. Did you notice a cut on his arm? I think it was near his elbow.” Ella lifted her arm and pointed to where she thought she nicked the guy.

  Jocelyn was still. “I didn’t notice anything one way or another.”

  So much for that.

  Every emotion possible washed through Ella. The three of them sat there and the conversation moved on to lighter topics even if her mind didn’t. Her heart rose at the idea that the guy threatening to kill her could potentially be behind bars tonight, but what if it wasn’t Patrick? Her stomach twisted. That would mean that evil man was still out there. And if it was Patrick… poor Jocelyn. Patrick wasn’t a great husband, and she had always thought Jocelyn deserved better, but he was still her husband. Was he really capable of doing those things?

  When the pizza arrived, Jocelyn offered to go get plates from the break room and left Adam and Ella alone. Ella walked over to where Adam stood next to the Captain’s desk opening a pizza box. She slid her hand in his when it fell back at his side. He turned and smiled at her. He intertwined his fingers with hers as he leaned back against the desk.

  “How are you doing today, Ella?”

  “All right, I guess. What about you?”

  He reached up with his free hand and brushed her hair away from her face. “I’m okay. It’s a mixed bag of emotions with this whole Patrick thing. I just want it to be over, I want you to be safe, but I’m worried about Jocelyn.”

  “Me too.”

  A glint of desire flashed through Adam’s eyes. She hadn’t seen that in nearly twenty years. Fire burned in her cheeks, so she looked down. She was not ready to kiss him yet. Instead she let go of his hand and slowly wrapped her arms around his waist.

  That was a mistake. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, and her vision tunneled. Every muscle in her body constricted. Her arms shook. She couldn’t stop it. She couldn’t speak.

  “Ella?” She heard his voice, but it was like he was in another room, not right beside her. “Ella, you’re safe.”

  I’m safe. Jesus, help me.

  Adam’s voice took on the gentle melodies of a Jason Mraz song she had once heard Adam sing before. The tunnel faded.

  Thank you, Jesus. She steadied her breath and urged her whole body to relax. She laid her head on Adam’s chest and closed her eyes, and he kept singing.

  She opened her eyes just as Jocelyn walked back in the room. She suppressed a giggle at the sight of her friend’s amused smile, yet she didn’t pull away from Adam.

  “Are we going to eat that pizza or are you two love birds going to just stand there and cuddle while it gets cold?”

  Adam and Ella reluctantly pulled away from each other and exchanged a smile. They put slices of pizza on their paper plates, but before they could turn around a loud commotion came from the lobby. Adam put his plate down and left the Captain’s office. Ella followed suit and stood slightly behind Adam. Becca and Doug escorted Patrick through the lobby towards booking. A deep scowl was etched into his face. He writhed against Becca and Doug’s grip and profanity spewed from his mouth.

  The man fit the physical parameters of the man who attacked her. He was just about the right height and build. Patrick glared over at Adam. Ella didn’t make eye contact
with him, but his beady blue eyes caused a shudder to course through her body. It could be him. Doug shoved him through the doorway and out of sight, and a surprising sense of satisfaction filled Ella’s gut. If it was him, she was safe.

  Chapter 18

  Adam turned back towards the Captain’s office and ran into Ella. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” She slid her arm around his waist.

  He smiled at her and put his arm across her shoulders, and they went back to their pizza. He wanted to go find out what they had discovered, but the greater pull had her arm around his waist. Warmth filled his body.

  When they got to the desk where they had both left their dinner, he let her go, picked up his plate, and took a bite of a slice pizza. They ate in an uncomfortable silence, and when he popped the last bite of his second piece in his mouth, Jared appeared in the doorway with a large evidence bag in his hand.

  “Jamison, you need to see this.” He was gone as quickly as he appeared.

  Adam looked at Jocelyn first. Something to show didn’t bode well for Patrick, and he worried about how she would handle it. Next, his eyes fell on Ella. She would help Jocelyn cope with this even though she had her own set of worries. Adam reached out and squeezed Ella’s elbow. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

  She nodded and gave him a weak smile.

  He wanted to wrap her up in his arms and never let go, but he couldn’t do that today. Instead he winked at her which brought a little color to her cheeks, and he left the room. He followed Jared into the conference room where they were soon joined by the rest of the team.

  Thud. Jared dropped the evidence bag on the table. “Check this out.” Jared pulled on a pair of gloves and took a duffel bag out of the evidence bag. Adam took a step closer, and Jared unzipped the bag. Jared proceeded to pull out and show them one item at a time and then returned each to the bag. A roll of duct tape. A folding knife. A black ski-mask.

  “A rape kit?” Adam said. He felt as if someone had punched him in the gut.

  “Looks like it. We found it in his car.”