Innocent Mistakes

by Melissa F. Miller

  “What should we do? Officer Hill wouldn’t let me go with him. Sean’s not here. I don’t know what to do ….”

  She’s hyperventilating. Sasha can hear it in the hiccupy little breaths.

  “Put Siobhan on the phone.”

  “Aunt Sasha?”

  “Have your mom sit down and try to breathe slowly. Give her a glass of water and tell her to sip it. You’re in charge until your dad gets home. Got it, Vonnie?”

  “Got it.”

  “I’ll see you soon.”

  She ends the call and gives Lainey Fuller a flat look. “I should go.”

  Lainey’s lip trembles. “Please … don’t.”

  She hates to take advantage of the woman’s distress, but she doesn’t have time to play any more games. “Then start talking.”

  “I did it.” Lainey blurts the words then shoots Mallory a warning look.

  Her daughter gapes at her.

  Sorry, baby.

  “You did what? Took Siobhan’s phone and posted the comment?” The lawyer seeks clarity, as a lawyer would.

  “Yes, that. It was easy. I know Colin’s password. I should—it’s Mallory’s birthday.”

  Mallory sucks in her breath. “Why?”

  Lainey ignores the question. She’s not sure how much time she has before the police get here. “That’s not all. I also ran over Hunter. It was me.”

  Now Sasha McCandless-Connelly asks the same question. “Why?”

  Lainey crosses the room and takes her daughter’s hands. “Please understand, I only did it because I love you and I worry about you. You have to believe that.”

  She lowers her head and locks eyes with Mallory. Finally, Mallory nods. Her blue eyes are still uncertain, but she nods.

  Lainey turns to Sasha. “I installed a monitoring program on Mallory’s phone.”

  Her daughter jerks her hand away and takes a step back from her.

  Lainey ignores the sting and continues, “I was worried after she and Colin broke up. She got very secretive and withdrawn. At first, I thought it might be drugs—”

  “Mom, really? You’re such a cliché.”

  “But then I thought she might be depressed. I was afraid she might hurt herself.”

  She gives Mallory a pleading look. Mallory sneers at her.

  “And what’s this have to do with Hunter?” Sasha wants to know.

  “He’s been hounding her—relentlessly—for nude pictures. He won’t stop. Send nudes, send nudes. It never ends. Now he’s threatening her.”

  “So you posted the message because …? Help me out here, Lainey.”

  She throws up her hands. “I don’t know. I didn’t think Colin would get in so much trouble. I honestly didn’t. I guess I thought maybe Hunter would back off if he thought Colin knew what he was doing. And I hoped that if the school resource officer got involved, she’d check the phones of everyone who was involved and find the messages from Hunter to Mallory. I thought he’d get disciplined.”

  “Mom, that’s an idiotic plan,” Mallory blurts.

  At least she’s talking to me, Lainey thinks.

  “I know that—now.”

  “Why didn’t you just report Hunter? Or, just spitballing here, talk to your daughter?” Sasha demands.

  “I didn’t want Mallory to know I’m spying on her. I thought she’d consider it a violation of her privacy.”

  “It is a violation of my privacy!” Mallory’s hands are balled into fists and the muscles in her neck are taut as she screams.

  Sasha turns on her. “Hey, settle down, okay? I’ve got maybe three minutes with your mom before the police get here.”

  Mallory clamps her mouth shut and nods.

  “So, what made you decide to try to kill him this morning?” She asks the question in the same tone of voice that Lainey would ask someone why they took a walk.

  She takes a moment to formulate her answer. “I thought Mallory was planning to do something and I wanted to stop her.”

  “Do something … give Hunter nude photographs? Is that the something?”

  “No. Actually, I thought she was conspiring to kill him.”

  “Are you on drugs?” Mallory demands.

  “Why would you think such a thing?”

  “She has this secret account—”

  “Evidently not,” Mallory snarks.

  Lainey’s about to tell her to knock it off, but the lawyer gives Mallory a death glare, and she bites her lip.

  “Sorry.”

  “So, she has a secret account,” Sasha prompts.

  “Right, it’s the one that Hunter uses when he begs her for nude pictures. But she also has another friend on there. Somebody called Bolton. And they had this weird back-and-forth yesterday while I knew she was at Hunter’s. They called him the ‘target’ and talked about ‘pulling the trigger. They made plans to take my car this morning and do ‘it.’”

  Mallory’s blinking rapidly, but she doesn’t say a word.

  “And you took that to mean they planned to run him over?”

  “Or shoot him? I don’t know.”

  “Does your daughter have access to a gun?”

  “No, but I don’t know about this Bolton character.”

  “This Bolton character does not have access to a weapon,” Sasha tells her.

  “How can you be so sure?” Lainey wants to know.

  “Because it’s Colin, and his family doesn’t have any firearms.”

  “Colin is Bolton?” Lainey wrinkles her forehead. “You still talk to him?”

  “Grrr … Mom, you’re so stupid. We weren’t going to kill Hunter.”

  “What were going to do, Mallory?” Sasha asks in a mild voice.

  “I have nothing to say.” Mallory makes a show of shutting her mouth then mimes locking it and throwing away the key.

  “Very mature,” Lainey tells her.

  The doorbell rings.

  “That’ll be the police,” Sasha says.

  Lainey gulps. “Will you represent me?”

  “I’m sorry, but no.”

  She stares at her, wide-eyed. “Why not?”

  “Because I think you’re lying.”

  37

  Belle Vernon, PA

  Outside Pittsburgh

  * * *

  Leo brings his SUV to a stop in front of Nathan Merriweather’s brick rancher. It’s well-maintained with a manicured lawn and two oak trees flanking the driveway. Brianna—Hank’s oldest, home from college for an early spring break—had shown up with the documents bright and early as promised and was thrilled at the idea of spending the day at the lake house with the twins (or at least thrilled at the notion of making some quick, relatively easy babysitting money). And the twins were even more thrilled to have her to themselves instead of sharing her with her five siblings.

  Still, he wants to make this quick and get back to Maryland. The reality of spending three hours of his free time dealing with trash like Merriweather makes him grumpy. He cracks his neck, then gets out of the car. He’s not surprised when Merriweather steps out onto the cement stoop before he’s even halfway up the sidewalk. Way out here, on this rural route, Merriweather would have heard him coming.

  “Best stop where you are,” Merriweather calls from the stoop.

  Leo keeps walking and flashes his badge. “Leo Connelly, Department of Homeland Security. You Nathan Merriweather?”

  Merriweather shields his face with his hand and squints into the sun as Leo approaches. “What’s this about?”

  “I’ll take that as confirmation of your identity.”

  “Take it however you want. What do you want?”

  Merriweather’s tall, but not as tall as Leo. He’s got salt-and-pepper hair and a lanky frame that Leo bets most people mistake as soft or weak. But Merriweather is wiry, with ropey muscles and a fighter’s stance. Leo wouldn’t want to tangle with him. But he will if he has to.

  He juts his chin forward. “Just delivering a message.”

  Merriweather dr
aws his eyebrows together. “And what would that message be?”

  “Your pal—the one at DHS who gave you my home address—he gave you up to my boss.”

  “Richardson.”

  “Right, Hank Richardson. And Hank’s going to take it up with your boss.”

  Merriweather snorts. His derision is plain on his face. “You drove all the way out here to let me know you could find out where I live, too? That’s pretty pointless, don’t you think? Now I can go to my boss and complain about you. So we’ll be even.”

  Do not punch him in the face. Do not punch him in the face.

  Leo slips his hand into his pocket and wraps it around his phone. “No, agent, I came all the way out here to give you a chance to get out in front of this: You can turn your nephew in or I will. But if I do it, you’ll be named as a co-conspirator.”

  “Turn him in for what?” Merriweather scoffs.

  Leo takes the phone out of his pocket and hits play on the mp4 file:

  9-1-1, what’s your emergency?

  * * *

  Yes, this is Leo Connelly. Someone’s broken into my home. It’s a home invasion! There are four of them. They have rifles, oh my God …

  * * *

  Now, Leo, stay real calm for me, okay? Is there anyone in the residence with you, anyone else who lives there?

  * * *

  No, I’m alone.

  * * *

  Do you have any pets?

  * * *

  No. No, it’s just me!

  Leo hits pause on the app. “Now, just as a point of reference, I had five-year-old twins and a dog and a cat in the house with me when your nephew spoofed my number and made this call.”

  “You can’t prove that Hunter—”

  “Can’t I, agent? Can’t I get a forensic voice analyst to swear under oath that this is the voice of Hunter Dalton, poorly disguised with a masking program?”

  Merriweather snaps his mouth shut.

  Leo goes on, “Yeah, that’s right. I can. But I won’t even have to because I have a direct message from Hunter himself admitting that he swatted my family. He even forwarded me the audio clip.”

  “That little … I don’t believe you. Why would Hunter do such a thing?”

  “That’s easy. Because he thought I was a fifteen-year-old girl and he wanted to see my boobies.”

  “You catfished him. You catfished a kid?”

  “A kid who sent a SWAT team crashing through my door. I sure did.”

  Merriweather rubs his palm over his temple. “And you brought this to me instead of taking it to the authorities, why, exactly?”

  Leo gives him a close look, but Merriweather doesn’t seem to be acting. “You don’t know?”

  “No. What?”

  “Think, agent. How did your nephew get his hands on my unlisted, very private home address just hours after your buddy pulled it for you?”

  “You think I gave it to him? You’re way off base.”

  “Did you write it down? Put it in your phone?”

  Merriweather pulls a face, shakes his head. “I maintain the integrity of …” He stops and goes stock still.

  “You just realized how he got it.”

  Merriweather exhales through his nose. “I dropped my notebook at dinner. I didn’t even know. It must’ve fallen out of my jacket pocket. Hunter cleaned up the dining room. Afterward, he brought me the notebook. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”

  Seriously. Do not punch him.

  “Your nephew could have gotten my family killed, Merriweather.”

  Merriweather’s face is gray and his mouth is drawn into a line. “I know. So what do you want?”

  “Like I said. I want you to get out in front of it. You report it.”

  “You want me to turn in my sister’s kid?”

  “No flies on you.”

  “But why?”

  “You’re responsible for the lapse in security, agent. Own it. And then learn from it.”

  They lock eyes for a long, tense moment. The April sun is warm on the back of Leo’s neck. Merriweather works his jaw. Finally, he nods.

  Leo sticks out his hand, and Merriweather eyes it suspiciously for a beat. Then he grips it, and they shake on it.

  38

  Colin’s staring at his hands when the door opens. Even though Officer Hill was apologetic about it, she handcuffed him when she took him out of his house. In front of his body, not behind. But still, there were metal bracelets locking his wrists together. At least she took them off when they got to the station. He studies the red lines crisscrossing his skin.

  “Colin.”

  He snaps his head up at the sound of Aunt Sasha’s voice.

  “They arrested me this time for real. Officer Hill read me my rights. They fingerprinted me.” The words come rushing out, tripping over each other, as he tries to communicate that this time is different. This time they really think he did something. They think he tried to kill Hunter.

  “I know.”

  She sits down across from him. She looks tired. And worried.

  “What is it?”

  She screws up her forehead, the same way Siobhan does when she’s confused. “What is what?”

  “You have bad news. Just tell me. Did they pick up Mallory?”

  She blows out a long, long breath. “Not yet.”

  A wave of relief washes over him.

  Aunt Sasha narrows her eyes. “Are you two still an item?”

  There’s no reason to lie about it now. “Yes.”

  “And the whole dating Hunter thing, that was a honey trap?”

  He blinks. “Yeah, it was.”

  She nods. “And she’s Science Grl. You’re Bolton.”

  “Yeah. Bolton’s an homage to—”

  “Major Benjamin Tallmadge, yeah, I get it. Please tell me the plan was not to run Hunter over.”

  He stares, wide-eyed, “No, I swear, it wasn’t. We didn’t even see Hunter this morning. I told Officer Hill that.”

  “I heard. I also heard you wouldn’t tell her where you went or what you were doing or otherwise provide any alibi for the time when Hunter was run off the road.”

  He grimaces. “That’s true.”

  “So, I’m asking you now, as your lawyer, what were you and Mallory doing from approximately six-fifteen to seven a.m. this morning?”

  He shakes his head, slowly, sadly. “I can’t tell you. Not yet.”

  Aunt Sasha closes her eyes and cups her forehead in her hand, pressing her fingers against her temples. “Right, I figured as much. Okay.”

  He leans forward and gives her an earnest look. “But everyone will know. Soon.”

  There’s a brisk knock at the door, and ADA Donaldson strides in wearing a broad smile. “Colin, Sasha, my apologies. It appears there’s been a mix-up. I understand that Lainey—”

  Aunt Sasha pops out of her chair like she’s spring loaded. “Joe, a word in private?”

  “Sure, but let’s get Colin out—”

  “A word,” she says more firmly, tilting her head toward the door.

  “Okay?” The ADA shrugs and follows her out into the hall, turning to throw Colin a puzzled look before the door closes on them.

  It’s out of his hands now. He just hopes Siobhan did what he asked her to.

  Joe’s flustered by her attitude and it shows. “I know I told you that I’d give you a day on the Siobhan post. But this is completely different. A hit and run, the Daltons are screaming attempted murder.”

  She puts up a hand. “It’s okay, Joe. A snotty internet post and a teenager being run over are not the same in kind or quality. I get it. How is Hunter, anyway?”

  “He’s banged up. He’s got a fractured ankle, which, you know, he’s a cross-country star, so he’s pretty upset. But, all things considered, he’s lucky.”

  She releases some of the stress she’s been carrying, and her shoulders relax a smidge. “He’s been released from the hospital?”

  Joe snorts. “Yes. He’s r
esting comfortably at home after a quick word to the press out in front of the emergency room entrance.”

  “Mom?”

  “Mom. But listen, Sasha, I have great news for your nephew. And for Siobhan, too. When officers went to pick up Mallory Fuller, her mother confessed to everything—the message and the hit and run. So, we can cut Colin loose. Instead of making him wait until his parents get here, I’ll release him into your custody and you can enjoy the rest of your Sunday afternoon.” Joe gives her an expectant look.

  She sighs.

  His face falls. “What are you about to say to ruin my day?”

  “She’s lying.”

  “I don’t think so, Sasha. I heard she was very specific. And you and I talked about this yesterday, parents will do wild stuff to protect their kids. She was trying to save Mallory from herself. And it sure sounds like you were right about that Dalton boy. He was pressuring Mallory for nude photos.”

  She picks her words with care. “I know. And I don’t think Lainey Fuller is lying about everything. Just about hitting Hunter with her car and leaving him on the side of the road.”

  “Oh, just that?” He gives her a sour look.

  “Look, I do believe she posted that message. I went to her house to talk to her about it. And she had the trifecta—means, motive, and opportunity. ”

  “So?”

  “So, there’s a big leap from an adult woman posting an ill-advised comment using a kid’s profile to attempted murder.”

  “Siobhan saw the minivan.”

  “Siobhan saw a minivan. And that’s the other thing.”

  “What?”

  “Mallory took her mother’s minivan this morning. She picked Colin up in it. Lainey didn’t have access to it.”

  Joe flashes an a-ha grin. “But the Fullers have two minivans.”

  “Of course they do. Joe, I’m telling you, Lainey didn’t do it. But she thinks Mallory and Colin did it, so she’s trying to take the fall.”