Luke folded his arms over his chest and looked down at the ground. After a moment he asked softly, “She tell you her connection to George?”
“No,” Cooper responded truthfully. “What do you know?”
“Bring her in tomorrow morning. We all need to talk.”
“Okay, I’ll try. You know Riley though,” Cooper responded with a shrug.
“Too well,” Luke said and then got quiet.
Cooper let the subject drop. He knew better than to push. “What have you got here?” Cooper asked, hitching his jaw towards the woman on the ground.
“I’m not too sure yet to be honest. Woman probably in her late thirties, maybe early forties. Medical examiner said it looked like possible strangulation from the marks on her neck, but he won’t know until he opens her up to see if she was alive when she went into the river,” Luke detailed and then added, “No matter what happened, there are no defensive wounds. She didn’t put up a fight.”
They stood in silence for a few seconds looking over at the woman. A longtime native of Little Rock, Cooper said, “We get crime here, but this is different. Isn’t it?”
“Sure feels that way.” Luke shook his head in disgust.
“Any other missing women reported?”
“Not that I’m aware of. Once we get prints, we’ll run her in the database and see what pops,” Luke said and then more seriously, “I don’t like this to be honest with you. We’ve got our fair share of homicides in this city but not in this part of town. First a missing woman from the Heights and now a floater in the river. Something’s not right.”
“You think it’s connected?” Cooper was struggling to think it was all just a coincidence.
“No idea,” Luke said with a sigh. He looked back over to the woman’s body.
“You okay? I’m sure it reminds you a little of Lily?” Cooper knew a case like this had to hit home. Luke’s sister had been murdered their senior year of college when she was just a freshman. To this day, it went unsolved.
Luke didn’t respond but started to walk back toward where the dead woman remained. He turned back to Cooper, paused for a beat, and then asked, “How’s Riley?”
“Spitfire as always.”
“So nothing’s changed.” Luke gave Cooper a half-hearted smile. “Be there at eight-thirty tomorrow morning.”
CHAPTER 3
“RILEY SULLIVAN NEW YORK,” Luke spoke each word aloud as he typed them again into Google, mentally thanking Cooper for the tip. After Luke got all he could at the crime scene, he left and headed back to the police station. The medical examiner and CSI unit would keep him up-to-date with anything relevant and important.
Luke viewed his computer screen carefully and scanned link after link. He found old articles Riley had written, her business website, and some reviews from some of her clients. Nobody had a bad word to say. He scrolled down further finding an animal shelter website that listed her as a donor. He wasn’t surprised. Luke knew she had a soft spot for dogs.
Luke kept going until he was sure there wasn’t anything but article after article with her name listed in the byline. He knew he couldn’t get into her social media account. Her Facebook page was locked down tighter than Luke’s house. He hated to admit it, but he pulled up that page with her profile photo at least once a day, hoping some hint of information would be available. He was left disappointed each time. Luke clicked back to her business website again, Sully Investigations, and printed off a couple of pertinent pages. Luke grabbed those pages off the printer and the Maime LaRue Brewer file and headed back to the detective’s conference room for a meeting.
Entering the room, the first thing he saw were the familiar chalk boards with case notes and strategy. The photos of suspects and witnesses lined the walls. Both Captain Kurt Meadows and his partner Detective Bill Tyler, who sat on opposite sides of the conference room, were waiting for him.
Luke was the head of the violent crimes division, a post he took up four years earlier. Each case seemed to get a little tougher. Luke could have farmed out the Brewer case to one of the detectives in his unit, but he chose to keep it for himself. It was a high-profile case. Really, he just wanted the satisfaction of taking down George Brewer himself.
Luke was as sure as he was standing there that George killed his wife. They just didn’t have any evidence yet. Luke pulled out a chair at the conference table and sat down next to his partner and pushed the folder of information across to his captain.
Captain Kurt Meadows just turned sixty and was close to retirement. He had a head of sparse white hair that most times couldn’t be seen under his captain’s hat. His hands were as sun spotted as his face, and his blue eyes were dulling with age. Luke knew he just wasn’t quite ready to hang up his hat, literally.
“Anything on the floater in the river?” Captain Meadows asked as he kicked off the meeting.
“Not yet. Medical examiner and CSI are down there now. Once we get prints, we’ll see what we get back. Won’t know anything until then. We got statements from the women who found her and a few others who came running to the scene but not much else,” Luke detailed.
“What have we found here?” Captain Meadows asked, tapping his index finger on the open Brewer file. It was filled with useless statements and photos of the Brewer home. No sign of struggle, nothing of significance.
“We don’t know much. Maime left work midafternoon last Friday and hasn’t been seen since. Still no word to her family or friends and certainly none to her husband,” Luke explained regretfully. Every lead they initially had turned out to be a dead end. Five days in and they had already run out of leads.
Luke went over the details again for his captain. “Her husband called us on Sunday morning. He said she usually goes out on Fridays after work with her girlfriends so when she didn’t come home Friday night and hadn’t called, that wasn’t unusual. When she wasn’t in by her usual time on Saturday, he checked with her friends and family and realized they hadn’t seen her on Friday night. He got worried, spent most of the day Saturday driving around, checking out spots she frequents and then called in a missing person’s report when he ran out of options.”
Luke’s partner Tyler asked, “You mean it’s normal for her to leave work Friday afternoons and sometimes not come home until Saturday morning? What kind of marriage is that?”
Tyler had been married for close to seventeen years. He had been a detective for twelve of those years and Luke’s partner for seven. Tyler was in his forties, a decent detective and even better husband. He always had Luke’s back. He also adored his wife. Luke was sure Tyler couldn’t imagine his wife not coming home on a Friday night and instead staying out with the girls. Tyler stared at Luke. He felt like he needed to explain further.
“I know it’s weird, but it’s what he says and a few of her girlfriends have confirmed. They like to have a few drinks, shop, maybe see a movie and have girl’s night. Except this Friday, she never showed. The girls assumed she went home instead. They didn’t think anything of it. It had happened before, and then Maime would call them on Saturday with an apology and explanation for her absence.”
Captain Meadows thumbed through the file and noted, “Last positive eye on her is at her office in the middle of the afternoon Friday. One of the coworkers saw her leaving the building, correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct. She said she was going to a meeting but nobody seemed to know where. We don’t know where she went. I think the husband is involved. Nothing points to any other direction and the many volunteer searchers haven’t recovered anything. I think he’ll lead us to her eventually,” Luke said, and then added thoughtfully, “I think he called in the report to cover his own butt. He beat her friends and family to the punch.”
“You think she’s dead?” Cap asked directly.
“No signs of life. So yeah, not sure what else we are supposed to think. It’s been several days and no sign of her. People don’t just disappear. Something’s obviously happened to her.”
“Her SUV hasn’t been found. Couldn’t she have just driven off somewhere?” Captain Meadows offered in response.
“She could. It’s possible I guess, but we’ve notified every surrounding state, put her photo and SUV info on the national news and only a handful of calls have come into the hotline. Not one has turned out to be a decent lead,” Luke countered.
Then he added, “Plus, she was never known to carry much cash. There has been no bank activity on her personal account or credit cards. From what George says no money seems to be missing from their joint accounts either. Her family and friends said that Maime didn’t like being alone at all. Taking off would be completely out of character.”
Captain Meadows flipped through more notes, and then reminded them, “Ask for the bank records and to search the house again. I want everything documented. We’ve got to cover our butts on this one. Her father is already calling everyone he knows. We’ve already handled calls from the mayor and the governor’s offices.”
“Cap,” Tyler interrupted, “you hear George hired some female private investigator from New York to search for Maime?”
Luke shot his partner a look. He didn’t want to go into this now.
“Really?” Captain cocked his head to the side and laid the file folder down, looking at Luke across the table. He didn’t look happy. “What do you have on that?”
“Riley Sullivan. She’s licensed and runs her own firm in New York. She was an investigative reporter previously. She lived here a few years ago and worked for the Little Rock Record.”
“She lived here? What’s her connection to the Brewers?” Tyler asked.
“Cooper just told me about an hour ago,” Luke responded sarcastically, hoping he could convince them this was a waste of time. When he saw their faces, he quickly realized his attitude wouldn’t help anything. He toned it down. “She should have arrived this afternoon. I asked them to meet tomorrow morning.”
“Keep her out of the way. You asked Cooper to run interference for us?” Captain asked, and Luke nodded yes. “Good, keep them both out of our way.”
It was at that moment the conference room door banged open and a uniformed officer stuck his head in and shouted, “Let’s go! Fisherman just spotted another woman’s body floating down near the boat launch at Murray Park.”
CHAPTER 4
THE CRISP FALL AIR ENVELOPED ME as I walked out of the hotel and onto the sidewalk. The historic Capital Hotel was directly across the street. I was flooded with the memory of George and me seeing the beautiful Christmas tree they put up in the lobby each year and having a romantic dinner there one holiday season. I shook it off and headed down the street farther into the River Market District.
The President Clinton Library was directly at the end of the road. I couldn’t see it from where I stood, but someone once described its long rectangular design as a trailer home on stilts. They joked it was fitting architectural design for Arkansas. I didn’t really see that in the design but to each their own, I guess.
As I walked, I was happily surprised at just how many new bars and restaurants lined the streets, their lights brightening up the sidewalk and road. There hadn’t been this many places when I lived here before. I had spent a bit of time at the few places here back in the day so I was half expecting to see people I knew, but so far, no one looked familiar.
I crossed the road, stepping over the trolley tracks. Downtown now had a trolley, which made me smile. The area wasn’t really big enough to warrant one but a fun addition nonetheless. I walked by couples holding hands, walking snug against each other. I felt a pang of jealously. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt anything even remotely close to being a part of a twosome. I hadn’t realized how much I’ve missed it. A little tumble between the sheets and kicking them out right after certainly didn’t qualify as a relationship.
The truth is I missed living here. Deciding to leave and go back to New York had been a hard decision, but it had to be done. I tried to shake off the crappy mood setting in as I watched the few onlookers standing at the yellow crime scene tape. This was usually an area of downtown known for fun with family and friends. Now it was marred by police searching for clues. Death just didn’t seem fitting. It sent a shiver down my spine.
I turned my back to the scene and kept walking. Arriving at my destination, I pulled open the door to the Flying Saucer. It seemed crowded for a Wednesday night with the servers in their plaid mini-skirts, tight tees and knee socks. They ran from table to table taking orders and depositing food and drinks. Looking around, I spotted Cooper at an empty table in the far-right back corner.
“I thought we could use some privacy,” Cooper said, smiling as I sat down across the table from him. Our server Mandy came over to take our order. I noticed that while she was writing down what we said, Cooper was checking her out - all five-feet-ten-inches of her, long legs clad in black thigh-highs and her red and black plaid skirt coming just inches below her bottom. I waited until she left to call him a pig.
“What?” he asked, feigning innocence.
I spent a few minutes trying to get out of him who he was dating and what he was doing for fun when he wasn’t chasing down cheating spouses or insurance fraudsters. No go, he wouldn’t tell me a thing. He remained tight-lipped about the women in his life, but it was clear there wasn’t a Mrs. Cooper Deagnan on the horizon.
Mandy came back and laid down drinks. Cooper spent some time watching her behind sway as she walked away. Then he turned to me and said, “You’re going to have to fill me in sooner or later, you know, so why don’t you just tell me the history between you and George. I’m having trouble believing you would be involved with a guy like him.” Cooper raised his glass to his lips, took a few sips of his drink, and waited.
I filled Cooper in on how I met George at a coffee shop in Boston. Hit it off right away. Then about the calls, emails and letters over the months that followed. I told him about the plane tickets George kept sending me and the hotel reservations in Little Rock. I also mentioned George’s frequent trips to New York to visit me.
“I admit I was attracted to him. He was funny and sweet, and even though it’s hard for you to believe, we had things in common.”
I purposefully left out that George was seeing Maime at the time. That although I was separated, I was still technically married, which to this day George still doesn’t know. I guess we both had our secrets.
Cooper held up his hand interrupting me, “This was before you moved to Little Rock? Is George the reason you moved?”
I hated that question. The truth was pathetic. The answer was yes, but I couldn’t admit that to Cooper, so instead I said, “I had been visiting a lot and had met some reporters down here. I ended up getting a pretty sweet deal at the Little Rock Record that made a move worthwhile. I was building my reporting career and the offer made sense at the time.”
“When were you seeing George in relation to when you lived here?” Cooper asked, ever the investigator. “Where does Maime fit into this?”
I waved my hand dismissively and lied through my teeth, “Things ended with George well before I moved. He and Maime got together and the rest is history.” I shrugged for good measure. This was definitely territory I didn’t want to go into tonight.
Cooper leaned across the table, stared me in the eyes and said, “You’re being dismissive. I think you’re lying to me about something. I’m just not sure what yet.”
“You know much about the woman they pulled from the river?” I asked, desperate for a subject change.
“No. I saw Luke earlier, but they are still processing the scene.”
I took a sip of my drink and asked as nonchalantly as I could, “You saw Luke?”
Cooper eyed me. “You know that’s the other thing you might want to explain to me. I know there’s history there. You dated for a while. Then it ended. What happened?”
“Things end.” I shrugged again.
“Riley, what are you doing?” Coop
er asked, cocking his head to one side and shooting me a look like I was one toe over the ledge of insanity.
“What?”
Cooper watched me closely, maybe waiting to see if I was going to open up on my own. I wasn’t one of his witnesses though. I knew the wait and see game in interrogation.
He caved first and said, “I don’t understand what you’re doing here. You dated George and you dated Luke. The alleged perp and the lead detective. Isn’t this one heck of a conflict of interest for you?”
“That, my friend,” I said as I picked up my glass, took a sip and peered at him over the rim, “is precisely why I need to be here.”
CHAPTER 5
LUKE GRIPPED THE SUV’S STEERING WHEEL so tightly his hands were cramping. He drove with measured determination, getting to Murray Park as quickly and safely as he could. Tyler and Captain Meadows rode in silence watching Luke navigate the winding Little Rock roads on the way to the river’s edge.
Although Luke hadn’t admitted it to Cooper earlier, his friend was right. Whenever Luke was called out on a case where there was a dead young woman, it always brought him back to the day his little sister Lily’s body was found in the woods near the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She had been a freshman, and like many young co-eds, walked home alone from a party one night. She never made it back to her dorm.
Luke had been living in an off-campus apartment with friends and didn’t know Lily was even missing until his parents called. He felt helpless at the time. Guilt had set in over the years as he replayed those hours he was drinking and laughing with friends while his sister was murdered. Cases like these brought back the same feelings of guilt, anger and dread. To do his job, Luke had to keep that in check.
His sister’s death was the reason he went into police work. Lily had been missing for eight months before her skeletal remains were found tossed among the leaves. His once beautiful little sister reduced to bones. They never did find her killer or even any evidence for a real cause of death. Lily’s murder had devastated Luke’s parents. He didn’t think they had ever fully recovered from the loss of their only daughter.
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