Scene of the Crime

by M. J. Williamz

  “Sure, babe.” Cullen’s heart ached to see Sara in such pain. “I’ll see you tomorrow night then.”

  “Count on it.”

  “If you need me for anything, anything at all, reach out, okay?”

  “I will.”

  And with a brief peck on the cheek, Sara got out and went inside. Cullen felt selfish at her happiness, but she really needed her sleep. Sure, she would have been there for Sara had she needed her, but she was grateful to get to go home to her own bed.

  The following morning, Cullen’s phone buzzed several times while she was in a ten o’clock meeting. Several was an understatement. It buzzed throughout the whole meeting. She could barely focus, assuming Sara needed her desperately. When the meeting finally ended, she went back to her office and slid her phone out of her pocket.

  She was shocked when it wasn’t Sara’s name on her display. It was Robert Allen’s. She called him back and was put right through to him.

  “Hello? Cullen?”

  “Yes. What is it? Why are you calling me? Is something wrong?”

  “How was Sara this morning?”

  “I don’t know. She said she wanted to be alone, so I slept at my place last night. Why?”

  “She never showed up for our appointment this morning. She’s not answering her phone either.”

  Cullen’s heart sank. Something must be seriously wrong with Sara.

  “I’ll go to her house right now,” she said. “I’ll find out what’s going on.”

  “Thank you. And please have her call me.”

  He ended the call and Cullen grabbed her laptop, checked out with the receptionist, and drove to Bidwell. Traffic wasn’t moving even though it was the middle of the morning so it took her forever to get there.

  She tried to let herself into the house, but her key didn’t work. What was that all about? She rang the doorbell and pounded on the door, but there was no answer. She peered in through the living room window. All the furniture was there, but the artwork was all missing from the walls. What was Sara up to?

  She punched in Sara’s number on her phone. No answer. She left a voice mail begging her to call back. She used her garage door opener to check the garage. She was shocked. Normally, Sara’s car and Cullen’s truck fit in the three-car garage, and the other part was filled to the ceiling with boxes and stuff. Cullen had referred to it as junk once, but Sara had corrected her by saying it was stuff. Still, it was gone. Sara’s car and all the stuff, gone. The garage was completely empty. Cullen started to feel sick.

  Not knowing what to do, she called Robert.

  “Hello, Cullen. Where’s Sara?”

  “I don’t know. She’s not at home and the place looks cleared out.”

  “Shit.”

  “Exactly.”

  * * *

  Julia was busy collecting more evidence with which to convict Sara. She whistled while she worked, comparing the size of the shoe at the latest scene to Sara’s Nikes. They were a perfect match. When she was through, she took the shoes back to Marge.

  She requested a search warrant to collect the rest of Sara’s tennis shoes to find ones that matched the tread exactly. She had just hung up the phone when her cell rang. It was Cullen. Julia figured she was the last person Cullen would want to talk to. Still, she was curious so answered the phone.

  “Cullen?”

  “Julia, can we meet for a beer?”

  “It’s barely after twelve.”

  “I need a beer.”

  “I tell you what, I’ll meet you at Kell’s for lunch at twelve thirty. If you choose to have a beer then, be my guest.”

  “Thanks, I’ll see you then.”

  Julia’s heart twisted. What was eating Cullen? Why would she seek Julia out now? Had Sara confessed something to her? Was Cullen going to admit her little Sara wasn’t perfect?

  So many questions swirled in her mind, but she had to focus. On what? She was in a holding pattern. She’d take a long lunch. There was no harm in that. She called the judge back and left her cell number. She grabbed her coat and headed outside.

  It was bone-chilling cold that day. The sky was a light gray, and there were some forecasters calling for snow. That would be fine. Julia liked snow and they didn’t get it often in Portland. She loved the quietness of a blanket of white powder on the ground.

  She walked into Kell’s at twelve twenty-five, and Cullen was already at a table, a pint of Guinness in front of her. Julia shed her coat and slid into the chair across from her.

  “Rough day?”

  “You could say that.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Get a beer first. You’re going to need it.”

  “No beer for me. I’m on the clock.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  She went up to the bar and got a Coke. She sat back down.

  “Now, what’s so important?”

  “Sara’s gone.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. She’s gone. She wouldn’t have run if she was innocent, would she?”

  “Hold that thought.”

  Julia forgot her coat as she stepped outside into the bitter wind. Her finger trembled as she called the station.

  “This is Stansworth. I need a wanted alert. All information is in the system. Suspect is Sara Donovan. She was arrested for murder last night. She also has a pending court date for drug charges and a DUI. She’s the prime suspect in the Montague murder. You’ll find pictures of her, her car, her license plate, the whole bit. Do it ASAP. I don’t know how big of a head start she got, but we need to find her.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m on it.”

  “Thank you.”

  She hung up and walked back into the restaurant.

  “Did you let loose the dogs?” Cullen said.

  “I did.” She took a sip of Coke. “Why did you tell me, Cullen? I wouldn’t have found out for a very long time. She would have gotten a head start. Could have even gotten away.”

  “Like I said, she wouldn’t have run if she was innocent. And if she’s guilty… I mean, if she actually killed those people… Well, then, she deserves to be in prison.”

  Julia reached across the table and placed her hand on Cullen’s folded hands.

  “Thank you, Cullen. I know it wasn’t an easy decision.”

  Cullen stared at their hands for a few minutes before she spoke.

  “Actually, it wasn’t that hard.”

  “Good. Because you did the right thing.”

  Cullen nodded and drew a shaky breath.

  “I know.”

  “Did you really want to eat?” Julia said. “I mean after the morning you’ve had. Do you have an appetite?”

  “Not much of one. But I’m going to drink so I figured I should eat something.”

  “Let’s go back to my place. I’ll stop and get some Guinness. We’ll order a pizza and eat and drink to our heart’s content.”

  “You wouldn’t mind?” Cullen said.

  “Not at all. I think it would be good for both of us.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Here.” Julia handed Cullen the key to her house. “So you can let yourself in since you’ll be there before me.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course. Now, let’s get out of here.”

  Cullen let herself in to Julia’s small, well-appointed house. It was sparsely decorated in neomodern style. The decorations that were there were chrome and glass. Somehow the place fit her. And Cullen felt comfortable there.

  She wandered from living room to dining room to kitchen in her socks, taking it all in. The kitchen was small with stainless steel appliances. The living room was painted periwinkle with a gray dining room and kitchen. She liked it.

  She made herself at home on the couch and ordered a pizza. She remembered that Julia liked the meat special so she ordered a large. She was checking her social media pages when Julia walked in with a case of beer.

  “A case?” Cullen laughed. “Of Guinness? We’ll
be hammered.”

  “There’s no rule saying we have to drink them all in one sitting. Now, grab us each one and I’ll put the rest in the fridge.”

  Cullen did as she’d been asked and followed Julia to the kitchen.

  “Where would I find a bottle opener?” she said.

  “On the fridge. Just give me a second.”

  Julia closed the refrigerator door and took down a PSU bottle opener. She popped the tops off and took the one Cullen handed her.

  “Now, let’s talk pizza,” she said.

  “Already ordered.”

  “Really?” She raised her eyebrows and Cullen nodded at her. “That’s great. Thank you.”

  Julia slid off her jacket and folded it over the back of a dining room chair. She laid her shoulder holster on the table. Cullen watched her untuck her shirt and get comfortable. She still had a killer body. There was no denying that.

  Cullen took a big swig of beer and looked away from Julia, not sure if she wanted to ask the question burning in her brain. She finally decided to go for it and turned to face her again.

  “Have you heard anything?”

  “Hm?” Julia was kicking off her shoes and settling in on the couch.

  “Have you heard anything? About Sara, I mean.”

  “Oh, no. It’s too soon. I mean, sure, it would be great if we’d already found her, but we have no idea what time she left. Or do we?”

  Cullen shook her head.

  “No clue. When we got back to her place last night, she said she wanted to be alone, so I went home. It wasn’t until her lawyer called to say she’d blown off her appointment with him that I went to her house.”

  “And what time was that?”

  “About ten thirty.”

  “What did it look like? Did you check all the rooms? Were there any clues?”

  “I couldn’t get in,” Cullen said. “She’d changed the locks.”

  “Well, she couldn’t have left too early then. I wonder how early locksmiths open.”

  “No clue. And who’s to say she waited around? She might have just left some money under the mat or paid by phone or online. You know? We don’t know how that worked.”

  “I like the way you think. You would have made a good cop, Cullen.”

  “No, thank you. You deal with dead bodies and stuff. I couldn’t handle that.”

  “You never know.”

  “Trust me. I know. I’d rather deal with ad campaigns than murder mysteries.”

  Another thought hit her and she wondered if she should tell Julia. She supposed she should. She owed Sara nothing, less than nothing.

  “There are a couple of other things I should tell you,” she said.

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “When you were taking Sara away last night, she told me to call her lawyer, remember?”

  “I remember.”

  “So, her phone was in her purse.”

  “That’s logical.”

  “And also in her purse were baggies of white powder.”

  “I’m sure that was hard to see.”

  “I knew she was still snorting coke,” Cullen said. “But I’d hoped she’d learned her lesson about selling.”

  “And I’m sure Sherry Bergstrom was a drug deal gone bad.”

  “That’s the other thing.”

  Julia took a chug of beer.

  “What other thing?” she asked casually.

  “There was a contact in her phone, no last name, but it was Sherry in Mount Tabor.”

  “Damn, I wish I’d known that last night.”

  “Shit. Does that make me an accessory? Because I knew?”

  Julia clasped Cullen’s hand.

  “Let’s just assume there could be more than one Sherry in Mount Tabor.”

  Cullen breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Thank you, because I really don’t want to go to prison.”

  “And I’d hate to send you there.”

  Cullen grew warm all over. There was something in the way Julia was looking at her, something had shifted. She had the overwhelming desire to kiss her. What was going on? She didn’t want to overthink things. This was Julia Stansworth after all.

  The doorbell rang and they both started. Julia stood.

  “I’ll get it.”

  “I’ll find some plates in the kitchen.”

  “The cabinet right above the sink.” Julia called over her shoulder.

  Cullen found them and, on shaky legs, set the table. Had Julia wanted her to kiss her? Was it just Cullen’s imagination? Not that it mattered. She’d been single for less than twelve hours. She sure as hell didn’t want to rebound.

  Julia kept the conversation light as they served themselves dinner, thus convincing Cullen their little moment or whatever had never really happened. Thank God. But still, she couldn’t completely shake the edge of desire cutting through her.

  They reminisced about old classmates and shared information on who they’d seen. Cullen had worked on an ad campaign for their homecoming queen.

  “Sondra Mouton? I remember her. Is she still gorgeous?” Julia asked.

  Cullen laughed.

  “She looked good, though her enormous boobs have drooped a little bit.”

  “Imagine that.”

  “Who have you seen lately?” Cullen said.

  “Do you remember Mike Martin? The stoner? I arrested him the other day for the millionth time.”

  “What for?”

  “You name it. Mostly domestic abuse though.”

  Cullen shook her head.

  “That’s not good.”

  “No, definitely not. But she keeps taking him back.”

  “Who’s she? Anybody I know?”

  “No. She’s not a local.”

  They finished half the pizza.

  “I could eat more, but I know better,” Cullen said.

  “I hear ya. Let’s leave it out though, in case we get the munchies later.”

  They moved back to the couch where Cullen pressed herself against the far end. She needed as much space between herself and Julia as possible.

  They sipped their second beers, and Cullen wondered if she should hit the road. She didn’t want to be out too late.

  “You know,” Julia said. “For a shitty day, this has been fun.”

  “I know what you mean. I’m just sorry for the reasons behind needing to drink.”

  “Are you going to move on, Cullen? Or will you stay with Sara even after we arrest her?”

  “Would I have told you she was gone if I was planning on staying with her?”

  “No, I suppose not.”

  Cullen laughed wryly.

  “You need to be smarter than that, Detective.”

  “I shouldn’t need to be on my game after a couple beers and half a pizza.”

  “You never need to be on your game around me, Julia.”

  “Thank you.”

  Their gazes met and Cullen forced herself to look away as she took a final mouthful of beer. Shit, what was she doing? What was she thinking? And most importantly, what was she feeling?

  “Speaking of beers,” Cullen said. “Would you like another one?”

  “I’d love one, thanks. I love how you’ve made yourself at home at my house.”

  “It’s cozy. I like it here.”

  Julia watched Cullen walk to the kitchen and checked her hormones. They were running rampant, but she needed to cool her jets. She had the feeling that Cullen was into her, but she had no way of knowing for sure. Besides, Cullen had just been burned. Bad. Julia didn’t need to be a vulture swooping in to pick at the remnants. She wanted Cullen to be one hundred percent if she came to her. And she could wait. She was patient.

  Her phone rang just as Cullen walked back into the room.

  “Stansworth here.”

  “Detective, it’s Officer Fabian.”

  “What’s going on? Did we find her?”

  “No, ma’am. I just showed up to relieve Officer Tim McHugh who was posted
at Donovan’s house.”

  “And?”

  “And the place has been shot up. And I just called nine-one-one for McHugh. I don’t think he’s going to make it though.”

  “Shit. Okay. I’m on my way.”

  She slid her phone back in her pocket and stood.

  “What’s going on?” Cullen asked.

  “Come on. You need to stay in the car though. Do you hear me?”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Sara’s house has been shot up. They got one of my men, too. Buckle up, Cullen. It could be a long night.”

  When they pulled up at Sara’s house, the street was filled with cop cars and police were crawling all over the property.

  “Stay here,” Julia said to Cullen.

  Her heart was heavy where she saw the outline of McHugh’s body. Poor guy. She didn’t know him well, but he was just a kid and his loss of life was for no reason.

  “What have we got?”

  “Bullets everywhere. We’re collecting them and setting up a perimeter. Wish McHugh was around to tell us who did this.”

  “Yeah, I hear that. Listen, I want every bullet you find compared to the bullet in the Montague shooting. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Thank you.”

  Julia gloved up and walked into the house which had been unlocked. She wandered around, careful not to step on the broken glass or any of the bullets scattered about. She went upstairs and found Sara’s bedroom. It was in disarray with things thrown all over. She looked in the closet which was empty save for Cullen’s clothes. Her heart tightened. Suppose Sara hadn’t left? Suppose Cullen had been there that night? She could have been killed.

  She shook it off and examined the bathroom before further checking out the bedroom. The drawers of the dresser had been pulled out and were tossed on the bed. She saw a little dressing table along the far wall. She opened it and pulled out the middle drawer. It was empty, but there was white residue all over the inside.

  When she went downstairs, several other officers were there collecting more bullets.

  “There’s a residue in the dressing table upstairs. I want it tested for cocaine.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Something was bugging her, so she went back upstairs. The room was large, but there was a lot of furniture in it. Where did Sara hide the coke before she sold it? She wandered through the other rooms but didn’t see any likely hiding spots. She went back to the bedroom. She pulled the dresser away from the wall and there it was, a safe in the wall just above the floor. Bingo.