“I don’t know his number.”
“It’s in your phone.”
A cop follows me into the bedroom and makes me stand off to the side while he gets Dek’s shoes. He keeps warning me to keep my hands where he can see them and not to make any sudden moves.
“Question her, too,” Warren says when we come back out with the shoes.
Tears run down my face as Deklan is hauled away, and one of the cops sits me down on the couch. I watch helplessly as the apartment is ransacked.
“Can you tell me where you were yesterday evening?”
I stare at him for a moment, not even understanding the question. I realize it’s the same officer who talked to me after I conked my head—Longbow.
“Mrs. Kearney?” Longbow sits on the coffee table and looks me in the eye.
“We went out for dinner,” I say.
“Where did you go?”
“A steakhouse. I don’t remember the name of the place.”
“What time did you arrive?”
As I go over the entire evening, cops go in and out of the apartment, digging through every drawer and closet. I keep waiting for them to come up with one of Deklan’s guns or a large stack of cash, but they don’t seem to find anything of interest.
“Her purse has about seven hundred in cash,” I hear a cop tell Detective Warren. “No guns, no ammo. There isn’t even a joint in this place.”
“He’s moved whatever was here,” Warren says. “Check for storage lockers, and go through his car.”
“The car isn’t in the parking garage. There’s a rental in his assigned spot.”
“Dammit!”
I look up at the officer, confused by his words. When did Deklan change cars? We had taken his to dinner last night, so where did the rental come from? For that matter, why were the pants he wears to the gym lying out on the dresser?
I know one thing—I’m glad I’m actually wearing pajamas. Otherwise, I would have been completely naked when they got here.
Did Deklan know they were coming? Is that why he insisted I wear something to bed?
“What time was the movie?” Longbow asks.
“Around eight,” I say. “The ticket is in my purse.”
Longbow finishes his questions and goes over to Warren.
“If her story checks out, and the ME’s time of death is verified, we’re going to have a problem.”
“It was him,” Warren says with a shake of his head. “I know it was. His gun. His prints. We have him this time.”
“I’m not so sure,” Longbow replies.
“She’s not a reliable witness,” Warren says. “We can’t go on her testimony. Bring her to the station. I want to question her myself.”
Longbow comes back over and sits next to me.
“Detective Warren would like you to come answer a few more questions,” he says. He glances up at the detective, who is rooting through some paperwork on the kitchen island and mumbling to himself. Longbow leans close and speaks softly to me. “You’re not obligated to come. He can’t make you without a subpoena.”
I look at him for a moment as his words sink in.
“I need to make some phone calls,” I tell him. “I also need to get dressed. I’ll come by later.”
Longbow nods and pats my hand before he goes back to Warren. Warren looks over his shoulder and glares at me but says nothing else. The cops gather up a few items and leave without closing the door behind them.
In a daze, I shut the apartment door and retrieve my phone from the nightstand where it is charging. When I look in my contacts, I find Brian’s number in my favorites and touch the number on the screen.
“Yeah?”
“Brian? It’s Kera. Deklan’s been arrested.”
“Hang tight,” Brian says. “I’ll be there shortly.”
He disconnects the call, and I stare around at the disaster that is our apartment. Everything that was in a drawer is now out. There are papers everywhere. When I go to the bedroom to get dressed, I find all my clothes have been tossed on the bed.
Brian arrives ten minutes later.
“Aw, Mrs. K,” he says as soon as he sees me, “don’t cry. Lucas is going to meet us at the station. Dek won’t be arraigned until tomorrow, but he’ll be back right after. They got nothing to hold him on.”
“You seem to know more about what’s going on than I do.” I fold my arms across my chest.
“Trust me,” he says. “It’s better that way. Did you tell them the details of your date night?”
“Yes. Do you know where Dek’s car is?”
“I’ve got the Viper.” Brian whistles low. “Damn, I love driving that thing.”
He smiles at me, but I don’t return it.
“Really, Mrs. K—everything is fine. He’s got his alibi, and they won’t be able to tie him to any of it.”
“Are you going to tell me what all this is about? Who the hell is Crackers?”
“A dumb-ass pimp on the lower east side. Apparently, someone killed him last night. Wasn’t Dek though, was it? You two were eating cake about that time.”
He winks at me, and suddenly, all of Deklan’s strange behavior from last night begins to make sense—all that time he spent chatting with the bartender and the man sitting near us, making a point of telling people it was my birthday and ordering cake, even spilling popcorn on that guy—it was all to establish an alibi.
And Brian…Brian had Deklan’s gun. Deklan gave it to him a few days ago. He even made sure his prints were on it.
Brian drives me down to the station where Lucas is already pointing his finger at Detective Warren.
“Arraignment is a waste of taxpayer’s money,” he says. “I’ve got statements from six witnesses establishing Mr. Kearney’s whereabouts throughout the evening. There’s a report filed regarding the theft of the weapon in question. You need to release my client immediately.”
“Not until the medical examiner verifies the time of death.” Warren glares at Lucas. “The timestamp on the report is only preliminary. You will have to wait until the autopsy is complete, and that’s going to take all day. Arraignment is at ten tomorrow morning, and your client can just sit his ass in that cell until then.”
Despite Lucas’s arguments, that’s exactly what happens.
Early the next morning, I sit next to Brian in the courtroom, and Deklan is brought out in an orange jumpsuit. The prosecutor speaks to Lucas before they both go into a room behind the bench. A few minutes after that, they return with the judge, who bangs his gavel and releases Deklan due to lack of evidence.
“I told ya not to worry, Mrs. K.” Brian pats my arm, and we return to the waiting area to wait for Deklan. A short time later, Lucas and Deklan, now dressed in his sweatpants and shoes, come out of the hallway and approach.
Brian rushes up and hands Deklan a T-shirt.
“Thanks, bro.” Deklan reaches for me, and I hug him tightly. “No worries, babe. I told you everything was fine. You did great.”
“How do you know that?”
“I have my sources.” He winks and kisses me on the cheek before turning back to Lucas. “Any chance of me getting my Beretta back?”
“None whatsoever,” Lucas says.
“I guess it’s time to go shopping, then.” They both laugh, but I’m not finding anything funny about this.
“Someone want to explain this shit to me?”
I’m startled by Sean’s voice as he comes up behind me. I press tightly to Deklan’s side. Apparently, Sean isn’t finding this amusing either.
“Nothing to be concerned about, boss,” Deklan says.
“Dek’s gun and prints, but his alibi is airtight,” Lucas says. “The judge didn’t even want to hear any more after I handed him all the witness statements.”
Sean nods as he looks back and forth between Deklan, Lucas, and Brian. He never looks at me—not once.
“I didn’t sanction any action on Crackers.” His voice is low. “Someone want to explain?”
>
“No, sir,” Deklan replies, and Sean glares at him.
“How did this killer get your weapon?” he asks.
“I reported it stolen a few days ago,” Deklan says. “Anyone could have used it.”
“You had a gun stolen?” Sean tilts his head as he questions Deklan.
“Yeah, the registered Beretta.”
“How the hell did someone steal a gun from you?”
“Well, if I knew that, I’d probably know who stole it.” Deklan keeps his unwavering gaze on Sean. “The last I knew, it was in the glove compartment of my car. Then it wasn’t there anymore. I rarely lock the car, so I guess anyone could have gone through it.”
I tense, surprised that Deklan is lying to his boss. Maybe it’s just the location that has him sticking to his story. There are cops all over the place.
“You never mentioned it.” Sean glares at Brian for a moment.
“I’ve been spending time with my grieving wife,” Deklan says. “Didn’t really think it was worth mentioning. I’ve got others without registrations. I just bought that one on a whim because I liked it. I can always get another one.”
“Well, considering it’s now evidence, I don’t think you’ll be getting it back—not with Longbow gone.”
“Longbow is gone?”
“Suspended. Something about mishandling evidence. Lucas, I’ll need you to find him a good attorney.”
“Sure, boss.”
Sean steps closer and points a finger right at Deklan’s nose.
“I expect you to keep better track of your weapons, Dek. I don’t like to hear about people stealing from my employees.”
“Won’t happen again, boss,” Deklan says. “I guess if they find the shooter, I’ll know who stole my gun.”
“We are going to talk about this later.” It’s clear that Sean isn’t satisfied with Deklan’s explanation. “Lucas, any other paperwork that needs done?”
“No, boss. It’s all good.”
“Fine. At my office in a half hour.” Sean glares at Brian again. “All of you.”
Chapter 27
“Just stay in the car,” Deklan says as we arrive at the Foley place. “This shouldn’t take long.”
“I was supposed to be at work this morning. Is it okay for me to call Terry from here?”
“Sure.” Deklan heads into the house, and I turn on my phone.
“Claire’s Coffee Creations, this is Terry. How may I help you today?”
“Terry, it’s Kera.”
“Kera! Where the heck are ya, girl?”
“I am so sorry. This week has been…insane. I can’t even begin to explain everything over the phone.”
“I was kinda surprised you didn’t show up this morning. I figured it was something important. Business is light today. I can cover for you.”
“Thank you so much! I’ll be in early tomorrow.”
“No problem, Kera. Hope everything is okay!”
“Hey, Terry?”
“Yeah?”
“You know that weird guy who always comes in and reads the newspaper for hours at a time? I think his name is Charlie.”
“Yeah, I know who you mean.”
“Is he there now?”
“Actually, no. He was in earlier, but he left without buying anything.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See ya then!”
I lean the car seat back and pull my knees up to my chest. The sun is shining brightly through the windows, and the car is nicely warm. I pull up a game on my phone and poke around at it for a while. About thirty minutes later, Deklan returns.
“Well, Sean is pissed.” He starts the car and pulls away from the house.
“He didn’t know what you and Brian planned.”
Deklan looks at me out of the corner of his eye but doesn’t reply.
“Did you tell Sean?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
“No.”
I glare at him, but he doesn’t look back at me. He reaches toward the dash to turn on the radio, and I grab his hand.
“Do you think I’m okay with being woken up in the middle of the night to watch you get arrested? And don’t you dare say you didn’t know it was going to happen. Insisting on me wearing pajamas for the first time ever was a bit of a giveaway.”
“I didn’t know for sure,” Deklan mumbles as he gives up on the radio. “I didn’t want them walking in on you naked.”
“Bullshit. You knew they were coming.”
“I had an idea.”
“Then tell me what the hell is going on! That scared the shit out of me, and you knew exactly what was happening before it even started. You have to let me in on this.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Dammit, Deklan!”
He ignores my outburst and just stares at the road ahead while I fume quietly in my seat. He reaches for my hand, but I pull it away. I don’t want his comfort right now. I want to wallow in my anger.
“Kera, please don’t do that.”
I peek at his face from the corner of my eye. He looks devastated, and I’m tempted to give in, but if I do, this kind of behavior will never end.
“I’ve had enough of the secrets, Dek. You aren’t protecting me—you’re protecting yourself.”
“Don’t hold back.” Deklan stares hard at the road ahead of him.
“I’m tired of it.” I turn toward him and try to catch his eye, but he won’t look at me. “Refusing to tell me anything is not helping.”
“I don’t want you to have to lie for me,” Deklan says with a sigh as he stops for a red light and finally looks at me.
“I’d rather lie than be in the dark all the time.”
“It’s for your own good, Kera.”
“How is that? Did it protect me from all that shit last night? Did it protect me from that creepy guy at the coffee shop? The only reason you didn’t know about him before is because I assumed you’d hired him. If it weren’t for the secrets, I might have told you about him sooner.”
Deklan lets out a giant breath that ends up sounding more like a growl. He grips the gearshift until his knuckles go white.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Brian fell in love with this chick that lives in the apartment down the hall from him. He thought she worked at the fast food place down the street, but as it turns out, she’s a hooker. She wanted to get out of it, but her pimp wouldn’t let her. He had a bit of a reputation for getting nasty with his girls when they wanted to break ties, and Brian didn’t want to see that happen to her, so we got rid of him.”
“You killed him.”
“I didn’t,” Deklan says. “Brian did.”
“Using your gun.”
“Yes.”
“And you timed it so you would have an alibi even though it’s got your prints on it.”
“I didn’t need to tell you anything. You already figured it out. That worries me.”
“Why?”
“Because if you figured it out, Warren might, too. Doesn’t change the fact that I have an alibi, but accessory to murder still gets me time.”
“Will they be able to connect you and Brian?”
“Easily,” Deklan says. “Connecting me to Brian to a chick he likes to her pimp, that’s something else. I’ve never met the guy, and the Foleys don’t do business with him. All the evidence would be circumstantial at best, and it’s hard to convict on that alone.”
“This isn’t over then. They could come back and arrest you if they figure it out.”
“Unlikely. It would never be enough for a conviction. Sean has police and prosecutors on the payroll, and it would never even get to court. Those guys know who they’re dealing with.”
“Whom.”
“What?”
“It’s whom, not who.”
“Whom they’re dealing with? That sounds weird.”
“Grammatically, it would
be ‘with whom they are dealing.’”
“Whatever. I didn’t have your schooling.”
Deklan clenches and unclenches his hand a few times. He’s gone from angry to upset, and I feel bad about being so pissy.
“Sorry,” I mumble. “It’s been a long day already.”
This time when he reaches over, I take his hand. He interlocks our fingers and pulls my knuckles to his lips, kissing them gently.
“I’m sorry, too. Don’t worry though, okay? It will all be fine.”
I consider his words before relaxing back into the passenger seat. Deklan’s jaw is tight when he releases my hand to change gears, and he’s still gripping the knob too tightly, but I’m relieved to finally get some information out of him.
“I’m glad you told me.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about it,” Deklan says. “I’m afraid anything I tell you just puts you in danger.”
“I think I’m already in danger, Dek.”
“Your stalker.”
“Yes, him.”
“Did you get ahold of your manager?”
“Yeah, I called. Terry said I was covered. I need to be in first thing in the morning though.”
“Good. I don’t want that guy following you anymore.” Deklan reaches over and squeezes my hand. “I told Sean I needed to take care of some other business over the next couple of days, so I can focus on that. I don’t want you scared.”
“I need a shower,” Deklan says as soon as we get back to our apartment.
“Shall I join you?” I smile sweetly as I reach up to wrap my arms around his neck.
Deklan places his hands on my hips but keeps his head up and out of my reach for kissing.
“No.” Deklan runs his hands from my hips up my sides and down again. “I need a few minutes to myself. You are going to get undressed, lie in the center of that bed with your legs spread, and wait for me.”
“I am?”
“Yes, you are. I’m still annoyed with you for pestering me and making compelling arguments against my better judgment. You’re going to lie there and think of what I’m going to do with you when I come out. You are not going to touch yourself.”
I bite down on my lip. I have a dozen retorts, including suggesting that I get myself off if he takes too long, but the look in his eyes silences me. Instead, I nod.
“Good girl. Now get in there.” He smacks me on the ass to get me moving.