The Heart of Lies

chapter 15



Ernie agreed to escort them to the medical examiner’s office on Monday, but he would make arrangements with the county jail to let them in to see Josh that Sunday afternoon if his attorney was with them.

Emily phoned Alex and informed him she was setting up a meeting with Josh. Maggie had already told him she wanted Emily on the case. Alex agreed to meet them down there.

Colin and Emily drove to Boise, the county seat about fifteen minutes from Paradise Valley where they found Alex already waiting for them. They were escorted into the sparse interrogation room and seated, and then an officer brought Josh in, wearing the standard orange jumpsuit and handcuffs.

“Are the handcuffs really necessary, Officer?” Emily asked, pursing her lips for emphasis.

“He’s a murder suspect, ma’am. The handcuffs are for your protection and mine,” the man said as he turned and walked to the door. “Just holler when you’re done here,” he instructed before he left.

“We haven’t met yet, Josh.” Out of habit, Colin stood to shake Josh’s hand. When Josh flashed the handcuffs in response, Colin smiled apologetically and sat back down. “I’m Colin Andrews, a friend of Emily’s.”

“And your mom’s,” Emily added, digging around in her oversized leather bag. “You know Colin was military too—he was a Marine a number of years back.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Josh said, taking a seat at the table next to Alex.

“I’ve filled him in on your current military status and he’s here to help me find the truth about Lucas Wakefield.” Emily placed a voice recorder on the table. “I’m only taping what you say in case I need to go back and remember something, Josh. No need to worry.”

Josh looked at Alex, who nodded his approval. “Okay,” Josh consented.

“The first thing we need to know is, did you kill Lucas Wakefield?” Colin asked.

“No. I don’t think I did.” Josh looked Colin square in the eye. “He was alive when I left—I checked his pulse to make sure—then I got out of there when I heard someone coming.”

“Who?” Emily asked.

“It was his assistant, Fiona.”

“You know her?” Emily questioned.

“Met her at the engagement party,” Josh nodded, “and, you know, I saw her and Lucas together.”

“Did she see you at the office that night?” Colin asked.

“No, I hunched under the stairs. After she passed by, I beat it out the door.”

“I don’t think the detective knows she was there.” Colin glanced at Emily, then at Alex. “She never showed up on the security tape. Ernie listed all the people coming and going, and she wasn’t one of them.”

“Maybe she went out the back door,” Emily suggested. Since her office was in the same building, she knew there was another way out. “I don’t think there is a security camera out there.”

“Terrific,” Colin said sarcastically. “That makes our job more difficult.”

“Sorry, Josh. Keep going,” Emily said.

“I went to the office to confront Lucas because I had caught him messing around with his assistant at the engagement party. Remember, I told you about that the night he died?” Josh reminded Emily.

She nodded her acknowledgement.

“I gave him twenty-four hours to come clean with my mom and call off the wedding. I warned him what would happen if he didn’t.”

“Did anyone else hear you threaten him?” Emily crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward.

“Fiona, maybe.”

“Then what happened,” Colin pressed.

“I went into Lucas’s office. He was sitting behind his desk. We argued. I dragged Lucas out of his chair and we argued some more. The more we argued, the hotter we got until he threw the first punch. Of course, I hit him back.” Josh still wore the black eye and busted lip Lucas had given him, proving it wasn’t just a one-sided beating.

“Is there anything else you can remember, Josh?”

“I went to a bar to have a few beers, hoping to work up the courage to tell my mother the truth about Lucas.”

“I remember you telling me that the night he died,” Emily confirmed. “And you told the police about that?”

“Yeah, but it didn’t seem to make any difference.”

“Anything else?” she asked.

Josh stared back at her, and Emily could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. He opened his mouth as if he was going to speak, something was right there on the tip of his tongue, then he closed his lips and shook his head no.

“Josh?”

Alex put his hand on his client’s shoulder for a moment.

“What is it?” Emily was certain he had something more to say. She glanced at Colin. She could tell he wasn’t buying Josh’s story either.

“Nothing.”

“You seem irritated—we’re here trying to help you.” Emily crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.

“I just don’t get it. I already told the cops all of this, and Alex too. Why do I have to keep going over it and over it?”

“Hearing the course of events straight from your mouth might help us discover something the others missed. That’s all,” Colin assured him.

“There’s nothing more to tell.” Josh remained stone-faced.

There was something, though, something he wasn’t telling them. His face and his body language were betraying him.

“What are you not telling us?” Emily challenged him, casting a sideways glance at Colin. “If you want us to help you beat this thing, you’ve got to be completely honest with us. What are you hiding?”

“If you have something to say, just say it,” Alex insisted.

Josh sat silent.

Colin’s eyebrows furrowed into a frown as he shot out of his chair, which went flying backwards against the wall. He slammed both hands on the table and stared down hard at Josh. “You want to go to prison for the rest of your life?”

Josh hung his head and shook it.

“Because that’s exactly where you’re headed if you’re not straight with us.”

Alex flashed him a look and Colin stood up straight, then dragged his chair back to the table. “You think this is some sort of a game?”

“Don’t scare him, Colin, he’s just a kid,” Emily insisted.

“He’s not a kid, Emily,” Colin snapped. “He’s almost twenty-one, and he had better wise up and tell us everything he knows if he’s going to have any chance in hell of beating this murder rap.”

“I’ll give you one last chance to tell us or we’re out of here. What are you holding back?” Emily’s eyes narrowed as she focused her attention on Josh’s response.

Josh raised his head and set his clasped hands on the table. Tension hung in the air as he looked at Emily with sad eyes. He licked his lips and swallowed hard before he spoke.

“Don’t be afraid, Josh. Just tell us,” Emily pleaded.

“When I got to the office that night,” Josh began slowly, “Uncle Sully was already there talking to Lucas. They were arguing about money. I’ve never heard him so angry.” Josh shook his head as he looked down at his folded hands. “He even pulled a gun on Lucas.”

Emily gasped at the thought of Sully pulling a gun on anyone. “Did you believe Sully was going to shoot him?”

“I thought he might, ’cause he was real mad. I was in the dark outer office and I stepped closer to the open door, trying to hear better, but I bumped into something, a trash can I think. The noise must have startled Uncle Sully, because he came running out of the office and took off.”

“Did he see you?” Colin questioned.

“No, I hid behind a file cabinet as he raced by. That’s when I went in and had it out with Lucas myself. You know the rest.”

“Is there anything else you haven’t told us?” Emily pushed, studying his expression and body language for any tells.

“No, that’s it. I just didn’t want to drag my uncle into this. He’s always looked out for me, like a dad. I don’t want you trying to pin this on him to save me.”

~*~

“Let’s get some lunch, Emily,” Colin suggested, driving out of the county jail parking lot. “I’m famished. Why don’t we head over to Goodwood?”

“You and your barbecue.” She grinned at him. “I’d like to call Sully first, see if I can meet with him to get his side of the story, you know?”

Emily dialed Sully’s personal cell phone number as they drove. It rang a few times. “It’s just going to voicemail,” she told Colin. Then, Emily left a brief, vague message asking Sully to call her back.

“Maybe I should call Camille and see how Maggie’s doing,” she suggested, “or head over there after we have lunch.”

As they drove down Main Street toward the rib joint, they passed the Paradise Valley police station and noticed a crowd gathering around the main entrance. It looked like maybe thirty or forty people.

“I wonder what’s going on over there.” She pointed toward the station.

“I can’t imagine. Why don’t we check it out?” Colin made a U-turn in the middle of the street.

“Hey, you can’t do that! U-turns are illegal here,” Emily scolded. “Only police with flashing lights and sirens can do that.”

“Sorry, I’m used to the big city. Let’s just say it was an emergency. Looks like Ernie could use our help,” he chuckled.

Colin pulled the car into the police station parking lot and then he and Emily wormed their way through the crowd. He tried to open the front door, but it was locked. They turned and faced the men and women milling around.

“What’s going on, Mr. Peterson?” Emily asked. The gray-haired man standing in front of her was her office landlord and the scowl on his face told her he was not happy. “Why are all these folks here?”

“We all heard what happened to Lucas Wakefield on the TV news last night and we’ve been calling each other, trying to figure out what’s happening with our money,” he explained, with crossed arms and a deep frown. “We all invested quite a bit of dough in his resort. What’s going to happen now that he’s dead?”

“I don’t know. That’s an excellent question, Pete, but you can’t believe the police chief would have the answer, do you?” she asked.

It sounded like it would be more of a question for the bank Lucas put the money into, or an escrow company who may be holding the funds, neither of which would be open on a Sunday.

“We tried to call the mayor, find out what he knows about this, but no one can seem to reach him. I left a message, so did Ralph and Kaye and John and Travis—heck, most of the people here probably left him a message. The city offices are closed today—it is Sunday, you know—so of course no one is answering the phones. So a bunch of us thought we’d ask the police chief or Ernie—I mean, Detective Kaufman, see what they know.”

“So why are the front doors locked and all you guys standing out here?” Colin asked.

Mr. Peterson’s face flashed with recognition. “Hey, I know you. Aren’t you that California guy who was the police detective here before Ernie? You didn’t last long.”

“Yeah, that’s me,” Colin replied with a sheepish look, “but I hope to be back before long.”

“Yes, Pete, Colin will be back in Paradise Valley before you know it.” Emily winked at Colin, then turned her attention back to the elderly man. “You didn’t answer the question, though. Why are the front doors locked?”

“A bunch of us went in and I guess we filled up the reception area. Stella said there were too many of us and we were making too much racket, so she shooed us out and locked the doors. She said the police chief would come out and talk to us as soon as she located him and got him to come down here. It is Sunday, you know.”

“Yes, you said that.” Emily turned to Colin and whispered in his ear. “I’d be interested to know what’s happening with that money, too.”

Colin nodded, then figuring there wasn’t anything they could do, they continued on to the barbecue place down the street for lunch.

Colin got his finger-lickin’ fix, while Emily, having only a salad, took pleasure in watching him devour the ribs.

“Did I mention how good it is to have you back? Even if it’s only for a little while.” Emily had her eyes fixed on him—the crop of dark hair, his smoky hazel eyes, his strong angular jaw. She would enjoy what little time they had together, hoping that in the midst of the murder investigation and comforting Maggie, she and Colin would have a little time for themselves before he dashed back to San Francisco.

“I think you may have mentioned it.” He grinned and licked his fingers. “Once or twice.”

“I was very surprised to see you this morning. It made me so happy when you took me in your arms. I miss that—you holding me.”

She reached across the small round table to wipe a little drop of barbecue sauce from his lower lip and he caught her hand in his. He provocatively licked the sauce off her finger and kissed the top of her hand, bringing it in close to his chest.

“Do you feel that?” he asked.

“Feel what?”

“My heart. When I’m not here, that’s where I hold you.”