Faces of Evil [4] Rage (31 page)

“Gabrielle asked Sarah about it and she laughed it off, so Gabrielle dismissed the whole business.”

Jess wanted to ask more specific questions but she held her tongue and let the woman talk.

“A few weeks later,” Rochelle went on, “there was another incident. It was family visitation day and one of the patients had gotten his younger brother to slip him a few OCs without his parents finding out. When the pills went missing he lost it. He had to be sedated, but he insisted over and over that Sarah had stolen his OC.”

“OC meaning OxyContin,” Jess confirmed.

Rochelle nodded. “The coincidences were adding up to a situation Gabrielle couldn’t overlook so she confronted Sarah. We were all tore up about it. Sarah cried and claimed she had hurt her back and that she’d just needed a couple to get through it. But Gabrielle didn’t believe her. She insisted Sarah have a drug test.” Rochelle snorted. “She did and it was clean. No OC. Sarah admitted then that the drugs were for her husband. He was still recovering from an old accident and she said the doctor was skimping on his pain meds.”

“Sarah wasn’t charged or dismissed?” Jess asked, startled that she’d not found this in the background research conducted on Sarah Riley.

“Gabrielle felt sorry for her. She knew how pushy Sarah’s husband could be, so she made a deal with Sarah. Sarah would resign and Gabrielle wouldn’t put anything about the incident in her personnel file. Sarah pleaded with her not to tell their husbands. Jack would lose his job and they’d be homeless. Not to mention he would kill her if he found out she’d told anyone about getting him prescription meds.”

“Sarah was really that terrified of her husband?” Maybe this woman could confirm the abuse.

Rochelle laughed but there was nothing amusing about the sound. “Oh yeah. She didn’t talk about it much but I picked up on it.”

The woman’s assumptions weren’t proof but her statement backed up Jess’s instincts. “What did Gabrielle do about Sarah’s request?”

“Gabrielle agreed not to tell as long as Sarah made sure Jack started following the doctor’s orders instead of his own selfish needs.”

“We have random drug tests for just that sort of problem,” Jess said. She was aware there were ways around almost any test but she couldn’t see the guy getting away with it for more than two years.

“He was in an accident,” Rochelle suggested. “All he has to do is keep a script for the occasional pain killer of his choice and he’s covered if he gets hit with a test. Addicts do it all the time. They explain away a heavy concentration with the excuse that the night before had been a rough one for pain and they’d doubled up on the dose. People walk around believing that if a doctor prescribes it that it must be okay. They don’t realize they’re killing themselves and endangering others.”

“Did this incident change Gabrielle and Sarah’s friendship?”

Rochelle shook her head. “No way. Their husbands were partners. And Gabrielle felt like Sarah was the sister she never had. The two were closer than the rest of us. Sarah and Jack introduced her to the man she married. The father of her child. There was a strong connection.”

“Do you believe Sarah did as Gabrielle asked and urged her husband to get help?”

Rochelle shrugged. “I sure hope so. Can you imagine your partner having a drug problem you didn’t know about when you’re depending on him to provide your backup? A partner like that could get you killed.”

And suddenly, as if lightning had struck right out of a clear blue sky, Jess understood they had one possible, immensely disturbing motive.

What she was about to ask could be construed as leading the witness, but Jess wanted this woman’s opinion based on her work in the field. “Mrs. Arnold, based on your experience working with recovering addicts, what steps would have been necessary for Sarah’s husband to have gotten clean of his addiction to pain meds?”

“It’s a tough drug to beat and, depending on how much he was taking, it could be extremely dangerous to stop cold turkey. The best results are seen in those who commit to rehab. At least thirty days followed by long-term counseling. He would need to carry a card indicating he had an opiate addiction. It takes work.”

“Would his partner not be able to see there was a problem? After all, he’s a cop. We know the signs to look for.”

“You may know all kinds of signs and symptoms,” Rochelle agreed, “but you might not necessarily see what’s right in front of you. Some people have serious addictions and their family and coworkers never know. The desperation that accompanies needing something that badly and having to jump through hoops to get it and hide it from the world will make a person do things they would never ever do otherwise.”

Slowly but surely the pieces started to fall into place. “Did you ever know of Gabrielle using drugs herself?”

Arnold laughed, the real thing this time. “You’re kidding, right?” She gave a firm shake of her head. “Gabrielle was the most anti-drug person you will ever meet. She lost a brother to drugs when he was in high school. She hardly took an aspirin when she had a headache. No way she’d touch anything like that.”

After thanking the lady, Jess couldn’t get out of the house fast enough.

“Harper told me what an asshole Riley is,” Lori said as they climbed into her Mustang.

“We need to get a tail on Riley.” Jess’s cell clanged. As if he’d heard her request, it was Harper. “Harris.”

“Chief, we got the phone records. Gabrielle made a call to Dr. Baron on Saturday afternoon, just like she said. On Sunday, Gabrielle made one call and received two calls shortly after her husband returned to duty that night. All three were Sarah Riley.”

“That corroborates what Sarah told us.” Didn’t make Jess feel any better. Maybe the two had been talking about vacations.

“There was another, much later,” Harper said. “Gabrielle also made another call at eleven o’clock that night.”

Jess frowned. “Wait. That can’t be right.” Time of death was estimated at somewhere between nine and midnight. It was possible, she supposed, but that was stretching it. “Who did she call at eleven?”

“Jack Riley.”

A jolt of adrenaline slammed Jess. “You and Cook trade out shifts. I want one of you watching Riley twenty-four/seven.” Now they were getting somewhere.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Anything new on the search for Devon?” she asked before he could end the call. Jess knew there wasn’t. Harper or Cook would have called. But she couldn’t help hoping.

“A few more false sightings, but nothing else.”

“Thanks, Sergeant. Keep me posted on who’s got Riley under surveillance.”

Following this lead wouldn’t win her any friends in the department, but she knew in her bones they’d just been given a motive for Gabrielle’s murder.

“Where we headed now?” Lori asked.

“To the home of Sarah and Jack Riley. I have a few more questions for Sarah.”

“The shit’s going to hit the fan as soon as we cross that line.”

“Yeah, well, I do have a reputation to maintain.”

T
he light was back.

It was real bright.

It hurt Devon’s eyes.

He was so hungry. The angel had given him a drink and some bites of sandwich last time the light came. But that was a long time ago.

His belly growled as the light got closer. He knew he should be scared but he was too tired.

He didn’t know how long he’d been in this dark place but it felt like a real long time.

Leslie had probably quit looking for him by now. She was prob’ly sad.

He’d heard the kids in the house crying again. And the man and woman yelling at each other. Once when he woke up he thought he heard the blond lady cop talking but he prob’ly dreamed it.

The angel put the light down on the ground by Devon’s feet. He heard a tearing sound. More tape, he was pretty sure. He blinked. Tried so see but his eyes wouldn’t work good. The light made them hurt. More of that yucky tape was stuck to his face. This time over his eyes.

He didn’t like it but he couldn’t say anything. He was pretty sure it wouldn’t matter anyway.

The angel was pulling at his arms. Dragging him. Where were they going? Was the angel taking him home?

Maybe he was going to heaven. Tears made his eyes sting. He didn’t want to go… he wanted his sister.

Devon went inside himself.

Caldwell Avenue, 8:30 p.m.

L
ori rapped on the town house door again.

Even at this hour Jess felt as if she were melting, especially in this borrowed black dress. She’d ignored four calls from Burnett. He hadn’t left any voice mails, which meant nothing was wrong. He just wanted to know where the hell she was and what she was doing. Oh yes, and when she would be home.

Apparently her assigned tail had lost them. It wasn’t on purpose. But there was no time to waste.

Speaking of wasting time, Jess did the knocking this time. “Maybe they went to a wake or something for family and close friends that we weren’t invited to.”

“Or dinner,” Lori suggested.

“What’s that?” Jess teased.

“Something we’ve both missed this evening.”

Jess tried to recall if she’d had lunch.

The door to the left of their position on the sidewalk opened.

Jess prepared to apologize for all the loud banging when the old man derailed her by blatantly sizing her up in her too tight, too short black sheath. She’d had to borrow this dress from Lori. That had become a habit lately.

“I’m Deputy Chief Jess Harris,” she announced, drawing the man’s attention from her legs to her face, “and this is Detective Lori Wells. We’re here to speak with Sarah Riley.”

“Garland Haines. Lived here for fifteen years. Been neighbors with the Rileys for five of those years. They’re not home,” he groused. “If they were, you’d hear ’em yelling at each other,” he rambled on. “Trust me, they’re not home.”

“Thank you.” Jess gave him a smile. “We’ll just be on our way then.”

“Another thing,” he added, “if they were home all that banging would’ve had both their brats screaming at the tops of their lungs.”

What a friendly neighbor. “I guess it’s a good thing they’re not home then.”

“Most of the time I don’t care. I’m watching TV or whatever and I can’t hear ’em. But what gets me riled up is when the bawling starts in the middle of the night. And she don’t do nothing about it. What kind of mother does that?”

The last nabbed her attention. “Does that happen often?”

“If it happens once it’s too often,” he griped. “Like this weekend. That youngest one of hers started bellowing around ten and by ten thirty the other one was squalling, too. I banged on her door like you did just now but she didn’t answer. I checked the street and her car was gone. She’d done gone off and left those two babies in the house alone. She’s done it before. I told her if it happened again I was calling the police. So I called her husband. He’s a cop after all and they’re his brats. He guaranteed it wouldn’t happen again and it ain’t happened since.”

“Mr. Haines, can you recall what night that was?” The adrenaline was already charging through Jess’s veins.

“It was Sunday night. I know ’cause I went to a church supper with my sister. I was watching the ten o’clock news when the squalling started. Is that certain enough for you? I missed nearly all of it banging on that damned door and calling her husband.”

“Thank you, Mr. Haines. We’re sorry to have bothered you.”

“When you’re an old man who lives alone,” he called out as they walked away, “you get used to being bothered. Every damned thing bothers you.”

When they were loaded in the Mustang, Jess said, “I need to go back to the church.”

First United Methodist Church, 9:49 p.m.

While they waited for the minister to arrive and unlock the door, Jess paced in front of the main entrance. She had spoken to Burnett and given their location. He was not happy that she’d avoided his first four calls.

Lori had checked with Harper. He hadn’t located Sarah Riley, but her husband was on duty with the GTF.

“It’s official, by the way,” Lori said, drawing Jess from her musings.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”