Revenge of Innocents (23 page)

Mary, Hank, Carolyn, and the district attorney huddled in the back of the room. Jude struck up a conversation with the court reporter, asking her what school she went to, and how long it took to become certified. “Maybe I could do that,” she said. “I used to play computer games all the time. I’ve got really fast fingers.”

“Hold her until I can prepare a statement for her signature,” Thomas said. “I’ll withdraw the charges tomorrow.”

Hank grabbed his sleeve. “Forget the deposition for now. Give her some time to accept what happened to her friend. You can’t release Campbell back in the community. There’s a possibility that he’s involved in a pedophilia ring. I’m certain all these crimes are related, especially the Snodgrass girl’s murder. Charley said she’d been sexually active since she was a child, the same thing the doctor said about Jude. I’m preparing a request for a search warrant for the Snodgrass residence. Can’t you hold off until we put this together?”

“Unless you bring me a credible witness,” Thomas said flatly, “the state has no case against Drew Campbell.” He shot Hank a black gaze. “Don’t ever make an under-the-table deal again, Sawyer, or I’ll have you thrown off the force.”

“Whoa,” Mary said, after the district attorney had stormed out of the room. “Where do we go from here, guys? I knew Jude was a problem, but I didn’t think she was going to drop a bomb like this on us. I’ve never seen Kevin Thomas move so fast.” A sly smile appeared on her face. “What did Jude call him? A prude with a rod stuck up his ass. She sized him up right away, wouldn’t you say?”

“I’m not going to drop the charges and let her just walk away,” Hank said, not interested in small talk. “The girl’s in danger. Maybe she thought if she denied the stuff about her father, he’d leave her alone. I don’t think that’s going to happen. Drew may be working with Snodgrass’s father. For all we know, there are more men involved. We’ve got to get the search warrants pushed through so we can seize their computers.”

“I’ll take Jude home with me again,” Carolyn said, deciding there was no other option. “Tell her it’s a provisional release, Hank, that she has to stay with me or go back to jail. And if she runs away again or uses narcotics, you’ll press charges on both counts. Impress on her that she could go to prison. She got a taste of the jail last night and didn’t like it. She wouldn’t last a week at a state prison facility.”

“She’s a girl,” the detective said. “A white middle-class girl, not some hard-core gang chick. No judge is going to send her to the joint. A stint in jail maybe. That’s on the possession charge. She was right when she questioned the validity of the breaking and entering. It was her house.”

“Charge her with auto theft, then?” Carolyn suggested. “She stole Marcus’s Jeep Wrangler.”

“By the way,” Mary said, “patrol found it parked in the shopping center a few blocks away from Veronica’s house. I had them tow it to your place in Santa Rosa. I thought you guys didn’t want to press charges.”

“We don’t. We’re just going to hold a prison sentence over her head. It doesn’t have to be true. We need some way to control her until we figure out what’s going on.”

“Oh, I see,” Mary said, scowling. “She lies. We lie. Then somehow, everything turns out perfect. I’m not so sure about that, Carolyn.”

“I might consider cutting her loose and putting a tail on her,” Hank said. “That way, we might actually learn something.”

“I think she’s involved with Reggie Stockton,” Mary said, keeping her eye on Jude. “Who knows? Maybe she killed off the competition. She didn’t seem upset when we told her that Haley Snodgrass had been murdered.”

“Snodgrass weighed seventy pounds,” Hank told them. “I doubt if a girl like Jude would consider a skeleton competition. The best plan is to kick her loose and follow her. I’ll put Gary Conrad on her. She’s never met him and he doesn’t look like a cop.” He walked a few steps away and called Conrad. “He’ll be here in five minutes. He’ll pick her up as soon as she leaves the courthouse.”

Carolyn felt betrayed and conflicted. She was too busy to spend time with Rebecca, but she felt compelled to take care of Jude. Hank had made his decision, though, and arguing with him would be futile. He was a good friend, and a great detective, but a real hardhead once he set his mind on something. All she could do was pray that something terrible didn’t happen to Jude. “Did she have any money when they booked her last night?”

“A few bucks,” Mary said. “She probably pawned your daughter’s stuff to buy the dope. Patrol said there was nothing of value in the Jeep.”

“She has to have money for food.”

Hank was fed up. “She made a big speech about how she could take care of herself. Let’s see if she can prove it.”

Carolyn waited until the two detectives had left, then walked over and handed Jude her card. “I’m still your friend,” she said. “Whether you believe it or not, I care about you. If you get in trouble, call me. And please, Jude, be careful.”

Kevin Thomas returned, placing several pieces of paper down on the table in front of Jude. “Once you read through this, sign it and Mrs. Hubert will notarize it. You have your ID with you, I hope.”

Jude pulled her driver’s license out of her pocket and handed it to the court reporter. She flipped through to the last page of the document, then scribbled her name.

“Don’t you want to read it?” Thomas asked.

“No,” she said, a flirtatious smile on her face. “I trust you, Kevin. I bet you can suck dick even better than I can.”

Once the statement was notarized, he dropped a copy on the table and hightailed it out of the office.

Jude’s arrogant attitude shifted to one of despair. When she spoke, the bewildered young girl finally surfaced. “Does this mean I can leave?”

“Yes,” Carolyn said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I can drop you off somewhere if you want.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I’m sorry I said all those ugly things to you. I’m sure Rebecca hates me for taking her iPod and all. I was jealous of her. That’s why it was hard for me to stay with you. She has everything and I have nothing. I don’t even have a mother now, and I’m sure my dad will never speak to me again.” Tears spilled from her eyes. “I should have told my mom how much I loved her. All I did was cause her trouble. Will you catch the man who killed her?”

“We’ll do our best,” Carolyn said, not wanting to tell her that the investigation had been impeded by her fabrications. Her clothes were dirty and disheveled, her hair matted, and her skin tone looked slightly yellow. When she stood, she seemed to have trouble maintaining her balance. Veronica would be horrified to see her daughter in this condition. But Veronica was dead, and if Jude had told the truth today, Drew had been put through hell for no reason.

Carolyn didn’t understand why Hank thought Drew was involved in a pedophilia ring involving Haley Snodgrass’s father. It was true that the cases had connecting elements, yet none that would lead to such a radical speculation. Rebecca was friends with Haley’s younger sister, Anne Marie. She’d even spent the night at their home on numerous occasions. The poor people had lost their daughter. The cops had already made a tragic error with Drew. Now that Carolyn had had time to digest things, it didn’t make sense that Jude would clear her father if she was fearful he might kill her. Carolyn cringed at the thought of invading the Snodgrass’s privacy so soon after their daughter’s death. Sometimes law enforcement did more harm than good.

All Carolyn wanted to do was go home to Rebecca and Marcus.

As soon as she left, Jude walked over and stood next to Mrs. Hubert. “I just wanted to see how you fold that machine up. When I get my act together, I’m going to check into that school you told me about.”

“It gets boring sometimes,” the court reporter told her. “But the money’s fairly good, and as long as you don’t work for the courts, you can set your own hours.”

While the woman was fiddling with her machine, Jude snatched her cell phone and wallet out of her purse, shoving them in the waistband of her jeans and pulling down her T-shirt to cover them.

When Mrs. Hubert looked up, the room was empty. She stepped out into the corridor, thinking it was strange that Jude hadn’t said good-bye, but the elevator doors had already closed.

Sunday, October 17—9:30
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arolyn was in the kitchen making breakfast, dressed in her pink terry cloth bathrobe. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and homemade blueberry muffins had made its way to the second floor.

Rebecca waddled into the room, wearing sweats and oversized slippers with cat faces on them. She gave her mother a kiss and yawned. When she saw the clock, she said, “I didn’t know it was so early. Just save my breakfast and I’ll heat it up in the microwave later.”

“I need to talk to you,” her mother said, removing the muffins from the oven.

“What about?”

She wanted to question her about Haley Snodgrass and her parents. She was surprised Anne Marie hadn’t called and told her about her sister’s death, but the whole family was probably in shock. “Go back to bed, honey. It can wait.”

Marcus came in with the Sunday paper, playfully swatting Carolyn with it, then nuzzling her ear. The weather’s lousy today. There’s nothing better than sex on a rainy afternoon.”

Carolyn was disappointed she hadn’t heard from Tyler Bell yet. She was fairly certain he’d had nothing to do with Abernathy’s and McAllen’s death, but it would be nice to have the proof, particularly now that Drew had been tentatively cleared. It was for the best, though, she decided, eager to enjoy the day with her family and give her mind a rest from the events of the past week.

Carolyn and Marcus split the paper between them, and leisurely flipped through the pages as they ate. Several times he looked up and smiled. He was a quiet, dignified man. They could be comfortable together in silence, just enjoying each other’s presence without the need to talk. The night before passed through her mind, the tender way he had made love to her. He knew just where and how to touch her, as if someone had drawn him a map to all the pleasure points on her body. He was a quiet lover, unusual for a man. She loved the way he looked, the sound of his voice, the way his skin smelled, the texture of his hair. She placed her fist under her chin and stared at him. When you truly loved someone, just gazing at their face could turn despair into happiness.

Marcus’s life hadn’t been without problems, which gave him a depth beyond the average person. His twin brother had been a prominent Manhattan psychiatrist. He’d suffered a traumatic experience as a young child that had scarred him for life. Their baby sister, Iris, had died when her stroller plunged down a cliff into the Hudson River. Their father had blamed Marcus’s brother, who was only eight at the time, and their mother had been so swallowed up with grief that she’d abandoned her family. The father had compounded the situation by leaving Marcus the majority of his estate. His brother had turned his pain into rage, and directed it toward women. Even today, they still weren’t certain how many women he’d murdered. They seldom spoke of it. Marcus believed nothing could be gained by dwelling on the past, especially when there was nothing that could be done to change it.

His brother had been killed, shot by one of the women who survived his attempt to take her life. Carolyn glanced out the window. He had died here at Marcus’s home. On a clear day, she could see the exact spot where the police had found his body.

After his brother’s death, Carolyn had suggested Marcus sell the house. He’d refused, claiming it didn’t bother him. Every now and then, though, she would see him standing there alone, in the spot where his brother had died. Even though the two men had been estranged for years, losing an identical twin must have been traumatic.

She’d waited a year before accepting Marcus’s marriage proposal. Since Marcus and his brother possessed the same genetic makeup, she had to dispel all thoughts that he might develop a propensity for violence. But Carolyn didn’t believe people were born killers. In most instances, it was their life experiences. In others, it was some type of mental illness.

Being raised in a staunch Catholic environment, Carolyn was taught that evil could take residence inside a human body if a person was weak or didn’t call on the protection of God. Now that she was an adult, her beliefs had expanded beyond church dogma. She was still devout, but in her own unique way. Yesterday, she had stopped at a church and prayed before driving home. She did this on a regular basis, and it seemed to provide her solace. She tried to take communion at least once a month, but like Marcus, she was an intensely private person and preferred to commune with God in an empty church.

She cleared the table and placed the dishes in the dishwasher, then washed the pans and put them away. “Take all of it,” she said, seeing him reach across the table for the sections of the paper she’d been reading. “I need to go upstairs and spend some time with Rebecca.”

“Did you read the article about Haley Snodgrass?” Marcus asked her. “Since she went to Ventura High, Rebecca probably knew her.”

“Anne Marie is her younger sister,” Carolyn informed him, returning to her seat at the table. “She and Rebecca are friends, so I want to see what she can tell me about the family. She didn’t say anything when she came down earlier. I don’t think she knows Haley was murdered yet.”

“Oh,” he said, setting the paper down. “I assumed it was all right to cancel the man I had keeping tabs on John. It was costing a bundle, and I’ve got a cash flow problem. I’ve waited almost a year to get paid on one job. The government is the worst. They never pay on time.”

“Why not?”

“They’re the government,” Marcus said, shrugging. “As to the surveillance, I still want to keep someone on Rebecca. The fact that a young girl was murdered is a good enough reason for me. Do you agree?”

“For now,” Carolyn told him. “After the PD executes the search warrant on the Snodgrass house, we may know more. Jude is the one I’m worried about. At least Hank assigned someone to tail her.”

“She was certainly convincing.”

“Jude’s a good actress,” Carolyn commented. “None of us are sure what was true and what she fabricated. For the time being, we have no choice but to believe the accusations she made against Drew were false. I think the coroner is ready to release Veronica’s body, so at least he’ll be out in time to plan his wife’s funeral.”

Marcus scratched the side of his face. “What about the younger kids?”

“I assume they’ll be returned to Drew. No one saw any evidence they’d been abused.” Carolyn spread her hands over her face. “I feel awful. I should have felt Jude out more before I went to the police. I was just so certain what she said was true. Looking back, it was like she was reading from a script. When the DA tried to nail down specifics, she fell apart.”

“It’s not your fault,” Marcus told her, reaching across the table to stroke her hand. “You were trying to protect Stacy. I was wrong to come down on you last night. That’s one of the things I love about you, your dedication to your job.”

“Does that mean I don’t have to resign?”

He tossed his head back and laughed. “Who are you kidding? You weren’t going to quit because of me. You’re too strong of a woman to let someone tell you what to do.”

Carolyn’s spirits lifted. “You really mean it?”

He shoved the front page of the paper to her. The lead story was Haley Snodgrass’s murder. “All I can do is read about this stuff. You have the ability to actually do something about it. I can’t ask you to give that up. You’re good at your job. You make a difference.”

Carolyn smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “I might surprise you, though, and quit one of these days. I’m tired, Marcus, and I doubt if Drew or Kevin Thomas believes I’m good at my job right now.”

He got up and walked over to her, pulling her to her feet, then cradling her against his body. “You’re the most noble and courageous women I’ve ever known,” he told her. “The only person you need to worry about is me, and I adore you. We’ve got to set a date for the wedding.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Carolyn told him, reaching inside his robe so she could feel the warmth of his skin.

“Go talk to Rebecca,” he said. “Then we’ll go upstairs and take a shower together.”

“Where’s my breakfast?” Rebecca was sprawled out on her bed, flipping through the pages of a fashion magazine.

“We don’t have room service,” Carolyn told her. “All you have to do is go downstairs and heat it up.”

“John called me last night. He said some weird guy had been following him. Why didn’t you tell me about Anne Marie’s sister? Even John knew about it.”

“Well,” her mother said, perching on the edge of her bed, “you wanted to go back to sleep, remember? The man John saw was someone Marcus hired to protect him. I talked to your brother last night, too. Since things have changed, Marcus is going to call off the security. Have you spoken to Anne Marie?”

“I tried to call her just now, but her line was busy. She’s not even answering her cell phone.”

“What are her parents like?”

“I don’t know,” Rebecca told her. “Like all parents, I guess. Her mother acts like a zombie. Anne Marie said she had a nervous breakdown a few years back. She takes a lot of pills.”

Interesting, Carolyn thought. “What about her father?”

“Nice. Before I got my license, he used to drive us everywhere. He doesn’t really act like an adult. A lot of older people are like that. I guess they’re trying to hang on to their youth or something.”

“What exactly do you mean?”

Rebecca tossed the magazine aside. “You know, he tries to act like he’s a teenager. He buys his clothes at the Gap. Whenever we say we like a certain song or group, he says he likes it, too. A lot of times when we go to the movies, he goes with us. It sort of pisses Anne Marie off. We went to Magic Mountain one time, and he rode all the rides with us.” She smiled, a look of excitement on her face. “I met a guy last night.”

“Where?”

“At Johnny Rockets in the mall,” she said. “He’s really handsome, and he has an awesome body. He said he used to play football, but then he hurt his knee.”

“Where does he go to school?”

“Thousand Oaks,” Rebecca told her. “He’s a senior.”

“I don’t want you dating an older boy. You know how I feel about that, honey. Older boys want—”

“Sex,” her daughter answered. “I just met the guy and you’re already scared I’m going to have sex with him. I don’t do that, Mom. I don’t want to get pregnant and I don’t want to take birth control pills. They make your face break out. My friend Lilly gained ten pounds when she went on the pill. I’m not ready for some guy to slobber all over me, anyway. All my friends who’ve had sex say it’s not worth it. Girls are different from guys. Lilly’s boyfriend creamed his pants before they even did anything. That’s gross. I’d rather mastur bate.”

They’d had this discussion before, and since the situation with Jude, Carolyn wasn’t sure if her daughter meant the things she said, or was merely trying to appease her. “Good attitude,” she told her, standing to leave. “Keep me posted on this new guy you met. I want to know what’s going on with you, especially since a girl from your school was murdered.”

“I’ll tell you every detail,” she said. “You want to go with me if he asks me out on a date? That’d be way cool, Mom. Then you could make sure the guy wasn’t an axe murderer. You could even show him your gun.”

“You’re being sarcastic.”

“No, I’m not,” Rebecca lied.

Carolyn’s daughter had always been something of a brat. In the past year, she’d become less demanding and more thoughtful. Carolyn worried the new lifestyle Marcus was providing would spoil her, and she was determined to stop it at the onset.

Marcus’s first marriage had ended poorly. He’d claimed responsibility, telling her he’d failed to spend enough time at home while he was building his business. He’d lost more than his wife, though. He’d also lost his children. She assumed this was the reason he doted on Rebecca. She needed to have a serious talk with him. Giving a child everything she wanted was not the way to prepare her for life in the real world.

“Can’t you please heat up my breakfast and bring it to me? This is such a big house, Mom, and I was up really late last night.”

“Then go to bed earlier,” Carolyn told her. “I love you, but I’m your mother, not your servant.”