Unauthorized Obsession (Unauthorized Series Book 3) (14 page)

Sgt. Gale took three steps towards Kara and looked closely at her face. “Price – what is wrong with you? Did he do it?”

Kara put her gun back in her holster, feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds. “I don't know,” she said simply.

Uniformed officers swarmed the yard. Sgt. Gale turned around and glared at them. “The man is arrested. Get back. Give us a minute! Most of you can clear the scene. I want you and you to stay but wait up front till I come get you.”

She turned back to Kara, something like concern in her eyes. Kara's knees gave way beneath her and she dropped to the ground.

Sgt. Gale rushed to her quickly. “Is the body in the shed?”

“Yes.”

“Then he did it.”

Kara looked up at her, beseechingly. “Or he was framed and this is all a set up.” She looked around wildly. “It has to be a setup, doesn’t it? It’s too neat, too clean to not be. And I was the key. Mr. X used me like a … a tool from his toolbox!”

Sgt. Gale’s eyes bore into her, a deep knowing of the hurt in Kara's soul mirrored in them.

Kara looked up at the sky and felt the tears flowing again. “Oh God, this is going to ruin his life! And it’s all my fault!”

Sgt. Gale grabbed her by the shoulder. “Kara, look, if he’s being framed, he’s as much of a victim as you are. It’s not your fault.”

“I brought this trouble to him. It is my fault. I decided he was guilty. I convicted him in my mind and in my heart, even if it was only for a second. I pulled my gun out and when you saw that, you arrested him without even giving him a chance to talk.”

Sgt. Gale shook her head adamantly. “Listen, it doesn’t matter what you did. I would’ve arrested him no matter what. It’s the law! If someone has a body in their shed and someone else levels an accusation against him, you arrest him whether he’s the mayor or the president or the chief of police.”

She leaned in close to Kara and spoke softly, her words full of conviction. “Look Kara, this stinks no matter what. I’m not convinced that he isn’t being framed, and he never was a good suspect anyway. But he
was
a suspect and we haven’t been able to clear him yet. This is a complication, but I promise you this, I won’t leave until I figure out if he really did it or if he was framed.”

Kara nodded, her heart aching in her chest, unable to even be happy Sgt. Gale was talking to her like a regular person. “If I tell you something, will you promise not to use it against him?”

Sgt. Gale nodded.

“He has a scar on his upper left arm. It’s long and jagged, not like a gunshot wound at all, but it’s there.”

Sgt. Gale’s eyebrows furrowed and Kara knew she was storing it up for proof of guilt. She clutched at Sgt. Gale’s arms. “You promised you wouldn’t. I only told you so you can find out where he got it from, not so you can use it to convince yourself of his guilt!”

“Got it. I’ll find out where it came from. With any luck he has medical records to back up whatever he says.”

Kara pushed to her feet, still unable to believe that this was happening. She grabbed her phone off of the concrete of Zane's back porch and swayed in place, wondering what to do now. She knew Sgt. Gale wouldn’t let her hang around the investigation, but where should she go? What should she do?

The dogs barking from inside the house caught her attention again. She pushed open the back patio door and walked into the kitchen, petting Kevin and Lucy on the heads. She felt horrible for getting their master arrested. She saw the two steaks on the counter, pushed far back against the wall so the dogs couldn't get to them. She walked over to them in a daze, and put them in the refrigerator. No one would be eating them now.

Behind her, the patio door opened. She heard one of the dogs growl in warning and she turned quickly. Sgt. Gale had been trying to get into the kitchen but she slammed the door shut quickly as Lucy lunged for her. “I’ll have to call animal control,” she said from outside.

“No! I’ll take them with me.”

“I don't think you should,” Sgt. Gale said. “Look Kara, I know that you feel in your heart that he is innocent, but until we clear him you need to stay impartial.”

“Okay, fine. Got it. Impartial. But let me find someone to take them. Not animal control.”

Sgt. Gale didn’t say anything and Kara took that as consent. She looked around the kitchen wildly, her mind flipping through what she knew about Zane. Clint and Kensi were the only two friends of his that she knew. She certainly wasn’t taking the dogs to Kensi. As her eyes flicked around the kitchen, they fell upon a magnet on the refrigerator that was really an advertisement for a dog kennel. She snatched up the magnet and practically cried in relief. She pulled out her phone and called the dog kennel and learned that Lucy and Kevin went there most days to be dog sat while Zane was at work. And the place took night borders. Kara told them she’d be bringing both dogs in within the hour and they said they would look for her.

She turned back to Sgt. Gale who was still looking in the back door from outside. “I’m going to get them out of here. Can I … talk to him?”

Sgt. Gale shook her head. “No. Absolutely not. Until he has been interviewed and ch-” She shut her mouth but Kara knew she had been about to say charged.

God, if she could just explain to Zane why she had done it.
Just tell him that there was a body in his shed and that’s why she had momentarily lost her mind and thought that he was possibly the one who was doing all this to her.
He didn’t know any of it and Kara’s heart was breaking at the thought that he was hurting and confused and maybe hating her right now.

Sgt. Gale leaned forward until her face was against the screen door. “Kara, listen to me. Don't say a word to him. You know you’ll get in trouble if someone finds out that you talked to him on a personal level after he was arrested for this. I’m protecting you here, you know that right?”

Kara nodded. She knew. “Can you at least tell him I’m taking his dogs to Paws and Claws? So he doesn’t worry?”

Sgt. Gale nodded and Kara began to look for their leashes. When she found them, she took the dogs out the back door, hoping not to have to see Zane. She could just imagine him sitting lost and alone, completely confused. Or angry and accusing. Either way, she didn’t want to see him.

She hurried to her car and put the dogs inside, then drove away without ever trying to see where Zane was or if he had seen her.

***

Kara dropped the two dogs off and drove home slowly, not knowing what else to do. She pushed in her door, taking off her gun and putting it in the safe, not even bothering to look around to see if her house looked secure. At this point she didn’t care. She saw Duke in the backyard and went outside to sit with him. His puppy breath and clumsy puppy paws usually made her feel better, but not this time. Her phone buzzed and she looked at it. Ivy. Ivy had actually left her six messages and Kara scrolled through them, reading them all.

What happened?

What’s going on?

Was there anything in his shed?

I’m at work. Call me.

Kara what is going on? Joe and I are freaking out.

Call me!!!

Kara called, her voice soft and listless as she explained exactly what had happened.

“Do you think he did it?” Ivy asked.

“No.” Kara said blankly.

“Sorry Kara. I feel so responsible.”

“Not your fault,” Kara replied automatically.

“Can I come over to your place after I get done with work?”

Kara was about to say no but she reconsidered. It might be nice to have something to think about other than the monstrous mess she had made. “Sure, I’ll see you then.”

Kara hung up and sat in the yard as night fell and the stars came out. Ivy found her like that, sitting with Duke in the dark at 11:00 at night. Ivy convinced her to go inside, wash up, eat something, and sit on the couch with her to watch old
Friends
reruns. Kara did it all with the manner of someone who was sleepwalking, or caught in a bad dream. Her mind was stuck in a loop where she saw the sudden burst of emotion convince her that Zane was a killer. She watched it over and over again, no matter what her eyes were actually looking at.

When she closed her eyes, it replayed on the insides of her eyelids. When she finally fell asleep on the couch, she dreamed about it unendingly.

Kara’s eyes popped open and she looked around the dark room. The TV was still playing with the sound on low. Ivy was curled up in a ball next to her on the couch, breathing deeply. She found her phone on the end table and checked the time. 3:02 AM. Something was wrong. She shook her head, trying to figure out what it was. She looked around the quiet apartment. Duke was asleep on his pillow next to the couch, so that was okay. Had she been awakened by a noise? She sat as still as possible and listened. Nothing. She tried to replay what had been happening in her mind when she awoke but she couldn't make it out - she just had the overwhelming sense that something was very, very wrong.

Kara stood up and paced down the hallway, padding silently in her bare feet. Something was wrong with what?
With the investigation.
They had missed something. Something big, and if she didn’t figure out what it was, Zane was going to pay. A crushing urge to get a look at the investigative file that Sgt. Gale had put together on her stalker hit her. She wondered where Sgt. Gale was right now. At home asleep? At the station? At Zane’s house? Her hands itched and she snapped them shut reflexively. She padded back to the couch and looked at Ivy. She would just let Ivy sleep, and head down to the station to see if she could find Sgt. Gale and get her hands on that file. There was something in there to clear Zane, she knew there was.

Kara pulled on a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt and some work boots, strapped her gun on, and pulled the door brace away from the door. She looked at the brace in her hand and shook her head. She couldn’t leave Ivy here alone. What if the stalker showed up and hurt Ivy?

She walked back to Ivy and shook her gently. “Ivy, let me take you home. I need to head to the station.”

Ivy blinked sleepily at her. “Why?”

“Because we're missing something. Because I can’t stay home and sleep while Zane is locked up in the cell block and it's all my fault.”

Ivy sat up quickly and rubbed her eyes. “It's my fault too. I’m coming.”

Kara stepped back and considered but Ivy didn’t give her a chance. She stood up straight. “I can help you and I'm going.”

“Okay, get your stuff.”

Kara got into her car and thought hard. She knew Sgt. Gale wasn’t at home sleeping. It had barely been twelve hours since she had arrested Zane. She doubted Sgt. Gale had even cleared his house yet so she decided to drive over there first. As she pulled into the neighborhood, she knew she was right. Bright lights shone from the direction of his house and could be seen even from two blocks away. Kara parked her car as close to the front of Zane’s house as she could get, behind a forensics evidence van. She could see the evidence lights that were making the backyard as bright as daylight even better now. As she watched, two men traversed the side of his house, carrying a brown bag between them. The body. Kara twisted her ignition and sat in the silent vehicle, as she and Ivy watched the front of the house for a moment. They were rewarded when Sgt. Gale followed the two men, shouting something. Kara winced. It was three thirty in the morning and Zane's neighbors must have had an eyeful all day and evening, and now they were getting an ear-full also.

Sgt. Gale spotted them immediately and Kara could see the confusion on her face. She jogged over to the car and leaned down to look in Kara's window. “What are you two doing here?” she said, her voice perplexed but not angry.

“Sgt. Gale,” Kara began, trying to figure out how best to start. “I want to take a look at the file. The file on the stalker.” She refused to call him ‘my stalker’ anymore. She was done being this guy's victim. He'd stepped over too many fucking lines and now she was angry. “I know we’re missing something, and I think I can figure out what it is if I just have the papers in front of me.”

Sgt. Gale’s face hardened and took on a look that Kara was more used to, coming from her. “I haven’t missed anything. There are some loose ends but only because people and paperwork have disappeared. Everything else is completely cold and so far my investigation has yielded nothing. But I haven’t missed anything.”

Kara nodded. She knew this firsthand from her own work with the case five months ago. “You’re right. But you’re here working on this aspect of the case, trying to clear Zane's name …” Sgt. Gale looked confused for a moment and Kara shook her head and pushed past it. Zane was innocent, and therefore whatever they found would prove it. “But you’re caught up with the body. Let us look at the file. Please. It’s just sitting there not doing anybody any good. Maybe we can think of a way to turn up something new.”

Sgt. Gale's gaze went firm again. Kara held her breath and pleaded with her eyes. “This is my life we’re talking about," she said softly.

Sgt. Gale took a deep breath and pulled something out of her pocket. A piece of paper and a pen. She scrawled a note and handed it to Kara. “My file cabinet is unlocked. The file is in the top drawer. Get the desk sergeant to let you in. Show him that if he gives you a hard time. Show it to any detectives who ask you what you are doing.”

Kara took the piece of paper gratefully and pulled away quickly, before Sgt. Gale could change her mind.

Ivy twisted in her seat and stared at Kara open mouthed. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. I thought for sure she was going to tell us to go to hell. How did you do that?”

“I don't know. She’s been acting like a human being since she arrested Zane.” Kara felt her throat close up at the last two words she had said. She wondered where exactly Zane was and what he was thinking. Had anyone talked to him yet? Or had they just thrown him in the cell block without any explanation?

It took Kara and Ivy fifteen minutes to make it to the police station and Kara was almost breathless with anticipation as they walked in the door. The feeling that there was something in the manila folders that would lead them to the real killer was stronger than ever.

The desk sergeant unlocked the detective's office and they headed straight for Sgt. Gale's filing cabinet, pulling out every file in the top drawer. The open detective's office was completely empty since it wasn’t even four in the morning yet. The lights were down low and the place had an eerie, unused look. Kara snapped on the lights to one of the conference rooms and motioned Ivy inside, then started spreading the files out on the table. Sgt. Gale had everything in pristine order and perfectly cross-referenced to everything else. Kara laid out the pictures of the women who had suffered through this before her and shuddered as she did it. Her picture was the last one and Kara was determined to pitch it in the garbage when this was all over. She would end this case, not become a part of it.

Kara's phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out, expecting something from Sgt. Gale. But it was Joe.

You’re probably sleeping. But I can’t. Feeling guilty for telling Sgt. Gale. Feeling like we put the wrong guy in jail.

Kara shook her head and laughed. He was twelve hours too late. She texted him back.

Not sleeping. You did what you had to do. We are in detective’s office going over case. Get down here.

Kara didn’t receive a text back so she shoved her phone back in her pocket. She knew he would be there shortly. She opened the last file and peeked inside. Several handwritten notes greeted her. She took them out and read them.

Tita. Real name Leilani Kahale. Released on the fourteenth. Possibly left town. Wants placed. Want to interview about what happened on the night Dawn’s hair was cut. Does she know what happened? Does she remember who the guards on duty were?

Another note.

Guards not interviewed because we don't know who they are. Call placed to human resources. Guards who have been interviewed so far and were not working that night are:

Below this was a list of names.

The first three words,
guards not interviewed
, had been underlined three times, as if it were a big deal. Kara bit the inside of her cheek. Sgt. Gale was right. This was a really big deal and possibly a piece of information they were missing that would pull everything together. Kara thought hard to herself. She knew someone who had been a prison guard but she couldn’t quite remember who. Then it came to her. Seth, her recruit. Had she ever asked him what prison he worked at? She hadn’t. She would call him when the hour was a bit more decent and ask him. Maybe they could catch a break and he would know somebody at Worshaw. Maybe he had even worked there.

Kara bent back over the table, reading Sgt. Gale's notes as Ivy went through another file.

The third note gave the names of the two other women in the cell block with Dawn the night of the incident. One had died of an overdose. The other had also been released. Sgt. Gale had tracked her down and interviewed her and the woman had said she couldn’t remember anything, just like Dawn had. Underneath this information, Sgt. Gale had written
it’s almost like they were drugged. In fact I’m starting to think that is the answer here. It makes me want to interview the guards even more. Or take a hypnotist out there with me. Or both.

Kara was reading this note over for the third time when Joe breezed into the room with three coffees.

“How did you know I was here?” Ivy said.

Joe put a coffee in her hand. “Where else would you be?”

Ivy snorted. “I don't know, at home in bed?”

“Nah, cops don't sleep.”

Ivy laughed and took a drink of her coffee.

“Thanks,” Kara told Joe, her attention still on the note in her hand. Joe read it over her shoulder and made a small noise in the back of his throat.

“What?” Kara asked him.

“That’s a good idea. Hypnotizing her.”

“Yeah, that would be a great idea if we had somebody who could do it.” Kara sneered lightly.

Joe pressed his lips together and held up a finger.

“What? You never told me that.”

“You never asked.”

Kara shook her head. “How did you learn?”

Joe shrugged. “You know I have a background in counseling. It was one of the courses we took.”

Kara's face lit up. “We should do it.”

“I’m willing to give it a try. It doesn’t work on everybody. In fact, it doesn’t work well on many people, and especially in an environment like a prison. But if I can relax her and get that chip off of her shoulder maybe I can get more information than we found from her before.”

Kara glanced at the white clock on the wall. It was barely five in the morning but someone would be answering the phone at the prison. She could start making appointments now. She rushed out of the room to make the phone call and left Ivy and Joe to wrestle with the files.