Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
After his shift, Chase was on his way out of the station when Shelby stopped him. “Hey, can we talk?”
Chase hiked the strap of his bag onto his shoulder. “Sure. I was going to head to the gym. What’s up?”
She nodded her head at the exit. “In private?”
Shit. The news had gotten out sooner than he’d expected. He wondered who else knew.
They jogged down the steps onto the street. People were bustling up and down Ocean Lane. He and Shelby kept going until they’d crossed the street, heading for the beach. Kids ran around in the sand, probably just out of school for the day.
“So you heard?” he asked.
Shelby gave him the side-eye. “Heard what?”
Now he was confused. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Nuh-uh. Your turn first. What did you think I was talking about?”
Chase was hesitating, but he knew his friend. Shelby wasn’t going to let him deflect. “Ruby and I got married over the weekend.”
“Aw, hell.” Shelby’s face pinched. “I hope I never fall in love, because it turns otherwise reasonable people into complete idiots.”
“I don’t need the lecture. What did you want to tell me?”
She glanced around, though no other officers were anywhere in sight.
“I heard some guys talking about the Mickey Waverley investigation. Apparently, a tip got called in. Owner of a shop a few blocks away from Waverley’s apartment saw somebody suspicious running down an alley around the time of the murder. But nobody’s followed up.”
“What? Why the hell not?”
“Beats me. But I looked up the tip report, which I probably shouldn’t have done, because I wasn’t assigned to it. And now I’m telling you about it, which I really shouldn’t be doing. Because you’re our main suspect’s husband, apparently.”
“But you’re doing it anyway. I’m grateful.”
“I thought we’d go find out what this potential witness saw. Not because Ruby’s close to you, but because it’s the right thing. ’Cause I’m honorable like that, even when it would be smarter to stay out of it.” She was shaking her head. “You and I have that in common, I guess.”
“I can go. You don’t need to come along.”
“No, I’ve got your back. Can’t have you going around being reckless all by yourself.”
Shelby looked up at the sign. “This is the place.”
It was called Cakes ’N’ More, a storefront at one end of a strip mall. Chase and Shelby walked inside, bell tinkling.
They wound through the displays of icing and plastic tools that looked more like they belonged in a hardware store. A gray-haired woman was struggling to carry a cardboard box from a back room out to the register.
“Can I help you with that?” Chase took the box and set it on the counter.
“Thank you. My grandson is usually here in the afternoons to handle inventory, but I am completely out of meringue powder, and I don’t want to be the cause of a riot in the streets.”
Chase laughed. “I don’t even know what meringue powder is. What about you, Shelby?”
“I watch the Food Network.”
“There you go,” said the woman. “Now you see my predicament.” She picked up a pair of scissors and sliced open the tape. “Are you two here about that murder nearby?”
Chase lifted an eyebrow, glancing at his friend. “You guessed it. I’m Officer Collins. This is Officer Shelborne. Were you the one who called in the tip?”
“Indeed. I’m Phyllis. Pleasure to meet you. I was starting to think no one would ever come.”
“Sorry about the delay.” Shelby took out a notepad. “Could you tell us what you saw the day of the murder?”
“Well, sure. But didn’t you already arrest the killer?”
Chase’s shoulders tightened. He reached into the box and picked up one of the plastic containers. “Where do you want these?”
“Oh, that shelf over there. Thank you. That’s very kind.”
He started unloading the box.
“Why don’t you tell us what you saw,” Shelby prompted again.
Phyllis leaned against the counter. Chase stacked the plastic jars on the shelf, though he was listening closely.
“The first thing I noticed was the sirens. I was in the back room, getting a special order together for an online customer. Well, I heard the sirens, looked up, noticed movement in the window overlooking the alley. There was a man running past. I thought right away that he could be running from the sirens, so I should’ve been scared.
But it was the strangest thing. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from that window, even though he could’ve looked over and seen me. ”
“Did he?” Shelby asked.
“I don’t believe so, no.”
Shelby tapped her pen against the pad. “What did the man look like?”
“Tall. Muscular, like your partner there.”
Shelby wasn’t his partner, but he didn’t bother to correct her.
Phyllis glanced over Chase from head to foot. “But this guy was even bigger. Like one of those wrestlers on TV. Huge shoulders, shaved head. He seemed, I don’t know, mean.”
Chase lined up another jar of powder, his heart rate picking up. “What makes you say that?”
“Just an impression. The way he frowned. He seemed agitated, and was looking all around like he was afraid of being followed. And he had something balled up in his hands. Tossed it in a trash can on his way past.”
Chase cursed under his breath. “And nobody came to ask you about this? Or searched the alley?” Unbelievable.
“Not until you.” But Phyllis was smiling.
“You’re lucky I watch a lot of police shows.
I went outside and grabbed that bag of trash right out of the can.
It smelled terrible, so I wrapped it up, but it’s still in the back room.
It could be evidence, isn’t it? I’d love to get rid of it, but I was afraid to in case somebody finally came looking. ”
Hope had inflated in his chest. He’d heard the murder weapon had been missing from the scene. Could it be in that trash bag?
“We can take a look,” Shelby said.
The three of them took the bag out into the alley. Phyllis provided a pair of rubber gloves, and Shelby put them on. “You take pictures with my phone,” Shelby murmured to Chase. “Better if you don’t touch anything. You were never here.”
“Shouldn’t we just take the whole thing back to the station? Make forensics sort through it?”
“A bag of trash that’s been marinating for over a week and may or may not have anything useful? No, Chase. I don’t think I’m going to bring that in. Not unless we have something to show for it.”
But his pulse was racing. This could be big. It could be evidence that would help win Ruby’s case.
Chase took pictures of the outside of the bag. Shelby unwrapped the outer plastic, then split the bag along the side. She spread the contents onto a flattened cardboard box.
Discarded food wrappers. A few baggies holding dog waste. An issue of the LA Times, which Chase photographed for the date. It all reeked, though nowhere near as bad as most major crime scenes.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing. “Right there.”
Phyllis squatted near the ground. “I see it too.”
Shelby picked up a wad of fabric. It looked like a small, dirty towel.
“Is there blood on it?” Chase asked.
“I can’t tell.” Shelby went to fetch a plastic bag from her car and came back to store the towel inside.
To his disappointment, nothing else in the trash bag seemed remotely interesting or unusual. No murder weapon.
Finally, they were done taking Phyllis’s statement and headed back to the car. “I’m going to take this in to the station and get it into evidence,” Shelby said. “I’ll talk to Detective Murphy about how I found it. She’s going to be pissed that I did this on my own, but I’ll deal with it.”
“On your own?” Chase said. “What about me? I’m going down there with you. I want to know why the hell nobody followed up on the tip before.”
“Which is exactly why you’d better stay away. You’re too close to this.”
Chase grumbled, but he knew Shelby was right.
If he went down to the station and confronted Murphy about why she’d ignored this tip, he’d lose his shit. And that wouldn’t help anyone. Not Ruby, and certainly not him.
Chase walked in the door. Ruby was setting dinner plates on the table.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Your eyes are funny.”
Haley toddled over to him, and he picked her up, planting a kiss on her hair. “I’m better than okay. Maybe.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know for sure yet.” He set Haley down, then went into the bedroom to change.
Ruby followed him, waiting outside the door. “That’s mysterious.”
“Not trying to be.” Chase emerged a minute later, gun put away. He’d taken off his uniform shirt but still wore the pants and his undershirt. He was too excited and needed to get this out. “Shelby and I may have found another suspect.”
“Another suspect? In Mickey’s—” Ruby glanced at Haley, who was clinging to her legs and asking to be picked up. “Want to watch some Coco Melon, bug?”
Once Haley was in front of the TV, singing with the characters on the video, Ruby grabbed Chase’s arm and pulled him into the kitchen. “Tell me.”
Chase explained what he and Shelby had found. Ruby’s frown only deepened as she listened.
She was quiet for far too long after he finished.
“What?” he asked.
“You promised me you were going to stay out of the investigation.”
He blinked at her. “That was before Shelby told me about the witness tip. What was I supposed to do? Ignore it?”
“No, you should’ve given the information to Jane. She and Bennett Security are handling my case. You’re just going to get yourself into trouble at work.”
Chase cocked his hip. Ruby was mad at him? Seriously? “I can worry about work myself.”
“Not if you’re too busy running around trying to save me.”
He sputtered a laugh. “And that’s a bad thing?”
“It’s bad when you’re putting your career at risk. When you promised me.”
“Ruby, you’re facing a murder charge. I’m trying to help you. To protect you.”
“So you’re allowed to protect me, but I’m not allowed to protect you?”
He opened and closed his mouth like a fish. Haley’s video switched to another kids’ song.
Shit. He hadn’t expected this. And he didn’t want to admit that she maybe had a point. A very small one.
Ruby crossed her arms, glaring up at him. “You’ve already given up too much for me.”
That again. He shrugged. “If I want to run around being a hero, that’s my problem.”
“I’m not some princess you’re keeping in a tower. I have a say.”
“And I don’t? I should just leave it to Bennett Security?
” His skin flushed. Shelby had told him earlier not to come to the station with her.
Now Ruby was chewing him out like he was an asshole for caring about her.
“Maybe you should’ve married Noah Vandermeer instead of me.
Since Bennett Security is running the show. ”
“What? What are you even talking about? Are you jealous that Noah’s helping me?”
“Jealous? Why would I be jealous?”
“Then this is some territorial guy thing. Because I’m your wife, suddenly you have to be in control of everything.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“You know, maybe I should have married someone else. Then you wouldn’t be such a pain in the ass about trying to rescue me. You’re not my Prince Charming.”
His jaw clenched, the muscle working. “Never claimed to be.”
“But you constantly seem to be auditioning for the role.”
“Then I’ll be a narcissistic jerk from now on. Happy?”
“Very. Can we eat dinner now please?”
“Nobody’s stopping you.”
“Perfect.”
“Great.” Chase sat heavily in his seat, grabbed his fork, and speared a piece of shrimp.
They’d just had their first real fight. Not just of their marriage, but of their friendship. Chase knew he should apologize. But then Ruby would just get pissed at him again. She’d probably say he was being too nice. Because that was a crime, apparently.
Whatever he was, it was too much of the wrong thing. And clearly not what she wanted.