Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
Amanda and Trent said little on the way to the Lane residence.
They were in quick agreement the Schaefers were off the suspect list and that the mystery figure Melanie had seen was Christine’s killer.
“Is it just me, or did it give you chills to hear Melanie say this person just ignored her and continued upstairs?”
“You’re not alone. Whoever this killer is, they are composed.”
“That’s for sure. They would have killed Christine and been in the process of cleaning up, yet it still didn’t seem to faze them that someone was at the door.”
Trent parked in front of the Lane house a few minutes after seven, and Riley was standing in the open front doorway before they reached it. Without a word, she stepped back to let them inside.
“We’re Detectives Steele and Stenson,” Amanda said, feeling it was appropriate the girl at least get their names before they crossed the threshold.
“Riley Lane, but you know that. Should we sit somewhere?”
“That would be best.” Amanda felt for the girl, thinking about the news they had come to tell her.
Riley’s cheeks flushed before she turned to lead them to the living room. It was a modest space with new leather furniture. The smell of it was hard to miss.
The three of them sat down. Amanda was the first to speak. “Unfortunately, we have some bad news…” She paused when tears pooled in Riley’s eyes. Your mother is gone, sweetheart… “It’s about your mother. She was found dead today, in a client’s home.”
Riley gasped out a sob but otherwise remained silent.
Amanda imagined there were a million questions rolling through her mind, even judgments against herself.
How did it happen? Was it an accident? And how could she not have known as she went on with her life?
“It was murder, Riley. She was shot.” Amanda made the method abundantly clear to counteract one effect of grief. It had a way of impeding comprehension.
Riley’s eyes snapped to Amanda’s. “She was shot?”
“She was.” Amanda would leave out the other details at the scene, like how her mother was shot three times and then wrapped in a tarp.
“But who would do such a thing?” A few tears splashed onto her cheeks, and she swiped them away.
“We plan on finding out.” It wasn’t the ideal answer, but it was an honest one.
“Ah, when did this…?”
“Friday night.”
Riley got up and rushed from the room.
Amanda looked at Trent and found he was looking back at her. “We’ll just give her a few minutes,” she told him.
Witnessing this girl’s heartbreak brought back her own loss. How ten years ago, she had to bury her husband, six-year-old daughter, and unborn baby. Like Christine Lane, they were taken suddenly without warning, but unlike Christine, they were killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.
A few minutes later, Riley returned wearing a plush, cream knit sweater with round wooden buttons over her T-shirt.
The cardigan swallowed her frame, and she burrowed into it.
The move reminded Amanda of how she’d spent many days curled up in bed wearing her late husband’s sweater while hugging one of her daughter’s stuffed toys.
“We’re very sorry for your loss,” Amanda offered as fresh tears squeezed from the young woman’s eyes.
“I called and talked to her on Friday night. She sounded good. I don’t understand.” Riley shrugged deeper into the sweater and deeper into the chair she had plopped back on.
There was nothing Amanda or Trent could say to mend Riley’s heart. Only time could make the effort. “What did you talk about?”
“Oh, she just wanted me to confirm I made it to the cottage with my friends. We rented a cottage on the lake, about six hours from here, for the weekend. I just got back today. Maybe if I’d stayed home…”
Amanda shook her head. “No. None of this is on you, Riley. Please know that.”
“But she is my mother, and I rushed to get off the phone. If I had known, I never would have… I never even felt she was…” She stopped there as another batch of tears made their way down her cheeks and dripped off her jaw and chin.
“We don’t always feel it. That doesn’t mean they meant any less to us.
” The sentiment was to reassure Riley, but it also accomplished the same for herself.
It was an old wound, and one that she thought she’d put to bed.
After the accident, denial may have temporarily blocked out the reality that her husband and daughter were gone.
That didn’t stop the self-chastisement from hitting over the years.
That she should have known regardless. That the light in the world had dimmed.
“I appreciate you saying that. Mom gave me a lot of freedom, even more after she and Dad divorced. But that didn’t stop her from being protective of me. Like asking me to call when I reached places.”
“The divorce must have been a tough transition,” Trent said.
Riley shrugged. “I was thirteen when they split, and fourteen by the time the divorce went through. Dad’s still in my life though. Mom’s, too, on a limited scale.”
“Then things are amicable between them?” Spencer had told her the marriage ended five years ago. But they’d talk with the ex-husband to feel him out. Some motives were buried deep.
“Yes,” she said. “But don’t go thinking he had anything to do with this.
He’d never. He’s going to be heartbroken.
They were each other’s first. No one can replace that.
” Riley nuzzled farther into the sweater, pushing the fabric to her earlobes.
“I can tell him, right? Or do you need to? I’ve seen crime dramas on TV.
You’ll want to gauge his reaction to the news.
After all, it’s always the husband or the ex. ”
Amanda would like to handle the notification, but this case was a special situation. The father was this girl’s support system. “You can tell him, Riley.”
“If you’re going to suspect someone”—Riley jutted out her chin—“look at the boyfriend.”
The boyfriend… Riley’s words ricochetted in her head. Amanda became cold and dizzy. Her mouth, thick cotton.
“Your mother was dating?” Trent asked, stepping up and playing dumb.
“Yeah. She’s been seeing some guy for a while now.”
Some guy… And a year was longer than a while. Amanda wasn’t liking this turn in the conversation. But she’d assured Malone she would remain objective, that flesh and blood were nothing more than biological with Spencer. And Steeles honored their word. “His name?”
“Spencer Blair. He’s a volunteer firefighter, and he’s all right but…”
Amanda cleared her throat. “What do you mean by all right but…?” Requesting an elaboration had her feeling like she was betraying Spencer.
She should have told Riley that pointing at someone in a murder investigation was a serious thing without justification.
She just hoped whatever came out of Riley’s mouth didn’t make Spencer a suspect.
“Just that. Though no one’s my dad. I don’t much care for Dad’s new wife either.”
It was possible the ex-husband had moved on, but Amanda wasn’t letting a new marriage alone convince her of that.
They’d still need to talk with him. But she was relieved that she hadn’t heard anything incriminating about Spencer.
Yet, she pushed, “Is it just that, or is there more you need to tell us about Spencer?”
“It might be nothing, but Mom was pissed off at him. Honestly, I thought she was going to end things.”
Amanda stood, trying to disguise her discomfort by making it look like she were stretching.
Spencer hadn’t mentioned any of this. He’d painted his relationship with Christine with brushstrokes of rainbows and lollipops.
Trent shot her a look, seeing through her anxiety.
Hopefully, Riley wouldn’t. “That’s what your mother told you?
That she was going to end things with Spencer?
” She was impressed she’d found her voice.
As determined as she was to keep neutral, she was struggling to maintain her ground.
“I guess not in so many words.”
“But you think it’s possible that Spencer may have killed your mother?” Trent shot the direct question, which had Amanda briefly placing a hand over her heart.
“I don’t want to think that, but…”
Riley left the sentence dangling for long enough that Amanda’s stomach filled with acid.
“But, what?” Again, it was Trent taking on the burden of the unpleasant questions.
“He has a bad temper. I’ve seen it for myself.”
Amanda walked a few steps but stopped herself and returned to the couch where she had been sitting. She was making herself anxious, and the last thing she wanted to do was make this moment worse for Riley. As she sat down again, she said, “Can you give us an example?”
“He came over after fighting a raging warehouse fire. He was tired and pissed off at the squadron leader. Mom gave him a beer, and he seemed fine. Then he was cooking us steaks on the barbecue, but the propane ran out before they were finished. He roared and threw them in the trash. That ticked Mom off. Steaks aren’t cheap.
She asked him to leave and ordered us pizza. ”
Amanda was feeling a touch feverish, but she was also ticked off. Spencer could have mentioned this, but he hadn’t. So why not? After all, sometimes people blew up, couples fight and disagree. Was there something different about this time? “When was this?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Was that their last fight?” Trent asked.
Riley nodded. “I don’t think they’ve met up since. They could have. I’m mostly in my own world. Will you be talking to Spencer?”
Spencer told them he’d seen Christine last Wednesday, but as Riley just admitted, she might not have been privy to that information.
It didn’t mean that he had lied to them.
“We will be talking with him.” As Amanda said this, her resolve kicked in.
She’d look at this case like any other, as she’d intended from the start.
It was always a possibility that things would point at Spencer.
She’d deceived herself into thinking she could handle it if they did.
It turned out facing that reality was more challenging.
“I’m sure he’s going to be heartbroken. I should have kept quiet. He’s not all that bad. Mom had a real shitty… Sorry, I didn’t mean to swear.”
“It’s fine,” Trent told her. “Nothing we haven’t heard before.”
“Her boyfriend before Spencer was an ass. Quite controlling.”
“And how was that?” Trent’s voice took on a menacing tone, which Amanda recognized as his inner white knight stepping up. He had zero tolerance for men who abused women whether it be physically, mentally, or emotionally.
“She’s a real estate agent. It’s not like she has set hours. He got it in his head that Mom was cheating on him.” Riley shook her head, grimaced.
The teen spoke about her mother in present tense and would do so for a while yet until the loss sank in. Before Amanda could respond, Trent did.
“What did he do about that?” he pushed.
“Just bitched. If you’re wondering if he ever hit her, then no.”
“Abuse is more than fists.” A small pulse ticked in Trent’s cheek.
“What is his name?” Amanda asked.
“Wes Galloway.”
All the guys named Wes that Amanda knew were slimy womanizers, though she was sure there were nice ones out there. Not that Galloway sounded like a trophy. “When did they break up?”
“Mom ended it about six months before she and Spencer met. I only know that because she read in some book that you should give yourself at least that amount of time after a breakup to be with yourself. Something about allowing a person time to rediscover themselves. Apparently, we lose ourselves in our relationships, or some such nonsense.”
Amanda smiled at the teen, but what Riley saw as nonsense, Amanda saw as practical advice. It just so happened she broke things off with her previous boyfriend six months before she started seeing Carter.
Trent leaned forward. “You said your mom ended things. How did he take it? You know?”
“Fine, I guess. Mom said he moved out of state. California, if I remember right.”
Based on what Riley told them the relationship had ended eighteen months ago.
Healthy people would have long moved on, but Riley had described Wes as controlling.
What if he wasn’t happy that she’d ended things, and he’d kept tabs on her?
“We’re going to leave now, Riley. Is there someone we could call to be with you? ”
“Just my dad, but I can call him.”
“Okay, if you’re sure,” Amanda told her.
Riley nodded, and Trent closed his notepad and stood. Amanda followed his lead and handed Riley her business card before leaving. “The Prince William County PD also offers counselors who can be with you, to listen and talk. Would you like me to get someone from Victim Services to come over?”
“Okay.”
“All right. You need anything, call me at the number on the card.” Amanda turned to leave then, feeling as she often did after serving notifications.
There was a gnawing in her gut that while she’d be moving on with her life, those in her wake would need to cobble together a new normal without their loved one in the picture.
But as she was leaving the Lane residence, she was also full of dread.
There was the ex-boyfriend, sure, but based on Riley’s words, Spencer might have been headed that way.
But was Spencer the possessive and controlling type?
Riley said he had a temper. Did he get angry at the imminent dissolving of his relationship with Christine and become violent?
To the point of murder? And if so, how had he known Christine would be at Sharp’s house on Friday night?
Amanda went cold with the answer. He’d know if he was stalking her.
From the sound of it, he was guilty of holding back their recent troubles, so what else was he hiding?