Chapter 27 All Business
ALL BUSINESS
“How does it feel to know you’ve got everyone talking?”
He turned over in bed and groaned at Rene’s words.
“I’ve had people talking for the past fifteen years,” he said. “If not in sympathy for what happened to us, then as pity over me spinning my wheels.”
“Eventually the car will move though,” Rene said. “Like it is now. Make sure you give this asshole hell for botching my case.”
Rory laughed. He thought nothing could make him laugh in a situation like this, but Rene always did.
Was he losing his mind dreaming the way he’d been lately? It was more frequent than in the past. More heightened too.
This time was almost humorous and he hoped to hell that didn’t mean he was off track.
“I’ll make sure he knows,” he said.
“Wake up, Rory, you don’t want to be late.”
Rene clapped her hands again, like she’d done before to wake him. Only this time it was morning and the sun was shining through the window. There were no sounds going on outside either.
He threw the covers back and got out of bed, then went to the bathroom to shower. Once he had some toast and coffee, he hit the road with his laptop and all the questions in his head.
Did he really think he was going to learn much new today? Not really.
This was more about looking the guy in the eyes who had fucked up his sister’s case.
The man who made it almost impossible for them to get a lead to even find Rene’s killer.
When he got to the facility, he gave his name and was shown to a room Detective Denning was sitting in alone. It’d give them privacy.
“Hi,” he said, moving forward with his hand out. “I’m Rory Connors. I’m not sure if you remember me or not?”
The guy hadn’t aged well, but he wasn’t even seventy.
Detective Denning turned his head to look at him and lifted his hand. They shook and he sat. “Hi.”
“Your son said I could come talk to you about a case you used to work on.”
“I worked on a lot of cases. Call me Scott.”
“We met before, Scott.”
“We did?” Scott asked, his eyes moving over Rory’s face, but he didn’t see any recognition in them. Not much at all, to be honest.
“Yeah. My sister was Rene Connors. She was murdered in Lake George when we were on our family vacation and her body was left in some bushes.”
“That poor girl,” Scott said, shaking his head. “Horrible. Just horrible. When they moved her, her head almost fell off. If it weren’t attached by the skin it would have. Still gives me nightmares.”
Like the one he was having listening to this.
“What happened with her case? How come you couldn’t catch the person?”
“We were never meant to,” Scott said. “Had to close it fast. Couldn’t piss off some people in town. There was too much riding on it.”
“Why?”
Scott looked around as if he were waiting to be caught. “They are always watching and listening.” The words were barely a whisper.
“Who is?” he asked. “There isn’t anyone here, but you and I.”
Scott laughed. “Not true. That’s how I got to live here now. And that Abdell guy. He knows what it’s like. He had to keep quiet too. It worked for a while, then he was just dead.”
He’d come this far. He knew nothing said could be proven. Scott was nothing more than a rambling old man who barely knew his name, but he’d get what he could because enough of it was making sense.
“Did you work for the McGregors?”
“Everyone does,” Scott said. “Back then, you did or you were on the outs. My poor wife. She hated being around Daniel. Said he gave her the shakes. I told her, he was harmless.”
He snorted. “Why didn’t she like him?”
Scott laughed. “My Missy. She was beautiful. She comes to see me often. She should be here soon.”
Rory was told Scott’s wife had died five years ago.
He couldn’t lose the man now. “I’ll make sure I’m gone before she gets here. Why didn’t she like Daniel?”
Scott smiled. “Missy sure could wear a pair of heels. I hope she has them on later. Daniel, he used to comment on them. I knew I had the prettiest woman around on my arm.”
“So Daniel had an eye for your wife?”
Scott frowned. “He’d never touch my wife. If he did he wouldn’t get what he wanted from me. But other women, they didn’t say no. There were always rumors about him with girls at work.”
“What did he want from you?” he asked. His phone was recording this now. No way he could bring his laptop out and start typing.
“To keep his kid out of trouble. That boy, he had an eye for trouble and didn’t care who he pissed off. Hope he calmed down some.”
“Kane?” he asked. “Is that who you’re talking about?”
“Yeah. Kane. The devil’s kid. That’s what I thought of him. Named well. Kid could do what he wanted and get away with murder.”
His heart was ricocheting in his chest. There was no way Scott would admit this and if he did, it wouldn’t be admissible in court. Rory didn’t want it to skew his opinion, but right now everything was pointing to one of them.
If they didn’t do it themselves, then they had someone else do it.
“Do you think Kane murdered Rene?” he asked.
Scott shrugged. “Anyone can do anything if they are backed into a corner. But Daniel, it was all business for him. Don’t mess up his deals and have people in a panic, he’d tell me.
Get that arrest so it could be behind everyone.
I asked him how to do that, and he didn’t care.
Suggested I don’t turn the cameras on when talking to people.
Lose a report here or there. There were pictures I was supposed to look at and I did.
Just said they meant nothing. Pretty pictures and drawings too.
I told him if I was fired he’d lose his source, but he said he’d take care of it.
Guess he did because no one ever realized half my work never got documented. I still feel like shit over that.”
He was going to vomit. If he let on how he was really feeling he wouldn’t get more. “Do you think Daniel was covering for Kane?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Old man Abdell’s death always seemed suspicious to me, but what do I know? He had to keep quiet. Bought just like everyone else.”
Twice now the name was brought up.
“John Abdell? The guy who owned the cabin that we thought Rene was at before she died?” he asked. The old rundown cabin in her drawing.
Rory knew the guy had died but didn’t think much of it.
“Yeah. He took a tumble down the stairs one day in the apartment he was renting.” Scott shook his head. “At least I think so. Someone else found him, but you know, it never made sense to me.”
“How come?”
“Just didn’t,” Scott said, looking around the room. “What time is it? Missy should be here soon. I should change and get ready for her.”
“She won’t be here for a bit. Tell me why you think something happened to John Abdell,” he said.
“Who? I don’t know anyone by that name.”
A gush of air escaped his lungs. There wouldn’t be anything else to be had at this point. Rory knew that now.
He got a lot more than he thought, but nothing he hadn’t expected.
He’d suspected the investigation was sloppy and it appeared to be intentional. The reason Daniel wanted things rushed could be true. It could be nothing more than a threat to his business dealings.
If Daniel really thought his son did it, he wouldn’t be rushing for an arrest. If anything, he’d want evidence planted and nothing was for Cooper. That case had no legs.
Were Scott’s words accurate? Who the hell knew anything?
He signed out and left. If the McGregors were watching everyone and everything, they’d know he was here. Denning would be just another loose end in their web of lies.
“Did you find anything out?” Gale asked when he answered his phone. He’d sent her a text saying he was leaving and didn’t think she’d call.
“A lot of what I thought but nothing that can be proven.”
“Like what?” she asked.
He filled her in. “John Abdell. Ever hear anything about that?”
“No, but I’ll talk to Ford and see if he can look into it. As you know, a body found will still be reported.”
“Yeah. I’m curious. It all ties together, but I don’t know how. No one thought John had killed my sister. The guy wasn’t that big.”
Barely five foot eight. Only a few inches taller than his sister and maybe sixty pounds more. He’d never have the strength to do what had been done to Rene’s body.
“Do you think John had anything to do with it? He’s been dead for years.”
“I remember John had been interviewed and said that he’d never seen the girl before on his property.
That he wasn’t even home at the time. But it was Scott Denning who did the interview and that means nothing now.
It’s possible it could have been altered.
I’m going on the assumption nothing in Rene’s file is fact. ”
“Which makes it harder,” she said.
“So many things back then were corrupt. How did it happen?”
“I’m not sure it was as much as you think,” she said.
“Maybe a few, but not everyone. Ford has been there for years. He was a deputy before sheriff. Does some law enforcement look the other way for what they think is the betterment of the community? Sure. But would they risk their careers? It’s not as easy now. ”
“Not like back then. And that is all I care about.”
“I know,” she said. “I’m sorry you didn’t get more.”
“I got enough. It reinforces that the McGregors had something to do with the way the investigation was done.”
“I think you’re right, but again, no concrete facts and Daniel and Kane sure the hell aren’t going to confess to anything.”
“I can try again and see if I push more buttons, but it’s not going to get me anywhere other than more doors shut in my face.”
“You’re getting somewhere,” she said. “And that is important.”
“It’s just where I end up,” he said. “I’m pulling onto the thruway now. I’ll be back in an hour. Are you around tonight for dinner?”
“I am,” she said. “Why don’t you stop at my place and I’ll try to take your mind off of today. I know there is more going on than you’re telling me.”
“There always is,” he said. “Text me when you’re ready for me.”
“I think I was born ready for you,” she said, laughing. “And though it might sound funny, it’s a little bit scary at the same time.”
“More than a little bit,” he said.
Rory disconnected the call and blended into traffic, then turned the music up to get lost in the melodies.
He needed a break but knew it wouldn’t be wise now.
His mind just had to shift from fact to fiction. Might be easier if they had more facts.
As he neared his exit fifty minutes later, he put his blinker on and tapped the brakes.
Nothing. He wasn’t slowing down.
His foot went to the floor, and his brakes were gone.
Motherfucker.
He swerved back onto the highway. Taking the exit at seventy-five miles an hour was a death trap.
But wasn’t that the point?