Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Riley paced in front of the fireplace in her parents’ family room, the morning’s events rolling through her head like a security tape constantly looping.
Unfortunately, though, the police had discovered there was no actual security footage of the incident. The camera on that floor had been inoperable for the better part of the month. Now maybe they’d get it fixed.
“How’re you doing, Ri?” Fran’s voice pulled her attention to where she sat in an oversized chair with her legs folded up next to her. “Can I get you anything?”
“I’m fine. Just … restless.” She checked her watch. “Nine o’clock. Wish the detective would get here. I feel bad to have kept you guys all day, and not for anything fun.”
“I can’t believe you stayed for lunch, although you didn’t eat more than a couple bites. In fact, you didn’t eat much dinner, either. Want me to bring you a plate of Hilda’s meatloaf?”
“No, but thank you. And I didn’t want to mess up the whole day, so I was fine staying for lunch.
” If truth be told, she’d been grateful for the extra hour to sit and let her insides right themselves.
“And, please, if y’all want to get home, I totally understand.
No need for all of us to stay when he only needs to speak to Avery and me. ”
“Phfft.” Fran flipped her hand toward her. “Like we’d make you do this alone. Either of you.”
“Yeah,” Barbara said. “We’re in this together. Besides, we should all hear what the detective has to say.”
Riley regarded Avery, who hadn’t said more than a few words in the past several hours. Very uncharacteristic for her usually exuberant friend. “You all right, Ave?”
Tears filled Avery’s eyes. “You might have disappeared without a trace today, Ri. And it would’ve been my fault.”
Riley’s jaw dropped. “How do you figure?”
“If I’d have gone with you, it would’ve never happened.”
Fran hopped up to join Avery on the loveseat and slipped her arm around her. “Oh, honey, it’s not your fault.”
“Not even close,” Barbara said from the couch.
“Completely agree.” Riley took a seat on the arm of the loveseat and pulled a tissue from the box on the side table for her friend. “That reminds me. Why did you come up to the garage, after all?”
Avery dabbed at her cheeks. “I decided your idea was a good one and was hoping I’d catch you to put my bags in your car too. I never imagined—” Another tear escaped. “What if Logan hadn’t shown up? What if he hadn’t wanted to get involved? It makes me shudder to think of it.”
Yeah, what if? Riley twisted the emerald ring on her right hand around her finger. She’d come face-to-face with evil today, and it would probably be a while before she could walk alone without looking over her shoulder.
She shook off the thought. “All of those what-ifs don’t matter.
I’m fine. That guy was probably out hunting for someone vulnerable, like Logan said.
A low-life predator. He just picked the wrong girl.
I have an army of angels around me he couldn’t see.
Please don’t blame yourself. Let’s just be grateful we’re still all here together. ”
“You’re right. I’m so thankful you’re still here with us.” Avery’s attention moved to the archway from the entry hall, and her eyes widened as a man wearing a suit and tie with a badge clipped to his belt entered behind Riley’s mother.
“Riley, honey, the detective is here.” Her mother turned to the officer. “Can I get you something, Detective? Coffee? Water?”
“No, but thank you,” he answered. “I’ve had about four cups too many already today.”
“I’ll leave you be, then.” She smiled over at Riley. “Let me know if you girls need anything.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Riley stood and extended her hand to the officer. “I’m Riley Hudson.”
He shook her hand and released it. “Good evening. Detective John Stapleton. Houston PD. I apologize for the late hour, but I was on another call and couldn’t get away.”
Not a new story. In her line of work, she was well aware the Houston police were overworked and understaffed.
A large part of what she would be asserting in Shane’s appeal.
The police considered the scene, the man standing over the body of his dead girlfriend with her blood soaking his shirt and covering his hands, and made a snap decision. Open and shut.
And wrong.
Riley gestured to the others. “These are my friends, Frances, Barbara, and Avery. Avery saw the guy as he got away.”
Her friend finally recovered from her stupor. “Y-yes, Detective. I got a pretty good look at him.”
The detective stared at her stunning friend, clearly enthralled, as many before him had been. “And you’re Avery …?”
“Avery Sanders.”
“Miss Sanders.” His dark eyes lingered before he cleared his throat, his pen poised over a small notebook. “You saw what happened?”
“Only after Riley did whatever she did that had him limping away like a dog with his tail between his legs.”
Detective Stapleton’s eyebrow rose as he regarded Riley. “And that was?”
Riley’s face warmed. “Kicked him in the knee with the heel of my boot. An elbow to the nose. Then another kick to his arm so he’d let go of the gun. Oh, and he should have some decent welts on his hand. I think I scratched him up pretty good.”
He consulted his notes again. “Right. I see the officers at the scene took scrapings of your nails.”
“A little more than that.” She held up her hands with their now much shorter, pink-painted nails.
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
She folded her arms. “Not worried about it. Hopefully, they’ll find something there that will help.”
He grimaced. “You should be aware, it can take several weeks to get DNA results back. It’s not like it is on TV. And then it’s only good if this guy’s in the system.”
“Oh, trust me, Detective. I’m well aware.” Meaning her attacker was free to terrorize other young women for who knew how long. Her empty stomach roiled.
“So, let’s start at the beginning. Tell me what you were doing, what time, where you were, and what he did.”
Her legs turned once again to spaghetti, so she sat in the chair Fran had vacated to recount the events she hoped wouldn’t haunt her dreams tonight.
Twisting, twisting, twisting the ring that had belonged to her paternal grandmother.
A nervous habit. When she got to the part about Logan running to her rescue, he consulted his notes.
“Logan … Devers. Yes, I have the statement he gave to the officer at the scene this afternoon and plan to interview him tomorrow afternoon.”
“After church?” Avery asked.
His gaze went back to her friend. “Pardon?”
“I see you wear a cross lapel pin. May I ask if you’re a man of faith, Detective?”
“I am.” A furrow creased his forehead. “Why?”
“It means so much more to us to have a praying man working on this for Riley. You will pray about it, right?”
“I certainly will. As I do with all my cases. And, yes. I’ll see Mr. Devers after church.”
Avery and Detective Stapleton stared at each other before he cleared his throat again. “So, this is where you appeared on the scene? After Miss Hudson used her … creative self-defense tactics?”
“Yes, sir.” Avery’s blue-green eyes sparkled with excitement, which Riley would take any day over the shadow of guilt they’d held a few minutes ago.
Content to let her take center stage, Riley let go of the ring, sat back, and clasped her hands in her lap. The officer scribbled in his notebook as Avery gave her rundown of what she witnessed. Perhaps a dramatic embellishment here or there in her Avery way, but otherwise accurate.
“How tall would you say he was?”
“Hmm.” Avery’s perfectly sculpted brows furrowed. “Maybe a head taller than Riley, and she’s five-four—”
“Five-six,” Riley said. As the shortest of their quartet, she was territorial about every inch.
“Five-six—five-nine with those heels—and he was lanky. I would say thin but fit.”
Riley nodded. “Agreed.”
“Anything else, Miss Sanders?”
“You can call me Avery. And, no, nothing I can think of.”
He returned to Riley. “Do you have the clothing you were wearing today?”
“The officer by the door bagged it all up.”
“Good. Do you have anything to add about the perpetrator?”
“Nothing Avery hasn’t already told you. I didn’t see him until he let me go, and that wasn’t much.” She pulled her arms tight across her stomach. “I never expected somebody to grab me in broad daylight.”
“It does happen, unfortunately. Do you think this attempt may have been for a ransom?”
“I guess it’s possible, but nobody’s ever tried anything before.”
“Why don’t you have protection with you?”
Her eyes widened. “Like a gun?”
“Like a bodyguard.”
“A bodyguard? That’s a hard no. I had one until I went to college.” She gestured at her friends. “We all went to Stanford together. Being half the country away, nobody knew who I was. So, I told Daddy no bodyguards. Ever again. Besides, I always carry my trusty pepper spray.”
Though a heap load of good that did today.
“And you’re a …” He consulted his book again. “Lawyer?”
“Yes, sir.”
“She’s a fabulous attorney,” Frances said. “Third in her class at law school, and so far, a one-hundred percent win record in court. She could be making a fortune but does it all pro bono.”
Riley shook her head. “Detective Stapleton doesn’t need to know all that.”
“Sure, I do,” he said. “What kind of law do you practice?”
“Probably your least favorite kind.”
“A defense attorney?”
“I head up a group that considers cases of possible wrongful conviction. We investigate, collect new evidence, do DNA tests through private labs, and so on. Once we have enough incontrovertible evidence, we file for new hearings and then try them.”
“And how does that work, if you do it all for free?”
“Mostly through grants and investments. Helps that the family business is finance. I also make enough between my trust and investment income that I don’t need to pull a salary.”
“Wait a sec. Are you the one who just took on the Shane Everett case?”
“Yes.”
As he studied her, she could only imagine what he was thinking. “Hmm. Interesting. I’d still put the kidnapping for profit theory at the top of my list.”
Weary of the whole thing, all she wanted to do was change into her jammies and curl up in front of a fire in her room with a good book. Maybe The Good Book would be the best place to start.
“What happens now?”
“Now we’ll need to do a composite and get it out there to see if anybody knows the guy.” He turned to Avery. “It would help if you could be here, too, since you got a good look. I can bring our sketch artist to meet you here tomorrow afternoon.”
Avery reached over and put her hand on Riley’s arm. “I’ll be here. I want to get this creep off the street. What if he tries again?”
His eyebrows rose as he regarded Riley. “What if he does? I would highly suggest you not go anywhere alone, and I mean anywhere. Do you live here?”
“About four miles away. Townhouse, but it’s a gated community, and I have a gated courtyard entrance.”
“Doesn’t matter. Until this guy is apprehended, don’t go out and get the paper off the driveway or the mail without someone with you. Don’t drive, don’t shop, don’t do anything alone.”
Her mind whirled, and she wanted to argue.
She’d fought for her independence, not wanting to be accused of living off her name.
Resided in a safe neighborhood, had an alarm on her house but drove herself wherever she needed to go, never hesitated to run out for her own groceries or to spend a day with her friends.
Surely today’s event was a random act. The guy probably had no idea who she even was. But was getting her back up against the extra precautions worth the risk? Especially when something niggled her at the back of her brain. Something she should remember. Something he said …
She’d replayed it in her mind over and over again, but she couldn’t shake the feeling there was something she was missing.
She gave herself a mental shake. “Maybe I’ll stay here for a few days. Nobody can get past the gate without approval.”
“Not a bad idea. This place is a fortress. And you might reconsider a protection detail. At least until this is over.”
“I’ll consider it.” For about two seconds. No bodyguards if she had anything to say about it.
“Good enough.” He reached into his jacket pocket and took out two business cards for her and Avery. “Here’s my contact information. Don’t hesitate to call if you have anything to add to your statements.”
She stood and took the card from him. “Thank you, Detective.”
“My pleasure.” He tipped his head with another glance at Avery. “Good night, ladies.”
He started toward the entry but turned back. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. They found the car. Abandoned and burned. About ten miles from the mall.”
“So, no fingerprints, DNA, fibers.”
“No, ma’am.”
Her heart fell. She’d hoped the car might help identify him. “VIN still legible?”
“Yes. Came back to a resident at a senior living facility who said he wasn’t aware it had been stolen. We don’t know when it was boosted since the elderly gentleman hadn’t driven it for a couple of weeks. We suspect probably last night.”
“Makes sense.”
“I’ll keep you apprised of our progress.”
“I appreciate it.”
Avery watched him until he was out of sight, her face alight. “After this is over, I’m so gonna ask him out.”
Riley shrugged, exhaustion pulling hard at her limbs. “Why wait? Something good should come out of this mess.”