Chapter Ten
Well, this day had already been full of surprises, but Cully thought this one topped the others. Of course, she’d known that Harley was fiercely protective of her mother and her, but she hadn’t thought he would kill for them.
“You murdered Derrick, Savannah, Jessica, and Brandon?” Cully asked, and yes, there was doubt in her voice.
Owen held up his hand to stop Harley from responding to her question. “Before you say anything else, I want to Miranda you.”
Of course, that needed to be done. Cully had been so stunned with what Harley had said that she had forgotten about such legalities. But it was necessary if the confession turned out to be true.
Harley didn’t react to having the Miranda recited to him. He just stood there with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans while he stared down at the floor.
“Do you understand your rights?” Owen asked him when he’d finished.
“Yes.” Harley didn’t add anything else.
“Okay,” Owen muttered, and there was skepticism in his voice, too.
Maybe because like Cully, Owen had never seen or heard Harley have any kind of outburst much less an incident with violence. Still, Cully knew that in extreme situations people could do things they normally didn’t do.
Owen motioned for Harley to follow him to the only interview room that wasn’t occupied since Roscoe and Renee were in the other two. Declan, Shaw, and Cully stepped into observation and watched not through a two-way glass but on a monitor. She saw Owen and Harley take seats while Owen took care of more legalities by reading the time, date, and those present for the sake of the recording.
“Harley, for the record, could you state that you’ve been read and understand your rights? Also, at this point, you can either request an attorney or waive your right to one,” Owen started.
With his hand now in his lap, his fingers twisted and coiled around each other. “Yes, you Mirandized me. I understand what you said. And, no, I don’t want a lawyer.”
“All right, then could you repeat what you said a few minutes ago when you arrived at the police station?” Owen prompted.
“Yes. I killed the four people you found in the wall,” he said, still not looking directly at Owen. To Cully, everything about the man’s body language indicated that he was lying.
“Why?” Owen asked.
“Uh, because Derrick and Savannah were doing bad things to Alice. Derrick was leaving Alice with no money, no way to support Cully, and Savannah was encouraging him to do that. I asked Derrick to meet me at the old house so I could have it out with him, and when he showed up, he had Savannah with him. A fight broke out, and I killed them.”
“How?” Owen asked.
“Shot them,” Harley answered.
“With what kind of gun?” Owen, again.
This time, Harley wasn’t so quick to answer. “A shotgun.”
Owen sighed, and Cully released a long breath that was laced with both frustration and relief. None of the four had been murdered with a shotgun, which meant Harley hadn’t been the one who’d killed them.
“And Jessica and Brandon?” Owen continued. “Why would you want to kill them?”
“I didn’t want to, but they’d hurt Cully by running off with each other. I couldn’t let them get away with that.”
Owen stayed quiet a moment, studying Harley. “You care very much for Alice and Cully, don’t you?” Owen pressed.
“Yes,” Harley admitted.
Owen kept a flat stare on Harley, but the man didn’t see it because he still wasn’t making eye contact. “In fact, you care enough for them that you’d lie to try to protect them.”
Now, Harley’s head whipped up. “I’m not lying.”
“Yes, you are,” Owen insisted. “And because you’re trying to take the rap, I’m guessing you’re scared for Alice. You think she might have killed those four who’d wronged her and her daughter.”
“Alice didn’t kill them,” Harley snapped. “She couldn’t have, and I don’t want her under suspicion. She can’t handle it, Owen. There are times when she’s barely hanging on by a thread, and this could break her.”
And there it was. The reason Harley was doing this.
Cully sighed and forced back the tears that were trying to fill her eyes. There were indeed times when her mom was on the verge of breaking, and being accused of murder might just do it.
“I don’t believe my mother killed them,” Cully heard herself say.
Neither Shaw nor Declan disagreed, but they all knew that there was the possibility that Alice had murdered the four. And Cully wasn’t sure how to deal with that.
“You’re confessing to protect Alice,” Owen spelled out. “While that’s admirable, it’s not helpful. It’s also illegal. So, let’s start this again. What happened to put you in such a tailspin that you’d walk in here and admit to four murders that you didn’t commit?”
Harley stared at Owen for several moments and then muttered something under his breath. “I was with Alice this morning, and she wasn’t making sense. One minute she thought she was still married to Derrick and the other she was going on about somebody trying to kill Cully and Declan.”
Owen nodded. “We know that Alice didn’t set the fire at the house where Cully and Declan were. When that happened, she was in the car with the head of the CSI team.”
A flash of anger tightened the muscles in Harley’s face. “Alice would have never done anything to hurt Cully or Declan.”
“I happen to agree with you about that,” Owen said. “And I believe the killer set that fire. Or someone who wanted to protect the killer.”
Harley immediately throttled back on the anger. “Then, you don’t think Alice murdered those people.”
“I have no proof that she did. Yes, she has motive in spades for all four murders. Added to that, she was familiar with the house itself since she used to go to parties there. From what I’ve recently been told, Alice has some DIY skills and could have even constructed that false wall. But with her having a solid alibi for the fire, she drops down on my list of suspects.”
Harley’s face went tight again. Obviously, he didn’t want any suspicions at all hanging over Alice. Neither did Cully. But she also wanted the truth.
“You can’t question her like a suspect,” Harley insisted. He leaned in, his voice pleading now. “Alice probably doesn’t have much time left, well, as Alice herself. Her mind could go fast. And it’s not fair to put her through hell for something she didn’t do.”
His words twisted at Cully. Because he was right. Her mom wouldn’t be her mom for much longer.
Yes, Alice would likely live for many years, but she’d be living with her memory in a fog. At best. Maybe with no memory at all. That was why Cully had wanted to give her mom that house. That life. So, she could maybe relive some of her happier times of when she’d been young.
But Cully couldn’t ignore the fact that it was indeed possible that her mother had killed. Owen had been right about her having means, motive, and opportunity, and that meant, despite Alice’s condition and Harley’s pleadings, she would have to be officially interviewed. And maybe, just maybe her mom would be able to recall something that would not only exonerate her but also point them in the direction of the real killer.
“Do you recall how Alice reacted when she heard that Jessica and Brandon were eloping?” Owen asked Harley, obviously to get this interview back on track.
Harley sighed, leaned back in his chair. “Yes. She was upset that they’d hurt Cully. It hadn’t been that long since Derrick had walked out, and Alice thought it would be too much for Cully to have two hard emotional blows like that.”
She glanced at Declan just as he was glancing at her, and their gazes held for several moments. Some upspoken things passed between them. The old hurt. The heat, too.
The memories.
That definitely hadn’t been a good time in their young lives. Little did they know that they’d face even more with their marriage, divorce, and the miscarriage.
“But Alice wasn’t the only one who was pissed off at Jessica and Brandon,” Harley went on. “Brandon’s folks were none too happy either. Neither were Roscoe and Renee. Especially Renee,” he added.
Owen jumped right on that. “Why especially Renee ?” he asked.
Harley groaned, shook his head and seemed to dread that he’d even brought up the subject. “It’s just hearsay. Something that Alice mentioned, and I don’t even know if it’s true. In fact, it probably isn’t.”
“Why don’t you just tell me the hearsay,” Owen pressed.
Another groan from Harley, followed by a long pause. “Alice thought something funny was going on between Renee and Brandon.”
Of all the things that Cully thought Harley might say, that sure as heck wasn’t one of them.
“Funny how?” Owen asked.
Harley squeezed his eyes shut a moment. “Alice thought Brandon and Renee were having an affair.”