Chapter 18
“Is this Deputy Wild?” a timid voice asked.
“Speaking,” I said, not recognizing the number.
“This is Luther. I’ve been thinking a lot about this. I’d like to turn myself in.”
That got my attention. “Where are you now?”
“I’m at my boat.”
"I'll be there in 15 minutes. I’ll bring you in, and you can tell me all about it. It'll be easy, no stress, no hassle. You’re doing the right thing."
"Okay," he replied.
A rush of optimism filled me.
"Stay on the line with me. I'm going to click over to make another call, and I'll be right back." I didn’t want this guy to have a change of heart.
I clicked over, called the sheriff, and told him to send a patrol unit to the Mangrove Bay Marina.
I clicked back to Luther. "Are you there?"
There was no reply.
"Luther?"
Still nothing.
I ended the call and hustled down to the main deck and banged on the hatch to JD’s stateroom. "Get your ass up! We've got somebody to arrest."
Jack groaned.
I didn’t have time to wait. I grabbed my helmet and gloves and hustled down the dock to the parking lot. I hopped on the bike, fired it up, and zipped out of the lot.
I made it to the Mangrove Bay Marina in no time and beat the patrol car.
I found a place to park, hopped off the bike, and hustled down the dock to the Versailles.
I stepped onto the swim platform and banged on the hatch.
To my relief, footsteps shuffled toward the door, and Luther pulled it open.
A sad expression washed over his face as he held out his wrists, waiting for the handcuffs.
"I know you’re not going to give me any trouble,” I said, trying to set expectations as I cuffed him. “I have to keep you in handcuffs for procedural reasons.”
Luther nodded.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say…”
We stepped to the dock, and I escorted him back to the parking lot. By that time, Mendoza had pulled in. He drove the squad car around to greet us.
I stuffed Luther in the back, then followed them down to the station.
After Luther was processed and printed, I joined him in the interrogation room and took a seat across the table.
He didn’t look scared or nervous. Just calm and resigned.
“Why did you kill Cody and Evelyn?”
Luther shrugged. “I don’t know. I wanted the voices to stop, but they didn’t.”
“Tell me about these voices.”
“I just… I get bad thoughts.”
“Like violent thoughts?”
“I don’t know. I’ll just have the urge to do something. It’s like someone’s telling me to do it. Then I think what would happen if I just did that?”
“Give me an example.”
He shrugged again. “I don’t know,” he said, looking down at the table.
“Did you just have the urge to kill Evelyn because you couldn’t have her?”
“No!” he said with a wrinkled brow.
“Then why did you kill her?”
“I don’t know.” He paused. “I’ll be out at the grocery store, and I’ll see a hot girl wearing yoga pants, and I’ll just want to grab her ass. And I think, what would happen if I just did it?”
“You’d get slapped and charged with sexual battery.”
He frowned. “Sometimes I’ll see a knife, and I wonder what would happen if I just stabbed someone.”
“You’d get charged with attempted murder, at minimum.”
“It’s like when I look over a balcony. Sometimes I want to jump, and it just freaks me out.”
“Are you depressed?”
Luther shook his head. “No. I don’t think so.”
“Where’s the gun?”
“I don’t know.”
"You must have hidden it somewhere. It's not on the boat.”
Luther said nothing.
"Did you throw it overboard? Is it in the water?"
After a beat, he nodded and said, "Yeah. I threw it in the ocean.”
"Where? In the marina?”
Luther hesitated again. “Yeah.”
"Where exactly did you toss it?”
"I'm not really sure. I was in a state of panic."
"Close to your boat?”
"No. Just someplace random.”
I gave him a doubtful look. "Walk me through exactly what happened on the day of the murders.”
Luther shifted uncomfortably. "I don't really want to talk about it.”
"I need details," I said, growing more and more skeptical. "Where did you shoot Evelyn?”
"In the parking garage.”
"How many times?”
Luther’s eyes darted around the room. "I don't remember.”
"Four?”
His eyes narrowed at me. "No. Just once.”
"Are you sure about that?” She’d been shot twice.
"Like I said, it's kind of a blur. I don't really remember."
"Tell me about when you shot Cody.”
By this time, he’d likely seen pictures and security camera footage. It was all over the Internet and the news. Somebody had leaked it. I'm sure Paris Delaney paid a handsome sum to Darryl for the footage.
Luther described the shooting just as it happened, including the details about the smoke grenade.
"What did you do after you shot the rabbit?”
"I left.”
"Which exit did you use?”
"I don't know. I don't really remember. The way I came in, I guess.”
"Which entrance was that?”
Luther grew uncomfortable. "Can we talk about this later?"
"No, we can’t talk about this later, because I don't think you killed those two people.”
Anger tensed his jaw. “How can you say that? I totally killed them!”
I just shook my head. “You can’t remember details. You got the number of shots wrong. You don’t know where you dumped the murder weapon.”
Luther swallowed hard. “I’m telling you, I killed them, and I need to be put away for life.” His eyes brimmed, and his face reddened. The veins in his forehead bulged.
“You know what I think? I think you’re facing some challenges now. I think you’re afraid you’re going to do something bad, and you want to be locked up before you do that.”
His face tightened, and the tears spilled over.
I was right over the target. “You need some help, Luther,” I said in a compassionate tone. “And I’m going to see to it that you get it.”
He nodded and hung his head.
I pushed away from the table and stepped to the door. The guard buzzed me out, and the sheriff met me in the hallway.
“That kid’s messed up,” Daniels said. “Let’s see if we can get him fixed before he kills someone for real.” A frustrated exhale escaped his mouth.
“We’ll keep working the case.“
He patted my shoulder before ambling down the hall.
I walked to the main office, caught up with Denise for a bit, then headed back to the Avventura.
My phone buzzed with a call from Isabella as I stepped into the main salon.