Chapter Fifteen Brad
Chapter Fifteen
Brad
I tapped the file against my leg as I studied Jeremy Law.
The kid could have had a future with Sea Foam Brew if he hadn’t become obsessed with Sophia.
Now she was dead, and he was probably going to jail for life.
He sat in the interrogation room, looking pale and tired, but he still had a cocky tilt to his head.
A day in prison hadn’t been enough to shake him.
“He seems pretty confident.” Officer Smith stepped closer to the two-way mirror. “If it was me sitting there shackled to a table, I’d be sweating through my jumpsuit. ’Specially if I was about to see the detective that I kidnapped and tried to kill.”
“Mm,” I grunted in agreement, “he thinks I can’t find any evidence to connect him to Sophia’s death. He’ll serve time for what he did to me, but slap a murder charge on him and I bet he’ll crumble.”
“Do you have something to actually connect him to Sophia’s death?” He pointed to the file I held.
“He confessed, and you recovered more of Sophia’s tape, and Ford gave me something. I can work with that.”
“But that’s not really enough, is it?”
“It will be soon enough, when I make him slip up.” I pushed down the handle of the door and stepped into the room, leaving Adam to watch.
In my experience I had found that guilty people sometimes gave things up while trying to cover their tracks.
Since I didn’t have much to go on, I needed him to slip up. But first, I needed to know one thing.
“Detective Stone.” The corners of his mouth tugged upward. “We meet again.”
“Indeed, we do.” I pulled a chair out and held down my tie as I took a seat.
“Glad to see you’re no worse for wear since the accident.”
I kept my eyes on the folder and ignored his dig.
I took a moment to think about the angle I was going to use.
“I’m going to jump right in here, Jeremy.
I got a call from a man named Timothy.” The skin around his eyes tightened, and his head tilted ever so slightly.
Interesting reaction. “He told me you guys were in the same grade at the same high school. Also seems he provided you with a solid alibi for the night Sophia was murdered.” I lied, but I needed to see if he and Ford knew one another.
If he didn’t, Ford was telling the truth.
Nervousness showed in his microexpressions, but hope made his eyes widen and his pupils dilate.
“Well, see, like I said, I didn’t kill Sophia.”
“That’s not how I remember the conversation.” I held his gaze.
“You did get a hard knock on the head in that crash. You may’ve thought you heard me say otherwise, but you can’t prove a thing.” His smug smile only increased my hatred for him. “Besides, you said Timothy gave an alibi for me, so what are you doing here besides making me skip lunch?”
“Hmm.” I nodded a few times. “What’s Timothy’s last name?”
Jeremy’s cheeks squeezed under his eyes. “God, it’s been years.”
“And yet you met up with him only weeks ago.” I let him stew on that for a sec. Then he scratched his nose as he bought himself time. “Let me refresh your memory. It’s Gumbo.”
“Yes.” He pointed at me. “Gumbo, Timothy Gumbo. It’s such an unusual last name that I always forget it.”
“I see.” I pulled out three photos and placed them in front of him. Timothy Ford, Rodger Gumbo, and my brother Ronnie stared up at him. “Which one of them is Timothy Gumbo?”
He slid his hands off the table and hid them from view. The muscles in his jaw flexed as he tried to pick the right person. I was surprised when he went with the youngest man in the lineup. “Middle photo.”
I pressed my lips together and knew in my gut he had no idea who any of the men were. I couldn’t help but look up to the window at Adam. I imagined he was smiling too.
“Are you sure?”
He leaned back and plucked the photo off the table to study it. “Yes, see that right there? That’s a tattoo.” He pointed to the middle man’s collarbone. A tiny swirl of a tattoo showed from where the shirt was pushed back slightly. “He got that his senior year.”
My heart gave a quick leap.
“What?” He caught my change in mood.
“You just gave me what I needed.” Now I was the one who wore the smug smile.
The veins in his neck flexed as he looked at the photos again. He was panicking. “You got nothing.”
I pointed at Ford’s photo. “Timothy Ford.” I moved my finger to the far-right photo. “That’s Rodger Gumbo, and this guy right here”—I tapped the middle photo—“is my older brother, who, by the way, got that shoulder tattoo while overseas protecting the very country you live, well lived, free in.”
“Okay, so I screwed up. He looked like a man I went to school with.”
“No, sorry, you just outed yourself.” I gathered the photos. “I know you have no idea who the two suspects are that we’ve connected to the nightclub murders, but I do know that you killed Sophia and why you did it at the club. You hoped we’d think it was the original killer.”
“You got nothing,” he repeated.
“No?” I stood and pulled out two more photos from the file.
Thanks to Bree and Adam’s magic with the iCloud account, I showed him the extra footage from the night she was killed.
“This was taken the night you killed her. You knew how to open that clasp to take the GoPro off. That’s not an easy thing to open.
” I set another photo down. “This is a still shot from that footage, which revealed this mark on the wrist.” I ran my finger along the jagged cut before showing him the next photo.
“This is you at a gas station the night after.” I smiled at him.
“You see that right there? See how your sleeve pulled up your arm as you handed the clerk the cash? That jagged zigzag scar.” I grabbed his arm and flipped over his wrist to reveal the same scar as in the two photos.
“You cut yourself on a keg a week before you killed Sophia.” I slapped down the hospital report of his stitches.
“Maybe next time you decide to kill, think of any identifying marks that could out you.”
“This isn’t fair!” He slammed his hands down. “She played me!”
I leaned down. “No.” I chuckled darkly. “She wasn’t the one that played you.
” I stabbed a finger at Ford’s photo. “He did.” His face twisted in confusion as he studied the next couple of photos I put in front of him.
They were of the text messages that Ford had sent Jeremy.
“He saw your obsession with Sophia. He got your number and started to feed you photos of her flirting.” I pulled out his phone records and pointed to the highlighted number that had texted him numerous times.
“He saw you were weak and decided to see if he could make you snap. He totally played you into killing Sophia.”
“She was such a bitch!” He looked stricken as his world crashed around him. “I want to make a deal.” His tone was low and defeated.
“Deal?” I laughed. “There’s nothing more that I want from you. There’ll be no deal. I hope it was worth it to you, because from now on you’ll be living behind bars.” I reached for the door but stopped myself. “I’ll be sure to spread the word that you’re single. Now who’s the bitch?”
His jaw sagged open, and I hoped Sophia enjoyed that one. As I exited the room and the door slammed behind me, I saw Adam’s face light up with joy. My phone vibrated in my pocket.
Cap: Sorry to do this at such a busy time, but I need you in Florida ASAP. I’ll email you the details.
I closed my eyes and tried to remember this was all part of the job. I sent back a quick text.
Stone: I’ll watch for the details.
“That was impressive.” Adam beamed after I tucked my phone away. “Now what?”
“Now we move on to the next takedown.”
“It’s hard to let a serial killer dictate where a takedown will be. I’m worried it’s such a populated place.”
“Yeah.” Smith whistled. “Do you think he’s onto you? Or does he really think it’s his friend, Gumbo?”
“No clue, but we’re going to go with it.”
“I know you have an idea who it is.” He looked hopeful I’d spill it.
“Sorry, Smith. It’s just an idea.” I followed him out, and as the door closed behind us, I added, “And I really hope I’m wrong.”
I cleared my thoughts as I sat in my car. I needed the quiet to regroup. The last few weeks had been a whirlwind. Kennedy waved from where he’d parked, then rolled down his window.
“Are you ready to catch this sick SOB?”
“Damn right, I am.” I gave him a thumbs-up.
Later that night, as I sat in my car in the parking lot, I filled my cheeks with air, then blew it out hard as I steadied myself.
I prayed that all this would come together as I hoped.
I glanced at my watch and knew I had fifteen minutes.
I bit my lip as I thought about Bree and how angry she was going to be at not being part of it.
I picked up the report of her accident at the lake and thumbed through it.
I had the same sick feeling as when I’d first read it.
What if she had drowned? What if he got his hands on her?
I’d always cared for Bree, and now she was back in my life, and I wanted a chance to do something about it.
It made me want to protect her with every fiber of my being.
It was why I’d decided to keep her out of the plan.
I wanted her home safe and sound. I slammed the car door and headed toward the ticket stand.
I zipped my jacket up to my chin when a cold breeze sent a chill through me, and I got my head into the plan.
I flashed my badge and was quickly waved through the fair gate.
I was glad Cap had gone along with my idea.
As I looked around at all the people enjoying their taffy apples and caramel corn, my mind went back to Timothy Ford.
If there really were so many foxes, then I was on my way to catching another one—and I was sure this was the last place he’d think we’d strike.
I looked around, then squeezed the button of the radio in my hand.
“Cap, I’ve got eyes on the south entrance. ” I scanned the crowd again.