Chapter 21
They were still waiting on what Dani could find them. But now, they were focused on Kevin. By interviewing the woman who had been the last adult other than his now deceased ex-wife to see him alive before he was killed.
Knight was hoping she’d give them something more definitive, to tie Kevin’s case to Harper’s completely. Everything they were finding was still inconclusive.
They’d gotten the autopsy report for Harper, from Hagan’s records. But still no idea where Kevin’s was. Today, focus on Kevin, and see if it led to Harper.
It was a long shot, but they were moving forward.
But first, Amanda Riccards. Kevin Adams’ closest friend back then. They’d coached together, apparently. Rumor had it there might have been more, too.
“I have never seen such backstabbing, hateful, gossipy, flat-out lying nasty behavior in my life until that first year my oldest played travel softball. No matter what Kevin did—the drama and trauma with that team was ridiculous.”
The woman they’d found liked to talk.
Knight and Miranda were just letting her.
Amanda Riccards was very neat. Knight could appreciate that.
The woman was probably a handful of years past forty, but she didn’t look it.
She was very physically fit, around five-nine or so, and alert.
Not jittery, as if she was on something, but a healthy watchfulness.
This woman was very athletic, as well. The private gym they were in was ruthlessly neat—the turf looked in good repair, and the equipment was sorted by size and type in designated bins.
There were nets strategically placed to form three sections.
There were two other sections running perpendicular to where they stood now, with pitching machines.
“I was never really into softball when I was young. I was more into basketball, honestly. But my oldest, she’s twenty-four now, I was young when I had her, she was obsessed with softball. ”
“Softball is big in Oklahoma.” Miranda said at his side. “I played until I was fifteen, up in Wyoming. Softball is not that big in Wyoming. Not like…Oklahoma.”
“No. I don’t suppose it is. It wasn’t that big around Helery County, either, honestly.
We worked hard to build the program we have now, and we still pull players from over the border in Texas.
” She reached out and fixed one net that was twisted slightly.
“I ended up with some money from a lawsuit about six years ago. One of the things I did was build this place. Make it easier for the local teams to have an indoor facility. I rent it out—three hundred for two hours. I have six teams on Saturday alone, and another five on Sunday. Not bad for a county this small. Of course, we pull from surrounding counties for that, too. It’s all about the marketing. ”
“Can you tell me what kind of drama surrounded Kevin Adams and his team? We understand your daughter played for him—and you were the assistant coach,” Knight said as Miranda reached out and straightened a rainbow color of bats in a bin.
There was a hint of wistfulness in Miranda’s movement that told him she was caught up in her head, remembering something.
That woman—guided by her emotions far too often.
It was going to get her hurt again someday. Like it had already.
Knight just didn’t want to see her hurt worse.
“Better question would be what drama didn’t surround that team?
Let’s see, there were theft accusations against the team’s previous coach.
Kevin was roped into taking the team after the previous coach took off with about six thousand dollars of team money, took his girlfriend—the mother of our catcher, by the way—on an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas, with her husband just an hour behind them.
That did not end well.” She snickered as she said it.
“Two of the mothers got drunk in a hotel lobby in OKC at the first tournament—then ripped each other’s hair out over another player’s playing time.
Kevin kicked their girls off the team right then and there.
We finished that tournament with eight players—had to take an out every time we were short a batter, but he was determined the girls who had worked hard deserved to finish what they started.
That should have been a hint to run, but well… we stayed. Until…Kevin was gone.”
There was real pain in the woman’s eyes now. She had cared about the other man. She would have been a very attractive woman eleven years ago—she still was—and Kevin had been a physically well-presented man in her age bracket. With things in common—and newly divorced.
Physical attraction between people in those circumstances wouldn’t be surprising.
“What kind of a coach was Kevin?” Miranda asked, softly.
“I had a coach who did nothing but yell at us, no matter how hard we tried. I lasted two months on that team before my father watched a practice when he was in town. Fireworks happened. He pulled me off, right in the middle of practice. After lighting into the so-called coach. I’m pretty certain that coach is probably still hiding in a supply shed somewhere in rural Wyoming.
My father is a wee bit formidable at times. ”
Knight snorted at that. He had met her father a few times. Retired General Gerald Talley wasn’t just formidable, he terrified most mortal men. Hell, even Knight found himself a bit intimidated when he’d met him a time or two. “At times?”
“Just a little. After that, I switched to a different team. It was a two-hour drive, but my grandmother and grandfather made it happen, for two years.”
“Kevin never yelled, especially in front of or at the girls. He never even cursed in front of Ramey or Julian, or the kids at all. In fact, the girls would tease that they could barely hear him at times. He was a disciplined taskmaster, no denying that. And he had everything organized—he knew what he wanted to teach the girls and he taught it. He was a baseball player in college, I believe. Worked his way up after a really shitty childhood. He gave them someone to look up to. And he was very involved with his children’s activities.
He was a rare breed—a good man and one hell of a coach. And father.”
“How close were you? Did you know him well?” Knight asked. “How did you end up the assistant coach?”
“That hair pulling incident—well, one of those women was the assistant coach. She had twins on the team, who just weren’t that good yet.
They still needed some outside development, but she refused to see it.
Kevin felt it was important at 14U for the girls to have a woman coach, as well.
Thirteen and fourteen—well, that’s a very emotional time for young girls.
After the former coach was asked to vacate the hotel before the front desk pressed charges, he asked me to step up.
And I did. I had coached my daughter when she was younger—rec league, mostly.
And basketball and soccer. I had experience.
And I was there. I had stepped back—I felt at thirteen it would be better for her to have a chance to grow without me hovering.
But…after making sure it was okay with my daughter, I started coaching.
After…Kevin…Steve took over. I wasn’t in a good place to take over the team fully then.
My husband and I had just filed for divorce, and I was struggling.
And Kevin was…a good friend. When I needed one most. Getting myself and my daughter through what had happened was the majority of my focus then. ”
Knight had to wonder…good friend. An attractive woman going through a divorce. “Were you…involved…at the time? Romantically? With Kevin?”
Blue eyes widened. Heat hit her cheeks. Then she nodded.
“I…we hadn’t exactly dated. But we were attracted, and we…
had fooled around a few times. The kids never knew, though.
We made sure of it. I won’t deny that. But I wasn’t divorced fully yet.
And my kids were struggling, so we agreed to wait until things…
finalized. And then go from there. Give my kids time to heal.
My kids were my focus, Dr. Knight. I wasn’t going to do anything to hurt them more than I already was. ”
They asked her a few more questions. Then Miranda did the whole “chit-chat” wrap that she was so good at.
He thought of it as her ‘innkeeper’s daughter’ role.
Knight just amused himself wandering around the perimeter of the four-thousand-square-foot facility.
There were photos and posters neatly arranged in perfectly spaced rows, all framed in black.
None had fingerprints in sight. This woman was almost rigid in her attention to detail.
Her issue was probably control. Amanda liked having it—more, she most likely needed it.
But she seemed like she would be well-liked. At least on the surface.
Knight never judged anyone by first impressions.
He had learned better long ago.
This woman was young, strong, physically fit, and Kevin Adams had most likely only outweighed her by forty to sixty pounds at the time.
He had been bludgeoned to death. They knew that much from the original reports.
And if the attacker had struck when Kevin wasn’t looking, incapacitated him quickly—a woman could have done it.
A woman he was romantically involved with would top the list of potential suspects.
He rejoined Miranda and Amanda Riccards. He gave the woman his card. “If you can think of anything that might help us…or if you hear anything. About Harper Wycoff or…remember anything…please let me know.”
“I’ll do that. Harper was always a real sweetheart. What happened to her—well, it shouldn’t have. Mary Beth and Terry—they are in my prayers. Hopefully, you can get them the answers they deserve.”
“One more thing—where were you when you heard about Kevin? We’re trying to track down everyone who would have had a player on his team.
We still don’t know if there was a clear connection to softball, but with him being discovered on a field—we are looking at every angle,” Miranda said, so casually.
Like it wasn’t what they were really there after.
“I was in court-ordered mediation with the sperm donor until five or so that night. Then…with my parents and kids. We took them to the pizza place and arcade in Wichita Falls that night. It was my youngest’s second birthday.
And…well, their father had just declared that he wasn’t going to parent them nor pay support.
He was claiming my youngest wasn’t even his kid.
I never cheated. But that didn’t stop him.
Still, I got off lucky. He’s in prison now—ten years.
For beating his second wife. Bastard never put a hand on me—he knew I would have broken every bone in his body.
I am in a different place in life now. I’m doing what I can to give back to the kids in this county somehow.
Even if it is just through sports. Sports can make a difference, you know. ”
And now…they had a previous domestic partner of a woman Kevin might have been involved with. With a violent history. Men were territorial, and if he’d thought Amanda was cheating with Kevin, an altercation could have escalated into violence. Far too easily.
It was another viable direction to go in.
“One more thing—if you could write down all the people who would have been on Kevin’s team that year? We can’t seem to find a roster. Can you do that?”
“I’ll do my best. I may have team photos, as well. I can send them to you tonight. Would that work? Do you have email?”
“Of course.”