Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
I left Vero at home to keep a close eye on Cam and Mrs. Haggerty while I hightailed it to the Loudoun County Police Department. I entered the building with the confidence of a woman who’d walked in and out of countless police stations before, but it didn’t change the fact that I didn’t know a single cop in this one.
“I’m here to see Detective Mike Tran,” I informed the officer behind the desk.
She gave my sweatshirt and jeans a quick once-over through the glass. “Is he expecting you?”
“No, but it’s very important that I speak with him—”
“I’d be happy to give you his extension and you can leave a him a message.”
“I don’t want to leave a message.”
“I’m sorry, but Detective Tran isn’t here.”
“I know he’s here because he just filed charges against my ex-husband! Just… please,” I said, lowering my voice when two other officers behind the partition paused their conversation to look at me. “My name is Finlay Donovan. My ex-husband’s name is Steven Donovan. I need to know if he’s still here and if I can speak with—”
The door beside the partition opened. I turned, hoping to see Mike Tran, but it was Steven’s divorce lawyer who came barreling through it. I almost didn’t recognize him. The last time I’d seen Guy Folsom had been at our wedding. He’d been Steven’s best man and had gotten drunk enough on cheap champagne to tell me exactly how long he predicted our marriage would last. He’d been right, and it wasn’t until Guy had sent a courier to deliver our separation and custody papers that it occurred to me that he’d known Steven much better than I ever had. He looked more or less the same as I remembered him, with a few extra wrinkles, a little less hair, and several more inches around his middle.
He stormed out of the back offices into the waiting area, his knuckles white around the handle of his briefcase. His fancy suit jacket hung open, revealing sweat rings under his arms. A button had been torn from the collar of his dress suit and his tie was askew.
“Guy?” I called out as he blew past me.
He paused, frowning as if it had taken him a minute to register who I was and what the hell I was doing there. I held up a finger to the officer at the desk to let her know I’d be back to finish our conversation, then I pulled Guy aside, into a corner of the small reception room. His hair was mussed and his lower lip was puffy.
“What’s happening?” I asked. “Is Steven okay?”
“Is he okay?” Guy’s sardonic laugh revealed a smear of blood on his front teeth. He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and swore under his breath when it came away pink. “No, Finlay. Steven just assaulted a cop. He’s far from okay. He was only a few short hours from walking out of this place. Now he’ll be lucky if they don’t throw him in prison.”
“He assaulted a cop?”
“Not just any cop—Mike Tran,” Guy said, pulling a handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbing at his lip. “We were in the interrogation room, answering the same damn questions they’d been grilling him with for the last two days. I had just finished telling Tran to file charges against my client or get off the pot. I told him we’d been more than cooperative and this was the last question I was giving him before I filed a complaint for false imprisonment. The next thing that came out of Tran’s mouth was about you.”
“Me?”
“Steven flew off the handle. He launched himself over the table at Tran. I took an elbow in the face trying to pull him off. Next thing I know, two uniforms are hauling him out in handcuffs and Tran’s pushing for assault charges.”
“But not murder?” I asked as Guy blotted his lip.
“Not yet. But let’s just say Tran didn’t look too upset about his fat lip. Might not have been the charge he was hoping for, but at least now he’s got one that’ll stick. And you know what? Maybe a little time in the cooler will be good for Steven. The guy’s a fucking hothead.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “Where is he?”
Guy jutted his chin toward the door he’d just come through. “They’re booking him now. When you talk to him, tell him I’ve done all I can do.”
“Wait!” I called after him as he headed for the exit. “You’re just dropping him?”
“I was trying to do Steven a favor. But if he wants to be an idiot and throw his life away, he’ll have to do it on his own.”
I didn’t have a chance to ask Guy for a referral, or what would happen to Steven now, before he was out the door.
Stunned, I returned to the counter. “I’d like to see Steven Donovan,” I said with a forced calm.
“No family is allowed. Attorneys only,” the officer said bluntly.
I claimed a hard plastic chair in the waiting area and stared at my phone. Against my better judgment, I sent a quick text to Julian.
Finlay: Steven is being charged. I’m at the LCPD. They won’t let me see him without a lawyer.
My knee bobbed an impatient rhythm as I waited for his reply.
A text message pinged.
Julian: Sit tight. I’m on my way.
I was getting ready to text Vero and fill her in when the inner door buzzed open again. Detective Tran held it wide as he scanned the room. One side of his face was shiny, his eye slightly discolored. “Mrs. Donovan, would you come with me, please?”
I hurried to my feet and followed him into a labyrinthine maze of hallways flanked by small offices. He directed me into an empty interrogation room.
“Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the table in the middle of it.
“Thank you, but I’d like to see Steven.”
Detective Tran closed the door. “It’ll be a few hours before the magistrate can get to him. You might as well take a seat.” He pulled out a chair for me, claiming the one across the table for himself.
“I’ve called an attorney,” I said. “He’ll be here any minute.”
“Mmm,” Detective Tran acknowledged with a nod. “Yes, I heard Steven’s lawyer quit. That’s unfortunate timing.”
“For who?” The detective glanced up from his notebook. I hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but Tran looked amused. “I’m sure this was all a misunderstanding,” I said, careful to keep my tone civil.
“There’s no misunderstanding. Steven is here because he’s a suspect in a murder investigation. We can demonstrate that he had means, opportunity, and a motive to kill Gilford Dupree. We can also prove he has a violent streak.” He didn’t bother pointing out the indisputable evidence on his face.
“Steven can’t be the only suspect!” I argued. “I mean, has anyone bothered to investigate Brendan Haggerty in all this?”
“Brendan Haggerty?” Detective Tran laughed, making me feel as if I’d been left out of some inside joke.
“Brendan left his grandmother at my place on Thursday night,” I explained. “He was supposed to pick her up before the end of the weekend, but no one has heard from him since. He’s not answering his phone, and his car is parked in the economy lot at Dulles. Given that he was supposed to pick up his grandmother yesterday and he didn’t tell anyone he was leaving town, don’t you think that’s a little suspicious? I mean, I certainly have questions.”
“I have a few questions, too. But mine are for you.” Tran’s expression sobered as he uncapped his pen and turned the page of his notebook. My name was written inside it. “It’s lucky for me you came in tonight. I was planning to stop by your house tomorrow, but it seems you’ve saved me the trip.”
My palms began to sweat. “What kind of questions?”
“Mrs. Donovan—”
“Ms.,” I corrected him.
“Right,” he said, his mouth twitching around a smirk. “ Ms . Donovan. The address where you currently live… Did you live in that same home with your ex-husband during the period when you were married?”
“Why do you ask?”
“It’s a simple question.”
“Yes, we lived together while we were married. Why is that important?” I insisted, growing impatient.
“And at the time you were living together, were you aware that your husband had signed a contract to complete a landscaping project for Mr. and Mrs. Owen Haggerty?”
“It was a long time ago,” I said, flustered. “I don’t remember. I was pregnant and trying to finish writing a book before my due date. And, frankly, I don’t see what any of this has to do with—”
“That book you were writing…” Detective Tran flipped a page in his notebook. “ Sinister Regrets ?” He glanced up at me without bothering to wait for confirmation before continuing. “That was an interesting story. I’m not much into reading those kinds of books—I’m more of a Tom Clancy man myself—but when Mrs. Haggerty told me you were a romance novelist, I couldn’t help but be a little bit curious about them. You can tell a lot about a person by their taste in books.” He leaned back in his chair, studying me as he stroked his chin. “Turns out, there’s quite a bit of action in those novels—and not just in the sheets. Before I knew it, I’d spent my whole weekend reading. I managed to get through quite a few of your books, and I noticed some intriguing parallels.”
My spine tingled as if someone had blown an icy breath down the back of my neck.
I shot to my feet. “It’s getting late. Thank you for your time, but if you’re not going to let me talk to Steven, then I’m going to—”
“Sit down, Ms. Donovan. We’re not finished.” When I didn’t sit, he hooked a foot around the leg of my chair and gave it a sharp tug, dropping me into it as it swung into the back of my knees. “See, there’s a particularly interesting scene in one of your books—the one you must have been working on around the same time Gilford Dupree disappeared—about a woman whose lover accidentally kills a man in defense of her honor, and she—loving him as deeply as she does—comes up with a plan to hide the body. I’m just curious what might have inspired that idea.”
“It’s a common trope.”
“Seems awfully coincidental under the circumstances, doesn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t know. At the time, I had no idea what was happening at Mrs. Haggerty’s house.”
“Did you know what was happening in yours?” My stomach soured. Detective Tran raised an eyebrow when I didn’t answer. “Did you know your husband was having an affair, Ms. Donovan?”
Voices argued in the hall, growing louder until they culminated in shouts. I started as the door to the interrogation room flew open and Nick barged inside, flushed and breathless. “Don’t answer that,” he said to me as Detective Tran rose from his seat.
“Pretty sure you’re in the wrong office, Officer Anthony… Oh, wait,” Tran said, getting a look at the badge on Nick’s belt. “Make that the wrong county .”
Joey leaned on the open doorframe, rolling a toothpick in his mouth. “Give it a rest, Mike.”
Nick pulled out my chair for me and handed me my purse. “Come on, Finlay. It’s time to go.”
Detective Tran stepped in my path as Nick steered me toward the door. “This is my case. She’ll go when I say so.”
“Are you charging her with something?”
“Haven’t decided yet.”
Nick pressed forward until he and Tran were toe to toe. “Unless you have a reason to hold her, she’s leaving.”
Tran lifted his chin. “Aren’t you the same detective who found all those bodies on Steven Donovan’s farm?” He gestured between Nick and me, his tone dry as tinder. “Is that how the two of you met? Or were you sleeping with each other before?”
“Ask me that one more time,” Nick said through his teeth. There was a dare in his eyes as he stared Tran down.
“Funny. Steven said the same thing when I asked him that question. I guess we all know how that turned out. The guy’s got a mean jealous streak.” Tran tapped his shiner. “Speaking of which, the magistrate should be here any minute about those assault charges. You’ll be hearing from me, Ms. Donovan.” He winked at me with his good eye on his way out the door.
Nick’s hands clenched at his sides. I took him gently by the arm to keep him from doing something he’d regret.
“You two better get out of here,” Joey said once Tran was finally gone.
“Thanks for the heads-up, Joe. I owe you one.” Nick squeezed Joey’s shoulder and followed me into the hall.
Right into Julian Baker.
Julian steadied me with a hand on my arm as we collided. “Finlay, what are you doing back here? I came as soon as I got your text. You should have waited for…” His eyes lifted to Nick behind me and Julian quickly shut his mouth. He acknowledged Nick with a quick, professional nod and assumed a more reserved tone. “I brought Parker with me,” he said quietly. “She’s meeting with Steven now. I don’t know that she’ll agree to represent him, but she can help him through his hearing with the magistrate tonight and we can figure out what to do from there.”
Julian’s roommate, Parker, wasn’t very fond of me. This wasn’t the first time Julian had called her to get me out of a jam, but hopefully she wouldn’t hold that against Steven.
“Don’t worry,” Julian assured me. “He’s in good hands.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Can you tell me anything about what happened?” he asked Nick.
Nick waited for two uniforms to pass by before answering in a low voice. “Mike Tran is looking at Steven’s affair with Penny Dupree as a motive for the murder. Tran was trying to prove Steven can be violent when he’s jealous. He played dirty during the interrogation and brought up Finlay’s relationship with me. Steven took the bait and reacted. Frankly, I’m not sure you being here is the best idea right now.” It was coolheaded, rational advice, but there was a steely undertone to it.
Julian nodded, color rising in his cheeks. “Got it. I’ll fill Parker in and wait outside.” He turned to me. “I’ll text you after the meeting and let you know how it went, but I doubt the magistrate will let him leave here tonight. She’ll probably want to keep him in custody until his bond hearing. You going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” I forced myself to smile, resisting the temptation to ask him for a referral to an attorney for myself. After my discussion with Mike Tran, I was convinced I was going to need one.
I opened my arms to hug Julian but thought better of it when I felt Nick’s palm on my back. I extended a hand to Julian instead, settling for a shake. “Thank you for everything.”
“I’m glad you called me.” His eyes flicked to Nick’s before he let me go.
Nick didn’t say a word as we exited the station. I started toward my minivan, too exhausted to deal with the argument I felt brewing. He took me by the hand and marched me to his Impala instead. He opened the passenger door and deposited me inside. I braced myself as he rounded the hood, got in the driver’s seat, and slammed the door.
I waited for the inevitable lecture to start, the one where he asked me how I could be so foolish showing up here, after he’d told me to stay as far away as possible from Tran. The longer Nick didn’t say anything, the more my stomach tied itself in knots.
“Why did you call Julian?” he asked without looking at me.
“I needed a lawyer.”
“He isn’t a lawyer.”
“I didn’t know who else to call.”
“You could have called me.”
“Joey said you weren’t answering your phone.”
His eyes snapped to me. “I would have for you! When are you going to start trusting me?” The silence stretched between us. He rubbed a hand over his mouth and lowered his voice. “How certain are you that Steven didn’t murder Gilford Dupree?”
“Completely.” I waited for him to ask me why. To ask me for proof.
He stared out the windshield for an intolerable length of time. His voice was thick with gravel when he finally spoke. “Tell me you have Mrs. Haggerty’s house key.”
“It’s in her purse, back at my—”
He held up a hand. “Tell me she gave it to you.” It wasn’t a question. He wasn’t looking for an answer. He was looking for permission. An excuse to make a decision he wouldn’t be able to if my answer was no.
I nodded. “She gave it to me.”
“Good,” he said as he started the engine. “You and I are going to solve the Dupree murder before this case gets out of hand. We’re starting at the crime scene, and we’re doing it tonight.”