CHAPTER TWELVE
Michael Parker maintained his dignified look as Marcus ushered him into the interview room. He sat with his hands folded and his head held high, staring straight ahead at where he thought the two-way mirror was with a look of quiet defiance.
“Kid’s got a better handle on his temper than his mom does,” Marcus observed when he joined Kate again.
“He does right now,” Kate replied, “but he has a history of violent behavior when it comes to Derek Hammond. I’m willing to bet the quiet, strong thing he’s got going on here will crumble under pressure.”
“Good idea,” Marcus said. “I’ll go in and sweat him a bit. Then you can come in and seal the deal.”
“Actually,” Kate said, “I’d like to try the opposite of that.”
Marcus gave her an iffy look. “Kate, don’t take this the wrong way, but he just watched his mom almost beat you up. I don’t think he’s going to find you very intimidating.”
“Okay, ouch, but also, that’s not the point. I don’t want to intimidate him. I want to make him feel comfortable revealing how he truly feels.”
“You think he’ll take the mask off for a pretty face?”
Heat climbed Kate’s cheeks. She turned away so Marcus wouldn’t see her blush. “Well, a gentle face, anyway.”
Marcus shrugged. “All right. It’s worth a shot.”
Kate stepped into the interview room. She smiled at Michael, and he returned a slightly sardonic smile of his own.
“Thank you for talking to us,” she said, sliding into the seat across from him. “And thank you for helping calm things down back at the house.”
“Sure.”
Already the facade of gentleness was cracking. His shoulders were tight, his lips pressed together, his voice clipped. He had acted the way he needed to keep his mom safe, but now that she wasn’t in danger, his temper was leaking through.
“How are you feeling?”
His brow furrowed, and the smirk widened. “How am I feeling?”
“Yes.”
“Why is that important?”
“I’m just asking.”
“No, you’re not. You’re interrogating me about a murder. You’re not trying to be my friend, and you don’t care about my feelings.”
This was working faster than Kate thought it would. Or maybe Michael was just getting tired of trying to project calm.
“Fair enough. I’m still asking.”
He laughed and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. From this angle, the grief in his eyes was visible, and behind it, the anger, the deep, abiding rage against the injustice of it all.
“Fine,” he lied.
She let it pass for now. “Would you like a glass of water?”
“I’d like to get this over with. I didn’t kill Derek Hammond.”
“Okay. How do you feel now that he’s dead?”
“What kind of question is that?” he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. “How do you expect me to answer? How would you feel if the person who killed your father died?”
Kate let her heart beat once. Twice. He didn’t know about her father. There was no way he did.
Unless he was the killer. Unless Cox had told him about Kate and about the role he intended her to play.
She took a breath to steady her voice, then asked, “How do you know about that?”
“I looked you up,” he said. “When I heard that the FBI was investigating Hammond’s murder, I figured it would be you because he was killed for breaking the sixth commandment. I found out that your own father was murdered, shot outside a church. So, tell me: how would you feel?”
The door opened, and Marcus stepped in. Before he could say anything, Kate said, “Thank you, Marcus. I’ll take a glass of water. Michael?”
Marcus frowned at her. She met his eyes and pleaded silently for him not to take over. He hesitated for a moment, then sighed and left the room.
“You didn’t answer my question about the water.”
“Fuck the water.”
His eyes were alive now. The corners of her lips trembled as he didn’t quite succeed in stifling his smile.
“You like having power over people, don’t you, Michael?”
“That’s another bullshit question. I like when other people don’t have power over me. I’m sure you feel the same.”
“Bit of a temper too. Get that from your mother?”
Rather than explode at the jab, he chuckled. “Wow, you were really thrown off by that question about your father, weren’t you?”
Kate felt the urge to explode, but she was already on the verge of losing control of this interview, so she took another breath.
“Mr. Parker, let me be very clear. You are suspected of murdering Derek Hammond. This conversation has nothing to do with me. If it helps you to believe that you ‘got me,’ then go ahead. But you do need to answer my questions if you have any hope of clearing yourself, because right now, you are the prime suspect in a murder investigation.”
He shrugged. “Well, maybe the jury will acquit me like it acquitted Hammond.”
“Are you saying you killed him, and you’ll get away with his murder the way Hammond got away with your father’s murder?”
“No! I’m…”
He looked back up at the ceiling again and began to tap his right foot on the floor. He had gotten Kate, but his brief moment of superiority was gone now that he understood the trouble he was in.
“Look, I didn’t do anything!”
“You assaulted two security guards at a benefit gala three weeks ago when they removed you from the dinner for threatening Mr. Hammond.”
“I didn’t threaten him! I warned him that God would deliver justice. And He did.”
His teeth were bared now, just like they were in the video. He leaned over the table and snarled. “You want to know how I feel, Agent Kate Valentine? I feel blessed! I got to see the wrath of the Lord visited on my enemy. I praise God!”
The door opened, and Marcus walked in. He saw the situation and gave Michael a calm look. “Everything all right, Mr. Parker?”
Michael slumped back in his chair and brought his hand to his face. He didn’t respond.
Marcus set the water in front of Kate. He didn’t leave the room. Instead, he stood to the side of the table, close enough to reach out and grab Michael if he got violent. Kate didn’t protest. Her play had paid off already.
“Can you confirm your whereabouts last night?” she asked.
“I was home. I was playing Guild Wars.”
“Playing what?”
“Guild Wars. It’s an online role-playing game. I have a YouTube channel for gaming, and last night, I was filming a campaign in Visions of Eternity.”
Kate shared a glance with Marcus. “Any way you can confirm that?”
“My guild members will confirm it. I’d rather you not talk to them, but I’m sure you’re gonna tell me you have to.”
“I will,” Kate replied. “What time were you finished?”
“I don’t know. Around two. I have the video I filmed too if that will help.”
Kate wasn’t sure if it would. Timestamps could be fairly easily faked on videos, and his guild members could lie. She would take it anyway, though.
“I’ll give you an email address to send it to when you get home.”
He lifted his eyes, shocked. “I’m going home?”
“Yes. But, you need to stay within Chicago’s city limits.
We’re going to make sure local law enforcement knows to be on the lookout for you.
In fact, it might be best for you to stay at home when you’re not in school, at least until we figure this out.
And stop posting on social media. I’m honestly not convinced that you’re innocent, and most of that is because of the post you made gloating that God was good because Hammond was murdered. ”
He nodded. “Okay. Sure. I can do that.”
He started to stand, and Kate asked, “One more question. Does the name Elijah Cox mean anything to you?”
Marcus frowned but kept quiet. Michael’s brow furrowed. “No, I don’t think so. Should I know who he is?”
Kate looked at him closely. She didn’t see any sign that he was lying or hiding something. “No. That’s fine. Thank you.”
They dropped him off across the street from his house.
His mother ran halfway to their car to greet him.
She wrapped him in her arms like a mother hen covering her chicks and glared daggers at the FBI agents as she led him inside.
The neighbors with their blank, watchful eyes weren’t out on the street to observe this, but one of them stared through an upper window of their townhome.
Not at Michael, though. His eyes were fixed firmly on Kate.