Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Matthias was pleased to learn that Eric was wising up. When Fergusson told him he had more questions, Eric didn’t need prompting from either Matthias or Emma.
“Not without my attorney present.”
Matthias brushed his upper lip with his fingers to conceal his grin.
Once the troopers had collected prints from the keypad, they packed the carefully wrapped shovel into their trunk and departed.
Matthias made another half-hearted attempt to talk Emma into letting him drive her to Ohio. She refused, as he’d known she would. Resigned, he gave her a long kiss, held her tight, and whispered, “I love you and need you to be careful,” into her ear.
“Back at you,” she replied.
He and Eric watched her pull out in the Prius and disappear around the next turn before they retreated into the house. Matthias offered to cook dinner while Eric showered to remove the jail dirt and hospital germs.
“If you weren’t straight, I’d ask you to marry me,” Eric said with an exhausted smile.
A half hour later, they sat in silence at the kitchen island eating a meal concocted from the odds and ends Matthias found in the pantry since he’d pretty well cleaned out the refrigerator the last time.
After clearing his plate, Eric set down his fork and looked at Matthias.
“I appreciate the meal. I do. But I was really hoping you would go with Emma. I’m worried about her going after Nell on her own. ”
Matthias met his gaze. “She won’t be alone.”
Eric appeared puzzled.
“I made a phone call.”
Eric opened his mouth, then closed it. “Good.”
Matthias was glad he didn’t press.
“What happens next?” Eric asked.
“Hopefully Emma finds Nell, brings her back, and convinces her to go back to rehab,” Matthias said.
“True. All of it. Except that’s not what I meant. How do we go about finding what really happened to Sonny?”
“We don’t. That’s up to me.”
“I can’t understand why I’m being framed.”
Matthias pushed his empty plate away. “You’re an easy target.”
“The argument at the Pub on Main,” Eric said. “That was stupid of me. Letting Sonny push my buttons like that. Especially in front of all those people in the restaurant.”
“And you use your birthday as your security code.” Matthias narrowed his eyes at him. “Come on, man. You’re smarter than that.”
Eric lowered his head. “I know. Not my brightest moment.”
Matthias needed to eliminate one of the possible means of access to the garage. “Think. Of the people who were at the restaurant that night, who would know your birthday?”
He lifted his face, staring thoughtfully in the direction of his stove. “No one.”
“Someone must have. You went to school with Jones. He probably knew.”
Eric’s eyes slid to Matthias, his expression sardonic. “Seriously? Think back to the kids you went to school with. How many of their birthdays do you know?”
Eric had a point. “Emma knows it,” Matthias said.
“Because I gave her the code. She’s my best friend. Besides, I’m pretty sure Emma isn’t trying to frame me for murder.”
“What about your social media accounts? Do you have your birthdate set as public?”
“No. I do know better than that.”
Matthias mentally crossed off the option that their suspect had let himself in by keying in the passcode. Lukan’s old-school suggestion might be the logical answer to the garage break-in, but that was only half of the attempt to frame Eric.
“How did the murder weapon end up in your car?” Matthias said, more to himself than to Eric.
“I wish I knew.”
Matthias hadn’t really expected an answer and continued to muse. “It’s obvious the killer broke in and planted it.”
“But how?” Eric sounded on the verge of frustrated tears. “There weren’t any scratches on my car. Besides, it has all sorts of anti-theft safeguards. One of those slim jim gizmos won’t do the trick.”
“If they knew what they were doing, they wouldn’t need to damage the paint, and they’d know their way around the anti-theft devices.
” Matthias pondered the list of suspects and wondered if any of them had a rap sheet that involved auto theft.
He picked his phone up from the island and tapped a number.
“Hey, Cassie,” he said when she answered. “I need another favor.”
* * *
The drive to Akron took over three hours instead of two. The stress and lack of good sleep over the last few days caught up, forcing Emma to make a stop for coffee and then another stop to use the restroom.
By the time she pulled into the cracked and pock-marked parking lot of the Shangri-La Motor Inn, it was after eleven at night.
Despite the exotic name, the half dozen burned-out bulbs in the motel’s sign confirmed its true one-star status.
Nevertheless, almost a dozen cars sat parked outside various rooms.
Emma parked next to a dark sedan sitting in front of the office. As she stepped out, the other car’s passenger door opened. Emma froze, prepared to leap back into the Prius.
Until Erie City Police Detective Sergeant Cassie Malone exited the sedan.
Emma choked a laugh. “Cassie? What are you doing here?” But Emma immediately answered her own question. “Matthias called you.”
“More than once.” Cassie crossed in front of the car as the driver’s window powered down, revealing her grinning daughter. Staff Sergeant Denene Malone was on compassionate leave from her Army position following her father’s shooting a week and a half ago.
“Dad wouldn’t let Mom drive, so I brought her,” Denene said.
Cassie had been shot, too, in the same scuffle where Emma had received her concussion. “We’re all the walking wounded,” Cassie said.
Emma planted her hands on her hips. “I’m surprised Matthias asked you to come here.”
“He didn’t. He asked me to send one of the other detectives, but with Matthias and me out of commission, they’re shorthanded, so you’re stuck with me.”
Emma smiled. “Again.”
“We did so well together last time.”
“You came close to dying.”
“Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” Cassie aimed a thumb at the office. “Let’s go find your sister.”
Denene waved. “I’ll be here if you need to call in the military.”
Emma and Cassie reached the door at the same time. Cassie motioned for Emma to go first. “I’m only here to look scary and provide backup.”
Emma eyed her. Nearly six feet tall and nearing retirement age, Cassie had the stoic cop expression down pat. Matthias often referred to her as half mother hen, half warrior. Tonight, Emma thought, she was acting as both.
Emma pushed through the glass door and hesitated at the sight of a bullet hole at eye level. Suddenly, having a cop and an Army officer nearby seemed like an especially good idea.
Inside, a man with a long, thin, gray ponytail hanging from the horseshoe ring of hair on his otherwise bald head leaned over a magazine.
Emma caught a glimpse of naked female flesh on the page before he slapped it closed and stashed it below the counter.
“Do you want the daily or hourly rate?” he asked.
Cassie choked back a laugh.
“Neither.” Emma opened her phone to a photo of Nell and held it up to him. “What room is she in?”
He squinted at the photo. “Never saw her before.”
“Don’t lie to me. She’s registered here as Emma Anderson.”
The man, whose name badge labeled him as John, pulled the magazine back out and laid it open on the counter.
Cassie stepped forward and snatched the porno rag from him. “Does your mama know you read this garbage?”
“Never knew my mother,” he said with a sneer.
Cassie held it up with both hands, clearly ready to rip it in half.
“Hey,” John protested. “I paid good money for that.”
“Tell the lady what she wants to know, and maybe I’ll give it back.”
He huffed in disgust and swung his attention to Emma. “Yeah, she’s here. So what?”
“She used a credit card to pay for the room?”
“Yep. For the whole night. And she’s all by herself.” He wagged a finger between Emma and Cassie. “If you ladies plan on making it a threesome, I’ll need to raise the rate.”
Emma ignored him. She pulled out her driver’s license, careful to conceal her address, and showed it to him. “You see, the problem is that I am Emma Anderson, and the card she gave you was stolen.”
He swore. “I ran it, and it cleared.”
“I’m sure you did. What room is she in?”
He made a pained face, his mouth pinched shut.
Emma pursed her lips and looked at Cassie. “I guess I’ll have to call the police. They’ll likely have to check every room to find the right one.”
Cassie did a remarkable job of keeping a straight face. “I guess you will.”
“Son of a…” John let the epithet die on his lips. “She’s in one twenty-eight. I suppose you want a key.”
Emma smiled sweetly. “Yes, please.”
Grumbling, he pulled an old-school key and plastic fob from beneath the counter and handed it to Emma. Then he turned to Cassie and held out his hand. “I’ll take my reading material back now if you don’t mind.”
Cassie held up the magazine as she had before, but this time, she tore it in half.
“Hey!” He pounded a fist on the counter. “You said if I told her what she wanted to know, you’d give it back.”
Cassie ripped each half in half again. “I said maybe I’d give it back.” She dumped it in the trash bin on their way out the door.
* * *
The construction site at the old Powell farm was deserted when Matthias arrived just before midnight.
He cruised past the entrance, turned around in a driveway, and drove past a second time before pulling onto a side road a hundred yards or so away.
He parked, cut the engine, and checked his phone, hoping to see a missed text from Emma or Cassie.
Finding nothing, he silenced and pocketed his phone before stepping out of the Jeep.
He reached back in and retrieved his Maglite and the hammer he’d borrowed from Eric.
Aside from the Maglite, the only illumination came from a series of dusk-to-dawn lights mounted on utility poles along the paved roads, which looped through the not-yet-built community.
He hadn’t noticed them during his previous visits in the daytime.
Glad he’d decided to wear all black, he clung to the shadows as he made his way to the three Tyvek-wrapped houses.
Two of the structures had doors and windows installed.
Plywood protected the third from the elements. And from intruders.
The realization that he fit that last category mildly amused Matthias.
Here he was, far from his jurisdiction, with no backup and no court order.
He might not have nefarious intentions, but there was no denying he was guilty of trespassing.
The fact that his motive was to find evidence wouldn’t be much help in a court of law.
One of the overhead lights shone on the fronts of all three houses.
Matthias crept to the rear of the first. He would need a stepladder to see into the first-floor windows on the lower side.
Due to the lay of the land, though, he could reach them on the upper side.
He clicked on the Maglite and aimed it inside.
The interior walls had yet to be finished, allowing him an unobstructed view of the ground level.
Stacks of drywall, spools of wiring, and a toilet sat ready for installation.
No sheets of glass. He wasn’t surprised.
It was too early in the construction process to bring in materials for a shower surround, and the windows were already installed.
He would’ve loved to get inside and sweep the flashlight beam across the floor, searching for the glitter of broken glass. From outside, he didn’t see any telltale reflections on the subflooring.
Matthias moved on to the next house with the same lack of results.
There was no peering into windows at the final structure.
He studied the plywood covering the openings and debated his plan of action.
So far, all he’d done was snoop, leaving no evidence he’d been here.
If he continued, his next action tipped into the category of breaking and entering.
Did he really expect to find broken glass?
The lab had already stated the shard used to kill Jones wasn’t the type used for windows.
Still, it made sense that Jones’s murder had happened here.
Moving his body the short distance to where it’d been found would be easy, and it was more logical than transporting it from anywhere else.
This might be Matthias’s only opportunity to get inside.
If he passed it up, and the answer to all their questions was right here, Jones’s murderer might never be caught.
“Aw, hell,” Matthias muttered. He brought his borrowed hammer up to the plywood, rammed the claw end under the edge, and pried. The corner popped loose. He continued working his way around the edge until the sheet came free. He set it down, gripped the frame, and heaved himself up.
He was halfway in when a bright beam of light struck him.
“Police!” a commanding voice shouted. “Back out of there and keep your hands where I can see them!”