Chapter 4
Sunday afternoon Brand and Carly were getting ready to have dinner when she called Harley to see if she wanted to come over and eat with them, but she didn’t get an answer.
“I’m worried about her,” Carly said.
“Text her. Maybe she has her ringer turned off,” Brand suggested.
Carly did but still didn’t a response. “I don’t like this. “It can’t be easily losing your last family member as well as your twin.”
“Does she have a boyfriend?”
“A boyfriend that her brother didn’t like,” Carly said.
“What?”
Carly nodded.
“When did you find this out?”
“At the arena the day of the accident,” Carly explained. “Harley admitted to us that she was seeing someone that Reilly couldn’t’ stand and they were seeing one another in secret.”
“That’s not good,” Brand said.
“I know.”
“I don’t think you do,” Brand said. “What if Reilly’s accident wasn’t an accident, Carly?”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s go ahead and eat and I’ll tell you about what we learned from the Medical Examiner,” Brand said. They served themselves and after they were seated, Brand explained what he had learned.
“So Reilly’s labs showed he was on a blood thinner which caused him to bleed freely,” Carly said. “But the doctor says he didn’t prescribe him the medication Warfarin which is typically given to thin the blood.”
“Correct,” Brand said. “We believe that’s why the paramedics were unable to stop the bleeding, and he was dead by the time they reached the hospital. And if Harley were seeing someone that Reilly couldn’t stand what if that person was responsible for this?”
“But we don’t know who that is,” Carly said. “And we saw the fight at the arena between Reilly and Scottie where his neck guard was cut off…”
“True, but the Warfarin could have been administered ahead of time somehow,” Brand said. “It would have had to have been for him to have bled out that way.”
Carly put down her fork and sat back. “I’m kinda glad I couldn’t get a hold of Harley to come to dinner now.”
Brand reached for her hand. “Honey, we wouldn’t be having this conversation if she had come.”
Carly nodded and began to eat again but stopped after a few bites. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to talk to Harley and see if I can get her to tell me about this boyfriend. We need to know if and how much he might be involved. Could Reilly have found out about him without her being the wiser?”
“What a tangled web if he did.”
“Exactly,” he said. “Will you be okay cleaning up alone? I’d like to go see her before it gets any later.”
“Sure. And let me send a plate of food with you. I have a feeling she isn’t eating.”
“Of course,” he said.
Brand left their Brownstone and headed across town to the address Hawkeye gave him yesterday when they were discussing the case in the event he needed to search the Flynn property for evidence.
It hadn’t come to that yet, but Brand wondered why Harley hadn’t told him or Hawkeye that she was seeing someone that her brother didn’t like. That was a big red flag in his book.
Traffic was heavy for a Sunday afternoon in December, but it was holiday shopping season.
It took him at least fifteen minutes of circling the block before he found a spot on the street a block and a half from Harley’s Brownstone.
In spite of the wind slicing through his coat, he didn’t mind the walk.
It gave him a chance to enjoy the decorations that were hung along the eaves of the doors and windows.
And time to think of just what and how he was going to say what he came to Harley. Talk about being on thin ice.
He climbed the stoop to the door and rang the bell and waited a good five minutes before Harley finally answered. Her hair was wrapped in a towel, but she was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt.
“Brand? Is Carly with you?” She looked past him and frowned when she saw he was alone.
The skin under her eyes looked swollen and her tightly held mouth suggested she was less than pleased to see him.
“No. This is official business other than to bring you this plate of food,” he said. “Do you mind if I come in?”
“How official? It isn’t like you are on the force.” She stepped back as he entered, taking the plate from him, and closed the door.
“No,” he said as she led him through the kitchen, stopping for a moment to stick the plate in the refrigerator before proceeding to the living room.
They sat on the sofa. “But Burns has asked me and the task force to head up the investigation as impartial members to look into things for him. I just have a few routine questions if you don’t mind. ”
She frowned. “And this couldn’t have waited until tomorrow?”
“I didn’t think it could,” Brand countered. “Especially since I found out you were keeping something from me.”
“Keeping something from you?” she repeated. “What exactly do you think I have been hiding?”
“That you are seeing someone your brother didn’t like.”
Harley’s features tightened as she pressed her lips together and her nostrils flared before she finally spoke. “That’s right.” There was no mistaking the defensive tone in her voice. “I won’t deny it. I hadn’t told Reilly I was seeing someone he didn’t like.”
“Do you mind telling me who it is?”
She swallowed, looked down at the floor and then back at him. “Scottie Dugan.”
“Shit.”
“I know it doesn’t look good after what happened on the ice. And it definitely doesn’t look good that Reilly died because of it, but I know deep down that Scottie did not mean for Reilly to die.”
“You better hope not,” Brand said and rose, staring down at her. “Have you had any contact with him since the incident?”
“No. I tried calling him last night, but he didn’t answer.
I don’t know if he was afraid to take my call or if he asleep or what.
Who knows what was going through his head.
” She shook her head. “I know I wasn’t thinking right myself.
I deleted my call log, deleted him from my contacts like a crazy person.
Then I put him back when I realized it wasn’t going to change anything.
Reilly is dead. I chose to keep a secret from him, and it killed me to do it, but I did because I knew he didn’t like Scottie for reasons he wouldn’t tell me. ”
“Scottie knew why Reilly didn’t like him, why didn’t he tell you,” Brand said. “Heck, I even knew. So I wonder why he didn’t tell you?”
Her eyes widened and he again noticed the weariness there. “You do?”
“Yea. It’s not a deep dark secret,” Brand said. “Reilly is the reason that Scottie’s first partner Monte Adam’s was thrown off the force. He found the evidence that Internal Affairs needed to prove their case, although to hear tell, Scottie doesn’t believe that Monte was guilty.”
Harley removed the towel from her head and began drying her hair. “I wonder why he just didn’t tell me that?”
“I’d be asking him if I were you,” Brand said. “Especially if the two of you are that involved, enough so that you were keeping it a secret from your twin brother.”
She nodded.
“How long were you seeing one another?” Brand walked across the room and stood at the fireplace. He picked the framed photo of her and Reilly together, stared at it a moment, before putting it back on the mantle.
“Five months.”
“That’s a good amount of time to keep your relationship hidden.”
“I know,” she admitted. “Longest time I’ve kept anything from Reilly, but it sounds like he was keeping a secret from me much longer. Not that it justified my secret. His dealt with the job.”
“I bet Scottie has been told not to talk to anyone right now and that is why he didn’t take your call last night,” Brand said. “But as soon as he is able to talk to you, I recommend having that talk.”
“I will,” she said. “There is something I do need to tell you. I searched Reilly’s room and didn’t find a prescription for Warfarin anywhere. There wasn’t one in our shared cabinet space in the kitchen either, so I have no idea how his labs came back showing the blood thinner.”
Brand nodded. “Thank you for that information. I’m sure it will remain a mystery to us until we stumble upon the truth.”
“So you aren’t surprised that I didn’t find anything here?” she said.
“Not really, especially since you professed being so close and you were his emergency contact.”
Harley sighed and placed a shaky hand to her mouth.
“Do you need anything while I’m here?” Brand asked.
“I’m good.”
“Carly called earlier to invite you to dinner but didn’t get you.”
“I turned my ringer off so I could rest. Then when I got up I took a shower and washed my hair. I’d just finished when you got here.”
“Sorry about that,” he said.
“No. I should have started my day at the usual time,” she said. “Instead, I was just being lazy and now it’s night and the sun has set.”
“You don’t need to apologize for anything right now,” Brand said gently. “You need to rest as much as you can. You’ve been dealt a harsh blow. If you should need anything we’re just a phone call away.”
“I know,” she said. “And thanks.”
“I won’t keep you longer,” he said, and she walked him back to the door. “By the way, what is Scottie’s address? I just realized Burns gave me yours, but not his.”
She rattled the address off and he silently repeated it as he headed back to his parking place until he had it memorized. Then he headed to Scottie Dugan’s apartment.
Scottie opened the door surprised to find Brand Chambers standing there. He smirked. “Didn’t I just leave you at the arena parking lot yesterday afternoon? Are you stalking me?”
“Ha. Funny, Dugan. Can I come in?” Brand asked.
“Sure.” Scottie stepped aside to let him enter. “Can I get you something to drink? Maybe a beer?”
“I’m good,” Brand replied.
Scottie turned on a couple of lamps in the dark apartment. “It’s been boring as heck keeping the television off because when I turn it on one station or the other is broadcasting about Flynn.”
“I bet,” Brand said, sitting down in an armchair. “I just left Harley.”
“How is she?” Scottie asked, sitting on the sofa. “I really want to call and check on her, but I’ve been told not to reach out. That it’s not advised”
“That must really be hard when she’s your girlfriend.”
“How the–”
“She made the mistake of telling Carly she was seeing someone her brother didn’t like and I couldn’t let that stand. I had to question her,” Brand said. “Tell me what happened on the ice had nothing to do with the two of you dating.”
“No!” Scottie yelled, jumping to his feet. “Hell no!”
“Okay. I believe you,” Brand assured him. “I just needed to hear it for myself. Burns has asked me to head up a private investigation separate from the one Internal Affairs is doing.”
Curiosity tamped Scottie’s anger. “Doesn’t Burns trust Internal Affairs?”
“He does to a certain extent, but he knows how officers feel about IA and how they clam up around an IA investigation,” Brand explained.
“Isn’t that the truth. I know Monte didn’t get a fair shake when he was accused…”
“Accused of what?” Brand interrupted. “I don’t know what went down. All I know is I’ve heard Monte Adams was your partner at one time and now I’ve seen a security guard named Monte Adams hanging around the rink since we started practicing since last July.”
“Yea, he’s been there week in, week out throwing his presence in Reilly’s face,” Scottie said, a muscle twitched in his jaw. “It’s been opening up that old wound.”
“Reilly’s wound or Monte’s?”
“Monte’s,” Scottie retorted. “I’m sure it was Monte’s more than Reilly. Although I could tell it grated on Reilly’s nerves to see him there walking around instead of behind bars.”
“I heard through scuttlebutt that you didn’t believe the accusations against Monte,” Brand said.
“Not one bit,” Scottie said and got up and went into the kitchen coming back with two long neck bottles of beer.
He popped off the caps and handed one to Brand who reluctantly took one but didn’t drink.
“He was my partner, and I knew him like I knew myself. I never saw him with a drug dealer. I never saw him taking a bribe. I don’t care how many pictures Reilly took of him talking to a drug dealer or how many envelopes of cash IA found in Monte’s locker I just don’t believe it wasn’t a set up. ”
“And yet you never told Harley any of this,” Brand said.
“That was between me and Reilly, not me and Harley,” Scottie said. “It all happened before I started dating her.”
“I beg to differ,” Brand said. “I think she had a right to know. I think it played a big role in your keeping the relationship a secret from Reilly.”
Scottie drank half the bottle and stared into space thinking for a few minutes before he spoke.
“Maybe. But it was water under the bridge by the time I met her. I sure as hell didn’t think about it when I asked her out and I sure as hell didn’t think about it when I asked her out the second time.
In fact, I didn’t even know her last name until we’d went out three times and by then I was crazy about the girl, and it didn’t matter. ”
“You didn’t know her last name? How could you not find that out?” Brand asked, curious.
“We met at a bar,” Scottie said. “A popular law enforcement and legal eagle handout. She’d learned about it from Reilly as it turned out, but she’d only told me her brother at the start.
So we agreed to meet up there two times after we first met and then I asked her on a real date where I was going to pick her up at home.
That’s when she told me her name was Harley Flynn and still I didn’t make the connection until she gave me the address.
I knew it because I’d followed Reilly home one night after he’d turned Monte in.
I almost broke things off with Harley after that, but I realized I was crazy about her, and she wasn’t her brother.
I eventually confronted her about him, and she explained how she didn’t want him knowing about me either and so we proceeded from there. ”
“That’s crazy.”
“Maybe, but that’s how it happened,” Scottie said.
“She called you last night, but you didn’t answer,” Brand said.
“I know, I wasn’t sure if I should,” Scottie said. “IA told me not to talk to my girlfriend. IA would shit a brick if they knew she was my girlfriend.”
“IA would lock you up if they found out,” Brand said and finally took a drink of the beer.
“You can say that again.” Scottie raised his bottle. “We never meant for things to get out of hand when we decided to keep quiet about our relationship.”
“No one ever does,” Brand said and sat his drink down on the side table. “I better go. I don’t like leaving Carly home alone at night. We’ll talk more again.”
“My union rep believes I need to get an attorney,” Scottie said.
“It probably wouldn’t hurt,” Brand said.
“Shit.”
“But you do what you must,” Brand said and headed to the door.
“In that case, I have no choice but to get one,” Scottie said. “I can’t let Harley deal with this alone.”