Chapter 2
A week and a half later, Kevin was getting a file from his top desk drawer when he saw his captain come to the office door and call out to him.
“Lassiter, got a minute?”
Kevin looked between his boss and the folder he was going to take with him to HR, then sighed. “Yeah, can I make a quick call first?”
“Sure, then come to my office.” The captain turned and went back into the room.
Kevin picked up his phone, dialed the four-digit extension, and said quietly to the person who answered. “This is Detective Kevin Lassiter, I’m going to have to reschedule our meeting.”
“Okay, instead of doing that, why don’t you stop in when you have a free minute? We’ll fit you in, and it will save us from tying up time. I’ve been looking into your request, and will have the papers ready for you.”
“Okay, thanks.” Kevin hung up, stood, and went to his boss’s office.
“Come in, and shut the door behind you.” The captain was precise in his instructions, which threw Kevin off because he genuinely liked his boss, but today he seemed standoffish.
“Take a seat.”
Kevin sat, and studied his boss. That’s when he saw how pinched his mouth was, and how his eyes wouldn’t quite meet Kevin’s.
“Boss? Is there a problem here?”
“Yes and no,” Captain Boggs said. “Shit,” he said as he scrubbed his face and slumped back in his chair. The pinched look didn’t disappear, but the standoffishness did go away. “We have a possible situation.”
“Okay, what can I do to help?”
“Drake and Bennett were up on rotation, and they received a call early this morning.”
“Shit, okay.” Hearing those names meant there was another homicide that needed to be investigated.
“Yes, it’s a homicide and the suspect is in custody.”
“That’s good.”
“No, it isn’t. I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“What?” When Boggs continued to stay silent, Kevin looked at him directly. “Just tell me.”
“It’s Karen.”
“Who?”
“Your ex-wife. Karen Nicole Carter Lassiter. Though I’ve been told she’s going by her maiden name now.”
Kevin sat there in stunned silence for what felt like an eternity, trying to grasp what he had heard, then he asked so quietly, he had to clear his throat several times before the words would come out loud enough to be heard.
“Is Karen dead?”
“No, she’s the suspect.”
Kevin felt the blood drain from his head, and shook it, then stared at his boss in shock. “Come again?”
“I’ve been on the phone with Bennett and Drake all morning. There is video proof of the attack, the suspect was immediately taken into custody, the scene preserved for us, and our guys are questioning her.”
“Karen?”
“Yes, however, they hit a snag.”
“Okay, what type of snag.”
“Karen won’t talk. She was read her rights, but instead of invoking a lawyer, all she said was Kevin Lassiter. That’s it. She hasn’t said a word for the last three hours.”
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because we had to talk to the DA to see if it was allowed that you, her ex-husband, should be involved. I know you won’t go there as a concerned ex, and I wanted to know what would happen if you went there as Detective Lassiter.”
“Ah, if she’s asking for me, then she might think she can get out of the murder charges. She will use me like she did when we were married, throw her weight around because I’m a cop.”
“Yes, Brooks was in court,” Boggs said as he referred to the District Attorney. “I wanted to talk to him directly before talking to you.”
Kevin jumped to his feet to pace, shaking his head, unable to comprehend the information he had just heard. He turned back to his boss and asked incredulously, “You’re telling me that my ex-wife murdered someone? Karen? The woman that would cause World War X if she broke a nail?”
“Yes, it’s clear as day on their video.”
“Did she admit to it?”
“No, the only two words she’s spoken since she was apprehended was your name. That’s it.”
“Where is she now?”
“Solitary confinement, under heavy guard. Once she clammed up after saying your name, Bennett and Drake took statements from the other inmates. They went back to her three times, but she refused to speak.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Brooks is on his way here, the two of you will drive out to the prison. The four of you, Brooks, Drake, Bennett, and yourself, will question Karen.” He paused then shook his head as he looked directly at Kevin this time. “I’m sure you know the implications of this.”
“I probably do, but I’m too stunned to think right now, what are they?”
They both looked up when the door opened and District Attorney Antonio Brooks walked in.
“Since she’s already serving eighteen to twenty for her last attempted murder charge, it’s a strong possibility that she will get life, without the possibility of parole.
That’s what I’m going to go in there with, but I’m also going to go with you so I can hear her confession, and make sure you don’t say anything that her lawyer might think can get her off. ”
Kevin stared at him with a frown, then sighed heavily. “Karen can be stubborn. What if she doesn’t want a lawyer?”
“Okay, then one will be appointed to her from the court. However, what if she’s asking for you so she can convince you to pay for a lawyer. Or get a high powered one to get her off? What if she’s requesting you to twist your heart strings because of your past together?”
“Not going to happen,” Kevin said so fast and hard, the other two men nodded.
“I don’t know the entire situation, but it’s my understanding that you have a child together?”
“We do, but that child is living in a different state, and is twenty-six years old.”
“Ah, okay, so if she’s sentenced to life, then she won’t be leaving a motherless child behind?”
Kevin snorted a laugh. “She should have thought about that twenty-five years ago. Oh, she was never neglectful. Caleb was fed, clothed, and taken to his sports. Karen was just never there emotionally for him.”
“Ah, got it. Well, we better get going, it’s an hour’s drive to Gig Harbor.”
“Are we riding together?”
“Yes.” His tone brooked no argument, and Kevin was actually glad that he didn’t have to clear his head enough to drive himself to the women’s prison. He knew if he made the drive alone, he would either wreck, or never make it with his head trying to grasp the severity of what he had just been told.
When Brooks parked in the visitor parking lot at the women’s prison, Kevin shook his head, scrubbed his face, and looked over at the DA.
“Jesus,” he said as he looked around. “I was going to come here in a few weeks to talk to Karen one last time.”
“What’s that mean?” Brooks looked at him with a furrowed brow.
“When Boggs called me into his office earlier, I was just getting ready to head to HR. No one knows this, but I was going to see what my pension would be, because I’m retiring.
Once I learned of my options, I was going to go to Boggs.
I’ve been slowly cleaning out my house, packing what I want to take with me, then I’m not only leaving Seattle, but I’m leaving Washington state. I have a job lined up.”
“I’m not going to ask you where, not that I don’t want to know, but I don’t want anything to slip while we do the interviews. We don’t know why she’s requesting you, and if it’s for what we think, then no one needs to know where you’re going. It’s better to protect yourself.”
“Thank you for that.” Kevin nodded and exited the vehicle.
When they arrived at the gate, they were led to an area where Kevin had to relinquish his gun, but he was allowed to keep his badge.
Instead of keeping it on his belt like always, he clipped it onto his chest. He didn’t want anyone to mistake him for an inmate.
Not that anyone would, because this prison held only female inmates.
They were met in the hall by a woman who looked relieved to see them.
“Is one of you Kevin Lassiter?” she asked before introducing herself. “Sorry, I’m a little rattled. I’m Warden Susan Finch. It’s been an exciting few hours.”
“I can only imagine,” Kevin said as he held out his hand. “I’m Kevin Lassiter.”
“Thank god. I know you’re divorced, but your wife refuses to talk to anyone but you.
To keep her safe from herself, and the other prisoners, I had her moved to solitary confinement.
I’ll call to have her brought up. I’ll take you to the other detectives as we wait for her arrival.
” They waited for her to use her radio to give the instruction, and in less than two minutes they were walking the halls with an armed guard behind them.
Not just the gun they carried on their side, but there was also a long gun in their hands.
“Why the extra firepower?” Kevin asked and he nodded his head toward the guard.
They stopped, and the next words out of Warden Finch’s mouth had both Brooks and Kevin shocked.
Warden Finch sighed heavily several times, turned in a circle, then turned to look directly at Kevin. “I know I shouldn’t say this, but your wife did all of us a favor by killing Abby Strokes.”
“Ex-wife,” Kevin answered automatically, then shook his head. “Why do you say that?”
“Abby Strokes was a terror in here. I’ll give you a copy of her record, but she came to us at the age of twenty, and she’s been here for ten years.
She was at the top of the food chain. There have been several other inmates that she’s put in the infirmary because they refused to take direction from her.
They didn’t conform to her bullying. I’ll have to look it up for the exact numbers, so don’t quote me on this, but I believe she’s put Karen in the infirmary at least three times in the last year and a half. ”
“Jesus,” Kevin said as he recalled what his wife had looked like when she was free. He couldn’t imagine her being hurt.
“Do you think she acted in self-defense?” Brooks asked.
“Not from what I saw on the video.” Finch sighed and shook her head.
They continued walking, and when they went around a corner, they all stopped in their tracks when they saw Bennett and Drake standing there with someone in scrubs.
Kevin looked at the floor, saw the body covered with a sheet, and walked over, squatted down, and lifted the sheet.
Secretly, he thought everyone was lying to him and that it was Karen beneath the drape and not someone else.
There was no way in hell that his ex-wife had the strength to kill someone.
Let alone the mental capacity for such a horrendous act.
He firmed his jaw when he saw that the women was not Karen, and sighed in relief. Then his job kicked in, and he noted the marks on the face, neck, and upper chest. He looked at his co-workers and they looked at him with pity.
“Stop that shit right now,” he said as he stood.
“Don’t look at me like that. She’s my ex, and you guys know it.
If you can’t keep your faces clear of any emotions, then I’m going to call Boggs and get someone else in here to do their job properly.
I’m not the victim, I’m not the suspect.
I’m a fucking homicide Detective. Now do your jobs! ”
“Yes, Sir,” they barked out, and looked up when someone wheeled a gurney around the corner. Finch, Kevin, and Brooks stepped back to let them work at getting the body in a black bag, up on the gurney, then rolled away.
“This way, gentlemen,” Finch said as she nodded to the janitors standing there waiting to clean up the mess. She paused to look at the other two detectives. “Can they clean up the mess?”
“Yes,” Drake said and stepped up beside Kevin.
“Is everyone on lockdown?” Kevin asked as they continued forward.
“Yes.” The reply was clipped. After several twists and turns, they reached a door.
Finch opened it, and everyone walked in.
It was a conference room with a table with two chairs on each side.
The guard that was already there brought one chair around, so only one was on that side, then brought in several more.
By the time he had it set up, two more guards walked in with Karen between them.
Kevin sucked in his breath when he saw her, shocked by her appearance.
She didn’t look haggard, but she looked hard.
He had seen the look she wore on several people that have lived in the streets for years.
People that didn’t give a damn about what happened to them, but still kept going.
She walked in with her head held high, and when she looked around, her eyes locked on him.
“Hello, Kevin.”