Chapter 10 #3
“That was a cheap shot and you know it.” Her lip curled in contempt. “Four minutes.”
“That summer, there were four murders, all young men between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. I am unable to disclose any more information, except to say that the first victim’s injuries matched Adam Miller’s exactly.”
“A copycat?” Olivia’s brows drew down in confusion.
“We don’t think so. The manner in which he was killed, the method, and the state of the remains all match exactly.”
“What exactly are you getting at, Chief?”
“None of those details were ever released to the public.”
“You think it’s the same person? That someone took a twenty-year vacation and then suddenly decided to start murdering again?” Olivia guessed.
“Something like that,” the chief muttered.
“I don’t see what this has to do with my father?”
“The murderer was never caught, and the murders stopped very abruptly. Right after your father was imprisoned, as a matter of fact.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Her voice was dangerously quiet as she tried to hold back the wave of pain the insinuation caused.
“It isn’t enough for you that he was convicted of murdering my mother and grandmother, but now he’s a serial killer too?
” She shook her head in disgust. “You’re unbelievable. ”
“Ms. West, the time frames fit.”
“Was he even a suspect in the original murders?” she snapped.
“Not at the time, no,” he conceded.
“Then why the hell would you suspect him now? He’s locked up in a secure facility.”
“We suspect he may have an accomplice,” he said.
“An accomplice?” she repeated. “Chief, you are trying my patience.”
“When was the last time you saw your father?”
“I haven’t seen or spoken to him in twenty years,” she answered tightly.
“Now that’s not exactly true, is it?” Walcott’s mouth curved and he pulled a piece of paper from the manila folder in front of him.
“What’s that?” Olivia’s stomach rolled with nausea.
“A copy of the visitors’ log for Morley Ridge State Psychiatric Facility.”
Olivia clamped her lips shut and stared at the man in front of her, her expression unreadable.
“Your name appears on that list on the twenty-seventh of October.” His eyes flared at the idea of having caught her in a lie. “That was the day you arrived back in Mercy, was it not?”
“Time’s up, Chief.” She moved to stand, but he held out his hand to stop her.
“We’re done when I say we’re done, Ms. West. Now sit back down.”
“I don’t think so, and I’m not prepared to answer any more questions without my lawyer present.”
“I thought you said you had nothing to hide.” Walcott’s expression was a little too smug for her liking.
There was absolutely no point in trying to defend herself to this man.
He was looking at her for murder, and nothing she said was going to convince him otherwise.
“I’m done trying to reason with you, Chief Walcott.
You want answers? I suggest you take a trip out to Morley Ridge and ask my father yourself. ”
Hi brow quirked. “I would if he was there.”
“What?” She swallowed hard. Her stomach dropped and her heart began to beat erratically. “What do you mean he’s not there? Where have they moved him to?”
“He wasn’t transferred.” He carefully watched her reaction. “He escaped yesterday morning.”
“You’re lying,” she whispered, her mouth dry.
His smile was cold as he flipped open the laptop and tapped a few keys before spinning it around to face her. Every muscle in Olivia’s body froze when, against her will, her eyes fell upon the face of the one man she had tried so hard to forget.
She was obviously looking through the lens of a security camera.
Her father was sitting in a room, not unlike the one she was in now, except he was chained to his seat and wore a very unflattering but clean orange jumpsuit.
He looked just the same as she remembered, and an intense jolt of grief seared through her.
How was it possible to both hate and love someone at the same time?
In that moment, she didn’t see a murderer. She saw the father she had adored as a child. He’d barely aged at all, except for the graying hair at his temples. Charles Connell had always been a handsome man, and although it shouldn’t have been possible, he was now even better looking.
She continued to watch but when another man entered his room, her breath involuntarily caught in her throat.
She recognized the man with the young-looking face and white hair.
It was the man she had seen outside the pub the night Adam was abducted, the same man she was now sure had been following her around town.
“What is it?” the chief demanded, no doubt noting her shocked expression, but she continued to ignore him, her attention firmly fixed on the scene unfolding on the screen before her.
She watched in horror as the two men stood and walked straight out of the door.
The security feed switched and picked them up on the cameras mounted in the corridor, then the main entrance.
There were bodies everywhere, slumped to the ground.
The men strolled out the front door before getting into an expensive car and driving off.
Her father had escaped, and he’d had someone watching her. Her heart beat wildly in her chest and her lungs constricted. She couldn’t breathe. A buzzing began in her ears and then became a roar as she stumbled to her feet, her vision graying at the edges.
“I need to get out of here,” she whispered harshly.
In her haste, she tripped and fell against Deputy Hanson. The chief simply sat and watched her with a cool detachment.
“I need to get out of here,” she repeated and struggled to pull herself free of the tight grip Deputy Hanson had on her arms.
“You’re not going anywhere, Ms. West,” Chief Walcott stated.
“No,” Olivia hissed as she pulled away again. “Let me go.”
Nausea rose in her throat as the first licks of panic took hold.
Suddenly, the door flew open and slammed against the wall so hard that the mirrored window shook. Through her hazy vision, she could make out masses of wild red hair and violent green eyes. For a brief, irrational moment, Olivia thought she was looking at a fiery Celtic goddess.
“Take your hands off my client right now, Deputy,” Erica’s voice snapped sharply.
Helga released Olivia and stepped back, hands held up. Erica was across the room and pulling Olivia protectively behind her.
“I’ll have your badges for this,” she threatened.
“We were merely asking Ms. West some questions.” He shrugged. “She is here of her own free will.”
Erica spoke again, her tone dangerously low. “You’re in so much trouble, Chief Walcott. I don’t even know where to begin. But as of now, this interview is terminated.”
“It’s over when I say it’s over.” Walcott’s eyes flashed. “As I said, Ms. West is here voluntarily.”
“Be that as it may”—Erica’s fury was barely contained—“she agreed to answer a few questions. She did not agree to these bullying tactics.”
“Now listen, Ms. Kelly,” he snapped.
“No, you listen,” she interrupted. “You will not come anywhere near my client unless you have absolute, incontrovertible evidence that she should be held as a person of interest, evidence that will hold up in a court of law. If you do not, you will leave me no recourse but to lodge a formal complaint with your superiors and to advise my client to sue, not just your department, but also you, personally, for victimization, undue duress, extreme emotional distress, harassment, and anything else I can make stick. Do you understand me?”
“Perfectly,” he answered, his voice like ice. “Deputy Hanson, please escort Miss Kelly and her client out.”
“Don’t bother.” Erica’s tone matched his. “We can find our own way out.”
She kept a light hold on Olivia as they made their way through the department. Despite the fact that Olivia was white as a sheet, she held her head upright by sheer will alone.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t get to you sooner,” Erica whispered under her breath, just loud enough for Olivia to hear. “They kept stalling me.”
Olivia didn’t trust herself to speak. She just concentrated on the doors, and as soon as she was outside, she ran around the corner and down the alley at the side of the building.
Resting one hand against the rough brick, she heaved and then vomited on the ground, continuing to retch until finally her stomach was empty.
“Jesus, Olivia.” Erica rubbed soothing circles on her back. “What the hell did they do to you? This can’t just be about Brody disappearing?”
“You know about that?” Olivia gasped, wiping her mouth with the back of her shaking hand.
“I do now.” Erica scowled. “Tell me what happened.”
“Not here.” Olivia straightened, her body still shaky and her breath shallow. “Take me somewhere else, someplace safe, and I’ll tell you what I know.”