Chapter 9 #2
“No,” Damien barked, stopping his partner.
“Look into Grant Pickens. And the woman. Call Demeter, the restaurant where I met Harmony, to get the footage, and find this woman. See if you can figure out more about her. Walker said they’re going to point a finger at Harmony, too.
Something is going on, and I need you to figure it out. ”
“Okay. I got you. Be safe.”
Damien nodded. “Thanks.”
Jude clapped Damien on the shoulder, then went back to his desk. He said something to Rhett, and the two of them huddled around Jude’s computer.
Damien was grateful for his team. They’d find answers. They’d prove he had nothing to do with it. Clear his name. And Harmony’s.
Damien tried to call Harmony on his way to the police station, but she didn’t answer. He hoped it meant she was at the station already, answering questions and clearing her own name.
When he arrived, Damien asked to see Marcus, knowing the police captain would be the best person for him to speak with. If the other cops wanted to cause a problem for him, he’d deal with that, but first, he needed to see Marcus.
“Thanks for coming in so quickly,” Marcus said, opening the security door to let Damien back to the office.
“Of course. I can’t really help, but I know I need to be here,” Damien said.
“Yeah. I know you, and I’m not worried about how this is going to go. Montgomery called after you left and said if you feel like you need it, he has a lawyer on standby.”
“I hope I don’t need it.”
Marcus nodded. “You shouldn’t, but I can’t tell you not to call someone. Pryce is the one handling this, by the way.”
Damien chuckled. “Okay.”
“What?”
“I saw him this morning. Harmony and I ran into him and Edie getting breakfast.”
Marcus grinned. “I have no doubt this will be quick.”
“Is Harmony here?” Damien asked.
Marcus shook his head. “Not yet. We haven’t been able to get in touch with her.”
“Should we be worried?”
“I’ll keep trying to get her.”
“Okay.”
“Pryce will meet you in here. Hang tight.” Marcus showed Damien to an interrogation room and closed the door, leaving Damien alone.
Damien took a seat, wondering how bad the whole thing was going to be. He had nothing to hide, but he knew that wasn’t always the most important thing in a police investigation.
It wasn’t long before the door opened and Pryce walked in. “Sorry to drag you down here.”
“All good. I was the one who called last night about the woman, so I get that I’d be a suspect.”
“You’re not officially a suspect,” Pryce said. He took a seat across from Damien.
“Okay. Then what do you need from me?”
“Since things weren’t handled well last night, I need an official statement from you about what happened.”
“Starting from when?”
“How about starting from when you got to…” He opened his file. “Demeter.”
Damien nodded and detailed the evening. He didn’t share the specifics of their conversation, but he gave Pryce a rough timeline of the night, including when Harmony ran out and his request to view the footage before he followed her.
“And how did you know where she was going?”
Damien shrugged. “I assumed she’d go home if she was leaving.”
“You knew where she lived?”
“Half the town knows where she lives. Her personal information was all over the internet. I’ve been working to get it removed.”
“But you saved her address?”
Damien leaned back and crossed his arms. “I did. In case I felt like I needed it.”
“I’m not trying to accuse you of anything,” Pryce said.
“It’s starting to feel like you are. I thought the dead woman was the concern. She certainly was mine when she followed Harmony out of the restaurant last night. Now, it’s feeling as if I’m the one you’re focusing on.”
Pryce shook his head. “I’m trying to gather all the pieces of this.”
“Then you’re looking in the wrong place. I like Harmony. I asked her on a date because I am attracted to her. Not because I want to hurt her, or anyone else.”
“I get it. Let’s talk about Pamela Mercer. Had you ever seen her before yesterday?”
“I’m assuming that’s the woman who followed Harmony. The dead woman?”
Pryce nodded. “Yes.”
“No, I’ve never seen her before. I only saw her in Harmony’s building, and on the screenshot from Demeter when she was following Harmony.”
“Did you speak to her?”
“When I saw her in the hallway, I told her to stop, but that was it.”
“Did she speak to you?”
Damien shook his head. “No. She ran, but she didn’t say anything.”
Pryce leaned back in his seat, arms crossed. He didn’t look intimidating, only contemplative.
Damien waited, willing to fill in the blanks in the detective’s case, but not willing to share anything else.
Not that he had anything else to share. The woman ran.
He never saw her again. She supposedly told the cops there to do a welfare check on Harmony that he was threatening her, but Damien was sure Pryce already knew that.
“How did you get into the building?”
“Harmony’s building?”
Pryce nodded.
“I hit all the buttons, hoping someone would let me in.”
“And someone did?”
Damien nodded.
“Do you think that’s how Ms. Mercer got in?”
Damien shrugged. “I have no idea. She was coming from the opposite direction when I saw her. I don’t know if she came up another stairwell, or if she came in a different door. I don’t know much about the building.”
Pryce opened his file. “It appears as though there’s a back entrance. It’s always locked, supposedly. It’s an emergency exit, not intended to be an entrance, but if she went in that door, she could have used the stairs here.” Pryce spun the floor plan for Damien to look at where he pointed.
Damien oriented himself with it and found Harmony’s apartment.
“I came up these stairs. Ms. Mercer was coming from here. When she saw me, she turned around and disappeared around this corner. I don’t know where she went from there, but the cops who showed up said she was running out the front door when they saw her. ”
Pryce nodded. “They said she ran out the door as they were approaching it. That’s how they got into the building.”
“You know, sharing all this with a suspect isn’t really a good idea.”
Pryce snorted. “You’re not a suspect.”
“It didn’t feel like it a few minutes ago.”
Pryce shook his head. “The way she was killed says she messed up.”
Damien’s brows shot up. “What does that mean?”
“She was left on a park bench. Posed to look like she was praying. Her hands were bound together, her feet the same. She was stabbed in the back, between the slats of the bench where she sat.”
“Holy… I wasn’t happy to find her following Harmony, but I certainly wouldn’t wish that on her.”
Pryce nodded. “She was an example. A warning to others.”
“Who are the others?”
“That’s what we need to figure out.”
“Have you looked into Grant Pickens?”
“Why him?”
“Harmony saved him, and now she’s being stalked and harassed and threatened.”
“What’s his connection to Pamela Mercer?”
Damien shrugged. “I don’t know if he has one.”
“You can’t make accusations like that without a reason.”
“Then I retract my statement.”
“We’re not in court.”
“And I’m not going to tell you how to do your job.”
Pryce held Damien’s gaze for a long moment, then stood and offered his hand. “I’ll be in touch.”
Damien shook Pryce’s hand. “I’d expect nothing else.”
Pryce opened the door for Damien and came face-to-face with Marcus. Marcus looked between them and focused on Pryce. “We have a problem.”