Chapter 6
“Do you really think it’s possible he’ll find anything else after all this time?” I asked. I sat in the passenger seat of Sam’s cruiser. Gus arrived with four other deputies in tow. Two minutes later, Jamie Simmons pulled up, his wife with him.
“No one’s touching anything until my lawyer gets here,” Jamie said. Sam and I stepped out of the car and walked up to join Gus.
“You’ve been duly served with a valid warrant,” Gus said. “The longer you try to obstruct me from doing my job, the worse this gets.”
The front door opened. Hayden Simmons stepped out. She looked like she was about to be sick.
“I’ve got this,” I whispered to Sam. Erin Simmons turned positively purple. She charged across the lawn, trying to get to her daughter before I did.
“Mom, stop,” Hayden said.
“You have no idea what you’ve done,” Erin yelled.
I had hoped we could have conducted this without drawing too much attention. Simmons’s home was mercifully on a quiet cul-de-sac by itself. No one would have seen all the activity unless they purposely drove by.
Another car pulled in behind the Simmons’s. An attorney I recognized from Toledo, an expensive one, stepped out. His name escaped me. But Erin or Jamie must have called him before he even came to the station.
“Mom,” Hayden said. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not the one you should be mad at.”
“Not the one I should be mad at. You’re trying to ruin our lives! You have no idea how long it took for all of us to put the pieces back together.”
“That’s enough.” Jamie’s lawyer stepped forward, getting in between Erin and Hayden Simmons. For his part, Jamie stayed surprisingly calm. He stood near his vehicle, wearing an almost jovial expression.
“You’re Ms. Brent?” the lawyer asked.
“I am,” I said. “Mara Brent. I’m the assistant prosecutor.”
“Of course. I’m Bennett Cutler.” He handed me his business card. “I’d like to see a copy of the warrant.”
Gus came up and handed him one. Cutler scowled as he looked it over.
“All right,” he said. “But I’ll accompany your deputies. They don’t go anywhere I can’t see them.”
“That’s not how this works,” Gus said.
“It’s how it works for my clients, Detective.”
I watched every muscle in Gus Ritter’s body go rigid. He took a step forward.
“Mr. Cutler, if you so much as breathe in the direction of my deputies, you’ll be sitting in the back of one of those cruisers with cuffs on yourself.”
“This is ridiculous,” Erin said. “This is my home. Our home. Do you see what you’ve done, Hayden? Whatever you find in there, she put it in there!”
“Erin, that’s enough,” Cutler advised her. “Why don’t you just sit over there with Jamie? Let me do my job.”
“I didn’t plant anything,” Hayden said. “You know exactly what I found, Dad!”
“Stop,” Cutler said. “Not another word out of you.”
“You’re not her lawyer,” Gus said. “You don’t get to tell her anything.”
“Ms. Brent,” Hayden said. “I can’t be here. I can’t stay here. I just came back so I could pack a few things. Can I do that?”
Hayden stepped off the porch and around her mother. She looked ready to collapse. I wanted to throw my arms around her and take her home with me. If what we believed about her father was true, the depths of betrayal Hayden must have felt … it was unconscionable.
“We need to let the deputies and Detective Ritter do their job,” I said to Hayden as I led her out of earshot of Bennett Cutler and her mother. “But yes. You’ll be able to pack a bag. I think it’s a good idea for you not to be in this house anymore.”
“She’s going to throw me out anyway. She’s completely taken his side. I don’t understand it. Why would she do that? How could she? I know what he did. How could it be anything else?”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” I said. I wanted to tell her everything would be all right. Though I knew it wouldn’t. How could it ever be again for this family?
“I don’t have a car,” she said. “I was borrowing my dad’s. I know they’re going to search it.”
“Where have you arranged to stay?” I asked.
“I have friends with an apartment near the community college. I’ve been taking a few classes. They said I could crash on the couch for a little while until I figure out what to do.”
“Okay. That’s a good idea. Let me talk to Detective Ritter and see if we can have one of the deputies go inside with you to pack your things. Wait here in the meantime.”
Sam flashed me a quick thumbs up as I led Hayden to the backseat of his cruiser. She could park herself there until I could get her away from here.
Bennett Cutler had pulled Erin away from the front door. She, Jamie, and Cutler huddled together on the other end of the driveway.
I walked in the front door. Gus stood in the living room barking orders to his deputies. Simmons had a desktop computer against the wall. It would be secured, bagged, and taken away today.
“Hayden wants to pack her things,” I said. “She can’t stay here tonight. Or maybe ever.”
“That woman is a menace,” Gus said. “The mother. How the hell could she treat her kid that way?”
“She’s in shock,” I said. “Her sister was murdered. We’re basically telling her that her whole life might have been a lie and she’s been harboring a killer. Took his name. Bore his child. I don’t know how anyone could handle that.”
“Yeah,” Gus said. “Deputy Linsky’s upstairs. She can work with Hayden about packing her things. I’m afraid we’re gonna have to take her laptop, too. It’s registered under her father’s name. It’s included in the warrant.”
“Hayden’s online activity might be relevant to all this, too. She understands that, I think. It sounds like she’s got a place to land, at least for now. I’d like to refer her to a social worker. I can call someone from the Silver Angels.”
“Good idea,” Gus said. “Let the experts help that poor kid out.” The Silver Angels were a local victim’s advocacy group.
“Experts,” I repeated. “I don’t know, Gus. Not even they have expertise in this mess.”
I heard a new commotion outside. Gus and I looked out the bay window at the same time.
“You gotta be kidding me,” he muttered.
A local news live truck pulled in alongside the curb.
“I better get out there,” I said. “I don’t want anyone sticking a camera in Hayden’s face.”
Sam beat me to it. He made a beeline for the truck. I wasn’t sure whether that would make things better or worse. Having the sheriff himself here at a search warrant wouldn’t do much to persuade any reporter that this wasn’t a newsworthy event.
“Sam,” I called out. He caught my eye. I grabbed one of the deputies as he was making his way back to the house.
“Drake,” I said. Deputy Pete Drake leaned in as I whispered to him.
“I need you to as discreetly as possible take Hayden Simmons out of Sheriff Cruz’s car and put her into yours.
Then get her out of here. Drive her around the block.
I don’t care. I just don’t want her face appearing on any news stories tonight. ”
“You got it, Ms. Brent,” Drake assured me. He headed for Hayden. By the time I got to Sam’s side, the reporter had stepped out. His cameraman was already recording.
“Sheriff Cruz,” the reporter said. He was new to the area. He identified himself as Rob Ellery, Channel Three. “Can you confirm that a new arrest has been made in the murder of Ellie Luke?”
Oh boy. So much for my hopes this was just dumb luck as the news van happened to drive by.
“I’m afraid I can’t comment on anything like that yet,” Sam said. “For the moment, I’m going to have to ask you to move off. You’re in danger of impeding official law enforcement business, son.”
Son. It was a nice touch. Rob Ellery looked like his journalism degree might still have wet ink.
“We’re parked on a public street,” Ellery said. “I’m not breaking any laws.”
“Well,” Sam said, flashing his killer smile. “I’m asking you nicely.”
“I’m afraid I don’t care how nice you are, Sheriff. I have every right to be here. I have information that your office has received actionable leads on the murder of Ellie Luke. I’m giving you a chance to comment.”
“There will be no comment,” Sam said.
“Ms. Brent?” Ellery turned to me. “Would the prosecutor’s office care to comment?”
“Not at this time,” I said. “You’ll have to direct your questions to the acting prosecutor, Howard Jordan.”
Even as I said it, I felt myself wince. The last thing Hojo needed …
that any of us needed … was having the office flooded with press requests on this case.
Not yet. It was far too soon. Someone had leaked something.
There was no other way this kid could have just fortuitously shown up here.
Bennett Cutler had yet to march over here and get his face on camera.
It led me to wonder whether he set this whole thing up.
Deputy Drake drove right behind the news truck and around the corner out of sight. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing Hayden, at least, was protected for the moment.
“Just keep rolling,” Ellery told his cameraman. Gus’s deputies were beginning to make their way out the front door, carrying items from the Simmons’s household. Cutler had stashed Jamie and Erin into his car. He had windows tinted dark enough their faces couldn’t be seen.
“Will you be making an arrest today?” Ellery asked.
“No comment,” Sam said. He put a hand on my shoulder and turned me away from the cameras.
“We need to go,” he whispered. “Gus can handle this. The kid can’t interview people who aren’t here.”
“Good point,” I said. “Only he’s about to watch us get into the same car together. You sure you want that?”
“We’re not the ones doing anything wrong,” Sam said. “You feel like sticking around for whatever show Simmons’s lawyer intends to put on?”
I climbed into the passenger seat. Thankfully, Sam had parked in such a way he wouldn’t be blocked getting out.
“I need to get back to the office,” I said. “I need to prepare Hojo for what’s about to happen. And you need to get with your press liaison and figure out some kind of statement.”
“This is getting away from us already,” Sam said as he made the turn away from Gulliver Street.
“It’s going to be national news,” I said. “All anybody’s going to have to do is run a picture of Ellie Luke next to one of her sister.”
“Yeah,” Sam said. “Dammit. Yeah.”
“Sam, I can’t have this case tried in the press. The minute that starts to happen, we’re sunk. No matter what Hayden found in that box. No matter what Gus finds in the house today.”
“We’ll get a handle on it,” he said.
I turned to him. “Great. You mind telling me how?”