Chapter Twenty-Three #3
So he has been diagnosed with something, Ronan thought. Hopefully Jessica would be able to shed some light on that.
“All right,” Elle said calmly. “A few more questions and then we’ll tell you what this is about. You said that Ashton travels for his shooting competitions. Is he usually gone for a week or two, maybe every six months?”
Janice hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”
“Thank you. When did you last see him?”
“On Christmas Day. He came over to have lunch with me and a few of my friends. Why?”
“Like I said, I saw him in San Francisco. That was two years ago. Truthfully I didn’t recognize him right away and that made him even angrier.”
“So? What does a visit to San Francisco two years ago have to do with his mental state right now?”
“Janice, we’ve found him on surveillance footage in at least two different cities where I’ve been working so far—Spokane and Bakersfield. I expect we’ll find him in several others.”
Janice swallowed again, going pale beneath her tan at the mention of the two cities. “He’s been stalking you? Why?”
“Yes, he’s been stalking me. And as to why, that’s what Detective Clarke wants to find out.”
That was their previously agreed-to phrase for the handoff. It was time for Ronan to take over.
“Ms. Dempsey, I’m with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department.
If you haven’t been following Ms. Randolph’s career, she’s now a bounty hunter.
She recently took a case, tracking a bail jumper who’d fled from San Francisco to our area.
Since Ms. Randolph’s arrival, we’ve had seven murders countywide.
Four other people were killed before Ms. Randolph took this case.
Your nephew is implicated in all eleven homicides. ”
“Because he followed her?” Janice was outraged once again. “He may have done that, but he hasn’t killed anyone. What kind of insanity is this?”
“He’s been trying to frame Ms. Randolph for murder.”
Janice was still pale, but now she went cold. Her jaw was rigid, her eyes showing no emotion. “Why would he do that?”
“Because he believes she killed his parents.”
“She did,” Janice said bitterly.
Elle sucked in a harsh breath. “Not on purpose.”
“I know. But the fact remains that my brother and his wife are dead and my nephew will never be the same because you were behind the wheel that night. You say you have surveillance video evidence of his stalking, so I suppose I have to believe you on that. But I do not accept that my nephew has committed one murder, much less…” She shook her head, looking like she was grasping for the number.
“Eleven,” Ronan supplied. “Sarasota PD executed a search warrant on his house this morning.” He lifted a hand when she started to splutter a denial. “It was legal, ma’am. Signed by a judge.”
“Judge Randolph?” Janice asked sarcastically.
“No. It was not Elle’s father. Judge Randolph is taking time away from the bench until this matter is resolved. Your nephew had photos of Judge Randolph with bull’s-eyes over his face. Sarasota PD recovered dozens of guns and a lot of ammunition.”
Janice opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to speak but clearly unable to do so.
“He also had multiple photos of Ms. Randolph in all of the locations where the murders occurred. We have footage of him driving the vehicle that belonged to one of our local victims. We have footage of him entering a local inn and then leaving with the safe he’d pried from the furniture after killing an eighteen-year-old maid who’d sold him access to her key card so that he could enter Ms. Randolph’s room and plant evidence.
We’ve got every law enforcement officer in the county looking for him.
We need to stop him, but we want to bring him in while doing him no harm.
Please help me do this. Tell me what you know. ”
Janice closed her eyes. “Ash, what have you done?” She rubbed her hands over her face, and when she opened her eyes, Ronan saw sad acceptance.
“He’s been so angry,” she said quietly. “And he’s been practicing at the target range every day that he’s home.
He’s easily agitated and quick to blow up over small things.
And he’s talked about Elle constantly since he woke up in the hospital.
How she ruined his life. How rich people don’t have to obey the same laws.
” She shook her head. “But we’re rich people.
We abide by the laws. When I told him this, he lost his temper with me.
I thought, for a moment, that he would hit me.
I…I made him leave. I changed the locks on my house. ”
“But he sent me a letter,” Elle said, and the sadness in her voice hurt Ronan’s heart. “He said he forgave me.”
His aunt looked perplexed. “I don’t know anything about a letter. When did he send it?”
Elle visibly faltered for the first time. “A little more than two years ago.”
It had been a ruse. Maybe even an attempt at an alibi of sorts. Elle wouldn’t have suspected him.
And that part had worked. Elle had never suspected him until this morning.
“What exactly does he believe Ms. Randolph did?” Ronan asked, trying not to show that he was angry with Janice for keeping that a secret for so long.
For not warning Elle that her nephew hated her so much.
“That she really was drunk that night. He was conscious in the car. He saw his parents die. He was hanging upside down by his seat belt until the firefighters got him out with the jaws of life. He saw her staggering around. Heard the cop accuse her of being drunk. Ash said that the drunk is always the only one who walks away.”
Elle’s gasp was quiet, but Ronan heard it. She hadn’t known that Ashton had seen her at the scene.
“But the police cleared her of all wrongdoing,” he said logically.
“Her blood alcohol was zero. Your brother’s blood alcohol was point oh-seven and the legal limit is point oh-eight.
Your brother was impaired. Her husband was very drunk and the cameras on the inside and outside of her husband’s car confirm every aspect of her story. ”
“Evidence can be tampered with. Especially if your father is a judge.”
Exactly what I thought.
Ronan studied the older woman on the video screen. “Does he have any friends he’d confide in?”
“No, no one. He used to have tons of friends, but he’s been isolated since the accident.”
“Someone at the target range, then. Who does he go shooting with?”
Janice pursed her lips into a thin, bloodless line. “I want to see this evidence you’ve mentioned.”
Ronan was ready for the question. He set the Zoom call to split screen and brought up photos he’d copied from the surveillance footage. He showed her every incidence they had so far. The older woman seemed to grow smaller with each photo.
“Stop,” she choked out. “Please, stop.”
“His friend’s name?” Ronan pressed.
“Neil Kerrigan. I only met him once when I showed up unannounced at Ash’s house to check on him. He said he was Ash’s friend from the gun range. That’s the only person in his life who I’ve met.” She paused, deflated. “I had Kerrigan investigated.”
Ronan blinked, surprised by this admission. “When? And why?”
“Six months ago. Because there was something about him that I didn’t like.
He seemed…oily. Too nice. Too old to be hanging around a twenty-year-old.
And Ash had changed so much. I was afraid this man was angling for Ash’s money somehow.
My private investigator said that Kerrigan had been court-martialed from the Army for drug dealing and served two years in a military prison.
The man is in a lot of debt and has been unsuccessfully prosecuted for fraud by Sarasota County.
I…” She swallowed. “I paid him a visit. He lived in a very run-down part of town. The kind with used syringes on the ground. He seemed amused to see me at his front door. I offered him money to stay away from Ash. He turned down my first few offers until I offered him more to stay away than Ash was paying him for firearms instruction.” She closed her eyes. “And for help in killing someone.”
“Oh,” Elle whispered, going still beside him. “Oh no.”