Chapter 4 #3
He leaned in close, almost conspiratorial.
“That Lucinda sure is a beautiful woman, but I’ve known her since she was born.
I know how uptight she is. I love the girl like she’s my own, but everyone knows she can be controlling.
Cliff and I used to laugh that Lucinda was more dictator than homecoming queen.
No wonder your head was turned when you saw Jennifer.
Must be hard being second fiddle in your own relationship. ”
My heart began to pound so hard I was having trouble breathing.
I was so tired. If I could sleep for thirty minutes, I could organize my thoughts better. The chief made some notes in the file as he kept peppering me with questions.
“How did you two even meet? Miss Moore was in town for only a few months. From the sounds of it, you got to know each other pretty well in such a short amount of time. Though you were in college then, right? And plannin’ that big wedding you were supposed to have.
How did you even have the time to hang out with a new friend? ” He regarded me levelly.
I dragged both hands down my face in a feeble attempt at blotting out her memory.
“So?” he prompted.
“So?” I was confused again.
“Lucinda’s always been it, huh?” He raised an eyebrow, changing the subject once more. “You never wanted another woman? You’re a one-woman man?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
We both knew the truth.
It was the reason I was sitting here, after all.
“I have to ask you, because I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t, where were you on the evening of July 12, 2010? I know it was a long time ago, but try and jog your memory.”
“Uh, I was with … Lucinda.”
The chief wasn’t smiling anymore. He was very, very serious. “That’s right. She was your alibi.” He sucked on his teeth noisily as he seemed to deliberate. “But maybe that’s not how things actually were.”
I started to protest, but the chief held up his hand.
“I’m not sayin’ you lied or anything, but sometimes, in the heat of the moment, stories get messed up in our head.
What sounds like fact maybe isn’t.” He never gave me a moment to think as he went on.
“So, I’m asking you to think long and hard about where you were that night.
Whether what you said back then is the truth or not.
I know fifteen years is a long time ago, but it’s amazing what you actually remember later. ”
The last thing I wanted was to think about that night. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to share those memories with Charles Young. I wasn’t a complete idiot.
“More coffee, that’s what we need.” Charles slammed his hands down, making me jump. I hit the table, knocking over the paper cup. The last remnants of black liquid spilled onto the file he had brought with him.
He quickly picked it up, shaking it dry, cursing under his breath.
“Sorry about this,” he muttered before opening the file and spreading the contents on the table. I froze at the sight of her face staring back at me.
“Let me go get some napkins and some fresh coffee while you keep jogging that memory of yours. I’ll be right back.”
Chief Young left the room, leaving me alone with the black-and-white image of Jenn’s dead body, bent at an awkward angle in the thick brambles at the side of the road. I knew that stretch well. I used to drive it almost daily but refused to visit it now.
Without thinking, I reached out a trembling finger, my throat squeezed tight, and placed it on her cold, gray cheek.
Even in death she looked beautiful. But the dried blood caking the side of her face told a story of violence and suffering that made me sick inside.
Tears dripped onto her image as I took long, gasping breaths.
I picked up the picture and brought it closer to my face, wishing I could smell her floral body wash one last time, or feel the softness of her hair against my bare chest. If I thought hard enough, I could still hear her voice and her teasing laughter.
The way she made me feel alive.
Important.
Desired.
Like I was the one in control.
I hadn’t seen her face in over a decade, but her image lived vibrantly in my mind every day.
As usual, the guilt I felt when I thought about her rushed through me in waves. She had brought me to life, and I had brought her only death.
The door opened suddenly, yanking me from my memories. Glynn Walker stormed into the room and saw the picture in my hand.
“Put that down and pull yourself together,” he barked.
I dropped the photo as if I had been burned.
Chief Young stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He sat down again, indicating for Glynn to do the same. He held a ceramic cup in his hand—not the paper cups from earlier—and he had only one for himself. He looked at me as he took a long gulp.
It was then that I knew I was really in trouble. That this whole thing had been a setup to break me. And that even Glynn Walker might not be able to get me out of it.
“Look, if you’re not going to charge my client with anything, then you need to release him immediately,” Glynn said with irritation.
Chief Young looked through the file and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Glynn. “Well, here’s the thing, Mr. Walker, we have an eyewitness that not only places your client with the victim the night she was murdered, but they also say that Mr. Clark is the one that killed her.”
Glenn Walker snorted, barely glancing at the paper in his hand before tossing it on the table.
“That’s all hearsay and circumstantial at best. It will never hold up in court.
You know that. I know that. And there’s no way the commonwealth attorney will agree to charges based on an eyewitness and a shoddy confession about events that happened fifteen years ago.
” Glenn Walker looked over at me with a smugness I wasn’t sure was earned.
“I agree, Mr. Walker. You can’t build a case on a single witness statement. That would be ridiculous,” Chief Young said. He tapped the screen of the tablet I’d noticed earlier and then pushed it toward my attorney. The smugness faded instantly.
“Where did this come from?” Glynn watched the screen, his mouth pressed into a thin line.
“The eyewitness, of course,” the chief responded.
“Don’t you find the timing suspect? Why wasn’t this handed over years ago?” Glenn demanded, glancing at me but not meeting my eyes. The confidence had leeched out of him.
“What is it?” I whispered, peering over his shoulder.
“Let him have a look,” Chief Young said nonchalantly.
Glynn slid the tablet toward me, and I pushed play.
Old grainy footage began playing, showing a place I knew all too well.
I was on the screen, only younger. And there was Jenn.
She seemed so young and vulnerable, and I stood before her looking like the worst kind of man.
The kind that would hurt a defenseless girl.
This video did a damn good job of making me look like a monster.
I knew exactly who had made this video too. At the time I had barely registered him recording the heated fight between Jenn and me. I was too lost in my own hurt feelings and pride.
But now, it painted a very bad picture.
I turned it off, unable to look at the horrific image of blood spattering the rocks. I didn’t need to watch it, anyway. I had lived it. The memories of that night had tattooed themselves on my soul.
“Sure, it may seem strange, but it doesn’t change that this video, paired with the physical evidence we now have that connects your client to the victim, and potentially, the murder scene, tells a very compelling narrative.
And our friend the commonwealth attorney thinks this provides a strong foundation to build a case.
Everyone is eager to get this cold case off the books. ”
“What?” I rasped, barely audible.
The chief looked pleased. “I’m afraid it’s true, Rhett. We have enough here to arrest you—”
Glynn put a reassuring hand on my arm. “Don’t say anything, Rhett.” He turned back to the police chief. “Are you arresting my client? Otherwise, this can be construed as intimidation—”
The chief got to his feet and took out his handcuffs. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m sayin’. Rhett, I need you to get to your feet and put your hands behind your back.”
The words You have the right to remain silent thudded in my ears. I thought I heard talk of bail hearings and being held until the judge could schedule it. Cliff’s name was dropped more than once, but I could barely follow what was happening.
It had been fifteen years since Jenn had been murdered. Fifteen years of carrying the guilt and the burden of her death on my shoulders. I was almost relieved that this was finally coming to a head.
As I was led back to my holding cell, I wondered what Jenn would be doing now if she were still alive. The life she might have led if it hadn’t been snuffed out so brutally.
If she had never met me.
I had years to do the right thing, but I never did. I was a coward. I always had been.
My mom once said that women changed men for the better, but I believed the opposite. Women made you do crazy, unimaginable, violent things. They made you do unforgivable things that forced you to become a stranger, even to yourself.
Jenn had met me at a time in my life when I had no control over anything.
My future had been mapped out by everyone else.
But Jenn had given me a taste of what it would feel like to be the one in charge.
She was timid and demure. She needed me.
With Jenn, I had found the control I had been craving, and in the end it had killed her.
Jenn was dead because of me, so maybe it was time that I paid for it.