“Where were you two nights ago?”
“I was on my sailboat, anchored off Venice.”
“Alone?”
“No. My fiancee was with me. We got the news when a friend called my cell to tell me. It was a great way to end a romantic cruise. Darlene even managed to ruin that.”
Vicky moved in close, her eyes ice cold. “Let’s cool it with the pity party. Tell me about this fourteen-year-old boy and why your wife might want to go to bed with him.”
Beckett glared at her, then dropped his eyes to his lap. “It wasn’t him; it wasn’t that she was crazy attracted to him or anything like that. I saw the guy in court and he was just a skinny little kid with scraggly hair and a mild case of acne.”
“Then why?” Vicky pressed.
Beckett shook his head. “I’ve thought about it a lot, and the only thing I can come up with is that Darlene was in trouble at the school.”
“What kind of trouble?” Harry asked.
“The principal was an older woman, who didn’t like anything about Darlene-from the way she dressed, to the way she ran her classroom, just about everything. She particularly didn’t like what she said was Darlene’s inability to control the kids in her class.” He shook his head. “You know what seventh and eighth grade kids are like. You need a whip and a chair to keep them in line. Anyway, the principal was all over her about it. Said she needed to find a way to control these kids, that if she couldn’t she didn’t belong in a classroom.”
Harry gave Beckett a bewildered look. “So you think she used sex as a way to control her class?”
Beckett shook his head. “No. As way to prove to herself she could control a kid that age.” He stared back at Harry. “Sex was the way she got control over everything in her life. It was the only way she knew.”
“Give me your fiancee’s name and address,” Vicky said.
The next interrogation involved one of Darlene’s old boyfriends. According to newspaper accounts, Billy Smithers had been a high school sweetheart who suddenly reappeared in Darlene’s life during one of her early court appearances. Harry remembered the news reports. They had had a bit of a smirk to them. Old boyfriend becomes Darlene’s new beau. Smithers, he recalled, had seemed to revel in the notoriety of it all. Now, as he sat in the interrogation room, he seemed to be enjoying it all over again.
“Look, it was never anything serious between Darlene and me. Not even back in high school. She was just, like, you know, the great-looking girl who put out.” Smithers finished off the comment with a cavalier shrug.
He was in his late twenties, tall and lanky with chiseled features, long sandy hair, and a body that spoke of regular trips to the gym. Harry imagined that women would find him attractive, but there was a hint of arrogance in his eyes, and in his tone of voice, that would be off-putting to men.
“So you dated her in high school because she had a reputation of being an easy lay,” Vicky said.
“Yeah, that’s about it. I mean she was fun in other ways too. But the main reason was she was pretty free and easy about sex.” He grinned at Vicky as if offering some type of apology. “Look, I’m just trying to be honest here.”
“We appreciate that,” Harry said. He wanted to keep the man talking.
“So when you read the newspapers and saw the kind of trouble Darlene had gotten herself into, you weren’t surprised,” Vicky said,
Smithers let out a short laugh. “Hell no. I wasn’t surprised at all. I mean that was what Darlene was all about. In high school there was a rumor that she was screwing one of her teachers.”
“And so when you saw her on the news, you remembered how easy she was and decided to jump right back in,” Vicky pressed.
Smithers twisted in his chair. “Well, yeah. I mean she looked pretty good on TV, you know. And I remembered how good she was… well, you know.”
“In bed,” Vicky said.
“Yeah.” He paused a beat. “Yeah, she was wicked in bed.”
And you figured she didn’t have anybody taking care of her right then. Taking care of her in bed that is.”
“Well, yeah, I guess that too.”
“So you called her.”
“No, actually, I went by her house. I mean I heard her husband had split, and like I didn’t have her number or anything. So I just dropped by.”
“To be supportive,” Vicky said.
“Yeah.”
Harry had no idea where Vicky was going with the line of questioning, but he decided to let her run with it for the moment. Smithers had the feel of a clown to him, not a killer.
“So how supportive were you?” Vicky asked.
Smithers stared at her, a blank look on his face. “Well, you know.”
“No, I don’t know,” Vicky snapped. “Tell me.”
Smithers twisted in his chair again. “I just kind of offered her a shoulder. I mean I gave her what she needed.”
“And what was that? Tell me, Mr. Smithers, what is it you have that every girl needs?”
“Hey, what the hell is going on here? I mean, I’m just trying to help.” He glared at Vicky, and then turned to Harry. “Look, do I need a lawyer here?” His voice held both concern and anger now.
“You think you need a lawyer?” Vicky said.
“Where were you two nights ago?” Harry asked, stopping her.
“I was at a Rays game at the Trop,” Smithers said.
“Alone?” It was Vicky again.
“Alone?” Harry said, letting her know he was doing the questioning now.
“No, I was with two buddies. We go to every home game we can get to.”
Harry picked up a pen and turned to a fresh page in his notebook. “I’ll need their names, addresses, and phone numbers,” he said.
When Smithers left, Harry drew a breath and stared at Vicky for several moments.
“I guess I went a little over the top,” she said at length.
“Yeah, a little. What happened?”
“He was just such a jerk.” She stared at the other side of the room, avoiding Harry’s eyes. “I saw so many guys like him when I was in sex crimes. The big studs, the guys who prey on every woman they consider vulnerable, and who assault or rape the ones who reject them.” She paused as if thinking about what she had said, analyzing it. “No, what really pissed me off is that I’ve dated creeps like that.” She shook her head as if dismissing past mistakes. “Sometimes a guy’s so good looking, or has such a great line of B.S. that it takes you awhile to see past it. Smithers is that kind of guy, and realizing it, just being in the same room with him, pissed me off.”
Harry nodded. “It happens,” he said at length. “Next time use your anger… use it like a rapier not a bludgeon.”
CHAPTER FIVE
At two o’clock Harry and Vicky were back in Rourke’s office.
“First the good news,” Rourke said. “We’re getting a task force. Four detectives from this squad, and six uniforms we’re bringing up to work in plainclothes.” He paused and stared at Harry for a long moment. “Harry, you’ll be lead detective. But I gotta tell you, the brass didn’t want you as lead. You’re not popular upstairs, which is something you know. And it’s mainly due to your big mouth.” He raised a hand, stopping any comment before it could be made. “They wanted Nick Benevuto. Their argument was that he’s senior to you in homicide, which is true. I said I wanted you. So my ass is on the line. You screw up and I lose a big chunk of it; you’ll wish you were never born.”
Again, he held up his hand. “Now the bad news. Tarpon Springs P.D. is screaming that we came in and snatched a major case from them.”
