“We think it might be Charles.” Dane sounded even less happy about that. “But the DNA test comparing the embryo’s DNA to Charles’ will take another week or two to come back.”
Ryan cringed. That was shattering. “How did he die?”
“Same way that Cairo did.” Ryan could hear clicking noises in the background. He was typing.
“Cards and all?” Ryan dreaded the answer. “Same suicide note?
“Yup.”
Damn. “What did the Chief do?”
“He’s ranting and raving, the usual.” Dane grimaced. “We’ve been pulled off all other cases until we figure out what to do with this one. His publicity demands it.” Dane paused. “Steven’s being pulled in for questioning.”
“I’ll be there.” Ryan hung up, then dialed a friend she had at the local bank. Sometimes connections came in handy, especially when the cases got this tricky. “Kat? I need to call in one of those favors.” She needed all three of their financial records, as much as could be found. Something tied the three of them together beyond relationships.
The doubt pulled at her. Certainly Cairo’s relationship with both of them had been a factor. Maybe that was why she died.
But she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that it was more complicated than that. The poker cards. What symbolism did they have? Was it that Cairo’s past destroyed her life? Someone else’s life? What?
Ryan hesitated before she went back inside. Liv’s life had just been spun around. Someone had broken into her home. Someone who apparently knew where she lived, and her Gram was there by herself, with just a dog for protection.
A very ferocious dog, that was sure, but a dog nonetheless.
“Ry?” Liv appeared in the doorway, using the nickname she hadn’t used since they were sixteen. “Do you need to go?”
Ryan hesitated, the nickname sending swirls of pleasure through her.
“Go.” Liv smiled faintly. She didn’t hesitate. “Just - come back, okay?” There was a nervousness there.
Ryan moved forward and kissed her on the lips. “I’ll get a patrol car to come by.”
Liv nodded, and then Ryan ran to her car. What was going on?
21
Monday 24th October; 9am
Ryan and Dane were at the head of the small group going to get Steven for questioning, since he had been ignoring their calls and wasn’t at home. Instead, they would go to him. The large majority of the evidence they had pointed to him, but there were some factors that Ryan just hadn’t figured out yet.
But with the Chief on high alert, the last thing she wanted to do was get on his bad side and get kicked off the case again.
When they arrived at his workplace, the secretary at the front desk was clearly frazzled. Her eyes were rimmed in red, as if she had been crying, and she buzzed them upstairs to Steven’s office.
A crash inside Steven’s office gave both Ryan and Dane pause. They exchanged looks, wary, but headed inside anyway.
Steven was standing behind his desk, chest heaving and anger and pain apparent all over his face. He had thrown a lamp across the room, and it had shattered on the floor at the limit of its electrical cord.
Ryan raised her eyebrows, but didn’t speak.
“Damnit!” Steven reached for a stapler.
“I wouldn’t do that.” Dane reached for his Taser, Ryan right behind him. Steven didn’t seem to be throwing stuff in their direction, but all it would take was a flick of the wrist and they would be the targets.
Steven looked at them, his eyes frantic.
Ryan kept her attention on him, but out of the corner of her eyes she spotted an envelope sitting on his desk. The handwriting looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t see it from where she was standing. “Steven, we need to talk to you.” She kept her voice level.
Something flickered in his eyes, as if he was just registering their presence. “What?” His gaze moved to the Tasers, his brow furrowing as if he didn’t understand what was going on. Was he having a psychotic break or something?
“We just need to talk to you.” Ryan held her hands up in surrender, tucking the Taser back in her pocket. “Are you willing to talk to us?”
The hand holding the stapler lowered, as if he was willing to consider it.
“Charles was murdered last night,” Ryan said, her voice soft. “He was found this morning.”
Steven’s face was blank, but Ryan thought she could see some flicker of relief. Was he relieved he had been caught? That Charles was dead?
“Good riddance,” he spat, picking up the letter on his desk and throwing it at them. That, at least, had no potential to be lethal.
Ryan turned the sleeve of her blazer inside out and picked up the letter, careful to keep her fingerprints from getting on it. Being up close confirmed it was Cairo’s handwriting. But it wasn’t a suicide note.
I’m leaving you. Don’t try and find me.
Cairo Mannigan
Ryan’s eyebrows raised towards the ceiling. Had Cairo married him? Or was it a ploy? Could Steven have written the letter and tried to pass it off as Cairo’s? No, that didn’t make sense. All the letter did was give Steven more incentive to murder both of them.
It confirmed her thoughts that the search had been somewhat cursory. Even when Cairo’s death had been declared a murder, they didn’t go back and re-scan the house for evidence. It had long been returned to the family, and any potential evidence had been contaminated.
“She was leaving me for that bastard.” Steven’s voice was flat. If he wasn’t having a psychotic break, then something inside him had definitely cracked. Ryan wasn’t certain which of the two was the worst outcome.
She would have to check the county and state records to see if she could find any evidence of a marriage certificate. Maybe check with the neighboring states, too. It would have made sense for Cairo and Charles to have gotten as far away from town as they could.
“Will you come with us to the station?” Ryan asked, keeping her voice
