“Jeffrey told you half the truth.” She took a deep breath. “Let me start at the beginning. Jeffrey was a prosecutor with the District Attorney’s office. I was a homicide detective. Dating isn’t easy when you work in law enforcement. Cases take over and it’s hard to maintain a personal life.”
Weston nodded, following along, but said nothing.
“Jeffrey was charming and very smart,” she continued. “He was fierce in the courtroom. It impressed me because it seemed we shared a passion for justice. We didn’t date long before getting engaged, but afterward, things started to crumble. I wanted to move home. Living in a bigger city was great for jump-starting my career and to gain experience, but it was never my intention to stay there permanently. I wanted to be closer to Nana and Savannah. Jeffrey, however, was determined to stay in Houston. He had ambition and wanted to pursue politics. There was a lot of fighting, but I thought we loved each other and would work it out. Six months after we got engaged, I discovered Jeffrey was cheating on me with his junior attorney.”
Her voice trembled and she fought to steady it. “I hadn’t realized how calculating Jeffrey was until it was too late. He didn’t care about truth and justice. He cared about appearances and had learned to say all the right things. Even his relationship with me was about strategy, not love. He wanted the right kind of woman to climb the ranks with.”
The heat in her cheeks intensified as she recalled the angry words he’d flung her direction. In one fell swoop, Jeffrey’s facade fell away, and it was humiliating to remember how she’d been bamboozled.
She traced the grain of wood in the table, unable to meet Weston’s gaze. “I was devastated. Of course, the relationship was over, and I told him so. The real issue I grappled with was what to do with the information I’d learned. Jeffrey’s junior attorney was a subordinate. Having a relationship with her was against department policy. I advised him to break things off and, if he did so, I would keep my mouth shut.”
“Let me guess. That’s not what happened.”
“No. Jeffrey went to my superiors and claimed I was having an affair with one of my subordinates. His accusation nearly ruined my career.”
The pain vibrating in Avery’s voice was almost too much to bear. Her hair was pulled back in its customary bun, and she wore her police uniform, but the professional mask she’d perfected for work was gone. Sitting in the chair across from him wasn’t a cop. It was a woman. A friend. And she was hurting.
Weston’s fingers twitched. He longed to reach across the table and take her hand. To give Avery some small measure of comfort. He resisted. Although they were in her grandmother’s kitchen, this was an interview. He had to maintain a level of professional distance.
Even if it hurt him to do so.
Weston pulled a small notebook out of his shirt pocket, along with a pen. “What happened after Jeffrey accused you of having an affair with your subordinate?”
“An Internal Affairs investigation was started, per department policy. The accusation was bogus, of course, but that didn’t stop the rumors.” Her hand tightened on the coffee mug. “The man Jeffrey named as my love interest, Scott Carpenter, was happily married with two children. I was labeled a home-wrecker. Colleagues were whispering behind my back.”
“And because there was an active investigation, you couldn’t defend yourself.”
“Correct. Jeffrey was calculated in naming Scott. The officer had worked in my unit, but he’d left to pursue law school. Tracking him down for an interview took time. Which only dragged out the process and added fuel to the gossip. I was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, but the damage had been done.”
Weston didn’t need her to explain why. Police departments, even larger ones like in Houston, operated in many ways like a small town. Reputations were everything. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that Avery was a woman. Weston had been in law enforcement long enough to know that sometimes his female counterparts were treated as less than. He didn’t subscribe to the philosophy. His own superior and the leader of Company A, Lieutenant Vikki Rodriguez, was a woman.
“When the IA investigation was opened, did you share the information you’d learned about Jeffrey and his junior attorney?” Weston asked.
“I did, but Jeffery was prepared for that. Both he and the junior attorney lied. I don’t think the investigators found any proof to support my claim. Which was the entire point, of course. Jeffrey lied about me, because it would discredit my own assertion about his affair. He did it to protect his career and neutralize any threat.”
He tapped the pen against the paper. “Why didn’t you tell me all of this?”
“Because Jeffrey had an alibi for Debra’s murder. I didn’t think it was important.”
Weston nodded. “Still, we’re going to dig more into your ex. Jeffrey is a District Attorney, so he knows the law and he’s familiar with police investigations. He also holds grudges and he’s got money. We could be looking at some kind of murder-for-hire situation.”
“Weston, Jeffrey told Grady about the IA investigation out of spite. He wants to cloud my reputation and make you doubt my skills as a police officer. He’s also a liar and a cheat. But I have a hard time believing Jeffrey would hire someone to commit these murders. He has very little to gain and an awful lot to lose.”
“Understood. Jeffrey isn’t my top suspect—it’s Victor—but I also can’t overlook anything.” He paused. “I’ll also have to check into Scott Carpenter’s whereabouts. Just to eliminate him from the suspect list.”
She licked her lips. “Can you do it personally?
