Killing Fear

“I-no.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Will. You just said that Stu killed Jim-”

“Stu was under surveillance,” Will said.

“He could have slipped out.”

“So were you.”

“What? You had me under surveillance? I’ll sue you! You can’t-”

“Yes, we can. And you know what? You could have slipped out as well. You knew we were on to something. Jim never leaves the office early. He had a difficult time thinking that someone he knew and trusted had killed an innocent woman and framed Theodore Glenn. He had to get out of the building, look at the evidence, see what he could find. His only mistake? Running into you outside in the parking lot. When you saw the 2001 case files you panicked. Thought Jim had figured it out, or would figure it out. You went to his house, shot him, stole the files.”

“No!”

He ran a hand over his head, then slammed it on the table in front of him. “Yes! You killed Jim. Why?”

“I didn’t! And you have no proof. Do you think I’m this stupid? Do you think that I don’t know you’re trying to get me flustered? Why are you doing this to me, Will?” Tears clouded her eyes.

Carina walked in and silently handed Will a note, not looking at Diana. Carina had written Fry her.

Will watched Carina leave. “We have the warrant.”

“What?” Diana exclaimed.

“Stanton found a sympathetic judge. We have enough to search your house-”

“No! I’ll get it thrown out. You can’t prove-”

“What can’t I prove, Diana?”

“Don’t do this to me, Will.”

“I’m not doing anything to you,” Will baited her. “You killed Anna Clark and planted evidence to implicate Theodore Glenn. Not because you cared one way or the other about his victims or whether he went to prison, but because seven years ago you wanted Robin McKenna dead.”

“No.”

“Dammit, Diana! Tell the truth for once! We’re going to find everything. Did you already destroy the case files? It doesn’t matter, because those were copies. The FBI has the originals. What about the gun? You don’t own a gun, but you have access to guns. I will personally test fire every gun in lockup until I find the gun that killed Jim Gage. Starting with the gang shooting you investigated this week.”

Diana’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly. “No, no, no,” she mumbled. “It’s not like that.”

“Then what the fuck is it like, Diana? You killed Jim for the thrill of it?”

“No!” She was shaking. “I didn’t-I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

“I don’t believe you. You wanted to kill Robin McKenna, didn’t you?”

Diana’s face hardened. Her eyes flashed with hatred.

“You were screwing her! You were jeopardizing your career for a slut. You were all discreet about us, didn’t want anyone to know we were sleeping together, but with her? You didn’t care who knew. I can’t believe you picked her over me.”

Will stared at Diana, furious that he hadn’t seen what she was capable of. “You killed Anna because you were waiting for Robin. You’d planned on framing Glenn all along, but you called me from the apartment. Why?”

“Theodore Glenn killed her,” Diana whispered, frantically trying to hold on to the web of lies. “He was convicted of her murder.”

“You went to Jim’s house because you saw that he had the box of files from the Anna Clark homicide. You figured out that he was looking into the case, even though I specifically told the press that the case was not being reopened.”

“No.”

“Stuart Hansen has already told us that he saw the case number on the box and it was a 2001 case number, not a recent case number as you said,” Will repeated, pushing Anna hard.

“I–I must not have seen it right. Or Stu’s lying. Why aren’t you asking Stu these questions?”

“You went to Jim’s house. Premeditated. You took a gun out of evidence and shot him when he opened the door. Then you went into his office and took the case files. You had to know what we knew about the Anna Clark homicide.”

“No. No. No. I want an attorney and I want an attorney right now!” She crossed her arms and stared at the table.

Carina walked in. “I have the ballistics report.” She handed it to Will, then glared at Diana Cresson. “Jim Gage was a good man and a good friend and you will burn in hell for killing him.”

Will stared at the report. This wasn’t another fake out, but the Sheriff’s Department really came through. Jim was shot with the same gun that killed one of the gang members in Diana’s case. The gun itself was missing. Though it had originally been logged in to evidence at the scene, it was not currently in the evidence room or in the lab.

The case wasn’t airtight, but Will had enough. And with a warrant, he was confident he’d find enough evidence at Diana’s house to turn over to the D.A.

Knowing who killed Jim Gage didn’t make him feel better. The case was solved, but a good friend had been killed in the process. Will would live with the weight of Jim’s murder for the rest of his life. And though he knew Trinity’s broadcast had nothing to do with Diana’s decision to kill Jim, if only Will had found another way to handle the case maybe Jim would still be alive.

“Carina, would you like to do the honors?” he said quietly to his partner.

“Diana Cresson, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…”

THIRTY-SIX

Will hadn’t planned on returning to Robin’s that night. It was after two in the morning when he found himself in her building.

Chief Causey had called off all police surveillance in light of Glenn’s flight to Mexico. With the budget crunch, the overtime was already stretching their thin resources even thinner. And while Will understood the chief’s decision, he sensed that Glenn would return sooner rather than later. Will was relieved to see that Mario had kept one of his men on Robin’s loft.

He tapped lightly on the door, exhaustion weighing heavy on his heart and mind. How was he going to explain to Robin what happened with Diana? How could he tell her that his ex-girlfriend planned to kill her because of some twisted obsession? How could he admit he never suspected while he dated and worked with Diana that she was capable of cold-blooded murder?

How was he going to explain the D.A.’s decision about prosecution?

Robin answered the door moments later. She wore a paint-smeared smock and held a brush in one hand. Her nose had a dab of blue on the tip. He couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re painting.”

“Yes. I feel alive.” She leaned forward and kissed Will. “When was the last time you slept?”

“I don’t remember. I have six hours before I have to go back.”

She crossed the room to her studio space, recapped her paints, and pulled off her smock. He followed closely, needing to hold her. His lips touched hers and he caught her breath with his mouth, pulling her into a sizzling kiss. A kiss that reached deep inside him. A kiss that meant more than a prelude to sex. A kiss that said I love you, you’re mine, I’ll never let you go.

He pulled back, then went in at the opposite angle. Robin wrapped her arms around his neck, melting in his arms. He was home. Wherever Robin lived was home to him now. It didn’t scare him, it didn’t send him running for