Dead or Alive (11 page)

“How am I supposed to help you if you don’t tell me the whole story?”

“I’ve told you, repeatedly, that I don’t want your help.  In fact, I’ve told you, repeatedly, that I don’t want you around at all.  And yet…” He motioned to her.  “Here you are.”

“You don’t get to tell me how little you want me around while you eat my food, off my plate, in my house.”

“I think I just did.”

“Now who’s bullheaded?” She looked back to the muted TV where a photo of Meredith Collins was now gracing the screen.  Her hair was fire red, and she had a kind smile that made her green eyes dance.  She had surely broken many hearts in her time.  Sadness clouded Violet’s eyes.  Whoever had murdered that girl was nothing short of a monster. “It’s no surprise the public has no problem believing an old pilot like you would have the hots for a pretty young flight attendant like her.”

“Old?”

“That’s all you took away from what I just said?”

“I hear what you’re saying.  You’re saying the public stoning I’m receiving is justified.  And, on top of that, you’re calling me old.”

“No.  That’s not what I’m saying.  I’m saying that it looks plausible.  It
sounds
plausible. And when there’s a dead body of a pretty young girl involved, plausibility is what will sink the main suspect.  That would be you. The main suspect.”

“I didn’t kill her.”

“I believe you.”

He held her gaze.  Several long moments passed between them before he sighed and looked away.  “It was a flight from our home base in San Diego, to Redding.  It’s usually a quick, easy flight, but everything that could have possibly gone wrong that day went wrong. We had a mechanical on the ground, a diversion in the air, an unruly passenger in the back.”  He sighed.  “It had been a long flight for everyone.  The moment we landed, the entire crew made plans to go out and have a drink.  That’s par for the course.  Flight attendants and pilots are notorious drunks.”

Violet didn’t speak.  She was afraid if she did, he wouldn’t continue.  She gingerly removed a small notebook and pen she stashed the chair next to her.  Just in case he felt like pouring his heart out during their meal.

Remy faltered.  “Where did you get a pen and pad?”

“I work for a news station. I’m drowning in pens and pads.  But this one I swiped from Barb’s foyer on the way into her house just in case I needed to jot down some notes.  Plus, I thought the design on the front was cute,” she admitted, showing him the glittery pink cover before flipping it open.

“That’s called theft, V.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Such a reporter…”

“You can never be too prepared. Anyway, we’re getting off track.”

“Right… so… where was I?”

“Flight attendants. Pilots. Raging alcoholics. All of them.”

“Right.”  He ran his hand furiously over his hair, feeling like he’d told this story a million times now.  “Meredith was a newer flight attendant, so she didn’t know all the ropes.  Somehow she got stuck working up front in first class, which is a pretty difficult position. You have to handle the million problems that arise during boarding, keep an eye on oversized bags, suspicious passengers, you have to get drinks out to all the entitled pricks who sit up front, and you have to take care of your pilots as well. Well, that morning I hadn’t had time to stop at Starbucks for my coffee, and there wasn’t a single coffee shop in the terminal.”

Violet scoffed.  “Criminal.”

“The mechanical delay had everyone on edge, including me. I asked Meredith for a cup of coffee from the galley and she agreed, but during the madness she forgot about me.  Then, once the delay was taken care of and we were set to close the door, she poked her head into the flight deck and asked if we were ready to push back.  I told her that I would like my god damn coffee first.”

Violet pulled a face.  “You said that to her?”

“Those exact words.  ‘Meredith, I would actually like my
god damn
coffee before we close the door, thanks.’ ”

Violet’s stink face was strong, and she found herself rearing away from him.

“I know…  I’m not proud of that, but I become a total degenerate without my coffee.”

“Me and you both, brotha.”

“So, Meredith—who was already on edge from dealing with the asshole passengers--starts crying and proceeds to run and rat me out to the old hags at the back of the plane, telling them what a monster I was. Naturally, they couldn’t resist coming up to the flight deck to give me a piece of their mind.  So, at this point, the door of the aircraft hasn’t even closed, and I’ve already managed to piss off the flight attendants and been branded a heartless bastard.”

Violet clicked her teeth.  “Doesn’t bode well for you when there’s a dead girl in the picture.”

Remy shook his head.  “No.  By the time we landed, I really didn’t feel like going out for drinks, so I stayed in my room.  Meredith stayed in, too, since she was still upset at what an asshole I’d been.”

“Kay, you might’ve been a little rude to her, but she needs to man the hell up.  Honestly.  It wasn’t even that serious, what you said.”

Remy sighed his defeat.  “She was a sweet girl.  Young.  Sensitive.  I hurt her feelings.”  Remy shrugged.  “She was just reacting honestly.  She was just being true to herself.”

Violet took in his words, nodding slowly.

“Anyway, I went to bed, and woke up the next morning to meet the crew at the van.  We sat in the van for ten minutes past our scheduled meet time. No Meredith.  Not a big deal, people oversleep all the time. So I went to the front desk and asked them to call her room.  No answer.  I take the elevator up to her room and knock.   No answer.  I go back down to the desk and insist they open the door.  The manager says they can’t do that.  I argue with this asshole for another ten minutes before he finally gets the key.  We go back up to the room together, we open the door and…  well, I’m sure you know the rest.”  He jammed his eyes shut.  “I can still see all the blood.  God, there was blood… everywhere.”

Violet was frowning deeply, nodding her head while simultaneously scribbling on her pad. She knew that Meredith had been poisoned, and the effects had caused her to vomit blood all over the stark white sheets and comforter just before her death. “So you knew she was dead the moment you saw her, right?  You must have… with all the blood everywhere.”

“Even with the blood, she…” Remy opened his mouth to speak, and then faltered.  “She looked like an angel,” he whispered.  “An angel that wouldn’t wake up, no matter how hard I shook her.  The hotel manager finally had to tear me away after doing twenty straight minutes of CPR.”

“Had you ever worked a flight with Meredith before?”

“No, never.  I’d heard of her, though. The guys in the pilot lounge were always talking about the gorgeous new flight attendant.”

“Who talked about her?”

“Everyone. It would be impossible to zero in on one. She had good word of mouth, I’ll give her that.”

“You can’t name one guy who mentioned her?”

“If I named one I would have to name a hundred.”

“Did she and Jason ever date?”

Remy suddenly appeared impatient, and it was now clear why he was hesitant to give names. “Yes, he mentioned her. They might’ve even dated.”

“For how long?”

“I don’t want his name in this.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know.” Remy squinted at her as she scribbled.  “Like I said, he would just be one of many… one of many pilots who were infatuated with Meredith.”

Remy’s loyalty to his friend was causing him to rapidly close off to her, so she made a quick switch.  “Why did the police target you, of all people?  Why not your first officer?  Why not the other flight attendants?”

“The crew was out drinking all night, well passed Meredith’s estimated time of death. That was their alibi, and they vouched for each other. On top of that, several hotel employees told the police they saw ‘
El Capitan’
going into her room in the middle of the night. They all testified.  Pointed right at me.  ‘Yes, he’s the one,’” He mimicked the many Spanish hotel employees that had sworn they’d seen him enter Meredith’s room.  “He’s the one. 
El Capitan
.”

“And you didn’t go to her room that night, at all?  Even though she was the brand new, gorgeous, innocent flight attendant, who all the pilots loved?”

“Chambers, I went to my room and went straight to bed.  I woke up the next morning and she was already gone.”  He put his head in his hand with a laugh, shaking his head as he looked back up at her with his mouth in his clenched fists.  “You know, I wasn’t even supposed to work that night?  I picked up that fucking trip as a favor to another pilot.  I didn’t even need the hours.  I didn’t need the money.  I picked up that fucking trip.”

Violet had never heard him curse so much, and it sent her senses racing but she still perked up as he hit her with a piece of information she hadn’t heard.  “Who did you pick up the trip for?”

“Joe Piasta.  He’s one of the most senior Captains at Virgin.”

“Did he know Meredith?”

“I don’t know.  I don’t know him.”

“Why did he need the shift covered?”

“His kid was in the hospital, and he was desperate, so he emailed every Captain in the company who had the day off. I was the first to respond.  I did him the favor, but I’ve never met him.”

“And he was confirmed to be at the hospital with his son the night Meredith died?”

Remy nodded.  “Yes.  The doctors, the nurses, and his family all vouched.  His alibi is airtight.”

Violet scribbled furiously. “Your crew didn’t have your back in court.  Why?”

“Why would they? I was the asshole who made Meredith cry. Every trip has a different crew, and none of us had ever flown together. They didn’t know me from Adam.  I didn’t know them.  Like I said, the city had a dead girl on their hands, and they needed a patsy.  The D.A. needed his conviction.  The crew needed closure for their own comfort so they can sleep easy on their next layover.  Everybody wins.”

“Everybody but you.”

Remy ran his hand down the back of his head.  “Yeah, that’s right.”

“Names of the crew members. All of them.”

Remy fired off the names like they were his own.  “Carrie Cochran, Amy Anabella, and my first officer was Jake Patterson.”

“Would any of them have reason to set you up? Any reason why they would want to do this? Hurt you?”  She bit her lip as she wrote down all of their names, her eyes rising back to his.  “Did you have any enemies?”

“Honestly? No.”

“Anyone.  Even if it was some kid in sophomore year Chemistry who got caught cheating off your test and you both went down for it,” she said, sprouting off some random scenario.  “Anyone.”

Remy gave her the eye.  “How do you know Chase Bustos?  And it was freshman year Biology, by the way.”

“Be serious.”

“I’m serious, V.  I’m a calm, cool guy.  I don’t have enemies.”

“That you know of.”

The words sent chills down his spine, because she was absolutely right.  Someone was out to get him, had set him up with the goal of tarnishing his name to clear their own.  Someone out there was responsible for the fact that he was a wanted man who the police would take dead or alive.  At that point Remy almost wished he
did
have enemies.  That would make all of this so much easier to swallow.

“Tell me about all of the people who were in your life five years prior to your arrest.  Anyone who so much as learned your name, I want their name, and their story.”

“That’s a lot of people.  That’s the whole of San Diego.”

“Then it’s a good thing we’ve got nothing but time.” Violet continued chewing furiously on her bottom lip as her eyes fell to his leg.  The blood was beginning to gush through his bandages.  “First we should change your dressings, you’re bleeding right through.”  She hopped out of the chair and took his arm.  “Come on, let’s go to the couch.”

***

After thoroughly cleaning his wound with supplies she’d swiped from Barbara and Jason, Violet was relieved that he was already showing signs of improvement, however subtle.

She looked over at him from where she was pushed against the farthest corner of the couch with her legs tucked under her.  He wasn’t much farther, so close in fact that the side of his long, strong thigh brushed against her knee every so often.  His eyes fluttered shut from where his head was thrown back on the couch.  He’d removed his t-shirt, and the skin that seemed to be constantly pulled taunt across his muscled abs from pure stress relaxed.  For a moment, he was gone.  Completely gone. Violet was convinced he was asleep, but his eyes flew back open almost instantly.

“You can relax,” she said, waiting until he turned his head towards her.  “Are you afraid to fall asleep because of the nightmare you had back at Barbara’s?”

Remy didn’t respond, but his throat moved as he swallowed.

“Do you have those kind of nightmares often?”

More silence.