Icy Betrayal (27 page)

FORTY-SIX

J
ack finished getting dressed and took a Diet Coke out onto the beach to enjoy the sea breeze until it was time to go. He was still struggling with Peter’s engagement plans, but it certainly was a beautiful night for a proposal.

“Hey, neighbor, how’s it going?”

Jack turned and saw his neighbor Herb waving from his deck.

“Good, Herb, how about you?”

“Doing great, thanks. Hey, did you meet up with your friend the priest?”

“I’m sorry?” Jack said.

“Your priest friend from Colorado came by earlier. Said his name was Jon Foley—a helluva nice guy.”

Forty-five minutes into the debate and no clear winner had emerged. Mick had come off as more professional, but Griffith had focused on his lengthy law enforcement career and it seemed to resonate.

“We have a question from a caller in Lynnbrook,” Tracy Ladd told the candidates. “She would like to know, if elected, what changes you would make to the sheriff’s department. Chief Griffith, let’s start with you.”

“The RCSO under Jerry Griffith would be a department that gets things done,” he said firmly. “Take this Lombard murder case, for example. The way the captain here has handled it, well it’s just not very good police work. It’s been almost a year, and they’re really nowhere on the case. At one point, they had a suspect in custody, and yet they let him walk out of jail. Meanwhile, you have a woman on the run and the RCSO has done nothing to get her into custody. As sheriff, I won’t rest until those responsible for the Lombard killing are brought to justice.”

Ladd jumped in. “Captain McCallister, would you like to respond?”

“The Lombard case is complicated, and—”

Griffith cut him off, “C’mon Captain, every murder case is,” making quotes with his hands, “complicated. That’s a cop-out, and you know it.”

“Not at all, Jerry. The Lombard case is complicated, but we will bring the people responsible for the death of Mr. Lombard to justice. Now, if you want to talk about open cases, we should talk about the Garcia gang killings. Those took place nearly twenty years ago in Castle Springs. There’s never been an arrest in those cases. And what about the retaliation murders of Chen Liu and Bobby Nguyen? Again, there have been no arrests made by the CSPD in those homicide cases.”

“That’s not the same thing, and you know it…” interrupted Griffith, but the captain would have none of it. He was on a roll.

“You say you’re running on your record, but you want to pick and choose what parts of that record the voters should consider. And I’m guessing you don’t want to talk about three of your officers suing your department over promotional policies that discriminate against minorities.”

Mick was firm and measured in his attacks. Griffith was clearly rattled. Sweat began to bead on his upper lip, his face slowly turning a crimson color.

“Those lawsuits were settled out of court, and the department admitted no wrongdoing!” Griffith barked at Mick. “And as for my record, in the thirty-one years I served at Castle Springs PD, we had a total of eleven homicides, but we only lost one good citizen. And in that case, the suspect was convicted and is in prison today.”

There was dead silence. It took a second or two for the full weight of Griffith’s words to sink in to those sitting in the studio.

Tracy Ladd couldn’t believe what she’d just heard and wasn’t going to let it go. “Chief, could you clarify for us what you mean when you say there were eleven people murdered, but only one was a good citizen? Are you suggesting that as sheriff, murder cases involving victims with criminal records will be treated differently? I think we’re all aware that in the James Ponder murder, where you got a conviction, the victim was white. In the other ten cases, the victims were either Latino or Asian. Are you saying their families don’t deserve justice?”

“Woohoo!” Chuck shouted as he leapt to his feet, spilling the popcorn onto the floor. They didn’t care and exchanged high fives.

“Thanks for being such a dumbass!” Mia yelled at the TV.

Sasha was jolted from a deep sleep on the couch but seized the opportunity to quickly gobble up the popcorn. Griffith stuttered a denial and tried to backtrack from his comments, but the damage was done.

It was Jack’s first visit to Peter’s beach house, and not surprisingly, the place exceeded his expectations. Peter saw him from the patio, immediately excused himself from his guests, walked into the house, and greeted Jack with a quick hug.

“Do you think she has any idea?” Peter asked.

“I talked with her on the phone an hour ago. She has no clue,” Jack assured him. “She was running a little late, though.”

“I’m used to that, Jack. Please, let me show you around.”

Peter gave him a quick tour of the house. The place had the same feeling as the Marbella—elegant but relaxed. After the tour, they walked out to the patio where a crowd was gathered around the fire pit.

“Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to Natalie’s father, Jack. He is visiting us from Colorado.”

The guests all raised their glasses towards Jack. After meeting everyone, Peter pulled Jack aside.

“My plan is to walk Natalie down to the beach during dinner and pop the question there. I’ll announce it to the group when we return, assuming she says yes.”

Father Jon had no trouble finding Peter’s beach house. Herb had said that it was just a short distance up the beach from Jack’s condo, and while it was not yet completely dark, the patio lights and glowing fire pit made it easy to find. He approached the house from the beach, careful not to be noticed, stopping some fifty yards away. After watching the guests for a few minutes, he spotted Jack with a gentleman who seemed to be familiar with everyone present.

He figured the man had to be Peter Donnelly, the one Herb said Lisa Sullivan, or Natalie as he called her, had been dating. As Jack and the man talked, a member of the wait staff approached and said something to the two. The man quickly left and went back inside the house, leaving Jack to mingle with the guests. A few minutes later he came back, this time with a woman. The pair held hands as they greeted the guests.

Father Jon wandered along the shore to avoid suspicion and angled for a better view. The woman was striking, that was certain, but her hair looked different from what he remembered from Lisa Sullivan’s photographs. The couple crossed the patio together beneath a string of lights. The light cast upon her face for just a few seconds, but it was enough for Father Jon to be certain that it was indeed Lisa Sullivan. He wondered if Peter Donnelly knew the truth about Lisa and her troubles in Colorado. But to Father Jon, it didn’t really matter.

Jack watched Peter and Natalie work the crowd. He struggled whether or not to tell his daughter who had been at their door earlier in the day. After his talk with Herb, Jack was certain it had been Father Jon, and the priest wasn’t likely to go away. Still, Jack didn’t want to ruin Peter’s proposal. He would deal with Father Jon tomorrow.

Lost in thought, Jack felt a tug on his arm.

“Jack, you look like you’re a million miles away. Is everything all right?” asked Peter.

Jack gazed at Peter and then at his daughter. They were a beautiful couple.

“Oh, I’m fine. I just cannot get over how great your place is, that’s all. Here we are, practically neighbors, and this is the first time I’ve ever been here,” replied Jack.

“Well, it will be the first of many visits, Jack. Oh, where are my manners? You have nothing to drink. What can I get you, Jack?”

“Oh, a Diet Coke would be great. Thanks, Peter.”

“I’ll be right back,” Peter replied and turned towards the house.

Once Peter was out of earshot, Jack asked Natalie, “Are you recovered from today?”

“I think so, but those tourists scared me to death,” she replied quietly. “You were right. No matter what I do or where I go, I’ll never be able to escape what happened in Colorado. Living here I somehow convinced myself I was free, that I had managed to escape my past. Now I’m not so sure that running away is the answer, but I don’t see any alternative. I’m just trapped in this lie. Maybe—”

As Natalie was whispered her concerns, the two heard the sound of a man loudly clearing his throat as a shadowy figure approached.