Meeting Destiny (32 page)

Since Max had all but memorized my schedule, he must really be tired. “I’m done at one o’clock.”

He looked exhausted, “Great, I’ll pick you up outside the main entrance. Wear something comfortable. I wanna take you up to Ridgeville.”

I leaned in to kiss him good night. I was so excited that he was taking me to his place that my kiss was a little more enthusiastic than he was expecting. I put my hand on his thigh giving it a gentle squeeze. He exhaled deeply and moved his mouth to my ear and gently raked his teeth across my ear lobe.

The sensation of his teeth on my ear lobe and the sound of his breathing in my ear revved my engine a few times. My gentle squeeze on his leg morphed into a firmer grip and my hand moved closer to his groin. Max let out a gentle groan with his mouth still near my ear. My whole body went from tingles of pleasure to burning desire.

Max was nearly breathless as he moved his hand under my shirt. The spark of fire turned into an inferno, and all of the sudden I wasn’t ready to say goodnight. I could only think of wrapping myself around him, and I suggested, “You could always call in sick tonight.”

Max removed his hand from under my shirt and took my hand off his thigh, “Why would you do this to me right before I have to go to work? Do you know how slow time passes when I’m not with you?”

He was doing his best to sound frustrated with me, but I could feel his pulse racing as fast as mine. “Oh come on, you’ve got all that action: sirens blaring, blood everywhere, it’s like you work in an action movie. I doubt I even cross your mind.”

“
It’s bad enough that you’re beautiful and smart, but you’re so damn independent that half the time I don’t know if I should kiss you or wrestle you. But getting frisky with me two seconds before I have to go to work is hitting below the belt.”

I couldn’t help but giggle at his attempt to sound angry, and I was surprised at the silky sound of my own voice, “Then don’t go to work.”

Max kissed my forehead and hugged me. “I have to go - they’re counting on me tonight.” He took my hand intertwined with his and brought it to his lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow at one.”

I gently kissed his ear and whispered, “I’ll see you tonight in my dreams.” Max closed his eyes and leaned heavy into his seat as I eased down to the curb.

As Max pulled away, I dialed Paul. I could have called Paul while I was still with Max, well maybe not in the last five minutes. After our conversation, I’m sure he wouldn’t have had an issue with it, but those few hours I spent every day with Max were just that – my few hours with him. Paul answered on the second ring, “He must be off to work if you are permitted to talk to me now.”

“
Well hello, I’m doing fine, how was your day?” A part of me felt like hitting the END button. I had finally gotten Max to the point that he didn’t give me a hard time for helping Paul, now I had Paul all offended that I didn’t want him encroaching on my time with Max. It’s like I couldn’t win.

“
Oh, you know, more of the same. Someone threw eggs at my grandmother’s garage door, I went out front to get the paper today and found a strategically placed pile of dog crap. I guess I could be thankful that no one threw a brick through my window, right?” The edge in his voice was clear: if this kept up much longer, my guess was he would retaliate against one of his tormentors.

“
So when can we get this timeline to the cops? I spent a few hours putting it together. I tried to remember as much as I could about the whole route and even remember seeing a car accident near Chambers and Fifth, as well as a window washer on the fourth floor of the Bank of America building. I mapped out the entire route and think you’re right, if the police decide to prove that I wasn’t at the crime scene, I would have had to drive by some security cameras. Mr. McMasters’ Porsche stands out a little, not like a Honda on the road.” The edginess was still there, but at least it sounded like he was channeling it a little better.

“
Hold on, let me call Keith from the house phone. Don’t hang up, okay?”

“
Okay.”

I put the cell phone on one ear while I dialed Officer Johnson’s phone number and put the house phone to my other ear. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to write anything down or have both of them talking to me at once. Keith answered right away. “Officer Johnson? It’s Lauren, from the mall.”

His booming voice greeted me, “Hi, Lauren, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. Is everything all right?”

“
Yeah, everything’s fine, but you know I only call you when I need to ask for a favor, right?”

“
Oh brother, I can hardly wait…Paul made bail so I’m of no use to you.”

“
Are you still investigating the McMasters’ murders, not the police as a whole, but you specifically?”

“
I’m on the task force, so I’m not the only one, but yes that’s my primary duty. Lauren, you know I can’t discuss an open investigation with a civilian.”

“
Oh, I know, and don’t worry I’m not offended. I did want to ask you about who would be the best person to turn alibi evidence into, on Paul’s behalf?”

“
What kind of alibi evidence?”

I wasn’t sure how to broach it. The last thing I wanted Keith to think was that I believed his investigative skills to be inept. I knew he was sharp, but I also knew he couldn’t possibly be looking at other suspects if he believed he’d already caught the guilty person.

“
I’m sure I never told you, but I am a
Law and Order
fanatic. One of the things that the police always do on the show is to rule out suspects based on any evidence they discover. Paul wrote out his timeline from Sunday morning to include the route that he drove. I thought that the police could look at the route and bounce his timeline off of security cameras, you know like at intersections and businesses that he passed. Then you would know exactly where he was at various times.”

I could hear the hesitation in Keith’s voice, but he agreed. He offered to come by my house and pick me up, but Paul must have heard Keith’s offer because he nearly shouted at me, “No, tell him we can come to the police station so I can give a formal statement at the same time.”

“
Keith, hold on just a second,” I hit the mute button on the house phone, then quickly asked Paul, “Are you sure? You haven’t even talked to your lawyer yet. I thought you weren’t supposed to give statements without a lawyer if you’ve been charged with a crime?”

“
That’s if you’re guilty.”

“
You didn’t give them a statement last time?”

“
No, I was too freaked out! I was in shock hearing Mr. and Mrs. McMasters had been killed. I didn’t know what to say then. They were only interested in me telling them how I’d committed the murders, so I decided not to say anything. Now is the right time, so tell him we want to meet him there.”

I un-muted the house phone and put it on speaker. This way Paul could hear Keith, “Keith, you didn’t hang up, right?”

“
No, I’m still here.”

“
Paul and I want to come to the police station, if that’s okay?”

“
You mean Paul is ready to cooperate?”

“
I don’t think he was ever unwilling to cooperate. He was just freaked out that everyone thought he’d committed the murders. He has a timeline that he wants to share with you that should prove that he wasn’t involved, but I think for moral support he’d like me there.”

“
Uh, okay, sure. When do you two want to come in?”

Paul shouted, “Now!” in my ear.

I winced but was able to keep my voice steady for Keith. “We could be there in thirty minutes if that’s okay?”

“
Okay, we’ll be looking for you. Just come to the information desk and ask for me.”

I hung up with Keith, and Paul said he’d be at my house in five minutes. Nearly thirty minutes to the second of when I hung up the phone with Keith, Paul and I were walking up the steps to the police station. Keith met us in what looked like a regular conference room, no long mirror that resembled two-sided glass, just a regular conference room that you might see anywhere. There were no pictures on the walls, only a projector that didn’t project anything and a fake plant that even when it was new couldn’t have looked like a real plant.

Keith started with, “Paul you’ve already been Mirandized. It’s important for you to understand that our meeting today will be recorded. You have waived your right to have your attorney present, is that correct?”

Paul and I were seated right next to one another with Keith on the other side of the conference table. I leaned over to Paul, took his hand in mine, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He glanced at me briefly, and, if he was at all capable of reading minds, he could hear me telling him everything was going to be fine.

Paul blurted out, “Yeah, I know my rights and I know that I can have a lawyer present. Can we get on with this?”

“
Go ahead, Paul. What information do you have that will aid in the McMasters’ investigation?”

Paul handed Keith a typed three page letter of his exact route that Sunday morning. Each entry on the three pages included a column for time, location, activity. I had briefly reviewed the pages while we were in the car and had been impressed with his level of detail. Keith’s expression turned from disdain to interest as he read through all three pages slowly. He stepped out to make a copy of the papers. When he came back in, he handed two copies across the table, one for both Paul and me.

“
Okay, let’s take this from the top. At 8:45 you left the McMasters’ residence. That seems a little early for a Sunday visit?”

“
I live just down the street from the McMasters. Mr. McMasters was in his front yard watering his flower boxes. I waved to him, and he motioned me to come over. We talked for about 20-30 minutes; he was always really interested in how I was doing. He asked me about school, classes, my friends. He knew more about me than my own mom did. My mom and Mr. McMasters worked together.”

“
I get it, you were close. But how did you go from watching him water his flowers to taking off in his car? You have to admit that seems like a bit of a stretch, right?”

“
He was a very giving person; he knew I loved his car. I washed it for him nearly every weekend, and anytime it needed to go in for service he’d let me drop it off. That day we’d been talking about,” Paul looked embarrassed, “…my never having a girlfriend or anything. He tossed me his keys. He told me to go cruise around, that it was a
chick magnet.
Those were his words, not mine, and he was sure I could get a date by lunch.”

“
Hmmm, where does a young man find a girl on a Sunday morning to show off to anyway?”

Paul rolled his eyes and remarked, “Funny…that’s the same thing I was asking myself. I ended up at the mall, but nothing opens ‘til noon. Rather than drive around in circles, I decided to sit in the food court and wait for the stores to open.” He gave a heavy sigh and continued, “That was when I noticed Rachael and Lauren. Rachel and I struck up a conversation and had an instant connection. Lauren…” he paused for a second then looked at me cautiously, “was less than impressed with me, but Rachael seemed really into me, so I asked her if she wanted to go see my car. You have to understand that I’m not all that smooth and had no idea what to say to her.”

Keith didn’t say anything, so Paul continued, “You’ve seen her, it’s not like she’s hard to look at or anything, and I was worried I was going to say something stupid if we sat inside. Mr. McMasters seemed really sure that I wouldn’t have any problems getting a date if I just showed a girl his car. I didn’t know what was going on when the police came up to me and patted me down for weapons. I thought I was just being punked.”

I could see the strain on Paul’s face. This was an explanation he should have given on Sunday. “When you asked me about Mr. McMasters and told me he had been murdered, I just kind of shut down. You would understand if you knew him. He was the greatest guy, not a mean bone in his whole body. I don’t know why anyone would want to kill him. He would give the shirt off of his back if he thought someone needed it.”

Keith cleared his throat, “When you left the McMasters’ residence, did you see anything out of the ordinary?”

“
No, nothing. I pulled out of the driveway and Mr. McMasters just waved with one hand and had his garden hose in the other.”